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4: Making Decisions | 5: Generosity
Keys For Living: Generosity
ILLUS - Three pastors were talking about how they get paid. One said, "I draw a circle on the floor. Then I throw the offering money up in the air. And whatever is inside the circle I keep, and whatever is outside is God's." The second one said, "I draw a circle on the floor too. Then I throw the offering money up in the air. And whatever is outside the circle I keep, and whatever is inside is God's." The third one said, "I draw a circle on the floor too. Then I throw the offering money up in the air. And whatever He wants He keeps."
Money is a major issue in life, and so it isn't surprising to find that a considerable amount of the New Testament and especially the teachings of Jesus are devoted to handling money.
We're continuing in our series on Keys For Living.
So far, we've talked about perseverance, living honestly, getting God's vision, and making decisions.
But if you come to me and tell me what you're spending your money on, I can tell you what is dear to your heart.
Today, we're talking about being a generous person.
1 Tim 6:11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.
One of the things in life that we are to pursue is godliness.
Godliness means to be like God; to take on His characteristics.
That's pretty logical really, because if God is our Father, there should be a family resemblance.
In the natural realm, you don't necessarily get the characteristics you want.
ILLUS - My father was tall, good-looking, had wavy hair, was good at maths, had blue eyes. And here I am: blue eyes, slightly wavy hair, incredibly good-looking, good at maths, but I missed out on the height.
I got some qualities, and missed out on others.
But what if you could choose the kinds of features you wanted to inherit?
I could go back and say, "I'll take the hair, the blue eyes, don't want the nose (please, not the nose), want the maths ability, don't want the fair skin, but hey, how about another six inches in the height department?"
Spiritually, God gives us exactly that kind of opportunity.
We can aim to be just like Him.
And God is amazingly generous.
We live in a world teeming with thousands of different kinds of animals, fish, birds, insects, plants, flowers, colours, sounds, tastes, textures.
When God does something, He does it lavishly because He is generous, even to the point of personal pain.
He sacrificed to give us the greatest gift the world has ever seen.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
God has a giving heart, and that's the kind of heart we need too.
Here are four steps to becoming a generous person:
1. Replace Fear With Faith
One of the biggest hindrances to generosity is fear.
Fear asks questions like: What if I run out of money?
What if I can't pay my bills?
What if I don't have enough to be generous?
What if God doesn't come through for me?
Some of these questions have an element of truth.
But Jesus said: Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.
ILLUS - Ever noticed that your cereal comes in a great big box, but when you open it, and you puncture the bag, all you can hear is phhh? Know what that is? That's the sound of a half empty packet. But when God gives, He gives pressed down shaken together, and running out all over.
God's kingdom doesn't use the same principles as this present world system.
In this world system, my generosity is determined by how much I have.
But in God's kingdom, my faith in God is what determines how generous I can become.
My faith can overcome my natural limitations.
ILLUS - Mk 12:41-441 - So here's the scene: Jesus is sitting opposite the treasury. They are in the Court of the Women, and lined up against the wall are 13 trumpet-shaped receptacles, placed there to receive people's donations to the temple, and Jesus is watching. And all the rich people are putting in heaps of money. Then in comes a poor widow who puts in two coins2, each one worth about 1/8 of a cent. So that's not a lot of money. But we know some really important things here:
1. She's a widow. There was no Social Security, no widow's pension.
2. She was poor, and when they said poor back then, they meant it.
3. She had two coins. And according to Jesus, those two coins were all that she had.
I wonder if she thought, "Lord, this is all I've got. Can I keep one?"
Amazingly, she gave everything she had.
Given her circumstances, what enabled her to do that?
She operated out of faith, and not fear.
By faith that which was least in value became of greatest value to God.
By faith, she understood that God would come through for her.
Entire churches in the New Testament had that same ability to give sacrificially.
2 Cor 8:1-4 Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: (2) that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. (3) For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, (4) imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
ILLUS - Here's the situation: The Macedonian churches lived in a very prosperous area. But now they're being persecuted for their faith, so they are experiencing deep poverty. But their faith is strong. And they hear that the Jerusalem church is in financial need (Rom 15:26). They take up a collection to give to Paul to take back to Jerusalem. And Paul must have looked at it and said, "No way! You guys need this yourselves." But they pleaded with him. "Please take it."
Paul calls this ability to give sacrificially a work of grace.
He says to the Corinthians, (2 Cor 8:7) But as you abound in everything; in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us; see that you abound in this grace also.
ILLUS - How many of you have brothers or sisters? Think about them for a moment. Aren't they annoying? Especially if your parents ever said to you, "Why can't you be more like your brother / sister?"
Paul is saying to the Corinthians, "Hey, why can't you be like your sister churches in Macedonia, who are so good at giving generously?"
God's amazing grace had brought amazing faith to the Macedonians which resulted in the grace of generous giving despite their deep poverty.
ILLUS - This is a note from a child we support in Rwanda, and received May 2006: "Theo says that he can't forget to thank you for the Christmas gift amounting to seven thousand two hundred twenty Francs. They bought [food]..., thanksgiving offering worth 720 Frw."
Despite their poverty, they gave 10% as a thanksgiving offering to God.
If you want to be a generous person, you have to replace fear with faith.
