Sermon Tone Analysis

THE INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCE MYSELF

CULTURAL PROBLEMS WE FACE

Poverty has mostly fallen under the arm of social justice, which has sadly become somewhat of a divisive word within the church.

Maybe this is because many of us have either never been taught well God’s heart towards the poor, or we have and lost sight of it.

Often this results in allowing our politics to dictate to us our posture towards the poor, which is dangerous for those of us who call ourselves Christian, which will become clearer as we move further along.

We see the poor as a problem to be fixed and not a people made in the image of God.

It is really interesting when we look at what the Bible says about the poor, it seems clear there has always been and will always be poor.

“You will always have the poor among you...”

You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.

You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.

, ,

You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to.

But you will not always have me.

You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to.

But you will not always have me.

You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

27 Then Peter said to him, “We’ve given up everything to follow you.

What will we get?”

28 Jesus replied, “I assure you that when the world is made new* and the Son of Man* sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

29 And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.

30 But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.*

Eternity even still has first and lasts...

You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

27 Then Peter said to him, “We’ve given up everything to follow you.

What will we get?”

28 Jesus replied, “I assure you that when the world is made new* and the Son of Man* sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

29 And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.

30 But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.*

The Bible also does not seem to ask us to solve the problem of poverty.

I am not, in the least bit, suggesting we do not work hard to address issues of poverty and the many injustices that often keep the poor in a place of stasis or worse.

I am pointing out that the Bible seems to be much more concerned with our posture towards the poor than our ability to “fix the problem.”

So, can we this morning, suspend our political bias and instinct to “fix the problem” and instead submit ourselves to one another and the Scriptures and ask the Spirit of God to transform our imaginations in regard to the poor?

SCRIPTURE

1 Better to be poor and honest

than to be dishonest and a fool.

(NLT)

4 Wealth makes many “friends”;

poverty drives them all away.

1 Better to be poor and honest

than to be dishonest and a fool.

than to be dishonest and a fool.

(NLT)

4 Wealth makes many “friends”;

poverty drives them all away.

poverty drives them all away.

(NLT)

6 Many seek favors from a ruler (privileged/generous person);

Everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts!

Everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts!

7 The relatives of the poor despise them;

how much more will their friends avoid them!

how much more will their friends avoid them!

Though the poor plead with them,

Though the poor plead with them,

their friends are gone.

their friends are gone.

(NLT)

17 If you help (favor, to show gracious kindness, NT: redemption, defend, be devoted to) the poor, you are lending (to be joined) to the Lord—

and he will repay you!

and he will repay (benefit, bless) you!

Poverty has mostly fallen under the arm of social justice, which has become a divisive word within the church.

THE PRAYER

I am convinced this is because many of us have either never been taught, or lost sight of, God’s heart towards the poor.

Then we allow our politics to dictate to us our posture towards the poor, which is dangerous for those of us who call ourselves Christian.

We see the poor as a problem to be fixed and not a people made in the image of God.

It is really interesting when we look at what the Bible says about the poor, it seems clear there has always been and will always be poor.

TEST THIS

It also does not ask us to solve the problem of poverty.

I am not, in the least bit, suggesting we do not work hard to address issues of poverty, I am just pointing out that the Bible seems to be much more concerned with our posture towards the poor than our ability to “fix the problem.”

THE TEXT

The culture of our heart

The entire purpose of the wisdom literature is to impart wisdom - to teach one how to be successful but also how to be “good,” if you will.

Scripture seems pretty clear that God cares about our actions, but even more He cares about the motives fueling our actions.

The entire purpose of the wisdom literature is to empart wisdom

Culture is an interesting thing.

There is intentional culture and there is allowed culture.

When we are not intentional about the culture we desire it will develop on its own (allowed culture) and often it does not go in the direction we hope or desire.

The culture of our hearts is very much the same, individually and more importantly collectively.

Regarding poverty and wealth:

: Poverty + Integrity > wealth + lack of integrity

Verse 1

worse than poverty is to fail to be human

The poor have greater problems than just not having money.

R.E.

Murphy

Verses 4, 6-7

,: The Proverb is trying to teach someone of privilege to develop and practice what we now call cognitive empathy for those without privilege (i.e. the poor).

To recognize the poor have greater problems than just not having money.

Poverty directly impacts relationships.

While the privileged have people desiring to be friends with them because of their status (which is its own problem), the poor have people avoiding them because of their position of need.

The text is clear that even those who should be loving (e.g.

family and friends) despise or hate them.

It is strong language, but it is describing the attitude towards the poor.

It is enmity, disgust, contempt, and repudiation.

This is real hatred…the kind that leads to prejudice towards the poor and the Scriptures tell us this is foul and in opposition to what is good and what is wise.

We must be aware that relationships directly impact one’s power and ability to positively impact their own poverty.

EXAMPLE OF LOSING MY JOB AND BEING OUT OF WORK

EXAMPLE OF LOSING MY JOB AND BEING OUT OF WORK

In a culture where we love to make everything so binary and reduce things down to their lowest common denominator, we must remember that everyone’s story is far more complicated and nuanced than often think.

This doesn’t just happen naturally for most people.