It's The Little Things Series

And then there was Joanna, Chuza’s wife, she could probably pay for all of Jesus’ expenses by herself. That problem comes up time and time again in any situation that Mrs. Irving is involved in, people automatically assume that Jean should pay for it.

And there are still people like that in the church today. They have this expense and that expense and they know they are unique. They know that other people don’t have to pay the mortgage and car payment, other people don’t have to feed their children or pay for hockey and so those other people can afford to give to the church.

It’s easy to define luxury as something that someone else has that I don’t have, and at the same time declare that everything I have is stuff I need.

Some Saw No Value In The Kingdom Preaching These were folks who enjoyed what Jesus had to say, and perhaps they had directly benefited, they had enjoyed one of the spontaneous banquets that sometimes happened after he spoke. But they found it difficult to assign an intrinsic value to what he had to offer. They felt they couldn’t justify giving to Jesus’ ministry because it wasn’t benefiting them. Maybe if he had of promised them material blessings they could have found their way to give as kind of an investment. But they knew that when Jesus made statements like he did in Matthew 19:29 Jesus said “And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.” That he wasn’t talking about the here and now he was talking about the there and then. And add to that the statements he made like Matthew 5:11-12 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

And there are still people like that today, they attend church but they don’t really see the value in it, and if their church closed tomorrow they would just drift up or down the street and settle into another church they wouldn’t support.

And Some Just Weren’t There Yet. They were new in their faith and just hadn’t grown to that point yet. It was Martin Luther who said “People go through 3 conversions: their head, their heart and their pocketbook. Unfortunately, not all at the same time.” And so while they had gotten it here in their head, and that had made the transition to here in their heart, it still hadn’t made it all the way to the wallet in their back pocket.

Giving is part of the growth process in the Christian faith, and as you grow and mature in your faith your commitment to God increases and your trust in God increases and that is evidenced in your behaviour. Seriously some people talk about how much they trust that Jesus is in control and will provide their needs but they won’t take their hands off their money long enough for him to prove it. Instead you’ve simply proven the old adage The tighter we hold onto our money the tighter our money holds unto us.