Pay It Forward

Bob and I just got through watching the movie Pay It Forward on our pastor Greg Kirksey's advice to the church congregation.

Even if you haven't seen the movie, which is several years old, you may know that the story line is predicated on the premise that if someone does something nice for you, instead of paying them back, you should "pay it forward" to three other people.

As a writer, I wasn't terribly impressed with the screenplay (it was somewhat simplistic), but I was moved by the idea.

If someone does something nice for me, I should do something nice for someone else. Hmm. Now this is an idea that could really catch on! (Which, of course, is exactly what happened in the movie.)

I've been thinking a lot about giving lately. About making a "difference." Not the type of giving that gives you a "warm fuzzy" when you do it, but the kind of giving that truly does make a difference in someone's life. Not only have I been thinking, I've tried to take some "baby steps" toward living a life of giving, not just taking.

Last Sunday, I spent a couple of hours helping serve lunch at local homeless shelter. I've never done that before and it was a rather nice experience, but not an epic event. In other words, I don't think Hollywood is is going to come knocking on my door to make a movie about it. And I feel kind bad about that. Not the movie part, but the fact that I didn't feel like Mother Teresa when it was over.

Isn't helping the homeless supposed to be the pinnacle of selflessness? The top rung on the world's "ladder of salvation"? I truly don't know what I was expecting to happen. Maybe I thought a light would shine down from heaven and lives would be changed instantly. The kind of miraculous action that makes the lame walk and the blind see. Truth is, I spent my time there putting ice in cups, pizza on paper plates and filling ziploc bags with Chex Mix and clearance Halloween candy. I don't think I ever even made eye contact with one of the homeless patrons who came for lunch, much less carried on an exhortive conversation with one of them.

I was just an unseen presence on the assembly line -- one of several. Hardly a life saving venture.

Or was it?

Here's the question . . . Do I need to see the results of my "good deed" to know that I've made an impact? Or is it enough that my intentions were to honor God with my efforts?

How do you know when you've paid it forward? In the movie, the act of paying it forward comes full circle when the young heroin of the movie, who birthed the idea because he wanted to see if the world really would change, finds out that his conception has actually crossed state lines and piqued the interest of a reporter, who himself was the recipient of a "pay it forward" deed.

That's Hollywood. This is real life. Truth is, I may never know the true impact of my efforts on behalf of the homeless or most of the other people I attempt to help. At least not in this incarnation. But even the seemingly most insignificant of acts done on behalf of someone who has a need is a stored up trinket our personal treasure chest. And that's OK. It's not about me. (Just keep repeating thatover and over. Eventually it sinks in.)

The Bible says we should store up treasures in heaven. What is a heavenly treasure? It's what God treasures the most out of all his creative handiwork. And the God who created everything, the God who offered the ultimate act of "pay it forward" when he sent his one and only beloved Son to be our salvation from this sinful existence, treasures his greatest creation -- people.

Jesus said if we've done it for the least of his "treasures", we've done it for Him. Who needs earthly validation? God said it. That's enough.

In the movie, (and this is a spoiler if you haven't seen it) an act of paying it forward has tragic consequences for the young heroin. However, his selflessness isn't lost on a watching world. It serves as an inspiration -- an epiphany, if you will. What if because of the selfless, lifegiving act of one, we all paid it forward? The world would change.

Sounds almost like the answer to one of those "What would Jesus do?" questions. And it is. He did.
Because He "paid it forward" to us. We should "pay it forward" to others. Not to receive our own personal "warm & fuzzy feelgood", but because we want to honor the one who started it all. After all, we can never "pay it back". Conclusion: Paying it forward is the only other right option.