I was telling one of my friends recently that one of the things that happened to me during my time in Uganda was that certain passages of scripture suddenly became so real, so utterly clear to me. It's like you can hear the same things over and over again to the point that they lose meaning for you. At my church recently, The Lord's Prayer was removed from our order of worship. Instead, week by week, our pastors have been deconstructing the prayer line by line and preaching about the meaning of each one. Soon, the prayer will be added back into our worship services and I hope that it will have new meaning for each of us as we recite it together.
This same effect in essence occurred within me on this trip. I understood- REALLY understood for the first time, certain key passages of scripture and what they mean as a result of being immersed in a different sort of world. I now have a much deeper understanding of wealth. Also, what it means to be poor. Why Jesus had so much to say about the haves and the have nots. And I have a new found sense of conviction of just how very difficult it is to possess material wealth and not be a slave to two masters.
I was reading a book last year about this time by one of my favorite Christian writers, Francis Chan. If you read my blog often, you have seen this name before. Chan is a young, charismatic pastor from the west coast who has written several best sellers. People have labeled him an evangelical, which I don't like because that has lots of negative connotations in our society. What I do like about Chan is his gentle spirit. The fact that he shares openly his own struggles of faith. The way that he has so much difficulty with " the Church" and organized religion as a whole. Yep- he's my kind of guy. One of the things Chan writes about is how drawn he feels to the Third World. But not because he feels the need to go " fix" everything that is wrong there- rather, he is drawn to this world because of the vibrant faith of the people. He writes about the difference between how people feel and act toward God in places like Uganda versus here in this country. When you read his description of this, you can sense how heavy his heart is with how pale and anemic he finds the love of his fellow Americans to be for the God that they profess faith in. I thought about this when I read it and remembered back to my previous trips to Mexico. The simple, heartfelt expressions of worship I had seen there. The complete dependency on God which marked their daily existence. I could relate to what Chan was writing about.
Even with this previous experience to draw upon, I was still unprepared for how hard some lessons would hit home as a result of my time in Africa. The story of The Rich Young Ruler (Matthew Ch 19) became so alive, so meaningful to me on so many levels. We have all heard this story over and over. It contains the famous "camel fitting through the eye of the needle" passage. We had studied this passage in my Bible Study class not long before my trip. What I knew about this story was that it was the rich young ruler's attachment to his wealth that Jesus was able to see. He was able to see that this attachment was a barrier within him to a more meaningful relationship with the Father, which is why in love, Jesus asks him to forsake his wealth in this world for greater riches in the next by giving it all away and following Him. And we know the outcome- the rich young ruler walks away sad. As I lived and worked in Uganda and was surrounded by the difficulties of just daily existence in such a place I began to question myself "what if Jesus called me to give up my home, my family, my clean prosperous life (complete with actual plumbing!) and pack it all up and move here to serve Him. Could I do that?". I thought about the SLAM people who were doing that very thing. I admire them deeply for their commitment to their faith, the way they will live that out as they plant themselves in this community and live side by side with the Ugandan people sharing in their poverty. Could I do such a thing? In all honesty, I think that like the rich young ruler I would walk away sad too. For the first time ever, I felt sympathy for him and his dilemma. And the sobering look I had to take at myself has lead me to understand that I am not nearly as good a person, nor disciple of Christ as I thought myself to be. So there's that to chew on. Still struggling with that one......
The other thing that I came to understand so very clearly is what Jesus said at the close of Matthew Ch 19: " But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first". This became crystal clear to me and explains so much that we don't seem to be able to comprehend about poverty. Yes - if you just view poverty from the perspective of this lifetime it seems horribly unfair that this is the condition into which many are born. But Jesus said "the poor shall be with you always". And God has a special love and consideration for these among His children. His word speaks over and over of our responsibility to them. It is, in many ways, our care of them by which God transforms us and conforms us more into the image of his Son, which is His ultimate goal. Jesus, at the close of Matthew Ch 19, is speaking of how everything will be different in the eternal kingdom. This is where I will lose my non believing friends. Sorry! This won't make any sense to you if you do not believe in eternal life. But to those of you out there reading who profess to believe in Christ, this is critical for you to understand. In this age, we are the first. Us. The wealthy, powerful, influential, materially rich, the well fed, the health insured, the people with jobs, a bank account, cars in the driveway, roofs over our heads, plumbing, electricity and trash pick up. Yes you. And me. We are the rich- just like the rich young ruler. We are the first. At least for now.....
As I lived among our African friends I saw those who are the last, the least among us in this world. I saw their great faith. I witnessed how they woke up in the morning singing African songs of praise, rousing us out of our tents, exhorting us to get up and begin worshipping the Lord. I saw their devotion to The Word. I heard them express over and over the goodness, the greatness of God. I heard them thanking Him repeatedly for His many blessings. I heard them express their steadfast hope in Him. Their prayers for a better tomorrow. Their absolute faith and trust in His provision. I saw them end the day as they had begun it - worshipping our God. And I understood that these would be the first in the eternal kingdom. And rightly so.....
My teacher always says that this life makes little sense unless you view it in the light of eternity. What he means by this is that as Christians, we profess that we believe that this life is but a moment. In the words of one of my favorite bands, Casting Crowns, "I am a flower quickly fading/ here today and gone tomorrow/ a vapor in the wind". If we believe that this life is but a moment, and the next one lasts for.....well......all eternity, then why would we not be willing to do that which Jesus calls us to do in this life for His sake? Considering the retirement plan He is offering, is it not worth some sacrifice in this life?
My final thought here is this. In the middle of Matthew Ch 19, one of the disciples looks as Jesus in astonishment and asks "Who then can be saved?". To which Jesus responds "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible". It's not that the wealthy are refused entrance into the eternal kingdom. But what Jesus understood is that the barriers which are created as a result of great wealth make it much harder for us to place our trust in Him. We are insulated in a sense. We can rely on our jobs. On our 401k plans. On our excellent health insurance plans. On our paid up mortgages. These things are not bad in and of themselves. Only in so far as we feel that they are more important than trust and reliance on Him. And this was a huge difference that I saw, that Chan sees, among our brethren living in the developing world. Without these things to rely upon, they truly do live each day by faith. They are absolutely reliant upon God for each and every blessing that they receive. There are far fewer barriers for them to overcome to reach the nearness of God. It is so much harder for those of us living in affluence. Not impossible. Just much harder. Jesus speaks eloquently to this fact of life. He wants us to see it, hear it, understand it. It is critically important that we do....
It sort of makes you wonder who the blessed really are....those who live in affluence or those living in poverty? Sorry to blow holes in your "Prosperity Theology" Mr. Robertson (of the 700 Club fame). I guess it all boils down to your perspective- the earthly one or the eternal one? Food for thought......... Shalom!
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