The poor are expected to work for their sustenance.

“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and the sojourner: I am the LORD.”

God created human beings to work. Through their work men and women bring out the goodness of God’s creation, for His glory and to meet their own needs and to share with their neighbors (cf. Eph. 4.28). Work is thus inherent to being human and a source of dignity, inasmuch as it allows us to participate with God in His project of glorifying Himself and blessing humankind.

The poor must not be deprived of the dignity of work simply because they are poor. In the Law of God the poor are expected to work in order to overcome their impoverished condition, whether that condition is for a short or long term.

Gleaning fields was the most common form of labor for the poor. It could also be highly productive, as we see in the case of Ruth (Ruth 2). Israelite society was based in agriculture. Every community would have had plenty of fields and gardens, and each landowner was responsible to make sure that, when the harvest came in, food was left on the stalk or vine for the poor to glean. These resources were not distributed to the poor by local governments. The poor were expected to go and retrieve them through the dignity of honest labor. In our day, when communities are no longer so directly based on agriculture, policies must be adopted which provide other means whereby the poor can work to provide for their needs. The practice of indiscriminately giving “hand-outs” to the poor may not fulfill the principal of gleaning but may, instead, only serve to foster a mindset of dependency, if not entitlement.

One who had become poor might choose to “sell” himself into the service of another, especially, it seems, a close relative (Lev. 25.39-43). This was not slavery but more a form of indentured servitude in which, for a specified period of time, one who had fallen on hard times would contract with another to serve in whatever ways might have been needed. During the tenure of such contracts the one serving was to be treated with love and respect, as unto the Lord (Lev. 25.43). He was not to be treated scornfully or in a manner that assaulted his dignity as an image-bearer of God.

A just society requires all members to contribute love for their neighbors, whether they are poor or wealthy. Work and service are ways poor people can fulfill the demands of neighbor-love. These also provide contexts in which those with means can practice neighbor-love toward those without.

Subscribe to Crosfigell, the devotional newsletter of The Fellowship of Ailbe. Sent to your desktop every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Crosfigell includes a devotional based on the literature of the Celtic Christian period and the Word of God, highlights of other columns at the website, and information about mentoring and online courses available through The Fellowship.