Lending to the Lord

There is a verse in Proverbs that ought to change the way we look at every poor person we meet:

“Whoever is kind to the poor is lending to the LORD, and He will pay them back for what they have done.” (Proverbs 19:17)

When you give to someone in need, God takes it as a loan to Himself. And God always repays His debts.

God cares about the poor

From one end of the Bible to the other, God shows His special care for the poor, the widow, the orphan and the foreigner. These were the people with no land, no protector and no voice in the ancient world, and God said again and again that He was their defender.

The law of Moses built care for the poor into everyday life. Farmers were not to harvest right up to the edges of their fields or pick up what they dropped: “Leave them for the poor and for the outsider. I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 19:10). Every third year the tithe was to go to the Levites, the foreigners, the orphans and the widows. Debts were to be cancelled every seventh year. And Moses told Israel how to treat a neighbour in need:

“Do not harden your heart or keep your hand closed against that needy person. Instead, open your hand to him generously and lend him as much as he needs to meet his want.” (Deuteronomy 15:7-8)

“Open your hand.” What a picture. A closed fist holds on. An open hand gives.

The prophets kept returning to this. Amos thundered against those who “trample on the needy.” Micah summed up what God requires: “to do justice, to love loyalty, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Proverbs says, “Whoever oppresses the poor insults the One who made them, but kindness to the needy honors Him” (Proverbs 14:31).

Jesus and the poor

Jesus began His ministry by announcing that He had come “to bring good news to the poor.” He was born poor, lived among the poor and constantly drew attention to them. He told a host not to invite his rich friends to his feasts, but to “ask the poor to come, and those who are maimed, lame, or blind. And you will be blessed, for they have no way to pay you back” (Luke 14:13-14).

And in one of His most solemn teachings, He identified Himself with the poor completely. At the final judgment, He said, the King will say to the righteous:

“For when I was hungry, you gave Me food; when I was thirsty, you gave Me a drink; when I was a stranger, you took Me into your home; when I had no clothes, you dressed Me; when I was sick, you looked after Me; when I was in prison, you came to see Me.” (Matthew 25:35-36)

When they ask when they ever did that, He answers: “Truly I tell you, each time you did it for one of these My brothers and sisters, even the least of them, you did it for Me” (Matthew 25:40).

When you feed a hungry person, you feed Jesus.

Faith that works

The early church took this seriously. James wrote:

“Suppose a brother or sister has no proper clothes and not enough food for the day, and one of you tells them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat well,’ but you do not give them what the body needs. What use is that?” (James 2:15-16)

And John:

“Suppose someone has enough of this world’s goods and notices a brother or sister in need, yet shuts their heart against them. How can the love of God remain in such a person? Dear children, let us love not by what we say or with our tongues, but by what we do and in truth.” (1 John 3:17-18)

Words are cheap. Love that never opens its wallet is not the love of God.

Giving wisely to the poor

Caring for the poor is not always simple. It takes wisdom as well as compassion. Here are some principles.

Start close. Paul says, “So whenever we have the chance, we should do good to everyone, and above all to those who belong to the family of faith” (Galatians 6:10). Begin with needs in your own church, your neighbourhood, your extended family.

Give in ways that help. Sometimes cash is the best gift. Sometimes it can do harm. A meal, a bill paid directly, a bag of groceries or a lift to a job interview may be better. Ask what will truly help.

Respect dignity. The poor are not projects. They are people made in God’s image. Listen to them. Learn their names. Where you can, help in ways that let people work and provide for themselves, as Boaz did for Ruth by letting her glean in his fields.

Support those who do it well. Many churches and Christian organisations have experience and wisdom in helping the poor. Giving through them can multiply your impact.

Don’t let complexity become an excuse. It is easy to say, “I don’t know if they’ll use it well,” and so never give at all. Better to err occasionally on the side of generosity than to harden your heart.

Justice as well as charity

The Bible calls us not just to give to the poor but to act justly. That means paying fair wages, refusing to exploit people, speaking up for those who are oppressed and working, where we can, for a fairer society. The prophets condemned not only stinginess but also injustice: rigged courts, cheating merchants and landowners who swallowed up their neighbours’ fields. Christians who handle money should handle it justly.

A voice from the past

John Wesley once told a story against himself. At Oxford, on a cold winter’s day, a young maid from a school he helped to run called at his room. She was wearing only a thin linen gown. He reached into his pocket to give her something and found he had almost nothing left. He had just spent it on pictures for his walls. It struck him like a blow:

“Will thy Master say, ‘Well done, good and faithful steward?’ Thou hast adorned thy walls with the money which might have screened this poor creature from the cold!”

John Wesley, Sermons on Several Occasions

Elsewhere he put it more sharply:

“When you are laying out that money in costly apparel which you could have otherwise spared for the poor, you thereby deprive them of what God, the proprietor of all, had lodged in your hands for their use.”

Practice this week

Find one practical way to help someone poor this week: buy groceries for a food bank, pay a bill for a struggling family, take a meal to a neighbour, or give to a church fund for those in need. If possible, do it in person, and learn the name of someone you help.

For groups

• What does it mean that giving to the poor is “lending to the LORD”?
• Read Matthew 25:31-40. How does this passage change the way you see poor people?
• What are some wise and unwise ways to help people in need?
• What injustices in your community might God be calling Christians to address?