"Compassion Sunday (Deuteronomy 15:1-11)", Will DuVal | 2/23/25
Deuteronomy 15:1-11 | 2/23/25 | Will DuVal
This morning is Compassion Sunday, and we’re honored to have Jon here with us. Most of you know that I had the honor of traveling WITH Jon last JUNE to Guatemala on one of Compassion’s “vision trips”, where they foot the bill and fly pastors over to get a first hand GLIMPSE, a VISION, of the life-changing work they are doing to rescue children from poverty in Jesus’ name. So I thought I’d begin this morning by giving Y’ALL a glimpse - just a few snapshots - of what I got to see on that impactful trip last summer.
[screenshot] Guatemala is a BEAUTIFUL country. I actually fell in love with it way back in HIGH school when I had the privilege to go on TWO missions trips there. But here on the left you see the view of the Volcan Agua from our hotel in Antigua, as well as a view from the coffee plantation we got to visit. Just breathtaking.
But the country’s natural beauty is sometimes eclipsed by the ugliness of its material poverty. [47] It’s really kind of hard to overstate the CONTRAST between the destitution and hopelessness that so many of these children experience at home, and then the joy and HOPE that they find at their local Compassion center. This is the view overlooking one of the suburbs - or slums - that we visited just outside Guatemala City.
Here’s a view [40] of the child’s home from the outside (there’s Jon)…
And here it is on the inside [45]. I believe this family in particular had 2 kids I think, and one twin bed to share for the family of 4.
Here I am [jpg3] with the little dude. He told me when he’s home he’s sad, because his dad is almost always gone; he’s a truckdriver for the city and he has to travel like 28 days out of the month just so the family can barely scrape by.
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But he said his HAPPY PLACE is the [60] COMPASSION center, where he gets to go to school 3 days a week, play with his friends, get a hot meal, learn about JESUS…
[00F0] Here our group is with the staff and a few classes from that particular center - the appropriately named Vida Nueva (New Life) Center, because that is indeed what they are offering these kids: NEW LIFE. That was our FIRST center.
Day TWO [97] was similar: we got to do another home visit; here’s the outside... and the backyard [95]… And here’s a view from the inside [98]- Again, a family of 3 all living in that one room; that’s IT. That’s their HOUSE.
And once again, we heard the same story: Compassion is my child’s REFUGE. These kids LOVE it. And they’re not just getting a “hand out”; they’re teaching these kids real life, marketable skills. Music, art, business.
We got to hear from one graduate of the program, who is now in LAW school, got a FULL ride, super smart. But she said, “There is NO way I would be pursuing my dream right now, without my sponsor. Compassion changed my LIFE.
So that’s why we’re doing this, Compassion Sunday this morning. We want to give you a chance to get in on the fun, and the life-changing, life-SAVING ministry. We’re taking a break from our regularly scheduled programming in the book of Numbers, and we’re fast-forwarding some 39 years ahead in the story, to the book of Deuteronomy, when Israel - God’s people - are now just on the eve of ENTERING the Promised Land. And just before they go IN, to finally enjoy their inheritance, this blessed land “flowing with milk and honey” which God had PROMISED them more than 5 centuries ago now; first, God is going to REMIND them of His LAW. That’s what the word “Deuteronomy” MEANS: “second law”. After he brought them out of Egypt, God taught Israel how to live as HIS people - “You don’t belong to PHARAOH; you belong to ME. Now ACT like it!”. And God spent the second half of Exodus, ALL of Leviticus, and most of Numbers, as we’ll see, giving his people his LAW. But Israel is SO disobedient and forgetful… and God is SO gracious and patient… that NOW, God recaps it for them a SECOND time - Deuteronomy - with even more CLARITY. God is going to clarify for them BOTH His RULES… AND their repercussions; both the commands AND their consequences, get elucidated here.
Specifically, in the case of Deuteronomy ch15, where we’ll be camping out this morning, God has already told Israel to care for the poor back in Exodus 23 (v11), but NOW he’s gonna tell them HOW and WHY they ought to care. And he’s ALSO gonna inform them of the CONSEQUENCES of obedience AND disobedience. Generally speaking, the book of Deuteronomy ENDS with a couple chapters worth of “Blessings and Curses” - blessings for obedience, and CURSES for DIS-obedience; God says, “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey [my] commandments… then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering… But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear [and obey]… you shall surely perish.” (30:15-18)
And we’re gonna see how those blessings and curses apply specifically to God’s calling to care for the poor.
