Our Poverty

Prayer

Our Poverty

There’s a famous interaction between a reporter from Inside Edition who manages to catch Kenneth Copeland and asks him about why he, as a preacher, can justify the luxuries of flying in a private jet (turns out he has not just one, but three of them).

Copeland justifies it because he believes that the Bible teaches that wealth is a sign of faithfulness, of God’s blessing on those who are righteous and faithful. He would argue that Jesus was wealthy (and therefore, as his disciples, we should be, too).

He would cite as evidence the idea that Jesus wore designer clothes (his robe was gambled for as one piece because it was too nice to be divided into pieces).

And that Jesus and his disciples had a treasurer - in other words, they had so much money amongst them that they had to have someone manage it all. An accountant.

That said, he couldn’t be more wrong. Terribly skewed reading of Scripture.

Ignores the fact that the robe is all Jesus had when he died, what he had on his person were his possessions. He had no home. No storage unit filled with stuff. No mass amount of land (which was primary source of wealth in that day). No money.

Skips over the evidence that shows Jesus and his disciples weren’t flush with cash. They relied on support of others, primarily their female followers. When Peter was asked whether Jesus paid the temple tax or not - Jesus decided, in order not to offend, that he and Peter should go ahead and pay the tax. But Jesus didn’t just hand him money to pay, he didn’t have it. He told Peter to go fishing to get the coin to pay it. When it came to feeding the thousands, all they could come up with was five loaves and two fish (which didn’t even come from them - but from a kid in the crowd).

The reality is that Jesus lived in poverty. That he, like so many others, struggled to make ends meet.

Last week we began a new sermon series entitled, He Gets Us, that coincides with a nationwide advertising campaign. I want to share one of those videos with you now...He Gets Us video...

He gets us, he understand what it’s like having a hard time making ends meet. Because that was the reality of his life.

Jesus lived like the vast majority of people who have ever lived on the face of the earth - and most of whom still do today. Impoverished. Struggling to have enough to just meet basic needs in life.

Some of you are very familiar with that struggle. You know what it’s like not being sure whether there will be enough in the checking account to pay the stack of bills on the kitchen table.

To get that envelope in the mail stamped, “overdue”. To watch the amount owed on the credit card increase rather than decrease.

For some of us, this isn’t something we relate to as much. We may complain about high price of gas and rising inflation, but we feel pretty secure in the fact that we’re going to have more than enough…the only thing that may be crimped is lifestyle we want to enjoy.

I was humbled to be reminded that people who read the Bible often see things that we miss, because it’s not something we relate to. In the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15, people in Third World countries notice that huge complicating problem in the younger brother’s misadventures is the fact that a famine occurs. They notice it because they can relate to it, they know how terrible it is, for everyone.

Here’s the point: Jesus knows it, too. He gets us.

Not only does Jesus get us, but he did something about it - something which very surprising, as reflected in our main verse this morning:

2 Corinthians 8:9 - For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through (by) his poverty might become rich.

I want to take time this morning to walk through this verse, because it speaks to exactly how Jesus gets us in the midst of our financial struggles - and what he did about it.

Jesus Became Poor

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Here’s Jesus’ grace, it begins with the fact that he was rich. Jesus was wealthy.

He reigned in heaven above, Creator of all. It all belongs to him. He had no lack of, no need. Riches of the kingdom were all at his disposal.

Yet for our sake he became poor. He gave it all up, taking the long journey from heaven to earth, from a throne to a manger, an animal trough. From the riches and the glory of the kingdom to living an impoverished life as part of a first century working class Jewish family.

I want you to hold that for a moment, because that’s really an amazing thing to recognize - what this says about who God is.

Because vast majority of us, myself included, give out of our excess, what we can spare. We become a little less well off so that others might become a little better off.

Do you remember the old movie, Trading Places, with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd? Dan plays a well-off commodities director, Louis, and the wealthy brothers he works for decide to conduct a social experiment about why people end up being wealthy or poor - so they manipulate events so that Louis’ position and wealth end up in hands of Eddie Murphy’s character, Billy Ray, a street beggar and con artist. Louis becomes poor so that Billy Ray can become rich.

