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Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 1:1-3:24, Acts 17:28, Psalm 148:1-14, Ps. 24:1, Gen. 4:1-9, Matt. 22:37-39, Rev. 14:7.

Memory Text: “He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, but he who honors Him has mercy on the needy” (Proverbs 14:31, NKJV).

Have you ever worked to create something—perhaps an item of art or craft, a meal, or some other creative work—only to have it broken or rejected by the person you gave it to? If so, you might have just a small glimpse of what God experienced when He made this world and gave human beings life, only then to see what He created broken by sin.

The Bible says that the world was created carefully and created “very good”. How God felt about His creation is evident in the accounts of Creation in Genesis 1 and 2. This is the context in which we should read the story of the Fall in Genesis 3 and the heartbrokenness of God as He confronts the people He has made.

Remarkably, our world continues to be something that God loves, even despite millennia of sin, violence, injustice, and outright rebellion. And even more remarkably, while God set in motion His plan for redeeming and re-creating the world, He has given us, as believers, roles to play in the fulfillment of His larger plans. Yes, we are the recipients of His grace; but, from the grace we have received, we have been given our work to do as colaborers with our Lord. What a solemn, sacred responsibility!

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 6.

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Ministering to Those in Need

Seventh-day Adventists are called to proclaim “the everlasting gospel” (Rev. 14:6) to all the world. By so doing, we are simply obeying Jesus’ words about making disciples, baptising them, and “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20, NKJV). And among the things He commanded was that we minister to the hurting, the downtrodden, the poor, the hungry, the imprisoned.

After all, it was Jesus who, after telling the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-36), then commanded His listeners: “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37, NKJV). It was Jesus who, in depicting the time when He would divide the nations before Him as a “shepherd divides his sheep from the goats” (Matt. 25:32, NKJV), talked about just how important helping the hungry, the sick, the naked, and the imprisoned really is. “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matt. 25:40, NKJV).

In other words, along with proclaiming the great truths about salvation, the sanctuary, the state of the dead, and the perpetuity of the law, we are to minister to the needs of others. And what better way to reach people than by working in their behalf, too? As Ellen G. White famously wrote: “Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me’”. – The Ministry of Healing, p. 143.

According to one count, Scripture contains 2,103 verses expressing God’s special concern for the poor and oppressed. Compared to many other aspects of faith, doctrine, and Christian living in general, the weight of references about ministering to those in need is overwhelming. We must get serious about working to relieve the pain and suffering that exists around us. This doesn’t take away from our work of spreading the gospel; on the contrary, it can become a powerful way of doing it.

Of course, it’s a good thing to help others, just for the sake of helping them. We should “do justly” (see Mic. 6:8) simply because it is both right and good to “do justice”. And yet, is it not even better when doing justice, when helping others in their immediate and temporal needs, also to point them to the “reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet. 3:15, NKJV), and that is the promise of eternal life in Christ?

Jesus healed disease, gave sight to the blind, cured lepers, even raised the dead. But all those to whom He ministered were going to die sooner or later anyway, right? So, in the long run, whatever good He did for them and their immediate needs, He also did more. Yes, He ministered to the hurting, but then He bade them, Follow Me. And that’s precisely why we, too, should minister to the hurting and then bid them, Follow Him.

No question, by seeking justice and goodness in the world, we are rehearsing the kingdom of God (see Luke 4:18-19) in a way that is at least as faithful, valid, and perhaps effective as preaching it. When we care for the poor and the oppressed, we are actually offering honor and worship to God (see Isa. 58:6-10). But if we fail to minister in behalf of the hurting, the suffering, and the broken, we misrepresent Him (see Prov. 14:31).

This quarter, then, we’re going to see what the Word of God says (and it says a lot) about our duty to minister to the needs of those around us.

“Freely you have received, freely give” (Matt. 10:8, NKJV). That says it all.

Jonathan Duffy has served as president of ADRA International since 2012. Before joining ADRA Australia in 2008, Duffy served as director of Adventist Health for the church’s South Pacific Division, where he had extensive experience in health promotion and community health development.

