Israel was meant to be a just society. As God’s peculiar people, they were to exhibit concern and care for the poor and marginalized in their midst. After all, to hear Jesus tell it, that’s how the reign of God works: the lowly are lifted up and the mighty are brought low, contrary to all value judgments of the fallen world around us.
So, in Deuteronomy 24, we have concerns for the newlywed, who ought to be allowed to enjoy his new status for a while—even though the newlywed is most likely young and therefore eligible for and capable of military service. We have concerns for collateral. Israelites can’t take means of livelihood in pledge of a loan. How could the borrower earn what is necessary to get back on his feet? Israelites were not to enter a borrower’s house and seize collateral. The one forced to borrow was granted his dignity. (Ever had an overdue bill and gotten the dunning call? It doesn’t take long to get stripped of your dignity when money’s at stake!) Israelites were not to keep the pledges of the poor overnight. After all, one of the common pledges was a cloak, and for the poor person that cloak may very well be the only defense they have against the chill of night.
A while ago, I was reading something about poverty. I don’t remember what it was (I read too much in too many contexts to keep it straight if I don’t write it down), but the point was pretty clear. More than resources, poor people want their human dignity. They want to participate in society and decision-making. They want the honor of having a voice. Deuteronomy acknowledges the importance of dignity.
Along with being just, Israel is to be generous. So, there is concern for the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow. Specifically, Israel is not supposed to ‘over-harvest’ their fields. Leftovers are for the provision of the poor. I don’t know about you, but I waste very little. We use a spatula to get everything out of a can; we use the last little bit of paper toweling, even those it’s been stuck to the roll; and I can’t imagine leaving a sheaf of grain behind by accident. But the Lord encourages leaving some of the harvest behind for the poor. The reasoning is interesting, too: you were a foreigner in Egypt, that is, you lived on the largesse of the Egyptians (even though you were slaves!) and you were recipients of my generosity in bringing you out. So, the call for generosity and justice are calls to be like the Lord.
A couple of months ago, a man banged on our front door and then rang the doorbell just before 4 in the morning on a bitterly cold night. He begged to be let in out of the cold. We don't live on a main road, so our house seemed an unlikely choice for something like this. I called 911, and they were adamant: "Don't let him in!" They sent the police to pick him up, and the police arrived about 10 minutes later. Meanwhile, the man moaned about the cold and kept begging to come in, but we did nothing but tell him that the police would arrive soon. The kids were terrified, and our safety concerns drove our decisions. Since then, I've wondered if we could have handled the situation differently, in a more Christ-like way...like asked the man to back far enough away from the door so we could maintain our sense of safety but give him additional clothing or blankets to keep warm until the police arrived.
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