Financially Faithful - Part 8: Remembering the Poor

REVIEW

In our series entitled “Financially Faithful” we are learning how we can be more faithful to the Lord with our finances. And church, while faithfulness is not a virtue that is esteemed by most Christians, it is actually something that the Lord esteems very highly. In fact, faithfulness is one of the most beautiful virtues possessed by God Himself. 

To be faithful means you are always there. Furthermore, it means that you will always do what you say you will do. Therefore, you are dependable. You can be counted on. You change not and you swear to your own hurt (no, I’m not talking about “cussing.” I mean you will follow through with what you promise even if it hurts you to do it). Faithfulness is such an important quality to have – and that certainly includes our handling of finances. 

So what does it mean to be faithful with our finances? It means that we do what He says with it all. So if He tells us in His Word a specific way to steward it, then we do it. And if He speaks to us in our hearts something specific to do with it, then we do it. So to be faithful with our finances means that we properly handle everything that God has blessed us with by heeding His instructions. 

So over the past few weeks, we have been looking at the Lord’s instructions concerning what’s called the tithe. And we’ve learned everything from what the tithe is to why do we practice it. Of course, there are a lot of opinions out there regarding this type of giving but we looked at how the tithe was not just contained under the law. No, it was both before the law and after the law. Therefore, it is an eternal statute that is a wise practice for us even today. 

I would encourage you to go back and listen to the past three weeks as we’ve covered the tithe in detail and learned how this fundamental type of giving is vital for each of our lives. Church, tithing is foundational to us correctly stewarding our finances. 

GOD’S SOAPBOX

Now this week, I want us to move into another type of giving that I consider to be just as important in the eyes of the Lord as any other, and that is – the giving of alms. 

Now this term “alms” might not be a word you are familiar with, but it essentially was a type of giving that the Jewish people believed was important. You see, the giving of “alms” was commonly understood by the Jews as being gifts given to the poor. So like we learned about the tithe - that it was not just some religious type of giving, but rather was the rendering to God 10% of our increase - alms are not just any type of religious gift. No, they are specifically a charitable gift to someone in need given out of compassion & mercy.

Now the term “alms” was a word used in the New Testament, both in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts, but it was not used in the Old Testament. However, while the Old Testament did not use this particular term, it certainly implied what the word means because there is so much mentioned in the Bible about taking care of the poor, the widows, the orphans, etc. It was a HUGE deal to God, and one that He had to constantly correct His chosen people about because they were often forgetting its importance to the Lord. 

In fact, in my studies of God’s Word, I have found that caring for the poor is one of God’s greatest desires. You could even describe it is His “soapbox.” Why, might you ask? Because throughout the Old and New Testaments, you see a common theme brought up – God raising up His prophets to declare His views regarding remembering the poor—especially the widows, orphans, and strangers. Like I said, He often admonished Israel because, although they kept many of the Lord’s ordinances and statutes such as the Sabbath, the many different sacrifices, and even fasted—they often forgot the poor and even dealt unjustly with those in impoverished positions. I could expound on many examples of this, but for time’s sake, let me just give you a few references and you can study them on your own—Isaiah 1:10-20, Isaiah 58, Jeremiah 22:13-16, Hosea 6:6, Amos 5:21-24, & Micah 6:3-8. 

However, there is one example in the New Testament that I would like us to look at. So let’s look over at Galatians chapter 2 …

In Galatians chapter 2, the apostle Paul was recounting his meeting of the other apostles in Jerusalem. In this passage of Scripture, he talked about how they gave him and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship because of their ministry to the Gentiles, but Paul mentions something in verse 10 that has always stood out to me. He said, “They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.” 

What a powerful verse, saints! You know, if you had just met another Christian and committed to him or her a huge responsibility, do you think that this statement would be the one thing that you would remind them of? To most believers, this wouldn’t have been atop the list of the most important charges they would give others, but to these apostles that had walked with Jesus, this was obviously a very important part of ministry. 

Do you know why that the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ made this request of Paul and Barnabas? It was because this was one of the focal points of Jesus’ ministry! Jesus gave so much to the poor that he had to have a treasurer steward the giving of His resources. And when Judas, the treasurer of Jesus’ ministry, got up from the table in the nighttime to go betray Jesus, the other disciples said that he was probably told by Jesus to go give to the poor. Now for the other disciples to think that (especially in the middle of the night) shows us that this was obviously a regular practice of Jesus. In other words, Jesus was evidently known for giving to the poor at all hours of the day. And if this was Jesus’ way of operating, then this should be ours as well! Amen? 

