You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil. Seek good, not evil that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say He is. Amos 5:11-14
“It is folly, it is madness, to fill our wardrobes full of clothes and to regard with indifference a human being, a being made in the image and likeness of God, who is naked, trembling with cold, and almost unable to stand.
You say, ‘But that fellow there is pretending to tremble and not to have any strength.’ So what? If that poor fellow is putting it on, he is doing that because he is trapped between his own wretchedness and your cruelty. Yes, you are cruel and guilty of inhumanity. You would not have opened your heart to his destitution without his play-acting.
If it were not necessity compelling him, why should he behave in such a humiliating way just to get a bit of bread?
The made-up tale of a beggar is evidence of your inhumanity. His prayers, his begging, his complaints, his tears, his wandering all day long round the city did not secure for him the smallest amount to live on. That perhaps is the reason why he thought of acting a part. But the shame and the blame for his made-up take falls less on him than on you.
He has in fact a right to be pitied, finding himself in such an abyss of destitution. You, on the other hand, deserve a thousand punishments fro having brought him to such humiliation.”
John Chrysostom in On the First Letter to the Corinthians 21, 5 (PG61, 177) in Drinking from the Hidden Fountain: A Patristic Breviary, Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World, ed. by Thomas Spidlik (Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1994) 296-297.
God sees the poor in the gates of the city and on the corners of the streets.
Today, Chrystostom shakes and wakes us to the reality that our indifference to the person in need, even if he is play-acting to get help, demonstrates our own cruelty. This is a powerful idea.
Think about it. Asking for our help has gotten him or her nowhere.
Years ago I contributed to an article for Christianity Today about why Christians don’t give money to play-actors on the street. In short, I wrote that don’t give because we judge them for how they got into their plight and what they will do with our aid. I added that we fear running out of resources ourselves. Lastly, I noted that we fail to give freely because we value possession over people. Reply by email if you want a PDF of the piece.
Anyway, what I missed was the notion that the destitute person, full of sin and shame, stoops to the humiliation of play-acting because he thinks that is his only option.
As we approach the cross and Easter, we realize that we were nothing but a bunch of play-actors, faking our way through life, when Jesus came to us, loved us, and lifted us up.
The early church comes into view as a safe haven for such people. The poor flocked into the church as they were welcomed. Few local congregations have a reputation among the needy as the place to go to find hope and help.
I don’t know what this looks like for you, but let us stop filling our closets with clothing and our homes with possessions and instead care for people like Christ has cared for us.
I have reasoned that they don’t want help. It’s their corrupt system of making a living.. This too is the response Jesus experienced. Many rejected him. But that did not stop him from coming and giving His life for those who were disinterested, undeserving, and far from God.
Father, forgive us as sinners for our indifference and cruelty toward fellow sinners who are play-acting for help. Raise us up by your Holy Spirit to love and serve the least deserving to show that your love, grace, and generosity is for everyone. In your mercy hear my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
And God bless our son, Samuel David Hoag, as he turns 24 today. When he’s not fly fishing on a river (like the one pictured above), he helps others with a smile. He neither judges whether they are deserving of his aid, nor the size of the sacrifice, because He knows who empowers His selfless service.