No Second Shake

Deuteronomy 24:17-25:4   New English Translation

You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do all this. Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there, you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do. When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure; the remaining olives belong to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not do so a second time; they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt; therefore, I am commanding you to do all this.

If controversy arises between people, they should go to court for judgment. When the judges hear the case, they shall exonerate the innocent but condemn the guilty. Then, if the guilty person is sentenced to a beating, the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves. The judge may sentence him to forty blows, but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite with contempt.

You must not muzzle your ox when it is treading grain.

Reflection

     I don't find myself quoting Deuteronomy very often, but I might start. The last line sounds antiquated, a bit funny to the modern ear, but it speaks volumes towards our current situation of ethical and Creation care needs. It is at once, self evident--allow the ox to eat some of grain while it is working. I honestly don't know precisely what that would look like, but I would imagine that it would slow down a bit and literally eat into the profits. That's the point in it, isn't it. Almost all of our current problems are directly related to muzzled oxen, figuratively speaking. It turns out that pushing for maximum profit has its long term problems--income inequality, hopeless poverty,...and lack of nurturing for the very Creation that is providing something tasty and delicious. God's good Law has a purpose beyond our short scope. 

     I also notice that there is a great deal of grace proscribed in these Laws. These are the good things that we are supposed to be. For God's chosen people (to which we have been grafted in, thank you Jesus), this is what we do. It isn't listed as optional, or "if you really want to be a good Christian..." 

     We need to pay attention to the reality that God is concerned with the leftovers and the left outs. God cares about all of Creation (including all humans). It is interesting to me that the tactics are simple and do-able. We are just not supposed to make the extra effort to do the second shake of the tree. In an age when we invent and engineer machines to eek out as much efficiency as possible, God asks us to just let it remain, let it be. Of course the challenge is that we have engineered our societies to be far from simple gleanings. We have to find ways to reverse engineer kindness and generosity into our communities and food systems. Advocacy and careful purchasing with companies that give back is important (look for certified B and 1% give back to the planet).

Gracious God, continue to prepare our hearts for your lightness of life. We tend to weigh things down and make them so complicated. Today, let us rest in you and help others to do the same. Guide us to share appropriately and abundantly with respect and dignity. In the Way of Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen. 

For more about olive harvest check out
this link to Crete.