Pigeon Sacrifice!

  

QUOTATION

 

“Although, my dream, my nightmare, on the one hand terrifies me, on the other hand, I am joyful! Joyful because this would mean that God's plan of salvation for the world is coming to a close. If true, I am even more determined to be a beacon of light for the unsaved, to spread the good news of the Gospel to the broken-hearted, allowing the Holy Spirit to convict, so they too, might have the opportunity to spend an eternity with God.”

 

Barry Denzil Haney

 

SCRIPTURE

 

And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the Lord; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering.

 

Leviticus 5:13

 

REFLECTION

 

What, pigeon sacrifice!

 

Pigeons were the sacrificial offering for the poor to make at the Temple, during Jesus’ time . There was no middle class, only the rich and poor. The majority of people in Galilee at that time were poor.

 

How poor were they?

 

In his article, Poverty in the First-Century Galilee, Sakari Hakinen, says this about the poor during Jesus’ time:

 

“In the Ancient world poverty was a visible and common phenomenon. According to estimations 9 out of 10 persons lived close to the subsistence level or below it. There was no middle class. The state did not show much concern for the poor. Inequality and disability to improve one's social status were based on honour and shame, culture and religion.”¹

 

What does it mean to be poor? Another word for poor is poverty.

 

In his sermon study guide “Fighting For What Jesus is For – Week Two: ‘For The Poor’”, John Weece answers this question and challenges the congregation with this point:

 

“The word poor applied to any or all of the following corners of life: Spiritual, physical, emotional, relational, and financial. Have you ever experienced poverty in any of these areas? What was it like? How have you seen God provide in one or more of these areas?”

 

There are two basic types of poverty, physical or economical and spiritual. Most people when they hear the word “poor” think of people who are deprived of basic human needs to support life.  

 

In the Beatitudes, Jesus tells us this in Matthew 5:3:

 

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

Matthew 5:3

 

What does Jesus mean, “poor in spirit”.

 

In his article, “What Does Poor In Spirit Mean?”, Daniel Esparza gives his interpretation of this verse:

 

“However, one thing is clear: in the Beatitudes (that is, the Sermon of the Mount), Jesus is not referring to material poverty. He is clearly not calling the hungry and thirsty “blessed” because of their suffering. The Beatitudes are clearly not praise for misery, starvation, or hardship. The text makes it very clear Jesus is referring to poverty in spirit and hunger and thirst for righteousness.”²

 

 

 

Oh, how fortunate we are that God has provided us with an escape from being poor, from spiritual poverty, through His Son Jesus Christ! I will close with the following lengthy excerpt taken form a sermon by Charles Spurgeon entitled “Poverty and Riches”: 

 

“I close with one more question. If such was his poverty, why should not we also, for his glory, be willing to be poor? If he would throw aside his honour, why should not we throw ours aside? If he gave up his ease, why should not we give up ours? If he was willing to be a servant, why should not we be servants? If he made himself of no reputation, why should not we do the same? 

That is very different from the action of my friend over there who said, “Well, you know, I shall not stand it; I do not think that I should be treated like that; I really feel that I ought to be more respected.” Ah, poor soul, if you knew yourself, you would not talk so! Who among us deserves any respect? They call us “Reverend.” It makes me sick to think that any mortal man should be considered a “reverend” person. What reverence can be due to us, except that every wife is to “see that she reverence her husband”? That is Scriptural; but it is never said that every hearer is to reverence the preacher. Oh, what poor creatures we are at our best! 

If God were to permit us to be door-mats to the church, it would be too high an honour for us. I have seen a broom, sometimes, outside a door where farming men come to brush their boots; it is a grand thing for a man to be just like that. I think that I am getting very near to that honour and glory, so many are scraping their boots against me just now; and I am well content that it should be so if they get some of the mud off, and do not go and spoil God’s floor inside. 

Let all of us feel that what becomes of us matters nothing at all; let us be willing to die in a ditch so long as Jesus Christ sits on the throne, and his great truth is established in the world. “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.” Go and imitate him, and be willing to be nothing at all, if only he may be all in all. God bless you! Amen.”

 

ILLUSTRATION

 

“Columbus had no gold; he begged bread for his hungry boy and died in want, but he gave the world that which was better than gold, a new continent. Millet had neither gold nor silver, pinched with poverty all through life, but he gave to the world The Angelus. Jonathan Edwards had no gold to give; his wife and daughters were compelled to help support the family, but he gave to the world a great book, perhaps the profoundest volume produced in this continent.

Jesus Christ had neither gold nor silver. He supported Himself as a carpenter, and often ate the bread of a mendicant. When crucified He was nailed to a cross while His enemies mocked. But He spake as never man spake, in words of priceless truth.

 

—J. H. Bomberger”⁴

 

PRAYER

 

Our Heavenly Father,

 

In the Beatitudes, Your Son Jesus tells us

to be poor in spirit! Father, God help us 

to be humble! Help us to hunger and thirst

for Your righteousness! Help us to be servants, 

like you, willing to wash the feet of the unsaved!

 

Remind us to not only help those economically

poor, but to search out those who spiritually 

poor! Let our earthly bodies serve as a conduit 

through which the fruits of the Holy Spirit are 

made manifest, planting the seed by which 

the Holy Spirit might convict the unsaved!

 

In the precious name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior,

 

Amen!

 

SONG OF WORSHIP

 

A Heart That Beats For You – Sonya Isaacs and Vince Gill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsGCE564dnQ

 

God Bless You,

Barry

 

1“How Many Stars Are There!” The Physics of the Universe, n.d. https://www.physicsoftheuniverse.com/how-many-stars-are-there.html. 

 

2Penn-Lewis, Jessie, and Evan Roberts. War on the Saints. Thomas E. Lowe, Ltd, 1973. 

 

3 Tan, Paul Lee. Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times. Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996. Print.