Jesus and Being Rich

"Watch out!

Be on your guard against all kinds of greed;

life does not consist in an abundance of possessions."

Luke 12v15

Jesus does not have a problem with you being rich.  But you might have a problem with being greedy. 

Interestingly, in Jesus' day, maybe 1% of the population had what Jesus referred to as "abundance of possessions." Still, the problem Jesus is addressing is not the actual possessing an abundance of stuff.  It's the attitude and desire to store up more for yourself.  It's the wanting of more than you already have - not because you need it, but because you want it for yourself.  The dream of having an abundance of possessions is what Jesus calls greed.  And if you are greedy for yourself, you make almost impossible to be rich towards God.

Nobody ever really thinks of themselves as greedy. And when everybody is greedy, the norm gets skewed severely.  But how many people do you know who don't have an abundance of possessions?  Who do you know with a house that does not have lots of "stuff" in it?  Just because you can afford it (which is questionable...) or because you want it - does that justify the purchase?

"Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions."  The good life, the life we really want, is rooted in love, not stuff.  What makes life good is not the cool collection of stuff we have stored for ourselves on our walls, our shelves, our attics, our basements, our garages.  What makes life good is the kind of love we give out, the kind of love we receive, the kind of love we enjoy with others.  "Stuff" is no substitute for love of God or our neighbor.

When given the opportunity to attain more stuff for yourself or be rich towards God, to which are you inclined?  When you have more than you need, and you know someone who has less than you need, are you willing to gladly step in and bless?  Or hoard?

When your spending is directed by the Spirit, you'll find ways to give more of your money and stuff away - give it away to God by giving it to your neighbor in need.  Money and stuff is no substitute for love - but it can be one of the ways you demonstrate your love.

What's your motive for why you want what you want?  What's your motive for why you collect/accumulate/store what you do? How much of your life is about you and what you can get for yourself?  And how much of your life is about being rich towards God?  How much of your life is about preparing a great life now - a life that overflows with goodness into the lives of others?

For those that store things up for themselves but are not rich towards God, they will die and leave their stuff for another to do with it what they want.  But for those that store things up for others, who are rich towards God, they will die and pass on their stuff of love and blessings on to the next generation.  Their love and life will endure into the life to come.  Of all the things you can't take with you, you can take love with you when you die.  Be rich in love towards God and your neighbor.  That's what the good life consists of.

Jesus and the Woes

Jesus reacted strongly against those who would get in the way of people who needed to get onto the way of God. Jesus had some real strong words for the Pharisees and the Law-Experts, words like "You foolish people" and "Woe to you...."

The Pharisees were a religious sect within Second-Temple Judaism, men who were strictly devout to observing all the Torah. Amongst other things they placed a heavy emphasis on observing the Sabbath, observing the purity rites (like washing hands, avoiding dead/sick people, etc), avoiding table fellowship with sinners and impure people, and they taught people to observe the teachings of those who interpreted the law. Thus, it was not enough to observe Torah, but one must observe the multiple interpretations of Torah.

This is where the Law-Experts came in - whereas the Pharisees focused on how to live out a strict observance of the law, the Experts focused on detailed understanding of what Torah meant and how it could be applied to everyday life. Thus almost everything imaginable in everyday life was regulated somehow by Torah. The Pharisees and the Law-Experts had an interesting relationship; some Pharisees were also Law-Experts, and some Law-Experts were Pharisees, but they didn't necessarily always agree on everything. For example, the Pharisees believed that if they could be holy enough, and if they could get Israel to be holy enough, and if they could get rid of the sinful Herodians and impure Romans, then maybe the LORD would come and heal their land.

In the effort to prepare the way for the LORD to come and heal the land, many of the Pharisees and Law-Experts missed the coming of the LORD and his healing of the people. Jesus was not the image of God that these religious leaders had been expecting. Jesus was incredulous that these leaders, these Torah-observers, were missing the work of God. And to make matters worse, these religious leaders were actively resisting Jesus' work, trying to stop and undermine him. Jesus speaks plainly to them - the word of God to them - and the result is that most of them only intensify their opposition to him.

Jesus had no problem with the Pharisees and Law-Experts working hard to observe Torah - he did have a problem with Torah-observance that didn't also produce generosity to the poor, justice for the marginalized and love of God, humility, and true holiness. The Law-Experts were lambasted by Jesus the LORD for burdening the people with endless rules, for focusing on the letter of the Law and missing the Spirit and Word of God, for hindering their fellow citizens from finding life with God through Torah.

Jesus doesn't want people to be religious, he wants them to love God and love their neighbor. Be religious if you want, but be generous, be just, be humble, be loyal to God and to your neighbors.

Jesus and Light

"None of you lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl.
Instead you put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.

Your eye is the lamp of your body.
When your eyes are healthy,
your whole body also is full of light.
But when they are unhealthy,
your body also is full of darkness.

See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.
Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark,
it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you."
Luke 11v33-36 (TNIV)

Being the brilliant teacher he is, Jesus takes a very simple concept and allows it to open up a whole new way of seeing how we can influence the world for good. He pulls together simple observation about lamplight and eyesight, weaves in some insights about moral and ethical responsibilities, and casts a vision for what this new life could be like.

Lamplight is what gets you home when it's dark, it shows you where to put your next step, it keeps you on the journey. Lamplight is what marks home as home - someone is waiting for you, someone is wanting you to be with them. Lamplight is what makes reading and conversation and thinking possible when it's gotten dark, the stars have come out, life has stilled, and there is space to breathe.

