Stablizing Thoughts

As I was considering the prophecy and fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9 of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt, a son of a beast of burden as Matthew puts it, one of the adjectives used to describe the rider was "gentle" (Greek:praus). It is best translated "meek" and used in Jesus' sermon on the mount. "The meek shall inherit the earth." (Matt.5:5) Peter uses it to describe the required demeanor of a woman married to an unbeliever, if she is to win him. She must have "a gentle and quiet spirit." The noun of the word is used in James 1:21 to describe the attitude we must have if we are going to receive the word planted in us. Those who do receive this word are wise and prove it by deeds done in the gentleness of wisdom. (1 Peter 3:13) This allows them to then given appropriate answers to those who ask for reasons for hope, an answer given in gentleness and reverence. (1 Peter 3:15)

 

Aristotle explained this word/concept as a mean between two extremes: getting angry without reason and not getting angry at all. Now this is where balance comes in. Finding such a fulcrum is truly a balancing act. If you want to know how difficult this is, as if it needed to be proven, then stand on one foot or walk a narrow board, or a tight wire if you are that brave. The struggle to maintain balance becomes immediately evident. Just as our brain, inner ear, and muscles work together to find some stabilizing force to keep us from falling over or off, so we wrestle internally with thoughts which flood into our minds when we feel unstable and threatened.

 

Here is Jesus balancing on the back of a donkey's colt, jostling about on a small untested beast of burden, one on which no man had ever rode, seeking to maintain His balance on the uneven streets of His day. But just as it may have been difficult to stay atop of this animal, what was happening in the mind of Christ, who was clearly focused on the events that would soon unfold? Surely He possessed a disturbed mind, one agitated with the circumstances surrounding Him. In fact when He arrived at the temple His meekness was tested as He observed, yet again, the money-changers and robbers who had broken into His Father's house. What is the appropriate response to a home-invader? We know what He did. But, more importantly what stabilizing thoughts guided His response?

 

Perhaps if we carefully consider Jesus in this scene we might learn how much more we need stabilizing thoughts, truths that keep us balanced and focused and free from the extremes of becoming angry for no reason and not being angry at all. One thing I have learned in my journey into Challenger Deep is that Jesus possessed a beautiful mind, one tuned perfectly and one calibrated to respond to any and all circumstances of life with just the right degree of love, justice, mercy, wisdom, and grace. He found the balance between grace and law, justice and mercy. But, it all began with the thoughts of His mind.

Redistribution Of Wealth

I have been in Luke 19 for a while. There is a parable that comes after the story of Zaccheus that the NIV calls "Parable of Money Usage." It is a difficult parable and MUST be kept in the context of Jesus' present circumstances. These circumstances included 1) Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem for the last time, to die; 2) as he passes through Jericho he heals two blind men who have enough faith to cry out for healing and mercy; 3) he also takes some time to visit Zaccheus' home and bring salvation to it; 4) Zaccheus takes his considerable wealth and redistributes it to the poor and the ones he has cheated in his tax collection business. Now with this as the immediate backdrop, the crowd has a supposition in mind, i.e. that "the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately." In response to that Jesus told this parable.

The parable was about a nobleman who had ten slaves. Before he left to go to receive a kingdom for himself he distributed ten minas (about 100 days labor's worth) to the ten slaves. He told them to "do business" with their mina while he was gone. On his return one had turned the mina into ten, another to five, and another had nothing to show because he hid the mina in a handkerchief assuming the master would punish him if he lost his mina. So what does the nobleman do? He redistributes the wealth. He tells bystanders to take the mina from the slave and give it to the one who has ten minas and has been put over ten cities within this new kingdom. The bystanders complain that this is not a fair redistribution of wealth because the first slave already has ten minas and, by implication, does not deserve more.

So what is the point? Verse 26 seems to be key: "I tell you that to everyone who has shall more be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does not have shall be taken away." WHAT? This can't be right! Shouldn't wealth be distributed equally? Well that is not how things work in the real world nor in the kingdom of God. Now if everyone used what they were given equally then no one would lack anything they needed. But, people do not use what they have for the good of the kingdom. When the blind men used what they had, i.e. their voices to appeal to the Master Healer, they gained sight and the responsibility that came from it. When Zaccheus accepted Jesus' invitation to come to his home that day and he received salvation, he accepted the responsibility that comes with salvation, i.e. to use what he has for the good of the kingdom. He used his wealth to bless the kingdom of God and surely was rewarded for it. The slaves who multiplied their master's minas were rewarded with more responsibility (not more luxury).

So how is this redistribution of wealth supposed to work? Each person must access what they have received from God (see 1 Cor.4:7). Then they must use it to extend the influence of the kingdom of God throughout the earth, bringing everything under the King's control. By doing so they are blessed but also receive more responsibility. This kind of redistribution of wealth requires faith that is able to take a risk and character that is willing to receive the increased responsibility that comes with success. Merely moving money from one pocket to another is not God's means of redistributing the wealth! Think about it.