Sell Your Possessions and Give to the Poor

You don’t have to be a profound student of the Bible to notice that this chapter is filled with man’s concern for money, the wrong and right use of his possessions. You don’t have to be a great observer of human nature to know that our world today is just as obsessed with money. For example, economists are watching the growth of China and India and their impact on the financial well being of the rest of the world. There has been the collapse of many banks and their bail-out by tax-payers to the tune of billions of pounds. There is the vastness of the national debt, the spread of the recession, the empty shops in the main streets of every town, the increase in student debt, and the problems of countries like Greece and Ireland. The world is obsessed with money.

It would be incredible if the Christian faith were silent about such a subject. I’m saying that we meet it in this chapter. We first are told of our Lord being interrupted in his preaching by a man shouting out from the congregation. He is not disagreeing with Jesus’ doctrine. He yells, “Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me” (v.13). The man is virtually paranoid over an alleged injustice about money. Then Jesus tells a parable of a farmer who was a fool because he lived for his farm and possessions, with storing up stuff for himself and never considered that he was going to die. If prosperity and saving can actually have a corrupting influence in our lives, how in the world are people like us going to be able to handle money? Jesus calms some of our fears by telling us that our heavenly Father knows what our needs are and that God will provide. We are not to worry, and we are not to be afraid. That’s where our Lord is coming from in the first half of this chapter, right up to this text with which he ends this section on the theme of money beginning with the words before us; “Sell your possessions and give to the poor” (v. 33). It seems to me that one accurate barometer of your state of spiritual maturity is shown in your attitude to money. What does Jesus say to us here?

1. THE CHRISTIAN HAS A DIVINE RIGHT TO HAVE POSSESSIONS.

The Lord Jesus says, “You have ‘possessions’ (v.35). They are yours. They belong to you, not to your neighbour, not to everyone, and not to Caesar. They are your possessions.” Jesus once spoke to the rich young ruler and he quoted the ten commandments to him including the one that says, “Do not steal” (Lk. 18:20). That prohibition by the Creator of the world also asserts the right of private property. Jesus quoted approvingly the question of the owner of a vineyard; “Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money?” (Matt. 20:15). Slaves are warned against purloining what is the possession of their masters. The man who plants and cultivates his vineyard may certainly eat of its fruit. The dairy farmer has the right to drink his cows’ milk. The right to private property is taken for granted in the Bible.

Think of the episode in the book of Acts when a professing Christian named Ananias lied to the congregation concerning the exact amount of money that he’d received for some land he had sold. He told the church that the gift he was presenting to the congregation was all he’d received for the sale of the land, but in fact he was actually keeping a substantial part back for himself. He wanted the glory of being a sacrificial giver but he also wanted the security that this money brought him. Peter knew of this deceit and spoke to him. This is what the apostle says, “you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:3&4). One day Ananias came to the decision that he would to sell what was his. It was in part a response to the love of the Lord Jesus for him, and Ananias decided to give some money to Christ’s servants. There was nothing wrong in owning that land. There was nothing wrong in selling it for the market price. There was nothing wrong in giving it to a worthy cause. There was nothing wrong in keeping a part for himself. It was all utterly voluntary. What was wrong was not telling the truth to the church about how much he had sold it for, and secretly keeping back a portion for himself. He was a deceiving, selfish hypocrite.

Of course having private property can be abused. In the Old Testament powerful wealthy land-owners would increase their estates so much that the common man had nowhere for his cattle to graze. “Get off this land,” shouted the labourers who worked for the rich man. But where could they go? So God saw that wickedness and sent his servants to preach against it and warn those wealthy men. By God the Holy Spirit Isaiah preached, “Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left” (Is. 5:8). Scottish Highland preachers should have railed more about the evils of the ‘clearances’ that drove thousands of crofters off their farms and into poverty and emigration so that landowners could cover the Highlands with sheep. I am saying that the word of God is sensitive to the abuse of private property but we have to remember that in our fallen world there isn’t a single good thing that can’t be abused. Does the perversion of something mean that it is wrong in itself? Is science wrong in itself because men have invented weapons of mass destruction? Is sex wrong in itself because people exploit it horribly? Are drugs wrong in themselves because men abuse them? Is material wealth wrong in itself because it’s abused?  All such abuse can pull men and women down to hell, yet the gifts are good and an essential part of God’s creation.

