Despising our Maker

How often do we despise God?

“Despise God,” you may ask.  “I don’t despise God.”

And yet when we look down on those God has created, we do despise him.

That’s what Solomon reiterates several times in the Proverbs.  He starts by saying,

The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.

He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.  (Proverbs 14:20-21)

Every once in a while in the Proverbs, you’ll see statements like verse 20 that make you think, “Is God saying this is the way things should be?”

The answer is of course, no.  Solomon is merely stating the way things are.

When people are rich, they have many “friends.”  When they are poor, those “friends” tend to disappear.

The story of the prodigal son (Luke 15) is an example of this.

But how things are is not always how God says things should be.  And he makes it very clear that when we despise our neighbor, especially our neighbor in need, we despise God.  But if we bless them, God will bless us.

Solomon goes on to say in verse 31,

He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

A big story in the news right now is of a Miami football player bullying another and ultimatey causing the latter to leave the team.

While this passage talks about oppressing the poor, I think we could say that God looks dimly on anyone who oppresses another.

Chapter 17 in Proverbs also reiterates this idea.

He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.  (5)

How is showing contempt for others showing contempt for our Maker?

In two ways.  First, we’re telling God, “What you’ve made is no good.  It’s worth my contempt.”

Second, we’re despising someone who was made in the image of God.  When we spit at someone, we spit into very the image of God.

How about you?  Do you despise the poor or homeless you see on the street?  Do you look down upon the weak, not only the physically weak, but the emotionally weak as well?  When we despise them, we despise Jesus.

But when we show kindness to them, Jesus says we’re showing kindness to Jesus himself.  As our Lord himself said,

I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.  (Matthew 25:40)

How do you see the people around you?