An Internal Dialogue about the Poor

After I posted the quote about the poor yesterday, I ended up reading Matthew 25 last night, which has me--yet again--wrestling with the biblical mandate to "minister to the poor" and our country's welfare system of keeping the poor enslaved to handouts, a breeding ground for entitlement.

A couple weeks ago, I read this passage:

14"Everyone who is numbered, from twenty years old and over, shall give the contribution to the LORD.

15"The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel, when you give the contribution to the LORD to make atonement for yourselves.

Exodus 30:14-16 (New American Standard Bible)

Interesting.

The first night I went to the North branch library to read to the preschool children while the school-aged children were with tutors, I had a massive headache. My head was throbbing. My neck and shoulders were tight. I was in some serious pain. By the end of the night, the tension and pain were completely gone.

Last Tuesday, I was dealing with some pretty serious depression. If you want to know the truth, I had actually had a suicidal thought cross my mind that day. I sent two text messages to two friends who have prayed me through some dark valleys. After spending an hour reading to a little five-year-old girl and dishing out food to some of the older children across the street in the basement of the church, I came home filled with life and joy. I couldn't stop talking about what a wonderful time I had. God meets me every time I pour myself out on behalf of these little ones.

Reminds me of the benefits listed in Isaiah 58:

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness [a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

There are, undoubtedly, great benefits to becoming a friend of the needy. What I'm wondering though, is whether or not it's beneficial to help the poor in the absence of a personal, intimate relationship. Is it even biblical?

A quick word-search for "the poor" in the NIV of the Bible brings up the following initial results:

Exodus 23:11
but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

Exodus 30:15
The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives.

Leviticus 19:10
Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 19:15
" 'Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

Leviticus 23:22
" 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.' "

Deuteronomy 15:11
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.


Matthew 25: 31-46 from The Message
31-33"When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.
34-36"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'

37-40"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'

41-43"Then he will turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.'

44"Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?'

45"He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'

46"Then those 'goats' will be herded to their eternal doom, but the 'sheep' to their eternal reward."