I see them nearly every single day. They are all over the big cities, and the suburbs. They are out in rural areas, too, only probably not as noticeable. What am I talking about? I am referring to the poor and homeless asking for help. We see them on the busier streets by the traffic lights. When the lights are red, they will walk down between the lanes, often holding a sign saying they are homeless and hungry. There are always one or two at a busy intersection several blocks from where I live. I have lived here over twenty-five years, and there haven’t always been people on the street corners begging for help. It’s only been in the last few years. How do you feel when you see the poor and homeless in your area, as this is a world-wide concern? Our Scripture today lets us know what the Lord God has to say about this.
This week’s Old Testament Scripture comes from the Book of Deuteronomy, the last book that Moses wrote. Deuteronomy contains his final message to the people of Israel, right before they would cross the Jordan River and enter the Promised Land. In these small handful of verses, Moses tells us the Lord’s instructions for how He wishes us to treat the poor.
The Lord wishes that His children have an attitude towards the poor that is one of warmth and generosity, giving what is necessary to meet their needs, whether they pay us back or not (vs. 8). Right prior to our passage in this chapter of Deuteronomy Moses laid out the regulations for the “year of release”, where all debts were to be canceled every seven years (Deuteronomy 15:1-6). That way people would not be weighed down with unending debt, especially if the lender tacked on heavy interest rates. In today’s passage, the Lord added more about the “year of release” because He knew how hard-hearted some people might be to those who needed a helping hand. He knew that a potential creditor might be unwilling to make a loan to a poor person because of the proximity of the year of release. If it was the sixth year, and the next year was the year of release, that would essentially make the loan instead a gift, as little would be paid back. So some hard-hearted and selfish people would refuse to make loans to the poor then. The Lord explicitly condemned having such an attitude (vs. 9-10).
Why do people so often have a hard heart against the poor? Many people conclude that people are poor through some fault of their own. They feel that they are poor and/or homeless because they are alcoholics or drug addicts, or because they are lazy and don’t work hard enough. This makes it easy in their minds to close their hearts and hands to the needy. However, we are not to invent reasons for ignoring the poor. The Lord tells us to respond to their needs, no matter who or what was responsible for their condition. Plus, with the economy as bad as it is in the U.S. and in many other countries, we can no longer just assume that the poor and homeless are lazy drunks and drug addicts. Unfortunate job lay-offs, ill health with sky-rocketing medical bills, an abusive spouse who takes off and leaves you with children to care for, any of these and more could be the reason that one needs to beg for a hand-out and help.
We also find some people who are so hard-hearted against the poor that they do not want them in their community because they think them unsightly, and that it gives the community a bad image. They petition the police and city council to run them out of town. They remove park benches so they won’t have a place to sit and rest, or put armrests in the middle of those park benches so they can’t lie down at night. Then they turn around and go to church on Sunday and think they are a good, upstanding Christian. Do we not remember what the Lord said He would do when He returns, how He will divide the people according to how they treat the poor? (Matthew 25:31-46). Jesus said that whatever we do to the least of our brothers, we do unto Him. If we help them to the best of our ability, we are helping Him. If we cast them off and ignore them, we are doing the same to Jesus.
Have we been blessed by the Lord with a roof over our head, enough food for each meal, and enough to pay our bills? Most of us have that, and many have even much more. The Lord does not want us to hoard what He has blessed us with. He blesses us so that we might bless others. If we want the blessings of the Lord to continue on us, we must obey Him, and work diligently to carry out His Word (vs. 10). We are told here by Moses in our Scripture (vs. 11), and later with Jesus in Matthew 26:11, that the poor will always be among us. Therefore we are always to remain generous.
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