The Orthodox Christian response to the poor
As many conservative members of Congress continue to press for cutbacks in programs such as food stamps, medical coverage for all, and housing subsidies for the poor and the elderly, all of which have been a lifeline for countless poor families, it would be prudent for us to examine the words of some of the greatest Early Church Fathers, spoken with the Mind of the Church, regarding the poor among us, and our responsibility to them as Christians.
Saint Cyprian (300 AD) said of the wealthy that their possessions were like chains, “which shackle their courage and choke their faith and hamper their judgment and throttle their souls. They think of themselves as owners, whereas it is they rather who are owned: enslaved as they are to their own property, they are not the masters of their money but its slaves”.
Saint Ambrose of Milan (340-397) went so far as to say the making a gift of your possessions to the poor person was simply handing over to him what is his to begin with. Saint Basil of Caesarea (330-370 AD) said that the bread in our cupboard belongs to the hungry, and the coat hanging in our closet belongs to the man who needs it, and the money in our bank account belongs to the poor.
The great preacher and Archbishop of Constantinople, Saint John Chrysostom (347-407 AD), wrote, “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours but theirs.”
Instead of the tithes which the law commanded, the Lord said to divide everything we have with the poor. And he said to love not only our neighbors but also our enemies, and to be givers and sharers not only with the good but also to be liberal givers toward those who take away our possessions. Saint John Chrysostom even suggested that when we are weary of praying and do not receive what we’ve asked for from God, we should consider how often we have heard a poor man calling, and have not listened to him.
These are hard words to accept in an age of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, and where many political parties want us to blame poverty on the poor themselves, but if we are truly to take seriously the Lord’s charge that we love one another, the needs of the poor will be in the forefront of our Christian living. The temptation to say that the care of the poor is not the role of government is to betray our Christian responsibility to make sure our government enacts laws that follow the teachings of the Saviour, Jesus Christ. Putting a check in the mail once a year for a charity soup kitchen does little to help the family living on the brink, or the poor single parent whose children go without food. Putting a few bags of used clothing in a box for Good Will does nothing to lift a family out of poverty.
And giving ourselves the excuse that charity can only come from individuals or churches, but is not the duty of government, only excuses a whole nation of its collective duty, under God, to take care of all her citizens. Government, in the mind of the Church, must care for all her citizens, and not just in the role of defense against enemy armies. The Byzantine Empire took seriously the roll of government to serve the needs of all her people. This Orthodox Christian nation patterned her whole system of government in the image of our grace filled faith.
The Byzantine State practiced philanthropy, from the dedication of its capital in 330 to its collapse in 1453. The Byzantine State erected hospitals, established orphanages where orphans were not only housed and fed but educated. This Christian empire opened special institutions for lepers, and founded hospices and inns in various cities and on roads of the Empire to provide food and shelter for travelers.
One cannot draw a sharp line of demarcation between Church and State in the Byzantine Empire, for laws compiled during the reign of Basil I, defined the polity of Church and State and revealed the nature of Byzantium. It was one organism—a unity composed of lay and ecclesiastical members presided over by two parallel and equal authorities, the emperor and the patriarch. Both, therefore, must be given credit for the numerous philanthropic institutions which we encounter in the Byzantine Empire.
From the standpoint of Orthodox Christianity, a conservative must not just be anti-abortion, but proactive in making sure every child is provided for. A conservative Orthodox Christian must not simply be concerned for the welfare of the old woman in his parish, or for his own mother, but for all the elderly, regardless of their station in life, or their faith. A conservative Christian must be mindful of the sacredness of all life, and not just the life of the unborn.
Individuals and churches can not possibly meet the needs of the poor in any given society, for such holy work takes, by necessity, an entire nation.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Tuesday April 4, 2017 / March 22, 2017
Sixth Week of the Great Lent. Tone eight.
Great Lent. By Monastic Charter: Food without Oil
Hieromartyr Basil, presbyter of Ancyra (362).
Martyr Drosida (Drosis) of Antioch, and five virgins (104).
Venerable Isaac, founder of the Dalmatian Monastery at Constantinople (383).
Martyrs Callinica and Basilissa of Rome (2nd c.).
