The poor give gifts to the rich.

Steve Brown:
The poor give gifts to the rich. I’ll explain, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
Key Life is a radio program for struggling believers sick of phony religion and pious cliches. Our host and teacher is seminary professor Steve Brown. He teaches that radical freedom leads to infectious joy and surprising faithfulness.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. By the way, before I forget, Happy Valentine’s Day. Now, you owe me if you forgot to get a valentine for your friend or your spouse. Go, in fact, I give you permission not to listen to this broadcast, but to go somewhere, maybe the corner drugstore, and get a valentine, and when you give it to your friend or your spouse, don’t tell them that I had to remind you. Okay. I introduced this subject yesterday, but we ran out of time, and it’s a good subject. It’s the gift of the poor. Proverbs 19:17.

He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and he will pay back what he has given.

Proverbs 22:23 or 22:22 through 23.

Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, nor oppress the afflicted at the gate. For the Lord will plead their cause and plunder the soul of those who plunder them.

And in chapter 31 of Proverbs.

The generosity of the virtuous woman is praised over and over again.

Let me tell you something, we sometimes don’t think. When we give, when we care, when we show mercy, when we love, we bless those people to whom we give, to whom we show mercy, and those that we love. But let me tell you something else. We bless ourselves in doing that too. There’s an old Jewish story of the beggars in Jerusalem who went on strike because the people who gave them gifts were not giving enough. And they wanted change in the hourly rate, and so they went on strike, and they refused to accept the gifts that were given to them by the rich. Now, the problem was that those in Jerusalem had a high degree of passion for obeying the law of God. And the law of God said, and we read some of that in Proverbs, the law of God said that you must give to the poor. But what do you do if the poor refuse to receive it? You can’t fulfill what God said for you to do. And you know what happened? The beggars and the rich people came together for negotiations. And the rich people pledged to give a little bit more, and the poor people pledged to accept it, and everything was okay. You know, in that story, there is an important truth. And that truth is, when you give, when you love, when you show compassion and mercy, not only does that person get blessed, but you get blessed, too. And I’m not just talking about you feel good because you did good. There is that. I’m talking about something more profound than that. That in living a life of giving, whether that’s financially, the gifts that we have in ministry, the caring for other people, reaching out and listening to a friend who’s going through a hard time, something supernatural takes place. And God moves on your side of the line, and you get blessed. And so, the blessing goes both ways. Let me say something that’s hard for a right wing conservative like me. The liberals have a point. Listen to Proverbs 28:15 through 16a.

Like a roaring lion and a charging bear, the wicked ruler over poor people. The ruler who lacks understanding is a great oppressor.

Proverbs 20:14.

The king who judges the poor with truth, his throne will be established forever.

Now, this isn’t a brief for government programs, but it is a brief for the government being sensitive to the needs of normal people who are going through tough times. One of the problems in our country, and this is true in Canada too, is that in the places of leadership, there’s a bubble. And in that bubble, as you talk to one another and nobody else, as you challenge one another and nobody else, as you share your views in the bubble with nobody else, you lose touch with what’s going on in the world. And you lose touch with the poor. I’m not all together favorable to all the government programs that have been designed to help, because in so many cases, they don’t help. But I’ll tell you something, I like their way of doing it than our way of not doing it. The truth is that In their hearts, they were aware there was need and even if they tried to meet the need the wrong way, at least they tried. So many on my side, and I’m so conservative when Rush Limbaugh, I’ve told you, was alive, I thought he was a communist. So many on our side are unresponsive to real needs of real people. Doug Hall is a friend of mine. One of the most obedient guys I know. He’s planted multitudes of churches in the slums and the bad areas of the Boston area. And I one time said to him, Doug, why do you do this? And he looked at me like I was crazy, and he said, because God told me to. He does. You think about that. Amen.

Well, it’s Wednesday and sometimes if I have time, I’ll answer one or two questions. But Pete Alwinson comes in on Friday and we devote the entire broadcast to your questions. And by the way, love to get your questions. You can ask a question any time you want. You can just dial 1-800-KEY-LIFE and follow the instructions. Record your question and sometimes we put your voice on the air. Or you can write to

Key Life Network
P.O. Box 5000
Maitland, Florida 32794

in Canada, it’s

Key Life Canada
P.O. Box 28060
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 6J8

And you can, of course, e-mail your question to [email protected] and the only dumb question is the one you don’t ask. And if you can help us financially, both of those places that I gave you are places where you could do that. Pray about it, and if you can help us financially, please do. We’re a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And they oversee our books, affirming that we are ethical. They also say that I’m handsome, and wise, and smart. And, no, well, they don’t say that. But they do watch our finances. So, if you can help, please do. And if you can’t, we understand. Say a prayer for this ministry.

All right, this is an e-mail. My Christian friend says that the only place to look for answers is in the Bible. Any other place is man made and not to be looked at under any circumstances. What do you think? I think your friend is a twit. Let him try to build a birdhouse and do it with the Bible. You can’t do that. The Scriptures are very clear on what is wise and good, and they are always true. But they don’t address every subject. The truth is, Jesus said.

I am the truth.

And wherever truth is spoken. And you can measure it by the Bible. Wherever truth is spoken, in any book where it’s written, in any broadcast where it’s aired, the truth is the truth. And Jesus is there because He is the truth. This is another e-mail. What does the Bible say about gambling? Nothing. It really doesn’t. A foundation asked me one time, to write a sermon that would be sent to all of the pastors in Florida on the subject of gambling as we fought the casinos moving into Florida. And I said, sure, I’ll do that. And then I got out my Bible and I couldn’t find a text. If the Scripture doesn’t speak to the issue directly, do know that the circumstances do. Gambling can destroy you. It can be addictive. It can destroy your family. It can destroy everything that is important to you. And once you get that addiction, it is very, very hard to break. And so, when I wrote the sermon, and I did, it was mostly In talking about the repercussions that come from gambling that are all negative and very difficult. This is another e-mail. Is church membership Biblical? Yeah, well, they didn’t have membership roles. And they had no denominational headquarters where you sent a report every year. But being a part and even a formal part of the covenant people of God is very Biblical. Go to the Book of Ephesians and read about the church and the importance of the church. Go to I Corinthians and read chapter 12 and read about the gifts of the Spirit that are to be shared in the church. Read the text where it says that we’re the same body and that we are one. The Bible has a lot to say about the church. And membership is a good thing. Whether you put it on a piece of paper or do it by putting your body in the pew. When the people of God worship, you show who’s side you’re on. That’s enough and I’ve got to go. But first, Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.