Recently, a friend who is both gifted and giving faced foreclosure. A person sensitive to her debts, she had a difficult time handling the loss.: the loss, in fact, of her debt. She struggled with her options for quite a while. Nothing was harder for her to do. Not everyone has the integrity to beg to be permitted to pay a debt.
But in another sense, none of us owns anything but debt.
We come into the world naked, with nothing but ourselves. But within ourselves, there exist the gifts we have been given: perhaps gifts we can attribute to our genes, or perhaps they are spiritual or emotional strengths, or talents.
It is good that we come here so empty of material wealth. This way we cannot confuse our material value with our spiritual value. When we arrive, we bring nothing but the potential our breath, our genes, our talents, and our emotional and spiritual gifts can accomplish. We did not create those gifts--they were given to us freely. We may expect the world to reward us for our talents, but God does not find any one of us more or less valuable because of our unique gifts. Every one of us is worth everything to him.
It's always like giving your dad a tie for Father's day when you're a kid. Where did you get the money to buy the tie? We don't own our gifts, we owe them. Our gifts were given to us to be given away. It's quite a burden of gifts, really.
Jesus praised the gift the widow gave when she gave her last penny. He didn't bother to draw any graphs or show his math. He didn't refer to a sliding fee scale or tithing--how can we compare a tenth to the everything she gave, or the nothing she had left? He knew exactly what the widow had done, because he'd done the same thing himself. He came here empty and gave everything away. There is no arithmetic to calculate the power of that gift.
Once in a while a Fool of God comes along, someone who refuses all earthly reward and acts from the heart. These are rare individuals, but unforgettable. Jesus was one. He couldn't be bribed by material gain, ego stroking, or personal power. He had no ambition for such things. He was tempted on each of these points, and he refused to yield. He came here with nothing, he amassed nothing, and he went home with nothing.
He emptied himself, and standing on the power of emptiness, he moved heaven and earth.
He is risen indeed.
But in another sense, none of us owns anything but debt.
We come into the world naked, with nothing but ourselves. But within ourselves, there exist the gifts we have been given: perhaps gifts we can attribute to our genes, or perhaps they are spiritual or emotional strengths, or talents.
It is good that we come here so empty of material wealth. This way we cannot confuse our material value with our spiritual value. When we arrive, we bring nothing but the potential our breath, our genes, our talents, and our emotional and spiritual gifts can accomplish. We did not create those gifts--they were given to us freely. We may expect the world to reward us for our talents, but God does not find any one of us more or less valuable because of our unique gifts. Every one of us is worth everything to him.
It's always like giving your dad a tie for Father's day when you're a kid. Where did you get the money to buy the tie? We don't own our gifts, we owe them. Our gifts were given to us to be given away. It's quite a burden of gifts, really.
Jesus praised the gift the widow gave when she gave her last penny. He didn't bother to draw any graphs or show his math. He didn't refer to a sliding fee scale or tithing--how can we compare a tenth to the everything she gave, or the nothing she had left? He knew exactly what the widow had done, because he'd done the same thing himself. He came here empty and gave everything away. There is no arithmetic to calculate the power of that gift.
Once in a while a Fool of God comes along, someone who refuses all earthly reward and acts from the heart. These are rare individuals, but unforgettable. Jesus was one. He couldn't be bribed by material gain, ego stroking, or personal power. He had no ambition for such things. He was tempted on each of these points, and he refused to yield. He came here with nothing, he amassed nothing, and he went home with nothing.
He emptied himself, and standing on the power of emptiness, he moved heaven and earth.
He is risen indeed.
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