Again, this is why I said at the beginning of this lesson that this type of giving was one of the most important. So, if I am being faithful with my finances, do you think that remembering the poor would not be at the top of my list of priorities? I think not!

WHAT ARE ALMS?

Now let’s look back to this term “alms” for a moment because if we look at its definition, we can learn a lot about giving to the poor: 

The Greek word used for “alms” is eleemosyne and described a gift to the poor, a charitable gift, or any act of generosity to someone in serious need (Strong’s). The root word was eleos, which described mercy, pity, or compassion. Therefore, this shows us how this type of giving is to be exhibited in mercy. And perhaps the best definition I have ever heard for mercy is “not getting what one does deserve.” 

So, when we combine this definition with the root meaning for “alms,” we see that when we give alms to the poor, we are not necessarily giving them what they deserve. I make this point because sometimes people fail to meet other people’s needs because they don’t feel like the person deserves to have their needs met. In other words, they reason their way out of giving to the poor because they start trying to figure out all the reasons why they don’t deserve what they need. Maybe the person did some foolish things to get themselves into that situation. 

Well, if the root meaning of the word “alms” is “mercy” then this does not mean that we are giving people what they deserve; we are giving them what they now need, regardless of whether they deserve it or not. In other words, we do not need to over scrutinize every poor person we help. If we did that with the sick, we could come up with all kinds of reasons why we shouldn’t pray for people in need of healing.  

ARE THEY REALLY POOR?

However, this does not mean that we just blindly go around throwing money around because someone seems to be in need either.

In case you aren’t paying attention, in our country we have a lot of unethical, deceptive, and manipulating practices by some people in this area. You don’t have to drive far to see people hanging out at intersections & on street corners begging for money. 

We have people that call the church regularly asking us to pay for their hotel, to help them with a utility bill, etc. etc. etc. And what we have realized was that people were just making the rounds and calling every church that had a reputation for helping people. So in wisdom, we had to figure out a way to determine who it was that God expects us to help, because if we would just give to every need that comes to our door, it wouldn’t be long before we wouldn’t have anything left to give. 

But the problem is that we as Christians – particularly us who have big hearts and are generous – can have the tendency to be gullible. Yes, we are believers. So when a person tells us a story, we tend to believe them. So if a person gives us some spill, a lot of Christians can tend towards swallowing their story hook, line, and sinker! 

So my point is that in this day & time and in our culture, we have need of wisdom. Yes, we need wisdom in order to determine who & what we give into it. This applies to everything really, but especially in this area of the giving of alms.  

You see, we live in a world where not everyone who says they are poor or appears to be poor really is poor. For example, did you know that the New Testament teaches us that not everyone who is a widow is really a widow? (See First Timothy 5:3-16). In other words, just because during the time of the church, a woman had lost her husband, that didn’t mean she automatically qualified as a widow that the church was to help. Why? The reason is just because someone is in a certain natural condition doesn’t mean that we automatically are to take care of them. I believe we live in a time & place where this needs to be understood more than it ever has – because here in the United States, people have a means to have their needs be taken care of in a way that they didn’t during Bible times.

Yes, back in their day if a woman was widowed, she was in serious danger. That was because women were not educated back then, nor were they physically able to do the kind of work to sustain themselves. The same went for the fatherless. If a child lost his or her parents, particularly their father, then they were in a world of hurt. Not to mention, back then, the poor usually had a reason for not being able to provide for their own needs. We see in the Bible a lot of examples of this such as blindness, lameness, and other physical conditions that kept people from working. 

In our country, it’s not so much this way. We have a government system that helps people in need (and also those who are not really in need, but I won’t go there). So, the widow and the orphans are not left begging for scraps on the streets and those who truly cannot work are not left high and dry either.  

For this reason, we must use wisdom from above when determining who are the poor that God is calling us to help. And in my experience, a lot of these are not the people that are asking for it. A lot of times people are struggling and aren’t going around trying to get people to help them. So, we just are to let the Lord show us the legitimate needs, follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and do what seems good to us. 

Now the Webster’s dictionary defines “alms” as “something (money or food) given freely to relieve the poor.” 

First of all, notice how Webster’s definition of “alms” purposely makes the point to say that alms are not just referring to money, saying that it can be either food or money. 

