Rescue the Weak

Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. (Ps 82:4)

It’s easy to sit in the suburbs and think the urban poor just need to try harder and they can “make something of themselves”. But what if you don’t know how to try because no one ever showed you? Or what if you are convinced it is pointless to try because nothing you can do will change your situation? Some people can make it on their own, but most are too weak – weakened by their upbringing and the evil that surrounds them. They are preyed on by drug dealers, bullies and thieves, exploited by politicians and ignored by most of the rest of us. God commands us to rescue the weak and needy – to bring the light of hope through the gift of love, to lend a hand and to show the way. Truly they need Jesus, but Jesus will only come to them in the person of ordinary Christians like you and me who are willing to be obedient and get involved. God, forgive me for my selfishness and laziness. You have given us your commandments and your example. I want to do my part to rescue the weak and the fatherless and bind up the brokenhearted. Teach me to be “Jesus with skin on”. Use me to show your love and mercy to the world. Amen.

Scholar's Snare

The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God. (1 Cor 8:2-3)

I sometimes hear Bible teachers who sound like they have it all figured out. They teach their interpretations as fact and it seems there is nothing in the Bible that puzzles them. Pride is a snare for these men. You can hear their pride in the way they speak of other interpretations and those who teach them. As a teacher and a discipler of others I want always to stay humble. I must remember that the Bible is infallible but none of its interpreters are – including me.

There is another snare in this focus on learning. It is that learning about God may become a substitute for loving God. Too much focus on the life of mind may drive out the desires of the heart. My passion must always be for God, and not for any idea or doctrine. I want to know him better, love him more, and follow more closely in his footsteps. When we love God, what we need to know will be made clear to us – which may be a whole lot less than what we’d like to know. When we love God we will find ourselves loving others. This is the life to which we are called. Not a sterile academic perfection but the gospel lived out in sacrificial love. Lord, forgive me for those times when I have been more concerned with being right than with being good. Teach me humility and compassion. Amen.

Cry of the Poor

If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered. (Pro 21:13)

Lord, I know that I don’t do nearly enough to help people in need. I live a cloistered life. All my family and friends and coworkers are well fed and have good homes. How often do I concern myself with those who are less fortunate – those who are barely making it, or those who have no jobs at all? Lord, could it be that my prayers are not answered because I have hardened by heart to the suffering around me? How can I be a man of God if I have no compassion for the poor? And how can I be compassionate if I fail to act? Lord, I will open my heart to the poor. I will begin to serve those in need. Forgive me for my self-absorption and remind me of the promise I make today. Amen.

Biblical Anger Management

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger. (Eph 4:26 ESV)

This verse is often mistakenly used to excuse anger. The conventional wisdom says that anger is natural and inevitable. Therefore, when you get angry you need to find healthy ways to express it or you will just bottle it up and become bitter.

This is partly true. Anger is natural and inevitable, but that doesn’t mean it is good. Sin is natural because our flesh is sinful. Paul is recognizing that, but he is not intending to give us a pass just because anger is inevitable. The conventional wisdom says, “If you don’t let the anger out you will just bottle it up and cause further harm.” But here the conventional wisdom is wrong. There is a third way: forgiveness. It turns out that many people are taking verse 26 out of context. Let’s look at v31-32:

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 

When I get angry at someone the answer is not yelling at them to make myself feel better. The answer is forgiving them. There is no better way to do that than to pray for the person who has angered me. “Do not let the sun go down on your anger” doesn’t mean get it all out of your system by nightfall. It means do not go to bed that night until you have forgiven them. We need to get down on our knees and pray until we are able to forgive. This takes the power of the Holy Spirit. Lord, help me forgive those who hurt me. Replace the anger with compassion. In no way will the supernatural power of your Holy Spirit in our hearts be better demonstrated than when we rise above our sinful natures to forgive and to love others as you have forgiven and loved us. Amen.

What Makes Jesus Angry?

