John Pople - Class 3: John The Baptist - Give To The Poor

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:01

   This is the 50th New Zealand christadelphians Bible School. Third period speaker is Brother John poeple. On growing closer to God. The subtitle for today is give to the poor, this is the third talk in the series and the introductory reading for this talk is Luke chapter 3 verses 1 to 14. Brother John.

2. 0:36

   So that’s all right. Oh hello. Yo, let’s go again. Oh well, Well, the light’s gone, but the sound is still there. That’s all we need tentatively. Good evening. Now this evening, open up that forward. I’m aware that some of you being on a nice pleasant stroll. Others of you have been on a strenuous hike to the pillars of Hercules or biet songs pillars and songs Hercules. But either way that being the case bodies are a little more tired and as Serendipity or French has had it. This talk is probably a little bit shorter than the others so I think that’s appropriate for our slightly more exhausted State give to the poor.

3. 1:26

   The first talk, we looked at Ruth, the second talk, we looked at Jacob, this one is actually harder to fit into that simple. Let’s look at a Bible character and track his or her progress. We’re going to be bouncing off a command very much given from John the Baptist and later ones from Jesus.

4. 1:43

   But if we’re really watching In the progress of anyone, perhaps, in this talk, we’re watching the progress of ourselves, having looked at the lives of others, we bring this a little closer to home. This talk was originally asked for requested at the Cambodian Bible School, a few years ago and under this idea of how can we grow closer to God?

5. 2:09

   And these are the very early thoughts that I had. It was 2011, I think and thereabouts. And I had the opportunity to go to Hawaii, which is very nice, vaguely, on sort of church business, you might say, but at one point I had about, Hours to myself before I was going to meet up with the rest of the brothers and sisters.

6. 2:31

   And I took myself off to the beach since it was a tiny Island and the beaches are lovely and I lay on the beach and I thought well, this is great. This is lovely, but I wonder if I can be using this time profitably as well. and so I prayed and I said to God, you know, I’m trying to develop thoughts that would be useful for myself and there by extension to others on how to grow closer to the father closer to you since I was praying and I’m receptive, I’m receptive, I’m listening, speak to me. I don’t hear words or see Visions, but these types of prayers have been successful before. And within seconds, I wasn’t even surprised. I began to hear a dialogue.

7. 3:20

   And a few minutes later, I took a photograph of those who were speaking and they’re shown just there and though I never met these people. It seemed clear from their dialogue. That one was a father And the other was a son, which was, of course, ideal, and they’re out there in the water that water temperatures probably about 25 degrees. It’s just delightful, and they’re just splashing around. But in actual fact, it became fairly clear. That the father was trying to teach the Sun, how to swim, and from what I could observe, the sun’s ability to swim was already pretty good.

8. 3:54

   So it was a pretty relaxed time in the sun was swimming, quite proficiently in any event, but the father was still giving tips and Vice and strategies and this is how the game worked. The sun would be sent away from the father, probably only as far as here or maybe a little bit further and then the father would call out a swimming style breaststroke front, crawl, whatever. And then the sun would have to perform that swimming stroke to get all the way back to the father without his feet touching the ground.

9. 4:26

   And as I say he was doing very well, he didn’t really have any difficulties. But there was one point at which the sun did have some difficulties. There was one stroke that he just wasn’t particularly comfortable with and it was very educational. I wonder if you can guess what that stroke was and why I’m sorry, it was butterfly, would would be the most mechanically complex, but being that he is Young and limber.

10. 4:57

    Unlike myself in every respect, he did that quite well. It was the backstroke. I heard that called out. And can you imagine why he had difficulty with the backstroke?

11. 5:09

    He couldn’t see his father and he didn’t seem to have physical deficiency in performing The Stroke, but it was evident astonishingly that he became nervous because he couldn’t see his dad, as he was trying to navigate from just from here, to there up to his father. And I thought how astonishing is that it was fairly obvious. His dad hadn’t gone and my dad probably would have done but it was different story but his dad hadn’t left. And in fact, his dad was quite commonly cording calling audio encouragement to the Sun to keep going, and he needed to do it more whenever it was backstroke.

