Christian Mission and Poverty

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Christian Mission and Poverty

regard all such preparation and equipment as being the work of our Lord God under a mask, as it were, beneath which he himself alone effects and accomplishes what we desire . . . Indeed, one could very well say that the course of the world, and especially the doing of his saints, are God’s mask, under which he conceals himself and so marvelously exercises dominion and introduces disorder in the world. It is vain that you rise up early and go to bed late, and eat the bread of sorrow; for so he gives to his beloved in sleep. This whole verse (Ps 127:2) is directed against arrogance and anxiety, as if he were to say: It is futile for you to rise up early and go to bed late, and think that the more you labor the more you will have. For that is something that the blessing of God has to accomplish. And even if you do succeed in acquiring more than others who are not so concerned about getting things and keeping them, still your earnings will not go as far as those of the carefree, but will slip through your fingers and disappear, as Psalm 37[:16] says, “It is better for the righteous to have a little than to have the great riches of the wicked.” And Solomon says in the Proverbs, “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted ox and hatred with it” (Prov 15:17). That this is his meaning, and that it is not his intent to prohibit labor or diligence, is clear from his phrase, “and eat the bread of sorrow.” This says in effect: You are making your bread and sustenance harsh and bitter; and this is not the fault of your labor, but of your anxious and unbelieving heart. It refuses to believe that God will