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The Plight of the Poor

James 5:1-3. The Plight of the Poor. James comes Full Circle. Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. Your gold and silver have become worthless.

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The Plight of the Poor

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  1. James 5:1-3 The Plight of the Poor

  2. James comes Full Circle

  3. Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. Your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgment. James 5:1-6 The Plight of the Rich

  4. For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you. James 5:1-6 The Plight of the Rich

  5. About 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes, according to the United Nations. This is one person every three and a half seconds… “Only a small fraction of hunger-related deaths [are caused by famine] The majority of those who die of hunger, and most of them are children, do so because they are poor… Why Be So Upset About Poverty? Source: UN World Food Programme The equivalent of dropping a Hiroshima bomb every three days. Chris Bryer in The Hunger Machine, Jon Bennett

  6. “They, like us, live in a world of plenty, where more food is produced than is consumed. As Europe destroys its food mountains and America stores un-saleable grain, Brazil, Sudan, even Bangladesh either have surpluses of their own, or are capable of producing them. People are dying, not because there is not enough food, but because they are too poor to buy it and have no land where they could grow their own.” ibid. Why Be So Upset About Poverty?

  7. Everything we have is on loan: Psalm 24:1 • A responsibility, not a privilege • Consider the “Parable of the Talents” • Some invested for the Lord. • One hoardedfor himself. God’s View of Our Wealth SAFETY The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; Psalms 24:1

  8. Everything we have is on loan: Psalm 24:1 • A responsibility, not a privilege • Consider the “Parable of the Talents” • Some invested for the Lord. • One hoardedfor himself. • God is an advocate for the poor God’s View of Our Wealth Where’s the compassion? For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5:4

  9. Smothered in a false sense of security God’s View: Where’s the Compassion? Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. James 4:13-16

  10. Smothered in a false sense of security • Planning is not the problem… God’s View: Where’s the Compassion? What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” …

  11. Smothered in a false sense of security • Planning is not the problem… • Planning without regard to God is the problem… God’s View: Where’s the Compassion? How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to…”

  12. Smothered in a false sense of security • Planning is not the problem… • Planning without regard to God is the problem… • It’s the difference between a steward and an autonomous owner… God’s View: Where’s the Compassion? SAFETY Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.

  13. Smothered in a false sense of security Buried in apathy God’s View: Where’s the Compassion? Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. James 4:17 SAFETY

  14. Smothered in a false sense of security Buried in apathy Replaced by exploitation… God’s View: Where’s the Compassion? You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you. James 5:5-6

  15. In Central America, 50% kids die before 6 yrs old • The USA… • has 6% of the world’s population, • holds 50% of the wealth, • uses 35% of the world’s resources. • How much does it give to poverty relief? God’s View: Consider Exploitation of the Poor

  16. United States 0.25% “State of the world’s children” UNICEF 1995

  17. In Central America, 50% kids die before 6 yrs old • The USA… • The Church… • Gives $700,000,000 / year to missions. • But takes in $78 billion • Less than 1% given to foreign help God’s View: Consider Exploitation of the Poor How hard have we tried to save others? The $700 million per year Americans give to mission agencies is no more than they give for chewing gum. Ralph Winter "Reconsecration to a Wartime, Not a Peacetime, Lifestyle," Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader 814-818

  18. Christian Income vs. Giving Billions 3.3% 0.2% Barrett

  19. aworld ofsmall troubles a world of staying alive

  20. afilthy, ugly world aclean, friendly world

  21. …unimaginable suffering a world of entertainment

  22. a world of comfort a world without hope

  23. a world of arts & crafts James 2:15,16 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? watches her children die…

  24. Are We Guilty? • Are we “withholding the workman’s wages?” • Are we “fattening our hearts in a day of slaughter?” • Have we “hoarded wealth in the last days?” • Have we “lived on the earth in luxury and self-indulgence?” • Have we given sacrificially to help the poor?

  25. Our Decision…

  26. A Plan for Action

  27. Introducing Our Budding, Young “Service Ministry” Mark Michalek & Kalie Sheehan Brooks

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