God Sees the Poor

The Lord Made Them Both

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The poor man at the rich man's gate longed for crumbs from the table (Luke 16:21). But Jesus told us his name: Lazarus (Luke 16:20). God sees people who are poor and forgotten.

One Maker. Proverbs says that the rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord is the Maker of them all (Proverbs 22:2). Rich or poor, every person is made by God.

Job remembered. Job was a very rich man who feared God (Job 1:1, 3). He asked how he could ever treat his servants badly, because the same God who made him had made them too (Job 31:13-15). He shared his bread with children who had no father and gave clothes to people who were cold (Job 31:16-20).

Honoring the Maker. Proverbs says that whoever treats the poor cruelly insults the God who made them, but whoever shows mercy to the needy honors Him (Proverbs 14:31). How we treat people shows what we think of God.

God hears. David wrote, “This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles” (Psalm 34:6). God listens to people that nobody else listens to.

Not forgotten. Another psalm promises that the needy will not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor will not be lost forever (Psalm 9:18). God remembers.

We are all needy. When it comes to sin, every one of us is poor. “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him” (Psalm 49:7). No amount of money can pay for one soul.

God paid. So God paid it Himself. “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” and “rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The rich and the poor come to God the same way: by trusting Jesus.

What we learn. God made every person, sees every person and hears the cry of the poor. No one is a nobody to Him.

What to do. Look for the person others pass by: someone sitting alone, someone left out, someone who needs help. Treat them as someone God made, because He did. If you want to help a person in need, do it together with a parent or another grown-up you trust.

The rich man had purple, fine linen and a feast every day. The beggar had sores, an empty stomach and a name that Jesus spoke: Lazarus (Luke 16:19-20). God's way of seeing people is very different from the world's.

One Maker (Proverbs 22:2). The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all. Money divides people into groups. Creation puts them in one family.

Job's reasoning (Job 31:13-15). Job was the greatest man of the East (Job 1:3). He asked what he would answer God if he had brushed aside the complaints of his servants. Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Job's wealth did not make him worth more than the people who worked for him.

Job's table (Job 31:16-20). He said he had not eaten his bread alone while the fatherless had none, and had not seen anyone perish for lack of clothing without warming them. Job opened his hands to people in need.

Honor or insult (Proverbs 14:31). Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but whoever honors God has mercy on the needy. Treating a poor person as worthless is an insult to the God who made him.

Heard (Psalm 34:6). “This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.” The God of heaven bends His ear to the cry of a poor man.

Not forgotten (Psalm 9:18). The needy will not always be forgotten; the hope of the poor will not perish forever. People may forget the poor. God never does.

All of us poor (Psalm 49:7). “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him.” This psalm speaks to people who trust in their wealth. Riches cannot buy a single life back from death. Before God, the rich man and Lazarus were equally unable to pay.

The ransom paid. What money could not do, Christ did. He “died for our sins according to the Scriptures” and “rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Rich and poor come to God the same way, through faith in Him.

Application. Learn to see people as God sees them. The person you are tempted to ignore was made by the same God who made you, and Jesus died for them too. When you help someone in need, go with a parent or another trusted adult.

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The rich man feasted inside his gate, and Lazarus was left outside it. James wrote to Christians so that nothing like this would happen among God's people.

The best seat. James asked his readers to imagine two visitors at church. One wears gold rings and fine clothes. The other is poor and wears dirty clothes. What if you give the rich man a good seat and tell the poor man to stand or sit on the floor (James 2:1-3)?

Judging by the outside. James said that would be judging people with evil thoughts (James 2:4). Showing favorites means treating people better or worse because of how they look or what they have.

Rich in faith. James reminded them that God has chosen many who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and to receive the kingdom He promised to those who love Him (James 2:5).

The royal law. James wrote, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture,” which is to love your neighbor as yourself, you do well (James 2:8). But showing favorites is sin (James 2:9).

Moses said it first. Long before, God told His people through Moses not to harden their hearts or shut their hands against a poor brother. Instead they were to open their hands wide to him (Deuteronomy 15:7-8, 11).

A closed ear. Proverbs warns that whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will cry out himself and not be heard (Proverbs 21:13).

Lending to the Lord. Proverbs also says that being kind to the poor is like lending to the Lord, and He will repay (Proverbs 19:17).

God sees the heart. Jesus told the Pharisees who loved money, “God knows your hearts” (Luke 16:15). You can look good to people and still have a hard heart toward God and others.

Not a way to earn heaven. Being kind to the poor does not save us. “For by grace you have been saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). When Jesus saves us, He gives us new hearts that care about people.

What to do. At school, at church or at the park, notice who is left out, and make room for them. If you want to help someone in need, do it with a parent or another grown-up you trust.

Luke 16:19-21 shows a rich man inside his gate and a poor man outside it. James wrote to churches so that the same picture would never appear among believers.

Partiality (James 2:1). James told believers not to hold the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ with partiality. The Greek word is prosopolempsia (say: pros-oh-poh-lemp-SEE-ah), literally receiving the face: judging people by the outside.

The test case (James 2:2-4). A man with gold rings and fine clothes comes into the assembly, and so does a poor man in filthy clothes. If you give the first a good seat and tell the second to stand or sit by your footstool, you have become judges with evil thoughts.

God's choice (James 2:5). James asks whether God has 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's view of people runs opposite to the world's.

The royal law (James 2:8-9). “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture” by loving your neighbor as yourself, you do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin.

Open your hand (Deuteronomy 15:7-11). Through Moses God said not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother, but to open your hand wide to him. He added that there would always be poor people in the land, so the command would always apply.

Ears and loans (Proverbs 21:13; 19:17). Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard. Whoever has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given.

Esteemed by men (Luke 16:15). Jesus told the money-loving Pharisees, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” God measures people by the heart, not by their clothes.

Grace first. None of this earns salvation. “For by grace you have been saved through faith ... it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). Fair, open-handed love is the fruit of a heart God has changed, not the price of getting in.

Application. Watch for favoritism in yourself: who you eat lunch with, who you laugh at, who you listen to. Ask God to give you His eyes. When you help someone in need, go with a parent or another trusted adult.

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