Words of the Master

We have a subconscious tendency to separate the Jesus of the Gospels from the God of the Old Testament. It’s true that Jesus came to establish a new covenant that has forever changed our fellowship with God, but we must not forget that the character of Jesus is the very same character of God throughout eternity. In the last two episodes, we focused on Old Testament teachings regarding the poor, in this episode we examine the words of Jesus on the subject. 

Transcript

Rich Church Poor World – Episode 6

          We have a subconscious tendency to separate the Jesus of the Gospels from the God of the Old Testament. It’s true that Jesus came to establish a new covenant that has forever changed our fellowship with God, but we must not forget that the character of Jesus is the very same character of God throughout eternity past. Colossians 1:19 tells us “For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through Him reconciled everything to Himself.” The Apostle Paul wrote further in 2 Corinthians 4:4 that Christ “is the exact likeness of God” and he goes on to say in verse 6 of the same chapter that “the glory of God is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.” 

          As we’ve traversed through the Old Testament in the last two episodes, we’ve seen an unquestionable theme of God’s compassion for the poor and needy. We’ve seen His inclusion of the foreigner and His concern for widows and orphans. This same God dwells in the physical body of Jesus Christ who we know is the same “yesterday, today and forever” and the life He lived while on earth is a true demonstration of God’s matchless heart of compassion. 

          The God who says in Isaiah 58:7 to “Share your food with the hungry and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them.” is the same God living in the physical body of Jesus who said in Luke 12:33 to “Sell your possessions and give to those in need.” Jesus may have come to establish a new order, but in no way was that new order to exclude God’s call for His people to prioritize generosity. To the contrary, Jesus took the call of personal sacrifice for the benefit of others to the highest level and He instructed us to follow His example, saying in Luke 9:23 “If any of you want to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” 

          Jesus also demonstrated a deep love for those who have never heard the gospel. In Mark chapter 1 we find Jesus in the town of Capernaum with His disciples, where He had spent the full day, starting with teaching in the synagogue, and then casting out demons and healing the sick until late into the night. The next day the people of Capernaum naturally wanted more from Jesus. He had drawn away in the morning to an isolated place to pray and when the town awoke everyone was looking for Him. His disciples finally tracked Him down and essentially said “Where in the world have you been? Everyone in town wants more.” But Jesus replied in Mark 1:38, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.” 

          Too often we are like the people of Capernaum - we want more of Jesus for ourselves but have little concern for those He has never reached. We are the 99 sheep who would prefer the shepherd stay and keep us safe as opposed to traveling over the hillside for the one sheep that is lost. In short, our own well being is more important to us than the salvation of a lost soul. Jesus deeply loves all His people, but while on earth, His focus was on those who He still hadn’t reached - on those who were lost. 

          In Luke 5:30 the Pharisees were complaining to Jesus about His eating and drinking with tax collectors and asked Him “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?” They thought Jesus should be more concerned about debating the law and discussing theology. Jesus responded by saying “Healthy people don’t need a doctor - sick people do.” His primary concern was for those who were dying spiritually and we should follow His example in prioritizing the sick over the healthy. 

          Think of it this way - if you were the doctor of an army hospital would you focus your energy on the men you had already performed life saving surgery on, who were healing up well, or would you place a larger priority on the men who had just been brought in on stretchers who were destined to die if help was not provided right away? Churches in America have done a fabulous job of giving every benefit possible to those already saved, while ignoring those on the cusp of death. We’ve behaved like a doctor consumed with someone's head cold while the patient in the next bed bleeds to death. 

          As individuals, many of us live more like needy patients than the spiritual doctors Jesus calls us to be. The Great Physician performed life saving surgery on us years ago, at which time we promised to serve Him the rest of our lives, but rather than fulfilling our promise, we’ve remained in our hospital beds calling on Jesus every time we think we feel the slightest ache or pain. Our nurses cannot make time for any new patients because they are too busy taking care of our every need. For those of us in this state the Great Physician says, “I love you unconditionally, but I did not save you so you could be served the rest of your life. Like me, you are not here to be served but to serve. You are no longer sick. You have been saved. Now get out of bed. There are patients dying all around us. Come, I want you to help me save them from certain death.” 

