SUBJECT--'C;_h_u...,.;n_v..;.A.s_' _,....J«_e..::~+f;......;...trn.:..:=J ....;e._.=-------

TEXT Matthew 25:34-46

TITLE "THE CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO HUMAN NEED (HUNGER)"

SCRIPTURE READING•----------------

DELIVERIES: Date F.B.C. 10-5-88

; I t-?-v F' Bc 11~--<XI

Hour WED. P.M.

" , I

j,t,;,i f/11

Place San Ange l o, TX

BIBLIOGRAPHY ___________ _

H l) Al G-E '(

It 3 E.F~~-~~--

CLASSIFICATION: 1(/t:D

__K_EXPOSITORY - - BIOGRAPHICAL - - TEXTUAL --TOPICAL --- DEVOTIONAL

Results and Comments:

(XXX++++);

you? ' And the King will answer them, ' This is the truth I tell you-insomuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' Then He will say to those on the left, ' Go from me, you cursed ones, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and you did not give me to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not gather me to you; naked, and you did not clothe me; sick and in prison, and you did not come to visit me.' Then these too will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not render service to you? ' Then He will answer them, ' This is the truth I tell you-in so far as you did not do it to one of the

¥ least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these ~e.- will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteo~;"'~ ~

fi.e-,P' will go away to eternal life." ~~~. •

HIS is one of the most vivid arables whic esu ever spoke, and the I sson of it is er stal clear-. The lesson is

ounds, f writin our names in the annals of history; it is a

case of ivin simple, human help to the people we meet every day. There never was a parable which so opened the way to glory to the simplest people.

(ii) I i uncalculatin . Those ho hel ed did not think that the were helping Christ

and thus piling up eternal merit; the hel ed because they could not stop themselves helping. It was the natural,

359

&

~rJ-r;, THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

........... ----'---'-'--....;:..;_----'-____;;._~.;.;..;..-;.._ __ _..:,.:;.._ ______ ~v.s ___________ ...___ I(()

The other was ar no ours. e ~was a Roman soldier, nd a Christian. One cold winter day, as he was cnterin

a city, be gar sto ed h!tn and asked hin1 for alms. Martin had o mone ; but the be ar was blue and shiverin with cold, and Martin ave what he had. He took off his soldier's coat, worn and frayed as it was ; he tt in two and ave half of it to the be 1na- .- -Tha ni ht he had a dream. In it he saw th heavenly _places and all the n els and esus in the midst oI the.m;

360

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

THE BEGINNING OF THE LAST ACT OF THE TRAGEDY

Matthew 26: I-5 When Jesus had completed all these sayings, He said to His disciples, " You know that in two days time it is the Passover Feast, and the Son of Man is going to be delivered to be crucified." At that time the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the courtyard of the High Priest, who was called Caiaphas, and took counsel together to seize Jesus by guile and to kill Him. They said, .. Not at the time of the Feast, lest a tumult arise among the people."

HERB then is the final and the definite beginning of the last act of the di-vine tragedy. Once again Jesus warned His disciples of that which was to come. For the last few days He had been acting with such magnificent defiance that they might have thought that He proposed to defy the Jewish authorities; but here once again He makes it clear that His aim is the Cross.

And at the same time the Jewish authorities were laying their plots and stratagems. Joseph Caiaphas, to give him his full name, was High Priest. We know very little about Caiaphas, but we do know one most suggestive fact about him. In the old days the office of High Priest had been hereditary and it had been for life; but when the Ramans took over in Palestine High Priests came

361

BIBLE STUDY~r-r4f /1,J

The Christian Response o Human Need

IVTM -- - 3;.-'f,S-Matthew 25:34-40

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye cc111 e unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answerhim, saying, Lorn, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and cc111e unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

-...IM&..=-a.a.,.._ristics of Our Response 1. It Helps In Simple Things (vs.35-36) 2. It Is Uncalculating (vs.37-39) G~.IV-of S"e,rl. 3. It Honors Christ (vs.40)

Its Characteristics (1) It is ALL-inclusive

--vs. 32 "all nations", 'sh e & oats" (2) It nowl es the nature of all (3) It is an indictment of the lack of response

to human need - -NS. 42-43 (4) It identifies Christ with the needy ~ 1+0.k (5) It reveals the seriousness of omission 7: h!;e- A(.

--vs. 45 "You did it not..." '

111.~ .~ ac~ I Expr.ession of Our Response $ 1 = 3 plates of food $10 = a box of food for a homebound senior

citizen $13 = a goat in Bangladesh project $25 = month's food for a fan ily in Recite, Brazil $54 = month's food for orphans in Argentina

80% through Foreign Mission Boan.t 20% through Home Mission Boan.t

0% expense

~: f~,t,c,,·., d'f As1,-.,; of. 1.~l'~Jf ,"fA,c~.,,, eJ.(. Tcw1<.s + 61!.f/-1~

Sunday PM Sermon Outline for May 11, 2008

"The Christian Response to Human Need" CiA ·JdRe,,-n ~ ', ~w~ ~ ~~Tei Rercve. , ,, 11 1

I. e Charactenstics of Our Response '3$'/ 1. It helps in simple things - vss. 35-36 p, . ~ ~ ~re,

II.

