Life is More Than Food, by Michael Hall

While reading through Luke and Acts, I struggled a lot with how comfortable our family has become, and how much more we still think we need. Reflecting back on the past year, I tried to think about how much time I spent thinking about our personal finances, including retirement, as compared to how much time I spent thinking about how I can use my blessings to help the poor…there is no comparison. Besides tithing, I spent little time actually thinking about how I can help the poor.

I wish I could say the opposite, but taking care of the poor is not as high of a priority as it should be in my life. Yet, the poor and hungry are the first people who are blessed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, and the rich and well fed are the first people who are cursed in the Sermon on the Mount. This is kind of a slap in the face to Americans considering that the poorest of American’s have a lot more money and food than the majority of the world.

I wonder how often Jesus actually thought about the fact that he basically had nothing. I doubt the average North Dallas resident would want to associate with someone like Jesus. He didn’t really have a career, assets, or income. I can honestly say that if two new families came to Richardson East, one poor like Jesus and one wealthy, I would want to meet and invite the wealthy family to lunch or to our house. This would be the most comfortable choice, but completely opposite from what is said in Luke and Acts. Luke 14 says that when you plan a big dinner at your house, invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind. Again, these types of people would not currently be at the top of my list, yet Jesus says that he is the poor, because when we reach out to them, we are reaching out to Jesus.

Acts seems to speak more to how we should also take care of those that are close to us, our fellow believers. In Acts, Luke says that the believers basically saw all of their money and possessions as one big pot that was used to help those who had hit hard times. The believers felt that their money and possessions were not earned, but rather given by God. I don’t know why God chose to give us so many material blessings, but he did. I tried to imagine what he was thinking when he decided to do this. I wonder if he thought “There are a lot of people in Dallas that are hurting, so I’m going to give the Halls money and other blessings to help those who are hurting. When they receive this, it’s going to be really hard for them to see that I gave it to them because they have the skills and resources necessary to distribute those blessings to those that need it. They are going to be tempted to think that they earned it, and that it’s for them. I hope they realize that they have been chosen as workers to distribute what I have given.” I wish I looked at our blessings in that way every day of my life, but I don’t. I often look at blessings or money as something that I have earned, but this is clearly not the case. I, like all of you, have simply been chosen by God to receive blessings and turn right around to give them away to those as they have need.

I truly believe that God has blessed us in order to give those blessings to others. That is difficult for me to accept, especially living in Dallas where we have so much wealth, and can get so caught up in stuff. Jesus states it well when he simply says in Luke 12:23 “Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.” I pray that God will give me the strength to fully believe this statement by reflecting it in my life.