Verse 35: “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
The Lone Ranger.
Robin Hood.
Zorro.
The Lorax.
Now, at first glance, you might look at this list and think “one of these things is not like the other.” Not true. The first 3 literary heroes did defend the weak, the poor, and the defenseless. The Lorax did, too: remember what he always told the Once-ler? “I speak for the trees!” He was their vocal defender to a guy who was only determined to make a fast buck off the luxurious Truffula trees. The Lorax spoke for those who couldn’t speak for themselves. (Thank you, Dr. Seuss!)
In early church times, it was supposed to be the church that supported the weak. It was supposed to the be the church’s duty to care for those that society forgets. Nowadays, everyone would argue it should be some form of governmental department or independent charity that should do it. This is incorrect; the church should be the ones to do it. Large buildings to hold Sunday worship services are nice, but that’s not the church’s main priority. Besides spreading the Gospel, it was to help and to minister…and it still is the church’s mission to do that. Paul was reminding the church elders of this.
For those who grew up watching Mickey’s Christmas Carol, I always smiled knowingly when Scrooge tells Bob Cratchit “what’s this world coming to, Cratchit? You work all your life to get money! And people want you to give it away!” How much fun it is after the visits of the 3 spirits and Scrooge’s change to see the old miser happily stuffing the pockets of the charity seekers whom he chased out of his office before! Jesus said it best in the verse: “It is more blessed to give than to receive”.
Everyone has something to give.
Something to think about.
Combing The Word 