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My Three Wishes

By Lu Shen-Xiong

Image © Pacific Press

A year after my baptism, I applied for a new job as a truck driver because of Sabbath conflicts at my previous workplace.

During the job interview, announced that I had three requests:

• No Sabbath work
• No pork in the company meal boxes
• A loan of 50,000 Taiwanese dollars

The boss was stunned by my boldness. But he said, “Go work today, and we’ll talk about this afterward”. He wanted to see how I would work.

After the workday finished, the boss called me over.

“You can work Sunday instead of Sabbath, but why don’t you eat pork?” he said.

His company, like many companies in Taiwan, provided employees with daily meal boxes. “Pork is cheaper than chicken and beef, so why don’t you eat it?” he said.

“This is my religious belief”, I replied.

The boss thought for a moment.

“Fine”, he said. “I won’t give you pork to eat. But why the loan of 50,000 Taiwanese dollars?”

I explained that I had been injured in a car accident recently and had no money after the hospital bills and the expense of buying a new car.

“If I give you 50,000, how will you pay it back?” he said. “Will you give me 10,000 a month or maybe 20,000 per month?”

“No”, I said, “I’ll give you 1,000 a month”.

The boss couldn’t believe his ears. A monthly payment of 1,000 Taiwanese dollars meant it would take more than four years to return the loan.

But something—or Someone—impressed the boss to give me a chance, and he agreed to this last request.

Six months into the new job, the boss called me over.

“I’m forgiving your debt because you are such a good worker”, he said.

Now I couldn’t believe my ears. Working for God is good!

Before the job interview I had prayed to God, “I want to interview for this new job, but You know that I have these three wishes. Please intervene”. God answered my prayer.

When we do gospel work, nothing can stand in our way.

Nearly 20 years on, Lu Shen-Xiong, 60, continues to work full-time as a truck driver. He also is recognized as one of the most effective lay church leaders in Taiwan, turning three struggling congregations into robust churches. Read more at the link: bit.ly/taiwan-truck-driver

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Further Thought: Ellen G. White, “Carmel”, pages 143-154, in Prophets and Kings; “The Voice in the Wilderness”, pages 97-108, in The Desire of Ages.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“Our message must be as direct as was that of John. He rebuked kings for their iniquity. Notwithstanding the peril his life was in, he never allowed truth to languish on his lips. Our work in this age must be as faithfully done”. – Ellen G. White Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 4, p. 1184.

Discussion Questions:

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In a sense, we as Adventists see ourselves in the role of John the Baptist. The herald of reform and repentance sought to prepare the way for the first coming of Jesus; we, as a movement, see ourselves doing the same for the Second Coming.

Read prayerfully Luke 1:17. How do these words capture our message?

Image © Erik Stenbakken from GoodSalt.com

The heavenly Father has turned the hearts of His children back to Himself and has turned the hearts of His children to each other through the Cross of Christ. The Elijah message pleads with families to believe this incredible good news (2 Cor. 5:18-21; compare Eph. 2:11-18) and to be people filled with grace as His Spirit yields a harvest of love in them.

The world needs desperately a demonstration of unselfish caring, lasting commitment, and unswerving devotion to God. By God’s grace Christian families can provide such a demonstration. Yet, we must remember that the message we have for the world is also for ourselves. Until the principles of gospel, of unity, of love, of self-sacrifice are made manifest among us, especially in our own families, we will be powerless to share this message with others. All the eloquent sermons, all the logic and biblical presentations, aren’t enough: The world needs to see manifest in our lives, especially in our family lives, the repentance, the turned hearts, the love, and the commitment we preach about. Just as John the Baptist had a power that changed lives and made his preaching effective, we can do the same through the grace of God, but only to the degree that we are willing to cooperate.

We are, through Jesus, part of the family in heaven (Eph. 3:15). Thus, whether we are a family of one or more, we are called to be witnesses for the God we profess to serve, and nothing can make our witness more effective than to show the world what a family, regardless of its size, can be through the power of the gospel.

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