This is Deuteronomy, chapter 15, verses 1 to 11, and that's on page 194, if you've got one of these red Bibles.
At the end of every seven years, you must cancel debts. This is how it is to be done.
Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelites.
He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the Lord's time for cancelling debts has been proclaimed.
You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you.
However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you.
If only you fully obey the Lord your God, and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.
For the Lord your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations, but will borrow from none.
You will rule over many nations, but none will rule over you.
If there is a poor man among you, or among your brothers, in any of the towns in the land that the Lord your God has given you,
do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards your poor brother.
Rather, be open-handed and freely lend him whatever he needs.
Be careful not to harbour this wicked thought.
The seventh year, the year for cancelling debts is near,
so that you do not show ill-will towards your needy brother and give him nothing.
He may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin.
Give generously to him, and do so without a grudging heart.
Then, because of this, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work, and in everything you put your hand to.
There will always be poor people in the land.
Therefore, I command you to be open-handed towards your brothers, and towards the poor and needy in your land.
Thanks very much, Alex.
Well, we're making our way through Deuteronomy.
Don't fear, we're not going to go through every single law.
While I'm away, there'll be others speaking, and they're going to be jumping right the way up to chapter 26 and 27.
But they're great things to read, and we're going to be looking at one particular law, one particular command.
And this morning, as the people moved into the land, the promised land, so God gave them laws, which they were to live with.
Let's ask for God's help to see how this applies to us today.
Father, we thank you for this amazing book.
And we come afresh to hear of your amazing grace.
We are needy people.
In many ways, we are poor.
And we need you to fill us with your grace, to enrich us, so that we may know you better.
And we pray that by your Holy Spirit, you would help us to know you better today.
And we ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
A pastor, writing in a book, commented on an article that he had been reading.
The heading on one side of the page read this.
First Baptist Church celebrates new $23 million building.
And an article followed underneath, detailing the wonderful interior, the marble, and the stained glass windows.
Opposite, on the other side of the page, was another heading.
Baptist relief helps Sudanese refugees.
And the article described how 350,000 refugees in Western Sudan were dying from malnutrition.
At the end of that article was this.
Baptists have raised $5,000 to send to refugees in Western Sudan.
I hope your reaction is the same as mine.
But let's not be pointing the finger.
What is our response to the poor?
Whether in other lands far away, or increasingly so, the poor in our own country who are facing difficult economic times.
Well, three things we're going to look at from this section here.
First, God's love for the poor.
God's love for the poor is unmistakable.
Chapter 15, verse 4, we're told that there should be no poor among you.
That meant whether you were local or somebody from outside, there was to be no poor among you.
But, look down at verse 11.
It tells us there that there will always be poor people in the land.
So which is it?
Well, it's not a contradiction.
Rather, this is God expressing his heart's desire that poverty be completely removed.
However, the reality is there will always be people who are poor.
And people become poor through a number of different ways.
Either through the oppression of others, like greedy multinationals who operate sweatshops to meet the demands of cheap goods.
It could be the effects of natural disasters like flooding or drought that ruins crops or destroys businesses.
Or it could be the moral failure of ourselves.
Just pure laziness, poor choices and selfish living.
All of these things and any combination of them can cause poverty.
But God's desire, his response is that poverty is to be eradicated.
Because this is the kind of God that he is.
Look at how God describes himself in chapter 10, verse 17.
Chapter 10, verse 17.
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow and loves the alien, the outsider, giving him food and clothing.
And you are to love those who are outsiders.
For you yourselves were outsiders in Egypt.
Look, he's reminding them.
You were once poor and enslaved in Egypt, in captivity.
But I released you from poverty.
And I have brought you into a good and a prosperous land full of plenty.
You've experienced God's generous and gracious love.
Therefore, you also must display this same gracious and generous love to the poor who are around you.
And of course, those who are considered the most poor, as it says there in verse 18, they were the orphan, the widow, the refugee.
These were people who had no land or property.