12. 5:45

    But none of the other times you’ve already deduced. Why? Because he couldn’t see his father. So the sun felt reassured by the presence of the father as long as he could see him. The sun felt close to the father when the father was visible. Yet the father was close, whether or not the sun was doing backstroke and therefore sort of looking at the sky and I thought, what an interesting lesson I’ve never seen a direct manifestation of the person of God and I imagine you haven’t either. And so perhaps it’s understandable that we like this little boy every now and again will become downhearted or disconcerted, or simply anxious.

13. 6:30

    My dad really there, and yet we’ve had so many occasions in our lives. When we knew he was there. Do we think he just left in the interim? That cannot be. So this little boy is struggles seemed to mirror our own in that respect that the moment. The vision was taken away, he became worried not panicked, particularly but a little bit worried.

14. 6:56

    And so there was the assurance that I thought that that whilst I was almost not critical of the boy, but I was thinking how can you worry that your father’s gone when you saw him 15 seconds ago? Then I thought that’s what God’s telling me. Why are you ever anxious that I’ve suddenly left? Given that you’ve had so many experiences when you knew I was close by.

15. 7:20

    Why would I have wandered off? That’s not what I do. I’m a better father even than this father and he didn’t wander off either. And the more I watch them and Mario appreciated that. And then the more I began to think about the father’s feelings to having focused first upon the son. The father quite frankly was simply having a great time. He was loving it.

16. 7:43

    He was loving having this some time away, perhaps in the rest of the family, just some some daddy, daddy son time. But part of the reason that he was enjoying, it was clearly because the sun was doing what he was told. It was the father’s style of game, but imagine if the father had said, okay, son this time swim back out to where you go and let’s do some breaststroke and the sun’s swam out there and then just walked out of the sea and started building sand castles and saying Dad, I’m swimming out is rubbish.

17. 8:17

    I want to build sandcastles Would the father stopped loving the sun? No, of course not. But would the father have the same degree of enjoyment in that swimming time that he’d clearly planned? If the sun decided to build sandcastles instead? He would probably be a little bit wounded, a little bit hurt, no, big deal, but a little less fun, the father, felt close to the sun because they were working together on the father’s plan. So the closeness between the father and son was maintained by the sun’s obedience to the father’s plan. I’m sure there was no great plan of Roth or retribution. If the sun ever decided to do something different. That’s not how this father seemed to operate. How much less than is that how our fathers plans to operate? Nevertheless, as long as they played the father’s game, the father was as joyful as the sun was Was. In the years that have elapsed since not too many I guess just for I’ve seldom seen a better example than the one I prayed for and saw 18 seconds later watching the father and the son enjoying their time being close together. The lessons from this obvious, they’re spelled out on the screen as they stand.

18. 9:37

    We can be closest to this to the father when we are cooperating with his plan, that brings him, pleasure and enjoyment. Yeah. So okay, let’s get closer to God then it’s not a swimming lesson. So what are we supposed to do in Practical tangible terms? Luckily this question exists in the Bible and we’ve taken thanks brother Aunt the very reading that gives us the answer John the Baptist explains produce fruit in keeping with repentance that’s still an abstract answer.

19. 10:11

    What do you mean says the crowd. Well, John answered anyone who has two shirts, should share with the one who has none and anyone who has food should do the same, don’t collect any more than you are required. To he says to the tax collectors and to the soldiers he says don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely and be content with your wages.

20. 10:34

    Does that make sense? If you got that, got it. Good. You sure because now I’m going to test you. So you said you have it John. The Baptist said, six things. Go.

21. 10:51

    You can send with your wages maze maze. That always comes to mind first that’s number. Six. Number six, good, we got number six. Keep going. No violence. I heard that. That was, I think number five is what to sure. That was number one. Excellent, t-shirts. Give away one someone just shouted, food. Are you hungry? Let’s just go.

