甚麼是窮人的喜訊呢？（路4:14-22a）
福音時代，大部份人以農務為生，土地就是他們賴以為生的資源。除非遇上戰禍或天災，或者苛捐重稅，滿足暴君的淫欲；否則，自給自足，生活無憂。當然，這個世界並不完美，社會上總會有些不幸的人，可能因為生病或意外而失去了勞動力（谷1:40；若9:1），或者欠下債務，要變賣家產甚至家庭成員來還債（瑪18:25），淪為乞丐或窮人，倚靠鄰人賙濟。今天過著中產生活的我們，很難想像到福音時代的農夫或者窮人，他們是怎樣生活。所以，先知所說：「向貧窮人傳報喜訊」（路4:18; 依61:1）是甚麼意思呢？是讓他們脫貧嗎？還是免除他們的債務呢？
人的適應能力很強，當遇上一個收入減少了的時期，便會懷著希望，節衣縮食，深信難關總會有過去的一天。令他們絕望的，就是眼見債務日積月累，沒有半點消失，反而節節攀升的跡象…因此，窮人最想聽到的喜訊，應該是債主免除他們的債項！可能嗎？
舊約的「喜年」就是這樣的一項德政。「祝聖第五十年，向全國居民宣布自由；為你們是一喜年，人各歸其祖業，人各返其家庭。」（肋25:10）「如果他無法獲得足夠的贖價，他所賣的，應存於買主之手直到喜年；到了喜年，地應退還，賣主收回自己的家產。」（25:28）「若你身旁的兄弟窮了，賣身給你…如果那人不能贖身，到了喜年，他可與兒女自由離去。」（25:39, 54）
因為人性的貪婪，貧窮很多時候是結構性罪惡的後果。「喜年」制度給執政者五十年時間去改善制度，或者容忍當權者貪污五十年為限，然後推土重來…所以喜年是德政！
人啊！你何時纔會成為你鄰人的喜訊呢？
生命恩泉
23/1 進一步的反省
圖片鳴謝：Chinadaily.com.cn
What Are the Glad Tidings for the Poor? (Luke 4:14-22a)
In gospel time, most people made their living farming. They lived on the resources of the land. Unless there were wars or natural catastrophes, or heavy taxation to satiate tyrants, life was self-sufficient and care-free. Of course, the world was not perfect. There had to be some unlucky people who lost their working capacities because of illnesses or accidents (Mark 1:40, John 9:1), or those who were debt-ridden and had to sell their property or family members to repay the debts (Matthew 18:25). They became beggars or poor and had to live on the pity of their neighbour. It is very difficult for us modern middle class to imagine what life of farmers or the poor was like during gospel time. Therefore, what does the prophet mean when he says, “to bring glad tidings to the poor” (Luke 4:18; Isaiah 61:1)? To lift people out of poverty permanently? Or to remit their debts?“Poverty Reduction” sounds pretty but it can become a political propaganda and does nothing to eliminate the causes of poverty. Would the lowering of poverty line by administration actually cross out the poor population? Will newly arrived immigrants be able to work as insurance agents by “Employee Retraining Scheme” and creating employment opportunities? I’m afraid those policies made inside air-conditioned rooms have not yet been able to touch on the actual plights of the poor.
You’ll be amazed to find the strong adaptive abilities of the poor. When incomes reduce, they will reduce their intake of food, wear less and walk to the workplace etc., hopefully the difficulty will pass away one day. What makes them desperate is to see their debts accumulate indefinitely without the slightest sight of disappearance … Thus the glad tidings the poor want to hear is the remit of debts! Is it possible?
The “Jubilee Year” was just such a good policy in the Old Testament. “You shall treat this fiftieth year as sacred. You shall proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to your own property, each of you to your own family.” (Leviticus 25:10) “But if the person does not acquire sufficient means to buy back the land, what was sold shall remain in the possession of the purchaser until the year of the jubilee, when it must be released and returned to the original owner.” (25:28) “When your kindred with you, having been so reduced to poverty, sell themselves to you … and if they are not redeemed by these means, they shall nevertheless be released, together with any children, in the jubilee year.” (25:39, 54)
Because of human greed, poverty is the consequence of structural sins most of the time. Jubilee Year gives rulers 50 years to improve the system, or tolerates official corruptions for 50 years after which they would be overthrown and start all over again. Jubilee Year is genuinely a good policy!
Men! When will you be glad tidings of your neighbour?
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