Sell your possessions and give to the poor

Sell your possessions and give to the poor

Scripture:

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Matthew 18:16-22

Observation:

“Sell all your possessions and give to the poor! Then come, follow Me” The young man was stunned, shocked that the Lord could suggest such a thing. Then slowly, he hung his head and walked slowly away

“Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” the young man had asked earnestly. Smiling, the Lord had replied, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” Confidently, the young man asked back “which ones?”, thinking he has got them all covered. The Lord listed down 5 of the 10 commandments for him – you shall not murder, commit adultery, steal or give false testimony, and you shall honor your father and mother and also adds in the second greatest command – you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The 10 commandments consist of 4 commands relating to our relationship with God and 6 commands relating to our fellow men. Interestingly, the Lord named 5 of the 6 man-related laws, purposely leaving out the last one – “You shall not covet”.  

The young man happily replied “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” It is then only that the Lord challenges him to sell his possessions and give to the poor and then come and follow Him. When he heard this, the young man was saddened and went away, unable to follow the Lord’s words because of his great wealth. The Lord’s words exposed the sin of covetousness within the man, for even in spite of his great wealth, he still desired to become more and more wealthy. Mammon (Money) had become his god, and it was impossible for him to sell his possessions and give to the poor. In fact, the Lord actually showed him, that giving to the poor was even greater as an investment, for then one would reap treasures in heaven, that rust and most cannot destroy, and where there are no thieves who steal.

Application:

Is this command for every Christian? To sell all our possessions and live like poor hermits? No! There is no record of anyone actually selling all they had. Even during His ministry, the Lord did not give all their money away, and even had a treasurer look into proper accounting of the funds, However, more importantly, it is our generous spirit and wisdom in regard to wealth that must be certain. In the early church, many of those with wealth sold pieces of land and brought money to the apostles. The Lord knows that we need funds for our daily living and expenses. He only advocated the giving of 10% as a tithe, knowing that most of us need the balance 90%.

Nevertheless, for those that the Lord has blessed with abundant wealth, even 10% of their income may be more than sufficient for their daily living. For such as these, they must not seek to build up great hoards of wealth but rather actively aim to channel their wealth to worthy causes such as helping the poor and the marginalized of society, supporting evangelism in third world countries or building hospitals and schools to help the less able communities.

Many of us in the middle class are far from super rich but also have more than enough. As the Lord enables, we too should look to give generously, not just sticking rigidly to 10% as an obligation. We should also review our lifestyles to ensure it is not unnecessarily lavish in materialism, but instead simple and focused on serving the Lord and doing good. 

To sum up, no matter how wealth or status in society, we should have a generous heart, seeking to give cheerfully as the Lord enables us and we should also beware lest we make money our God. Money is only a tool that enables us to do good, and is useless for vast hoarding when no good is done with it at all. 

Prayer:

We praise You and thank You, Lord, that all wealth and the ability to make wealth comes from You. You hold all things in Your hands, precious Father, and You give to each of us as You see fit. Teach us, Lord, to use the wealth we have been entrusted with for good, to bless others, to extend the kingdom, to help those in genuine need. Let us never become ensnared by the love of money, which is the root of all evil. Give us the wisdom to know that the wealth on this earth is only temporary, and it is far better to do good and gain treasures in Heaven that last forever. We thank You and praise You, Lord. Let Bless us that we may be a blessing! In Jesus name, Amen.