22. 11:12

    But share your food. Absolutely. So same thing with food. That was number two. So we’ve got one to five and six what was three and four.

23. 11:22

    Be good to someone. Well that’s included that that’s not specifically three or four but I’m sorry. There were voices back there, didn’t pick up. Don’t give him more than you should. Don’t take more money than you should. That was number three. We’re just missing. Number four. Perfect is very similar to number three but yes, it was different, don’t extort money.

24. 11:45

    Excellent. We have all six, John. The Baptist said, six things, firstly about shirts, but let me summarize that as saying, take care of the poor, as soon as you’ve got two shirts, give to the man who has none. The second one was about sharing your food. Let me summarize that as take care of the poor, someone who doesn’t have enough food and you have spare, Give It Away.

25. 12:07

    Number three was don’t extort money. Any excuse me? No, it was no, no, it wasn’t. It was number four. Number three was. Don’t you Tax Collectors? Take more money than you have to. Don’t create more poor. Take what you’re supposed to take, but if you take more as well, you’re going to make more people poor than already our number 42, the soldiers do not extort money.

26. 12:32

    Don’t create more poverty. Number five, don’t abuse your Authority threats of violence. And number six, don’t be greedy. So John the Baptist actually said, take care of the poor and in case you weren’t listening to number one, take care of the poor. You said, don’t create number, put more poor, and in case you weren’t listening, I’ll say it again. Don’t create more poor.

27. 12:57

    Don’t abuse your Authority and don’t be greedy. What? Summary shall be fine? For all of these six, I’ll just say take care of the poor. All. That’s an interesting answer, isn’t it produce fruit in keeping with repentance? What do you mean? Take care of the poor, how direct and explicit? Is that now the idea that God wants us to take care of the poor is new, I believe to none of us. We all knew that I knew that we’re all familiar with that. Wonderful verse in James that says, pure religion, and undefiled before the father, is this to look after the fatherless and and widows in their Affliction and to keep oneself.

28. 13:37

    Unsullied from the world. These are well-known words, but I wonder if you are like me of a few years ago, you won’t be aware. Or I wasn’t aware of example of how extreme and how forceful and how dramatic the commands in the Bible to give to the poor are there not hysterical in any means. But the the actual degree of severity that that command comes, Upon us, may be more surprising than you’ve anticipated.

29. 14:11

    And I don’t mean that in a threatening sense, I mean that also an encouraging sense as to how much it changes us. So says Jesus and him we can trust. Let’s look at some of these scriptures and you might find this command the simple command take care of the poor actually presented in a much more powerful light than you’d anticipated, even though it’s right there on the page and always has been that was my experience.

30. 14:37

    Anyway, it may be yours. How do you get treasure in heaven? If you just stopped me on the streets a few years ago, and just said, okay, you’re a, you read the Bible. How do you get treasure in heaven? Here’s what I would have said. I would have said, well, treasure is where your heart is.

31. 14:54

    If you care about the things that are in heaven, the principles of God and the plan of God, that is where your treasure is. That is your treasure in heaven. And if you care less about material things that are on earth, you’ve transferred your treasure from Earth to Heaven that Is how you get treasure in heaven, and that is how you please guard. And what you think?

32. 15:14

    I think that’s a pretty good answer. Well done me. But that’s not what Jesus said. It’s simply not what he said. Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life. Why do you ask me about what is good? Jesus replied there is only one who is good, if you want to enter life obey the Commandments, all these, I have kept the young man said, what do I still lack? Jesus answered, if you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor and you will then have treasure in heaven.

33. 15:52

    Then come follow me. You get treasure in Heaven by giving to the poor, that’s not an intuitive answer. It’s not even particularly a logical answer, but it’s what Jesus said, so we can trust that it’s true. We gained treasure in Heaven by giving to the poor. I didn’t realize that the promise of giving to the poor had such a rich reward in quite that language.

