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Sunday Reflection

The proverbs we are looking at this week answer three questions concerning care of the poor. 

1. Who are the poor? 

The poor, in these proverbs, are ‘the lowly in spirit’, ‘the oppressed’ (16:9), and ‘the needy’ (22:22). In our society, one of the most developed and privileged in the world, there are still people sleeping on the streets, using food banks to stay alive, shut away in immigration centres under threat of deportation, crippled by debt and unable to find work. Financial poverty leads to disempowerment, anxiety, reduced life expectancy and ill physical and mental health. As long as humans are sinful, poverty will persist – in every era, and in every country of the world. 

2. As Christians, why must we care for them?

God cares so much about the poor that he takes our treatment of them personally: if we dishonour them, we dishonour him. As Jesus taught, if we feed the hungry, visit the imprisoned and look after the sick, it is as though we did those things for him (Matthew 25:37–40). Another reason we must care for the poor is because there is blessing if we do (Proverbs 22:9) and punishment if we don’t (17:5). Finally, we care for the poor because of our common humanity. We might like to think a great chasm splits it into us and them, but ‘the Lord is the Maker of [us] all’ (22:2). There but for the grace of God go I…

3. How do we care for them?

The first thing that probably comes to mind for most of us is giving money, and that is not a bad thing. We can and should be as financially generous to those in need as we possibly can be. There are all kinds of ways to do this, whether directly or via charities and organisations better set up than we are to make a lasting difference. But Proverbs reminds us that care involves other things: kindness (14:21), presence and solidarity (16:19) and fair and just treatment (22:22–23).