Maybe It's You

It is almost always the case that we live in uncertain times, but the truth of that statement seems more acute today than it has been in a long while. Our economy is in tatters. After years of reckless and unscrupulous business practices seemed to continue without consequence, we appear to be caught up in a perfect storm of economic events: rising debt, skittish lenders, failing businesses, and growing unemployment lines.

In this storm, it seems that everybody is reeling, looking for shelter. As we look into the face of the uncertainty which these times seem to hold, I am reminded of a passage in Matthew’s Gospel.

You cannot serve God and wealth. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? . . . strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.

In many ways, this scripture passage and the promise that it offers should give us great comfort. But there is something about it which seems almost illusory. And not surprisingly, while we certainly understand this promise, and we understand the importance of putting our faith in this promise, it appears to be one article of our faith that many have a hard time believing. Who really trusts in God so much that they put aside their worries?

In fact, the opposite seems true. For obvious reasons, concerns about money are almost invariably the source of our greatest stress. Though God has promised to care for us and even warned us about being consumed with wealth, we seem chronically unable to heed this warning and to accept this promise on its face. Why is that? I think that the answer is two-fold. First, I think we run a basic cost-benefit analysis and make our choice accordingly. If we put our faith in God to provide for all our needs and we end up being wrong, the consequences are pretty severe. We have no food on our plates, no clothes on our backs and no roof over our heads. So, with respect to our very tangible every day needs, we need the comfort of a tangible way to fulfill those needs. Something that we can trust and rely on coming every pay day.

The other reason that we have such a hard time accepting this promise is that it just seems too good to be true. And there are plenty of examples to back this up, examples of people who seem to have been abandoned. How many have lost their homes in the current financial crisis? How many were displaced by Ike and Katrina? So, I think, it becomes very easy not to place our faith in this promise, or to at least have a reliable back up plan.

So, are those who get up every day and go to work somehow demonstrating a lack of faith in this promise? I don't think so. God gives us many gifts and, I think, expects us to put them to good use. Well, what then do we make of his promise?
Let me offer this. What if we are misunderstanding the promise? Matthew's Gospel tells us, “strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” I don’t think that God promises to cut our steak when it is tough or to shovel the driveway when the snow is wet and heavy. He promises that when we strive for Him, we will have what we need. Well how is that going to happen?

Well, maybe it’s you. Maybe, when we strive for the Kingdom, we get each others’ backs, we live in communities where people know each other and make soup for each other when we are sick, pick each other up when we are down, stand up for each other when someone needs some help.

God has already told us that he has no hands and feet here on this earth. Your hands are His, your eyes and ears and mouth, His. When we strive for the kingdom, we strive for each other. When we look to find Christ in this world that we might serve Him, we find Him in each other. We see Him naked and we clothe Him, we seem him with no roof and we provide one, we see Him hungry and we prepare a meal to share. We see Him on a rooftop in the Lower Ninth Ward. We see Him looking for work on Bourbon Street.

Maybe it’s us. Maybe it’s me. Maybe it’s you.

So we have this glorious promise. He will care for us. Like He tends to the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, He will watch over us and provide us with what we need. Too good to be true? A pipe dream? Maybe not. Maybe, if we all choose to hear this call to live for others, if we choose to give ourselves away, if we choose to give our hands and feet and eyes and mouth to Christ, maybe then will we realize that God’s promise to us is real, it just requires us to believe in it and to play our part.

He won’t do it alone. Who will help Him? Who is going to do it?

Maybe it’s you.

Chris Haddad