Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.”
NL Daily Devotion for Friday, May 17, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
“We give thee but thine own” goes the hymn. It’s easy to buy into the narrative that we’ve earned our possessions by our own hard work, and get resentful when we have to share with those who, to our way of thinking, haven’t contributed equally. But it’s a false narrative. The inequities built into our financial system in the U.S. mean that most of us who “earn our possessions through our own hard work” in fact started from a far more advantageous position than others. Which doesn’t mean we don’t work hard, but it certainly means we can’t judge others who don’t have the same advantages. We ought to have the humility to recognize where we benefit from unjust systems, so that we’re more willing to work to change them to the benefit of others.
And ultimately, everything belongs to God, not to us. God created all that is, all from which everyone benefits. So we need also have the humility to recognize that what we have is borrowed. Maybe that, too, would help us be more willing to share, rather than judge.
Do I find myself resentful of having to pay taxes to cover social services? If so, what is the source of that resentment?
