Righteousness & The Poor

Jeremiah 22
13 "Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages,
14 who says, 'I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms,' who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar and painting it with vermilion.
15 Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the LORD.
17 But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence."

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Specifically, this is a message for Shallum, the son of king Josiah, who did evil in God's sight, not following the way of his father.
Basically, he accuses Shallum of being selfish and caring only for himself and his matters, when he is born to be a leader and a king. He has riches, yet he does not pay his workers properly. He builds and decorates his house with wealth, but he does not take care of the poor in the land.

His father, Josiah, on the other hand, was wealthy yet was fair to his workers and dealt righteously with the poor of the land. It says that Josiah ate and drank fine food, and then would also do justice and righteousness. And then God says, "Is not this what it means to know me?"

What a statement! We like to think that knowing God is about praying and going to church and reading the Bible (which are certainly necessary), but God makes multiple statements to say that acting in righteousness is what it means to truly know him.

Jesus himself said to his disciples, "You are my friends if you do what I command you." He says this as he teaches them to love one another just as he has loved them; that there is no greater love than someone laying down his life for his friends. He accuses the Pharisees of being righteous on the outside, but inside being full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (Matthew 23:28).

To know God is to live life with his heart. Knowing God is not simply a state of mind, it's action that proceeds from knowledge of him.

What strikes me time and time again is the connection between righteousness and caring for the poor (Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 15:9-11; 1 Samuel 2:8; Psalm 9:18; Psalm 12:5; Psalm 35:10; Psalm 40:17; Psalm 72:2-4; Psalm 112:9 [2 Corinthians 9:9 cites this verse]; Proverbs 31:9; Isaiah 11:4; Ezekiel 22:29; Amos 4:1; Amos 5:12).
Proverbs 29:7 says, "A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge."

We also tend to think that God judged Sodom because of sexual immorality, but Ezekiel 16:49 tells clearly what Sodom was guilty of: "Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy." God is clear that his righteousness is intertwined with caring for the poor and needy.

Not to say that other things aren't a part of God's righteousness. Also, not to say that we should only focus our church efforts on missions, outreach, and the poor; but we simply can't remove the poor from the equation. Also, to be clear, the opposite of upholding the cause of the poor is in verse 17 of Jeremiah 22; to have a life set "only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence."

I'll be honest, I'm not the model for upholding the cause of the poor. But it is something that has been growing in my heart. And I think that's the point. The only way to true righteousness is to have the heart of God, which no one has from birth. It requires God's Spirit to be in you, so your heart can be changed and awakened to his righteousness. If you claim to know God, this should be something within you; or you should at least be open to it.

So, my prayer is that God's people would be much more active in not just caring for the poor, but bringing them close to God. And it all starts with me. I can't just watch the church do it and applaud; I need to be in the game. And I feel the church (in the West) is beginning to realize this more and more, and they're beginning to act on it. I think the global church has this in mind, and it's awesome to see. It's such a bigger picture than I realize and it's an amazing thing to be a part of.

Jesus said that we would always have the poor (Matthew 26:11; also mentioned in Deuteronomy 15:11); so it's important to know that we can't eradicate poverty from earth. Only God's kingdom can make that a reality. And I want to be a part of that reality. But it can't be done apart from knowing God. There are so many organizations that are helping the poor; but the poor don't just need food, water, and shelter, they need God's kingdom. Let's be the people who play our part.