But not just for ISRAEL. This is not just an Old Testament thing. I know we haven’t even read the passage yet, but let me read you ANOTHER one first, lest anyone see “Deuteronomy” and think, “Well, that’s OLD TESTAMENT. That’s LAW; we’re NEW covenant people, under GRACE.” Let me just read you what JESUS said about caring for the poor in the NEW Testament, and the blessings and curses HE promised; he said:
““When the Son of Man comes in his glory… then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? [Or] a stranger… or naked [or] sick or in prison… And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil… For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger… naked… sick… in prison and you did not [HELP].’... ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”” (Matt 25:31-46)
Make no mistake, Church: these are NEW TESTAMENT blessings and curses… not for passing a doctrine exam, not for attending a church that’s theologically sound, but for ACTING on those beliefs, PROVING the genuineness of your faith, putting your money where your MOUTH is, and caring for the POOR and the HURTING.
How about one more; I promise we’re coming back to Deuteronomy. I just don’t want anyone SLEEPING through it, thinking this doesn’t apply to US. “ALL Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, that [you] may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16). God wants to use DEUTERONOMY this morning to EQUIP us for good works. God hasn’t changed one BIT in the last 3,500 years since He gave Israel His Law. His heart for the POOR hasn’t changed. But just in case, there’s still any doubt left in your mind, how about one more text from the NEW Testament; here’s James 2:
“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that ‘faith’ save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” [“I’ll PRAY for you…”] without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (Jas 2:14-18)
That is really the heart of God’s message for his people - both Israel THEN and US TODAY - here in Deuteronomy: I want you to prove your faith BY your works, BY your love and care for the poor.
So without further ado, let’s READ it together now; I invite you to stand…(SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy ch15, vv1-11:
God declares: ““At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. 2 And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the Lord's release has been proclaimed. 3 Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. 4 But there will be no poor among you; for the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— 5 if only you will strictly obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. 6 For the Lord your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.
7 “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, 8 but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. 9 Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. 10 You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. 11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’” [This is the word of God…]
God offers us THREE REASONS here, that we ought to care for the poor. And not just “care for” but GIVE to the poor; this is TANGIBLE care - “RELEASE his debt”, v2 says; “OPEN your hand”, v8 says, and “LEND to him”; “give FREELY”, v10 - this is care in ACTION. And God gives US three MOTIVES for giving, and every ONE of them involves blessings and curses.
God COULD have said, “give to the poor… cuz I SAID so.”
He could have said, “give… because it’s just the right thing to DO.”
God could have said, maybe we most EXPECTED him to say, “You give to others in RESPONSE to how much you recognize that I - God - have given YOU!” I gave you FREEDOM from slavery, bread from heaven - MANNA - to feed you in the wilderness, I’ve given you my LAW, I’ve given you MYSELF, my own presence to guide and guard you these 40 years, and I’m ABOUT to give you this land of milk & honey… so in RETURN, all I’m asking…
But NO, God DOESN’T say that here, does he. He says, “Give to the poor, and I’ll actually bless you ON TOP of that! I will KEEP the blessings coming.” That is how freely OUR God gives, bestows HIS blessings upon US, when we OBEY him; Romans 2:6 “[The Lord] will render to each one according to his works”. And specifically, God rewards our generosity, when we give to OTHERS in need:
Proverbs 19:17 “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord,
and he will repay him for his deed.”
Proverbs 22:9 “Whoever has a bountiful[b] eye [“gives FREELY”] will be blessed,
for he shares his bread with the poor.”
Matthew 6:4 “when you give to the needy… your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 19:21 “give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven”.
These are God’s PROMISES of reward for all who would OBEY him, by giving freely to those in need.
And specifically here in Deuteronomy 15, we see God promise TWO things: he promises FREEDOM, and he promises BLESSING.
FREEDOM - a “release” of debts; “you shall LEND and not BORROW”; they say “the borrower is SLAVE to the lender”; God says, “Not MY people! You’re gonna be FREE! You’re gonna be the lenders…”; and then we get MORE “freedom” language in v10: “give FREELY”; why? So your HEART won’t be ENSLAVED to SELFISHNESS, GREED.
Rather, CONVERSELY, God promises BLESSING here as a reward of generosity: “the Lord will bless you”, v4, “in the land that [He] is giving you”; “you shall rule over many nations”, v6 - the blessing of DOMINION. Then in v10: “give to [the poor] freely… because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake”; God will bless you with SUCCESS.
