COUNCIL ADVICE

 COUNCIL ADVICE

They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do. Galatians 2:10.

Introduction

I remember this friend of mine told me about his English cousin. We lived in Scotland at the time. Anyway, the English cousin said to my mate, “I know what a wean is. A wean is a Scottish word for a child, but what on earth is a greetin’ wean?” My friend and I had a great laugh at this! A greetin’ wean is a child or baby who is crying.

Now that I’m living in Australia, I too have a question: What’s a whingeing Pom? I think I’m right in saying that it’s someone from England who complains about living in Australia. But what does anyone have to complain about in Australia? This is the “Lucky Country”, isn’t it? If you’re a Christian. you’d probably like to change that a little to say that Australia is the “Blessed Country”. When you look around at some of our Asian neighbors you can see clearly that Australia has been truly blessed by God. We have modern medicine, modern hospitals with all the latest technology, child immunization programs, and every sort of vaccine you could ask for, etc., etc., etc. Truly, Australia is the Lucky or Blessed Country.

In the following, I hope that you’ll deepen your understanding somewhat as to why Australia has been blessed. It’s all to do with the Gospel.

We’ve already seen that Paul in Galatians 2, has gone to great lengths to demonstrate that his gospel is the same as that of the Jerusalem council. In other words, the gospel he preaches is the same as that of the Apostles and elders of the true church. They all have the same message which is different from that of the false brethren whom we looked at above.

In the following, our focus is on Galatians 2:10, which, speaking of the Council says, “They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.” The general theme of what we’re looking at is: We must remember that the gospel is good news to the poor of this world. 

The Nature of the Gospel

What is the nature of the gospel? In its most basic sense, the gospel message is good news. Everyone knows that. But does everybody know who this good news is for? Well, we’ve already learned that it’s good news for sinners. We’ve learned that the gospel is good news only for sinners. This is not to suggest, of course, that there is a class of people who are not sinners. Jesus illustrates this very thing where He says, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” Luke 5:31-32. So, we begin to see that the good news is good news only to certain people in particular. It is good news only to those who know they need something.

If you’re crawling on your hands and knees through a sun-scorched desert you know you need water. If you’re stuck in a concentration camp during a war and your ribs are showing,  you know you need food. Well, the very nature of the gospel is that it is good news for those who have a need such as these.

The gospel is in particular for those who are thirsty, for those who are hungry. Therefore the nature of the gospel is that it’s for those in time of need. “Remember the poor” is the Council Advice given to the Apostle Paul. Keep in mind those in need.

Paul has met with the council of elders. They have discussed the doctrinal issue of what the gospel is. They are all in agreement that the gospel alone is sufficient for salvation. They’ve made a covenant by giving each other the right hand of fellowship (Galatians 2:9). It’s kind of like a student at college or uni. They’ve all sat the exam on the theory of the gospel. And now they’re preparing themselves for the next exam, how to put the gospel into practice. “Remember the poor”. In other words, “Remember that you have another exam ahead of you! Be a doer of God’s Word and not just a hearer only.” We see that this was Paul’s desire anyway. And we’re not suggesting that Paul was a novice when it comes to the gospel. For the Council didn’t teach him anything he didn’t already know. For he says at the end of Galatians 2:6 that they “added nothing to me”.

So then, the Apostle Paul has passed the examination with flying colors. He has passed with distinction, with honors. He argued brilliantly that nothing may be added to the gospel. And by the same token, in Paul’s estimation, the Council has passed with flying colors too. They all know what the nature of the gospel is. It is a message of hope with no strings attached. It’s a message of the great freedom that is to be had in Jesus Christ. It’s freedom from all man-made religions. It’s freedom from the shackles and bondage of false religion.

The very nature of the gospel is the freedom to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. It is the freedom to love your neighbour as yourself! “Remember the poor! The very thing which I also was eager to do!

“Love your neighbour as yourself!” “Lord, who is my neighbor?” “Your neighbor is any person who needs a neighbour!” Would you like the good Samaritan as your neighbour? Of course, you would, because you know he would fly to your assistance in your hour of need. “A friend in need is a friend indeed!”, so the modern saying goes. So then, in simple terms, the gospel good news.

We live in an age when we’re bombarded with news. This is the age of information. Once upon a time, it used to take hours, weeks even months for news to travel. Now we watch it live as it happens. News on the TV, news on the radio, news on the Internet. News! News! News! And more News! “We interrupt this news bulletin to bring you this news...” We’re all full to bursting with news, like the man who ate the New York Times for breakfast.

