Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.
Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.
When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this. (Deuteronomy 24:14-22 NIV)
I know a man who volunteers at a food pantry. It seems like quite an inconvenience for him. A couple times a month, he has to take off work, rearrange family responsibilities, and dedicate time to people who don’t always appreciate it. So I asked him, “Why do you do this?” He had an answer ready: “I remember what it’s like. I remember when I didn’t know where my next meal would come from. I remember…” I once heard a woman talk about how she counsels young women considering an abortion. She explained why: “I remember that was me. Just the right person at just the right time convinced me to have my baby, and I’m so thankful! I remember…”
That’s a good thing! God wants his people to remember. He especially wants us to remember all he’s done to save us. That’s why, as the Israelites were preparing to enter the Promised Land, Moses reminded them over and over to “remember that you were slaves in Egypt.” Sometimes we want to forget about difficulties or trials in the past. God actually says, “No, remember them.” With a purpose: So we’re ready to show compassion to others who face the same need. The Bible says, “God comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:4). See how this works?
If you read through the laws that God gave the Israelites in the Old Testament, it’s amazing how many focus on showing compassion. Our lesson starts with this: “Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it.” When an Israelite hired someone to work for them, what were they to do? Pay them! When? That very day. Why? Because that worker depended on that pay to live.
And there’s a part of us that thinks: Do we really need this in the Bible? What’s the answer? Yes! God wants us to see that we have a God of compassion who cares for those in need. We heard that in our gospel lesson today. Jesus and his disciples were tired, so they sailed across the Sea of Galilee to get some rest. But when they got to that quiet resting place, what did they find? A big crowd of people. Ahhh! I would have been upset. But Jesus? “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things” (Mark 6:34). Jesus’ compassion fills us with compassion.
So here’s the next law: “Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.” Do you know who needs compassion? Parents whose children have turned away from God. What heartache! The Bible says that each person is responsible for their own sin. But when parents have a child who falls into sin or falls away from God, what are we tempted to do? Judge them. Look down on them for their child’s sin. But what do those parents need? Compassion. Understanding. Some of you can relate.
On the flip side, there are children who have had really dead-beat parents. We don’t like to talk about that, but it’s true. There are people who have grown up with very bad, ungodly examples for parents, and what are we tempted to do? Judge them. Look down on them for their parents’ sin. What do those children need? Compassion. Understanding. Some of you can relate.
Do you see the heart of God beating through his Word? It says, “Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.” God loves all people. God is concerned for all people. To show that, there are three groups of people whom God especially told his people to remember. Did you catch who they are? The foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow. Those are three groups of people that it’s tempting to forget about. Maybe to despise. “No!” God says. “You will work for justice for foreigners and orphans. You will care for widows.” This is at the heart of God’s Word: Care for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.
Why? “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from there.” There it is! “Remember you were…” The Israelites had been foreigners and slaves in another country. They had been despised and mistreated and taken advantaged of for generations. Yet, in their greatest need, when they were at their lowest point, what did God do? He saved them. He redeemed them. He had compassion on them. “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from there.” Do you see the power in those words? If ever the Israelites failed to show compassion, they were forgetting God’s grace.
There’s more: “When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” When they were harvesting, they would sometimes look back and see that they missed a spot. What were they to do? Just leave it. That sounds wrong, doesn’t it? Almost irresponsible. They could make more money if they harvested every single sheaf! But they weren’t supposed to. Whom were they to leave some for? The foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow. Sound familiar? Why? “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt.”
It wasn’t just in the fields. “When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow.” The same thing for their olive trees. The same thing for their grape vines. They weren’t to harvest everything. They were to leave some fruit on the vine. For whom? The foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Why? You know. “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.”
I think you’ve heard how Jesus said it: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). Isn’t that what this is all about? The Israelites had been poor and helpless. Who had compassion on them? God! Who redeemed them? God! Who showed them grace? God! They were to never forget that. “Don’t forget what’s been done for you,” God said. “Remember what you were, and that will make you compassionate, considerate, kind, caring… Like me!”
So how good are you at remembering? We don’t have very good memories, do we? At least, it sure doesn’t seem that way based on the way we talk about and treat other people. Where’s the compassion? Of these three groups who need mercy—the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow—there’s one that sticks out to me today: Foreigners. There’s a lot of talk about foreigners today, isn’t there? There’s a lot of talk about foreigners among people who claim to be Christians. How does that talk go? “They don’t deserve to be here. They’re a burden. They should be gone.” I don’t think we’re remembering. I’m afraid we’re forgetting all sorts of things.
Like the poor and widows. Isn’t it nice to not think about those people? Isn’t life so much smoother and cleaner and better when you don’t have to deal with ______. You fill in the blank. Wouldn’t it be nice if ______ weren’t around? Maybe we don’t say those things out loud. But you think them. “My fields are for me. My crops are for me. Not for them! They don’t deserve it. It’s all for me!” I don’t think we’re remembering. I’m afraid we’re forgetting all sorts of things.
“Remember that you were slaves in Egypt…” “But I wasn’t a slave!” you say. Oh, yes you were! Not in Egypt. Worse. Every human being has been a slave: A slave to sin and a slave to death. “I’m not a slave to sin,” you say. Oh yeah? Can you go one day without sinning? Can you make it through a church service without sinning? I don’t think so. “I’m not a slave to death.” Really? Are you going to die? Yes! Even if you eat only vegetables and exercise every day, are you still going to die? Yes! Are you better than a foreigner or an orphan or a widow? How could we think that? Only if we forget. When we fail to show compassion, we must be forgetting God’s grace.
So God says to us today, “Remember you were…” You were lost. You were guilty. You were a slave to sin and death. And what did God do? He redeemed you. Not with the blood of a lamb—like the people in Egypt—but with the holy, precious blood of Christ and his innocent suffering and death on the cross. God redeemed you! The Bible says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). We were powerless. We were ungodly. We were sinners. And what did Jesus do? He died for us! Don’t ever forget that!
Those sins that we still commit each day? Jesus has freed us from their power by his death on the cross. That death that we will still face one day? Jesus has freed us from its power by his resurrection from the dead. Remember you were lost, and God found you. Remember you were alone, and God loved you. Remember you were poor, and God made you rich with his grace. Remember you were sinful, and God forgave you. Remember you were a foreigner, and God made you a child of God. Remember you were… Remember what God has done…
So that when you see a foreigner, you remember, “I’m a foreigner on earth too. Heaven is my home.” When you see someone who is poor, you remember, “All I have is by the grace of God. What can I share?” When you see a sinner, you remember, “Jesus died to forgive him or her, just like he died to forgive me.” Do you see what the gospel of Jesus is meant to do? It’s meant to soften our hearts. You can’t have a proud, hard heart and be a Christian. That’s impossible! The gospel of Jesus softens our hearts. We love because he first loved us. We forgive as he has forgiven us. We comfort with the comfort he has given us. Remember you were…
When you think about it, it’s really beautiful, isn’t it? To hear this, even way back in the Old Testament? It shouldn’t be a surprise. We have a God of compassion and grace. For you! If you’re a worker or a foreigner or an orphan or a widow, God loves you. He thinks about you every day. God has built into his Word this system in which every person has the same value and the same worth and is able to care for others. Why do you volunteer at a food pantry? Because I remember… Why do you spend time with those who…? Because I remember… Why do you care about…? Because I remember… Remember you were… and remember Jesus saved you.
(To listen to this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior podcast, please click HERE. To watch this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior YouTube channel, please click on the link below.)
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