Therefore, they had no means of sustaining themselves.
And if we are in any doubt at all as to God's concern for the poor, listen to this from Deuteronomy 27, verse 19.
Let me read it to you.
Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.
Then all the people shall say, Amen.
You see, God loves the poor.
And his desire is quite clear to eradicate all poverty.
But second, God's grace in action or God's grace in our life.
God's love for the poor is expressed through the commands that he gives to his people.
In other words, if God's people begin to obey God's law, so God's grace is seen in action.
So let's look at chapter 15, verse 1 of Deuteronomy.
At the end of every seven years, you must cancel debts.
Now, I think Ireland knows all about debt, don't we?
And most of us have debt.
We've got a mortgage or some other kind of loan.
And we all know that if you're not able to pay off your debts, well, it can lead to terrible poverty.
And that's what we see within our own country at the minute.
Well, through the law that God offered to, or through God's law,
he offered grace to those who found themselves in poverty.
He provided a way out, as it were.
Let's read verse 1 again.
At the end of seven years, you must cancel debts.
This is how it is to be done.
Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite.
He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother,
because the Lord's time for cancelling debts has been proclaimed.
You see, when God's people moved into the Promised Land,
every tribe, every clan, every family was allotted a piece of ground for their provision.
Everybody had their own little allotment, as it were.
A place where they could keep their cattle to graze, and they could grow a few veg.
Now, as the years passed, some did very well, while others, for various reasons,
maybe they were lazy and they didn't dig their garden very well,
and they had to take out a loan, which left them in terrible debt.
And, of course, the idea was that over the years they would try and pay back that loan,
as they were able.
But if they weren't able to pay back that loan,
the law said that every seventh year, the loan was to be cancelled.
The debt was to be written off.
And the reason?
Because, at the end of verse 2,
the Lord's time for cancelling debts has been proclaimed.
So God is saying, look, I am the God who provides a way for you.
I am the God who cares for the poor and will release them from poverty.
You see, this debt, or the cancelling of debts,
was provided for each family so that they would have a fresh start,
a new beginning.
It meant that the slate was completely wiped clean.
In fact, the law also stated that every 49 years,
it was the year of the Jubilee.
And that meant that every piece of land that had been passed on to other people
because of debts had to be given back to the original landowner.
So God's law was put in place to give the people a fresh start.
Now, could you imagine if every seven years
you had a visit from your bank manager
coming to your house to tell you that
all debts have been cancelled,
whether you were at the Ulster Bank or whoever it is,
could you imagine?
What a joy!
What a relief!
The sense of freedom,
the weight that had been tying you down for so long,
has now been lifted,
and poverty is no longer a burden to carry.
You see, God's law obeyed
with God's grace in action.
It was really quite radical.
And no other nation had these kinds of laws.
The other nations that surrounded Israel
looked to them and said,
Wow!
What an amazing nation!
What a God who would provide these kinds of laws!
We don't have anything like this.
For everybody else,
it was, well, if you got into poverty,
well, that was your own fault.
If you were poor,
well, the gods must be angry at what you had done,
and they've cursed you.
But for God's people,
he was providing a means for a fresh start.
God was teaching them this very simple lesson.
I am the God who cancels debts,
wipes the slate clean,
and releases you from poverty.
Well, you think,
Wow!
I'm going to try this out tomorrow.
Hmm?
But you know what?
We're going to end up in all kinds of trouble
if we try and apply this directly.
If you went down to your bank manager tomorrow
and you opened up before him Deuteronomy 15,
Mr. Manager, or Miss Manager,
it's the seventh year.
Cancel my debts!
What would they say to you?
Well, we must remember,
these laws were given
to a particular people
in a particular place.
We're not Israelites, are we?
Anybody here an Israelite?
Didn't think so.
They were living under an old covenant.
We live under a new covenant.
And I don't think anybody here
has been allotted a particular piece of land by God,
have you?
Your house,
did God give you that?