How do we look at our possessions - our lap tops and computers and ipods and ipads and mobile phones and cameras and music centres and plasma screens and cars and homes? Do we look at them through the spectacles of I Timothy chapter 6 and verse 17, as a part of all the gifts that “God has given us richly to enjoy” (I Tim. 6:17)? We are entitled to them because it is God himself who has given them to us, and he gave us such things in order that we should enjoy them. You all know of a housewife who has spent some time cooking a fine meal of the best ingredients. She has served it up piping hot, after cooking it to perfection, and now her chief delight is in seeing her guests enjoying the food and expressing their thanks to her. I am saying that that is our responsibility when God has blessed us with our possessions that we respond by saying, “Thank you Lord for this . . . and thank you for that . . . I am enjoying them so much. They are wonderful.” God is honoured when we give thanks to him for everything that he has given to us.

You might ask me about the early chapters of the book of Acts and the way those Christians sold their possessions and shared them with other poor believers. Wasn’t that incident remarkable? Wasn’t that impressive? Do you understand the picture? Thousands and thousands of people were being converted. They were saying, “Jesus of Nazareth, whom our high priests pronounced a blasphemer and gave over to the Romans to be crucified is, we believe to the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Salvation comes through his name alone. You too must repent and trust in him.” The price they paid for responding in faith and discipleship to that message was immense. These new Christians were being thrown out of their families, and out of their synagogues. They were ostracized from their parents, excommunicated from their congregations, dismissed from their employment, and left homeless, penniless and starving. The unbelieving parents of the men and women who professed faith in Jesus held funeral services for their children and for the rest of their lives behaved as if they had died. Wives and mothers who had become followers of Jesus were divorced and thrown onto the streets by their husbands. These Christians had become aliens in their own nation. Their businesses were destroyed and their family bonds were shattered. That is the background to what was to happen next; thousands of Christians said, “We’ve been spared all that. We’ve still got our homes and families and jobs and lands and income. You are our brothers and sisters and we are going to sell what we don’t need in order to set you up on a smallholding with new work and a roof over your head.” They showed their oneness of heart and soul with their needy brethren. Nothing has changed. It is the same unity that we are required to display today in this congregation. Bear one another’s burdens and fulfil the law of Christ. That spirit, which was the mark of the Spirit of God being poured out on a congregation, must be present in our church if we claim we are the fellowship of the Holy Ghost. That is the material challenge that confronts us in the Christian stewardship of our possessions.

2. THE CHRISTIAN HAS THE PRIVILEGE OF GAINING POSSESSIONS.

What are the ways we are to prosper in our possessions? Let me first of all clear away some of the wrong ways of gaining possessions:

i] Not by stealing. That is so obvious. I am almost embarrassed to mention this, but as I read the local newspaper each week I learn of the various possessions that have been stolen all over the area during the last seven days. Of course these are just the ones reported to the police. Many more are not reported. This week the letter ‘S’ was stolen from the sign above Clinton’s card shop in the main street; burglars broke into a house in Ystrad Meurig and stole all the money they could find; a box of electricity tools was stolen from a garage next door to a house, and so on. This town is full of thieves, young and old, men and women, just like every town. “Finding is keeping,” the world says, but that is no rule for the Christian. And what of ourselves? There are many ways people can steal. For example, are there items we’ve borrowed – books and CDs - and we’ve failed to return them? The Bible says in Psalm 37 and verse 21, “The wicked borrow and do not repay.” Again, God’s prophet Hosea preaches about tampering with the scales weighing wheat and barley in order to favour the seller. You can also steal by making exaggerated claims about what you are selling – your car, your house. You might make a lot of money but it is a dishonest way of gaining possessions. Thou shalt not steal.

ii] Not by exploitation. You remember how concerned James was that exploitation shouldn’t get into the church. Listen to his vivid preaching condemning exploitation, and remember he is speaking to the revival church of the New Testament; “Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty” (Ja. 5:4). Do you remember also that when Zacchaeus a tax collector was converted he repaid abundantly all those whom he had cheated? When there was a great work of God in Belfast in the 1920s under the preaching of W.P. Nicholson then the men who worked in the docks brought back to Harland and Wolf the tools that they had stolen. There was apparently a warehouse in which these goods were stored until ownership was ascertained. There is a principle of Christian restitution after theft. Exploitation shows itself in many ways. Think of the loan sharks that offer to lend money to people at preposterous rates of interest so that the loan mushrooms with dwindling hope of repaying it. Those criminals may be prospering, but it is by exploitation.

