It's Just a Dollar!

I've had this dollar on my desk for over 6 months. I haven't been sure what I should do with it. You see, this past summer, the senior pastor at a church I was interning at gave over a thousand dollars of his own money in single dollar bills to those in attendance at church that Sunday. His charge was that we should use that dollar to make an impact on someone's life. So six months later, here my dollar sits. A hundred thoughts go through my head like wildfire all returning to a single conclusion: "It's just a dollar!" What can a dollar do in our fast paced, consumer driven society. I could buy a homeless person a double cheeseburger off the dollar menu at McDonalds, but would that really make an impact on his or her life? Most of my ideas would involve actually multiplying the money by adding more. But that really wouldn't be the point of the pastor's charge would it?

As I look at the dollar, I'm reminded of Jesus' miracle where He fed 5,000 people. In this miracle (recorded in Matthew 6; Mark 14; Luke 9; and John 6) Jesus was speaking to this large multitude of people for an extended period of time. When it came time for them to eat, the Disciples encouraged Jesus to send the people away so they could get food in the neighboring villages. Jesus astounded them when He said for them to feed the people. Where on earth were the disciples to get that much food. They'd seen Jesus do miraculous things, but now He expected them to do the impossible. Their faith was dwindling. But, in the midst of this debacle, a little boy offers a meager lunch of 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish. I can only imagine the disciples as they (most likely) laughed at the little boy. "What good will that little lunch do for 5,000 people?" But Jesus accepted the boy's meager offering, and from it, did something ridiculous. He gave thanks to God and began to divide the food. He instructed the disciples to distribute the food to the people. I can only imagine their surprise when after distributing what Jesus had already given them, He gave them more to distribute. When all was said and done, not a single person left hungry. As if that wasn't enough, there was an abundance left over. They were probably wondering, what are we going to do with all this extra food? I'm sure that Jesus had a plan.

So what impact can a dollar make? Certainly none on it's own. However, in the hands of Jesus, the possibilities are endless. The real question becomes, "What can't a dollar do if we humbly bring it before Jesus?"

I finally decided to put that dollar in the hands of Jesus. As I thought about how I might impact a person's life, I was led to think of the people who have impacted mine. The funny thing about it is this: the things people did for me that made the biggest impact, never cost a thing. They were done with love with no expectation of anything in return. Whether it was sitting and listening to me pour out my heart about my problems or being there at a high school football game in which we were getting pounded 35-0. The things you remember most, seldom cost a thing, but the experiences can last a lifetime.

So here's what I did with my dollar; I bought a stamp and wrote a letter to a person who's made a significant impact on my life (my middle school youth pastor) and I said, "Thank you." I'm not sure if that's what the pastor had in mind, but hopefully my meager card will make an impact. But wait, there's 58 cents left over! What will I do with this extra money? I'm sure that Jesus has a plan.