34. 16:18

    As a wonderful comment occasionally. We can knock this Rich. Young Ruler as if he was some sort of materialistic guy who just wasn’t good enough for discipleship. He was obviously shocked by Jesus response and and not able to comply with it in the immediate moment but there’s something very beautiful in what the young man says, right there. Remember the context Jesus says, keep the Commandments. This young man isn’t a legalist.

35. 16:45

    If he is, he’d have said, check, check check. Check done it finished. I’ve won, he could go check, check, check check of kept the Commandments. But I’m aware. Something’s missing something still isn’t right? He’s not claiming to be sinless. None of us are but he said I’ve kept the Commandments and yet he was spiritually perceptive enough to know.

36. 17:08

    I’m still not inherently Godly. And so that’s I think. Why is one of the translations are one of the Gospel? Records has it. Jesus looked upon him and loved him. A man who knew, even after he’d kept, the rules, had been told he still hadn’t grown close enough to God as he would like to have done.

37. 17:28

    That’s one example, is another interesting one. Be coming clean on the inside. How do you become clean on the inside? You asked me that a few years ago and I will say, well, look, try and contain your thoughts on those things which are themselves clean that wonderful verse from. Where is it? Philippians? Think on these things whatsoever? Be right whatsoever.

38. 17:51

    Be Noble whatsoever. Be true. That’s the way we can become clean on the inside. Another great answer. I’m doing well. But it’s not what Jesus said. When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him, so he went in and reclined at the table, but the Pharisee noticing that Jesus did not first wash before, the meal was surprised.

39. 18:16

    Then the Lord said to him, now then you Pharisees clean. The outside of the cup and dish but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people. Did not the one who made the outside, make the inside. Also Give what is inside the dish to the poor and everything. Both outside and inside will be clean for you.

40. 18:43

    We become clean on the inside by feeding the poor. It’s not intuitive, it’s not logical, but it’s what Jesus said and we can trust it. So there’s some wonderfully powerful language, much more powerful than I had anticipated on the rewards and therefore the encouragement for us to give to the poor do not think at any time I’m preaching salvation by works. Of course I’m not we are never worthy of the kingdom and we can only enter it by God’s grace.

41. 19:13

    But nevertheless the encouragement to be active and give to the poor comes very strongly from um these words of Jesus more strongly than I had previously realized, that’s the positive side of things. Let me turn it around and let’s look at the more negative side of things that is to say. Let’s look at what happens to those who didn’t give to the poor, the sin of Sodom wonderful.

42. 19:36

    Photograph this photograph of the remains now relatively confident the identified as well as Shikamaru, but same same sort of area. And we find what then was the sin of Sodom that precipitated the destruction, the prophet Ezekiel explains. This was the sin of your sister Sodom. She and her daughters. Actually, there are five things. Do we know what?

43. 20:01

    The I think we probably do. Can we do them? Right, that was number two. They were, they were as the modern colloquialism. They were fat and happy or overfed and unconcerned that was number two. Yes, any other Pride? Absolutely. In fact, I think it really shows up twice. I’ll give you two for that one. I’m sorry.

44. 20:26

    They were. Abundance of idleness. I think, right? I think you’re saying the same thing as his brother Warrick said that’s in a different translation that same part of number to one. That was overfed and unconcerned Idol and wouldn’t get up and help anyone any other ideas. We’re missing two.

45. 20:48

    There we moral. They did detestable things it says, yes, that was the last one. We missing one. Ironically the title of the talk. There we go. I thought that was easiest one. There we go. They were arrogant. They were overfed and unconcerned that comes out in a variety of different ways I think that’s what bro brother Warrick and sister were remembering. They did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty which sounds to me very similar to the first one and they did detestable things before. Me not doesn’t specify what those detestable things were the variety of detestable things, but whatever is specified there, therefore, says God, I did away with them. As you have seen those five reasons and may I suggest you that actually number 1 and 4 are pretty much the same. And in fact, number two, and three are pretty much the same. So probably only really three reasons. The this one here, this double reason, here they themselves. Fed themselves to the point of being satiated. I will suck in my stomach, the next three minutes of this talk and were therefore unconcerned with helping those who didn’t have enough, which sort of segues neatly into the not helping the poor and needy.

