Are We Refusing to Help?

"How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?"

1 John 3:17

The imperative to care for the poor is one of the most consistent requirements of Scripture.
A simple search on עָנִי - one of the key words translated "poor" in Hebrew Scripture - reveals 80 uses:

• 25  uses are either instructions to not harm the poor, or judgments on those who do harm them;
• 11 are commands to care for the poor;
• 27 are statements that God cares for the poor;
• 10 are examples of the poor asking God for help;
• 7 do not fit in the above categories; none state that the poor should be ignored.

In the New Testament, φτωχός is the most common word for "poor," occurring 34 times:

• 4 uses are against harming the poor;
• 12 are instructions to give to the poor;
• 7 are statements about God caring for the poor;
• 8 are references to poor individuals (typically doing good things, e.g,. the widow who gave);
• 3 are Judas complaining that money could have been given to the poor rather than used for perfume to anoint Christ.

The anointing of Jesus' feet seems to indicate that there are some acceptable "luxury" uses of money, but even here Jesus reminds the disciples that they are to continually care for the poor - "you always have the poor with you," c.f. Deuteronomy 15:11).

Thus, of the 114 Scriptural uses of the most common words for poor people, there is one incident (repeated 3 times: that of Judas) indicating that caring for Christ before his death is an acceptable use of money, even when there are poor to care for, 25 uses describing poor people doing something or a feature of the poor, and 86 (75%) proclaiming that caring for the poor is an ethical imperative.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 is the only Scripture I'm aware of that indicates a time when we should not give to someone in need - in the one special case where able bodied people have stopped working (presumably to wait for the parousia) and are trifling away their time.

So... how much should we give?

What do you think?
Most of Jesus' followers had very little "discretionary income" - they spent money on food, shelter, and work. Seeing a "brother or sister in need of help" would happen regularly, but a small amount of money would provide for the daily bread. What are we to do in today's world, where we have much discretionary income but a practically unbounded amount of need that we could readily donate to? How much would God have us spend on ourselves, and how much should we give away?