The Seriousness of the Commandment to Care for the Poor and Needy
The Gravity of the Commandment to Care for the Poor and the Needy
The Gravity of the Commandment
The compassionate God who cares for everyone entrusted to us the care of the needy.
As proof of the seriousness of this commandment, He made it one of the foundations of the general judgment.
For He says, on that day, to those on His left: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you did not feed Me; I was thirsty and you did not give Me drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in; naked and you did not clothe Me; sick and in prison and you did not visit Me… And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Mt 25:41–46).
Among such examples also is the rich man and Lazarus.
He went to torment, needing a drop of water to cool his tongue, for he was tormented in that flame. And Scripture mentions of him only that he lived luxuriously and did not care to feed poor Lazarus, not even with the crumbs that fell from his table, nor did he care to treat that poor man’s sores (Lk 16:19–24).
We add to this also the saying of Scripture:
“He who shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard” (Prov 21:13).
Surely he will not be heard on earth, nor in heaven either. For Scripture says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Mt 5:7). As for those who do not show mercy to others, they too will not find mercy.
Scripture also says:
“Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (Jas 1:27). Thus He made the care of orphans and widows an important mark of pure and undefiled religion.
The Gravity of the Commandment of Giving, and the Place of the Poor Before the Lord
Who are the poor?
Who Are the Poor?
The Lord considered them His brothers. Concerning the Day of Judgment, He said: “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Mt 25:40). Therefore we call the poor “the brothers of Jesus,” or “the brothers of the Lord.”
Indeed, the Lord considered them as His own self. He said, “For I was hungry and you did not feed Me; I was thirsty and you did not give Me drink” (Mt 25:42). And once Scripture said: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb 13:2), perhaps referring to what is in Genesis 18:6–8.
Examples of Giving
The first example is giving tithes. It is giving to the Lord.
Whoever does not give tithes is considered as one who robs the Lord Himself.
This is what is stated in the book of the prophet Malachi: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me, says the Lord. But you say, ‘In what have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings” (Mal 3:7–8). Tithes are considered the minimum of giving, to which firstfruits are added.
Tithes do not mean only money. A physician, for instance, may—out of every ten surgeries—leave one for the Lord; or out of every ten medical examinations, leave one for a poor person for the Lord…
Likewise can every professional person do in dealing with the needy.
Among examples of giving are those who offered houses or lands to the Lord.
Such were the holy women who gave their homes in the apostolic age to become churches. Among them was the saintly Mary, mother of Saint Mark the Apostle, whose house became the first church in Christianity where believers prayed, and to which Saint Peter went when he came out of prison (Acts 12:11).
Also Aquila and Priscilla, to whom Saint Paul sent his greetings and love and said: “and the church that is in their house” (Rom 16:5). Likewise he sent greetings to “Nymphas… and the church that is in his house” (Col 4:15). And similarly is said about Lydia, the seller of purple (Acts 16). And many others…
All church endowments are lands given by their owners to the Church, becoming offerings to the Lord.
We also recall, as an example, the benefactor Ibrahim El-Gohary, and many others. Some who had no children would come to us and donate their houses to the Church after their death since no one would inherit them. According to the law, we would have the “right of ownership,” and they the “right of use.” I remember one of them telling me: “I leave my two-story house after my death…” I told him: You are a good man; we pray the Lord gives you long life. I want you to enjoy the fruits of your good work in your lifetime. So I want you to give me the “air rights,” meaning what is above the second story, so we can build the third and fourth floors—according to the law—and you may see church projects in your lifetime.
Qualities of Giving
In caring for the needy, you must give even without them asking you.
A father, for example, does not wait for his children to ask for their needs; rather, he fulfills them without their request. In the story of the Good Samaritan, we find that he went down to treat the wounded man lying on the road without the wounded man asking him, continuing his care and spending on him until he was healed (Lk 10:33–35).
Care for the needy must be mixed with love and joy.
Some give while grumbling, annoyed, and resentful of the requests of the poor. Such a person gives from his pocket, not from his heart. This is not the kind of giving God loves. God takes the love in your giving and leaves the rest. Scripture says: “Not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7).
Whoever gives to the poor from his heart does not delay his giving.
Scripture says: “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Go and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,’ when you have it with you” (Prov 3:27–28).
Also in giving, give generously, and give the best you have.
Righteous Abel offered to God “of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat” (Gen 4:4), meaning the best he had. Therefore do not offer the poor what you yourself reject, such as nearly worn-out clothes or unacceptable food. Rather offer what you yourself could use. The Lord Christ praised the woman who gave out of her poverty and considered that she had given more than all (Mk 12:14).
Give generously, and do not be stingy. And do not say: The value of my tithes has ended, so I have nothing left of the Lord’s portion to give to the poor. Rather rise above the level of tithes.
The commandment says: “Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away” (Mt 5:42).
How good it is to give in secret and not embarrass the one you give!
The Lord says: “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Mt 6:3). Once, a wealthy woman put five hundred gold coins in a bag and offered it to Saint Anba Bemoa to distribute among the poor hermits. The saint took it and handed it directly to his disciple, instructing him to distribute it. The wealthy woman said to him: “But, Father, you did not open the bag to see what was inside…”
The saint looked at her reproachfully and said: “If, my daughter, you offered this amount to God, then God knows exactly how much it is!”
Beautiful is what Scripture says about giving:
“He who has mercy on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed” (Prov 19:17).
Imagine that God takes from you a loan! For what you give to the poor, you give to the Lord. And the Lord will reward you openly. Not only will you store up treasures for yourself in heaven (Mt 6:20) that you will find in eternity, but on earth also the Lord will give you in return for what you offer… for you and your children. God cannot take a loan and not repay it!
Remember what is said about this in the Offering Litany,
where the Lord compensates them for the perishable with the imperishable, and the earthly with the heavenly, and fills their homes and storehouses with all good things.
On this occasion, I remember—when we were young—that some of our colleagues were diligent in bringing to the church the bread used for the Lamb. They rejoiced when they heard in the Offering Litany (before the Commemoration of Saints): “Remember, O Lord, those who have brought unto You these gifts, and those on whose behalf they have been brought, and those by whom they have been brought…”
Surely the one who gives receives a blessing from the Lord—
a blessing through the prayers of those he gives to. As righteous Job said: “The blessing of a perishing one came upon me” (Job 29:13). That is, the person who would have perished because of his need—I received the blessing of his prayer for me…
About this also the Lord says: “Make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon”—meaning that the money which rightfully belongs to the poor, and which you did not give them and thereby wronged them, give it to those in need, and they will become friends who pray for you…
The Lord in the Old Testament gave many commandments regarding giving to the needy.
He says: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest… You shall leave them for the poor and the stranger” (Lev 19:9–10). They used to leave this for the poor who collected behind the reapers, as Ruth used to do (Ruth 2:1–3). Likewise the Lord says: “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 stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you” (Deut 24:19).
We must therefore keep something for the poor from all that we have.
Let us train ourselves to give every day.
And let us also train our children to give to their brothers and to guests. Let them be the ones who present them sweets, not us.
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