46. 22:02

    So in actual fact, a substantial proportion of the reason that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed was because they didn’t help the poor. That’s not immediately apparent from Genesis chapter 19. And when you read about the destruction in Genesis nap chapter 19, you’re more inclined to surmise that it’s to do with the violence and the rape.

47. 22:26

    And possibly even the homosexuality that was that was going on there that that big immoral backdrop. But when Ezekiel actually lays out the read Reasons from God through Revelation later, we find out. It’s not exactly what you picked up from Genesis 19 and Us to a good part actually. Concerned about the fact they wouldn’t help the poor God destroyed.

48. 22:48

    Sodom and Gomorrah partly because they didn’t help the poor. That’s interesting. This one is even more astonishing. We’re off the topic of giving to the poor briefly, briefly, we’re going on to the topic of something. Even more unsettling, the idea that the Israelites in their foolishness would occasionally follow the practices of the ammonites who actually sacrificed their children in the fire and burned them as sacrifices to God.

49. 23:21

    This is what the Sovereign. Lord says will, you defile yourselves the Your father’s dead and lust after their vile images, when you offer your gifts, the sacrifice of your son’s in the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your Idols to this day. Am I to let you inquire of Me O House of Israel? As surely as I live declares The Sovereign Lord, I will not let you inquire of me.

50. 23:51

    Think about what that means. I will not let you inquire of me. What does that mean? In modern terms in my language? That means I will not hear your prayer, right? That’s what it means. And fair enough for an offense. So utterly detestable in fact, it’s so detestable not only to God but also, luckily to our culture. It doesn’t even come into our minds. It’s almost like this is now becoming an abstract and unnecessary warning, no one in their right. Mind in this culture thinks of well perhaps for a few teenagers but thinks of sacrificing their children, Children in the fire and the punishment for that is that God won’t hear their prayer.

51. 24:36

    But guess what, The same punishment is given to the one who won’t help the poor. If a man shuts his ears to The Cry of the poor, he too will cry out and I will not answer him. Now, why is that interesting is fairly obvious. Why? That’s interesting, if the penalty that God gives out is the same.

52. 25:01

    Then at some level to God’s thinking, the crimes must be comparable. It’s the same penalty, it must be the same magnitude of crime. So God saying, well, setting fire to your sons and killing them, burning them to death as some sort of sacrifice to God and not giving to the poor. Yeah, that’s about the same. Same crime in my eyes says God, that’s pretty astonishing. God won’t hear the prayers of those who sacrifice children or won’t give to the poor.

53. 25:35

    So that’s what I mean really when I was saying I was checking through scripture just following this idea of our encouragement to give to the poor. How incredibly dramatic and severe the cases were in the both the positive and the negative instances, let’s just summarize them, we’ll start with the negative so that we can finish.

54. 25:54

    Positive. If we don’t give to the poor, says the Proverbs, our prayers won’t be heard. That’s true in the Proverbs and also, in Isaiah 58. I wonder if brilliantly, do you have enough light there to read? I think you do maps. You could read for us. Isaiah 58 and verses 6 to 9, listen, particularly for the last verse or follow along. If you can, as I have 58, this is six, seven, eight and nine. Is not this, the fast that I have chosen to loose the bands of wickedness to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed Go free that.

55. 26:34

    You break every yoke, is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house. When thou seest the naked that thou cover him and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh. Then shall the light Break Forth as the morning and thine Health shall spring forth, speedily and thy righteousness shall go before Thee, the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward.

