Pastor Bernie Quinn

James 1:27 “Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles…”

Our home group joined with another tonight to clear the remains of broken limbs, branches, and years of pine needles from an elderly widow’s yard. 20 people raked and filled 100 bags in 2 hours. The woman, who doesn’t attend our church, was blown away by this “no strings attached” act of kindness. I left impressed with the servant attitude of our parishioners who responded in short notice only two days following a very busy Easter weekend. I couldn’t help but feel that I was seeing the teachings of this Bible verse lived out in real life.

Matthew 21:8-9

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. [9] The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

"Hosanna to the Son of David!"

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

"Hosanna in the highest!"

Hosanna is actually an exclamation of praise that means “save us please” or “salvation has come”. I couldn’t help but think of these words today as we heard stories of changed lives and witnessed twenty eight people be baptized on Palm Sunday. What an awesome day! "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

That God considers caring for the poor a spiritual act may come as a surprise to some. It’s easy to attribute things like prayer, fasting, and bible reading as spiritual actions, but what about caring for the poor?

The story of God is filled with the call to care for the poor. When God revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush he came to deliver his people from Egyptian slavery (Exodus 3:7-9). After they were set free he gave them instructions to also care for the poor. They were not to take advantage of the poor or deprive the needy of justice (Deut 24:14). When harvesting their fields they were to leave a portion for the poor to take for themselves. Every third year a portion of the tithe was given to the poor (Deut. 14:28-29). Every seventh year all debts were to be forgiven and those sold into slavery were set free with full provisions to ensure there were no poor among them (Deut. 15:12-14). The people of God were not to be “hardhearted or tightfisted towards their poor brothers but rather openhanded, lending them freely whatever they needed” (Deut 15:7-8).

This call to care for the poor continued throughout the Old Testament. Almost nothing seemed to rile the anger of God as much as the mistreatment or neglect of the poor. Prophets would cry out against those that neglected, oppressed, or mistreated the poor (Isaiah 3:14-15, Ezekiel 16:49, Amos 2:6-7). On the positive side many physical and spiritual blessings were promised to those who cared for the poor (Psalm 41:1-3, Proverbs 22:9, Isaiah 58:10, Proverbs 14:31, Proverbs 17:5).

In the New Testament Jesus began his ministry by saying he came to “preach good news to the poor” and “to release the oppressed” (Luke 4:18-19). A regular part of the disciple’s ministry included caring for the poor (Galatians 2:9-10). James went on to rebuke the early Christians for showing favoritism to the rich over the poor (James 2:5-6). The Apostle John even questioned if the “love of God” was in someone who had material possessions and failed to help a brother in need (1 John 3:17-18).

During this Lenten season I hope that you will discover the necessity of the spiritual act of caring for the poor. How much of your time and resources are given to the care of those who are poor?

One of the things I like about Lent is that it helps us to focus on some of the essential practices of the Christian faith. Fasting is one of the oldest and most spiritual practices found in the Bible. The word fasting can mean to “afflict” or “humble the soul” and is a practice of self denial. Fasting is abstaining for a time from food and water (primarily) but also included things like sleep, sexual activity, even bathing as a way of drawing close to God. Lengths of fasts varied from a single meal to as long as forty days.

Unfortunately today the practice of fasting has fallen out of favor as a spiritual discipline. It is striking when you look at how normal, frequent, and necessary fasting was in the Bible and how absent it is in the life of the average believer today. Fasting was seen as something that moved the hand of God. It was practiced out of reverence in the presence of a holy God (Exodus 34:28). It was used to show remorse or sorrow for sin (Jonah 3:1-10). It was used to appeal to God for rescue in time of crisis or need   (2 Chronicles 20:2-4). It was used with prayer to intercede for the healing of others (Psalm 35:13-14) and to mourn when people died (2 Sam 3:22-39). When the church had big decisions to make or when they sent important people out to do the work of God, they fasted (Acts 13:1-3, Acts 14:23). When they wanted to understand God’s will or to receive insight from him, they fasted (Daniel 10:2-3). Jesus himself fasted forty days and nights in the desert and was tempted by the devil. (Mark 1:12-13, Matthew 4:2, Luke 4:2-3).

There are cautions associated with fasting. Jesus taught not to fast as hypocrites do for the benefit of others to see (Matt 6:16-18). Isaiah also warned that “true fasting” is such that does not neglect other important actions and behaviors (Isaiah 58: 1-14). The problem today however isn’t so much that people fast incorrectly, or that they do it as “hypocrites” for the benefit of others to see. The problem today is few people fast for God to see.

This is why I think Lent is good for us. It calls us to rediscover the necessity of ancient spiritual practices - like fasting.

Had the pleasure of announcing a new ministry in our church this Sunday. We are calling it “marriage ministry” and it has a threefold purpose of “preparing, maximizing, and repairing” marriages in our congregation. It will be lead by one of the finest Christians I know Rev. Willie Batson, who is the founder/president of Family Builders Ministry. To learn more about him, his ministry, or for other marriage related resources check out his website.

I’m excited about the possibilities of this much needed ministry at Grace.