"Blessed Are The Poor"

I think that one of the things we can learn from this situation in Wesley’s life is that our perspective on our possessions radically changes when we open our eyes to the needs of the world around us.

When we look in the faces of brothers and sisters whose bodies are malnourished and whose brains are deformed because they have no food, Christ will change our desires, and we will give more than the occasional $10 or $20 dollars many of us throw in the offering plate.

We might even set a cap on our lifestyles.

What if we got to the point where we could draw a line, saying, “This is enough, and I am giving away everything I have or earn above this line?”

This is what John Wesley did.

Every year his income increased, but he kept his standard of living the same.

At one point Wesley was making the equivalent of about $160,000 a year in today’s terms, but he was living as if he were making $20,000 a year.

As a result he had $140,000 to give away that year.

Just imagine what would happen if you and I decided that having a $50,000 a year salary doesn’t mean living a $50,000 a year lifestyle!!!

If we put a cap on our lifestyles we would be free to give the rest of our resources away for the glory of Christ, and the poor would be blessed because we were truly acting as the Church of Jesus Christ!!!

Scripture clearly teaches that this is what God intends for us to do.

Just across the street off of Ringgold Road there is a motel which is filled with hundreds of young families with children.

They have been displaced by the economic upheaval.

When you go over there, it looks like a war zone!!!

The people are literally starving.

What if we were to give to the church so that we as a church could give to them?

Would not this sanctuary be filled to overflowing with children and young people who have seen the Gospel in action and have thus been blessed beyond measure?

What would happen if we started giving not just what we are able to give, but beyond what we are able to give?

What if, like the widow in Luke 21 who gave all she had, we began to give what it hurt us to give?

What if we gave like this, not just because of the critical need around us, but because this kind of giving is actually what the heart of Christ in us both demands and desires?

In 1 Timothy 6, Paul tells Timothy to command the rich “to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”

This, Paul says, is the key to being free from the deadly nature of wealth and possessions.

Give.

Give generously, abundantly, and sacrificially.

Give not because your stuff is bad.

Give because Christ is in you.

Give because your heart has been captured by a Savior Who produced in you “overflowing joy,” welling up in “rich generosity.”

This is the kind of freedom that the first disciples experienced.

After Jesus had a conversation with a rich young man who was unwilling to give up his wealth, Peter turned to Jesus and exclaimed, “We have left everything to follow you!”