2. Manage Well What You've Already Got
ILLUS - I used to teach music, and one guitar student, said to me after a couple of lessons, "I don't want to play guitar anymore. I want my parents to buy me a set of drums." I said, "Are you serious?" He said, "Yeah." So I said, "Try to put yourself in your parents' position. Imagine you're a parent. Your son is listening to his favourite band, and thinks, 'Wow, that guitar sounds cool.' So he comes to you and says (with a tantrum), 'Waah! I wanna play guitar. I wanna play guitar.' You say, 'Okay, okay.' You've got other things to spend your money on, but you buy him a guitar, pay for some lessons, and after two lessons, he comes back to you and says (with tantrum), 'Waah! I wanna play drums. I wanna play drums.' Would you really be dumb enough to buy him a set of drums?"
It's true, isn't it?
Be faithful with what you've got, and God might entrust you with more.
Luke 16:10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.
Here's a saying that I've so often found to be true: Most people don't have a money problem; they've got a spending problem.
So being faithful means I learn how to handle money and control spending.
3. Deal With The Love Of Money
1 Tim 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil
ILLUS - True story: richest man in USA died and left all his money to his three sons, who individually became the richest men in the USA. Before he died he was asked, "What's it like to be so wealthy? He said: "Oh, you shouldn't ask me that question. You should talk to so-and-so. He's rich."
A person who loves money never has enough, is never content, and the more they earn, the more they spend.
How can we deal with the love of money in our own lives, because it so easily grips a person's life?
And it does it so slowly, so gradually, that you're not even aware of what's happening.
I believe the key is to let God teach us how to be generous people.
ILLUS - John Wesley said that revival leads to hard work, and hard work leads to prosperity, and prosperity leads to "pride, anger, and love of the world " Then he said there's only one way to avoid this: "If those who 'gain all they can,' and 'save all they can,' will likewise 'give all they can,' then the more they gain, the more they will grow in grace, and the more treasure they will lay up in heaven."
ILLUS - A few years ago, we were trying to sell our car. A couple put $200 deposit on it but said they had one more car to see. The next day they rang and said, "We're sorry. We really like the one we saw on the way home. We don't know what you want to do with the deposit." I thought, "Woo-hoo, $200." But the Lord started to work on my love of money. I said to my wife, "Let's just keep $50, the cost of advertising." She agreed. But later she said, "I think we should return it all." I said, "Yeah, you're right." So we did.
It's an ongoing challenge for God to pry open my fingers.
The challenge isn't how can we make money: The challenge is how can we deal with the love of money in our hearts?
It's not what we get that really counts; it's what we give away.
4. Plan Generosity
Is 32:8 But a generous man devises generous things, and by generosity he shall stand.
Notice this: A generous man doesn't just do generous things, he devises generous things.
What does it mean to devise generous things?
The first time the Heb word for devise (y?'as pronounced yaw-ass) is used in the Bible is in Ex 18:19.
ILLLUS - This is what happened. Moses was responsible to judge all Israel, and it was wearing him out. So his father-in-law talked to him and said:
Ex 18:19-24 "Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you...
Jethro presented to Moses "a carefully thought out plan together with a procedure for its implementation";3 it was a detailed plan of action
When Jethro says, "I will give you counsel", that's what this word indicates: Thinking something through and coming up with a plan.
And that's the same word that's used in Is 32:8 when it says, "But a generous man devises generous things..."
The idea is to think it through and come up with a plan.
Without a plan, things are very unlikely to happen.
How can I plan to be a generous person?
Here are some ideas of the kinds of plans you may devise in your aim to become a generous person.
Maybe one of these ideas will click with you, or you might come up with something of your own.
It doesn't matter how you get the plan; the important thing is that you've got one.
Let me make something clear: Generosity is a lot more than what you put in the offering on Sunday.
None of these ideas has anything to do with the Sunday offering - your Sunday giving shouldn't be affected by this, unless you want to give more.
First, here are some ideas on actually getting some money together in the first place.
1. Set aside some of your income
This shouldn't affect your giving to the church.
For instance, you might decide that you'll put aside 1% of your income to use as God wants you to.
If you're earning $500 pw, that's only $5 pw that you save, which mightn't be very much, but it adds up.
2. Set aside a specific section of your income
For instance, you may keep all of the board you receive from your children for a specific purpose.
Or you might save all the coins you get.
Or decide to get one less pack of chocolate biscuits, or one less packet of chips, and put the coins in a jar.
3. Decide what you can live on for a week and give away the rest
This won't suit everyone, but maybe you're the kind of person who can live so economically, you would be able to do this.
ILLUS - John Wesley did this. His salary doubled in one year, but he decided he could still live on the same amount, so he gave the rest away. And the Lord kept giving him more and more, so that in 1787 he told one of his preachers that he never gave away less than £1000 per year.
Obviously, this kind of commitment requires an exceptional Kingdom focus.
4. Set event markers to trigger your giving
For instance, every time you reduce your mortgage by a specific amount, you could celebrate that event by blessing someone.
This way, your giving goals are all planned out in advance.
Once you've figured out a way of putting aside some extra money, ask the Lord what He wants you to do with it, but here are some ideas.
Give the money to someone in need, or buy them some groceries, or take a needy family to the movies.
It could be someone in your church, someone in the community, someone on the mission field.
I'm just trying to encourage you to have a plan, because I know that without a systematic plan we will never reach our generosity potential.
Plan to bless someone today
1 See Lane, William L. The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Gospel of Markp442
2 NKJV translates as mites; Greek calls them lepta; one lepton, two lepta
3 Harris, Laird R. (Ed.), Archer, Jr. Gleason L. (Assoc. Ed.), Waltke, Bruce, K. (Assoc. Ed.) Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament Vol 1, p390