One of the things that we are constantly hearing about is change. We always hear about change. We hear about Political Change, Health Change, Technology Change, etc. All types of change. All claiming that the change they have is the answer to what we need. That change is real change. Pure change. Now what they offering is not necessarily bad, but is it what really matters?
The sixties were a time of great change. A lot of people were tired of how things were, everyone was wanting change. A revolution of change. Have you ever heard of the song Revolution by the Beatles? The song has appeared on several of the Beatles albums. Initially it was on the White Album and then on the B-side of the Hey Jude Album. Here are some of the lyrics:
You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right[1]
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right[1]
Here are some things that I would like to share with you.
This is just slightly better than the poverty rate of Alabama, and just slightly higher than the poverty rates of Tennessee and South Carolina.
Where the Worst Poverty in Arkansas Occurs
The most critical levels of poverty in Nine of the 13 major cities in
Two of those nine cities experience critical levels of poverty, meaning that the poverty rate is at least 50% above the state average. These two cities are
Here are some stats for the criminal population in
In the year ending June 30, 2004, 13 states reported an increase of at least 5 percent, led by
The
The data for 2008 are in and the numbers tell a troubling story: 44 percent of American children grow up in families that face serious struggles to make ends meet. Parental employment, parental education, family structure and other variables each play an important role in predicting the likelihood that a child will endure economic hardship. We break down the facts and figures into five age groups of children: Under Age 3, Under Age 6, Ages 6 to 11, Ages 12 to 17, and Children Under 18.[4]
Here are some more stats:
· Arkansas ' childhood poverty rate is 24.3% compared to the national average of 18.3%. - ACS Survey
· Over 345,000 of our elderly citizens lives below the poverty line and has to choose between food and medicine. - ACS Survey
· Arkansas is ranked in the top 8 of most food insecure states.
· The regions in our state with the greatest prosperity will experience the greatest increase in poverty by 2010.[5]
This morning I would like to invite you to the Gospel of Matthew, and we will be looking at Matthew 25:31-46 (31) “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. (32) All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (33) He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. (34) “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. (35) For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, (36) I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
(37) “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? (38) When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? (39) When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
(40) “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (41) “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (42) For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, (43) I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ (44) “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
(45) “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ (46) “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Wow. Has anyone ever heard of the saying, "You're so earthly minded that you are no heavenly good?" What does that mean? When someone is saying it to someone else, it means that they are so caught up in the ways of this world. They are consumed by how the world thinks, and works, that they don't focus on the prize ahead. They don't look to the things of God. The things that are important.This was a big problem with the religious establishment in the time of Christ. The leaders only cared about themselves. They wouldn’t say it out loud, they would demonstrate it with their actions. Standing on street corners saying how much better they are than someone else. They would not associate with the unclean because it was the “law.” They expected people to clean up before they could be involved with them.
Christians are so guilty of this. There are ministers out there who have multi-million dollar houses because they only care about you if you give lots of money to them. Some of the most selfish people I have come into contact are church people. Fused with change for themselves.
It was Gandhi who said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."[6] Desmond Tutu said, “When the missionaries came to
The church is not only looked at as self gratifying, they are looked at as hateful people. As a group of people who will only accept someone if they believe exactly like we do, and only as we do. Judgmental hate mongers. Unforgiving.
And while that happens,
The
World
Dies
When we are consumed with our self, we are the ones who don’t care about those around us. We are the goats. When we care more about religion, we are the goats. I think that what Christ is saying to us today, is that we need to focus less on ourselves and more on others. Remember the poverty rates that I just shared with you? The hunger rates?
Brenan Manning once said that the leading cause of Chrisitianity is Christians. Those who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door with their lifestyles. It is time for that to end. It is time that we as follower’s of Christ stop being goats and start being the sheep that we are called to be.
You want a revolution? Serve those who no one cares about. Love those who are unloved. Care for the sick. You want revolution? Care for those in prison, or sick, or outcasted.
Remember what Christ said about the least of these? When we care for others, we see God at work in our lives. It is when we do that, that we truly show how much we love God. When we do that, we move from a cold religion to a relationship.
You maybe here this morning and have no idea what to do. You know that God is calling you to help those who cannot help themselves. It can be something as simple as helping a family that you know in need. Is there a family that the church knows in need?
Maybe you know that God is calling you to be involved with one of CBFs many mission organizations. Maybe you have been putting it off until now. Today is the day. Listen to this story from the All Church Challenge web site:
When I met Catherine and Mollie at Student.Go orientation they told us more information than I could ever remember in a very short amount of time because we didn’t have much time together and they wanted to get us ready for what we were going to be doing this summer. One thing that stuck out to me was something they described as a Blessings Ministry that would go on during the
When we do what God calls us to do, we are changing the world. We are bringing real revolution. We are bringing real change, change that is lasting. Change that is tangible. Imagine what this world will be when we all do that…
[1] “Revolution” By Paul McCartney and John Lennon
[2] David Boston, Stats taken from US Census.
[3] Charles Montaldo, About.com
[4] NCCP
[5] Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, stats taken from the US Census.
[6] Gandhi, Famouse Quotes.com
[7] Quoted by Chris Ellis
[8] http://acc2010.wordpress.com/acc-stories/
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