Well, I’m afraid too many Christians have been treating the gospel as just another piece of news! I know that’s the way the non-Christian views it, just another piece of news. And quite frankly, we don’t need any more news. It’s good news we need. And who needs a piece of good news more than those who are poor? Those who are the rejects of society.

The news is full of stories about the rich and famous. But What about the poor? “Remember the poor!” is the Council Advice. “But we would rather hear about the exploits of the rich and famous!”, cries the world. And, “Who wants to hear about a bunch of good-for-nothings?” And so the poor, in general terms, are shunned by the world. But there is good news for the poor. The gospel. The gospel is good news to all who believe, including the poor.

Didn’t Jesus say, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor” Luke 4:18a. Almighty God has a soft spot for the poor, doesn’t He? James in  2:5 asks this rhetorical question, “Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?”

God, then, wants you and me, He wants His church, to take His gospel to the poor. Is this some news teaching? Is this some new doctrine we find only in the New Testament? Of course not. Try Deuteronomy 15:11 for a start, “For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.” Jesus reaffirmed this when He says in Luke 26:11a, “For you have the poor with you always.”

Let’s move on, we know the nature of the gospel is more than news. It’s good news.

The Nurture of the Gospel

The gospel isn’t just words. It’s also action. We need to be well-balanced here. We need to know why we’re doing what we’re doing. We need to understand the nature of the gospel as well as the nurture of the gospel. We need to understand the gospel message as the expression of the kindness and compassion of God.

Did the Lord not provide a beautiful creation with food in abundance for all His creatures? Did the Lord not clothe the naked Adam and Eve in the Garden after they sinned? Did the Lord not feed Israel in the wilderness? Did the Lord not feed His worn out and the weary prophet Elijah? Did the Lord not send in ravens with food for him? And the Lord cares about the widows and orphans. He commands His people to look after them. We are to make sure they have food enough to eat, e.g., Deuteronomy 14:29.

And what about the widow and her son who lived during a famine when the great drought was upon the land? Elijah the Prophet asked her for some food and she replied, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” So the Lord took care of things and made sure the bin of flour never ran empty nor was the oil to run dry until the day the Lord would send the rain.

When I was serving my apprenticeship as a plumber in Scotland, one time I was sent on my own to an elderly lady’s house. I can’t remember what the plumbing problem was. But I remember having a cup of tea with this old woman who lived all alone. I can even remember the chocolate biscuit she offered me. It was a Kit Kat. We sat and we chatted. An elderly lady and a sixteen or seventeen year old. She didn’t have much. All she had was the bare necessities. Her husband was long dead and her family had all moved away. The poor old woman just wanted some company. It seems that no one ever visited her at least that’s the impression I got from the Kit-cat. As I looked at the wrapper I could see that there was a contest you could enter. But there was a time limit. The offer had expired about eight years before! Oh! “Remember the poor!” The gospel is especially good news to those in need.

What did Jesus do when He preached the gospel to the five thousand? How did He apply what He was teaching them? He fed them, didn’t He? “He was moved with compassion for them” Matthew 14:14. No one knows the nature of the gospel more than Christ. And neither does anyone know the nurture more than He. To nurture something is to care for it. It’s to maintain it. It’s to feed and nourish it. And we’re being told to nurture the poor, be they poor in wealth or poor in spirit.

But who are poorer in spirit than those who have little or nothing? The rich man thinks he has it all. He thinks he needs nothing. That’s why Jesus says, “It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” Matthew 19:23-24. This is not to say the rich man can’t be saved too. With God, nothing will be impossible. I’m sure little Zacchaeus was a rich man.

But the thing about the poor is that they know they are poor. And paradoxically, those who are rich generally don’t know how poor they are. The Lord rebuked the church at Laodicea because of that very problem. He said to them, “I will spew you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and need for nothing’ and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” Revelation 3:17. Therefore the Lord would have His gospel preached to those who know themselves to be poor. To those who are hungry and thirsty, He says, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” John 6:35. Therefore, the gospel is for the nurture of those in need. The poor recognize their need.

So how come so few seem to be listening to the gospel in Australia? Do you think maybe it’s because this is the “Lucky Country?” We want for nothing in Australia. Or do we? We have the gospel, don’t we? I put it to you that Australia had the gospel and that is why she was so blessed. That is why she was the “Lucky Country”. But the gospel has just become another piece of news. It is no longer good news. Why? Because people have been convinced that they are well off when they are not.