Lot of different ways we could OUTLINE these 11 verses, but here’s how I’ve broken it down: “When we give to the poor, God promises FREEDOM and BLESSING…” to THREE DIFFERENT PARTIES here. Three RECIPIENTS of God’s rewards.
And the FIRST is actually the COMMUNITY of faith. #1- When we give to the poor, God promises COMMUNAL freedom & blessing. (15:1-6)
God STARTS with this one because it would have been the MOST important factor for an ancient Israelite. We live in an individualistic age and society, often, sadly, even in the CHURCH - it’s all about me and JESUS. But back THEN, for THEM, the community came FIRST. So God promises COMMUNAL rewards.
V4: “there will be no poor among you; for the Lord will bless you”, with communal prosperity. V6: “you shall LEND… and RULE over others”; God is talking to, making PROMISES to ISRAEL, his collective people as a WHOLE here.
Now, I’m not gonna do a SUPER in-depth, line by line exposition here; I’ll leave that for NEXT year, God willing, when we RETURN to the ENTIRE book of Deuteronomy. But there are a few important contextual notes we need to understand in order to make sense of this passage:
First of all, “Why every SEVEN years?” Because that’s the SABBATH year. God works in SEVENS: the seventh DAY was a Sabbath, “holy unto the Lord”; and so too was the seventh YEAR; in Exodus 23 God declared, “For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat” (vv10-11); glean from the EDGES of your field.
And after SEVEN sevens - seven Sabbath years - the FIFTIETH year, you may remember from our study of LEVITICUS, was called the “JUBILEE”, when all SLAVES went free, and all LAND returned BACK to its original OWNERS. Why?
This was God’s SAFETY net, his social welfare program, to protect the POOR. To make sure NONE of his people ended up trapped in LIFELONG poverty. By GIVING them back their means of production, in an agrarian economy - their land, as well as their FREEDOM to be able to work and PROFIT from it.
But WAIT, there’s MORE. Because even with your freedom and land, what if you still OWED an insurmountable DEBT, to a fellow Israelite? Well, Deuteronomy 15 offers you really good NEWS: “every seven years you shall grant a release… every creditor shall… not exact [what he has LEANT] of his neighbor… because the Lord's release has been proclaimed”. UNIVERSAL LOAN FORGIVENESS. Why?
V4: so that “there will be no poor among you”. Now, without getting too POLITICAL here, we need to make two important identifications here: the “POOR” and the “YOU”; Who are the “POOR”, and Who are the “YOU”, of v4.
Let’s start with the “POOR”. This word - ‘ebyon - occurs 6x in these 11 verses. Commentator August Konkel explains it is “a word indicating dependent economic status… without their own land [the poor referred to here] are always in need of help.” Again: no means of production. Those of us who are blessed enough to have never BEEN in that situation may sometimes think, “Alright, what’d you do WRONG to GET so POOR? And why haven’t you DONE enough yet - pulled yourself up by your bootstraps - to get OUT of it?”
The ‘ebyon that Deuteronomy 15 is talking about here don’t OWN any bootstraps, by which to pull themselves up. Now, the Bible DOES clearly have a category for what we might call the “deservedly poor”; those who are poor by their own making. SOMETIMES, the Bible says, “you reap what you sow” (Gal 6:7). SOMETIMES “Poverty come[s] to him who ignores instruction”, Proverbs 13:18 says. Your parents TOLD you not to major in “Religion” - #1 lowest paying college major, but you just wouldn’t listen. (https://www.sofi.com/learn/content/worst-paying-college-majors/) Netflix launched and your techy friends TOLD you not to invest all your life savings in a Blockbuster rebound. Sometimes you DESERVE it.
Proverbs 28:19 warns “he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.” A GAMBLING addiction. A SHOPPING addiction. An ALCOHOL or DRUG addiction… pretty much any ADDICTION, “worthless pursuits”.