Did he say,
this is where you must live?
You see,
it would be wrong
to expect these laws
to function in exactly the same way today.
However,
as we have seen,
these laws are all about
God's grace in action.
That God does love the poor
and it is God's desire
to eradicate poverty.
well,
that's exactly
what God has done for us
through his son,
Jesus Christ.
We're going to come back to Deuteronomy
and see how it does apply,
more so in a minute,
but for now,
go forward to
Luke's Gospel,
chapter 4.
Luke's Gospel,
chapter 4.
And verse 20,
well,
sorry,
verse 16.
Luke's Gospel,
chapter 4,
verse 16.
Let's read Luke 4,
verse 16.
Jesus went to Nazareth
where he had been brought up
and on the Sabbath day
he went into the synagogue
as was his custom.
And he stood up to read,
the scroll of the prophet Isaiah
was handed to him.
Now,
the prophets,
people like Isaiah
and Jeremiah
and others,
everything that they said
was really a repeat
or an application
of what God's law
had said.
It was a reminder
to the people
of God's law.
So,
Jesus,
the rest of verse 17,
unrolling the scroll
of Isaiah,
he found the place
where it is written.
The Spirit of the Lord
is on me
because he has anointed me
to preach good news
to the poor.
He has sent me
to proclaim freedom
for the prisoners
and recovery of sight
for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year
of the Lord's favour.
Well,
that's what we've just read
in Deuteronomy,
isn't it?
Verse 19 there,
the Lord's time
for cancelling debts
has been proclaimed.
Let's read verse 20,
then Jesus rolled up
the scroll,
he gave it back
to the attendant
and sat down.
The eyes of everyone
in the synagogue
were fastened on him
and he began
by saying to them,
today,
this scripture
is fulfilled
in your hearing.
You see,
as Jesus read
from the prophet Isaiah,
proclaiming the year
of the Lord's favour,
Jesus is proclaiming
to the people
who are listening to them
and to us today
as we read it,
Jesus is saying to us,
you know the seventh year
that you all long for?
That seventh year
is me.
I am the one
who has come
to cancel your debts.
I am the one
who has come
to give you
and your families
a fresh start.
I am the God
who provides you
the new beginning
that you all
so long for
and desire.
I am the one
who wipes
the slate clean.
It is me
who is going
to release you
from poverty.
The year
of cancelling
debts,
it is me.
However,
with Jesus,
this poverty
is no longer
confined to
material poverty.
It is about
spiritual poverty.
He came to preach
good news
to the poor.
Yes,
Jesus was concerned
for people's
material
and temporary
needs,
but his greatest
concern was
people's
spiritual
and eternal
needs.
For God
loves people
like you
and me,
people who
are truly
poor,
people who
are weighed
down by the
debt of sin,
who are crippled
by our guilt
and our shame
from the past
and from the
present,
that we carry
with us,
crippling us
so that we
cannot live life
the way it's
meant to.
And the
ultimate expression
of God's love
for the poor
was to come
to people
who are poor
like us.
God was not
so immune
from us,
but he actually
entered into
this world
through his
son Jesus
Christ for
people like
you and me.
Jesus came
to take
our debt,
to take
our sin
from past,
the present
and the future,
to eradicate
it once
and for all,
to wipe
it away
so that it
would never
be a burden
to carry
ever again,
to wipe
the slate
clean
and to give
us the fresh
start
that every
one of us
needs
every single
day.
you see,
as Christ
would hang
on the
cross,
he was
proclaiming
to the
world
that through
his death
now is
the day
of the
Lord's
favour,
that all
sin debts,
past,
present and
future,
are cancelled
here through
Jesus Christ.
It's only
through the
gospel,
through the
good news
of Jesus,
that our
spiritual
poverty
is completely
ended
and we
have been
set free
to live
a new
kind of
life
with him.
That's
where we
must start
with Deuteronomy
15.