56. 27:05

    Absolutely. So those verses are expressing the same thing in the positive sense. When you do bring break the shields of shackles of Oppression for those who are poor, then your righteousness Will Spring forth as the morning Sodom was destroyed partly because they did not give to the poor, those are the negative examples. Now let’s transition happily into the positive examples. Giving to the poor is the way we become clean on the inside says Jesus.

57. 27:35

    Giving to the poor is the way we gain treasure in heaven says Jesus and there’s an even more startling. One than that found in the Psalms they have freely scattered, their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever. To cause an ever lasting enduring righteousness. We merely freely scatter, our gifts to the poor. So then why also give to the poor. This is a nice conceptual way to think about it. I think about God and I think about me the distance between us is so vast.

58. 28:14

    It’s silly to put them on the same screen, but I have nothing, I am abject leap, or in all things compared to my God, I think it was Christian who put it? Articulately from the scriptures who said, I don’t even control the next breath that I’m going to take into my nostrils. Job said something similar. He says, God, you give me one breath at a time. I’m paraphrasing.

59. 28:37

    So that, you know, I just suck in one breath. And I live for that moment and I rely on you for the next moment, and God gives me everything that I need not, perhaps everything that I want, but everything that I need why, then do I give to the poor. Well, in some very limited sense in a sort of a socio economic sense.

60. 28:59

    There are people who are a Objectively poor compared to me and I, at least in socio-economic terms and very rich compared to some that I meet even in California who have absolutely nothing. So if I give to the abject leap or Y, then I’m enacting the same role that God does every second of every day for me. So in giving to the poor, God is able to see his reflection. In us, that’s how we grow closer to God, because God is constantly giving to the poor.

61. 29:36

    And when we learn and get excited about doing the same thing, we take up the same image of God. When we think about the image of God, what particular verse might come to mind. Absolutely Genesis 1 verse 26, and God made Man In His Image. And we’re inclined to think about that as a historical. Observation, God made Man In His Image, but I wonder if it’s appropriate to view that sentence as more of a mandate than an observation.

62. 30:11

    In other words, You are man now it’s your job to get into the image of God and by giving to the poor we take on that image so I think that’s as much a mandate as it is a historical fact. The kings of the Gentiles Lord, it over them. You are not to be like that says, Jesus. Instead, the greatest among you should be like, the youngest, and the one who rules, like, the one who serves. This is how we prepare for the kingship that our Lord is happy to give us in that Kingdom age as part of my work as a physicist.

63. 30:52

    I drive forklift, trucks surprising. We have heavy equipment needs to be unloaded at the lab sometimes, and I also occasionally machine parts and not a particularly skilled machinist. But I am a trained and qualified machinist to make Parts on a male or a lathe. So, I work on a Mill and I make Parts. Rarely I drive a forklift truck rally. Now, in order to drive the forklift truck, I needed to be trained big surprise, in order to work on the mill. I needed to be trained.

64. 31:25

    My training on the mill, had nothing to do with driving forklift trucks, and my training to drive forklift trucks. Had nothing to do with operating on the mail. I haven’t said anything surprising yet. I hope. so then what is Jesus saying, if you’re going to be Kings later serve now, Why, why do job?

65. 31:51

    A in practice to do job? B, y drive, a forklift truck to learn how to use the mill. Why should i serve? Now, if I’m going to be a king later, And there’s only one possible answer because I’m not going to be a king later in the way that I’m thinking of King. I learned to serve now because I’m going to serve later and that’s what Jesus means when he says King the one who serves not because those who serve now will rule later. But because serving is the true and proper way to rule, just as a parent rules their child, by providing everything that they need.

66. 32:38

    Perhaps the best example is God, I love the Book of Job. I had the privilege to share thoughts on the Book of Job with youth here, five years ago, standing on this very spot and therefore I’ve paraphrase wildly from Job 38. Some of the things that God says, God says, I am Shepherd to the Stars Chef to the Lions, and Ravens, and midwife to the mountain goats you can investigate the passage for yourself to see that as he speaks in great metaphor, he says the star Was I keep them in.

