https://odb.org/MY/2022/10/06/envisioning-our-neighbors-future
The LORD’s instructions in Leviticus 25 to the Israelites to help fellow Israelites who are poor like they would of a foreigner and stranger is basically not charging them interest when lending them money or not making a profit when selling them food. The premise was that so those who became poor and unable to support themselves may continue to live among them. It is at the community level. But in this instance like in the other instruction to leave some produce behind in the fields for the widow, poor and the foreigner during harvest, the expectation is that the poor will work to earn their keep. It’s just that they should be helped at cost whether it is capital or food.
But in the New Testament when the struggling church in Macedonia gave sacrificially to financially help believers in Jerusalem, it went beyond providing capital or food at cost. It was an outright grant or gift. It was the same in the case of Noedesha, a small economically challenged town in Kansas, a couple providing a college scholarship to every student in that town to further their studies. The intention was not so they could continue to live among them but to alleviate the social economic situation of the town. In the contemporary Malaysian context it would have meant giving every university student a grant of RM100,000 to pursue a local private university degree. RM100,000 is a lot of money to many struggling families and would have help in raising their social economic status.
What’s the Lord’s message to us today? I believe it is that if we could, we should be generous and helpful. In the modern context that could mean a monetary gift to someone in need or buying someone a meal. It could be to a brother or sister in church or a neighbour or even a homeless stranger in the street. The world is headed towards a recession because the rich nations wanted to maintain control by imposing sanctions. The impact is inflation at home and with interest rates raised to manage inflation, demand will decrease and thus a recession (defined as no growth for 2 quarters). The thing is that the West has not fully grasped the fact that the economy is now a global phenomenon. Sanctions against China and Russia will not only affect the countries concerned but the whole world. Things will become worse at the local level before it becomes better. The days may come when fresh grads will earn RM1,000 to RM2,000 again when they are now earning RM3,000 or more.
Those of us who are better off should thus help those in need when the tough times come. Time to save rather than spend. Prepare for the rainy day as well as prepare to help out when the time comes. Save up so we may have some capital to help others.
Ronnie's Thoughts 