Proverbs 6:9 asks “How long will you lie there, O sluggard? …A little sleep, a little slumber… and poverty will come upon you like a robber”. Some folks, MANY folks, are poor just cuz they’re LAZY. In THAT case, God’s word actually instructs us NOT to help them; Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica: “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness”; you’re LAZY. Let ‘em STARVE; feel the consequences. (2 Thess 3:10)
All that to say: that is NOT who Deuteronomy 15 is talking about, and that is DEFINITELY not who COMPASSION is serving. When you go out to Jon’s table, after the service, and start perusing the packets, you don’t have to WORRY about whether or not that EIGHT year old boy, or that TWELVE year old girl DESERVES her poverty, because she’s just LAZY. The panhandler on the corner of 64 & Hampton? Ehhh… can’t be sure. Not sure whether HE deserves to eat or not. But 5-year old little ____ in Guatemala - he deserves to eat. He is poor by NO fault of his OWN.
But the SECOND word I ESPECIALLY wanna draw our attention to here in v4 is the word “YOU”: “there will be no poor among you”. Who’s God TALKING to here?
His PEOPLE. ISRAEL. God promised way back in Genesis 12 when he first CHOSE Israel, and CALLED Abram, “I will bless you and make your name great”; NOW he’s clarifying that PROSPERITY is gonna be just one practical DIMENSION of that blessing. God says, “I will provide MORE than enough for MY people - “there will be no poor among you”. But only IF - v5 warns - “IF you will strictly obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all this… that I command you today.” And what is he COMMANDING them today, here, in Deuteronomy 15? To GIVE FREELY TO THE POOR!
In other words, God’s saying, “I’m gonna make sure that MY people, COLLECTIVELY, have plenty; but I’m not gonna distribute that wealth to them EQUALLY.”
Now why would God DO that? Why would God give Israelites in JERUSALEM had MORE than enough, while those just over in ASHKELON suffered scarcity? Or in PAUL’S day, why’d God let the Christians in Jerusalem experience a shortage, while the churches in CORINTH and ROME had more than enough? Or TODAY, why does God let OUR church here in AMERICA enjoy such a surplus - I mentioned in a sermon here recently: we’ve got… I can’t even remember how much money it is exactly… but tens of thousands of dollars in our “Mercy Ministry” fund, that y’all gave to be EARMARKED and used specifically for helping those in NEED in our community, and we can’t hardly GIVE it away; there’s just not enough NEED here - meanwhile, the church in GUATEMALA - and that IS another important detail to know about sponsoring through Compassion: they don’t send a check directly to your CHILD each month, his or her FAMILY; your money funds the Compassion CENTERS. Why?
For TWO reasons: #1- accountability. So Compassion knows how every single DOLLAR gets spent. But #2- for the building of the CHURCH! Every Compassion Center is operated out of a local church. Because Compassion wants these kids and families to know the SOURCE of their hope and help: it’s the CHURCH!
And that’s really the answer to the question I was probing at: “Why does God give to us so UNEVENLY?” I’ll give you THREE quick answers, actually:
First, because it’s a BLESSING for us to give. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to GIVE than to receive” (Ac 20:35). If we - the church here in America, didn’t have so much more than we needed, we wouldn’t get the blessing of being able to GIVE, of hosting “Compassion Sundays” and sponsoring kids - what a BLESSING!
But second, it’s not JUST a blessing for us; Jesus said it’s MORE blessed to give… with the implication being: it’s STILL a blessing when you’re on the RECEIVING end. And I can attest to that TOO; when we were DOWN there in JUNE, our group of pastors had the opportunity to start sponsoring kids that we had MET that DAY at the CENTER. And if you wanna watch a child’s entire LIFE change right before your EYES, just tell them: “I choose YOU. I want to sponsor YOU.” You wanna see TEARS - I’m talking UGLY crying; HAPPY ugly crying - the SPONSORS, the SPONSEES… it is blessed to give AND to receive.
But the third reason God gives to us unevenly gets MOST to the heart of point #1 here, in vv1-6 of ch15: it gives God a chance to SHOW OFF, THROUGH us, his chosen people. God says, “If y’all just OBEY me, there will be no poor among you”. Do you appreciate just how INCONCEIVABLE that promise is?! “NO POOR”?! We live in one of the most affluent countries in undoubtedly the most affluent time in the history of the world… and do we have “the POOR” amongst US, today in America?
36.8 million people - 11% of our country - lives below the poverty line. Now, that’s not GUATEMALA poverty. I’ve SEEN ‘em both. I’ve done mission trips to rural Appalachia… AND in the garbage dump in the middle of Guatemala City, where thousands live in cardboard boxes and literally fight VULTURES and RATS for the best of the garbage to eat that day - I’ve SEEN it, with my own EYES; that doesn’t HAPPEN here in the States.