           1 John 2:6 tells us “Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.” If we are serious about living in obedience to the Bible then we should follow the examples Jesus gave us. He spent time teaching in the synagogue as we see in the first chapter of Mark, but He spent even more time preaching the good news to the poor, healing their diseases and freeing them from demonic bondage. We’ve strayed far from the example of Christ in that we focus almost all our time and resources on “teaching in the synagogue” or church as we call it today, but we pay very little attention to the spiritual and material needs of the poor in our own country and those beyond our borders. We must change this if we are serious about following Jesus.

          Jesus also demonstrated the perfect example of a life lived for eternity. None of His earthly actions revolved around setting Himself up for the best life possible in the here and now, they were all focused on a future glory beyond this world. He not only lived this way to leave an example, but He told us repeatedly to store our treasure in heaven, not on earth. He left an example and instructions. Furthermore, He tells us specifically one of the primary ways to store treasure in heaven in Luke 12:33 where He says “give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven!” Not everything in the Bible is easy for us to understand. Sometimes we wish God would elaborate more on certain instructions, but Jesus doesn’t leave any mystery in this area between the “what” and the “how.” What does Jesus say we should do? Store up treasure in heaven. How? Give to those in need. The concept is a simple one.

          Jesus’ financial advice is without question counter to our culture and sadly the American church has been so influenced by our culture that most Christians are living right in line with our culture, but counter to Christ's teaching when it comes to money. We’ve created a Christianity that accepts accumulating treasure on earth and sees nothing wrong with spending more on ourselves instead of helping the poor. We say “store up for retirement and pay off all your debt. God wants us to be good stewards.” Yet such a statement doesn’t match up at all with anything Jesus said while on earth. To the contrary, Jesus said multiple times to “sell your possessions and give to those in need” and warned numerous times about the pitfalls of living for money. 

          We’ve become experts at explaining why Jesus didn’t really mean what He said in the gospels, especially when it comes to our finances. Somehow, we think these passages don’t apply to us. God couldn’t possibly ask us to sell everything we have and give to the poor could He? That sounds a lot like sacrificing and we don’t make sacrifices in American Christianity. And as for all these warnings about the dangers of money, we are above such temptations.

 To the rich religious leader in Luke 18 who asked Jesus “What should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus concluded His answer by saying “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.” For years we’ve heard pastors let us off the hook with this passage, saying “Jesus doesn’t call us all to sell our possessions and give to the poor. This man’s money was His idol and so Jesus just pinpointed that area of his life.” That may be true, but put yourself in this man’s position, if Jesus told you right now to sell everything you have and give the money to the poor would you be willing to do it? Take some time to stop and reflect on that question. Don’t think “Jesus would never call me to do that.” Jesus says in Luke 14:33 “you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.” Would you be willing to obey or would you be like the rich man and go away sad? 

The question is not for someone else to consider, it’s for all of us to consider. We are not above the temptation of money worship, if anything we are infected with the disease far worse than the people of Jesus’ day. The evidence is in how we ignore or manipulate what Jesus actually taught about finances. He never said “Be sure to save up for retirement” but He did tell a story about a man who tore down his barns to build bigger ones so he could relax and take it easy the rest of his life, and how the very night he had everything set up to enjoy his life was taken from him. Jesus concluded the story by saying “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:21. 

Jesus never said “Above all else, make sure you get debt free” but He did lavish praise on a poor widow in Luke 21:3-4 who dropped two small coins in the offering, saying “This poor widow has given more than the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.” Once again we find that our version of “Christian” financial stewardship is not what Jesus promoted. We think He will be the most pleased with us if we make careful investments, have no debt and give our mandatory 10% to the church, all in a strategic plan that results in our own financial security. What excited Jesus was someone who was willing to trust Him by giving up everything they had to live on. In theory, it would have benefited the poor widow to keep her two coins. She certainly had no end of excuses for keeping them and there was no end of things she needed which she could have spent the money on, but Jesus was so pleased with her faith, and that was more important to Him than her carefully saving the money for future needs. We constantly want to remove the things from our lives that require faith, and yet the Bible tells us “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6. Having to practice faith is an opportunity to please God.

