"Provision for the Poor" - a sermon on Leviticus 19:9-10

There is a clear concern in both testaments of the Bible for the poor and needy. The Hebrew prophets, followed by Jesus, then Paul, spoke and wrote about the fact that ethical and credible religion must address the needs of the poor. In effect, it is as blatant as this – if you ignore the poor, then you are turning your back on Jesus! From the earliest records of Israelite ethics and law, we read how important it was to care for those on the fringe of economic life (as well as those who were “aliens” i.e. foreign newcomers to the community just finding their way). Leviticus 19:9-10 gives one example of this. The context of the chapter is ‘holiness’ (19:2), denoting that our attitudes to money and the poor cannot be ignored when assessing our spiritual maturity. ‘Holiness’ means being publicly set apart as God’s person. How is it that we can be increasingly seen as God’s person? True ‘holiness’ will imitate God’s nature and activity. And as this teaching in Leviticus chapter 19 was inclusively addressed ... to “all the congregation of the people of Israel”, the content of verses 9-10 were not something to be choosy about, as if it was an option to be selected (or not). So ... compassion is the one of the central features of ‘holiness’ that cannot be ignored!

Many people in history have not been able to ignore God’s call of compassion, even when this is against all odds: Mother Teresa in the streets of Calcutta, Father Damien in the leper colony of Molokai, William Wilberforce on behalf of the slaves being brought to England, Martin Luther King seeking equality for African-Americans in the civil rights movement. But all of us can aspire to such compassion as we are willing to see the face of Jesus in the stranger. And just imagine what it would look like if everyone who found themselves in need were compassionately and spontaneously helped! Here is a vision of a better community.

The people of God were not to be too pedantic, when harvesting their crop, about the bits around the edges and the pieces that were dropped along the way ... for these should be deliberately left for the poor and needy people who would follow behind later, who were collecting what they could for their family’s mere survival. There is evidence of this actually happening when we read Ruth chapter 2. There the landowner Boaz was quite generous in his interpretation of this decree, and the foreigner Ruth was able to glean quite a large amount. There are no measurements given as to how far in from the edge the crop should be left, or how many grapes should be left on each vine – for this was no doubt designed to motivate the right heart attitude much more so than legislate particular percentages. There should be an everyday concern for the needs of the poor (that reflects a central core character concern of God)! There was the idea being promoted here that any such harvest was a blessing originating in God, which could and should be shared with the wider community, rather than exercising any right of personal, private and exclusive ownership. Taking the majority share of the harvest would be way enough for the farmer ... to be overly worried about the remaining 5 or 10 or 15 percent showed greed and a callous attitude toward the poor.

Christopher J H Wright (“Old Testament Ethics for the People of God”, 167) puts it this way:

"The important thing is not whether you feel compassion, but whether you act with compassion. So, whatever you may feel, you are to avoid reaping your fields, vineyards or orchards to the very last grain, grape or olive. There are those whose needs are more urgent than your rights of ownership, and on whose behalf God commands very practical compassion."

It is true that every blessing and good resource has come to us through the Creator of Heaven and Earth ... God says, “I am the Lord your God” (19:10b). We are, generally speaking, in this country well and truly fortunate – with our climate, and with the availability of food, housing, education, employment and health services. We should be ever grateful. But we should not only be grateful, but recognise the responsibility relative wealth brings (this is an ethical matter). There will be many, some of which due to no fault of their own, who do not have enough through which to survive life. We should also, especially in a spiritual sense, realise the danger we are putting ourselves in if we give too much emphasis to the material side of life. Material possessions can distract us from God, and begin to even possess us! Material possessions tend to devalue or disappear anyway, and in the end we can’t take them with us into eternity. This is why we should tend to hold onto such things lightly and loosely. Holding on too tight overvalues any given material thing.

And so not being overly worried about those crops at the edges of the field, nor the few grapes missed on the vines, given that there will be needy others collecting them up, was the way for the people of Israel to have everything in the right perspective. Sure this type of provision could be exploited by the one who is too lazy or irresponsible to take up their own load in society, or by the one who would cheat the system by taking more than they need and profiting from the kindness of others ... just like happens with our welfare system now. Yet just because such provisions are vulnerable to abuse, this does not counteract their very necessary existence.

Right across Melbourne, people present themselves to welfare services, seeking food for their family. There are many factors involved in this – unemployment, rising interest rates, physical and mental health issues, relationship breakdown, rising prices. When I contacted them, Uniting Care in Werribee was most keen to receive the goods we bring today, due to the demand they encounter. Need within our society presents itself in various ways, and there are many good community responses to this situation. We are called to be part of this effort, especially as we understand the equality of all humanity under God, and dignity in which God would want us all to live.

The question occurs as to the extent to which we have to go. I don’t have any easy answers to this one. As Julie recently reminded us, we should not become weary of doing good (Galatians 6:9) and continue always to be ambassadors for Jesus on earth. I have often said that giving in to compassion fatigue is not an option for a Jesus follower. But at the same time, we are human and we do get tired! Also, no one should be allowed to become totally dependent upon anyone else (apart from God) lest they lose their humanity (and their capacity to grow) altogether. So I’ll just talk around in circles for a bit hoping that others might have some good insight in this area!!!

To what extent do we need to go??? Sometimes our resources, including our emotional reserves, can get very strained. Where do the boundaries lie? There is a point at which people do need to take responsibility for themselves, and part of our support of them should be aimed at that goal. The best international aid projects, rather than mere hand-outs, are those based around community development, facilitating self-determination at some point in the future. So ultimately our offer of care, rather than building greater dependence upon us, has to target a person’s own potential for self-care. Yet often, in the first instance, it is just plain material and practical help that is required. We do have to protect our own well-being against being dominated by things and people outside our arena of responsibility. Yet, we also have to guard ourselves against being too easily apathetic, hardhearted or distant.

We have to follow our heart on this – but this would be a heart that has become so attuned to God that we readily appreciate God’s heart of compassion, and thus get it right more often than not. We need to pray that we get our daily judgement calls more right than not. We need to have positive attitudes toward others, but at the same time realise that some hearts have become dark and deceptive (through their experience of life so far). When I was pastor at West Melbourne, I had to sort through these judgement calls on a daily basis as people presented at my door looking for money. It may be likely that increasingly we will all be called upon to respond to needy situations and make such judgements more often than we would like. The question is: what will guide our decision-making?