Did Jesus advocate redistribution?  Yes.  But not in the way you might think.

Matthew 25:14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 22 “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ 23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 24 “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The primary point of this parable is to show that those who are preparing for the coming of the King will not play it safe with what they’ve been given.  Playing it safe while waiting for His return only leads to redistribution from the one who produces nothing to the ones who will produce results.  Jesus tells us that the Master in the parable (who is a picture of Jesus Christ, by the way) distributes and then He redistributes based on results (i.e. gain, profit, fruit, etc.).

Doesn’t it seem remarkably unfair in our culture for Jesus to take from one who was given so little and give what that guy had to one who already has so much?

Jesus doesn’t think of fairness the way we do.  I wouldn’t go so far as to say we have a capitalist Jesus, but He’s also not a stupid Jesus.  He doesn’t want us to:

• throw pearls before swine,
• rip up perfectly good wheat because there are tares in there,
• keep branches on the vine that will only suck the life out of the vineyard plants struggling to produce fruit, or
• let deceivers drain the life out of the Church.

Jesus is concerned about fruit…and when you stop and think about it, the giving of anything whether the little or a lot is all by grace.  The rich of this world are rich by grace.  The poor of this world are provided for by grace, too.  Apart from grace, none of us would have anything.

A “stupid Jesus” would give equal amounts to every person and not care what happens from there.  It would have been equality, fairness, or in the eyes of so many political people, social justice.  Everyone has the exact same thing.  Until someone begins to use what they’ve been given.  Suddenly equality is out the window.

Three gospels tell the same story:  John 12:1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Did you catch the references to the poor? Both Judas and Jesus mentioned the poor.  Jesus said, “You will always have the poor among you.”  Or as it says in the Gospel of Mark, “The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.”

Jesus tells us that the poor, as a category, will always exist.

The minute that totally perfect equality encounters unequal action, equality disappears and inequality results.  Suddenly there’s injustice.  Suddenly there’s someone who is poorer than another who, by comparison, is now rich.  This is why Jesus isn’t stupid.  If the poor cannot not be made equal forever on earth, it’s better to show grace to everyone and let each person glorify God with what he’s been given.  Whether rich or comparatively poor, what matters is the return on Jesus’ investment and we all have choices to make with what we’ve been given.  Are you concerned about how the rich use their money?  Encourage them to produce fruit from what they’ve been given and to be charitably minded toward the poor as a response of grace.  Rich and poor will be held accountable someday for what we did with the resources God entrusted to us, whether resources of income, property, or of people for whom to care.

Luke 12:48b “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

Mark 12: 38 As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.” 41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything– all she had to live on.”

 After Jesus excoriates the teachers of the law for devouring widows’ houses, why did Jesus let the poor widow put money into the temple treasury?  (It was all she had to live on.)

Jesus was not a disinterested observer.  He was watching the crowd put their money in and was carefully considering what was happening.

He saw rich people throw in large amounts of money, yet He didn’t say anything praiseworthy about their levels of contribution.  There were many rich people, yet He didn’t say anything comparing two rich people, assessing their relative levels of giving.

Then toddles up the poor widow.  She puts in a relative pittance—a fraction of a penny.  Why didn’t Jesus stop her?  Doesn’t He care about the poor?  If He knew it’s all she had to live on, why didn’t He tell her not to do it—to keep that money because she had nothing else?

The truth is that Jesus doesn’t view the poor the way we do. 

He doesn’t see rich as good and poor as bad (a status needing correction).  Nor does He condemn the rich as bad (needing to get religion) and glorify the poor as good (morally better). 

That’s a human assessment made by people preoccupied with money and engaging in prideful, often self-serving comparisons.  We categorize rich and poor and may even assign a morality to them basis the amount of money they have.

If anything, Jesus considers the rich to be under a far greater burden because the rich have the means not to depend on God at all.  The poor of our world are often far happier than the rich of our world.  Why is that?

Perhaps before we go beyond helping to alleviate poverty—which is definitely a Christian thing to do—and attempt to do something Jesus Himself did not do (though He is God, sinless and perfect) by giving them sufficient money to elevate their living status to middle-class or rich, maybe it’s good to ask ourselves why Jesus didn’t do that when He walked the earth.  Pause and think on that one awhile.

In the temptations of Jesus, we read:

 “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.  “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”  Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'” (Matthew 4:8-10)

Desiring riches and splendor can lead to temptation and worship of the wrong things and that will only get any of us in trouble.  Jesus knew that for Himself.  Why not us?

The poor certainly hold a special place in God’s heart–I will not argue against that.  Christian compassion should compel us to meet their daily needs of sustenance as the Body of Christ.  However, there must be more to the issue than just money and maybe that’s why Jesus didn’t stop the widow or remove her from that place of dependence upon God.