Along with faith, there is another thing Jesus wants from his followers - spiritual fruit. John 15:2 tells us God the Father “prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.” Now, we know being a Christian isn’t about keeping up our faith by doing good works, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that God wants us to constantly be producing fruit. In fact, no matter how much fruit we are currently producing He is always working in us, through pruning or other ways, so that we can produce even more fruit. He didn’t save us to maintain a pulse until the day He takes us home, He saved us so we can produce some serious fruit! And yet, when we survey the lives of many professing Christians, we find very little spiritual fruit. Why is this so?

Jesus gives us the answer in the parable of the farmer scattering seed. He says in Matthew 13:22, “The seed that fell among thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.” We see here that the lack of fruit in the American church can be directly tied to Christians being caught up in the things of this world and our jealous pursuit of earthly wealth. We want it both ways. We want the best of this world and the best of heaven. Jesus says it doesn’t work that way. In Luke 16:13 He repeats “You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” Money can only be used for good in the hands of someone whose life is completely surrendered to God. Most of us are quick to apply for the position of being trusted with wealth. Very few of us are qualified.

There’s a parable Jesus tells us in Matthew 25 about three servants. Their master gave each of them a certain amount of silver to invest for him according to their ability. To one servant he gave five bags, to another two bags, and to the last servant only one bag. Those of you who know the story will remember the servants who received five bags and two bags both doubled the amount they received to the great pleasure of the master, but the servant who was only given one bag hid the money and made no return for his master. In response the master, being greatly displeased, said “Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.” 

For years Christians have pointed to this parable and said, “see, Jesus wants us to carefully invest our money and add to what we have.” It’s funny how we promote this principle and ignore ones that don’t sound so appealing like “sell your possessions and give to those in need.” Add to our wealth - we are all for that. Give up everything we have for others - not so much. Our tendency to read the Bible with a “self beneficial” lense has caused us to miss the true message of this parable. We are so nearsighted and this leads us to look at almost everything from an earthly point of view. Jesus always communicated from a heavenly perspective. The heavenly realm is eternal, our earthly realm is incredibly temporary. 

If you have your Bible, open it and turn to this passage in Matthew 25. Look at where the story ends in verse 30. Your Bible may have a break to give the next section a new title, but Jesus wasn’t done speaking. Look now at verse 31. What is the passage that Jesus goes into? He transitions the parable right into speaking about the final judgment and a King who says, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.” What they had done for the “least of these” they had done for the King. Of course, we already know what happened to the other group who showed no compassion. 

If we allow Jesus to finish His message, rather than jump all over an application that benefits ourselves, we will see the Master isn’t calling us to invest for a return on earthly wealth; He is calling us to invest in a heavenly kingdom. We do this by feeding those who are hungry, giving water to the thirsty, providing clothes for those who need them, caring for the sick, and visiting those in prison. We are to carry the gospel message with us as we do these things in the name of Christ. 

We’ve each been entrusted with our own bags of silver so to speak. For some of us that includes a special gift and calling to go directly to the “least of these” or a unique talent to be used for God, but for most of us our “bags of silver” come in the form of our bank account or monthly paycheck. Jesus tells us the wisest place to invest these resources is in heaven. We can do this by giving generously to Christian organizations working on the front lines to meet the needs of the poor while simultaneously sharing the gospel. We may not be the person giving the cup of water in the name of Jesus, but the water can be available and the worker can be there, because we chose to invest in an everlasting, heavenly kingdom instead of the temporary pleasures of this life that are not worthy to be compared to the glories of heaven.