REMEMBERING
THE POOR
Text: Galatians
2:1-10
I.
THERE WERE THREE TYPES OF GIVING IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
A. Tithe – literally means “a tenth part”
(Gen.14:20 with Heb.7:6; 28:22; Lev.27:30-33; Numbers 18:20-32; Deuteronomy
12:6-17; 14:22-28; 16; 26:12; 2 Chron.31:5-10; Neh.10:37,28; Mal.3:6-11;
etc.; cf. Gen.14:20; 28:22; Matt.23:23; Luke 11:42; 18:12). The tithe
was of annual income – currency, grain, new wine, olive oil, fruit, cattle
and sheep (Lev.27:32; Deut.14:23-25)
B. Offerings were voluntary gifts often for
one time enterprises (Exodus 25:2-7; 35:29; 36:3; Lev.7:16; 1 Chron.29:6,9,14,17; 2 Chron.17:11; Ezra 1:6; 2:68; 3:5; 7:15,16;
Neh.11:2)
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James 1:27
Religion that God our Father
accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in
their distress..
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1. Building
of the tabernacle (Exodus 36:1-6)
2. Building
Solomon’s temple (1 Chronicles 29:5)
3. Building
Zerubbabel’s Temple (2 Chron.35:8; Ezra 1:6; cf. Ezra 3:5)
C. Alms were “mandatory”, but the monetary amount
was not usually specified (Exodus 23:10-11; Leviticus 19:9,10 [gleaning]; Deuteronomy
15:11; 24:10-22; cf. Ruth 2; 2
Cor.8:8).
1. The prophets
exhorted God’s people to remember the poor (Isaiah 58:6-8; Jeremiah 22:16;
Amos 2:6,7; cf. Dan.4:27).
2. The
Psalms commend those who remember the poor (Psalm 41:1; 112:9)
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3. Jesus
taught His disciples to remember the poor (Mt.6:1-4; 25:31-46; Luke
6:367,38; 12:33; Acts 20:35; cf. John 12:6; 13:29; Galatians 6:2)
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“Earn all you can;
save all you can; give all you can.”
John Wesley
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4. The
Apostolic church practiced the giving of alms for the poor (Acts 2:43–47;
4:32–7; 6:1–7).
D. Paul was
adamant in his opposition the Judaizers.
The Judaizers taught that circumcision was grounds for fellowship
between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. Nevertheless, Paul was eager to emphasize
the giving of alms for the unity of the church.
E. It is
ironic that the Apostles in Jerusalem “contributed nothing” to Paul
(Galatians 2:6), and yet Paul and Gentile Christians from around the world
ended up contributing to the Jerusalem church (Galatians 2:10)!
II. GALATIANS 2:10 SEEMS TO BE
THE PIVOTAL CENTER OF CHAPTER 2
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A. There
are several ways to show the unity of the church and the fellowship of
believers:
1. A
common profession: “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph.4:5).
2.
Session controlled communion and believers from various denominations
sharing together in the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 10:16-17).
3.
Fellowship dinners
4. Prayer
5. The
giving of alms
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“For this is a great good and
a gift of God [giving]; and rightly done assimilates us, so far as may be,
unto God; for such an one is in the highest sense a man. A certain one, at
least, giving a model of a man has mentioned this, for "Man,"
saith he, "is a great thing; and a merciful man is an honorable
thing." (Prov. xx, 6. LXX.) Greater
is this gift than to raise the dead.
For far greater is it to feed Christ when an hungered than to raise the
dead by the name of Jesus: for in the former case thou doest good to
Christ, in the latter He to thee.” Citation: St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Second Corinthians: 2 Cor.7:13
(emphasis added)
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B. Giving to the poor is not the Gospel by which we
are justified, but it is an important outworking of the Gospel message.
“After the preaching of the gospel, the office and
charge of a true and faithful pastor is to be mindful of the poor. Where the Church is, there must needs be
poor, for Christ said we should have the poor with us always: and “the
poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matthew 11:5).
For the world and the devil do persecute the Church and bring many to poverty.
A true and faithful pastor must have a care of the poor; and this care Paul
here confesses that he had” (Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians 2:10).
C. The most
important thing in Paul’s ministry was preaching the Gospel of grace. We might say that the second most important
thing in Paul’s ministry was the “grace of giving” or collection of
alms.
