Greetings members and friends and welcome to another commentary and preview to this Sunday’s study of the Word. This Sunday’s study text is entitled “Justice and the Marginalized” and it is based on Deuteronomy 24:10-21.
For most of human history, people have lived on or near the margins. The margin is doing and achieving only what is absolutely necessary to survive. Anyone outside or below the margin is in real danger of dying from the lack of the bare and basic necessities of life. There are always those throughout history who have plenty and live well and comfortably above the margins.
But for the vast majority of people life is a struggle to keep and maintain a decent living inside and above the margin. Even today, the relatively recent rise in the global standard of living is uneven and tenuous.
God knew humanity’s condition and put in place a system and commands to respect and provide for the those living on or below the margins. The study text covers several aspects of relationships with those on the lowest economic and social position within society.
Collateral for any loan may not be secured by the lender going within and demanding something in a person’s home. The primary reason for this is because everything a person has in their home was probably essential for survival.
Therefore, God left it up to those who were requesting the loan to determine what they could afford to give as a pledge for a loan. And if the pledge was something essential for survival, like clothing, it would have to be returned by the end of the day. This may sound strange to us today, but people didn’t have changes of clothes but many wore the same thing every day.
A second command regarding people is that their labor must not be exploited and their wages withheld. People couldn’t afford to save much and couldn’t last long without their wages. We know this even today. But the situation was more pronounced then.
God is very displeased when people’s economic and social status is sinfully taken advantage of including people who are immigrants and strangers living within the society.
In addition to wages, justice and protection from seizing life essentials shall not be denied to marginalized and immigrant groups of people especially among the most vulnerable such as widows and orphans.
Those with fields and groves of fruit and food must not pick their fields and groves clean by going back over them to gather every single thing. But they must leave what was missed and overlooked for those living on the margins.
All these commands are derived from the major theme of loving and caring for our neighbors and treating them the way we would want to treated. God reminded them that they should do these things because they know what it is like to be a marginalized group of people when they were slaves in Egypt.
This same theme of charity is at the heart of Christianity today. God cares about the weakest and most vulnerable members of society and has given commandments designed to see that they are not forgotten or mistreated.
As much as is possible, we should try to influence policy decisions that support and undergird the least among us. Jesus said that in we did it or did it not unto the least of these we did it or did it not unto him.
This is why greed is not good and capitalism is antithetical to these teachings. By definition capitalism seeks to exploit a need and take advantage of a situations and circumstances in order to maximize personal gain and minimize cost including the wages of workers used to produce profits.
It is an economic system that works, but it encourages greed, selfishness and idolatry and discourages care and concern for the common good. It leaves the marginalized on their own and an afterthought at best to navigate systems which promote personal gain and interest and perpetuates marginalized living and struggling on the margins.
Well, be sure to look over the study again and come prepared to offer your comments, questions and perspective on the meaning of the study. If you can’t attend your own Sunday School class this Sunday, you can join us live and online at 9:00 am at www.fbmbc.org and clicking the online services link.
You can also join us live by dialing 508 924-2890. If you have any comments or questions, be sure to place them in the comment section or you can share them on Sunday. So, let’s all have a great lesson and discussion this Sunday and remember to fear God and keep His commandments.
Pastor Jordan
