Luxury, poverty...

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World Vision video – Bring Hope to One Child (2:03) (PLAY ALL the way through, including the World Vision logo – preview…)

It's disturbing to know that in our world people go to bed hungry, and people will starve to death as we sit here this hour and there is nothing THEY can do about it. But there is something WE can do about it, and that's why today we're going to continue this series on poverty by looking at what God's OT Law has to say about caring for the poor.

We all understand that the OT Law is God’s Law for someone other than us, right? The OT Law is God’s law for ancient Israel. He chose THEM out of the nations and he had lessons to teach THEM about separating themselves from paganism and idolatry, lessons that are woven into his OT Law, lessons that are not directly applicable to us. So God gave ancient Israel food laws, for example, like “don’t eat pork or shellfish” because they needed something visual and tangible to separate them from their pagan neighbors (and it turns out that many of God’s food laws for ancient Israel were actually ways of eating that protected them from disease). Or, God told them that their clothes had to be made of one kind of fiber only. A modern-day cotton and polyester shirt wouldn’t fly under the OT Law. He gave them that law because he wanted to surround them with illustrations of how important it was for them not to be woven together with their godless neighbors. They were a small collection of people surrounded by enemies who would take their land and dilute their culture and their faithfulness to God. So the Law was given to them for their protection.

We are not under the OT Law. It isn’t that we don’t need to learn to live differently than people who don’t know God. We do. But in our age, it isn’t for the Law to teach us that, it is Christ thought his Holy Spirit. In Acts 10, those food laws from the OT are basically revoked, and God tells Peter, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (v. 15).

So, with that in mind, why do we turn to God’s OT Law to learn about caring for the poor, given that we’re not under the Law?

So let's examine the OT Law for signs of how God cares about the poor and how we can put into practice some of the principles that we learn there, even as we find freedom from legalism in so doing.

Two runners – John and Dennis. Each of them is going to run 10 miles. At the end they'll get a cash prize based on their performance. Equal opportunity, right? Well, no. John has always been healthy and strong, and he grew up swinging from trees and running through jungles in Papua New Guinea and so he's ready for 10 miles easy. Dennis is smaller with rather spindly legs though he does have the advantage of being extremely good-looking. But he had to work hard all his life, baling hay while John was riding lions, and so his back and knees aren't in great shape.

Then there is the ten-mile course itself. John will be running ten miles downhill on sand which provides a nice cushion for his feet and legs. Dennis will be running through the mountains. Now who is going to finish first and therefore get the larger prize? John will!

Now, to project into the future a bit, John can take his larger prize and invest in expensive running shoes, training supplements, coaches, books. Dennis takes his smaller prize and finds that it is barely enough to pay for his doctor visit that he needs to get some treatment for his swollen knees. There is no money to replace his worn out running shoes and the food he can afford is Ramen Noodles, which don't exactly make for a great training table. If this situation continues on and on, Dennis becomes poorer and poorer and less able to compete in these races (in fact he has to borrow money to get shoes and food and the other things he needs) until finally his body gives out and he's bankrupt. John on the other hand keeps winning the bigger prizes so he can try out the latest running shoes and quickly get treatment for any little nagging pain that develops and as the prizes get larger and larger he gets richer and richer!

I suppose it's obvious that this story about running is actually a little parable about economics, about how if things are left to themselves, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. We really weren't all created equal, and we have different abilities which don't all pay the same. And as hard as we try, we really cannot guarantee everyone equality of opportunity because (as John's running career shows) money provides opportunity which builds on itself. (I have a friend who is NOT rich, who nevertheless bought an expensive pair of running shoes, and those shoes were SUCH an improvement that it caused my friend to wonder what OTHER advantages the rich have over the normal person!)

Now, getting back to the OT Law, when God constructed a society and an economy, he KNEW that not everyone would have the same ability and he KNEW that if people were left in charge of it, the rich would get richer and the poor would get poorer until masses of them began to starve, And through His Law God revealed his heart in the matter and he said: There is something more important than individual freedom, and that is COMMUNITY – people looking out for one another. So he build some principles into the Law that would look out for the poor, to keep them from falling into an unwinnable situation. BTW these Laws look after the rich too, to keep them from being so into riches that they turn their hearts away from God.

1. No interest loans – Exodus 22:25-27 - 25 "If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest. 26 If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset, 27 because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.”

Now let's say I want to borrow money to add a sun room to my house, where I can sit and read and drink coffee and relax. It is hardly a necessity. I could almost pay cash for it, but I believe it's a good strategy to have some cash for emergencies, so I seek a home equity loan to do it. The bank looks at my home loan and finds that I have built up a lot of equity, much more than the cost of my sun room. Not only that, but I have a good, steady income that will easily afford the new payment, and I have all kinds of valuable assets that I could sell off to pay the loan if I had to. Because I really don't need this money at all, the bank is only too happy to loan it to me at the lowest possible rates. I walk away thinking “What a great country!”

