'There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded towards your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.' (Duet 15:11)
The second half of Deuteronomy 14 and chapter 15 reveal God's radical economic plan for the Israelite nation as they are about to take posession of the land. Tithes to be used in temple worship (14:22-24), tithes used to support the alien, orphan and widow (14:28-29), the cancelling of debts every seven years (15:11), openhandedness towards the poor (15:11) and jubilee for slaves (15:12). All these commands seem to be underpinned by God's desire for the Israelites to be devoted in worship, and equal in status before Him. 'There should be no poor among you', is God's observation, for 'in the land the Lord is giving you to posess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you...' This will happen as the people follow the Lord's economic and social bluprint. Dare They? Indeed, dare we?
Prayer
Lord, your heart beats for the poor. So much so that your economics fly in the face of our conventional wisdom which sees the powerful prosper at the expense of the powerless. Forgive us. Lead us. Lead me into your radical heart, your radical action for the poor.