During the conference this week Eric Swanson made an interesting comment about the church’s ministry with the poor. While reflecting on Matthew 26:11, when Jesus says “You will always have the poor with you,” he stated that while there will always be the poor among us, it shouldn’t be the same poor.
In other words, because of the church’s involvement in community transformation those who are poor should be lifted out of poverty. Not through one time deeds of charity, but as the result of seriously dealing with the deeper issues of justice; bringing redemption into the spiritual, economic, and societal issues that led to the state of physical poverty.
The discussion reminded me that it was Swanson’s book, The Externally Focused Church, that prompted me to create a post a couple of years ago that help remind me of God’s heart for the poor, widows, orphans and foreigners. If you have any doubt about the volume of scripture that speaks to this topic, then consider this sampling:
Exodus 22:21
“You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.”
Exodus 22:22-23
“Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me. I will certainly hear their cry.”
Exodus 23:3
“And do not slant your testimony in favor of a person just because that person is poor.”
Exodus 23:6
“In a lawsuit, you must not deny justice to the poor.”
Exodus 23:11
“. . . but let the land be renewed and lie uncultivated during the seventh year. Then let the poor among you harvest whatever grows on its own. Leave the rest for wild animals to eat. The same applies to your vineyards and olive groves.”
Exodus 30:15
“When this offering is given to the Lord to purify your lives, making you right with him, the rich must not give more than the specified amount, and the poor must not give less.”
Leviticus 19:10
“It is the same with your grape crop—do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.”
Leviticus 23:22
“When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.”
Leviticus 25:35
“If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and cannot support himself, support him as you would a foreigner or a temporary resident and allow him to live with you.”
Deuteronomy 15:7
“But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them.”
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