When your eyes are wide open to the world, when you see what is great and beautiful as well as terrible and tragic, when you see life as it is, something stirs inside you. We rejoice at the good we see and shudder at the terror. But when our eyes are closed, we're blind to life around us. Either because we're sleeping, resting, escaping, or scared. We can't keep our eyes closed forever - unless your dead. You can't stay blind to life around you all the time - at some point you have to look around you and really see life as it is. And what will you do when you see life as it really is?

Jesus uses a play on words when he talks about healthy and unhealthy eyes. Good eyesight enables us to see clearly, poor eyesight blurs or blinds us to everything around us. But healthy and unhealthy are a metaphor for generous and stingy. How can you have good eyesight, how can you see life around you, and not be generous? Clearly a stingy heart, in light of the hardships so many around us face, imply an unhealthy vision. Don't you want to live with eyes wide open, with a generous heart, with a lamp in hand for those around you?

Jesus knows that we can only open our eyes when the Spirit prompts us - that the light floods in when God comes to us. Jesus also knows that the sign of the Spirit in us, that God has become Immanuel to us, is when we have generous hearts, when our bodies serve as lamplights to the people in our life. Though not everyone will welcome the lamplight, it's the best gift we have to offer the world. We may not rescue everyone, but we'll rescue no one if we don't open our eyes and let in the light! Generosity is what marked the words and works of Jesus - and it ought to be true of us as well.

Jesus, the Wise Ones and the Little Children

At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said,
"I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned,
and revealed them to little children.
Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.

"All things have been committed to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and no one knows who the Father is except the Son
and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
Luke 10v21-22 (TNIV)

This can be a troublesome saying of Jesus. He seems to be happy that few people will end up knowing God and finding salvation. In the Christian world I am growing up in, the emphasis is on how to save as many people as possible as quickly as possible. It's an interesting contrast.

Jesus has sent out seventy two of his disciples - the Twelve apostles along with sixty other disciples (which, now that they have been "sent" and are now "sent-ones" they qualify as apostles). These seventy-two disciples/apostles return, celebrating all the ways that good overcame evil, of how God's kingdom broke into the reality of Empire, of how demons were driven out of the oppressed, how men, women, and children were healed, forgiven, and welcomed by God. And Jesus is celebrating with them - God is at work in the world...God's way. Jesus has to remind his disciples not to get too excited about what they were able to accomplish - maybe a little pride is emerging in their celebration.

At this point Jesus has been face to face with people who speak for God, but whose wicked hearts are determined to be rid of him. Jesus has seen three decades of Roman Empire oppression, the wreckage strewn throughout the souls and soil of Israel. Jesus has experienced the wisdom of the world, which favors the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor and powerless. Salvation was being proclaimed by the senators and philosophers of Rome - Caesar was Lord and Savior of the world! And in it's wake was death and destruction, devastation and decimation.

Clearly Jesus is introducing a totally different kind of kingdom and a God who rules in a completely different way then Caesar or King Herod. Jesus is working in such a way that the rich and powerful cannot comprehend, they are blind to what he is doing, the work of God is hidden from them, they cannot comprehend the emphasis on reconciliation, mercy, truth, and justice. God has come in Jesus to the poor, the overworked, the abused, the marginalized of the empire - whom he refers to as little children - and made clear to them that God the Father, LORD of Heaven and Earth is for them.

If a king is going to establish his kingdom, he seeks to marshall the power and influence of the rich and highly capable, the smart and the savvy. But God, in his way, has some to the little children, to those that will listen, to offer them a new way. God is happy that in doing things His Way, there are many who have responded in trust and allegiance. Jesus is happy that those who seek to make everything about them at the expense of others are not co-opting his work. Jesus is full of joy that through him people are seeing God on Earth, and are listening to God, and doing what he has for them to do.

Jesus would rescue and redeem the wise and the learned...if they would listen to him. Jesus is for you...listen for him, listen to him...otherwise you'll miss the ways you could be part of his work to heal and rescue and welcome.

Neighborhood CleanUp Day!

Saturday we tackled the alley behind the church. There are about sixty houses that use the alley, thus there was a lot of tree debris to collect. Waste Management delivered a huge dumpster for us to use. We had about three pick up trucks running up and down the alley which we used to haul out the tree limbs and junk. There were some great workers that showed up to serve: RJ Conrad, Andrew Muncie, Ken Harrold, Eddie Parks and his two sons Rocky and Vinney, Steve & Pam Dennie, Terry & Lisa Sutton, Jeff Jacobs, and Paul Neher.

Once we filled the dumpster with the alley debris (we only finished half the alley...which means now we need to schedule another day to complete the project), we headed off to a home on Hensch street.  Anchor has partnered with NeighborLink FW to help our neighbors in need. NeighborLink has a website where people can post a need, and then someone can go on that site, see the need, and meet that need.  Anchor has committed to taking care of any neighbor in our zipcode - 46808 - that posts a need.  We cleaned up the yard in no time, but Paul spent most of the day working on the oven...and he's still got to go back and finish it!  He's a real trooper though, and I know he'll get it done!

We do this service project to be a good neighbor, and to get to know our neighbors.  While working in the alley I met two neighbors and has some really good talks with them.  When we went to clean up the yard on Hensch street, the owner took us across the street to meet her neighbor - a 97 year old man who is still very active, but needs some help with his yard.  It was also a great day for connecting with fellow Anchorites.  It was a very good day indeed!

Steve and Pam took a lot of pictures and then posted them on Facebook. I stole his pictures and am using them for this post!