Jesus, Justice, Poverty, Suffering and the Church

Study Guide for Sermon on April 6, 2008

 

Introduction

The Rev. Dieuseul Estivene and his wife Magda will be visiting TCC from April 1-6 and he will deliver the message on Sunday, April 6. The Estivenes live in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where Dieuseul is pastor of two churches, runs two schools, a feeding program, and a micro business program, and Magda administers a health clinic in the slum of Cite Soleil. TCC has been in partnership with this couple since 2001.

 

I don’t know what the focus of Pastor Dieuseul’s sermon will be but he gives us an opportunity to study a bit of what Scripture tells us about God’s view of justice, poverty and suffering, about God’s heart for the oppressed and about the role He wants us to play in the world.

 

Throughout the Bible we see God condemning injustice, and upholding justice and righteousness. Mention of helping the poor, or of the Lord condemning those who oppress the poor, occurs 256 times in the Bible. Of that, only 36 of those times is it the fault of the poor person that they are poor. 118 times refer to people being poor because of misfortune or natural calamity, while 111 references indicate people being poor because of injustice and oppression.

 

As God’s people and as His ambassadors in the world, we are called to reflect God’s character and values and to partner with Him in His mission to the world. This study is meant to help us understand how God views this world and what He wants to do to redress its ills and redeem its suffering.

 

For Personal Study and Reflection

 

Day 1: Read Micah 6: 6-8

What ideas do you normally associate with the “good Christian life”?

 

 

 

The prophet Micah tells us that the good life consists of acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with our God. What does that mean to you? What does justice mean to you? How would you relate justice to mercy and humility?

 

 

When you think of injustice, poverty and suffering in the world, what pops into your mind?

 

 

 

What causes you to think about injustice in the world? What brings it to your attention?

 

 

 

What is your reaction to the injustice and poverty and suffering you see or hear about in the world?

 

 

 

Do you think Christians should care about the injustice, poverty, and suffering in the world? Why or why not?

 

 

 

What role do you think God is calling our church to take in fighting injustice and alleviating poverty and suffering?

 

 

 

What role do you sense God calling you to take? What scars you about this? What excites you?

 

 

 

Day 2: Read Isaiah 61 and Luke 4: 19-30

What does Isaiah 61 say about our God’s concern for justice and His desire to comfort the poor, the broken-hearted, the captives and the imprisoned? What does it tell you about God’s character and about His mission in the world?

 

 

 

What questions or concerns does this passage raise for you?

 

 

 

 

Jesus quotes from Isaiah 61 when he is in the synagogue in Nazareth to describe what his ministry will be. What strikes you about Jesus’ choice of scripture in his hometown, and how the theme of justice was received there?

 

 

 

Look at the ways that you have viewed what the “Christian life” looks like. How do Isaiah 61 and Luke 4: 19-30 change your understanding of what it means to follow Jesus?

 

 

 

What are some practical ways you can incorporate working for justice into your daily life?

 

 

 

Ask God to show you what He wants to do with your life to serve people around you and in this world.

 

 

 

 

Day 3: Read Matthew 25:31–46

What is going on in this passage? What is Jesus talking about?

 

 

 

How does God separate people? What criteria does He use? How does Jesus describe the actions of those who follow hum (the sheep)? How does Jesus describe those who are not genuine followers (the goats)? What’s the difference between the two?

 

 

 

 

Jesus refers (verse 37) to those who are blessed as “righteous”. What do you think it mean to be righteous in this passage? Is this how you normally think about righteousness?

 

 

 

Who does Jesus align himself with? Why do you think he does that? Who do you tend to align yourself with?

 

 

 

Jesus is saying that serving people around you is the equivalent of

serving the King himself. What does this tell us about who Jesus is?

 

 

 

How would you summarize the message of this passage? What implications does it have for you as you live out your day to day life?

 

 

 

Day 4: Read Luke 16:19–31

Compare and contrast the rich man with Lazarus. What are we told about each one?

 

 

 

What was the social status of each of these two men? Who had more weight in society?

 

 

 

What kind of relationship did the two have with one another? How do you think the rich man felt toward Lazarus?

 

 

 

What was the interaction like between Lazarus and the rich man?

 

 

 

Compare each man’s life on earth with his after-life in paradise. What were they like?

 

 

 

What do you think about Abraham’s answer to the rich man’s request in verse 25?

 

Why do you think the rich man entered Hades while Lazarus entered Heaven?

 

 

 

Why do you think the rich man’s brothers couldn’t be warned?

 

 

 

 

What do you think Jesus is saying about our duty to the poor? What are the lessons we can learn from this story?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 5

Why do you think there is so much suffering in the world?

 

 

 

What has been your personal experience with some of the suffering that there is in this world?

 

 

 

Now read John 9:1–38.

While this passage does not answer the question of why there is so much suffering in the world it does reveal Jesus’ attitude toward those who are suffering. And, it shows us something of how He redeems suffering and brings good out of it.

 

Describe the disciples’ question toward Jesus. Does it make sense?

During that time, it was thought that a person or the person’s

parents had sinned if they had birth defects, such as being born

deaf.

 

 

 

Describe Jesus’ response to his disciples’ question. How does Jesus correct their view of why the man was born blind?

 

How might the blind man have felt when his vision was restored? What would it have been like to be blind? Imagine being blind and then receiving your sight. What would it be like to see things for the first time – colors, people, nature?

 

 

 

Describe the Pharisees reaction to Jesus’ healing of the blind man. Why do you think they respond the way they do?

 

 

 

Trace Jesus’ response to the man throughout this passage. What does He do? How does he care for this man physically, emotionally, spiritually? What do we learn about Jesus over the course of this passage?

 

 

 

Describe what you think Jesus’ values are from the passage. Is Jesus concerned with physical healing more than with spiritual healing? Does that tension exist for Jesus?)

 

 

 

Do you believe that Jesus wants to end suffering (physical and spiritual) in the world? If so, what part do you think he wants you to play in this?

 

 

 

What in this story gives you hope?

 

 

 

 

For Small Group Discussion and Reflection

What ideas or realities do you normally associate with living the “good Christian life”?

 

Which of the biblical texts used in this week’s study struck you the most? Why?

 

What does justice mean to you?

 

What do you think God says about justice and about how those who follow him should pursue justice?

 

What biblical basis do you see for caring for, loving and advocating for the poor?

 

How do you think God views the poor? Why?

 

What has your experience been with poverty?

 

Consider the following statistics:

• Half of the world lives on less than two dollars per day.
• Six people die every second from hunger and hunger-related ailments.
• Indonesians making shoes earn 16 cents an hour.
• Americans spend $8 billion on cosmetics and $21 billion on pets.
• $9 billion would provide clean water for everyone in the world.
• 4/5ths of Americans making over $75 thousand per year would “like to be rich”?

 

What strikes you most about the statistics listed above?

 

All of us live privileged, affluent lives when compared with much of the world. What do you sense God saying to you about this? In what ways may God be calling you to use your privilege and affluence in behalf of others?

 

God has a big plan for the world. He wants to work for redemption and He wants to do this by using people from all over the world to bring justice, hope and good news. This is what God will care about when you come to the end of your life but it is also what will help you see God on earth. How does this view of the Christian life differ from what you expected? Does this idea of what it means to follow Jesus excite you? Why or why not?

 

How could you see yourself and your small group be used by God in the world around you? Take some time as a small group to pray and brainstorm about what God might be calling you to take on as a small group.

 

How do you want your small group to pray for you this week?