67. 33:09

    I’m going to paraphrase quite extensively. So, keep them in my garden shed during the day. When the night time comes, I go drag them out of the shed, and I put them all. I lead them all into the right place. It’s like guide them where they need to go. Every night, beautiful metaphor, the Lions and the Ravens, they get hungry, I feed them.

68. 33:27

    I find their food. I hear them making noise of hungry hunger and I attend them and I feed them. I suppose technically you could feed the Raven to the lion and solve the problem, but that’s you know. God is more merciful than that. And the mountain goats he said I’ve learned to recognize the cry they make when they’re about to give birth. And when that mountain goat is halfway up The Cliff face. Who is it?

69. 33:50

    Who hiked up? There to go and deliver that baby goat? That’s me says God. I get my staff and I hiked up the mountain and I deliver that baby goat. I rule this universe because I serve this universe because it is my pleasure to give life. And breath to all things as I will.

70. 34:11

    So as we learn to serve it changes us, we develop God’s trait of loving service because the proper way to rule is the way to serve. As an aside, I have the same lab where I work. He retired very recently but I had a very eccentric friend, his name was Tom and he understood this principle very clearly. He would describe himself as a Christian Buddhist and other such insane contradictions.

71. 34:41

    But anyway, he was a lovely man, still is, and he would, he understood the idea of rulership through service. And so he be walking along and we said, Tom, don’t do this again and he be walking along and with a new director of the lab, And the lab is about 2,000 people, and Tom and probably myself or the lowliest of all and he’s walking alongside with the director and he’d say, so this is this is your place.

72. 35:07

    This is your lab. You think this is yours and the director was so we are and someone. So why pick up the trash? We just walk past the piece. And that’s what he would, send. The director didn’t really know what to do and say hi. Thank you. Yes. Yes, I heard about you and sort of go on But Tom was absolutely right, and that’s what Tom would do and Tom would always pick up the trash.

73. 35:28

    Even though he went, he worked into his 70s and his back was no good. He would still stoop down and pick up every piece of trash. Why are you picking up the trash? Tom is my lab. I own this lab. It’s all mine. I pick up the trash and he’s absolutely, right. And if we want to not out of a sense of power and control, but to please our father and to play along with the plan, our father has for us. We’re going to own this rule, we’re going to own This world. Let’s pick up the trash.

74. 35:55

    Let’s feed the poor. Let’s feed the hungry and take care of every service items needed. Let’s deliver the mountain goats, so to speak. What then can I learn from my experience? So having concluded this study, it was a personal study at the time, although obviously I’ve shared it publicly. Now, I went back to my Ecclesia and I dug out.

75. 36:16

    It didn’t take very long, it’s going to sound like this was a gargantuan task, but it wasn’t and I dug out all the calendars and schedules that we had for a decade for the years, 2001 through 2010. And I looked at every single meeting that we’d had every Memorial meeting. Every Bible class, every committee meeting every special effort, every fraternal, every goodness knows, Up every Sunday school outing and I said well is at least one every time we come together we do so to do at least one and usually more than one of these six things are either declaring.

76. 36:47

    The gospel studying, the Bible socializing taking Bread and Wine in memory of the Lord Jesus Christ, helping the poor or praising God. And so there was more than went into four figures. Maybe about two thousand data points. Went into how many times? As we done each of these things and I made a pie chart because that’s what real science is all about.

77. 37:11

    So look at nice and there it is. And that’s how our Ecclesia. At least those outside of prison had been conducting themselves over a 10-year period. So see, big fat chunk of yellow at studying the Bible and red and green and blue are all socializing very important. I like that and bread and wine.

78. 37:35

    You and praising. There was a fair chunk but orange was fairly slivered. I was surprised by that myself but that is how it came out to declare the gospel and the purple one helping the poor. Can you see the purple that it’s right, there is a little sliver. And out of something like eighteen hundred events. How many times had we actually come together as an Ecclesia for the express purpose of helping the poor and the answer in 10 years was guess.

