2 Kings 25.12 But the captain of the guard left some of
the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.
What causes a person to be poor? Think about that. What
causes a person to have less than others to the point that society labels them ‘poor’?
And what does it mean to be poor? Does it mean to have less money, less
intellect; or is poverty a matter of more
or less?
Think about this: Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Mother Teresa said, “It is a poverty to
decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” Is poverty
a choice? Is poverty simply bad money management? Is poverty the result of
covetousness gone wild?
Poverty and taking care of the poor seems to be a major
theme of Scripture. It seems to be important to God that we take care of the
poor among us. It seems to be important to God that we share with those who are
less fortunate and help provide for them. Does that cure or enable their
poverty. Jesus said, “The poor you will always have with you…” Sounds like
poverty isn’t going away any time soon.
In America, back in the 60’s, we decided to declare a war
on Poverty. We decided that poverty could be eliminated by government
regulations and by government programs. It seems we haven’t won the war. We declared
war on drugs as well, and drugs haven’t gone away either. The problem with war,
as I understand it, is you can’t win at war without a winning strategy. Shock and awe, shocks and awes; but
there is much more to a strategy than bombing the crap out of things. Sometimes
it’s as simple as giving someone something to do to make them feel useful, and to
become a contributing part of society.
In the ancient days of the collapse of the Jewish nation
and its subsequent exile into Babylonian captivity (circa. 605 BC) the Bible
says: But the captain of the guard left
some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen. What does
it take to get a job? Sometimes, it is the captivity of your nation. Sometimes
it is doing what no one else wants to do.
Jesus didn’t say enable the poor; He said to take care of
them. Maybe the war on poverty would be won if we cared about those who can’t
make it on their own for whatever reason. And maybe it means allowing them a
little ownership and protection so that they can feel useful.
Poverty is both a matter of the heart, and a matter of
circumstances. Sometimes, poverty is a choice and sometimes, it just is.
Sometimes, it feels like the cure for poverty might just be a good caning. But
most of the time it is ignoring the
circumstances, ignoring the
preferences, ignoring the poor
behavior, and just being loving and kind enough to come alongside the broken,
and give them a helping hand. And leaving it at that. I can’t fix you, but here’s twenty bucks.
Maybe kindness and generosity will win out and poverty
one day will be no more… Maybe. In the meantime, what Jesus said is what Jesus
said, and we’ll just have to deal with it. Lord, help me to do what is right and
leave the work of fixing the heart up to You. Amen.
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