But even HERE, we’ve still got POVERTY. What’s the POINT?
The POINT is: God says amongst HIS people there ought to BE NO POOR. So if the poverty line for a family of FOUR here is $32,000 - God’ll put a family that makes $42,000 in the same church as a family that only makes $22,000 and then he says to the WORLD: “Now watch THIS!” Watch what MY people do, to care for one another; Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35), by the way you take CARE of one another.
There is no other “YOU” OUT there, to whom God makes this promise - “there will be no poor among you” - Trump & Elon can cut all the government WASTE they want, and even if they reallocated ALL of it toward addressing America’s poverty issue - 36.8 million people - they can’t get that to ZERO; they can’t promise “there will be NO poor among you”. But GOD can. And he DOES. He says, “If y’all will just OBEY me, and give FREELY to your needy brother… NO poor amongst MY people.”
Church: our generosity… for the sake of our common, shared abundance, or at LEAST our collective AMPLENESS - because God promised “comfortable SUFFICIENCY” - and whether or not we live UP to that promise, that IDEAL - “no poor amongst you”, in the CHURCH - that is our communal WITNESS, to the unchurched world.
Put another way: as long as there are still churches in Guatemala where kids are still going to bed HUNGRY because the center there doesn’t have the funding for both brother AND sister to get sponsored and get a hot meal every day… until we CHANGE that, those OUTSIDE the church aren’t really forced to take NOTICE. Cuz there’s not anything particularly DIFFERENT about us; THEY all chip in to the H.O.A. to renovate the neighborhood SWIMMING pool; WE all chip in to renovate our church BATHROOMS; “poTAto - poTAHto”, really. But when we start sending money halfway around the WORLD to help out people we’ve never even MET, but who we nevertheless call our “brothers and SISTERS”... We may not be able to eliminate worldwide poverty, or even AMERICAN poverty, but imagine if we eliminated CHURCH poverty - the world would HAVE to take NOTICE! Something is DIFFERENT about these people, this COMMUNITY of people.
That’s what happened in the EARLY church. “all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions… and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need…. And the Lord added to their number DAILY those who were being saved” (Acts 2:44-47). “Something’s DIFFERENT about THAT community; and I WANT IN!”.
Oh, that they would say it about US, still TODAY! That “there would be no poor among [us]”. What a communal witness; what a BLESSING.
But the community of faith isn’t the ONLY party God promises to bless here when we obey and give to the poor; he promises to bless THEM as well - freedom and blessing for the POOR.
He blesses them with “whatever may be sufficient [to meet] their NEED”, v8, while also FREEING them of the indefinite burden of having to pay it BACK - God’s “debt release” command of v3 - and he does it ALL… through US. “Whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release”; “You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor… For there will never cease to be poor in the land.”
Is that a contradiction? In v4 God promised “there will be no poor among you”, but he ENDS in v11 by acknowledging “there will never cease to be poor”; WHAT GIVES?
What GIVES is verse FIVE; you have to read ON, the full CONTEXT. God’s offer to eliminate poverty was a CONDITIONAL one: “there will be no poor among you… if only you will strictly obey [me]”.
Did Israel strictly OBEY him? [HA!]
You think God KNEW that; KNEW they wouldn’t obey him? He SAYS so later in ch31; God tells Moses: “you are about to [die]. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant… Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured.” (vv16-17)
And Israel WAS. God was PATIENT. He let them forsake 70 Sabbath years. But after 490 years in the Promised Land of NOT trusting God every seventh year, NOT letting the poor glean from the edges, NOT forgiving debts and returning original land ownership, NOT “giving freely” to make sure EVERYONE had enough - after 490 YEARS of it, God’s PATIENCE wore OUT. And he sent Babylon to utterly DESTROY his people, and take them into captivity for… 70 years. To pay back their 70 Sabbaths. (2 Chr 36:21)
It makes you wonder: if God wants to eliminate poverty amongst his people TODAY, and use US to DO it; if God commands US to “give freely”, to “open our hand[s]... and lend sufficient for [others’] NEED, whatever it may be”, how long will God be patient with US? With the Church today? Put up with OUR disobedience and tight-fistedness?
“There will never cease to be poor in the land”; it almost reads like a CHALLENGE. An invitation; “Therefore… ‘You shall open wide your hand… to the needy and the poor”. Like when I tell MY kids: “There’s no WAY you can clean up this entire basement; there will NEVER cease to be TOYS on the FLOOR…” God wants us to respond, “Oh yeah? WATCH us!” And get great JOY from bringing FREEDOM and BLESSING to others.