2. It is uncalculating- vss. 37-39 ~ VV:. f' ..;;J J I 3. It honors Christ - vs. 40 f,j~ ,1/(J) God's Judgment of Our Res onse 1. Its basis IJ .J ~, $A~ 2. Its chara<!t:eristics

It is all-inclusive - vs. 32 "all nations" + It acknowledges the nature of all-vs. 32 ·'sh .eefJcf-ftJA- > It is an indictment of our lack of response - vss. 42-43 17 ..JI.,_ ,,A fl' It identifies Christ with the needy - vs. 4olr- ",. , t~~se "1rl f ~ ;v It reveals the seriousness of omission - vs. 45

III. :A Practical Expression of Our Response Faith in Action

F~t~ A1A~tfl>t p:f Tt;vl(.f

fOC- -r"J - ,., ' -,,. --c.••'l'rr';/

Our Daily Bread '" -'i _.,,,

r At the heart of the Lord's Prayer is the petition, "Give us this day ou77 daily bread." This affirms the body's need for food and its proper place in our obedience to God.

Jesus made feasting rather than fasting the proper celebration of his presence with us (Mark 2 :19). The Lord's Supper was originally a full mBal by which the hungry could be fed (1 Car. 11 :17-22l.

Jesus was willing to forego food for himself, and he made self-denial a condition to discipleship. He saw food not as an evi l to shun but a good to forego in the face of some higher claim. He declared, "Man does not live by bread alone." Even in establishing his priorities, Jesus did not negate our

• need for bread. Significantly, when Jesus spoke of t he poor and t he hungry, his emphasis was in another direction. He made our disposition to feed the hungry a nonnegotiable test for our kinship with him. " In that ye did it . .. did it not . . . to the least of these, ye did it ... did it not .. . to me.

It is an irony that our world is made up largely of t hose who are weight-watchers and those who are starving. Many of us worry about eating too much. Most of the world cannot understand our problem. Instead of worrying about eating too much they worry about malnutrition

I ~nd starvation. The anomaly is worseneq b_y thefoct that we Chr istians _j l,!f'e more identified with the weiijht-watchers than with the hungry.

w· · · · · - . . ... · een meals.

::e~ WORLD Hu NG E / ~airawling ia.,, 0;( e.,+£1t y~ EAd./- DA"f "30,1)6() I~~

its ~ l).M Alt U,;/Jie,,, S--l O ;ff(: l.f pe11tso,,J 8fdl Ml1rul c. ig~ #,1 and I 5-f'MV4,,_ Mcme. 1''>1 I-ts+ $"J~af(d~ ~~,1f hung But whosoever the dura has t he world ' s goods , many

arou hung

I aI whicl brorn

a nd beholds hi s brother i n need

a nd closes his heart against him,

how does t he love of God abide

in him?

Pl e ase give yo ur mo ne y f o r WORL D Ann iversary Sunday , Oc t o ber 16 .

d and l .

; ago,

"[ the Wo r l d Hunger bucket s a t t he BBQ. · d ;Itu e. May------------------------3"mbering is nc

- =,tagg,s-1:7nerrcus-Professor of New Testament, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky

Published by the Christian Life Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1982.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring

He1hashsent me to Proc{µim release to the captives pnd recov.ery of sit;ht to the blind to et t e oppressed go free, to proclaim the year oJ the Lord's Javor.' LUKE 4: 18-19

~in

~ ~1;

Md~,

Bazil has more than three million abandoned children. Some are dying of malnutrition, while ot erslive in t e streets, involved in delinquent behavior and exploited by criminals. Under the leadership of Pastor Nilson Fanini, First Baptist Church of Niteroi ministers to street children. Named Reencontro, this ministry provides twenty-four hour care and daycare for children and teenagers. Following physical and psychological eval­uation, each child is provided formal edu­cation, professional courses, and recre­ation. Reencontro also serves impover­ished families and individuals with food medical services, daycare, counseling, a~d legal services.

The Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger will distribute $20,000 to the Reecontro Street Children's Ministry in 2001. Dr. Nilson Fanini says, "Thank you, Texas Baptists, for being our part­ners in ministry. Working together, these children will find hope and a future in Christ."

Bangladesh is a very heavily populated and poor country. Because of poverty,

many children suffer acute malnu trition and hunger­related disease. The Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger will contribute $28,400 during 2001 to help Baptists in Bangladesh to provide nutritious meals for children through a

school meal program. The children will also receive vitamin supplements and health care services.

Sponsored by the Baptist Convention of Kenya, pastor David Kiatu directs the Kariobangi Baptist Youth Center, which targets children and youth who live in the slums and streets. The center provides vocational training which enables chil­dren to survive and escape poverty. The building currently used by the Center is located near the Nairobi dump grounds where the crime rate is very high.

The Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger will help build a new facility for the Youth Center. Volunteers from Texas will be enlisted for the construction pro­ject. Missionary Sam Harrell says, "With the help of Texas Baptists, African Christians will be able to better address the urgent problems and needs of street children. African youth will have an opportunity to experience hope. They will learn skills which will help them find meaningful work and a safer and more secure life."

"Then little children

were being brought to him

in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray.

The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them;

but Jesus said,

'Let the little children come to me,

and do not stop them;

for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.'

And he laid his hands on them."

MATTHEW 19:13-15 (NRSV)

TEXAS BAPTIST

OFFERING FOR WORLD HUNGER supports dozens of specific ministries around the world. are used for hunger relief and development overseas including

$30,000 for Latin America, $109,763 for Africa, $(i9,000 for Europe, $8.'i,000 for the Middle East, $88,'.180 for Asia, and $'.100,000 for special needs.

Give your gift through your church and designate it for the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger. .

One hundred percent of the Offering goes to help the hungry.

2001 GOAL: $1,000,000