St. Basil of Mangazea in Siberia (1600).
Venerable Euthymius of Constantinople.
“The Izborsk” Icon of the Mother of God (1657).
St. Paul, bishop of Narbonne, Brittany (3rd c.) (Celtic & British).
New Martyr Euthymius of Mt. Athos (1814) (Greek).
New Martyr Basil (Zelentsov) bishop of Priluk (1930).
New Martyr Schema-abbess Sophia of Kiev (1941) and her priest Demetrius Ivanov (1934).
The Scripture Readings
Isaiah 49:6-10
6 Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
7 Thus says the Lord,
The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One,
To Him whom man despises,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
“Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of the Lord who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You.”
8 Thus says the Lord:
“In an acceptable time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will preserve You and give You
As a covenant to the people,
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;
9 That You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
“They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
10 They shall neither hunger nor thirst,
Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;
For He who has mercy on them will lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will guide them.
Genesis 31:3-16
3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.”
4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock, 5 and said to them, “I see your father’s countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me. 6 And you know that with all my might I have served your father. 7 Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me. 8 If he said thus: ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked. 9 So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.
10 “And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted. 11 Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’ 12 And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’”
14 Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? 15 Are we not considered strangers by him? For he has sold us, and also completely consumed our money. 16 For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours and our children’s; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it.”
Proverbs 21:3-21
3 To do righteousness and justice
Is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
4 A haughty look, a proud heart,
And the plowing of the wicked are sin.
5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty,
But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.
6 Getting treasures by a lying tongue
Is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death.
7 The violence of the wicked will destroy them,
Because they refuse to do justice.
8 The way of a guilty man is perverse;
But as for the pure, his work is right.
9 Better to dwell in a corner of a housetop,
Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.
10 The soul of the wicked desires evil;
His neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.
11 When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise;
But when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.
12 The righteous God wisely considers the house of the wicked,
Overthrowing the wicked for their wickedness.
13 Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor
Will also cry himself and not be heard.
14 A gift in secret pacifies anger,
And a bribe behind the back, strong wrath.
15 It is a joy for the just to do justice,
But destruction will come to the workers of iniquity.
16 A man who wanders from the way of understanding
Will rest in the assembly of the dead.
17 He who loves pleasure will be a poor man;
He who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
18 The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous,
And the unfaithful for the upright.
19 Better to dwell in the wilderness,
Than with a contentious and angry woman.
20 There is desirable treasure,
And oil in the dwelling of the wise,
But a foolish man squanders it.
21 He who follows righteousness and mercy
Finds life, righteousness, and honor.
The Saint Seraphim of Sarov
Guest House fundraising drive:
Amen
Amen.
Not so simple. Of course we must share all our resources. We must not use them to enslave the poor. As God did not compel us, nor leave us in the garden.
Even worse; to toss alms to the poor & not interreact nor care for the individual. WE can help save souls. The government does not.
Father,
The current climate in our country is dis-heartening. It seems like a no win situation for many.
Our media has sold an idea of “the good life” to so many worldwide that those on the fringes believe happiness is a two car garage and all of the trimmings. We have failed as a society miserably. Those coming to our shores think that all that glitters is gold. Meanwhile we have neglected our basic ideals.
To give a hand, shoulder, to the least and most forgotten and dare I say, least newsworthy among us, is also crucial.
Beautifully said – thank you!
I disagree. If a debtor nation cannot repay its lendors, it is then a thief.
One cannot sustain charity when one is 20 trillion dollars in debt.
Churches must pick up where the government leaves off.
Perhaps churches should pay their fair share of taxes. With that money going to the poor??
I am confused by your comments Nan. You state how our government in in deep debt, yet suggest we trust them to take taxes from the Church to give to the poor? Unfortunately, we are told by our government leaders that we should run our government like a business, yet government is not a business. It has no customers (or buyers of goods). To make money, taxes have to come in. The citizens are the owners of the government, but are fooled by the leaders that they elect. The very fact that we are in such great debt now is because that we do not want to get out of debt (i.e. not a priority). At this point the number is so great, that it is hard to imagine how long it would take to get out of debt, therefore our short sighted leaders do not even attempt to start the process of debt reduction. Taxes would have to be raised on the rich for sure, and maybe all at some level. Earlier in the 1900’s the richest 1% paid 70-80% tax rate, now they wine about 35% and with all the loopholes that their tax lawyers give them, they pay hardly anything.
