It's kind of hard to deal with, so I asked the Lord about it. I spent some time with the Lord on this, and the Lord asked me: who is the richest man in that story?
There are 3 characters in the story: the rich man, Lazarus and Abraham. Abraham is the richest by far - and Abraham makes it! The Lord spoke to me and, He said: Shane, I am always against rich men; but I am always for wealthy stewards.
God is not looking to make ‘rich men’, but a nation of ‘wealthy stewards’, who use their money as God would have them use it - for the glory of God and the kingdom of God.
God would want every one of us to be so wealthy, that other nations would call us ‘blessed’ - but it's not wealth for our sake. It's not wealth so we could build bigger barns. It's wealth so we can take care of the people who can't take care of themselves.
You might think that the poor people need you. No - you and I need them! Yes, we do!
I'm going to read through a bunch of scriptures, and I want us to ask ourselves: where are we with this tonight?
Leviticus 19:9-10 – “When you reap the harvest of your land do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien, for I am the Lord your God.”
So when God was designing the Hebrew people's way of doing finances, every field was a square. He says: when you reap your field, don't reap the corners, reap a circle. If your whole life is a square - only live on a circle; give the corners away.
A circle in a square is 79% (pi/4), and if you look at the Jewish way of doing money, they have certain offerings that they give. If you add it all up, its 21% (part of which is to yourself) so built into them this attitude. God set it into their culture, into their mind, into their hearts that when you think about your life - you put other people first; not because they need you, but because you actually need them.
Deuteronomy 24:17-18 – “Do not deprive the alien, or the fatherless, of justice; or take the cloak of a widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there, and that is why I command you to do this”.
Once again, generosity - and it's not generosity because the poor people need it. God could rain down gold from heaven for the poor if He wanted to. It's not generosity because the poor people need it; it's generosity because we need it.
There's something that happens inside of us, when we take care of somebody who can do nothing for us in return, that reminds us in our heart, that God did something for me when I didn't deserve it. That is priceless.
Isaiah 10:1-2, God says: “woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to scribes who write lies; those who turn aside the needy from judgement, and steal the right from the poor of my people, so that widows may be their prey, and they rob orphans - woe to them.”
Generosity or greed?
In Luke 3:7-15 there's this guy called John the Baptist - and he has no people skills. He eats locusts, he eats bugs. This man eats bugs - and doesn't shave, and dips locusts in honey. If CNN and the internet would have been around back then, he'd have been like: the ‘Weirdo with the Beardo’ Guy.
Luke 3:-7-15, there was this group of people who came out to be baptised by him - and this is how he responds:
“And John said to the crowds coming out to be baptised by him: you brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves: we have Abraham as our father; for I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.”
That's not really how you grow a church is it? These people are coming out to be ministered to by him, and he says: you basket of snakes! Who has warned you to flee the coming wrath? You fatherless people! He's calling them ‘fatherless’. There's a bad word for that, which starts with a 'b'! Not really the best thing to call somebody, but it gets worse...