Rev. Don Campbell
Leviticus 24-25
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019
DON’T GROW WEARY IN WELL-DOING
“If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner [“foreigner,” NLT, NIV], and he shall live with you” (Lev 25:35). When I first read this verse, I thought I had not gotten enough sleep last night or was suffering from dyslexia and was sequencing the sentence incorrectly. One might think that Moses would have said, “If a foreigner lives among you and cannot maintain himself, you are to support him as you would a brother.” Not so. The brother was to be treated as the foreigner.
In Deuteronomy, Moses expands: “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land’” (15:7-11).
I understand that Moses was speaking to God’s covenant people, not to the nations around them. I also understand when Jesus said, “You have the poor with you always” that he was speaking to disciples. However, we can’t have it both ways: We can’t say this does not apply to social justice in America and then proudly praise politicians for quoting Scripture, publicizing photo-opt prayers, and for championing the “One nation under God” clause of the Pledge of Allegiance. If we are one nation under God, then we need to conduct ourselves accordingly.
Moses says, “Open your hand to the needy and the poor.” He did not say, guarantee the lazy and the freeloaders an annual income. Paul addressed that issue: “For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living” (2 Thess 3:10-12). But that is not all that he said: “As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good” (2 Thess 3:13).
We will always have the poor because some people are not able-bodied. We should never have involuntary poverty resulting from a hardness of heart resulting in official policy. The current official poverty level set by the same people who set the minimum wage is $12,000 for one, $17,000 for two, $21,000 for three, and $26,000 for four (numbers have been rounded to the nearest thousand). The Federal minimum wage of $7.25 has not increased for nearly 10 years. This means that one person working at minimum wage makes $15,000 annually—three thousand above the poverty line. For two, the same income is two thousand dollars less than the poverty line. For three it is seven thousand less, and for four it is eleven thousand less. Adjusted for inflation the average hourly rate in 1973 of $4.03 had the same purchasing power as $23.68 does today. The Federal minimum wage in 1973 was $2.00, or half the average, which means the purchasing power was that of $11.84 today. The purchasing power of those drawing only the minimum wage today 30% of the average hourly purchasing power of the average hourly wage in contrast to the 50% in 1973.
To those who would dismiss this with a wave of the hand and say, “Campbell, you ought to stick to preaching the gospel,” I would remind them that I am in good company: “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter” (Jam 5:1-5).
CONNECTIONS Isaiah 13:6, Isaiah 15:3, Galatians 6:9-10
1. C. H. Lenski commented on James: “The ungodly rich are here apostrophized as was done by the Old Testament prophets when they denounced foreign nations such as Babylon (Isa. 13:6), Moab (Isa. 15:3), and others. These ‘rich’ are not Christians. James does not call them to repentance and amendment; judgment alone awaits them. In marked contrast to this terrible section is the next which is again addressed to the ‘brethren.’ In 2:2, etc., one of these haughty rich Jews deigns to visit the Christian congregation; in 2:6 James reminds the Christians of what such rich Jews make them suffer. James now predicts their judgment. If it be asked whether this denunciation applies to Christians, the answer is that it does if they are in this ungodly class, merely bearing the Christian name does not exempt them”
(Lenski New Testament Commentary – Lenski New Testament Commentary – The Interpretation of The Epistle to the Hebrews and The Epistle of James). If you were tasked with delivering James’ message to the guilty class today, to whom would you send an email or on whose timeline would you post?
2. How do Paul’s words speak to today’s thought? “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal 6:9-10).
