Consider the following. Someone comes up to Jesus and asks Jesus to tell his brother to divide the inheritance with him (Luke 12:13-21). This suggests he is a younger son who feels his older brother has more than he needs. Jesus in response warns him against envy and tells him that life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. 

It’s this sort of statement by Jesus that makes him such a challenging teacher. Because what, exactly, is an abundance? Compared to who or what? There’s no question that compared to an Indian peasant I have an abundance of possessions but compare me with an Indian billionaire then I start to look like Gandhi. Where exactly is the line between ‘not an abundance’ and an ‘abundance’? Is it relative or absolute? Is there a line somewhere between how many TVs or shoes or clothes or anything at all that marks the difference between ‘that’s totally fine’ and ‘that’s totally not OK’?

Jesus then tells them a parable about a man whose business is doing great, whose pension fund is booming, whose stocks and shares are at their peak. He’s living in a large villa, the fridge is well stocked, the pool is warm, the drinks are cold. Business is great, life is good and it’s time to enjoy the fruit of all that labour. He can holiday in Italy, he can buy a boat, he can take it easy. He is living the life, every one of Jesus’ listeners would have wanted to live. He is living the life, most of us would like to live. And then God speaks to him and says, ‘Time’s up. Your days have been numbered and today was your final day. Sorry, not sorry.’

Jesus says the lesson we should learn from him, is that he was ‘not rich toward God.’

Or consider the man who runs up to Jesus and kneels down and calls him ‘Good Teacher’. This is a promising start. We want people to run towards Jesus, we want them to bow the knee, we want them to learn from Jesus. And he asks a brilliant question: ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Exactly, the question we want people to ask. Our purpose is to help people find and follow Jesus. We’re praying for people to do what this young man does. So Jesus tells him, ‘you know what the Scriptures say’ and he mentions a few of the ten commandments. But the young man says, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ve kept all those.’ And he probably had. Then comes six of my favourite words in the Bible, ‘Jesus looking at him, loved him’. Isn’t that wonderful, that Jesus would look at you and love you. Isn’t that what we want, for God to see us, to love us, to know us? And he does.

But then Jesus says, ‘Sell, all you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me’. The young man is disheartened. Jesus discourages him. He is not affirmed. He is not happy. In fact he walks away from Jesus sad and sorrowful. Why? Because he had great possessions. 

To top it all off, Jesus tells his disciples, ‘You know what fellas, it’s really hard for wealthy people to enter the kingdom of God. Easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle in fact. But God can do the impossible.’ 

The camel Jesus is referring to is a very large land animal and the eye of the needle is not a gate but a piece of sewing equipment. And even with a really small camel, the larger thing does not fit through the smaller thing. It is, quite literally, impossible. But God can do miracles.

That encounter with Jesus is just as troubling to me as the parable he told. Firstly, Jesus is nagging away at the question of abundance or a great number of possessions. The first guy had an abundance but he died. The second guy also had an abundance and he walks away from Jesus. He is not walking with Jesus, he is walking away from Jesus and the thing that got in the way? His stuff. So that’s twice now Jesus is poking at that nerve. 

Then I have to ask myself, did Jesus just mean that guy to sell everything, or does he mean for everybody who wants to follow him to do that? Does that mean no house, no job, no stuff ever? Is that what Jesus means? And if so, follow him where? Hopefully somewhere warm because it’s pretty cold at night here and I don’t even a sleeping bag because I just sold all my stuff and given it to the poor. In fact now I’m poor, so maybe someone could sell their stuff and give it to me but then I’d have stuff and I’d have to sell it. Jesus, I’m confused, how does that work?

Or consider the time when Jesus was passing through Jericho, sees a short guy up a tree, who happens to be the chief tax collector in the area and Jesus invites himself round for dinner. Zacchaeus, for that was his name, is so happy. Although not everyone else is: ‘guest of a sinner’ they grumble at Jesus. But Zacchaeus who is also a wealthy man, suddenly does this dramatic and incredible thing. He gets up and says: “I’m giving away HALF of everything I own & if I’ve cheated anyone, I’ll pay them back FOUR times what I owe.’ This was effectively double what any of the rules suggested he should give away or repay.

So Zacchaeus in an instant has massively REDUCED his wealth. He’s probably anywhere between 60 & 75% poorer than he was just a moment ago. But what he has not done, is what Jesus told the second guy to do, which is to sell everything. And presumably after Jesus has left, he’s still a tax collector. With a house. 

But Jesus says, ‘Today salvation has come to this house…’

So the rich can enter the kingdom of God, it’s not totally impossible. Zacchaeus, it seems, had found a way to be rich towards God.

Did you know there was more than one tithe in the Old Testament (see Numbers 18:21-24; Deuteronomy 14:22-29)? The second one is really interesting, because of how the Hebrews were to use ten percent of their income. Specifically for eating and rejoicing. 

Take a moment to consider the implications for your budget. God is COMMANDING that you spend 10% of your income on feasts. Not grocery shopping, not your regular food purchases, but on a once a year massive feast. Buy really good food, really good wine, and eat it. Eat it, enjoy it and rejoice. And do it all before God. In other words there is a kind of feasting which is worship. 

What would that look like if you took that seriously. Now the modern equivalent is not you going on a holiday with your family, or at least not quite. A much better comparison would be reinventing Thanksgiving, Midsummer or Christmas or better still Easter. Turn it into a huge feast, where you enjoy the grace, goodness and greatness of God and give Him thanks as part of your feasting.  

And in the third year they were to invite the Levites, the orphans, the widows and the immigrants to join you in the feast. Because all are in fact welcome to enjoy the goodness and grace of God.

Maybe in part this is what it looks like to be rich towards to God, and maybe this is what Zacchaeus seems to have intuitively done that the rich young man and the rich old fool did not do. With their great wealth they did not consider it God’s but theirs alone and they did not consider God in how they used it. Their possessions had not come under the lordship of God. 

The Bible doesn’t actually object to people being rich or wealthy but it does seem to object to rich and wealthy people who are rich only or mainly towards themselves but not towards God or the poor.    

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