The third requirement, in Luke 14:25-33, that Jesus makes upon those who would follow Him is placed in the negative, “…those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples (Luke 14:33, NIV).”
For younger readers, Jack Benny was a popular 20th century comedian who created a persona of a wealthy, stingy, miser. He had a famous routine —
Mugger: “Your money or your life!” … “Hey Buddy, your money or your life!” … “I said, your money or your life!”
Jack Benny: “I’m thinking! I’m thinking!”
One wonders what the Jack Benny character would say to the words of Jesus. He probably wouldn’t give it much thought at all.
The important question, of course, is what do we say. How do we respond to these startling words, “give up all your possessions?” These are radical words, and they come from our Lord.
We may wish that someone would explain them away, but that I will not try to do. Yet, some explanation is indeed necessary. Two observations make that explanation necessary. One is that Jesus apparently didn’t tell everyone to literally get rid of all their possessions. Now, the rich ruler was told to give up all his wealth, but Zacchaeus, whose story follows, wasn’t told to sell everything. Instead, he gives half of what he has to the poor and promises to repay anyone that he had cheated four times the amount cheated. That’s a substantial, but it’s not necessarily everything. We are told that Levi left everything and followed Jesus, but the next thing we are told is that he provided for a big party at his house for Jesus. Peter tells Jesus, “Look, we have left our homes and followed you” (Luke 18:28, NRSV). Yet, Peter didn’t sell his home or leave his wife and mother-in-law homeless. In fact, Peter’s house became a base of operations for Jesus in Capernaum.
The second observation is that Acts doesn’t give us a picture of disciples who have sold all their homes and given away all their possessions. Barnabas sells a field, but we’re not told that’s everything. Christians like Mary the mother of John Mark, Cornelius, and Lydia still keep their homes. In fact, the charity described in Acts depends upon the church having possessions to sell or from which to give. In Antioch, “The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea... (Acts 11:29, NIV).” This is very much like Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians, “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up… (1 Corinthians 16:2, NIV).
So then, do these radical words have any place in our teaching and preaching, or are we to modify them so much that they essentially disappear? They have seemingly disappeared from the “wealth and prosperity” teaching and preaching. Yet, Jesus’ words have all but disappeared from the teaching and preaching of most mainstream churches. Can they be recovered? Can we really hear these words of Jesus today?
In the Old Testament, especially in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, the needs of the poor are central. Jesus, especially in Luke, often affirms the poor. And, in the earliest church, believers sell their goods and property to sustain their poor. Paul tells the Galatians that the apostles gave him “the right hand of fellowship,” only asking that he remember the poor (Galatians 2:10). Yet, it seems obvious that only those with possessions can help the poor from their own resources.
Yet, before we reduce these powerful words of Jesus to a simple platitude that says something like, “If you have any extra, consider sharing it with the needy,” we need to look again at the words of Luke 14:33. Almost all translations have something like, “Give up everything you have (NIV).” The old RSV, however, might be of help, “So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” This may give us a clue to the fundamental meaning Jesus has, and one that makes sense with the picture of the disciples in the New Testament who have possessions.
In Leviticus 25:23 we see, “The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine, and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers (NIV).” For the Old Testament, then, there is only one owner of the land and one Master of the people—God. I am convinced that the words of Jesus echo that same reality. What those who would follow Jesus renounce is any ownership of their possessions.
To follow Jesus is to acknowledge that we and all we possess belong to God and is at His disposal. If the Master calls on us to get rid of all we have because it competes with our primary devotion, we are to do so. If there is a need, we give the possessions God has entrusted to us to meet that need.
That is exactly what the earliest church did, “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No-one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had (Acts 4:32 NIV).” Although addressed to some who were using (cult?) prostitutes, the issue of God’s ownership is also seen in the words of Paul to the Corinthians, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price… (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NIV).”
The call of Jesus comes with the most serious of demands. It is a call to surrender one’s self, and all we have, to the true Master. It is a call to know that our houses, cars, 401K accounts, and all wealth under our control, belong to the Lord, because we belong to the Lord. We are stewards, not owners, and we will account for our stewardship! We, then, listen to the Spirit of God, and give when He urges, asking only, “how much, Lord?”