Dedication and Sacrifice in the Modern Era

 I once heard a Rabbi in a sermon speaking to a group of wealthy individuals from a very wealthy neighborhood in NY. He said that he understands  that it is very hard for them, sitting in their big mansions to cry when the say Tikun Chatzos. It was spoken a bit in jest but the point was that how can someone living in the lap of luxury in a big house with a number of vacation homes, swimming pools, tennis courts, private jets, etc. bemoan the lack of the Bais Hamikdosh and the Galus of the Shechina. A Mashgiach might give them Mussar that they are very materialistic and don't understand and can't relate to the Shechinta Be'Galusa because they are so very materialistic. However,  a realist would actually evaluate the situation and ask what can God expect from a person who has everything. Why should he pray for Mashiach to come? What is in it for him? The Rabbi giving the sermon actually admitted that it would be hard for anybody in their place to pray for Binyan Yerushalaim. He concluded his sermon by stating that this crowd has a very special opportunity. Their opportunity is as follows: For thousands of years Jews have been crying and praying for Mashiach. Jews that were being torture during  the Spanish inquisition, expelled from Portugal, killed by the Cossaks, lived with no food in hovels in the shtetl, gassed by the Nazis, etc. Those jews all cried and prayed for Mashiach....obviously. But consider how much more a prayer from someone living in a NY mansion means to God. If we can just spend a little time to understand why we should want Mashiach and then just spend a few minutes praying to God for the salvation those prayers would mean so much more than all the prayers of our forefathers. Our prayers would show God that we really long to become close to him and we are not just praying because we lack warmth and shelter. We, all of us, in the 21st century have a unique opportunity to show God that we really miss him. Something that could not be shown in any of the previous generations. 

The Gemara in Pesachim 87b/88a says:

עוּלָּא אִיקְּלַע לְפוּמְבְּדִיתָא קָרִיבוּ לֵיהּ טִירְיָנָא דְתַמְרֵי אֲמַר לְהוּ כַּמָּה כִּי הָנֵי בְּזוּזָא אֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ תְּלָת בְּזוּזָא אֲמַר מְלָא צַנָּא דְּדוּבְשָׁא בְּזוּזָא וּבַבְלָאֵי לָא עָסְקִי בְּאוֹרָיְיתָא

 בְּלֵילְיָא צַעֲרוּהוּ אָמַר מְלָא צַנָּא סַמָּא דְמוֹתָא בְּזוּזָא בְּבָבֶל וּבַבְלָאֵי עָסְקִי בְּאוֹרָיְיתָא

We see from this Gemara that it is a much bigger deal and harder to learn in a situation of wealth when having to practice self control than succeeding in learning when things are tough. 

We live in a world that is different than the world was throughout most of history. Our challenge is dealing with material excess.  We struggle to diet, we struggle to get enough exercise. We dont need to scrounge for food. We don't tire our bodies out physically and need to rest more. The Gemara says that this is a bigger challenge than not having enough. We can do big things we just need to focus on self control