Be Merciful with Your
Possessions
Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away
from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matt. 5:42)
With the words above, Jesus continues to raise the bar
as to how merciful his followers are to be towards others. The needs of others
are to be more important to his disciples than their own possessions. The
literal straight-forward interpretation of what Jesus is saying is simple to
understand but hard to practice: Give away whatever people ask you for, and
loan out whatever someone asks to borrow, regardless of their character or
trustworthiness.
Everything in us wants to say, “But wait a minute, if I
do that, I could wind up completely broke!” But could that be the point that
Jesus is making, that we would be better off penniless and completely dependent
upon God for our sustenance? That is what exactly what Jesus asked of the rich
young ruler in Luke Chapter 18. In addition, Jesus frequently taught that it was a
blessing to be poor and a stumbling block to be rich; he was adamant that his followers should seek first the kingdom of God and His reign in their lives rather than pursuing wealth or monetary gain.
And
if that were not enough, Jesus modeled to us a kingdom-first lifestyle with
practically no worldly possessions or wealth except for his clothing. He could
have easily had the mansions and Rolls Royces and bling of his day; just think
of how much money he could have had if he asked for a donation every time he
healed someone! But he didn’t do that. He traveled from town to town with no
place to lay his head and only the clothes on his back. Whatever offerings came
in were used for necessities or for the poor. Jesus didn’t even keep track of
the money – his disciple Judas Iscariot did that. And we know what that kind of
temptation did to Judas – it led him down the path of betraying Jesus and then
committing suicide in his sorrow.
So maybe Jesus is being completely serious and literal
when he tells us to give it all away. Maybe we’re better off with less and
those people whose needs are met through us will glorify God for our generosity. It’s
certainly something to pray about and see how God leads us.
Of course, in Jesus’ day he wasn’t approached by dozens
of strangers a day with their hands out on the side of the freeway off-ramp.
And he certainly didn’t open up his laptop and skim through requests for money
from people in far-away lands who need help with the taxes on their lottery
winnings or help with their supposed illness or whatever the latest scam
happens to be. So we have to take it all into account and be wise and ask
ourselves the famous question, “What would Jesus do?”
I don’t know about you, but for me, as I have struggled
to answer that question for myself, I have come to the realization that I am
much happier when I have a merciful heart and simply give away what I can to
whoever asks me face-to-face and seems to have a genuine need. I don’t have to
judge them or worry about how they will spend the money; that’s between them
and God. And I don’t have to give to every scammer that emails me or sends a
solicitation in the mail – I don’t know them and they are not just asking me
but asking thousands of people at the same time. To me they are professional
beggars at best and criminals at worst. Long story short, then, if I know
someone, or know the organization and what they do, then I will consider how
much I can give and still meet my responsibilities to care for my family.
So then, if there is someone before me with a genuine
need I will do what I can to meet that need. It may only be a dollar or two or
even just some spare change, but if I give when asked than I am being merciful
and it opens up the door to experiencing the joy of having a merciful heart. It
often also opens up the door to conversation and to sometimes praying for
someone or even getting more involved in a person’s life. But that comes as you
talk to the person and sense God’s leading as to if you are to do more.
It all starts with a heart of mercy, though. A heart that
is open and ready to give rather than closed and habitually hoarding. If Jesus
were to walk our streets today, I think he would freely give to everyone who
asks. And for the scammers and the criminals, I think he would smile at them
and with a twinkle in his eye he would offer them something even better than
money – the forgiveness of sin and eternal life if they would only repent and
put their trust in Him.
For further study, meditate on these Scriptures:
Matt 6:24 "No one
can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he
will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and
Money.
John 12:4-6 But one of his disciples,
Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, "Why wasn't this
perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's
wages." He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he
was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was
put into it.
Matt 27:3-5 When Judas, who
had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and
returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. "I
have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood."
"What is that to us?" they replied.
"That's your responsibility."
So Judas threw
the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
1 Tim 6:10 For the love of
money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have
wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Please use this blog for
personal devotional use and feel free to share it with friends and family.
However, all publishing rights are reserved. No reproduction or publication of
this blog is permitted without the permission of the author, Pastor Randy
Brockett of New Song
Foursquare Church
in Colorado Springs , Colorado
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