Message summary: Today’s Scriptural command concerning gleaning is found in the Law of Moses. It was intended so that the poor and stranger would have a means of support.

Yesterday we shared a lesson gleaned*₁ from a drive through the country with our farmer friend Jesse making observations, the first being a lesson about a soybean field with corn shooting up right through the soybeans and the peril of weeds in our lives.

During our drive Wednesday morning we stopped by a farm stand to buy some tomatoes and a big pepper. As we left the stand we passed the field where the peppers were grown commercially and most are sold to the wholesale market, eventually landing in the produce section of the grocery store. But at the edge of the field we could see many peppers just thrown aside. Jesse explained they were peppers that had some type of blemish but were otherwise fine to eat. Apparently the blemished would lower their sale value. Buyers would see a blemished pepper and it could devalue the entire sale.

But seeing the many discarded peppers reminded me of a rather obscure Old Testament verse and wise concept rarely used today.

Gleaning is defined as "the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers’ fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest."

The large majority of people are so far removed from our agricultural roots yet each of us daily depend on the labors of hard working farmers.

Food gets left in the field for all kinds of reasons. Two big reasons are that mechanical harvesting misses a lot — and sometimes the crops aren’t of high enough quality for supermarket shelves such as the peppers we saw.

We have been blessed several times when farmers invite us to glean such as going through the fields after a large commercial tomato harvest. The first year we moved here in 2001 Brooksyne accepted our farmer friend Galen's offer to glean leftover roma tomatoes in his field after the field workers walked through and picked tomatoes for market. She either froze or canned several quarts of tomatoes that year.

Linda Tozer of the Society of St. Andrew which advocates the ancient practice of gleaning states, “The statistics are that 96 billion pounds of food — this is pre-consumer food — goes to waste in this country,” (Note: I have no idea how they would get a precise statistic like that! Nevertheless I am sure a massive amount of food is wasted.)

Today’s Scriptural command concerning gleaning is found in the Law of Moses. It was intended so that the poor and stranger would have a means of support.

The practice of gleaning is found numerous times in the Old Testament, perhaps most famously in the book of Ruth. "And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, 'Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor'" (Ruth 2:2).

In an act of generosity and as an expression of his affection toward her, Boaz made extra effort to see that her gleanings would be abundant. “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her” (Ruth 2:15,16).

The Practice:

The Principle:

The New Testament application that applies this concept universally: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

Today if you are "rich", which would be most of us*₂, are you following the Biblical counsel to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share from God’s abundant harvest in our lives with those in need?

If you are genuinely poor due to a situation out of your control, then God is inviting you to live a life of humility and gratitude as He provides for you through other sources.

If you are poor due to your own irresponsibility, laziness and lack of good stewardship then ask God to help you to be resourceful and ambitious. Observe the labor of others who apply God's principles and follow their example. Place your finances under His control becoming obedient according to the Scriptures. Perhaps you need a faithful accountability partner in which you can give a regular accounting of your finances. You may do well to seek counsel from a church elder or ministry such as Crown Financial. We’re blessed as we hear them on our local Christian radio station. They have a heart of compassion and a genuine desire to help others in the area of godly stewardship.