Rich in Faith, More Mustard Please

Lets get right to it!  We think that Christian people should identify with the poor on purpose. We have said for years that “we don’t minister to the poor. We are the poor.” The book of James says “did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith?” Of course, no sane individual wants the discomfort, disease, oppression, and sheer frustration that accompanies poverty. Who would want the lack of amenities, difficulties of blight, or crime that accompany poor areas? Who’s got time for that? None of us. Life is short! But we embrace what it means to be poor for the sake of being “rich in faith!” And we gently invite you to look squarely at what can be gained.

Individual Christians and churches of every stripe call out to God to work on their behalf. They read the Scripture and see that faith can move mountains. They then wonder why God doesn’t answer. What is lacking? Our God can do anything. He loves His children! Yet, no answer. No movement. The answer seems to be no.

Moving mountains takes faith the size of a mustard seed. You don’t even have to be rich in faith to see God act. It seems that such a small thing, like a seed, could be purchased for little cost.  After all, mustard is not rare. It covers the fields of the world in a beautiful yellow.  It springs up as a nuisance all over the midwest. Yet, you don’t see it spring up in sophisticated places. No, wealth mows down the opportunity for mustard plants to grow. Therefore mustard seeds are few. Affluence often does the same thing to faith. “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Faith is hard for that individual to find.

More than a mustard seed of faith comes easily to the poor. The poor look to the Lord for every help, every moment. With that close of a relationship to God our provider, someone might want to rethink their view on what makes a person poor or rich. Someone might figure out where real riches are and how they are measured. Faith is worth the trouble of enduring some poverty.  It is worth the trouble of sharing what you have.  Having less money or stuff is a fair exchange for walking in faith.  It seems that the church should rethink its definition of poverty.  We think that the classification of who is rich and who is poor might need to be reversed. We want to be rich in something.  Faith!

James 2:5, Matthew 17:20, Matthew 19:24,