The Poor

¹⁰ But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. ¹¹ For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.

Matthew 26:10-11

Jesus makes a very sad statement in this passage. You could argue it is prophetic in nature though I think that misses the point.

‘For you have the poor with you always’

There will always be the poor on this earth until sin is finally done away with. There will always be inequality, hierarchies, the oppressed and the underprivileged. In the last few years, our current state aside, has been some of the most privileged and abundant in earth’s history.

Never have so many lived so well. We have more millionaires and billionaires than ever before. Inflation was at an all-time low, jobs were plentiful and people were relatively happy. Yet, even with all that, poverty and hunger thrived as well. We had enough food for everyone but people starved. People were taking million dollar vacations into outer space but people still were living on the streets. We could send billions on Olympics and World Cups but people were desperate that they were still selling sons and daughter to try and stay alive.

These last few decades of prosperity has proven Jesus’ words. We will always have the poor.

That doesn’t mean that we can’t help. That doesn’t mean we can’t reduce the pain and suffering in this world, even if it’s just a little bit. We can feed one person and reduce the total number by one. If every Adventist were to help one person, we could help over 18 million people from their misery.

It’s easy to get discouraged by the shear amount of help that is needed but let’s stay focused. Let us help as many as we can. We can do it individually and we can do it collectively. Help those ministries in the church that are helping others. A little help can go a long way.

And of course, when we help someone with their needs, many will also then desire help spiritually as well. That of course was always Jesus’ method.

 

God bless,

Pr. Steven Couto

Blinded by Sin

¹  Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, ² “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

³ Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, ⁴ and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. ⁵ But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

Matthew 26:1-5

In chapter 26 of Matthew we see two groups of people who are blinded because they are sinful human beings.

The first group are the disciples. Although they lived with Jesus, heard all his sermons and witnessed all his miracles, they still were blinded as to his earthly mission. Being raised Jews, and having their eyes and minds clouded by sin, they still believed that the promised messiah was more about destroying Rome and creating a world dominating Israelite nation than cleansing the world and all in it from sin.

It’s interesting that Jesus says, ‘You know’ before clearly saying that he must be sacrificed at the Passover, showing them that he was the Lamb of God. Really he probably should have said, ‘You should know’ because they clearly didn’t. They were too wrapped up in their own lives, goals and dreams to see what God was truly trying to do.

The second group are the priests, elders and scribes. Sin also clouded their vision, thinking themselves as holy, pure and the keepers of God’s word while at the very same time planning on killing a completely innocent man who was also clearly connected with God himself.

When we are in the act of sinning, we lose our vision, even more than usual. We get so caught up in our own pleasures and desires that we don’t even see when we are knee deep in sin and completely against God. Just like the Jewish leaders, we can still see ourselves as these good holy Christians while being completely against God.

Let us go to God and ask to be cleansed. May our eyes be cleared from sin so we can see the world and ourselves as they truly are. If we don’t, we won’t see a need to fix ourselves. We will be covered in sin and not even be able to see it.

God bless,

Pr. Steven Couto

I was the Stranger

³³ And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

Matthew 25:33-36

Here is a very powerful few verses that we find in the Bible, and in particular, in the words of Jesus himself. In these verses Jesus is showing us what will be the difference between those who are saved and those who are lost. The saved are seen as sheep and go on his right side with the lost are goats and go to the left.

The first thing you notice is that it is intimately related to God. He will decide who goes where. He is the final judge and there is nothing that either forces his actions or impedes them. Whomever he decides to be saved will be and vice versa.

The second thing is that it comes down to our actions. This might sound strange because we keep saying that we are saved by grace and not works but these words are still true and not in conflict.

The good works of giving food, drink, shelter, clothes and visitation are done to people but God points it to himself. In doing this what he is really saying is that it isn’t the actions themselves that save but the reasoning behind it. It’s the love and connection to God, the relationship, where the salvation truly lies. In other words, doing good things for selfish or wrong reasons does nothing for your salvation but your actions done through righteous and good reasons shows the transformation you have experiences through the Holy Spirit to God.

The third thing you’ll notice is that Jesus doesn’t even mention prayer, church, the bible or other things traditionally connected with religion. No. He instead focusses on the everyday actions of life that should be molded by our experiences we learn and grow from our religious experiences.

May we learn from God and be transformed by the Holy Spirit so that our everyday life and actions may be worthy to be put on God’s right side.

God bless,

Pr. Steven Couto

Wrong Image

²⁴ “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

Matthew 24-25

Some people have a very twisted view of God. Oddly enough it can go badly in different opposite extremes. The man in this story saw God in one of those extremes. He saw a Lord who is brutal, unjust, cruel and evil. He is a man who fears God and tries to hide and stay as far away from God as he can. In the end he only shows God what he was given. He gives a person, a character that is unchanged. That might not sound completely bad until you remember that our original natures are against God. We all need to be changes to have a better character. In the end, he is lost even though he was within Gods home

The exact opposite person is the one that thinks that God is uncaring, unaware or foolish. They don’t respect God or his laws. They figure that God is such a pushover and foolish that they can live any way they want and God will simply accept them. They put ‘love’ above all but fail to realize that love can come in many forms, both positive, pure and good but also selfish, harmful and evil.

They see God as foolish but don’t realize they are looking in the mirror when they make that claim. They see God as a friend, which is good, but fail to also see his as Lord and Master. This person, like the one in the parable will suffer the same fate. They see the simple laws of God as legalism because it goes counter to their earthly desires which they believe God has to accept in them. They believe that God is love and therefore has to accept all that we do regardless of it being good or bad.

Both extremes occur because we many times create a false image of God. Most times it’s a God we created in our own minds. Only by having a true image of God can we avoid these two extremes. Only in the Bible do we see a clear image of the true God.

God bless,

 

Pr. Steven Couto

 

The Talents

¹⁶ Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. ¹⁷ And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. ¹⁸ But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. ¹⁹ After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

Matthew 25:16-19

So what are these talents that these servants were given. From the parables point of view, it was the lord’s money. Now you have probably heard several different explanations on what those talents mean in our context. Some say it’s talents in terms of abilities that God gives us. Others talk about it being influence or opportunities. Others claim that it is exactly what it claims to be- the lord’s money or the riches that the Lord gives us in our lives.

When you look at the context of the chapter you see that there are three main parts. The first is about the ten virgins where the lesson there is about making sure we have the Holy Spirit in our lives. The second is the talents and the third is about the judgement day where the focus is on helping the poor, hungry, imprisoned and sick.

Although you can see different focusses between the three stories, you can also see a general connection. It’s all about the gifts that God gives us and how we use them- or don’t.

In that way, the talents can mean different things. It can symbolize the gift of the Holy Spirit, something of great value that God expects us to gain and grow. It can also symbolize our goods, resources, abilities and opportunities as we see in the third story. It can be as simple as a cup of water or a meal. It can be a kind word or an act of compassion.

In the end, I believe that it is everything that God gives us. It is the breath of life as we wake up for the day, the food in our fridges, our jobs, families, friends and joys. God is up in heaven, far away from us, but he has not left us with nothing.

What are we doing with all of those blessings? That is the question that this story asks. As we burying our precious gifts of God. Are we being greedy and not allowing anyone else to benefit from our gifts?

God’s talents in your life are many and varied. Take some time to think about all that God has given you and continues to provide. I guarantee that it will be more than what you are lacking.

God bless,

Pr. Steven Couto