Luke 12:33

[Guest]

What are we to make of Luke 12:33?

John Mark Hicks comments:

I admit it; actually, I confess it--I find "Sell your possessions and give to the poor" (Luke 12:33) a hard and difficult saying. Probably more than any other saying of Jesus--even "love your enemies"--I'm inclined to throw up my hands and say "I can't do that."

It puts me in the position of the Rich Young Ruler of Luke 18 and that is an very uncomfortable position in which to be. Now, with the Rich Young Ruler I can recontextualize, spiritualize and delegitimize the demand to "sell your possesssions and give to the poor." That was too specific, too tailored to the heart of that Ruler. Or, was it? Well, I can debate that one with myself.

But I can't "debate" Luke 12:33 which appears in the heart of Luke's rehearsal of Matthew's Sermon on the Mount material. It is "don't worry"--ok, hard but I can handle it. It is "seek his kingdom"--yes, Lord, I will do that. It is "don't be afraid"--yes, Lord, I'll trust you. And, then, like a lightning bolt to my heart, it is "Sell your possessions and give to the poor." And my heart stops and says, "uh, can you repeat that? I'm not sure I heard you right."

This is where my heart is, brothers and sisters. I don't want to sell my possessions. In fact, I want better possessions. I'll give mine away so I can upgrade, but not sell my upgrades so I can give to the poor. That does not make sense--at least not in the culture in which I have been trained, socialized and pampered.

So, what am I to do? Should I obey?

Perhaps I will have to start where this whole discussion started in Luke 12. Someone in the crowd asked Jesus to adjudicate between his brother and himself over inheritance. Jesus refused and pointed to their hearts--only they can act on the nature of their hearts. Life, Jesus said, "does not consist in the abundance of possessions" (Luke 12:15).

Ok, I know that, but what does it mean. Well, it means that we don't build bigger barns. This is the parable that Jesus told in response to this inquiry about inheritance. What do I do with the blessings God has given me? Do I build bigger barns so I can contain them, hoard them and consume them? Or, and I think this is Jesus real answer, don't build bigger barns. Instead take your increase and give it to the poor.

Perhaps that is my starting place on my journey to obey "sell your possessions and give to the poor." Perhaps I just need to start with the simple resolve to never build any more bigger barns. Perhaps I take my increases and give them to the poor. I can at least start there.

So, if you are troubled as I am by this saying to "sell your possessions and give to the poor," perhaps we start by not building any more "bigger barns." We start with using our increase to bless the poor, and then perhaps we can begin downsizing (selling our possessions) and increasing our giving to the poor. We start by not obtaining more before we start doing with less. I think God will honor that direction, but he will not honor the other option.

What do you think? Are we to make a law of Jesus statement or is Jesus describing the relative value of possesions compared to heavenly things?

If it is an absolute command as in "no one can be my disciple unless...." then who can honestly say they have obeyed? Or is this a teaching similar to Luke 14:26 regarding "hating" our dearest relatives, i.e., to be understood in a relative sense? If I sell all I have and give to the poor, then I will be poor and they will be obliged to sell all they have and give to me!

Nevertheless, Hicks got to me. As Hicks states, Jesus means for us to do something, and his suggestion seems a good place to start. I have resolved to sell some stuff and give the proceeds to the poor.

What do you think about Luke 12:33?

[Guest]

i agree with livingink. there is no record of Jesus telling peter to sell all of his stuff, nor lazarus (who apparently had some cash) for that matter. homer is correct; if we all sell all our possession we would have nothing left to give to God or to anyone else. Jesus is clearly using hyperbole to make the point of "where your heart is, your treasure is."

however, i agree that most of us, including myself, need to pay a lot more attention to the various directions in scripture to take care of those less fortunate, including the poor, widows and orphans. the modern church has "tricked" us into thinking that giving to the church = a fulfillment of these obligations. of course this is simply not true.

TK

[Guest]

Hello Homer,

Do you think Jesus might have been using hyperbole here? I have often wondered if he was essentially saying to sell anything that stands between you and God because you had let it become your obsession rather than God's possession. Since God may give you stewardship over many things you may appear rich to worldly thinking folks while in your heart you recognized God's ownership and never let those things dig a chasm between you and God. Peter still owned a house and boat but was commended by Jesus for giving up all to follow Jesus. Peter's possessions nor his family stood between he and God when he was appointed an apostle though to obey Jesus would eventually lead to physical death.

Just an idea. Good to speak to you again.

livingink

[Guest]

After the first disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit in a special way, they willingly sold all their possessions and shared the proceeds according to the need. No one directly told them to do this. Were they remembering the words of our Lord? Or was it simply love for their brethren that induced them to do this? Here is Luke's account of how the new converts behaved:

And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forsaking of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him." And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. Acts 2:38-47

None of them tried to think of reasons why they would not share everything. None of them said, "As long as my possessions don't come between me and God, I can keep them." None of them said to the others, "Aren't you carrying this sharing thing a bit too far?" None of them asked whether or not this was "an absolute command" of Christ. They just did it!

