Pondering the Proverbs: The Happy Medium

Proverbs of the Week: Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and stead and so dishonor the name of my God.
Proverbs 30:7-9

Meditation: The Happy Medium
"Dear God, you made many, many poor people.
I realize, of course, that it's no shame to be poor.
But it's no great honor either!
So, what would have been so terrible if I had a small fortune?"
Lyrics from “If I Were a Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof

Winning the lottery might be the dream of millions. But it can often lead to a nightmare!

Take Jack Wittaker for example. On Christmas morning, 2002, Jack discovered he had won the Powerball lottery jackpot, 315 million dollars, the largest individual payout in US lottery history. Though he intended to do good with his winnings, his world fell apart with the death of his granddaughter, Brandi, from a drug overdose which was funded by her allowance from Jack and the breakup of his marriage. While he did give money to churches and people in need, he was soon bombarded with lawsuits and thievery and greed. He turned to drinking as he watched what he called the "powerball curse" destroy his life.

This is just one of the many lottery horror stories you can read here if you like.

What is it about winning big that drives strife into our lives? Why is it that when you can buy whatever you want, your life falls to pieces? What is it about success and wealth that is so...dangerous??

Lottery winners aren’t the only ones at risk when it comes to wealth. The same holds true for all the wealthy the world round. People who do not have to worry about where their next meal comes from, who has no sense of want or need, are more likely to forget from whom their meal comes from. They don’t “need” God to sustain them day to day, and so they forget about God. “Who is the Lord” they say. “I don’t need him...right now at least!” They start to look down on those who have nothing and make excuses for their behavior with them. “I just work harder than they do...” they say.

We all dream and pray at one time or another for wealth. We all find ourselves at one time or another like Tavia in Fiddler on the Roof, praying: “Lord who made the lion and the lamb, You decreed I should be what I am. Would it spoil some vast eternal plan? If I were a wealthy man?”

Still, statistically speaking being rich and famous doesn’t increase your overall happiness. In fact, it decreases it! Big time in most cases. People who are wealthy are more likely to get a divorce, suffer from depression, take drugs, and do all other sorts of things. They are less likely to find themselves in a church and more likely to find their own sort of “religion.” Not everyone, surely, but many. And that applies even to people who work hard for their wealth! They too can find themselves trapped by it. Doctors, celebrities, people in power. Anyone with money to burn. They are all at risk. For there is always a sacrifice made for what we earn.

That is why the teacher, Agur, in the book of Proverbs councils moderatcy. He says: “If I had just two things to ask God for... I’d ask him to keep lies and deceit far from me...and give me neither poverty nor riches.” This seems so contra-intuitive to us. After all, how often have we bought a lottery ticket and prayed to God that we won? More times than we care to admit, I imagine.

And Agur isn’t praying for poverty either. He’s not asking to be poor. He doesn’t want to give everything away and live out on the streets in a box. Instead, he’s praying for a middle ground. To be in a place between poverty and riches, where we remember the Lord...AND we have enough that we do not steal. Agur wishes to live between the rich and the poor, where what he receives is both appreciated and recognized as daily bread.

We too can adopt this attitude toward what we have. By seeing what we have and earn as gifts from God, we can resist the temptation to forget about the Lord in the midst of our abundance. By giving what we don’t need away to others, we move ourselves more in the middle, between those who have much and those who have little. By the Holy Spirit working within even in our checkbooks, we can resist the urge to hoarde and embrace the life God is calling us to. We can be moderate!

There are a group of billionaires who have done just that. They have pledged to give away half of their net worth...or more! Bill Gates and others have promised to give away to others the wealth that accumulates in their barns! To move themselves into the middle and to realize and recognize that everything that they have is a gift of God!

Wealth and riches came to another Teacher’s mind. Quoleth, the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes, who wrote this about the love of riches:
“Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income...As goods increase so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them.” Ecclesiastes 5:10-11

We are placed on this earth for a higher purpose. We are not here to accumulate wealth. We are not here to be rich. We do not live to shun or look down upon others who have nothing. Instead, we are called to be children of God, to be witnesses of his redemption in Jesus Christ, and to call people to a new way of living, a new kingdom-life, where riches are measured by the love of the heart. May we live today in this new world that God is making before our eyes! Amen!

Questions to ponder...
1) Do you consider yourself rich or poor? What is the dividing line?

2) What if the rich are those who are never in need and the poor are those who are always in need? Where would your life be at then?

3) What are the dangers of both poverty and riches? Why do we resist one and strain toward the other?

A Prayer to Pray...
Good and gracious God, you have given us all we’ll ever need. Our daily bread is at our tables and we feast richly at what you have prepared. Help us, by your Holy Spirit, that we may take what is ours and share it with others, that all may find themselves in between riches and poverty, for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.