“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.”
-Luke 6:24

I was recently struck by a video I saw from a group that does social experiments. A young man was asking for food in front of a pizza place. Time after time, he is turned down by people with an extra slice on their laps.

He then stumbles upon a homeless community member who is sitting with his belongings, eating pizza (full disclosure—the pizza had been given to him earlier by a different member of the team).

When the hungry young man asks for a slice, the man agrees to share, and they sit side by side on the sidewalk eating pizza.

I see Jesus in this story. I see Jesus sitting against a building with all that he owns. I see Jesus sharing what he has—even when it is not much. I see Jesus turning a few fish and loaves into an extra slice of pizza for a hungry man (I’m not talking about anchovy pizza, ya’ll).

Why is it that we hold so fiercely to our chests what we think is rightfully ours. Why do we have such a hard time giving, when it is one of the clearest messages in the Bible? If we didn’t understand “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation,” we should have at least understood “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24).

How about this section from Luke 12:33: “Sell your possessions, and give alms”? Could Jesus have been more straightforward? Jesus reminds us again and again that worldly possession are obsolete and that our greatest gift is to give to others.

So now that I have gotten you itching to serve Christ and hungry for pizza, go grab a pie (hold the anchovies) and share with someone in need.

Alyssa Finke spends her time writing, hiking, and cooking. She also really enjoys a nice adventure, and will cross oceans or city limit signs to have one. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Alyssa is the Marketing Coordinator for Forward Movement. Currently raising a tomato plant, a cactus, and several geraniums, her green-thumb aspirations are a work in progress.