1. Paul’s
collection for the poor in Jerusalem spanned a period of almost 20
years.
2. Paul’s
collection for the poor have incorporated the geographical regions of Galatia
(1 Cor.16:1); Derbe (Acts 20:4); Lystra (Acts 20:4); Macedonia (2 Cor.8:1-5;
9:2,4); Berea (Acts 20:4); Thessalonica (Acts 20:4); Philippi (Acts 16:16;
20:6); Corinth (Rom.15:26; 1 Cor.16:1-4); Ephesus (Acts 20:4); Troas (Acts
20:5-6); Tyre (Acts 21:3–4); Ptolemais (Acts 21:7);
Cyprus and Caesarea (Acts 21:16); Rome (cf. Rom.
12:13; 15:26 with 2 Cor. 8:4; 9:13;
and Rom. 1:13 with 2 Cor. 9:6–10).
3. Paul’s
collection of alms from Gentile Christians to bring to the Jewish Christians
in Jerusalem was one of the main goals of Paul’s ministry (Acts 20:24;
cf. Acts 24:26). Paul called his
bringing of alms to Jerusalem the “fruit” and “seal” of his ministry (Romans
15:23-24,28).
D. As a
result:
1. Our
congregation will be taking a collection for alms at least four times/year
(cf. 1 Corinthians 16:1-4).
2. Just
like the widow’s mite, God can take even the little that we have and use it
greatly for the work of His kingdom (Luke 21:1-4).
3. “to the
extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of
them, you did it to Me.”(Matthew 25:40)
Chapter 26:2 of the Westminster
Confession
Saints by profession are bound to maintain an holy
fellowship and communion in the worship of God, and in performing such other
spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification; (Heb. 10:24–25, Acts
2:42,46, Isa. 2:3, 1 Cor. 11:20) as
also in relieving each other in outward things, according to their several
abilities and necessities. Which communion, as God offereth opportunity,
is to be extended unto all those who, in every place, call upon the name of
the Lord Jesus. (Acts 2:44–45, 1 John 3:17, 2 Cor. 8–9, Acts 11:29–30)
(emphasis added)
What does God require in the fourth commandment?
First, that the ministry of the gospel and the schools
be maintained; and that I, especially on the sabbath, that
is, on the day of rest, diligently frequent the church of God, to
hear his word, to use the sacraments,
publicly to call upon the Lord, and contribute to the relief of
the poor. Secondly, that all the days of my life I cease from my
evil works, and yield myself to the Lord, to work by his Holy Spirit in me:
and thus begin in this life the eternal sabbath. (Heidelberg Catechism,
Question 103; emphasis added).[i]
QUESTIONS FOR
SABBATH DISCUSSION & MEDITATION
Take
what you have learned this morning and make it into a prayer. Has God’s grace
and indescribable gift in your life
affected your giving of alms and offerings?
Are you a cheerful giver?
What is the difference between tithes,
offerings and alms?
How many daughters does the leech have and
what are their names? (Proverbs 30:15)
What is the irony of the Jerusalem
Apostles contributing nothing to Paul’s Gospel and their request that Paul
remember the poor (Galatians 2:6,10)?
How
do we know that the Apostle Paul took collections for the poor seriously?
Giving
to the poor was not the gospel Paul preached (cf. “the social Gospel”). What role did giving to the poor have in
relationship to Paul’s Gospel of justification by grace alone through faith
alone in Christ alone?
What
are different ways that we can demonstrate the unity of the church and the
fellowship of believers?
What
is Session controlled communion and how does it serve the unity of the
church?
Should
we give so that we become burdened financially?
Has
the church lost its saltiness and light in the practice of alms by allowing
the government to take over the matter of welfare?
“I hope to grow rich in heaven by taking care of orphans
on earth” (Citation: George Whitefield, Christian History,
Issue 38). Whitefield was serious
about this obligation. He raised funds
for an orphanage to be built but through a series of difficulties ended up
owing about 500 pounds which in Whitefield’s day was the equivalent of 20
years’ wages. Whitefield’s debt was so
serious that he was in jeopardy of being jailed. In a letter to one creditor, Whitefield
pleaded, “If possible I shall discharge the debt within six months, but I am
afraid it will be out of my power, having met with many disappointments. As
we are brethren of the same Lord, and as the debt was contracted for him, I
hope you will be patient with me.”
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