My sermon
on Sunday got me thinking about my possessions.
Jesus told an inquirer, “If you
want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you
will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Matthew 19:21).
We can
easily dismiss Jesus’ instructions, and explain why giving all to the poor is not
a serious idea for us today. But Jesus may
seriously ask you or me to cash it all in, give it all away, and then follow.
This is
dangerous thinking. I have never been
homeless, so I am not speaking from personal experience. I can’t even recommend this course of
action. This is dangerous stuff. But I have been doing some brainstorming
about following Jesus’ instructions. How
would that really work today? I also
wonder how Christians would rock the world, if just a few of us did this. It’s not likely, and we all know why.
Nevertheless,
here are my ideas about following Jesus into poverty.
1.
Make sure
this is God’s will. This is such a
radical move that I would be certain that God was leading me to do this. We can
also remember that self-induced poverty can be reversed. I suppose that Jesus could want me to live
this way, but only for a season.
2.
Enlist the
support of family and friends. Of
course I would have to bring other people along with me on this experience, and
I would never attempt it without my wife’s support. Many times she has helped me avoid stupidity,
and I would listen very carefully to her ideas about a personal experience in poverty. I also recall that Jesus warns his followers
that allegiance to Jesus will strain relationships.
3.
Enlist a friend
to pray with you. An intentional
dive into real poverty would be spiritual warfare. My family and I will need God’s protection
emotionally, physically, socially, and spiritually. I will need to stay in touch with a prayer
partner, whether by visiting or borrowing a phone to call him.
4.
Arrange to
pay off debts. I need to fulfill my
legitimate obligations when I liquidate.
5.
Consider
where to live. Children must be kept
warm and clothed, and so my living arrangements must be suitable for my whole
family. I might find a friend with whom
we could live, or maybe several friends in whose homes we could stay for a few
days or weeks at a time. I could earn my
keep by working projects around the house and yard. Failing that, I could get permission to camp
on someone’s land. In that case, I would
need camping gear, and some means to haul it when I moved—maybe a large cart or
wagon. If we opted for urban living, we could
stay in homeless shelters during cold weather, and stay under bridges in warmer
times.
6.
Inventory
your possessions. If I were to sell
everything, what would be included? Not
only would I need to consider my hard assets, but also my bank accounts and
investments. I would need to return
borrowed items and find suitable homes for the heirloom furniture in my
house.
7.
Plan the
sale of your possessions. I will need
to balance speed of sale with selling at top dollar. I will consider the best way to sell various
items. Some items may fetch the best
price on Ebay, while other items I could sell to friends. Do I need to work for top dollar on my possessions,
if I’m giving the money to the poor anyway?
The fastest way to sell would be absolute auction, if speed is my
primary consideration. The sooner I can
follow Jesus, the better, right?
8.
Have mail
forwarded to a friend. Even without a
home address, I may need to receive some correspondence. I should have no bills coming for me,
however. This friend will need to know
how to reach me, and bring me my mail.
My prayer partner would be the perfect person.
9.
Make arrangements
at work. Chances are that Jesus will
call me to leave work when I begin to follow him so radically. I’ll let the boss know, so that my leaving
won’t come as a surprise. Maybe I will
train my replacement.
10. Cancel all subscription services. This includes cell phones, internet access,
utilities, insurance.
11. Find a way to get food. We will get hungry soon after we sell and
give away everything. I’ll need to know where
soup kitchens are. I may have a list of
friends who will give me food or share meals with us.
12. Find arrangements for bathing. Homeless shelters often have shower
facilities. Bathing in public restrooms
is not optimal, so we will want to bathe where we sleep, unless we are under bridges
or in a tent. It may be possible to
bathe in streams in some areas. We won’t
want to do that in cold weather unless absolutely necessary.
 |
| Near Kingston, Jamaica |
13. Determine how to distribute money to the
poor. The fastest and easiest way
would be to give a lump sum to one or more charities that aid the poor. Through research and prayer I could find the
appropriate places for my donation. I
think it would mean more to me, however, if I gave directly to the poor. I could see them face to face and have some
connection with them. I will need a way
to find these people, and I may need some sort of selection process to weed out
the non-poor. Cash would be the best way
to share. Would I give the same amount
to everyone, or would I give more to some than others, depending on the Spirit’s
leadership and my sympathy for their situation?
Giving out money sounds easy, but the logistics would be
considerable. I would not want fights to
break out. And how do I want these gifts
to change lives? I would rather help people
get on their feet than enable addicts to feed their addictions. I wonder if Jesus would give to an addict…maybe
he would.
14. Follow Jesus. After giving away my last dollar, I would be
standing in the street, totally dependent on God, despite my diligent preparations. Jesus may call me to serve in the country, in
the city or on another continent. But I would
be ready to go anywhere and do anything.
I might even care more about the least of these.