Now here comes a lady, 55 years old and divorced, who waits tables at Shoney's and cleans offices nights and weekends and barely pays her rent. She seems to be making ends meet but in reality she is slipping behind every day because she isn't saving anything for emergencies or to replace her car. In fact when her engine throws a rod she suddenly needs $1500 to replace the engine or the car. The bank I went to for my sun room won't touch her loan because any car she might afford is too old, and besides with her small income and the fact that she is one injury or illness away from total unemployment, she's a huge risk. If I were in her shoes, I have several friends or family members who would and could loan me $1,500, but folks who have that need often do not have such friends in their network. She could borrow from the used car lot and make weekly payments of $50 or she maybe could go to the quick loan shop downtown, but either place will charge her such a high rate of interest that by the time the car gives up the ghost next year, she'll still $700 in the hole.

The same disadvantage can affect every economy, including the one in ancient Israel, so that those who tumble into poverty cannot possibly get out. So God's Law said: When you loan to the needy don't charge interest, and don't take their essential possessions (a cloak) as collateral.

Now had I lived back then under these Laws, I might have avoided lending to my poor neighbor altogether. It's risky and there is no profit in it. But I couldn't have had that attitude and claimed to be obeying God, for it says in Deuteronomy 15 - 7 If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. 8 Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. In the society he created, God put in place a plan whereby if I have more than I need, I must loan to the guy who doesn't, and without interest so he has a chance to dig out.

2. Gleaning rights. Now in our culture, one of the signs of laziness or poor workmanship is to leave a job 85% done. Many was the time when Mom sent me out to pick green beans and I came back with about half of what she expected, and when I explained to her that I had thoroughly picked EVERY bean, she would go out and pull back a plant at random to reveal mature beans hanging all over it. If I had known the Scriptures well enough, I might have used in my defense Deuteronomy 24:19-22 – 19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.

We'd call it work-fare today, but it wasn't a government program – rather it was a way for each farmer in that agricultural society to provide a little work so that those who had nothing could work and survive.

I was riding around with my brother Brad up in Ohio a few weeks ago, when I was struck with a small way to apply this. Brad is one of the hardest-working guys I know. He always has some project going – building a deck, restoring an old car, mowing his yard and Mom's. So I was surprised to find out that he takes his cars to a quick-oil-change shop. He could certainly change his own oil and save some money. And he sometimes takes his car to the car wash rather than washing it at home, and it's one of those car washes where 5 guys swarm all over it wiping it down. Why do that?

We could debate about convenience and mess and cost, but one reason apart from those is that by NOT doing these jobs himself, my brother does his part to give someone else a chance to earn a living. It's a modern-day equivalent of the Israelite farmer who doesn't harvest every last square foot of his fields or pick every single olive. I was always taught that you should work hard, save your money and do things for yourself. Each of these virtues can become a vice when we take them to extremes, and so God commanded the Israelites to NOT take them to extremes, but to ease off and share the opportunity to work and make a living.

3. Sabbatical years and the Year of Jubilee. I'm sure you know that God created the world in six days, and then he rested on the seventh and commanded his people to rest too each seventh day, the Sabbath day. Well he also commanded his people in the OT Law to let each seventh YEAR be free from cultivating the land so that the land could have a rest. The Sabbatical year was a faith lesson for the Israelites, just as the weekly Sabbath was. Could they trust God to provide (as he promised he would) IF they took a day off, a year off? Could they obey him or would they have to keep working?

But something else important happened every seventh year: From Deuteronomy 15 - 1 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. 2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD's time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. 3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you...12 If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you and serves you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free. 13 And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. 14 Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.

So you could loan money to another Israelite, with no interest, and in fact you SHOULD do this to keep him from starving. But there came a time every seventh year when you were obligated to cancel his debt and give him a fresh start. The idea is that you who have been blessed by God share some of that blessing with your brother so that he won't keep descending into a poverty he'll never escape. And slavery – they had it in Israel – voluntary slavery where one Israelite would sell himself to pay his debts. We don't, and for good reason. But even then, there was this concern God had for the poor. It wasn't his will for a slave to be a slave forever, but when that seventh year came along, you were to send him away, and not empty handed either. “Supply him liberally from your flock...”

The year of Jubilee, each 50^th year, was supposed to be the Sabbatical year on steroids. Not only were slaves set free, not only were debts forgiven, but family property returned to its original owners. You see when the Israelites entered the Promised Land, each family got a share of farmland that they could call their own to provide for them and their kids and grandkids for generations to come. But what if you got yourself into financial trouble and had to sell that land? Many times what happens, here in America but especially overseas, is that the poor farmers who are losing money year after year survive on their land for as long as they can, but eventually they have to sell it for a low price to some rich conglomerate and they move into the slums of a city where there are already more people than jobs, and a few people get richer and richer and a large group gets poorer and poorer.

