"Give to everyone who asks you..." Luke 6:30 Yes, He said "everyone" but did He really mean everyone? The guy that proclaims he "Will work for food" at the busy intersection every afternoon during rush hour? The television evangelist with a fleet of luxury cars? The lazy neighbor that refuses to work? Is Jesus calling us to indiscriminate charity? Shockingly I think He was. And I think He this command was directed more at the giver than the recipient.
If we live lives of generosity then we are not held captive by the things we own. If someone, like the Syrian kid that knocked on our door yesterday, asks for money and we give it what does it cost? He said he had six small brothers, that his entire family is sick, that their living conditions are squalid. He might have been lying but we know that these things are true of most refugees here. Really, what did $10 cost us?
Jesus' revolutionary words on that mount not too far from here, were meant to be heeded. If someone asks of you, give. If someone asks of you, give. If someone asks of you, give! He's teaching me that still. God help us to hold things loosely, to live generously and to give to everyone who asks...uh, except that televangelist with the private jet.
Note: "To every man, whether Jew or Gentile; friend or foe; believer or unbeliever; a good, or a bad man; worthy or unworthy; deserving or not, that asketh alms, whether food or money; give it freely, readily, cheerfully, according to your abilities, and as the necessity of the object requires."1
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