Proverbs 14:20-21 

²⁰The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. ²¹It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.

Countryside

From the youngest to the oldest, almost everyone knows everyone in the countryside. They care for each other. Everyone may attend the wake when someone died. Maybe, they want free meal or free drink. Somehow, life in the countryside is not very burdensome despite a shortage of reliable employment.

In a small town, kindness is more obvious than in big cities. If you know the names of your neighbors in the big city, is it a miracle? Maybe, if neighbors won’t greet them whenever they meet on the street, introverts are not bothered. Unless you prefer to be anonymous, it feels great to know your neighbors by name.

Let’s reflect on what it says in Luke 10:25-28, ²⁵An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” ²⁷He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” ²⁸“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

To inherit eternal life, Christ points to the Law, and that is to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength and with all our mind and love our neighbor as ourselves. He declares that if we do this, we will live. Of course, no one can perfectly obey his divine command.

And, it is by the grace of God through faith in Christ that we are saved and have eternal life and not through good works like being kind to neighbors. Is that easy? Not exactly! We need to practically prove that we have faith in Christ.

How is that? Faith in Christ is manifested when we prioritize loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and love our neighbor as well.

But in reality, we partially love the Lord and not with all our heart, strength, soul, and mind; then if, claim that we are saved by grace, are we not deceived? How about selective love of neighbors who are kind to us but avoid the arrogant?

Certainly, it’s wasted to express love to the arrogant. The arrogant ignore it if we express love for them. But needy people who appreciate kindness are the right neighbors that we should focus on to love. And not all neighbors are needy.

1.  Neighbor

²⁰The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.

If this is biblically true that the rich have many friends, then, if you want to have many friends, do your best to earn more money. The poor may have selective friends, but most often if you are poor, neighbors shun or avoid you.

Why do people avoid the poor? Poor people are needy. Many poor people borrow money even if they do not know how and when they would pay it. Those are the kind of poor individuals that neighbors avoid and turn away from.

Personally, how do you interpret what it says in Psalm 15:1-5? ¹Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? ²The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; ³whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; ⁴who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; ⁵who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

These are behaviors of heavenly citizens. Behavior toward neighbors and the poor are specifically mentioned. Our attitude toward our neighbors and the poor is reflection of certainty to dwell in the house of the Lord. Eternal certainty helps us to be still and calm and not shaken when struggles attack at random.

Pray for discernment, if you are touched to personally help someone who is needy. Pray that God will lead you to potential believers you may help.

Ministry Calling

A missionary shared his encounter with a taxi driver in a city where there were rampant criminal activities, bad vices and poverty. The taxi driver told the missionary, “Everyday, I pray that God would lead me to a person who needs my help. That is my ministry calling, and God had been faithful to me.”

The missionary reflect on what the taxi driver told him and concluded that somehow, the taxi driver becomes light in the dark world of crime and poverty.

Reflect on what Christ declares in Matthew 5:14-16, ¹⁴You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

To be light wherever God situates us is our mission purpose in this world. We start at homes, in school, at place of work or anywhere we go. We don’t need to save everybody, but we can help one needy person at a time. We need divine guidance of the Holy Spirit to identify the needy person who accepts our help.

2.  Needy

²¹It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.

Blessedness is not just simply happy. It’s deep joy. It’s extreme gladness.

Extreme gladness of the heart is simplified definition of blessedness that includes many practical things that make us personally sense such deep joy.

Pair of Shoes

If you have two pairs of shoes and you gave one pair to a needy person, will you be satisfied that you feel good about helping others? Well maybe, yes!

But then, you’re very active, you regularly exercise. And then one day, your shoes were damaged by rodents. Now, you remember that you gave away the other pair of shoes. Will you continue to sense blessed happiness? Will you complain and ask, “How can the giver be more blessed than the receiver?”

Apostle Paul testified in Acts 20:35, ³⁵In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

These words of Jesus are not mentioned in the Gospels, but obviously the listeners of Apostle Paul knew it very well. They may have heard it from other disciples who personally heard the Lord. The Gospel writers had not recorded everything that Jesus did and said. One teaching of Jesus that was passed down orally is the blessedness of giving, and Dr. Luke recorded it in the Book of Acts.

Let us reflect on what it declares on 2 Corinthians 9:10-11, ¹⁰Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Most often this passage is quoted to inspire believers during Tithes and Offering part of worship services. But giving is not limited to money. Anything we give generously is included. We give encouragement, help, service or smile. What else do you give? And there’s a promise of supplication from the Lord. God has eternal endless source of everything, and he supplies the giver to generously give to the needy person. Both the giver and the needy happily thank the Lord.

It is natural tendency of humanity to complain and grumble. The western world is supposed to be more prosperous but there is widespread dissatisfaction. Airline workers are supposed to have high salaries, yet they organize strike to demand for increase of salary, whereas, ordinary employees at a fast food chain could be easily terminated, if they demand for increase of salary.

Search the Scripture about blessedness. Blessedness is another term for satisfied life. When we are blessed, we are grateful. Our heart is full of praise.

Gratitude and praise of heart are simplified descriptions of abundant life that the Lord wants us to have and experience now until eternity. Blessedness and satisfied life are practical results of prioritizing the Lord with all our life.

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