[Guest]

Hi Paidion,

After the first disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit in a special way, they willingly sold all their possessions and shared the proceeds according to the need.

Are you sure they sold all of their possessions? I don't read that in the text. I see it saying "as any had need".

I've heard of people selling off or giving away all their possessions out of sincere godly zeal only to find they had to spend twice as much replacing much of it because God was calling them to that life. Not very wise stewardship IMO.

Let's face it, although we should be content with just food and raiment, God doesn't call everyone to live that way.

But I agree that we should be sensitive and obedient to the Lord's leading and be willing to part with anything and everything we have for the good of others if that's what He lays on our hearts to do.

[_Steve]

In the book of Acts, as it reads in the Greek, we are told that "as any had need" those who owned houses and lands "were selling them and bringing them..." (Acts 4:34). This was a habit, not a singular act done at conversion.

In verse 33, Jesus did not say, "Sell everything you have and give it all to the poor..." He said, "Sell what you have and give..." The selling and giving of possession to the poor "as any has need" is a progressive, ongoing lifestyle, which may be performed more or less sacrificially. In my opinion, it is not necessarily (at least not as it is worded here) our duty to suddenly divest ourselves of all possessions once and for all.

A few verses after this text, Peter asked, "Lord, do you speak this parable only to us [presumably the apostles], or to all?" (v.41). Jesus' answer, as is often the case, seems less than direct. He answers with another question:

"Who then is a faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion in due season?...Truly I say to you that he will make him ruler over all he has." (vv.42, 44)

Perhaps the degree of responsibility and rulership given to an individual in the resurrection will be commensurate with his giving of his possessions to help the poor--that is, giving them "their portion in due season." All are stewards, and some are faithful and wise stewards. Perhaps some are more faithful and more wise than others. The wisest of all being those who sacrifice the most in this life for the sake of God's "household."

"Forsaking all" (as the apostles claimed to have done--Matt.19:27) must refer to a surrender, first, in the heart. "All" becomes the Lord's, and must remain always at HIs disposal, either to liquidate, to give, or to use for His purposes. In Acts, we are told, "neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own..." (4:32). All was forsaken and surrendered to the Lord. From that point on, the management of those goods became an assignment in stewardship.

It seems clear that all true Christians follow these principles in measure. Perhaps the degree of reward and responsibility given to each one in the resurrection will be directly tied to the measure of each one's observance of these duties.

[Guest]

Are you sure they sold all of their possessions? I don't read that in the text. I see it saying "as any had need".

Okay, you don't read that they sold all of their possessions. But you do read that they had all things in common. Please explain how they could have held all things in common, while keeping back part of their possessions for their own private use.

[Guest]

I believe that these early disciples would have said that they own nothing apart from God. They did not have personal possessions that God did not own. God owned everything but allowed them to use his things and act as steward or manager of his property. When he directed these "things" be sold, used, invested, etc. then the steward was to perform that act in accordance with God's directions. So, all was held in common as God's property with several managers in charge of distribution. This does not mean that some property could not be held for later use if no present pressing need required its liquidation.

Non-believers also are stewards though they would not recognize that as a valid arrangement with a God that they denied. That's probably another topic, though.

I believe we need to look up the Greek word used for possession in these verses to see if that word gives more insight into Jesus' teaching here. I am very short on time right now but will do so later if no one else gets to it first.

livingink

[Guest]

Paidion,

You said:

Please explain how they could have held all things in common, while keeping back part of their possessions for their own private use.

Did not the early Christians continue to own their own homes? Livingink's explanation seems to be a good one.

[Guest]

None of them tried to think of reasons why they would not share everything. None of them said, "As long as my possessions don't come between me and God, I can keep them." None of them said to the others, "Aren't you carrying this sharing thing a bit too far?" None of them asked whether or not this was "an absolute command" of Christ. They just did it!

I just signed on to this discussion group as I was interested in another topic. While casually glancing through the topics I cam across this one.

When I realized about 13 years ago that Jesus said nothing to the rich young ruler that he did not say to all of his disciples in Luke 12:33 my wife and I set ourselves on the path of selling our possessions, giving to the poor and following Him. As a result we ended up in a group that had all things common ain the manner the church in Jerusalem (the Bruderhof Communities -then a part of the Hutterites.)

I think Jesus meant just what he said, at least to the degree that we should make an effort to actually put this command of His into practice and appropriate His promise ("Fear not little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom!”). I had to face honestly that I was no different from the rich young ruler and that I really didn't want to give up my riches. The rich young ruler was at least honest enough to go away sad.

It was quite an adventure because, quite frankly, giving up possessions is pretty easy in the face of the dying to yourself required in church community.