79. 38:04

    To thank you so much. Yes, we didn’t quite hit that lofty height. Zero was the answer for the. I’m sure many of our brothers and sisters are wonderful and go off and do many charitable works. I’m talking about the times we’ve come together as an Ecclesia deliberately designed so for the year of 2011, in order to make a substantial difference, that was our activity. And that was actually it doesn’t look much different, does it, but it really was quite a difference. And we Put some effort into having several obviously. What I could hardly ever say many several meetings deliberately coming together as an Ecclesia for the express purpose of amongst other things, helping the poor. So we got we got the purple sliver off the ground and that was a wonderful exercise.

80. 38:50

    In a wonderful thing to be involved with the members of my closure are very wonderful, brothers and sisters and I look up to him in that. Respect the yellow one was perhaps slightly larger than most of the others that seems to got larger. I don’t know how that happened. Really, but what’s the ideal distribution?

81. 39:08

    I don’t know, that’s just an equal distribution. Is that the ideal all six of these? Things seem very important when I think about them. So I wonder if that’s sort of the sort of cheese pie chart that we should be aiming for there but we’re getting at least some things growing in order to sort of get them off the ground.

82. 39:27

    So that was a very practical way to put this theoretical learning into action. As a community as an Ecclesia as a community. Also I think we’re theologically very active. That’s right and proper and it should be that way. We think about God, we don’t just talk about God, we think about God, we communicate with god with theologically active, we learn new things about God, I do all the time. Every time I look in the Bible almost and in that sense, I kind of liken us to a university and that’s a good thing. That’s a praiseworthy thing.

83. 40:04

    Our She is X well as a university, but I wonder if, as well as a university, we should also have the ability to be a hospital to be passed orally active to take care of the broken to bind up, the Brokenhearted principally of our own members but also outside. So equally, I think we should be the ideal, it clears. You would perhaps be half University and half hospital and I think we do very well at the University aspects. And I wonder how well we do at at the hospital aspects. Perhaps we need to be a just a little bit more active in our work there.

84. 40:43

    How can I learn from my experience in literal terms? To give to the poor. That’s just one idea. And that’s the idea I’ve been following since this time. It’s a bag. It’s a gallon, ziplock bag and into it. Goes water food. That will keep esperan. That’s a toothbrush. And toothpaste is other cleansing products.

85. 41:06

    There’s a total of ten things in there and I forget what there is. No, also a card from our church, at least giving our address where we meet and I keep that that will fit in the inside door pocket of a car. Cows. Just regular sedan car. You can shove that in the door pocket.

86. 41:23

    Why? Because I’m tired of being so hypocritical that I give talks like this and then when I’m driving along and I come to a traffic light a stoplight and there’s someone begging on the side of the road and I do this appalling thing. If I can’t see you, which is just shocking and needs to stop. So from now on from back in few years ago, there’s always been these bags that I make up and make them up about. G2 time, it costs next to nothing and then at least I can give that bag.

87. 41:53

    So you’d need to make one that was relevant to your circumstances but in California water, and Sun cream, which I know is in there are probably the two most essential things because these guys who sit out and beggar absolutely fried their skin is complete leather. So you can tell, they’re not sort of, you know, just trying to pick up free cash and I’ve got somewhere to live. You can tell from their skin, they’ve been outside 24 hours a day for a substantial period.

88. 42:18

    Rid of time. So there’s just one little suggestion in Practical terms since we’re trying to make this a practical talk of what we can do to actually give to the poor in a meaningful way. How do I gloat grow closer to? God Ruth said, increase in Mercy, spread your wings and learn how to fry. Jacob said, stop wrestling.

89. 42:41

    Stop wrestling. And Trust the father, and perhaps John, the Baptist says Give to the poor. Give to the poor.