iii] Not by gambling. It was the Tory party who legalized the weekly lottery and now millions buy lottery tickets in post offices and in grocery shops. We had cricket scandals this autumn – cricket! Apparently millions of pounds are gambled on cricket matches in Pakistan, and test players accept bribes. Paul talks about the “the cunning and craftiness of men” (Ephs. 4:14) and the words mean ‘dice play.’ Through such cunning and craftiness of men many lives are being ruined. I believe that. I suppose we Christians chiefly argue that gambling is an appeal to chance instead of a trust in God’s providence and sovereignty. There is a verse in Isaiah 65 and verse eleven in which the prophet addresses those, “who forsake the LORD and forget my holy mountain, who spread a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny.” ‘Fortune’ is the translation of ‘gad’ the god of chance, or luck, and ‘Destiny’ is ‘meni’ the god of fate.

There are two tables set before everyone here. There is the Lord’s Table where we celebrate our redemption through the broken body of Christ, and there is ‘a table for fortune,’ the tables for poker, and for roulette, and for gambling games of chance. You will have to make a choice as to which table you’re going to meet around regularly, either the one or the other. You cannot meet regularly around them both; you have to choose – the Lord’s Table or the gambling table. One or the other; you can’t have them both. I admit I don’t find it easy to give a clear, coherent and logical objection to gambling, but instinctively I feel that it’s wrong and it doesn’t help the Christian life. A couple of ex-soldiers come round the dining tables selling raffle tickets at the Royal Welsh Fusiliers St David’s Day Dinner, and I always give them money but I don’t take a ticket, and other Christians also do something like that lest we give the appearance of being too mean to support their charitable activities. The children bring lottery tickets home from school and we return them with a gift. So there are three wrong ways of gaining possessions. Then how do we acquire money if not by those three ways?

i] By receiving gifts. I don’t mean by hinting that you’d like gifts, or soliciting for them, or begging for gifts. Can a Christian be a beggar on a street corner? Under any circumstances? I wouldn’t think so. The psalmist had never seen the righteous begging for bread; God provided that for them. I am saying that Christians may receive gifts, and they will ask no questions about that money for conscience sake. A man I visit fills in his lottery numbers for each Saturday’s draw and he tells me that if he wins a million he intends to give ten thousand to this church. I laugh at him. “Save your money!” I am not telling him to buy lottery tickets, quite the reverse. I am not asking him that if he wins a lottery that he should remember us. I would never say that. But if he should live to the age of Methuselah and he legally wins a large sum of money and then he decides he will give some to a Christian cause then I cannot see that it is wrong for the church or Christians to accept that gift. If it were stolen we could not accept it. The Bible is more concerned about Christians who give grudgingly than a non-Christian who gives cheerfully. So Christians may thankfully receive gifts such as an inheritance. Or again, money has been bequeathed to you. Then you are to take it. But do not start corresponding with any strangers who send you E-mails offering you gifts of millions of dollars. Every single such letter is written by a liar and thief and the only purpose of their offer is to steal your money.

ii] By wise investment. Here is our Lord speaking in Matthew chapter 25 and verse 27; he is addressing the servant who buried his talent; “You should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.” This is a lawful means by which our capital grows. It is part of the confusion of the age in which we live that we get little or no return for the money we’ve carefully saved over the years. Certainly the Christian can invest his savings.

iii] By our jobs. If a man before becoming a Christian lived by stealing then henceforth he is to give himself to a job, daily work, that is expected to take its place. The purpose of that is not simply his own survival and his family’s. We are told in Ephesians 4:28 “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.” There it is again, the right of possessing money and possessions in order that you may help others. But let’s take that one great step further. The Christian works not just for men but for God. Even a Christian slave has that duty. Let’s read Colossians chapter 3 and verses 22 and 23; “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” We will do an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, and then we will ask God how best to use our work and its reward. How may we most wisely and helpfully honour God and serve our brethren?

3. THE CHRISTIAN MAY SELL SOME OF HIS POSSESSIONS AND GIVE TO THE POOR.

I put it in that guarded way. That is what this verse is saying. Jesus does not say, “Sell all your possessions and give to the poor.” The total testimony of the whole Bible, inspired by the Spirit of Christ, cannot possibly be that the Lord Jesus is telling every Christian to take a vow of poverty and become beggars. He did not tell the centurions who believed in him to leave the army and stand on a street corner with a begging bowl. Jesus is not exhorting every single believer to become a burden on the world and the state. But our Lord certainly is exhorting us to remember the poor. We are back in the early chapters of Acts and the newly converted Jews who were deprived of everything when they confessed Christ. They were homeless and starving. They truly had become poor. That did not happen in the Gentile world with the conversion of Philemon a slave owner, or Dr. Luke a medical man, or Lydia the seller of purple materials and dyes. But it did happen when Jews in Jerusalem were saved by Christ, and it happens in the world where Muslims and Hindus are in the majority today.

