Free Grapes!
"If you go into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in a container."
(Deuteronomy 23:24)
We Americans love our stuff. Property, possessions, knick-nacks, etc. At times we're generous, of course. But there's an underlying assumption of 'what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours.' More and more of us have storage units to keep our stuff safe... and there are more fences between properties than ever before.
One of the basic human needs that the Hebrew Scriptures talk a lot about is in the area of food/hunger. There are many laws laid out that provide ways for those who are hungry (both Israelite and foreigner) to eat. I came across one such law today in Deuteronomy 23. It states that people have permission to go into a neighbor's vineyard and eat grapes - as many as they want. Seriously! Like the ultimate Costco trip at lunchtime - only you can keep going back for sample after sample (without having to alter your appearance so the sample lady will give you more!). The only caveat: no take-home boxes or doggie-bags.
The American capitalist in me initially objects - thinking about the poor guy who owns the vineyard. Why should others be able to eat as many of his grasp as they desire? That doesn't seem fair. And yet... as I think about it... if he had an entire vineyard, he probably wasn't hurting. What about the (obviously) poor neighbor who's so hungry he has to eat the other guy's grapes. That's definitely not fair.
God has deep compassion on the poor and hungry. We are often generous - especially with people we know (heck, I'm in the midst of being blessed by receiving a home-cooked meal every day, just because I'm removing from major surgery!). But the people we know aren't often the ones who are TRULY hungry.
This passage is very challenging. It challenges me to have more compassion for those in my community. The ones I see as I'm moving about, driving to and fro. May I not be so stingy when others come up asking for money (or at least go buy them something to eat, if I'm worried about how they'll spend my money). May our church continue to be involved in the 3 feeding ministries every month to help the hungry here in the Antelope Valley. May we continue to bring items for the Pearblossom UMC food pantry on a regular basis. And may I begin to see hunger the way God does. It'll change everything, I think.