On This Tax Day, I Choose to Give Thanks

I’ll be real for a moment: yes, taxes are often burdensome, especially in the complexity of the tax code and the burden it often places on those of us who are struggling to get by. The past few years have been particularly difficult tax years for our family. And yes, taxes are sometimes spent for less than noble purposes. There’s bureaucracy and poor management of funds and fights over budgets and even criminal mishandling of monies sometimes. One often gets jaded and upset, and I’m so often right there myself.

But to stay in a negative head-space and never, ever acknowledge the good that often comes from my tax dollars, the evils  and disappointments notwithstanding, seems to me to be a less-than-Christian approach. I can rightfully challenge the places where the government needs reform and yet … and yet … I want to never lose a heart of gratitude for the ways God uses government to help me and my neighbor.

It was on a morning TV show years ago that I first heard a simple and beautiful idea: When you sit down to write your tax checks, do it with a heart of gratitude and giving back. Choose that attitude.

You see, I’ve been given so much, so very much. When you compare my income with that of people around the world, you find that even with what is a very modest American income, I am still in the very top percentage of income around the world. Check out this website, plug in your income, and you will probably find the same. Sometimes, because the United States is such a place of abundance, I lose sight of this reality.

I have been given so much. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus instructs us to pray for “our daily bread.” Here is Martin Luther’s explanation of this petition (found in The Small Catechism):

Give us this day our daily bread.

What does this mean?–Answer.

God gives daily bread, even without our prayer, to all wicked men [another translation says, “to all men, though wicked”]; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it, and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.

What is meant by daily bread?–Answer.

Everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as meat, drink, clothing, shoes, house, homestead, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful magistrates, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.

I know it might not be popular in some conservative circles to acknowledge that God might meet our needs through the government, but that’s pretty much just what Luther suggests her. The Apostle Paul suggests the same (and less we forget, he is talking about the less-than-benevolent Roman empire):

This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.–Romans 13:6-7 (NIV)

No human government, of course, will be perfect, but hey, to the extent that God meets my needs and my neighbor’s needs through the government, I give thanks.

Let me give one concrete example. Our family’s income is low enough that the state government in Montana provides my children with absolutely free healthcare. They cover everything, including medications. Do you know what a HUGE blessing it is to know that despite our tight funds, we never have to choose between eating and taking our kids to the doctor? I can’t tell you how many times I have given thanks to God for the kindness of our government and the willingness of its citizens to help my family be healthy and cared for. I wish the same for my neighbors, particularly those who are struggling even more than I am.

So, even though the government is not perfect, I give thanks to God for using it to care for its citizens. I give thanks for good roads, for health care, for libraries, for public school teachers, for those who regulate our water supply, for police officers, for legislators, for judges, for food stamps, for provision for the elderly and disabled, and for all of the multitude of things our state and federal governments do for the betterment of their citizens. I give thanks! Thank you, God! Thank you not only for providing for me, but also for allowing me to help provide for my neighbors through the money I pay.

There will be time tomorrow to critique and question and challenge. For today, I simply give thanks.

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photo credit: Income Tax via photopin (license)