This is
where it
is pointing
to and
where it
leads us
to and
we must
come back
to the
cross
every day
as people
who are
poor
needing
to know
that fresh
start
and the
forgiveness
that he
alone
can bring.
Well,
you say
that is
good news
and in
some ways
that should
be sufficient
in itself
but what
about those
who are
in poverty
materially?
What about
them?
Does God
not care
about that?
Well,
thirdly,
God's
command
to the
church.
You see,
if we
have been
released
from
spiritual
poverty,
then we
will want
to see
others
released
from
material
poverty.
Loving
the poor
and giving
to the
poor
is a
crucial
sign
that we
actually
believe
the
gospel.
If we
say we
believe it
and we
say I'm
a
Christian,
then the
sign that
you are
a Christian
is your
love for
the poor
and giving
to the
poor.
two
things.
First,
open-handed,
not
hard-hearted.
Go back
to
Deuteronomy
15.
Deuteronomy
15,
verse 7.
If there
is a
poor man
among
your
brothers
in any
of the
towns
of the
land
that the
Lord
your
God
is
giving
you,
do
not
be
hard-hearted
or
tight-fisted
towards
your
poor
brother.
rather be
open-handed
and freely
lend him
whatever he
needs.
You see,
a closed
hand
is a sign
of a
hard heart.
If you
know someone
who is in
need,
perhaps they're
struggling to
pay their
bills.
Maybe they
cannot provide
for their
family
adequately.
And you
know what
that need
is and
you do
nothing
about it.
It's just
a reflection
of your
own heart.
It's a
sign that
you are
still in
spiritual
poverty
and have
never
experienced
the fresh
start that
Jesus gives.
Alternatively,
if you
respond to
the material
needs of
others,
then that
is a
sign.
It's an
outworking
of your
genuine
belief in
the gospel.
It's a
sign that
yes,
you have
been to
the cross
and you
have
experienced
God's
grace in
your life.
Listen to
how the
early church
obeyed
God's law
from
Deuteronomy
15 and
demonstrated
their
open-handedness
to one
another.
These are
familiar
words.
I read
them from
Acts 4
verse 34.
This is
what it
says of
the believers
there and
this is
paralleled
from
Deuteronomy
15.
There were
no needy
persons
among them
for from
time to
time those
who owned
lands or
houses sold
them,
brought the
money from
the sales,
put it at
the apostles'
feet and
it was
distributed
to anyone
as he
had need.
What a
radical way
to live.
Nobody
was in
need
among them.
Well, we
as a church
have sought
to do
something about
that.
We have
what we
call a
ministry of
mercy,
something that
we're seeking
to develop.
There is
some funds
available and
it would be
great if that
were increased
to be able
to give
to those
who are
in need.
So if you
know people
within the
family of
this church
who are
in need,
maybe there's
people who
you work
with or
within your
neighbourhood
or friends
who are
in need.
What better
way to
express and
to show
the grace
of God
by giving
them
something that
would help?
It may be
small,
but it
is a sign
of the
grace of
God.
And if
you want
to think
through that
more,
you can
speak to
Alex or
to Jan
who are
looking after
that on
behalf of
the whole
church.
Open-handed,
not hard-hearted,
a sign that
we have
experienced
God's grace
in our own
lives.
second,
generously
and not
grudgingly
in terms
of our
giving.
We need
to be
careful that
we don't
have a
sinful
attitude
towards
the poor.
Look at
verse 9
of Deuteronomy
15.
Be careful
not to
harbour
this wicked
thought.
The
seventh
year,
the year
for
cancelling
debts
is near.
so that
you do
not show
ill will
towards
your
needy
brother
and
give
him
nothing.
You see,
the law
was something
like this.
If somebody
came looking
for financial
help
in year
six,
the reality
is they
would have
very little
paid back
by year
seven.
One year
is not a
long time
to be paying
back your
loan.
So the
temptation
would be
that if
you were
somebody
who had
plenty
and somebody
came along
in year
six and
said,
you know,
I wonder
if I could
just have
a loan
here.
