When I was young, I loved to roam the hills and fields. There was even a small wooded area with an artesian spring nearby. A favorite activity at times was to sit and face the wind, watching it blow the grass in waves.
Today I never have the chance for the countryside I loved. It is now developed into homes and an elementary school. But the same trait still exists. Today I simply watch people and see how the winds of the moment move them.
One of the things I’ve noticed is how people are afraid. Afraid of the new political administration, afraid of the economy, afraid of the people they live near – basically afraid and uncertain as to what it is they are really afraid of and what to do about it.
One of the things I have noticed through the years is how we begin with an assumption that there is ‘only so much’. Of course it is true, to some degree. There is only so much land available, but we have ways of managing to adjust to this as the needs arise. Everyone worries about being on a ‘fixed’ income, but everyone is on a fixed income – the only difference is in the size of that fixed amount.
All of this is to say that no one is without limits to what they own or to what they can access. On the other hand no one is without what they need. In fact we have far more than we need. This is the irony for me.
People worry about how much we might be taxed, without realizing that we already have more than we need for our survival. Just today I received something from a friend who insists that it would be better to not be taxed and to freely give of what we have to others. What a wonderfully Book of Acts sort of attitude. But it didn’t work then, won’t work today.
The reason is simple: we have very selective vision. For me this is the point of the story of The Rich Man and Lazarus. The Rich Man had to step over Lazarus to leave his house: how much nearer could the need have been? Yet the Rich Man does not seem to have “seen” Lazarus because he wasn’t aware of him or he might have done something. But he didn’t.
Others would say this was a matter of hardness of heart. Perhaps. Or perhaps they are the same thing, just expressed in different ways.
“I only have so much. What would he do with it anyway? Squander it? Meanwhile I need to go see about another boat, (etc.)”
Here is my point: God has given us what we need for the day. For those who have more than they need, there are those who have less and should be helped. Or we may one day find ourselves facing the dilemma of The Rich Man.
We can approach our current situation from positions of God’s unlimited grace, or from a position of limited physical resources. Personally the former makes more sense to me.