Proverbs 30:8b “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.”

This Scripture below is one of the favorites of those whose primary passion is Social Justice.  Read this passage again and there are questions for reflection below.

Matthew 25: 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’  45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

So, to all you Political Social Justice folks out there, I have some questions:

1. People will be separated, one from another.  How will Jesus judge those who paid their taxes and then stepped back, not wanting to get their hands dirty and instead, delegated it to the government to pay for food, water, clothing, housing, health insurance, and do prison visits?  Does delegation count?
2. Who in the government bureaucracy will be the sheep: all the ones who touched the money all along the way, or only the last handler of it before it reached the hungry, thirsty, stranger, etc.?  Will it be fair that the last handlers would be in a job that allows them to be sheep while the rest of the people who cared just as much are punished for being earlier in the distribution process?  What happens if the last handler or anyone along the way didn’t really care, but it was just a job?  Do they get to be sheep, too?
3. Does the Scripture passage say to alter the needy person’s station in life or simply provide for their needs-of-the-moment as a demonstration of love for the King?
4. Does this passage tell us to take money from our neighbor’s bank account so they will do what we think they should do by caring for others?  Or does it adopt more of a “You feed them” approach where each of us takes a very individual, active, and personally sacrificial interest in our fellow man?  Furthermore, do our good intentions count if we use our neighbor’s money to do it instead of our own?
5. What does it mean that these people being served are Jesus’ brothers?  Are we all Jesus’ brothers in the same way, or is there a family of man and a family of God?
6. Each human is made in the image of God.  How does doing something for someone translate over to doing it for Jesus?
7. Are there geographical lines to our helping in this situation above?  If Jesus died for the US government to provide for US citizens (and possibly illegal immigrants), why do we draw national boundaries in our provision?  Why not provide also for Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, etc.?  What is our Scriptural reason to draw the lines on the northern and southern borders of the US?
8. If food stamps and mandated health insurance are Jesus’ preferred means of provision, how do you see the government giving God the glory?
9. Where is the individual’s joy in all of this by being a cheerful giver?  Do charity and taxation provide equal levels of joy?
10. We’re not all taxed equally.  Some pay higher rates and end up contributing more government revenue than others.  Will Jesus condemn the person who had no money to sacrificially give to another?  Does He give the poor person a bye because he’s poor in the passage above?
11. Where is the government in the Scripture above?  Where is the Church?
12. Does Jesus advocate political/governmental redistribution or charity?  Why?

These are important questions for the person being theologically consistent. 

Maybe today would be a good time to pray about what our obligations are in the brotherhood of man and what they are as Christians in the family of God.

Well, I had a very interesting long weekend.  Not a typical weekend, but a very rewarding one.  I’ve been living in the grace of God, Doing it for the King, and engaging in Social Justice Done Right.

Amid all kinds of talk about whether pastors should be extolling from the pulpit the benefits of government and justice politics with respect to the poor, God has been revealing a better way.  God has been showing me the truly Christian way of Social Justice Done Right, Doing it for the King.

This past weekend was amazing.  It was a long weekend, not because I had time off, but because I had an extended time of active work for the Lord.

I was doing Social Justice Done Right.  As you read below, my point isn’t to brag because none of this stuff originated with me, but it does point out there are beyond ample ways that Christians can do Social Justice Right by Doing it for the King.

On Thursday, I engaged in my first opportunity to “Change the World” with my annual policy of finding whatever spare change is kicking around the house, my purse, the car, etc. and putting it in the Salvation Army buckets each and every time I find one whether anyone was ringing or not.  If I didn’t have any change, a bill of some type goes in.  I tell the ringers, “God bless you!” or “Jesus loves you!” and always “Merry Christmas” and “Thank you!”

Thursday night, my friend began her mission trip to Tanzania with funds many others and I donated throughout the entire year (including a check just this week) and a video on Overcoming Suffering that I made for her to use there since I couldn’t go personally.  The video had been a month in the making and to see it finished and on its way to blessing people encouraged my heart.  The afternoon before they left, I had prayed for my friend, the video, the people traveling, and the people to whom they were ministering.  As she rode to the airport that evening and was waiting to board the plane, I encouraged a few people I knew in their music ministry at my church.  It reminded me that people can be encouraged in many different ways.

Friday rolled around and I was shopping for food for the local food pantry, buying some of every item on the list they gave my husband’s employer for their collection purposes.  My heart was filled with gratitude to God because it is something I can do.  It reminded me of the moment that Jesus turned to the disciples and said,

 “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14:16)

Amazing!  There are things I can do to give people something to eat.  I could also share joy and the gospel with people as Friday continued with more “Change the World,” and buying toys, etc. for Operation Christmas Child (a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse).  The cashier and the people behind me (chuckling about the distinct groupings on the belt) were blessed by my words of gratitude for easy to read receipts and cash register subtotals as I explained I was shopping for people in need.  They all smiled as I said, “God bless you!”