Wow! This was beautiful. Thank you!
My thought is this: the government in the United States is not a Christian government. In fact it is doing everything it can to take God out of the equation. As it continues to do this more and more it takes on the role of the church to provide for the poor and needy, through government programs. It’s goal is to abolish Christianity in favor of a secular humanistic state. I think when we the church expect the government to do what in actuality we should be doing, we are contributing to our demise. I think it would be best if we were feeding the poor “in the name of The Lord” and not “in the name of our government.”
Am I wrong in this perspective? I’m a relatively new convert to Orthodoxy having been an Evangelical Protestant for 36 years. I have been finding out through this process that many of my long held beliefs have been incorrect in light of Apostolic Christianity.
“And giving ourselves the excuse that charity can only come from individuals or churches, but is not the duty of government, only excuses a whole nation of its collective duty, under God, to take care of all her citizens. Government, in the mind of the Church, must care for all her citizens, and not just in the role of defense against enemy armies. The Byzantine Empire took seriously the roll of government to serve the needs of all her people. This Orthodox Christian nation patterned her whole system of government in the image of our grace filled faith.
The Byzantine State practiced philanthropy, from the dedication of its capital in 330 to its collapse in 1453. ”
Since LBJ’s so called “Great Society” , our country has put forth tens of trillions of dollars toward programs for the poor. And what’s been the result? The poverty rate has not dipped even a tenth of one percent. Long time liberal NY Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan noted that the high rate of families headed by single mothers was one of the chief causes of poverty. Today in America, if a person graduates from HS, holds off marriage until the age of 20, and doesn’t have children until they are married, the poverty rate for such people drops to the single digits. Today, many folks scream “Don’t tell me how to live my life!” Strangely enough, when we suggest to folks that they live according to traditional values, we’re in effect suggesting to them that they avoid poverty.
Do we as Orthodox have a responsibility to care for the poor? Absolutely, 100% yes!
But to suggest that: A) Personal choices don’t impact poverty, or B) More government spending on programs will alleviate poverty is both wildly naive and factually incorrect.
Father, government at all levels does a truly lousy job of identifying the working poor. In the abstract, government agencies simply do not even attempt to separate the working poor and destitute from those who prefer not to work. Only human beings can do this. Yes, I do support the government’s assistance for the poor, but ONLY because I know that there are truly deserving poor in the mix. Those who choose not to work or who swindle the government for undeserved disability benefits (a growing problem) corrupt the system. The church abdicated responsibility for assistance to the poor to the government, and we see the mess that has been created. Byzantium got it right, and Russia appears to be on the path to do likewise. I love America, but we should be far more careful in helping the poor, so that those who are poor through no fault of their own, are the ones being assisted. Those who do not wish to work and who do not even try to find employment should be cut off from the welfare rolls. For many summers, we built homes for Habitat for Humanity in TN. These selected
families were actually the working poor. Most families in those counties survived on government checks and had stopped looking for work. That is not right.
bless reverend father hegumen:
i find this reflection very biased and one sided. i agree with miss nan. as a fellow monastic, presbyter and baby boomer, i shall pray for you! pace e bene, fr john
I would make two points:
1. The imperative to minister to the poor is for the “ekklesia” of God. Both as individuals and collectively as the church we have opportunity to imprint others for the good with acts of righteousness and charity. When we do not fulfill this, someone else (ie/government) may do so. With government administrating this, there are always conditions and concessions involved.
2. Wisdom would ask us to be discerning; where there is legitimate need, there is also fraud. I have been involved in health care for many years and have seen unchecked zeal that has crippled our medical centers and driven many into closure. There now exists only a single medical center in our West County where I can remember there being four. This puts additional strain on the county hospitals which turn away no one yet incur millions in unpaid debt each year. We have non-citizens from other countries who come to us to have their babies and leave without payment of any kind. I have great sympathy for the true needy but we cannot sustain our current practice of health care.
Dave