Just In Case You Didn't 'Win' the Lottery

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:25 Beloved, pray for us.

Observation: It’s a short verse with an important request. Paul seems especially mindful of his needs that are above and beyond his ability to secure on his own.

Application: It occurred to me yesterday while driving that mutual dependence is the basis for all meaningful relationships. Should we ever get to the point that we think that we don’t need anyone else, that becomes the moment when relationships break down.

For example, yesterday there was some kind of great big lottery drawing. With the jackpot at over 500 million, lots and lots of people who don’t normally play the lottery were out buying tickets. I suspect the reason for he mad rush to buy tickets was that many people like the idea of being financially independent. But it seems to me that suddenly being faced with that amount of money would be a huge burden with potentially devastating results. It would change a person’s life instantly and I’m not convinced that it would be for the better. Relationships would change. The way that the winners would see and even understand themselves would change. The way that others would see and understand them would change. It would be nearly impossible to go back to life as they know it and, while there might be a part of that life that they would be glad to trade in, I’m betting that there’s a part of their life that they love and be in danger of losing simply because of the sudden inflow of huge sums of cash.

But lottery winners are not the only people to face sudden life-changing events. Paul had his own life-changing event. It wasn’t a sudden influx of cash. Rather, it was a sudden influx of God’s overwhelming grace. So vast was this wave of mercy in Paul’s life that his relationships changed too and he suddenly found himself in all kinds of situations that he had never encountered before and needed to do so in such a way as to reflect the magnitude of God’s change in his life. So when Paul says, “Beloved, pray for us,” I think he really meant it. He and his companions needed prayer in order to be faithful and enduring in the face of the opportunities and trials before them.

Prayer is something we all need, whether we are everyday Christians or even lottery winners who may or may not be Christian. We will never be so independent as to not need prayer and, in fact, the more purportedly independent we may have deluded ourselves into thinking we are, the more prayer we likely need.

Prayer: Lord, I pray for lottery winners and for all who think they’ve lost but have likely won in the greater scheme of things. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: 1 Thessalonians 4-5 and 2 Thessalonians 1-3)