Give Like You Were Dying
Finishing one story, Jesus said,
9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. …. 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Read: Luke 16:19-31
Later, Jesus said,
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”
Sometimes people speak about money and say, “You can’t take it with you.” In a sense, they’re right, but this story tells us that the way we use money indicates something that lasts beyond this life. No, you can’t take it with you, but you can take your guilt with you. The same Jesus who taught this story had Paul teach:
For those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. (Romans 2:8)
In love, Jesus offers to rescue all who will trust him. In trusting him, they are able to structure their lives and make their decisions in alignment with his words. And this same Jesus warns us:
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ (Mark 9:43-48)
Yes, this is terrifying. Everyone who goes to this torment is guilty of rebelling against God and refusing his forgiveness and reconciliation. And what does our rebellion look like?
Just livin’ the good life.
The “good life” for the rich man meant living in a massive, ornamental portal with gates between himself and the world of need where Lazarus lived. He would have opened those gates and helped Lazarus if he had ever really listened to Moses’s sermon:
If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of the towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. (Deuteronomy 15:7)
Those iron gates were replaced with an infinite chasm which the rich man would never cross because he rejected God’s way. Jesus teaches that the rich man was in agony because he refused to serve God. The rich man was not sent to hell because of specific actions or inactions, but because he never trusted the message of God taught through the scripture. His wealth didn’t send him to hell: it was his poverty in God’s love.
You cannot serve both God and money. Jesus’s story of the rich man shows that serving money doesn’t look like bowing to an idol; it can simply look like a little more ease, a little less hassle, a better financial cushion, more stability, healthier food, a safer car, a nicer neighborhood, or a simpler life.
Jesus’s story asks us to think from the perspective of the rich man’s side of the gate. Are we willing to admit that the stakes are high, that our money is an important tool, and that our use of it has eternal consequences? Will we look through that gate to empathize or simply work to maximize what seems good for ourselves? “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (James 4:17)
I encourage you to pray this prayer: Jesus, will you show me how I am serving money, thinking about it all the time, and organizing my life to get its benefits and all it provides? Please help me set good standards for my lifestyle and comfort, so I can live wisely and care well for the needs of others. Is there a way I can simplify in order to free up my resources to do more good both now and for the next million years?