Well,
the temptation
would be
to say,
well,
year seven
is next
year.
I mean,
how am I
ever going
to get
the money
back in
a year's
time?
The temptation
would be
to think,
well,
no,
you've got
yourself
in a
mess.
You
sort
yourself
out.
Why
should I
take the
hit for
your
mistakes?
Well,
that kind
of attitude
is a sign
that we
don't
believe
the gospel.
Deuteronomy
15,
look at the
rest of
verse 9.
He may
then appeal
to the
Lord against
you and
you will
be found
guilty of
sin.
Give
generously to
him and
do so
without a
grudging
heart.
debt.
I think
we can
have that
very
attitude
towards
the
poor.
I know
I can.
Somebody
who is
in need
and you
think,
well,
you know
what,
they were
just very
unwise with
their money.
Why should
I help
them?
After all,
they've just
been on
holiday and
now they
want a
handout.
Huh?
You've
got to be
joking.
If they're
in debt,
well,
it's because
they were
foolish and
silly.
I was
careful with
my money.
I saved
it.
I put it
in a
pension fund
and,
well,
I've been
very good
and they've
just wasted
theirs.
Well,
let me ask
us this
question.
What if
God had
that attitude
with us?
What if
God looked
at my
sin debt
and said,
you know
what,
Johnny?
That's
your mistake.
You
sorted
out.
What if
God were
to show
me and
to throw
before me
my
continued
sin and
said,
you never
learn.
I've
forgiven you
time after
time,
but this
time deal
with it
yourself.
The reality
is we
would be
left in
our
spiritual
poverty.
We
would be
left with
hell.
You see,
if we
have known
the
cancellation
of all
of our
sin
debts,
past,
present,
and future,
if we
have known
the generosity
and grace
of God
who has
provided us
with an
eternal
kingdom,
the ultimate
promised land
where we
will never
be in
want and
never be
in need,
if we
have
experienced
the fresh
start that
only God
can give
to our
lives,
then we
will want
to follow
his command
to love
the poor.
It will
not be a
duty or
a grudge
to do it,
but we
will just
love the
opportunity
to do it.
look at
verse 11
of chapter
15.
There will
always be
poor people
in the
land,
therefore I
command you
to be
open-handed
towards your
brothers
and
towards the
poor
and needy
in your
land.
may God
give us
grace
that we
would always
see how
rich we
truly are,
that we
would be a
church that
is open-handed,
demonstrating
the amazing
grace of
God,
building those
bridges to
welcome people
in so that
they may have
their spiritual
poverty,
their sin
debt cancelled,
once and
for all.
Let's
pray.
Just
reflect for a
moment
on the
amazing work
of Christ,
who has
taken our
sin debt
on himself,
took our
poverty.
Thank you,
Jesus,
that you have
cancelled it,
wiped the
slate clean,
and given
us a fresh
start.
heart.
Thank you
that every
day we
can come,
as it
were,
to the
cross and
find that
fresh start
because our
sin debt has
been cancelled.
Thank you
that we live
today in the
knowledge that
we are your
children,
treasured and
loved.
Lord.
Thank you for
your rich,
generous grace
to us.
And thank you
too for
blessing us.
Thank you that we
live in a country
despite all of our
economic struggles.
thank you for
our homes,
for running
water,
for food to
eat,
for the
blessings that
we have every
single day.
Thank you for
your amazing
grace.
And please
would you
work your
grace in our
hearts
so that we
are not
hard-hearted
but open-handed.
Please
provide for
us in our
lives so
that we are
generous.
I thank you,
Father God,
for this
church family,
for the many
expressions of
generosity.
I pray that
you will
continue to
meet all of
our needs
so that we
are a
generous people
first to
one another
and to
our wider
community
that they
may see
something of
God's
grace,
that they
may be
drawn in,
that they
may experience
what it is
to have
their sin
debt
cancelled.
We ask
this in
Jesus'
name.
Amen.