Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Wisdom from Proverbs”
Our Bible verse for today: “Speak up for those who have no voice, for the justice of all who are dispossessed. Speak up, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the oppressed and the needy.” Proverbs 31:8-9 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Stand up for the weak and vulnerable.”
Proverbs 31 consists of two poems written by a godly mother for her son who is known to history only as “King Lemuel”. We don’t know exactly who he was. There was no King Lemuel in the history of Israel and so some believe Lemuel was a foreign king. Ancient Jewish tradition says it was King Solomon and that “Lemuel” was his mother’s pet name for him.
The first poem in the Proverb consists of the mother giving instructions to her son about how to be a good leader. In verses 8-9 she touches on a key theme that is woven all throughout the Bible by God and it’s that good people stand up for and protect the weak and vulnerable. That should be true of Kings and other leaders, and it should be true of you and me as well.
“Learn to do what is good. Seek justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.” Isaiah 1:17
“Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:27
Along with Proverbs 31:8-9, those are just two of the many other passages which teach this same lesson. God’s people are to take a bold stand for social justice; we are to feed the hungry, house the homeless, visit the sick; we are to defend the cause of the weak and vulnerable, and we are to unselfishly use some of our resources to help others in need. Jesus said in Matthew 25:40 that when we do those things for the most needy and vulnerable, as far as He is concerned we did it for Him personally.
At Oak Hill Baptist Church such ministry is the heartbeat of our congregation. We’re an Acts 1:8 church and we are constantly on-mission with Jesus outside the walls of the church buildings reaching out to those in need. That includes regular times of ministry in our local rescue mission; frequent activities with the children who live in the Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home; three mission trips every year to the coal mining region of Kentucky to bring relief supplies; as well as international mission trips.
In a couple of weeks we will be going back up to Kentucky to bring backpacks, school supplies, and clothes to help the poorest families get their children ready for the new school year. As I write this one of our nurses is in the Andes Mountains of Peru with a medical team. In August we will be hosting a Pastor from Liberia, Africa. Shortly after that our own long-term missionary family assigned to Southeast Asia will be home with us. In September we have a team going to Haiti to work with orphans.
The message of the Bible is clear, God’s people are to actively minister to those in need – especially to the weak and the vulnerable. We are to do it individually and as a church. I invite you to visit our website at www.oakhillbaptist.net to learn how one small church has learned how to be on-mission with Jesus locally, in our state, in our nation, and even to the ends of the earth.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 