Trying to follow

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ‘ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

It’s not hard to see that I’m quite fascinated with Jesus’ teachings on wealth. There are so many parables, so many commands and rebukes and admonishments he makes concerning wealth, it baffles me that anyone could miss how radical Jesus was.
Funny that the first thing that runs through my mind as I read this parable is how the guy could have responded to God, “Well, my children could get what has been prepared. That would be a pretty nice inheritance wouldn’t it?” Yet, Jesus’ parable and the rhetorical question of God is clearly not expecting that answer. So, what is the point of the parable?
Well first let’s look at the situation which he tells the parable after. A guy comes up to Jesus demanding, not asking, Jesus tell his brother to split their inheritance. I’m not sure if that was custom for Rabbis to dictate that stuff, or if the guy just had a warped idea of Jesus’ view of money and possessions.
Jesus rebukes him and reminds him, “Man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Now, what we tend to do is rip the verse out of it’s context, say “it’s an issue of the heart” and go on about our business collecting inheritances and possessions left and right.
I’m not here to demand a certain interpretation of the verses, I just want us to see them clearly so you can reflect on their meaning. Jesus rebukes the demand for an inheritance and then he tells a parable about how it is foolish/unwise to store up in barns. How do you apply that to your own life? Maybe it means you don’t accept your inheritance, you empty your storehouses, you humbly live your life in a way that is “rich toward God.” Let me know, cause I’m still just trying to follow.

The name Se7en might be cheesy, more so maybe because it was a complete rip-off of 5ives. I thought it would be fun though to start making brief collections of verses on various topics (ones I like to talk about). This might be a weekly thing, or maybe not. Let me know what you think

1. Luke 12:15 — “Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’ ”
2. Mark 12:43-44 — “Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.’ ”
3. Luke 6:24 — “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.”
4. Matthew 25:34-40 — “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ ”
5. Mark 10:21 — “Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ he said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ ”
6. Matthew 6:19-21 — “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” [cf. Luke 12:34]
7. Luke 14:33 — “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

Thanks to the Generous Giving website for the format of the text.

I haven’t had the guts, honestly, to put together a post about the title of my blog, Trying to Follow. For now, this devotional thought is going to be pretty close to an explanation.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
-Luke 5:1-11

Some quick context: Jesus in his career life, had been a carpenter, not a fisherman. So you can hear in Simon’s voice an edge of annoyance “What does this guy know about fishing?” But Simon had seen Jesus heal his mother-in-law earlier from a high fever, so he was aware there was something about this guy, Jesus. Now, about the catch. This was the catch of a lifetime, it was like hitting the fishing jackpot; net’s breaking, boat full to sinking, this was like months worth of fishing in a single catch.
The response is astonishment and humility. But, don’t miss the impact of the astonishment and of what happened; This event so moved these fishermen, that when they pulled up on shore they left everything and followed Jesus, including their get-rich-quick jackpot of fish.

This event wasn’t some magician pulling flowers out of his hat to entice people to join his posse. This would be more like a homeless man walking up to a stock trader on Wall Street and giving him a stock tip that makes him instantly wealthy. One might think that a situation like that would make you happy because wealth and riches is what you always wanted. Isn’t that how we often treat Jesus? Like a genie, we pray to for wishes, and instant wealth is one of those wishes?
For Simon, and in my own life, an encounter with Jesus has caused a complete change in priorities and I’ve gone from pursuing empty dreams to Trying to Follow Jesus. Jesus says, “from now on you will catch men,” which is a bizarre statement, but its probably intended in the same way Jesus just caught Simon, James and John.

Like last week when I talked about Not storing up treasures on earth, I want to talk about how Jesus’ call can seem completely irrational to our logic at times. These Fishermen just went from working class to wealthy in a matter of minutes and then shortly after that they left it all and followed Jesus. My rational would be that they should have stayed, sold the fish, and then they could use their wealth to care for people or pay for their journey, but they just leave the boat full of fish and follow Jesus. It doesn’t make sense to my logic, and yet, I’ve been so moved by the words and power of Jesus in my life, that I desire to follow with the same abandon.

References:

• It was a Greg Boyd sermon I listened to that pointed out the wealth of the catch this would have been.
• I peeked at an IVP Commentary for some further context.

