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⁹ “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰ Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19

When our family was living in Walla Walla, WA, as I was going to the school of Theology, I forget the context, exactly, but some of the students met at our house and decided that we would take the thanksgiving food basket to a new level. We were given the name of a family in the community that had a need. So, we put together our resources, built a food box and set up a time when we could take it to this family. But, we decided that we didn’t want to just drop off a box(es) of food with a prayer. We wanted to use this as an entering wedge to become friends with this family.

As I recall, the husband was fighting cancer and had no interest in Jesus. The wife was a bit more desperate, especially as she had children to care for and she was looking at being a single mom if he didn’t survive this cancer, which, as he was in stage 4, didn’t look very hopeful.

As you can imagine, this family had all sorts of needs. We set up a time when we could take the family to the park. Some of us played with the kids, while a couple of ladies met with the mother and just listened and prayed with her.

For the next 2 years we surrounded this family with love. We threw birthday parties for the kids, we bought sneakers. Not the cheapest stuff. I remember taking the oldest son to the shoe store and telling him to choose whatever shoes he needed/wanted. He knew what he was after. They weren’t the cheapest shoes in the store. But, they were the highest quality, most practical shoes for his activities. I remember going home praying, asking God to not only bless this family, and this young man, but to also provide for us, because I didn’t have money for my own shoes. (God always provided and still does). This family became part of our social circle and the focus of our prayer, attention, energy, and budget.

Last week I showed a sermon to the Sophomore class by Matt Chandler called, “Feasting While Fasting. I had watched it several times before I showed it to the class and asked them to take notes on it. And I have watched it again several times since then. The sermon struck me with its raw practicality and common sense understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was like, “this guy gets it. He understands the heart of Jesus. And, honestly, I just wanted to spend a little bit more time standing next to a like-hearted friend and brother. It was comfortable.

For family worship, I think it was Sabbath afternoon before we went to the College Church Free Concert,…or, maybe it was Friday night…I don’t remember. But, for one of those (hahaha!) God brought out one of the points from that sermon and connected it to another thought that another spiritual brother taught me (via YouTube sermons…Pavel Goia), namely connecting generosity, fasting, tithing/offering. And, I wanted to share the crossroads of that thought with you as well.

First, Leviticus 19:9-10 reveal the extravagantly generous and provisional heart of God! Not only is he providing and making room and blessings for the wealthy landowner, but through that same landowner, God remembers, and commands the faithful follower to follow suit with those who have less…with our neighbors.

In comparison/contrast, the wealthy landowner is a pauper when standing next to God’s vineyards and barley fields! God is graciously and generously providing for the wealthy landowner by opening up the edges and 2nd gleanings from His (God’s) own harvest! And then God asks us to be as extravagantly generous with those who are as contrastedly poor.

In this divine imperative, God is teaching us about His own heart. And, when we come into relationship with Him, because He first loved us, because he was first extravagantly generous to us, we are to love others, we are to be extravagantly generous to others. Caring for the Least, Last and Lost is to impact our bottom line; it is to diminish our profits; it is to cause us to become as dependent upon Him as is the pauper neighbor we are called to love as ourselves.

And once we come to that posture of praxis, we are all paupers, serving each other from the abundance of God’s storehouse.

In a sermon I watched by Pavel Goia, he talks about how his wife and he set a certain part of their budget and garden harvest aside for missions. What that looks like practically, is that their neighborhood is their personal mission field. So, when they go to the grocery store they have some money set aside, intentionally planned, to be able to buy a bag of groceries for a neighbor. And a certain percentage of the garden yield goes to neighbors.

What our family discussed at worship was that we wanted to start taking some of our groceries around to our neighbors. We aren’t wealthy and often pray and wonder how God will provide for our needs. Yet, we aren’t wasting His provision for us by sharing that with neighbors. The very reason He provides so extravagantly is so that we can share with our neighbors. Become friends with them, and, over time, we might be able to provide for some real need that they have. And the best thing…perhaps our extravagant generosity (loving our neighbor as ourselves…loving because He first loved us…) will bear fruit in a heart that is open to receiving Jesus as their savior and friend.

After two years of sacrificially pouring ourselves into this family, we watched as the father’s cancer went into remission (miraculously!), and as the family began stabilizing on all fronts. As our family was graduating and moving on to another field, the father was asking for Bible studies and wanted to see his family in church.

God’s extravagant generosity to us inspires a sweeping generosity to others!

If you have experienced God’s generous provision for you, I encourage you to spend some time in prayer over Leviticus 19:9-10 and ask God how you can extend His own heart and demonstration of generosity to others? Where in your own life can you open the fields of harvest to provide for the poor and poor in spirit?

by Tom Nicholas