You see, a lot of times we do not feel very comfortable in our day and time giving money to a beggar on the street because many will use it on drugs or alcohol. That is where we can apply this definition. We can always offer to buy them a meal or some groceries. And usually, you can tell really quick what they really wanted when you make them that offer. So, yes, we should still try and show love to those that are obviously just wanting money so that they can buy drugs and alcohol. And the way we do this is by providing them with their basic necessities and not by contributing to their habits in simply just throwing money at them.

I have talked to so many believers that seem offended about the subject of giving to the poor because in our nation we have those that are living off welfare and are not interested in working to support their families. And while I definitely understand and agree that those kinds of people are not what God had in mind, we still have those out there who need our help. The Word of God has a lot to say about giving to the poor whether we like it or not so we shouldn’t throw out the baby with the bath water. We should actively be looking for those that are impoverished and cannot help themselves. 

THE LORD IS OUR RECOMPENSOR!

I love how Webster’s definition of “alms” also adds the word “freely.” This shows us that our gifts to the poor are not to have any strings attached. In other words, in order for it to be alms it has to be given out of goodwill and without any service expected from the recipient. 

You see, so many times when we give, it is because we are looking for something in return. Many give their tithes or offerings to their church because they feel like the church will recognize them for it by returning the favor in some way. Others give to their fellow believers because they feel like they can repay them down the road. Then there are those that give to ministries just to receive some kind of a tax exemption at the end of the year. And there are many other different selfish reasons why Christians give to God’s works. 

So, this is why I feel like giving to the poor is one of the greatest ways of giving. The reason is because the poor cannot return the favor! They will not be able to pay you back. They usually do not have enough notoriety that they can praise you in front of your peers. Now sure you can give to the poor for the sake of being seen by men, but the poor themselves will not be able to offer you much in return. This is one of the reasons why I believe giving to the poor is the most rewarding type of giving. 

You see, in my estimation, the best two grounds to sow into are those who will not (your enemies) and those who cannot (the poor) repay you for your gifts to them! The reason I can say this is because when you are in no way recompensed for your giving from man then God becomes your complete recompensor! 

We should never give because of what we will receive in return, but the Bible is very clear that we can expect God to reward us for giving to those who cannot return the favor. 

THE LAMP OF THE BODY

Now in conclusion, I want us to go over to Matthew chapter 6 and take an in-depth look of an often-misunderstood passage of Scripture …

In Matthew 6:22-23, Jesus said, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
 
Many have tried to apply this teaching to many different things, but in order to grasp what Jesus was really referring to, we have to read these verses in context. 

You see, in the preceding verses (vs. 19-21), Jesus was talking about treasuring material things versus treasuring eternal things, and in the following verse (vs. 24), He talks about serving God versus serving money. So, in context, it is clear that Jesus’ topic is money & possessions. Therefore, verses 22-23 are likely along the same lines since Jesus was teaching on finances before and after these verses, correct? 

So what does a “good eye” and a “bad eye” have to do with the giving of finances? The answer to that question is found in the Book of Proverbs. So let’s go over and compare a couple of Scriptures in the Book of Wisdom that refer to the “eye.” 

Let’s begin with the “good eye” …

THE GOOD EYE

The first example I will give is found in Proverbs 22:9: This proverb says, “He who has a generous eye will be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor.” The word translated “generous” here literally means “good” in the Hebrew language. So this is consistent with Jesus’ wording in Matthew chapter 6, isn’t it? A “good eye” is a “generous eye.” And Solomon goes on to describe what a good eye is focused on. He says, “for he gives of his bread to the poor.” So you could say that a “good eye” is an eye that is focused on the needs and desires of others. Notice that Solomon says if we have this good eye—that is mindful of the needs and desires of those less fortunate than us—we “will be blessed!” 

Church, there is no question about it! If we focus on others, we absolutely will be blessed! And to be blessed means to be happy & full of joy; it means to prosper despite circumstances; it means to stand out from others spiritually, emotionally, physically, and financially. 

Another Scripture in Proverbs explains the reason for this state of blessing: Proverbs 19:17 says, “He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given.” This Scripture teaches us that giving to those who are in need is basically like we are lending that money to the Lord. You see, it is a Scriptural principle that God takes personally the way we treat less fortunate people! We need to truly look at the needy like they were Jesus Himself! And guess what? God will be no man’s debtor! He will repay us when we give unto Him—with a great amount of interest, I might add!

