A $1 A Day!

Passages: Isaiah 3:1-11; Roms 11:13-24; Matt. 14:13-21
Ընթերցուածքներ՝ Եսայ. Գ 1-11; Հռոմ. ԺԱ 13-24; Մատ. ԺԴ 13-21

In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

One day, a man came to Church and began praying, “God I am tired and hurt. I am at my last straw, and I have nothing worth to give. My wife wants to leave me, my son won’t listen to me, and all around me my community is falling apart. If you can hear me, answer me and all I have is yours.” All of a sudden, in the middle of the prayer, the man was blinded by a light, as he heard a voice answering back, “my son, you have asked for me to hear your call, and you have promised to give all that you have to the Church. What is it that you think I want?” Amazed the man answered, “I don’t have much talent, nor a lot of money. But what I have, I will give.” To the surprise of the man, the Lord ask, “How much do you have to give?” To which he answered, “Lord I don’t have much; it is only $1440.” And the voice answered, “rather than giving it all at once, I command you to divide it up and every day, taking one dollar to use on your family, use to build your community, use it on your child and wife. And when you have spent it all, come back to me and I will answer your prayer.” Astonished the man promised he would do as he was told; after all it was a command from God. However, $1440 is not much my dears, and to use only $1 a day, what could he possibly do with that amount? Regardless, he had made a promise to God.

Therefore, he decided he would start right away and everyday he would spend his $1 allowance either on his wife, his child or his community and those in need; and as he left the Church, a beggar in the street came up to him. Recognizing this as the opportunity to begin, immediately he gave the man the $1. The next day, when picking his son up from school they got into an argument and so, rather than drive home, he drove to the local diner and ordered his son an ice cream and they sat in quite, while his son ate. The next day, coming home tired after work, a woman at the intersection before getting home approached his car as she was selling flowers. He gave her $1 and took the flowers and gave it to his wife. The next day, again he saw another beggar and without any thought to whether the beggar would use it on food, drugs, or alcohol, he gave them the $1. Eventually the beggars began to recognize him, smile and share a hello anytime they saw him. Again, every time he picked his son up from school, they went to the diner and quietly had a $1 ice cream; until one day the son, rather than sit quietly began to converse with his father. Likewise, realizing he couldn’t do much with $1, eventually the man asked his wife for them to go on walks through town, by the water or wherever it would be. And on those walks, he would spend his $1 on buying her ice cream, a nice card, popcorn, etc.

After 1 year, the $1440 the man had run out and he returned to Church and prayed to God. When suddenly the Lord’s voice asked, “my son, did you spend the money as I commanded you? Did you spend only $1 a day either on your wife, son or those in need?” “I did” replied the man. And so God asked, “and what about your prayer which you prayed a year ago?” The man replied, “my Lord the $1 I had each day was not much in today’s world. Therefore, I was forced to not think about what I could spend the money on but how I could spend what I did have. I began walking and talking with my wife, sharing laughter and stories, remembering our young love. At first my son would not talk to me but eventually the ice cream I could afford with the $1 gave opportunity for my son to share about his day, and struggles, to which I listened to and helped. As for those in the community, the beggars, and peddlers, those who are not well off, I did not see them merely as lazy people after my money, but someone looking for a warm smile and kind gesture. What I prayed for a year ago is not what I am struggling with anymore; my community is better, my wife and I love each other, and my son and I look forward to the time we have together. I am blessed to have all I do have.”

My dear brothers and sisters, so often we want God to answer our prayers, to change the world, give us what we want. We want revenge when we are hurt, healing when we are sick, and fulfillment when we feel lost and hopeless. And we often think that God is going to answer in some miraculous way. Yet, we often miss my dears, our proactive contribution to our faith. Please do not misunderstand me. It is by the grace of God, that we are saved from sin. Freedom from the bondage of sin, was crucified on the Cross through Christ Jesus. This is our faith! Yet, St. Basil emphasizes, “for it is by faith by which we are saved, as says the Apostle [but he continues] faith which works, manifests itself by love.” In other words, yes we believe in all that Christ has done for us, but just as Christ teaches us to believe, He also commands us that we must pick up our cross before we follow Him; our faith demands an action. We are not merely passive bystanders, indifferent observers or children asking for candy. Each and every one of us, who is a baptized child of God, meaning a prayerful, repenting believer, we have been called to do as Christ would.

Which is why in the Gospel today, where we read the famous miracle of feeding of the 5,000, when the apostles came to Christ and said, the people are hungry, his response was, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”(v. 16) In order to feed those who are in need my dears, we need faith, we need love, compassion, mercy, empathy. Yes, money is necessary in this life, but what we learn from the miracle of the 5,000 is not the quantity of what we have but the belief that no matter what we have small or big, if we give over to God, He will use it for good. His miraculous presence will be revealed through us. Again going to the Church Fathers, St. Gregory of Nazianzus gives the example of Rehab, who was a prostitute, yet she is justified in the Old Testament because of her hospitality (how she treaded others). The tax-collector in Christ parable was exalted for his humility (how he looked at others). Meaning my dears, we must ask ourselves, what is it that we think God is asking from us? Money, titles, experience? What do we think is necessary apart from living as Christ teaches us for God to hear our prayers, heal us, and feed us?