Windfall

If you won a lot of money, would you save it or spend it?

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, `What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, `Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, `You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God." - Luke 12:13-21

One of the exercises we do at Meals On Main Street is to contemplate what we would do if someone came to us and offered to write a really big check.

How would we answer the question, "If I gave you ten million dollars, what would you do with it?"

If we have confidence we can sustain the level of operation a gift like that would allow, we would probably be willing to reproduce the successes we have had in our home community in other communities where the need is as great or greater.

But if we don't have confidence and faith in our ability to keep the momentum going, to attract more investors and sponsors, for example, we might just want to stock it away as a perpetual endowment to keep our existing operation funded for ever.

The problem with a windfall, whether it is a bountiful harvest or a gift, is that it is unpredictable, and may be hard to reproduce.

What do I do next year if I use this money to expand and grow?

If we are talking about a farm and we acquire more land, hire more workers, increase our seed and irrigation, we commit ourselves to maintaining a higher level of operation.  

Of course, we will probably produce a lot more crop and that could allow us to repeat the process next year.

Sure, there are factors that come into play, unknowns, like weather, disease, and natural disasters that could wipe out all our work.  If that is what holds us back, then fear, and not greed, is our obstacle.

With a windfall, a once in a lifetime gift, for example, we don't always see the connection clearly and directly between our effort or product and the gift.

So, we tend to be more cautious, taking less risk, looking to lock in our good fortune and keep it close.

But when we do that, we stop trying harder.  We become complacent, locked in our routine.

I don't think that is what God wants for us.

We need to see how our hard work leads to success in order for us to continue to work hard and grow.

When we have faith in ourselves and in God, we know we can accomplish anything we set out to do.  When we start from faith, we aren't afraid and when we walk and work with God at our side, we share the harvest with all who need it.

I believe there are many who want to support that kind of operation.  We just need to invite them in.

More to come...