I came home from shopping and unloaded the items onto the table.  I boxed and I sorted and I thought about each man, woman, and child who may come to the food pantry.  I thought about each child receiving a shoebox of happy stuff and the smiles on their faces.  I was happy, too.  I prayed over the items while sorting them into their boxes.  My heart swelled with joy in a way that paying a tax bill to be redistributed could never accomplish.  I was helping in a very direct fashion.

On Saturday, I got a chance to encourage another woman in ministry and did my volunteer work preparing for the chapel services at the hospital on Sunday morning before encouraging two dear friends at their 40^th Birthday Bash Out Hunger held at Feed My Starving Children.  I was so excited about being a part of the volunteer ministry of preparing meals to feed the hungry around the world.  My friends chose to have their birthday party in a place where they, too, could do Social Justice Done Right by Doing it for the King.  They asked for no gifts for themselves, but made a point of mentioning the needs of this ministry to feed the poor.  I wrote out a donation check that would help FMSC meet their financial needs.  My friends–because of their beautiful Christian hearts–have a great many friends who joined them, all of us spending 2 glorious hours packing 106 boxes – more than 60,000 meals.  The meals, a Potato-D product, are going to help with feeding the hungry in the Philippines and managing side effects of diseases like cholera that can be deadly, particularly to children and the elderly there in the wake of the super typhoon.  It made me happy to do something for the Philippines.

It was while I was driving there to pack meals that it suddenly occurred to me that God was blessing me with a vision of what the Church—not the institutional church, but the organic church—can do when each person does what he or she can, Doing it for the King.

I don’t mean to imply that the institutional church cannot play a role here, too.  The institutional church can minister to needs by pooling resources and doing things that one individual cannot.  The institutional church can also inspire each of us to do our part in Social Justice Done Right–Doing it for the King by preaching Jesus who said,

 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'” (Matthew 25:40)

That is why we also give to our local church even though I’m a self-supported missionary 52 weeks each year at our local hospital ministering to the sick.

I offer this recitation of my long weekend not to brag or to imply that this was a typical weekend by any stretch.  I share this personal vignette of my life because God designed it so beautifully and provided for it as only the King can.  It was a helpful instructive that millions of people–each of whom are doing what they can for the glory of God–can make an immediate and also eternal difference.  I was merely blessed by the many ways God could arrange for each of us to serve.  I remain in awe of the way they converged last weekend for special effect …and also for the joy I had in helping others.

You see, there is no shortage of ways we can help.

(A while back, I wrote a post outlining 50 different ways to live the Risen Life). 

Yes, the needs are great, but our King is greater.  His resources are never-ending. 

He’s just looking for an institutional and organic Church mobilized to take His hope, His help, His healing, His feeding the hungry, and yes, His gospel to a world in need.

I’ve been thinking a lot about God as King.  I feel like we’re repeating history and it’s not good.

There are few passages of Scripture that cut me to the core as this one (especially verses 7 and 22):

1 Samuel 8:1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. 4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” 6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.” 10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.” 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”

How incredibly sad!  

Yet, how many of us want God to give us what we want instead of what is best for us?

Do we covet earthly power, forgetting that the sovereign power of God is far greater?  

The Israelites then and we, today, reject God all the time!

• We reject Him every time we are not thankful for what abundance He has given us or envy what He’s given someone else.
• We reject Him every time we do not live the way Scripture calls us to live,  passing judgment on His Word as outdated, irrelevant, old fashioned, or passé.
• We reject Him every time we want to be lords over our own lives and do what we want, when we want.
• We reject Him every time we hate another person who has been made in God’s image.
• We reject Him every time we refuse to forgive other people.
• We reject Him every time we succumb to greed or refuse to care for those whom we know we can (and ought to) help.
• We reject Him every time we think we can outsmart God.
• We reject Him every time we want our government to do for us what God wants to do for us when we come to Him in faith.
• We reject Him every holiday season (whether that holiday is Christmas or Easter) by minimizing the religious significance and the holiness of that holy day, totally missing the etymology of the word itself is from the Old English haligdæg “holy day.”  Commercializing this holy time turns God into nothing more than an excuse to spend money and worship material things.

If Jesus were to return today…as King of Kings and Lord of Lords…would we know Him?  

He was rejected in His humanity in a way He will never be rejected when the last trumpet sounds at His return.  He will not be rejected when He returns in sovereign power with all authority.  

He will be King, Lord, and Judge.  There will be no more excuses to hold water on earth.  There will be no more rationalizations.  There will only be judgment for those of us who persisted in rejecting the King of glory while we had the opportunity in our lives to know Him as King.