Hebrew 13:16 “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” – God is calling some of us, MANY of us this morning, to make a “sacrifice” - $43 a month/$516 a year - and “do good” by “sharing what we have” so we can bless others and even MORE importantly, so we can PLEASE HIM. “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these…. you did it to me.’” (Matt 25:40).
I get that we are already asking you to be generous here in 2025. We just covered Numbers 7 last WEEK, and generosity, and I reminded you of our “ASK” this year at West Hills, of not just God’s standard 10% tithe, but 12% to cover our building expansion costs without a whole capital campaign OR going back into DEBT again (Because the “borrower IS slave to the lender”!). But let me be VERY clear - if your budget cannot handle the $500 for Compassion AND the 2% bump in your giving to the CHURCH, GIVE TO THEM, NOT TO US. Give to Compassion NOT West Hills. THIS is way more important than our building. Now, I’m pretty sure MOST of us - not ALL of us, but MOST - can handle the $500 in addition to our giving to the church. Maybe it DOES necessitate a little sacrifice. It means you only go out to eat as a family every OTHER week instead of EVERY week; maybe that’s a good opportunity to disciple your kids in sacrificially “loving others as you love yourself”. But whatever you have to do, I PRAY and I PLEAD with you to consider this opportunity this morning. Not just to be the SOURCE of blessing for someone ELSE; but to YOURSELF BE blessed! That’s the FINAL point here…
#3- When we give to the poor, God not only blesses THEM… he not only blesses US, collectively, as a community of FAITH; God also promises PERSONAL freedom & blessing here. (15:9-11) - “I’ll bless YOU; not just Y’ALL, but YOU!”
“Whoever has a bountiful eye [gives FREELY] will be blessed,
for he shares his bread with the poor.” (Prov 22:9)
And we see it here in Deuteronomy 15; God’s promise of FREEDOM to the GIVER - v9: “I want to FREE you from a hard-HEARTEDNESS… from tight-FISTEDNESS… from “unworthy thought”-edness... and “begrudging-EYE-edness”. I’ll free you from SIN! If “ you give him nothing…” - v9 - “you [will] be guilty of sin.” God says, “I don’t just wanna free those Guatemalan kids from the cycle of poverty; I wanna free YOU from selfishness and greed and materialism.”
And get this: when he DOES - as soon as we prove we care more about PEOPLE than STUFF, more about OTHERS than SELF, more about OBEDIENCE than COMFORT, then God promises, PARADOXICALLY, “I will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake”. Success, prosperity.
Proverbs 11:24 - “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.”
2 Corinthians 9:6 “whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, but whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”
You can’t outgive GOD. But He invites us, He challenges us, to TRY. And be BLESSED for it.
CONCLUSION: But here’s where we need to END: what does ANY of this have to do with the GOSPEL?
Some of you may decide to sponsor a Compassion child this morning to bless the CHURCH; our collective WITNESS, as Christ’s body, caring for one another, and for the least and the LOST.
Others may choose to sponsor to bless a CHILD; change a life.
Still others MAY even do it so that WE’LL be blessed. The apostle Paul said, “Some preach Christ out of envy and… selfish ambition… [SO BE IT! As long as] Christ is proclaimed”, WHATEVER the motive (Phil 1:15-18). As long as kids get rescued from poverty - WHATEVER the motive; so BE it.
But let me at least END by reminding you of the BEST motive, the BEST reason to give: We give FREELY to those in need, because our God gave freely to US, when WE were in desperate need. When you and I were trapped in the cycle of SPIRITUAL poverty, enslaved to our sin, God gave - not $43 a MONTH - he gave his only SON, JESUS, that WE might receive FREEDOM and BLESSING; Freedom from the crushing DEBT of our SIN, and the BLESSING of restored relationship with our heavenly Father and eternal life with HIM in HEAVEN that we now have to look forward to. That’s how freely and LAVISHLY our God gave to US. And WE give because we realize how much we have been GIVEN. Salvation would have been ENOUGH. But God didn’t stop there, did he? He has blessed us MATERIALLY as well, with MORE than we need, so that we can in TURN be a blessing to OTHERS… and BE blessed for doing so.
We are BLESSED to BE a blessing.
Amen. Let’s pray…