Day 52: Jesus Loosens Our Grip on Stuff

Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.

“Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet. The rich man also died and was buried, and he went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.

“The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’

“But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’

“Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’

“But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’

“The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’

“But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’” LUKE 16:19–31 NLT

I WAS STAYING AT a fancy hotel in downtown Dallas several years ago and decided to squeeze in a quick workout before speaking at an event that evening. By the time I’d finished pedaling and lifting and squatting, I was a dripping mess. I toweled off as best I could and then hustled to the lobby elevator to go back up to my room and get showered and changed for the shindig. The elevator doors opened to reveal an impeccably dressed woman. And she was dripping too, but with elegance instead of perspiration. Her suit was custom, her jewelry was diamond-encrusted, and the alarmingly large pouf on top of her head was perfect—not a hair out of place. Although it’s a good thing I’m not a smoker because, one spark, and surely her hairspray would’ve incinerated the both of us!

Since we were the only two people on the elevator and I noticed the button she’d already pressed was the number of the floor I was staying on too, I initiated a polite conversation by saying something about the weather. She stared straight ahead without any verbal or physical response, causing me to assume she was hard of hearing. So I leaned in a little closer and repeated my comment a whole lot louder. At which point, she glanced irritably out of the corner of her eye and exhaled loudly as if to say, “You are a stinky, sweaty, hot mess of a woman and I don’t want anything to do with you.” The next minute or so it took to reach our floor was awkward as I tried to feign fascination with the illuminated panel of floor buttons, and she rolled her eyes so many times it’s a wonder they didn’t get stuck that way.

An hour or so later, after I was showered, Spanxed, and suited up myself, I walked into the hotel banquet room that was filled with large donors of a national ministry and, lo and behold, guess who was there in all her condescending glory? When the program concluded and I was signing books in the lobby, she sashayed up to me with panache and gushed in a strong Southern drawl, “I wish you had told me who you were on the el-ah-vah-tah, I would’ve loved to chat with you had I known who you were.” My natural inclination was to be offended, but God’s Spirit reminded me to be kind because the truth was, she was the impoverished one. My heart softened when I thought how much love she had probably missed out on while locked away in her ivory tower.

The rich man and Lazarus is not an indictment about having too much money; it’s an admonition to help those who don’t have enough when you have extra. Contrary to some beliefs, our Savior did not preach socialism, but He did encourage stewardship. He consistently taught that while we’re God’s dearly loved children, He is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe and we’re tenants, not co-owners. Because He loves us so much, He doesn’t want us to be defined by our stuff and, therefore, vulnerable to being robbed. Robbed of peace and gratitude and rich relationships with people in different tax brackets. If your hope is balanced on a dime, you’ll never really be secure.

• ON A scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being consistently discontent and 10 being completely content, how would you rate your level of satisfaction regarding your material possessions (place to live, furniture, car, clothing, etc.)?
• WHILE JESUS ADVOCATED for the monetarily poor, He didn’t advocate being monetarily poor, as if poverty of possessions was the only road to spiritual maturity. Rather, He advocated for being poor in spirit, which simply means humble, no matter how much money you have! Why do you think so many Christians have an uneasy relationship with money?
• READ HEBREWS 13:5. How would you explain this to a teenager without sounding like a miser?