Hey everyone! I hope that spring has finally sprung in the frigid north. It's been spring in Georgia for a few months now. We returned from our spring break trip to Utah a few days ago. Our break here is so late because it all depends on when the Master's golf tournament is. The entire city of Augusta changes hands during the tournament. We have rented our house the last few years so we have to be out at least a week. It's a great excuse to go somewhere fun. We enjoyed a week at the condo in Utah. We got to ski, enjoy some warm days, shop, eat awesome food, and relax. I hadn't skied in over three years so I was a bit rusty. I got my ski legs back pretty quickly though...well, other than falling face down off the ski lift when I meant to just stand up and get off! My knee is still sore!
We are building a new house in Cincinnati and the builder was needing our paint colors right away so when the plane landed we had to stop by Lowe's, Home Depot, and Sherwin Williams. This meant we had to detour off our usual highway route to the condo in Deer Valley (Park City). As we pulled up to a stop light we saw a homeless man, woman, and a cute little dog. He was holding a ragged sign that said something like "will work for food." As we pulled up to a stop he looked right at us. I rarely have cash in my bag, but this time I had a fair amount. I can't even remember how I got it. I felt like I was supposed to give him my cash so I told Dave to roll down the window. I used to think things like he probably spent all his money on alcohol or why doesn't he just go get a job or he must have made horrible life decisions to be in this position. I USED to think things like that. I don't think I thought those things with a mean heart. I think it was more about relieving my guilt on why I had so much. I MUST have done something right in life so I thought.
Recently I read a book titled, A Hole in our Gospel. It is written by the President of World Vision. If you don't know World Vision is a global, Christian outreach organization. They do amazing things for a hurting world. I read this book in a matter of a few days. Dave had taken Eli skiing in January and I stayed back to enjoy some alone time. I finished one book and needed something else to read. Dave had read this book years back and had told me several times to read it. I kept putting it off and always had another book that was calling my name. So this time I walked to the bookshelf to evaluate my options. I saw the hole in the gospel book and moved my eyes past it. It honestly felt like the book was lit up. I knew God was calling me to read that particular book. It was totally uncomfortable because it was so real. Did you know that half the world's population can't find work, feed their families, or secure adequate housing? Did you know between 21,000 and 30,000 children die each day around the world? I may sound like Debbie Downer, but that's reality. The author, Richard Stearns, was the CEO of Lennox china when God called him to take over World Vision. He was living in the lap of luxury when God came calling. It would be inaccurate to say that God calls everyone to sell all their possessions to serve Him. It's true we can serve Him in some capacity right where we are at. Matthew 25:45 says, "He will answer, 'I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sister, you were refusing to help me.'
Dave and I used to love the song Under Bridges by Brave Saint Saturn. I would say the album was out in maybe the late 90's. The first verse paints a picture of Jesus that greatly differs from the one you and I think of. It says,
Yesterday while walking,
Beneath an overpass,
I saw the figure of Jesus,
Standing barefoot on broken glass.
His beard was graying,
The smell of urine filled the air,
Asking if I had some change,
Anything that I could spare.
I am TOTALLY not judging anyone who is reading this because I don't know what you give to charity. I don't know how much you give to your church or if you tithe (tithe means 10%). I do not know your heart. I hardly know my own! There are people that certainly give more than Dave and I do. I am in no way telling you that I have it all figured out and am really a disguised Mother Teresa. I guess I just want to challenge you to start somewhere. If you don't tithe maybe just start by giving 1% off the top. I don't know, start somewhere...we all have to. If all Christians tithed we could turn this world around. We could change things for the most desperate people on the planet.
So back to my original story about the homeless man in Salt Lake. I don't know his story. I don't know what pain he has faced. I can't even imagine what he has gone through to leave him begging at a stop light in Salt Lake City. Is he an alcoholic? Maybe. Is his brain fried from drugs making him unable to hold a job? Maybe. Maybe he is a veteran that has PTSD. Maybe he has cancer and his unpaid medical bills caught up with him? Maybe he made poor decisions as a younger man and now he has a record...a felon? You know what? It isn't any of my business. I firmly believe God called me to reach into my bag and grab out my cash and give it to him. It isn't any of my business what he does with it. I want to obey God's call. I would even venture to guess that me grabbing my cash wasn't even about the homeless man. It was about me and what is the condition of my heart. It wasn't even my cash I grabbed. It was God's and He entrusted it to me. If I have a closed fist than He can't put anything else in my hand. It's all about perspective too. According to the Heritage Foundation America's poor aren't poor compared to the rest of the world. I found this stat interesting. 80% of America's poor have air-conditioned homes. Having said that I think it would be huge failure to neglect America's hurting in order to serve the poor in Swaziland. I think we are to do both!
I think about Eli too. He is so incredibly privileged. I think of other seven year old children in third world countries. Chances are they have seen unspeakable things in their seven short years. They could have lost one or both parents to HIV. They probably do not get to go to school because they 1. can't get there, 2. have to care for younger siblings or sick elders, 3. are too sick themselves, or 4. have to work to make money for their families. Eli can be whatever he wants when he grows up. He is healthy, has been vaccinated (sorry people who don't believe in it), has enough food at his finger tips, can run and play and learn until his heart's content. Why? He was born at a certain latitude and longitude. Same with me. Same with his father. I don't believe we should feel guilty for what we have. God has given you what you have whether you believe in Him or not. Why does He allow children to suffer and starve? I DO NOT KNOW and I will not pretend to know. What I do know is this...We have a huge responsibility to help the needy. There will always be someone who has less than us. We can't say, "when I have this much money I'll start giving some away to the needy." No. We are called to give now. Mark 12:44 says, "They gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on." I think the point here is the condition of the poor woman's heart. She had a giving heart. I think that is how we should be.
Look, again, I'm not condemning anyone reading this. I have a nice house in a nice neighborhood. We drive decent cars and take vacations. That isn't what this is about. Where are our hearts though? Do we think we are somehow are superior to the world's poor? The fact is we were born in the wealthiest place on earth and because of that we have a great responsibility to the hurting. Let's do something! Let's do more!
Luke 6:38) Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