As you can imagine, he does it as unwillingly as we would.

But not Jesus. He gave up his riches, he went from rich to poor willingly, as an act of utter grace, so that we might move from being poor to becoming rich. Jesus wants us to experience the riches of the kingdom.

But here’s where it gets very interesting - pay attention to this, because it’s one of those things that can slip right by us if we’re not careful. Notice that it says that it is “through his poverty” - or some translations, “by his poverty” that we might become rich.

Think about that for a moment - it doesn’t say, we become rich through his riches - which is what you’d expect. Or through his becoming poor is how we become rich, as everything is transferred to us, in case of Louis and Billy Ray.

How do you become rich through or by the poverty of someone else? Isn’t the very definition of being in poverty means that you are not rich? How in the world would someone’s poverty enable me to become rich?

But I think the Bible means exactly what it says. It isn’t just that Jesus became poor to demonstrate that he gets us, he knows our struggles, difficulties we face in life. Much more than that. Jesus became poor so that he can show us where true wealth lies, how we might become truly rich. Here’s what I mean:

When we hear the word rich, we immediately think of money. Money, money, money, money, money.

To be rich means we have a lot of money - or very valuable resources (lots of stock in company), wealth. Because let’s be honest, money is pretty darn handy. Helps us to put food on our table, put a solid roof over our heads, pays the utilities (clean water, sewer, electricity, all great things) Money enable us to buy things we enjoy. Travel, do activities we like to engage in. Lots of great stuff.

And to be impoverished - to not have money - does not seem very fun. Challenging. A struggle. Who wants to be poor?

Jesus, apparently. Very intentional became poor - and for our sake. For our benefit.

But Jesus knows, that as difficult as being poor may be - there is something worse. A greater danger. That we would look to material wealth as our hope. That we would be seduced by all that it offers - because it is darn handy!

Which is why we’re so tempted to look to money as a means to happiness. To provide us with security we long for. To make us feel important. “I want money, lots and lots of money.”

But money is a poor substitute for God - which is what we try to make it. Jesus knows that this is a great temptation for us. It always has been. There is warning after warning in Bible about love for money, let me just give you a sampling...

Matthew 6:24…No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve both God and money. It’s very telling that of all the things Jesus could have contrasted with God as a competition for our devotion, it’s only money that he highlights.

1 Timothy 6:10…For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Revelation 3:17…You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” No mincing words there, huh! Come on, Jesus, tell us what you really think.

Honestly, I’m just scratching the surface. I could go on for a while. The point here isn’t that wealth is evil or wrong. It’s that it’s just so dang seductive. We fall into trap so easily. There’s a reason that state lottery is such an effective way to raise funds for the state. Why scams are so effective. Why gambling is so pervasive. It’s the lure of instant wealth.

Jesus knows there is a better way. Better riches.

For Jesus, to be rich is to be invested in things of Father. To have a kingdom orientation in life. A willing surrender to Father and trust in his abundant provision. That this is where true wealth lies. This is what Jesus means when he speaks about the difference between treasures on earth and treasures in heaven, Matthew 6:19-21...

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

If we make material wealth our treasure, our riches, that’s where our heart will be - that’s the danger.

And this is why it is through Jesus actually becoming poor that we actually become rich. Because Jesus demonstrated to us a life rich in the things of God. Of knowing that you belong to the kingdom, your Father is King. It was most definitely not a life of material wealth.

If he had come to earth born into wealth and lived a rich lifestyle, that’s all we would have seen. But he wanted to demonstrate to us that the riches of kingdom far outweigh any earthly treasures. And we see this dynamic demonstrated throughout the Bible:

When Jesus sent his disciples out on his behalf to proclaim the good news of the kingdom, notice how we sent them out, Matthew 10:9-10...

Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts - no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.

Jesus sent them out in a state of poverty. They literally took nothing - no pocket change, no extra clothes, nothing. They had no material goods to rely on. It would be as if you just walked out this door, tossed your wallet or your purse and your keys in the trash, and started making your way from town to town with nothing but the clothes on your back.

