Who is Really Needy?
Luke 6:27-36
Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
The Scripture reading is from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 6, verses 27 through 36. “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who 1mistreat you. “Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your 1coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. “Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, 1expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Luke 6:27 to 35 contains what we call today the golden rule. This narrative talks about loving each other, loving people who hate you, loving people who curse you and so on. Jesus talked about loving your enemies. Even mentioned loving sinners. What Jesus was trying to do in this passage was not only to express the love that people should have in caring for each other, but he also wanted to expand what this all meant. One fact we know about ancient cultures is that people of different ethnicities stayed together and really didn’t help one another unless it was absolutely necessary. Jesus wanted to take the concepts of loving one another and to tell us it should spread to all people anywhere in the world.
It is a tough concept to fathom because there is hatred in the world between various groups of people. I think that it’s sad that if someone is born in a different part of the world or has a different religion, that there are actually people that will hate them for that. However, humans have exhibited this trait since the very beginning of civilization. Anthropologists tell us that civilization in the Near East grew along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Groups of people would congregate together and eventually they built small cities. And then one city would attack another city because they wanted some supplies or resources that they didn’t have.
I want to turn for a moment to things that I’ve seen in my ministry over time that have to do with determining who is really needy. I want to help people that are in need, but I see so much fraud that I cannot be sure if I’m helping someone in need or someone who’s trying to take advantage of me. How do we figure that out? Because if I give my resources to people who are not in need but are trying to take advantage of me, then I will not have the resources when someone truly in need asks for help.
Let me give you an example. At one church I was at, a young couple walked in. The woman was pregnant, and they were wearing dirty and shoddy looking clothing. They asked for our help. Several women from the church came to me and said that as pastor I have to help these people. So, I did as much as I could with their help. They asked for a lot of money, a place to live, and so forth. The man could work. There was no reason he couldn’t work. So, we poured money into helping these people, thinking that we were going to help them get back on their feet. After about six weeks, a police officer came in to see me and told me that the couple had been breaking into houses and stealing jewelry. The police officer arrested the couple, they were tried in court, and sent to jail. I really felt bad for the unborn child who was born in prison. They took us. What it did was drain our mission committee resources, and if someone in real need had come in at that moment, we could not have helped them.
When I got to this church, I was told that the church would hand out gift cards for the local grocery store. There were rules that were set in place about what the person could buy, and they were supposed to bring the receipt back to prove that they were following the program guidelines. Only about 20% of the people sent the receipts back. One day, a couple came in and said to me they just did not have any money for food. They received food stamps, but what I found out later was one could withdraw cash with the food stamp card and then they could do whatever they wanted with it. Okay, I helped them anyway, and I gave them a $20 gift card to the local grocery store. They actually return the receipt, which surprised me. They bought $20 worth of doughnuts. Obviously, doughnuts were not on our accepted food list. The program was designed for the person to only purchase fresh meats and vegetables. When I went through some receipts, I saw soda and potato chips and other snacks being purchased on these gift cards, which totally violates the guidelines. The problem was if someone in actual need came in and it was near the end of the month and I gave away all the gift cards, I couldn’t help them. I thought, who’s really needy here?
I did have one young person come in who said I don’t have money for food while she was holding onto her android smart phone, a very nice gold chain around her neck, and beautifully done nails. Her mother, who was standing next to her, chewed me out and defended her daughter's entitlement to that phone, gold chain, and those nails when I asked her how much money she was spending on these trinkets. She used her food stamp money. I still helped her out but told her that she needed to re-prioritize what was important. Was she needy?
My last negative example and I’m sorry to give you so many negatives, but they're out there. A man standing outside of the Aldi’s grocery store with a big sign that said “homeless and no money.” I felt that I should give him something. So, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a $10 bill and when I looked up at him he pulled out a fresh pack of cigarettes and lit up. I put the $10 back in my pocket because this man was not really needy if he could afford to buy cigarettes instead of food and housing. Beware of fraud! Such a sad thing to say.
Now let me share with you in closing, a story that touched my heart. A young mother, maybe 22 years old, came into the church with her baby and said she needed diapers badly and could not afford them. She then said to me that she just started a job and in two weeks she would get her first paycheck and give me back the money that I was going to give her. I did not expect to get the money back, especially after all the experiences that I had at this church with using the food cards. However, I gave her a $20 gift card because that’s what she said she needed to get the diapers for the baby. I was almost in tears when two weeks later an envelope showed up with a thank-you card and the $20 bill from this mother. The secretary of the church had been there for as long as the program was running and I asked her, “did anyone ever paid back the church for the money that we were giving them?” She told me that in the 25 years of the program, it never happened. That young mother touched my heart because she needed help and I could give it to her and when she got on her feet, she sent it back to me so that I could use it to help someone else. That is true charity.
It saddens me that there are people out there that are taking advantage of generous programs that are trying to help people in need. I have learned from over the years to become more diligent about who I just had help to. It is unfortunate that I have to be suspicious, but I want to give to people who really need help and not the people who are trying to make a dime. In Jesus' day, you could tell when somebody was poor and in need. There was no such thing as government help, so if a person said to you they were homeless, they really were homeless. I’m not implying that someone who says they’re homeless today might not be homeless, but we know this fraud exists. However, the government today will help people in need. In Jesus' day, that did not happen. So, you could be sure that if you help someone who is begging on the street, they really need your generosity. I wish we could go back to that time where only the people who were truly in need would be out on the streets asking for help. So, I ask you when you’re about to help someone ask some questions and see if the person is truly needy because once you give your resources away and someone needy comes along, you won’t be able to help him and it may break your heart.
An afterthought is if you help a person who defrauds you remember Jesus will be happy that your heart opened to the person and he will take care of the person committing the fraud.