I haven’t been writing many devotionals lately, so I’m going to start. I think there should be some explanation of what I intend to do here. First, I know that there are many folks who read my blog who are not ‘Christian’ and many who do not see the Bible as an authoritative document. There are others who read this who will understand the Bible passages I reference as God’s Word and it will carry that authority. I hope these brief devotional thoughts (which I intend to write weekly on Sundays, not Daily yet) will be beneficial for both types of readers. For some this will be an authoritative and challenging word to pursue their faith even further. For others, I hope this will be an informative lesson into the teachings of Jesus Christ. The title of my blog, Trying to Follow, is a reference to my attempt to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. My life has been changed by Jesus and his words, my hope is they have an impact on you as well, regardless of your faith and beliefs.

Today, I want to talk about a something Jesus said in his famous Sermon on the Mount, one of the most radical speeches, I would say, of all time. We’ve been talking about this at Mosaic a little bit and I had to share my two cents on the topic. Here are my thoughts for your enjoyment.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. -Matthew 6:18-21

First of all you have to notice it’s a dichotomy. “Do Not…But…” If Jesus wanted to put a disclaimer in I think he would have, and if he wanted to say you could do both at the same time (treasures on earth and in heaven) he would have said it differently. Jesus is giving advice on how you should live, and were we should be investing our money and energy. It’s a pretty radical statement, Don’t store up treasure on earth. To some degree it’s a pretty straight forward statement, and yet we might have a hard time figuring out how exactly this is carried out in our current lifestyle and society. I think some more context will help.

Jesus has already said some life-changing, paradigm-shifting, wealth-challenging, irrational (by our logic), sacrifice-requiring types of stuff. And remember this is all in the same sermon…

“Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. -Matt 5:42″

Love your Enemies and pray for those who persecute you. -Matt 5:44

“But when you give to the needy…” -Matt 6:3

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God…But woe to you who are rich, for your have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.” -Luke 6:20,24,25

Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. -Luke 6:31

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.” -Luke 6:35

So, just to recap, you’ve got Jesus telling folks to give to anyone who asks, he even tells us to lend to our enemies (talk about an unwise investment). He exhorts you and I that are riches will be our comfort, and points us to the poor who have been given the kingdom. This is the Jesus who says do not store up treasure on earth.
My bike has been stolen multiple times and every time I think of this passage, and I have to question whether I was storing up treasure on earth were at thieve DID break in and steal.

Oh, and just in case you think Jesus might not really be saying “Do not store up treasures on earth” read the next passage. In case your thinking, but obviously Jesus doesn’t want us to be irrational and not store up for this or that…

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? -Matt 5:25-27

I’ve used the word “irrational” a few times here, because I think that acknowledges the attitude that we tend to feel when we hear something like this. Jesus is challenging our way of life and it does not seem rational to us. Look at Jesus, he’s wandering around, without a home, preaching and healing people, no treasure on earth, and leading as an example of storing up treasure in heaven. I’m not sure exactly what this should look like in a ‘Christians’ life, but I’m confident it does not look like the majority of Christians and churches in our society. Does it mean we don’t store up in IRA’s and invest in properties or stock or things of that nature? Maybe. Until Christians begin to gather together, stop justifying their lifestyles, and begin to struggle with the words of Jesus, we should question our taking of the term “like Christ.”

I might be the only one, but Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats freaks me out sometimes. I’m a Christian, I don’t really shy away from that, and as such I believe there is an afterlife, like some form of Heaven and Hell (though probably not quite in the way we’re typically describing it).  As you might know most Christian’s also believe that your eternal destiny is not something you earn by racking up a certain number of goody points above and beyond your dirty little secrets, I agree with that too (specific details are probably for another time).

Jesus’ parable, from what I can see is the most straightforward, and longest, passage specifically talking about the afterlife that I see in the Bible. And if I may paraphrase, Jesus basically says, “Feed the Poor or Go to Hell.”

What has struck me recently is how many terribly lame excuses I make as to why I am not doing that. My excuses seem to run directly parallel to those who say in the parable, “When did we see you hungry…” and quite frankly that scares me.  I think I’ll probably go into some examples in other posts, but for now I’m sure you can come up with a handful of your own that you’ve likely made in the last few days.

The crazy thing about it is that, we’ve some how surrounded ourselves with people who are perfectly content with our excuses. We don’t have people around us we will call us out, challenge us, and rebuke us for such pitiful attempts at justification.

“What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”