The poor man's consolation

Being born into a social “class” is a fact of life acknowledged by all. In ancient Rome you had better be a citizen and a male if you left the house wearing a white toga with a purple stripe around the border. In India your caste cannot be changed: a Brahmin is a Brahmin and a Dalit is a Dalit. In America we have social mobility, but some are born with a silver spoon in their mouths while for others achievement is an uphill battle.

God offers His salvation to men without partiality to class or gender. He says:

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1, ESV).

That’s a great comfort to those who find themselves at the shallow end of the privilege strata. But God offers to men, besides the comfort of free grace, a comfort and incentive regarding works. Hear what he says to slaves or bondservants:

“Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free” (Ephesians 6:5–8, ESV).

Good works matter. Good works reap reward with God. And who would be happier about that than the person born with a few social strikes against him?

Is it good news or bad news to you that God looks at our works? Does affirming this fact, belabored by James, undermine the gospel of salvation by grace alone? God forbid. We are saved by grace alone through faith, and not by climbing the stairway to heaven one good deed at a time.

But what a wonderful incentive to the person who finds himself on the lowest rung of the totem pole of life to remember that this station is first of all temporary, the role we play in our brief strutting across the stage. And secondly, if we make the most of our position, whatever it is, by serving God with all our heart, we store up reward, and it matters not whether we are rich or poor, slave or free. For He who is the Master of the prime minister is Master of the scullery maid, and with Him there is no hint of partiality.

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