He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. (Mk 3:5)

Jesus was angry with the Pharisees because they condemned him for healing a man on the Sabbath. I’ve read this story of the man with the shriveled hand many times, but I don’t ever recall noticing that Jesus got angry. In fact, I can’t think of anywhere else that we are told Jesus was angry, although we might infer it at times. Certainly he drove the money changers out of the temple and called the Pharisees hypocrites. So what makes Jesus angry? Things like hypocrisy, lack of compassion and greed. Notably absent is any sense that he got angry at his accusers, his torturers or his executioners. He was willing to suffer, but he was not willing to allow others to suffer or be misled. His concern was always for others and not himself. Lord Jesus, help me to have the same selfless attitude that you displayed in your life here on earth.

The Wrath of God

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath. (Ps 2:4-5)

I think one reason many of us do not feel more compassion for the lost than we do is our failure to fully appreciate the wrath of God that Jesus saved us from. His wrath burns like a white heat. I imagine being only a few feet away from the open door of a giant blast furnace. The only reason I do not perish is that I am standing behind a small wall which shields me. But I can see all around me the effects of that brilliant heat. I know I am secure behind that wall but I experience viscerally the fearfulness of that great force of nature. Or I can imagine being in a great spaceship and approaching the sun far closer than the orbit of Mercury. At this distance it fills the entire window in front of me, even though it is still many millions of miles away. The surface boils and churns like a cauldron of incandescent gas, and only the incredible shielding of the spaceship wall and window prevents me from being incinerated.

In that situation wouldn’t you have great compassion for anyone stuck outside with only their flimsy spacesuit to protect them? The whole ship would turn and begin emergency procedures to rescue any human being trapped outside. The urgency of our efforts would be driven by the ever present thought in our minds of the intensity of that heat. I am secure in Christ and I do not fear his wrath. But I must never forget about the great danger that faces all my unsaved friends and loved ones. God withholds his wrath today, out of his great compassion and patience. Indeed he blesses all mankind with life and sustenance, “sending his rain on the just and the unjust" (Mt 5:45). But judgment is coming, and the folly of those who would continue their rebellion against Almighty God will be revealed in the Day of Judgment. That is the picture of this verse in Psalms. A day is coming when it will be too late for them. The starkness of the choice before each of us is astonishing. How can we be complacent? Lord, I do not want to be driven by simple fear, but I pray that you would remind me daily of the urgency of the Great Commission.

Nineveh Needs Love, Too

But Nineveh has more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city? (Jonah 4:11)

The Assyrians were cruel and powerful, and they were enemies of Israel. When you think about how often God destroyed the enemies of Israel you might easily conclude God hated them. But you would be wrong. God hated their sin, but he loved the people and had compassion for them. This wasn’t always clear to the Jews. Indeed, Jonah was angry with God for sparing Nineveh. I am moved by the compassionate tone of God’s reply, “more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left…Should I not be concerned?” Today we have enemies in the world who are also enemies of God. We should not forget that God has compassion on them. “He is not willing that any should perish.” (2 Pet 3:9) They may not repent and God’s wrath may finally be meted out on them, but it is not because he hates them, and neither should we.

Go and Do Likewise

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (Lk 10:36-37)

How much do I bestir myself to help those around me? Oh, I might help a family member or a friend. But there are needy people all around me who are practically invisible to me. When have I ever even felt compassion for them, let alone made any effort to help? This is not right! The cornerstone of our witness is our willingness to help those in need, even if they are not family or friends, or of the same ethnic group, or fellow Christians. Why would they listen to what we say about the love of Jesus if they don’t see that love in us?

How to Help Jesus

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in...Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?...I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. (Mt 25:35-40)

How often do I do any of these things? Not very often! I am convicted that I do way too little to help people in need in our society. It may be true that Christians as a group are more generous than society at large, but too many of us aren’t doing anything. What if the whole church were truly engaged? Great things could be accomplished! Lord, forgive me for selfishness.

High Stakes

Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. (Pr 24:11)

Every month this verse leaps off the page to convict me. The image is so terrible and so vivid it grabs me and forces me to stop reading. Whether it is literal or figurative doesn’t matter. It forces me to realize that every day people face physical and spiritual death. Every day there are some for whom tomorrow will be too late. I am timid, I am lazy, I am afraid, and what a horrible thing that I can passively watch fellow human beings go down to destruction. Lord, forgive me. Lord, give me the boldness, the energy and the courage to wade into the fight and not hold back, and never give up.