This is very intentional. Jesus is inviting them to know and experience the riches of the kingdom, to entrust themselves to Father and his faithful provision. He’s teaching them to do it by becoming poor.

Look at Paul in Philippians 4:11-12…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether in plenty or in want.

Paul’s learned that he doesn’t need earthly wealth. He appreciates it when he experiences plenty, has got good food to eat. But he’s fine with not having enough, being hungry, in want. What’s “the secret”? He tells us in very next verse:

Philippians 4:13…I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

This is Paul becoming rich. Experiencing the riches of knowing the strength and grace of Jesus in his life - in any and every situation.

It’s Jesus himself going into the wilderness, fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. He had nothing out there. Nothing. Just went out into the desert area - just like he sent the disciples.

What does Satan come and tempt him with at the end of those forty days? Bread. “If you are the Son of God, tell those stones to become bread.”

When you’re hungry, really really hungry…bread is worth just about any price. Some of you may remember when our youth used to do World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine, I think some of those kids would have given just about anything for that food).

But for Jesus, becoming poor was about learning (and showing us) where true riches lie. How else could Jesus really know the reality of his response to Satan? Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Jesus didn’t just teach it, he lived it.

I know where true life lies…comes from the Father. He’s one I look to. That’s where true riches, where life, comes from.

Jesus knows. He gets it. He knows what it’s like to struggle financially. To not know where your next meal may come from. How you can possibly make ends meet when there’s stack of bills lying there and only so much in the checking account? Jesus knows what poverty is all about.

But he also knows what it truly means to be rich. Where true wealth lies. That’s why he came. That’s he came in poverty - that by his poverty we might become rich.

Spiritual Disciplines - That we learn what Jesus came to show us - learn riches of kingdom. Store up treasures in heaven.

Pray for and then look for opportunities to give this week. Remember that the gifts you might have to offer are not limited to money - though it every well could include that. You may have gift of time, listening ear, of particular skill or ability.

Definition of an emotionally healthy disciples: Slow down to be with Jesus, look beneath the surface of our life to be deeply transformed by Jesus, in order to offer our lives as a gift to the world.

This is storing up treasures in heaven, is offering your life as a gift to world (just like Jesus did for us)

Deaccumulation - quit storing up treasures on earth…break the bind stuff has on us. Three things of value that you can give away.

Inspiration

For my Pastoral Learning Community, read a book of stewardship, how to encourage faithful giving. One of the most often voiced complaints about churches - talk too much about money

I’m sure there are churches that do that, always asking for money. But here’s the thing: We should talk about money - because Jesus talked about money, quite a bit (as I hope you’ve seen).

I would guess that some people make that complaint because of the very reason Jesus talked about money - it has their heart.

Talk to me about money, watching how you spend, saving it, staying out of debt…boom, love it, I’m right there with you.

Talk to me about sacrificial giving, about lavish generosity…that’s where it starts to hurt a little, because that’s where it has my heart.

We began this message talking about Jesus getting us - in terms of financial struggles. He absolutely does. But there’s another way he very much gets us in regards to money, how easily seduced we are by it. How much we treasure it. And we all do, in one way or another.

Jesus became poor - not just to come be with us, but to show us that money is a terrible god. It’s not worth our hearts. It - nor the things it can provide - they cannot give us the peace, deep satisfaction, joy - our hearts long for.

Some of you may remember the story of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus asking how to earn eternal life. Jesus told him to go sell everything he had, give it to the poor and then come follow him.

I gotta be honest, I find this one of the hardest stories in the Bible, making me cringe. But here’s thing: Jesus wasn’t trying to be cruel, trying to deny this man life - exact opposite. Jesus knew he had given his heart to a lesser god, his wealth.

And that until he lets that god go, his heart would never belong to Jesus, not in any real way, not in way it matters most.

Here’s where we really have to ask ourselves - are we willing to take seriously what Jesus teaches us here? That poverty and life with him (not just poverty in and of itself) offers far greater riches than financial wealth? That we can trust him more than we can trust our wealth?

Matthew 19:29: And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

Those are the treasures Jesus is promising us. That’s wealth we enter into through the poverty of Jesus.