Christians here in Wales have a redundancy of possessions and we need to ask ourselves, “What can I shed? What can I sell? Do I need this? Can I give this away to those in need? What can I give to Blythswood or take to a charity shop” Let’s keep before us the picture of an all round Christian; he is a fine family person, kind, a good neighbour, fervent, useful in the congregation, able to speak a word for his Saviour, yes all those virtues, but he is also generous to those in need. So we are talking here about an indispensable grace. This is not a fringe virtue. If you are mean and stingy, hanging onto your money, then are you converted? If you are a grocer who professes to be a Christian, but your nickname in the community is Mr. Split Raisin because of the scrupulous way you weigh out everything then you are a disgrace to the Christian faith. Have such men given their businesses over to the Lord? Have they put their bank accounts and all their possessions into the hands that were crucified for them? Have they ever understood the cross of Christ so that they have responded, “Love so amazing so divine demands my soul my life my all”? Has Calvary affected their bank account and possessions? If it hasn’t then they haven’t understood the price of redemption, and so they are wrong at the very heart of Christianity. Little wonder that in their fringe behaviour, their meanness and money-grabbing spirit, they are also wrong. Bad teaching leads to bad living. Why do we sell our possessions and give to the poor?

i] Because of their need we must give to the poor. Here is a letter from Nairobi from Priscilla Underhill, one of our members, who with her husband has been working for the kingdom of God for forty years in Kenya. This communication was received on Monday. It is about . . .“School fees. Secondary schooling is not free for parents in Kenya, and most schools are boarding. Annual fees are £200+/$300+ and we are trying to help children of our church leaders, and others who are church members from very poor families. In 2010 we were able to help many children with the money given to us. The school year begins in January 2011 and we do not have anything! Would you please consider if you can help so that the 20+ children can continue with their education?” That is the request we had a few days ago, and so on Christmas Day our morning offering will go to help the education of Kenyan children. There will always be needs like this until Christ comes again because the poor we’ll always have with us.

ii] Because it is commanded by God we must give to the poor. Three interesting verses I’ll give you. . . I could quote from thirty. Hebrews 13:16, “Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” We can so easily forget, can’t we? That is why we need a whole sermon on this theme more often than I’m preaching them. The second verse is this; Proverbs 19:17, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.” I am not giving my Christmas Day offering just to a bright little Kikuyu girl for her to complete her education. I am lending it to the Lord – what a privilege - and he says that he is going to reward me for my generosity. He will say, “Well done good and faithful servant!” The third is Philippians 4:18 where Paul is musing over the gifts he has received in prison from the Christians in Philippi. They could buy him creature comforts and defray his legal expenses, and this is how Paul describes them “They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” It pleases God when we give to the poor.

iii] Because everything we have ultimately belongs to the Lord we must give to the poor. King David is praying as they receive gifts from the people for erecting the temple. It is a magnificent prayer, and at one part he says these words, “Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand” (I Chrons. 29:14). Your spouse, your children, your health, your intellect, your home, your possessions – everything comes from God and we give to others only what first comes from his hand. He then has first claim on our resources, and when our salary increases, before we make any plans about a kitchen extension or a new bathroom or a vacation at the Niagara Falls we give more to God and his work. There are congregations that announce the offering each Sunday as we do but they also include what they call the ‘first-fruits’ in this announcement. People have had a legacy or an increase in salary and the first fruits of this they give to the Lord and this is announced to the church (without naming the people of course).

iv] Because of all that the Lord has done for us we must give to the poor. 

An army officer could never order his men in the midst of a battle to do what he wasn’t prepared to do himself. King David could become a great general because he had been prepared to tackle Goliath alone. Our Lord has the authority to tell us to sell our possessions and give to the poor because he once laid aside the wealth of his glory to come and save us poor sinners. Though he was rich yet for our sakes he became poor. Of course there wasn’t a single divine attribute that he cast away. He remained God and yet he clothed himself with our human clay. He became the suffering Servant, and when he died it was without a single earthly possession. Even the few clothes he wore were stripped from him. Here was poverty indeed, dying the death of the cross without anything to call his own, and all done that undeserving, hateful, poor people might be rich. He came alongside us to help us. He gave us his time; he gave us his energy; he gave us his teaching; he gave us his life; he gave us his blood. There was not a possession concerning which he said, “That is too costly for me to give up for their sake.” So it is utterly freely that we have received everything. He paid for it all and freely we give.

