“And when we were with you, we instructed you that anyone who did not want to work should not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3.10).
I worked in grocery stores through my late teens and into my early twenties. And worked in just nearly every department (stockperson, dairy department, deli department, etc.) during those years. Maybe half of it was spent at the cash registers either bagging groceries (yes, stores really used to have people who did that) or running the register.
This was in the very late eighties and early nineties; so, back then the U.S. food assistance program was still physical food stamps. They came in little booklets that were a little smaller than currency in denominations of, if I remember correctly, one, five, ten, and perhaps twenty. And they were a bit of a pain, compared to cash and checks.
The rule was any denomination over one had to be in its book. If it had been torn out that was okay, as long as its number matched the one on the booklet. And, you had to count what was in the book to make sure it contained the value the cover claimed (sometimes people used one of the coupons inside in prior purchases).
That job was, thankfully, my first encounter with government assistance. We were blessed enough growing up to have enough to keep the lights on, a roof overhead, and food on the table (though, some months and some periods were tight). I had heard of Food Stamps and “welfare” via media and friends. And, living where I did (and still do) in the time I did, race was always tied to them, and that tie was often negative.
Take the “Welfare Queen“—a caricature of an individual who is, somehow, living the high life off government assistance. That image was how I’d grown up thinking about people who received Food Stamps (as opposed to us hard-working folks). But, until working behind a cash register, I’d never actually, to my knowledge, met anyone who was on “welfare.”
I’ll be honest with you, yes, I did encounter the stereotype. There was a family whose groceries I carried out one sunny, spring afternoon who had paid with Food Stamps and whose milk, cereal, meat, and other purchases I loaded into the trunk of a quite new Mercedes.
But I can also remember carrying out carts of food to an old Buick or Oldsmobile whose back end was sunk low on bad shocks, doors and trunk squealed on rusty hinges, and had a paint job that was at least a quarter primer.
Government assistance programs have, for the past forty years, been targets in the attempts to “reign in” spending by the Federal Government. And it’s no surprise since those who would be most impacted (i.e. the poor) don’t have a strong, wealthy lobby to influence those in Washington. Besides, as Paul wrote above, those who aren’t working don’t get to eat.
Working for one’s dinner was part of changes to SNAP—the program we once referred to as Food Stamps—enacted over the summer by Congress and the current Administration. Prior to the passing of this legislation, people receiving SNAP who were between 18-54 and didn’t live with any dependents were required to work or attend work training for eighty hours a month. The new legislation increases the age range to sixty-four, requires work, specifcially, and alters some of the exemptions around children. There’s a lot to take in the new regulations, but it comes down to an intent to make sure that those who want to eat are going to work for it. Just like Paul said, right?
The second letter to the church in Thessalonica is a very brief and, as a letter, abrupt. After it’s opening greeting we’re launched into a discussion of eschatology—the end of things. It’s only in the closing portion of the letter that we come upon the exhortation about working and eating in a brief discussion of idleness that appears to have become an issue amongst some of the congregation in Thessalonica.
Like with all of the Pauline letters, we don’t have copies of the communications from the community; so, we’re left to suss out what’s happening there to trigger this missive. In some letters, like those to Corinth, Paul quotes portions of the letter he’s received. But in this letter, we’re not given much to go on.
However, the thinking is, based upon the long discussion of judgment and the “lawless one” that precedes this exhortation against idleness, that there are some in this community who believe that since Jesus is coming soon, there’s no reason to worry about washing the dishes, sweeping off the front walk, or doing anything besides sitting in their lawn chairs watching for the appearance of Christ in the East.
The statement then that those who aren’t working shouldn’t get any supper takes on a different tone in this light. Rather than a blanket command about who should and shouldn’t be fed, we find a specific call-out to those who think that we can just let the house, yard, and neighborhood go to seed because Jesus is a’comin’.
Does all this mean that there shouldn’t be some checks and requirements on those receiving assistance? Of course not. Leanne and I, blessed as we are, have attempted to help people close to us who’d fallen on hard times. We’ve given money and paid for shelter, but did so with the caveat the receiver had to work to improve their situation. Not because we felt cruel or attach strings to the gifts we give, but; because, we wanted the people we’re helping to reach a point they no longer required that assistance. And with the hope they might one day do the same for someone else.
But there’s a difference between encouragement and creating obstacles to daily bread for those already struggling. A difference between checking in that someone’s getting up and going to work each day and putting more hoops to leap through, which make it easier to take away that assistance. There is, of course, hope in the Spirit that moves amidst and within us and in one another.
A couple weeks ago we looked at the scene of Jesus and the miraculous feeding of over five-thousand people. In this moment, Jesus recognized a need in the people before him. He chose to do what he was able to in order to satisfy that need. As he filled baskets, the Disciples made their way through the crowd, never asking to see if someone had put in the hours to deserve what they were giving.
But, Jesus also didn’t give without expectation. Squatted down, finding his hands full despite the line of baskets that kept appearing before him, he gave of himself, of what he had to give trusting that those who received what had been broken for them would choose continue passing it along rather than keeping it just for themselves.
Because he hoped they’d believe that there is enough so no one goes to bed hungry.
Jesus, feeder of multitudes, we pray for those who are hungry in this challenging economy. Help those organizations who, like you, are trying to provide food so people do not go home hungry. And may we cultivate a society that seeks to provide food instead of regulations, help instead of hindrance, and hope that can be passed from hand to hand.
Postscript: If you have the means, there are many nonprofits working to feed those who are hungry who are facing shortfalls due to federal spending cuts. The Mid-South Food Bank in this area does wonderful work. The Humane Society of Memphis & Shelby County maintain a food pantry for the furry members of needy families.