Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay. – Psalm 40:17

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 26, 2013): Psalm 40

Tony Campolo tells a story (and I have to be honest that I love Tony’s stories) about an offering that was taken in a church service. He tells the story of flying into Philadelphia on the red eye and arriving at 8:30 in the morning.  He was met at the airport by his secretary, who broke the news to him that he had a speaking engagement at 10:00 that very morning.  She said, “I don’t know how we missed this one.  Somewhere along the line the notices of this engagement fell through the cracks.  I wanted to be here to meet you because you need to be taken directly to the church.  It’s one of those World Day of Prayer services and you are supposed to deliver a missionary message.

Tony says when he took his place behind the pulpit he wasn’t thinking too clearly and he was too tired to be anyplace other than bed.  Consequently, he did not react as he should have reacted when the lady who was leading the meeting announced to those gathered that she had a prayer request from a missionary in Venezuela.  She described a wonderful doctor who had given her life to serving the poor in Caracas.  This missionary doctor was asking for five thousand dollars to put an addition onto her medical dispensary.  The addition was desperately needed because with her present facilities she wasn’t able to handle all of the sick and infirm who came her way. The leader of the group then asked, “Dr. Campolo, would you lead us in prayer that the Lord might provide five thousand dollars that is needed by our sister in Venezuela?”

Before Tony could catch himself he said, “No.  But what I will do is put all of the money I am carrying on me and put it on the altar.  And I’m going to ask everyone else here to do the same.  No need to write out cheques!  We’ll only accept cash!  After we’ve all put the cash we’re carrying on the altar, we’ll count it. And then I will ask God to make up the difference.” Tony says it was a good day to pull this off, because he was only carrying $2.25.  The leader smiled at him and said “We’ve all gotten the point haven’t we?”

Tony responded “No!  I don’t think we have.  My $2.25 is on the altar.  Now it is your turn!”

The leader was somewhat taken back by his aggressive request, but opened her wallet and pulled out $110 and slapped it down on top of Tony’s meager offering.  Then Tony said “We’re on our way!  $112.25.  Now it’s your turn!” He pointed to a woman who was sitting on the front pew over to his right.  She looked around and smiled a bit.  Then she got up and put her cash on top of the other money.  Then he got the next woman to do it.  And then the next and then the next.  It took him 25 minutes to take up the offering one by one, woman after woman came and placed their money on the altar.  When they had finished taking turns laying their money on the altar, they counted it.  They had taken in more than eight thousand dollars.  Even then, Tony knew he hadn’t gotten it all.  He could see women squirreling money away and then placing a meager offering on the altar and giving him a dirty look.

Tony says there wasn’t any time left to preach and he really didn’t think anyone in the room wanted to hear anything he had to say anyway, so he simply addressed the congregation. “The audacity of asking God for five thousand dollars, when He has already provided us with eight thousand dollars.  We should not be asking God to supply our needs.  He already has!

The truth is that our sense of being rich or poor is really poorly developed. It is actually based not on how much we have, but on the margin that we have available to us. And often when we say we are poor, we are actually saying that our need has gone beyond what we have. That is the situation that David found himself in. It was not that he did not have anything; God had actually supplied David with more than he needed. In fact God had given to David more than he had given any other person in David’s society – but in this moment, David felt that his need was more that his supply. And because of his lack of margin, he needed God to move. But his claim that he was poor and needy was probably not real. Like us, David had come to a place where he was beginning to realize how much what God had supplied to him that he had squandered.

I agree with Tony. We want to claim that we are poor and needy, but that is not quite true. For most of us our need has risen higher than our supply, not because our supply is not enough, but because we have squandered that gift that God has given us. We should not be asking God to supply our needs.  The truth is this - He already has!

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 41

Personal Note: To Emilina - Grandpa really wishes that he could be with you today, but I will definitely be there for your party this weekend. Happy First Birthday. I love you!