This is Part 2 in a two-part series from CFWLA Communications Director Gage Arnold reflecting on Leviticus 19:9-10 and its implications on on our work. Read Part 1 of the series HERE.
In Leviticus 19:9-10, the Israelites are instructed away from charity. While good and noble in its proper context, charity is not what the passage is calling for.
It’s not that landowners were commanded to merely give away their good gifts but instead were obligated to provide an opportunity for the poor and marginalized to have access to the means of production so they could work it for themselves.
“Unlike a handout, the poor earned a living the same way as the landowners: by working the field with their hands.”
As is noted in commentaries surrounding the passage, this functioned much more like taxation than a charitable opportunity for landowners, except in this case the benefit is provided by the giver directly into the possession of the receiver without need for a costly mediating institution removed from the situation.
Gleaning was designed for the benefit and flourishing of those in need as much as it was a hedge for the ambitions of those with plenty.
Unlike a handout, the poor earned a living the same way as the landowners: by working the field with their hands. Both parties ate by the work of their hands (Psalm 128:2), and everyone had a right to access the means of provisions created by God.
While this passage in Leviticus doesn’t offer us a complete road map for restoring justice to those on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale, it does place a directive on those in possession of assets to ensure the marginalized have the opportunity to work for their living.
To say one business owner (or landowner in our case) could provide for every unemployed person would obviously be shortsighted. But the call of those in possession of much to provide opportunities for those without protects not only the vulnerability of the sojourner but also the vulnerability of the landowner, who could just as easily fall prey to the blindness of the idolatry of wealth.
“The principle spirit of creating means to care for the sojourner can help us approach our blessings with open hands, knowing Christ is the true giver of all good gifts, and thus worthy of glory, honor, and praise.”
My boss recently shared about a contractor in Los Angeles who owns a retaining wall company—much like the ones you would see along the Southern California freeway system.
This contractor often “loans” out his company equipment on the weekends for employees to pursue charitable projects for those in need through church-based networks. Numerous homes in LA, especially those of in-need families in low-income areas, have benefitted from the professional work completed through the generosity of this contract team.
The premise behind the story is clear: be faithful right where you are.
In his reflection on Leviticus 19, Author and founder of Redeemer City to City Tim Keller goes on to write the following:
“Finally, we turn to the law of God because sometimes we need to do things just because God says so. In the garden, God told Adam and Eve not to eat the tree, but he never told them why. Some of us simply hate to follow a direction unless we know all the reasons why the direction was given, how it will benefit us, and so on... [Rather we should] do it because he is your Lord and Savior and you are not. Do it because it is the law of the Lord. And if you do it—if you obey him even in the little things—you will know God, know yourself, find God’s grace, love your neighbor, and simply honor him as God. Not a bad deal.”
What would the world look like if the Biblical truth that Christians have been “blessed to be a blessing” took root in the way we approached not just the spiritual needs of our neighbor but also their physical, emotional, and vocational needs?
Better yet, what would it look like to follow God’s commandments and trust him because he is God and we are not?
While it would be easy to overlook the value behind the letter of the law set in place here in Leviticus, the principle spirit of creating means to care for the sojourner can help us approach our blessings with open hands, knowing Christ is the true giver of all good gifts, and thus worthy of glory, honor, and praise.
Gage Arnold is the Communications Director for the Center for Faith & Work Los Angeles. He is currently an M.Div student at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO., and holds a B.S. in Journalism & Electronic Media from the University of Tennessee.