Again, God in his Wisdom saw this in our nature so he provided for Israel. If I sold my family farm to pay my debts, I didn't really sell it completely, because God's Law said that one of two things could happen. 1. A relative of mine, a kinsman, could buy it back for me, or 2. When the Jubilee came around, my family land would come back to me. Craig Blomberg calls it a once-in-a-lifetime chance to start over. Every fifty years, the Israelites got a Mulligan, a do-over, and if Dad or Grandad or Uncle Eli had totally failed to make a go of the family farm, it would eventually come back to you and you would get your shot.

So we can sum up God's economy by saying that it rewarded things like hard-work, planning, applied intelligence and other virtues we regard highly. But also built into it were checks and balances so that when the poor got too poor, when they fell too far behind in the race, God pulled them back up – and he didn't do it miraculously (as we would say) but he did it through His people acting in community toward one another.

OK, now. We're not under the Law. God doesn't require us to take one year off every seven. I wish he did. If we all did it, it could work! We're not under the Law that says we have to forgive debts every seven years. (Well actually, according to Jesus, we're supposed to do it a lot more often! And he spoke not just of forgiving hurt feelings, but said lend to others without expecting to get anything back) or the Law that says that if we buy someone's ancestral land we have to give it back in the 50^th year. (Actually, if we listened to Jesus a little more closely, we'd probably be carrying around many fewer possessions through life, except what we directly use to bless and help others). But aside from these things Jesus said that get in the way of our comfortable lives, the fact is that we DO live in a different circumstance than OT Israel and we aren't under that OT Law.

What we can do is to apply the principle of Jubilee, the principle of gleaning rights, and the principle of no-interest loans into a Christ-centered and Spirit-driven plan of repentance, redistribution and relocation (John Perkins, modified)

Repentance. 1 John 3:17 says: If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? If we can close our eyes to Africa and our ears to Appalachia and otherwise ignore the large and growing gap between rich and poor all around us, that's a spiritual issue. How can the love of God be in us? The answer is either “It can't” or “I've buried it”. In either case, the response is to repent.

Redistribution. All the OT Laws we've seen were aimed at redistributing wealth from richer to poorer people. It wasn't communism and the goal wasn't complete equality or to punish the productive and reward the lazy. The goal was to give that runner that is falling further and further behind a little boost to get back in the race, and also to give the one who is doing well a bit of humility, a reminder that every good and perfect gift comes from God, and so does the ability to succeed in life and produce wealth.

How do we redistribute? We invest what we have received in those who haven't. I'm not talking about government-mandated investment but Spirit-directed redistribution.

How many of you are going on the missions trip to the Pine Ridge Reservation? You are going to see a place which represents many in this world (many of them close by) where the resources you have – spiritual, economic, educational, medical – are in short supply. You won't be able to DO a lot about that in one week, except perhaps to the extent that you show love and respect to those you go to visit. But the real opportunity for redistributing resources will come when you get back and choose how you'll live the rest of your life. You'll have choices to make about things like spending more money on yourself vs. supporting the redistribution of resources to places like Pine Ridge, or Papua New Guinea or Malawi or the Middle East. I think God's OT Law makes it clear where his heart lies. What about yours? Mine?

Relocation. In order to take the love of Christ to people, not everyone can simply send money. Some of us need to relocate, to go and live as friends and Christ-followers among people who have been forgotten, and speak up on their behalf. Two women from here are doing that at The Refuge in Midtown. One young woman who worked here last summer with GWC is leaving Tuesday for six-months in Africa to explore a calling of relocation for her life. Not all of us will relocate but as we really listen to God, more will. The heart of God's care for the poor is help that grows out of COMMUNITY, of people who know and love each other. In the video last month, Shane Claiborne said that people treat him like he's exceptionally dedicated for helping the poor in inner city Philly, and he says: “If you lived here and knew these people, you'd help them too. You couldn't help but help!”

On your way out, please find the World Vision table and consider taking up a sponsorship of a child in the developing world. A few years ago, Cindy and I began supporting a young man in Haiti (through Compassion International, a very similar sponsorship) named Predelus Loukeben in Haiti. Our sponsorship helps this guy receive “Bible teaching, medical treatment, recreational activities, academic support and academic materials, and things like health workshops and literary training for his Mom and other adults.” I write him and he writes back. (A recent letter and drawing). Developing at least a casual relationship through the mail is an important part of the sponsorship. The World Vision sponsorship is $35/month and all of the children on our display are from countries where AIDS is a horrendous problem.

Many of you won't miss $35 a month. But even if you do, what ARE you going to miss, really?

I'm sure you know these words from Jesus from Matthew 25, so can we read them together as we close?: 37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'”

Morrison Hill Christian Church
P.O. Box 59 - 1008 E. Race St.
Kingston, TN 37763 (865) 376-5205