Think about it, half of all marriages in Australia end in divorce. People just shack up together and the government calls it marriage. At the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras people dance around half-naked making lewd gestures in public, and what do the police do? They pose for photographs with them! The gospel was the thing that made Australia great. The gospel was what set the people free from their bondage to sin, the sin of adultery, the sin of fornication, the sin of practicing homosexuality.

In Australia, we think we are so rich when in fact we have nothing! We are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. The reason the gospel has little success is that the people of Australia cannot see their needs. If you think the church is any different then what happened to the diaconate?

Where are all the deacons in the Presbyterian Church of Australia? We don’t need deacons to look after our poor anymore. The Government (i.e., the taxpayer) takes care of that. But does the government send them the gospel when it sends them their welfare payment? It’s not even a cheque in the mail anymore, is it? It’s just a bunch of digits in a bank account. And now you don’t even need to see the bank teller. All you have to do now to receive your gospel blessing is look at your reflection as you punch some numbers into a computer!

What has happened to the “Lucky Country”? I know a disabled lady who used to drive a great distance out of the city to a small town just to put petrol in her car. All the service stations in Brisbane are self-service stations, no good for wheelchair-bound people. “Remember the poor”.

The Lucky Country has forgotten her poor. She tells her poor to buy a Scratch-It. Come out to the casino. Pick up your welfare payment at your local ATM. No, don’t even do that. Just swipe your credit card.

The gospel is about bringing liberty and freedom to those who know they are poor. That’s why there are to be no additions to the gospel message. Could you picture yourself saying to someone in dire straits, “The Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to remember you? We can see that you’re wearied and burdened. We see you’re hungry and destitute. We’ve got some good news for you. If you are willing to undergo circumcision, it’s a simple operation, then you’ll never have to go hungry again. You’ll receive eternal life just for believing in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. But you have to be circumcised, baptized, stop your smoking, drinking, gambling, etc., etc., etc.” And this is what many Christians believe Christianity is all about. No! The Gospel is about liberty.  It’s about being set free to love God and your neighbor as yourself. It’s not about placing shackles on people. It’s about setting them free. The gospel is good news to whom? Especially to the poor.

What was the message the Judaizers wanted to take to the world? “Here! God wants you to put these handcuffs on. See if you can squeeze into this straitjacket while you’re at it!”

I mentioned the whingein’ Pom earlier. What is a whingein’ Pom but a homesick migrant? He’s comparing Australia to jolly old England. He wants Australia to measure up to his expectations. But he’s had it too good where he came from. But if you came here from a Third World country you’d be saying, “Australia is the Lucky Country.” Yet more and more people are saying, “Let only those who are rich, and those who are skilled come to Australia!” Canada is the same way. So is the USA.

To be sure, there’s a difference between receiving migrants and refugees. When it comes to migrants, it makes sense to seek to receive only those that are self-sufficient and self-supporting. However, when it comes to legitimate refugees, it seems that all the countries the gospel made great may be turning their backs to the gospel. Instead of “remember the poor”, it’s, “Don’t bother coming here unless you’ve got something to offer us.” Yes, there are many “economic refugees”, those who are not fleeing persecution per se but are simply wanting to come to Australia because our economy is better than where they are leaving. And, it goes without saying that. of course, our government must consider which refugees would best fit into a Christianized nation, such as Australia. However, we must not forget God. We must not forget the nature of the gospel. Or forget the nurture of the gospel.

The USA had it right. And God blessed America. Could you imagine what it would be like to leave a country where there is no freedom of speech? We take all the freedom we have for granted. Well, some countries shoot people for complaining about government policy. It must have been great being a refugee from one of these countries, sailing into New York for instance. There’s the Statue of Liberty up ahead. You’re on a boat full of people fleeing the bondage of persecution. Then someone on the boat tells you about this great statue you see growing taller and taller as you grow closer. They quote to you some of the words written on it:

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Oh, you may think that’s hackneyed and corny but it perfectly illustrates the theme of what we’re looking at. We must remember that the gospel is good news to the poor of this world.

Conclusion

Australia isn’t America. It’s not Canada. Neither is it Scotland. However, it was the gospel that made all these nations great places to live. Don’t let the light of the gospel be extinguished in Australia. Lift up the lamp beside the golden door as it were. Show the people Jesus, the gateway into the land of liberty.

And remember the poor. “Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom”? For, didn’t Jesus say, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” Matthew 11:28-30.