Poverty....the Wayfarer 2/17/16

Poverty
  2/17/16

¹⁶ And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

¹⁷ And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

¹⁹ To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

²⁰ And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

²¹ And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

(Luke 4:16-21)

As Jesus went from place to place ministering, and preaching the gospel, the audience was invariably filled with those considered to be poor at the time.

Poverty was, and true poverty still remains, a condition of captivity for those within its grasp and bound by its chains. 

The impoverished exist side by side with the wealthy, too often going unnoticed by them, unassisted by them, and in fettered by the chains of captivity that may only be broken with assistance.

The above statement does not refer to the poverty that is defined by monetary affluence for either the poor or the wealthy, or those who appear to be poor or wealthy, which will in fact be the point of this dissertation.

Physical poverty at that time entailed an absence of not only income, but an absence of any form of creature comfort to include the very sustenance required to exist on a daily basis.

Shelter from the elements, food, clothing that meet the requirements for which clothing is intended, (covering and protecting the body) were the things most sought by the impoverished.

Basic human NEEDS were denied them while allowed to languish and expire as others took all they could acquire for themselves, with no thought of those who had nothing, to include having no hope of betterment in a society that ignored them.

Beggars begged alms, gaining a coin now and then to sustain the misery for just a bit longer, the "day workers" of the time worked for what compensation given in order to sustain themselves and their families, that sustenance being the goal of their labor, again with no hope for aught but the survival of another day.

These received no help from anyone, demanded no help from anyone, and expected only the same existence to continue until they ceased to exist.

This same sort of physical poverty still remains with us all around a planet that boasts of the progress made since the days in which Jesus lived preaching the hope and good news of the gospel to them that this condition was not permanent and need not be permanent unless chosen to be so.

The worth and worthiness of each soul was preached to them, as was the hope that could come only through God, be fulfilled only by God.

What was not preached was any form of insurrection or theft, or other means of throwing off this condition by placing others within its confinement.

Jesus called the condition of these poor to the attention of those who could help, could offer a means of escape from the bonds of that poverty, and were unwilling to do so because of their own greed for ever more wealth also within the boundaries of its definition at the time.

Basic human needs were what was asked for in the way of assistance, not the opulence of the wealthy.

The truly poor, physically poor remain with us still, on the streets of cities with the same lack of basic human necessity to exist, often holding the same lack of hope for anything more than the existence for yet another day of the misery that binds them to life.

Some of these remain bound to that misery of their own choice, choosing to pursue perceived pleasures and escape over necessity.

These choose not to attempt to break the bonds that hold them, but cling to those bonds by using any means possible to acquire the alcohol and drugs that dull their perception of the poverty stricken existence instead.

Yet, alongside them are others, abandoned, unable to overcome those bonds that are the result of physical and mental disability that they of their own free will have not chosen and would gladly escape it that escape were possible.

Both are invisible to the "wealthy" of our time, just as they were when Jesus called them to the attention of the "wealthy" of his time.

Meanwhile, others ride the elevator that provides them far more than the necessities of life so needed by the invisible, taking every assistance offered without the expenditure of effort to help themselves, much less assist the truly needy, robbing those most in need of help desperately needed.

For them, there is no end to the definition of poverty, unless it is to be given, without effort,  all the things earned by those who have recognized and continue to recognize that there is a requirement for effort on the part of each to participate in labor to partake of the rewards of that labor.

These are not invisible, nor are they mute, but loudly demand the attention denied those who are truly impoverished.

Money is thrown at them, perhaps in hope it will eventually buy silence, but there is no effort to assure that silence is generated by filling the needs of those specifying want above the need.

This too is not the poverty, in and of itself, which I would address, but a far greater poverty that goes unnoticed, even more invisible than the homeless that fill the streets of the cities that have so much to offer, if it were to be considered.

The poverty I would address  is the poverty disguised as wealth, a poverty that has to do with the soul that is an eternal poverty as opposed to the poverty that ends for the body upon the death of that body.

That poverty was, and, is the root cause of that physical poverty already discussed.

That poverty is a poverty that has no physical bounds, and cannot be rectified by any law passed  by man, tax imposed on man, or assistance given by man.

It is the poverty of never recognizing the sovereignty and omnipotence of the ONE holding all wealth, physical and eternal as well.

Mankind may get a warm fuzzy when the cries are silenced, for a bit, as the hunger and need go unfilled while those cries  drown our the silence of misery endured unwillingly.

The silent cries will not go unheard, will not be drowned out by greed, will not be thwarted by avarice, but go instead directly to the ear of God himself, Who not only hears those silent cries, but sees the true need, and true poverty of those refusing to accept its very existence.

Treasures are built up each day, even by the "impoverished". It is a matter of the consistence of those treasures that remains important to the ONE who measures the poverty not of body, but of soul.

Matthew 6:19-21King James Version (KJV)

¹⁹ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

²⁰ But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

As a final note in reference to poverty, true poverty, I would include one more scriptural reference given by the ONE holding the only true wealth of the WAY, TRUTH and LIFE.

¹³ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

¹⁴ And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

¹⁵ I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

¹⁶ So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

¹⁷ Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

¹⁸ I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

¹⁹ As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

²¹ To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

²² He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

(Revelation 3:13-22)

Without the recognition of Christ Jesus as Savior, that He alone holds the means of acquisition of real and eternal wealth, poverty is the destiny of all that deny that wealth.

All human kind have a choice of rejecting poverty for a wealth that is immeasurable, yet most choose to remain in poverty associating wealth only with the "treasures" of this world.

This sinner, saved by grace, through faith in what only He could do, and did, what only He could give, and GAVE may appear far more impoverished than many, but holds far greater wealth than may be measured by man.

That wealth is available to all, and the only expenditure of effort is to accept what has been given.

Redemption through repentance.


Luke 6:20-26King James Version (KJV)
²⁰ And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
²¹ Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.
²² Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.
²³ Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
²⁴ But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.
²⁵ Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.
²⁶ Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

The welalth of eternal life remains available to one and all who hear and heed the message of redemption through repentance that allows no poverty for the souls who have believed.

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen, and Amen.

the Wayfarer