How are Christians called to help the poor? In Moses’ time, children without fathers and older women without husbands had no one to care for them. And sojourners were by definition people without roots in the community, without homes or land. And in an agricultural society, if you had no land, you had no obvious means of supporting yourself.

So, how did Moses tell the people to help those who were helpless? It’s interesting that he didn’t prescribe some sort of institutional program. He didn’t tell the people to give more offerings to the priests and Levites so they could minister to the needy. No, he told the people to do something themselves, to get directly involved with those in need.

But it’s also interesting that he didn’t tell the people to just give things to the poor. Instead, he told them to be a little sloppy in their harvesting, leaving some of their crops in the field. Those who were needy would therefore be able to work for a living, gathering the leftover wheat or olives or grapes. This is what Ruth did when she and Naomi first came back to the land of Israel (Ruth 2:2-3).

So, what is the modern equivalent of this kind of help for the needy? Basically, it means we should provide less of a handout and more of a hand up. Oh, sure, in crisis situations direct aid is still necessary. But the long-term solution to poverty is not largess but labor. Work is what most of our modern sojourners, our recent immigrants want. And in one way or another, some sort of honest work is what everyone needs.

But here’s the catch – in order to provide some job opportunities for the poor, the people of Moses’ time had to forego some of their own income – they had to leave some of their crops in the field. Just so, we might have to pay someone to do something for us that we could very well do for ourselves. But providing such work helps us build relationships, and it helps the poor develop some skills and some self-respect. And isn’t that better for everyone than just putting a check in the mail to some charity or some government agency?

But let’s also remember the reason Moses said his people should be kind to immigrants: the Israelites themselves had once been sojourners, strangers in the land of Egypt. In the same way, everyone now living in America has immigrant ancestors, whether they migrated over a land bridge across the Bering Strait or on ships from Europe or Africa or Asia. In fact, none of us sinful human beings has any inherent right to anything God has graciously entrusted to us. So let’s remember to be generous with one another, not only with our gifts but with the opportunities for success that are even more important.

Deuteronomy 24:17-22 (NASB)

17 “You shall not pervert the justice due an alien or an orphan, nor take a widow’s garment in pledge.
18 “But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and that the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.
19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
20 “When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow.
21 “When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not go over it again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow.
22 “And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.