Engaging in acts of charity to benefit our neighbor
“When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this. (Deuteronomy 24:19-22)
The Bible is a book built around consideration for others. This type of attitude came forth out of the Passover experience of the Hebrews. God reminds the ancient people, and modern people also that we are to remember when we were slaves in Egypt and aliens crossing the wilderness. We are to remember how good we have life in our current situation, and bestow kindness on the less fortunate.
The most memorable Bible verses
The most remembered verses in the Bible deal with kindness, perhaps because that is the way we desire to see others treat us. Take for instance, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Luke 6:31) Do we use the Golden Rule as a monitor for our personal actions? Or is this verse more valuable when used to call out others for treating us more poorly than they would want to be treated themselves?
The second most important verse in the Bible, according to Jesus is, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:31) But do we really love our neighbors as ourselves? I have found most people do not even know the names of their next door neighbors. And if they do not know their names, how often do you think they cook for them, give them gifts, and care for them like they care for themselves?
A third thing Christians often do not realize is that Jesus likes to meddle with our perceptions. Take for instance what the way he challenged an expert in the law who felt showing kindness to his next door neighbors was all that was needed. Jesus put on display the way this leader treated people who were outsiders and different than him. In that time period Jesus pointed out the legalistic attitude toward the Samaritans. What groups do you think Jesus would call us out for ignoring in today’s world?
Of course the most important command that was given us in the Bible tells us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5) Most of us would find, if we were honest, we give a lot more of our heart, soul and strength to ourselves than we give to God. How often do you pray? How often do you think about God? How often do you purposely give a gift to someone else from God?
Seeing with the eyes of our neighbors
One of the hardest things to accomplish in life is to see all sides of a situation at the same time. In order to prepare our hearts for Passover, we must do just this! On one hand, we will enter into a celebration which teaches us to be thankful because “we went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.” (Deuteronomy 26:5)
On the other hand, God teaches us, “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:340 We are to remember we were slaves in the land of Egypt – and we must have compassion on those who are slaves today.
In the United States we all too often forget that most of our ancestors came from humble backgrounds. The majority of today’s citizens, whether rich or poor, in our nation are descended from immigrants who came to this land to solve problems. One reason people leave their homeland and travel is to escape problems; problems such as poverty, persecution, and enslavement. The United States is a land of refugees. We are to empathize with less fortunate people and be the hand that helps them, as others helped us or our ancestors.
In our land today we live in neighborhoods divided by wealth, status, and ethnicity. Take a look at your friends, neighbors, and the people with home you go to worship. Are most of them the same, or different? When is the last time you visited with someone of a different nationality (or race), and just listened? What did you learn? What questions did you ask? What clarifications did you seek? How do you respond differently because of your conversation, and what type of continued interaction do you enjoy?
How do we handle our prosperity
We enjoy being a prosperous and great people. We enjoy the trappings of our affluence, and look with disdain on others who are not so fortunate. “Get a job,” we say. We call the poor in our nation “lazy” without ever trying to develop relationships with them. We dismiss those who are different and have trouble learning our culture or language with, “Why don’t you go back home?” or “You must become exactly like us.”
We pride ourselves and grow our riches by squeezing the last penny out of every dollar. But that is not what God tells us to do. Notice, when we have finished the harvest, we are not to go back into the field checking for what we missed, or harvesting the late fruit. We are to enjoy our harvest, and leave the rest for the poor. [Leviticus 19:10] Likewise, if we have done well in life, we are to go out and look for the poor, the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow and help improve their life.
One purpose of Passover is to teach us to be holy, separate, different from the world just as God is different from any other gods. The Bible calls us to be “a wise and understanding people” (Dt 6:6) so others will notice. “What other nation is so great as as to have such righteous decrees and laws” as those set before us by our God? (Dt 6:8)
Giving Alms to the poor
During the Passover festival in the first century, it was the tradition of the Jewish people to place alms in a designated receptacle in the Temple for the purpose of helping the poor to enjoy four cups of wine at their Seder meal. The thought behind this was that on the night of Passover every person no matter how rich or poor should enjoy the evening and celebrate as a rich man. How has the lesson on slavery taught you to reach out to the less fortunate – especially in your community? Each of us needs a ministry to help us follow the command to remember we were once slaves.
If you want to learn more about these traditions, i have share more details in my books Spring: Connecting with God and A Christian Passover in the Jewish Tradition. These books, along with A Psalmatic Seder are available to download electronically. I have printed two versions of a 99￠personal Haggadahs to use at the Seder table that go with A Christian Passover in the Jewish Tradition. The good thing about an electronic reader is that any wine drips can easily be wiped off.
One more idea, why not celebrate Passover with more than just your family this year? Do your neighbors know about the observance. Most neighbors would appreciate an invite and would learn from our traditions. Consider it an act of charity.
