The Gleaners

What do we learn from the poor?

I work as hard as I can to avoid being poor. I suspect we all do even as we worry about being poor. Some feel poor even though they are quite wealthy. Some who appear wealthy are actually poor. Then again our poverty or wealth is a state of mind. Sometimes I feel wealthy but my wife who is my faithful financial controller reminds me of our many obligations and I feel poor again.

It’s easy to avoid the poor depending where you live. If I drive the bypass and simply go about my business I feel like everyone is quite wealthy. One can live for years and never meet anyone who is poor. As our congregation has become deeply involved with immigrants from Burma we have spent so many hours filling out job applications and feeling rejected, going to public assistance offices, going to public health clinics, we begin to see almost everyone as poor. The anxiousness of the poor becomes our anxiousness as well. When one cares for another their hearts beat in rhythm with each other.

Success is so sweet. After weeks of bad news a phone call came out of the blue about a job starting the next day for one young man, his first job ever. He would be starting his first day at the Tyson Hatchery above Mount Joy. I picked him up at 4:30 to start his job at 5:00. I could not wait to hear how his first day went. In another situation I had dreaded conversations with an employer for over a year where there was always something not quite right. Then I started to hear statements of appreciation even bonus pay. One cannot believe how wonderful it sounds for me to hear good reports of a job well done from employers.

Failure is such deep sorrow. So many seasonal jobs, so many laid off as work slows up, and then there are times when the employer says we can’t use this person. It’s really hard to shake this disappointment. What does it mean to identify with the poor?

One day in Sunday School we talked about what it means to be church to each other. Because finances is always such an over the top concern of my own I thought they might mention sharing of material needs like clothing, food, etc. but surprisingly that did not come up. One young man who knows a bit of English mentioned the experience of being “polite” with one another. Being polite is a word I never use. I was a bit taken back by his use of this word. I believe we may have used the word mutual respect. Could that be the mark of the kingdom?

One can be poor and not have a mindset of being poor. Generosity is the expression of one who lives with abundance. One young man got his first pay check for $575. As I helped him set up his bank account and I wanted to help him think about the costs it takes to live; rent, food, etc, and saving, so I wondered how much he wanted deposit and how much he wanted take as cash. He wanted to send $400 to Thailand for his family in the camps. I was able to talk him down to sharing just $300.

This practice of sharing generously is more the norm then the exception. Shoes and clothing which are given to one person show up worn by others living across town. A bike given to one household ends up somewhere else. One person unemployed thinks that another person deserves an available job before himself because he hasn’t had the chance to work yet. Could this be a mark of the kingdom.

It is really good for those of us who have lived here a long time to witness this spirit of generosity. It makes it really easy to make one’s own financial decisions of what is important and what is not when brothers and sisters in your church survive on food stamps and public assistance. Buying a new car suddenly becomes an investment grossly out of place.

I often wondered why Jesus seemed to care about the poor. God put himself in the home of a carpenter. The family had so few resources they only gave two pigeons for their sacrifice. Then they became hunted dislocated persons finding security in the refugee camps of Egypt before returning to Nazareth. Some Bible teachers claim the kings from the East gave him gold so Jesus was wealthy and Joseph was a wealthy builder worthy of being the father of a King. This idea destroys the whole image of who Jesus is. Jesus came identifying with the poor….the wealthy already have their reward. I think that is actually what he said.