The Great Leveler - part 2

Bill Fitzhenry's Thoughts For Today…

The Great Leveler – part 2

Proverbs 22:2 EVS

2 The rich and the poor meet together;
the LORD is the maker of them all.

The equality of mankind is based on the common origin of creation. There is the creator and there is a common parent. Our present status notwithstanding, we are linked to this parent and have God as our maker.

There are three places which are particularly applicable as meeting places of the rich and the poor and it serves us well to consider them.

1. There is the common meeting place of birth. We all have come into this world naked, Job 1:21; Ecclesiastes 5:15. There is a certainty that goes with this naked birth whether in the most expensive surrounding or in a mud hut. There is no accomplishments at this point. All are the same. None has done anything. All are born defenseless, dependent, and without a guarantee of another hour of life. The rich and the poor meet together here.

As there is a certainty there is an uncertainty. There is no guarantee of what this new naked creature will do or become. All the advantages available to mankind cannot guarantee either mental or physical ability. The rich may be mentally incapacitated or unstable while the poor has a stable productive intellectual contribution.

The poor may show initiative and wisdom using every advantage to be productive and gain wealth while the rich at birth becomes progressively foolish and wastes every advantage they had at birth. The rich and the poor meet together in this uncertainty.

2. There is the common meeting place of death. Job 1:21; Ecclesiastes 5:15. There may be advantages beyond description held by rich to this point, but in death there are no advantages to wealth and no more loss to the poor. It is an undeniable fact that as at birth man is naked, he is naked at death. He brought nothing with him and he takes nothing away.

The burial tombs of past rulers and wealthy people indicate the human failure to accept this judgment. They filled their tombs and burial crypts with their wealth and favorite toys, whether people, animals, or other possessions, hoping these material items would travel with them into the region of death.

The Scriptures speak with a clarity that demands acceptance, Hebrews 9:27. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

3. There is another common meeting place for the rich and poor, a place where there is no advantage to either. Let us call it, “the throne of grace.” God shows no favoritism. Five times the Scriptures state “God is no respecter of person.” Acts 10:34, Romans 2:21; Ephesians 6:19; Colossians 5:25; I Peter 1:7.

Paul, in Galatians 3:28 ESV, uses this great truth as a proof that no human works can avail with God.

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. “In Christ” is a very important fact of Paul’s writings. Here is a truth that considers no human contribution. This truth is God’s grace.

I once heard an Evangelist state that there are four things money cannot buy, “a baby’s smile, a good woman’s love, a good man’s friendship, and the grace of God.” Whatever you may think of his illustration, it is certain that the rich and the poor meet together at the “throne of Grace” and there is no advantage.

Application:

A. This is a truth that should humble all of us. We have nothing with which we can leverage God. He is our Maker.

B. It should be the basis of all Christian fellowship and the foundation of the Church, James 2:1-4 ESV. The door of the Church is our great objective equalizer. A failure to recognize and apply this brings James’ judgment, you have “become judges with evil thoughts”.