4. THE CHRISTIAN MUST SELL AND GIVE IN THE RIGHT SPIRIT.

It is not enough to give a generous amount to the right people. How is your spirit as you give? How does God expect us to give?

i] We are to give joyfully and eagerly. This spirit was demanded by God even in the Old Testament. Moses was told this; “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give.” (Ex. 25:2). The offering was to have its origin not in Moses’ command, “Now the brethren will wait on you for your offerings” and people quietly sighing and putting their hands reluctantly into the pockets or purses and taking out a coin. No. We are not made aware of the privilege of giving to the church by the sight of deacons carrying plates. The desire to give starts in a divine prompt to our hearts not a prompt from the voice of men, even from Moses. They come to the assembly thinking, “Soon we will have the privilege of giving our offerings to God. Yippee! It has come. This is my time to give to Jehovah.” You find the same spirit required in the New Testament also. The apostle Paul tells the congregation in Corinth, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cors. 9:7). The congregations in Macedonia had been Christians about 15 years and yet they had learned about selling their possessions and giving the money to the poor so well that Paul tells us, “they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints” (2 Cors. 8:4). It is as if we had a lock on the offering box in our church and only favoured Christians were allowed to put their gifts in the box, and we had to go and plead with the deacon in charge of it, “Please, please, please open the box and let me give my money to support the work of the kingdom of God in this place. Please!” Then what joyful worship and doxology would be ours as we gave our money too. What a privilege! People have such a contracted view of worship. They think that it’s about singing. They have little idea about the worship that goes on as we give to the Lord, or as we respond to the preaching. So, we give eagerly and joyfully. Some of you can’t sing, but you can all give.

ii] We are to give purposefully and systematically. Christian giving is like every other Christian grace; it is a habit we learn; it is clothing we put on. It is like learning to drive a car. When you start it seems impossible; you need three legs to drive it properly, but the more you learn and the more you practice the smoother it becomes. It is like that with all the disciplines of godliness. Giving is not pushing your hand into your pocket and finding out whether you have the right amount to put into the offering plate, or to give to the flag-seller in Main Street. Christian giving is to be purposeful and planned. We have thought about this sermon that God has brought to us from his word today on selling our possessions and giving; it has touched our consciences; we are not giving as we should to the work of the kingdom of God. This sermon that you might have thought to be wearying and unnecessary is in fact going to change your whole attitude to giving money to the work of Christ. When many other sermons have been forgotten this sermon will still be having a practical impact upon you in forty years’ time. “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give” (2 Cor. 9:7). Offering envelopes are steadily declining in significance. That is quite natural; they are being used today by less and less church members. On the envelopes I Corinthians chapter 16 and verse 2 used to be written: “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up.” Let the Seventh Day Adventists notice that this was done on the first day of the week not the seventh. There are special gift days announced from time to time but the regular response to our text today is to be done every Sunday without exception.

iii] We are to give worthily and sacrificially. The Lord Jesus watched a poor widow putting her money in the collection box. There are three ways of estimating her gift. We can judge it by the standards of the world, what it gives to watch a soccer game, or to buy a round of drinks, or to have a meal in a restaurant, and then we say that this woman’s insignificant gift was virtually nothing. We can also judge it by how much money the widow had to spend and then it was an enormous amount. It would have bought her a few meals, and it was all she had. Then her gift judged by Almighty God resulted in his putting her name down as number one in the list of subscribers to the temple that day. She headed the list in his eyes. Jesus said, “She cast in more than all they which had cast into the treasury” (Mk. 12:41). The Macedonian congregations, comprising Christians who had followed the Lord for only 15 or so years, gave “beyond their means” (2 Cors. 8:3). We are to give worthily so that it hurts. Sacrifice is costly.

iv] We are to give secretly with humility. These are the famous words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount; “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matt. 6:1-4). You are so overwhelmed with the privilege of giving money to God and to poor Christians that the giving is itself an honour and a joy. You don’t need to let anybody else in the world know, in order to hear them say, “Well done!” You don’t itch for recognition, to be made a member of the House of Lords for your gifts to charity. Your reward is simply your happy obedience to the Saviour who gave all that he had for you.