That is why Jesus taught in Luke 14:12-14 that when we throw a dinner, not to invite those who can return the favor, but rather invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind. And in verse 14 He says, “And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you…” The phrase “And you will be blessed” is the same exact wording that Proverbs 22:9 uses! Why will we be blessed? Jesus said because they cannot repay you, and God will be the One to pay you back. As we have previously stated, God can return the favor a whole lot better than other people can! 

You see, church, we will reap what we sow, but there are different levels to your harvest. And what determines the level of harvest you receive is your motive in sowing. There are some people who only give when it will benefit them somehow. For example, this kind of person will give to gain some kind of recognition or favor or even to receive some kind of tax-break. Now I am not saying you will not receive any return if you sow into those who can do something for you in return; all I am saying is that if your motives are impure, then you will have just a portion of your reward at best. But the acid test of giving with pure motives is in giving to those who cannot and/or will not repay you. Let me explain … 

God indeed tells us to honor those who are in authority over us with our substance, but He also tells us to give to two other classes of people. Number one, He tells us to give to the poor. Number two, He tells us to give to our enemies. In these two cases, when we give to them, we usually will not be repaid (by them, at least). But how many of you know that when we are not repaid by the recipient of our gifts, God will reward us? Let me say it this way – If you sow into those who cannot (i.e. the poor) and will not (i.e. enemies) repay you, God will be your full recompensor! This is the best way to get your full harvest! Just thought I would add that in there.

THE BAD EYE

Now let’s look at what Solomon has to say about the “bad eye” … 

Proverbs 28:22 says, “A man with an evil eye hastens after riches, and does not consider that poverty will come upon him.”  So the exact opposite person that has an “evil eye” (i.e. bad eye) is a person who “hastens after riches.” Or you could say that the person with an “evil eye” is someone who is only focused on his or her own needs & desires. And Solomon says that this type of person will have poverty eventually come upon them. It is just simply a spiritual law! 

Proverbs 21:13 says, “Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard.” What this verse is saying is that if we ignore those in need around us, then when we have a need and present it to God, He will not hear us. It is that simple! Having an “evil eye” will hinder and even cut off the blessing of God in our life! It’s not that God stops loving us if we don’t take care of the poor; it is just that we stop abiding in His love, and pardon the poor English, but that ain’t good. 

You see, God’s blessings are conditional upon our location. Let me explain: It is not that God decides to not bless us or answer our prayers if we do not do good to our neighbor. It is that we are removing ourselves from where His protection and provision are when we habitually practice wickedness because we are not abiding in Him. God is a blessing, and when we remain close to Him, we will be blessed. But when we walk in darkness—mainly through practicing self-centeredness—we are not abiding in Him, and therefore remove ourselves from His blessings. Proverbs 28:27 says it this way: “He who gives to the poor will not lack, but he who hides his eyes will have many curses.” 

So the person who has a “good eye” (or gives of his bread to the poor) will not lack! But, on the other hand, the person with an “evil eye” (or hastens after riches) will have many curses! Wow! That is motivation enough for me to want to be a better giver than I am now! How about you?

So let’s look back at Matthew 6:22-23 and see what Jesus was really saying in those verses …

Jesus said if our eye is good (or “we share our substance with the poor”) then “our whole body will be full of light.” What does that mean? We can see from the Scriptures that we looked at in Proverbs that it means that we will be blessed in every area of our life—including our physical body. In other words, we will have God’s blessing permeate our whole life—being full of peace & joy and experiencing His blessings in our finances and our health. Then Jesus said that if we have a bad eye, (i.e. we are hastening after riches for ourselves) “our whole body will be full of darkness.” That means, as Proverbs 28:27 says, our lives will be full of many curses. In other words, we will not experience the abundant life that Jesus has made available to us. 

So the conclusion is this – the thing that determines our lives being filled with the light of God’s life is the type of “eye” we have— either having an “eye” that is focused on the needs of others or having an “eye” that is focused on our own needs. Amen.   

Church, I hope you can see by now just how important it is that we remember the poor and focus on meeting the needs of those who are really going through difficult times. It is God’s heart! And the Lord wants us to have a heart like His – to meet the needs of His creation with our service, His power, and also with His and our finances. This will yield a life that is blessed, for He will recompense us for every good deed we do in love and by faith. Amen!