The prophets of ancient Israel were clear: Israel was called to show generous concern for the most weak and vulnerable within their society. In the parlance of their day, the weak and vulnerable were identified by three groups: widows, orphans and aliens (not ET, but rather resident non-Israelites). These groups had no right to own land in Israel and therefore were marginalized economically, socially and politically within Israel. They had few legal rights, fewer economic rights, and no political standing whatsoever. So when it came to reaping the benefits of any economic boom or the perils of any bust, these groups were tossed about within society like so much refuse. Daily life itself was precarious—they would be the first to starve, the first to be prosecuted for minor offences and the first to die.
The prophets were sensitized to the plight of the widow, orphan and alien in Israel because they preserved the memory of Israel’s sojourn in Egypt where the Hebrews had been aliens; where they were without legal standing; and where they were the lowest economic, social and political class in Egypt. Their slavery in Egypt is described as “bitter.” But the prophets also preserved the memory of the LORD’s attention to the cries of these oppressed, powerless, and hopeless Hebrew slaves (Exodus 2:23-25). Israel learned that God hears the cries of those who are marginalized, victimized and oppressed. As Moses warned Israel in Deuteronomy 10:17-19 – “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the stranger, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (NRSV).
The basic claim that Moses makes is that it is fundamental to the character of Israel’s God to protect and love the widow, the orphan and the alien. In other words, God’s character is evident clearly in this divine concern for the most vulnerable and easily oppressed people. For this reason, Israel was to make special provision for the widow, orphan and alien. Every third year the tithe was to be set aside to provide for them (Deuteronomy 14:28-29); the Sabbath rest was to be granted to slaves and aliens among others (Deuteronomy 5:12-15); part of the harvest was to be left in the fields to provide food for the marginalized (Deuteronomy 24:19-22); and justice was to be executed for the widow, the orphan and the alien (Deuteronomy 24:17-18). And just in case you haven't got the message yet, all who deny justice to the widow, the orphan and the alien are cursed (Deuteronomy 24:19).
Israel had a vocation to be a community in which those who are weakest, those who are most vulnerable and those who are most easily consigned to the garbage heap of society are to be given special attention. They are to be protected, provided for and sheltered—even non-Israelites!
The tragedy was the Israel did not live up to this vocation. The prophets make that abundantly clear. For the prophets, this was not a peripheral issue; it was central to Israel’s identity and vocation. Israel’s amnesia concerning its own experience as slaves in Egypt and its resulting oppression of the poor and marginalized was endangering Israel’s covenant with God. It was this warning that Amos sounded when he confronted Israel. In fact, it compelled Amos to announce on God’s behalf, “The end has come upon my people Israel!” (Amos 8:2) It was this lack of justice that prompted Isaiah to sing a love song concerning the LORD’s vineyard (Israel) that ends with the promise that the vineyard (Israel) itself will be destroyed.
Lest we dismiss this as simply so much Old Testament mumbo jumbo, let’s remember that in Luke’s gospel Jesus spends the vast majority of his ministry among those who were marginalized in his day. It is the weak, the poor and the sinners who actually respond most readily to the Gospel! It is in Luke that Jesus introduces his mission with the announcement that Spirit of the Lord was upon him to bring good news to the poor, the imprisoned and the sick (Luke 4:16-30). Jesus’s ministry was largely directed toward those who held little influence or wealth in the community of his day.
So what does all of this have to do with where we are in our day? I think that the general tenor of Scripture compels us to recognize that for Christians concern for the most vulnerable is foundational to the worship of God. We need to ask ourselves, "Who are the widow, the orphan and the alien in our society?" Who are the most vulnerable and who is marginalized most easily? We may see them as outsiders, intruders, “others.” But God views them with special concern—and so should we. It seems to me that the quality of a society is not to be judged by its wealthiest, its most powerful, its affluence, or its GDP, but rather by the way in which it treats (or mistreats) those who have the least—the least influence, the fewest resources, the least standing in courts. We are to be judged according to how we deal with “the least of these.” Our praises to the God revealed in Scripture ring hollow when our neighbour is hungry, homeless or incarcerated. And if the prophets are to be believed, a society that mistreats the vulnerable will not endure. God will not permit it.