Series Title: Caught Up In Giving
Sermon 1: Giving To the Almighty God
Text: Ex 35:4-19 (KJV)
4 And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying,
5 Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass,
6 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,
7 And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,
8 And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,
9 And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.
10 And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded;
11 The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets,
12 The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the vail of the covering,
13 The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the shewbread,
14 The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light,
15 And the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle,
16 The altar of burnt offering, with his brasen grate, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot,
17 The hangings of the court, his pillars, and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court,
18 The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords,
19 The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office.
Subject: Giving To The Almighty God
This is the first Sunday of the month of December. December is the month in which we celebrate the coming and the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. It is during this month of December – during what we call the “holiday season” in which Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years are all celebrated – that it has become the custom of the land to honor one another with gifts. In other words, this is the time of year, like no other time of the year, that most of us get ceremoniously caught up in the spirit of gift giving.
I use the phrase “caught up” because when we use this phrase, it affectionately means that we have lost control. Let me give you an example. When a man tells his friend about a relationship he had with another woman, and he tells him that he just got caught up in the moment, what he is saying is that for a moment he lost control over his mind, over his body, and over whatever else he had, and was “caught up” with her. Have I got a witness in here? I’m just keeping it real.
Let me give you another example. When your child or my child gets picked up by the cops for shoplifting and they tell you that they just got “caught up” with the wrong friends, what they’re telling us, before we commence to beating the living daylights out of them, is that they lost control over their own minds and assumed their friends identity to commit something that you and I didn’t teach them to do. Am I right about it?
Let me give you one more example close to home. When church folk say that they got “caught up” in the spirit, what they’re essentially saying is that they lost control of themselves, and all the yelling, all the screaming, all the shouting, was because they got out of the way and let the Holy Ghost have its way. And just like those other instances, when we get caught up in the spirit of giving, we give like we’ve just lost our minds. Have I got a witness?
We give and we give until it hurts. It hurts our pocketbooks because after Christmas we ceremoniously find ourselves caught up in a struggle to pay our bills that we neglected so we could give. It hurts our feelings because oftentimes, most of us will give what we want for ourselves, but in return, we receive what we don’t want. Don’t act like ya’ll don’t know what I’m talking about, as giving as WE are during this holiday season, some people just don’t give up to OUR standards. So it hurts when we do the grab bag thing and choose names, and WE try to do right by the person whose name we chose, but someone else gives us something that looks like it was something they got last Christmas and didn’t want to keep. Giving can even hurt our pride when, because of financial constraints, we can’t give the fine gifts that we would like to give. Am I right about it?
Biblically speaking, gift giving can be traced back beyond the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. It was Abraham who gave gifts to the sons of his concubines that they would go far away from his son and heir, Isaac. It was the Moabites and the Syrians who brought gifts to David and became his servants after he conquered and destroyed them in battle. It was King Jehoshaphat who gave great gifts of gold, silver, and precious things to his younger sons, but to his first born, his eldest son, Jerhoram, he gave the kingdom. Yes, my brothers and sisters, gift giving was prevalent in Old Testament times for many different reasons and varying occasions.
But the spirit of giving didn’t stop in the Old Testament. The Bible tells us that gift giving was the order of the day when Jesus Christ was born in the city of David called Bethlehem. We all know the story. In the second chapter of the gospel according to Matthew, magi, or wise men, came from the Far East, and upon finding Jesus in Bethlehem, they presented him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In today’s time, we still give gifts of gold and jewelry. In today’s times, we still give gifts of frankincense, or perfume as we would call it today. But today, I don’t know too many of us who would want to receive oil to anoint our body before burial, as a gift. We all know we’ve got to go, but we sure don’t want anyone rushing us along. Have I got a witness?
And yet, over 2000 years ago, Jesus was given the gift of myrrh with a specific purpose in mind. As a matter of fact, all of these gifts were given with purpose. Gold was given as a gift symbolizing royalty. It was given to establish that Jesus Christ was and is, king of kings and lord of lords. Likewise, frankincense was a very costly fragrance that could only be afford by and worn by royalty and those who were wealthy by the standard of those times. Even though Jesus’ family was poor, he was honored as one who was rich. He was honored as the one who gives and the one who takes away. He was honored as one who controlled riches and didn’t let riches control him. Lastly, my brothers and sisters, Jesus was presented with myrrh, the ointment of death. This gift signified the death and suffering that Jesus would have to undergo as savior of the world.
And yet, in addition to their spiritual value and meaning, these gifts had a monetary value. These gifts were enough to provide financial resources for the family of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus as they would have to flee into Egypt for protection against King Herod. My brothers and sisters, these gifts had meaning. They were meaningful gifts with a meaningful purpose. They served as provisions for the newborn king and the young family of three.
Even today, we give gifts during the holiday season for various purposes. Some of us give gifts to show the love we have for our family members and our friends. Some gifts are given to show respect or honor to those persons with whom we work for or work with on our jobs. Some gifts are given to produce a certain response; for example, we give gag gifts to induce humor and cause laughter. And still, some gifts are given to fulfill a need. Some of us give gifts of money to those we know are in need of a financial blessing. Many children receive underclothes, socks, handkerchiefs, and other essentials during the Christmas, giving season because they have a need for these things. These gifts are often appreciated by the recipient.
As a matter of fact, there was even a time in the history of our giving, when stockings would be filled with apples, oranges, candy canes, and nuts and that of itself was all of what was given during Christmas time. If some of our children were to wake up on Christmas today, to find only a stocking full of nuts, fruit and candy, needless to say, most of them would be rather disappointed at the gift they received on the biggest day of giving of the year. Have I got a witness?
And yet, when those items were given back in the day, those on the receiving end, thought that those things – the fruit, the candy, and the nuts - were worth their weight in gold because they had received them for Christmas. They were given with love. And with love, they were received. That is what Christmas is supposed to be about anyway. Am I right about it?
But let’s not go there yet. Down through the years, the holiday season has become commercialized and saturated with advertisements whose main goal is to get your money. Retailers want to get your money any which way they can. They don’t care about what you need. They don’t care about what purpose you are buying it for. They don’t care about who will benefit from what you buy. All they care about is selling their merchandise and getting paid in full. Am I right about it?
Most of us don’t mind going to the department store and spending money on presents for our family. Most of us don’t mind spending money on that someone special – our husbands, our wives, our boyfriends, our girlfriends – we don’t mind spending money and buying gifts for those who we love. As a matter of fact, let the truth be told, some of us will go in debt, we will charge up our credit card, we will make a sacrifice to ensure that those we love receive the gift that we think they are worthy of receiving. Oh I wish I had some help up in here. The truth ain’t nothing but the truth.
And yet that same spirit of giving, that same spirit of sacrifice, that same spirit of going beyond our own means seems to leave us when we walk into God’s house. Now if you can’t say “amen” just move your toes out of the way. You see, that spirit that makes sure we present the best gifts to our friends and family, takes a back seat in our giving to the God who provides all of our needs. The spirit that causes us to sacrifice and go in debt to provide the perfect gift for our special loved ones, is no where to be found when we present our less than perfect gifts to the Lord on Sunday morning. We go out of our way to please man. We go out of our way to please woman. We go out of our way to please our boys and our girls. But how come we don’t go out of our way to please GOD. How come we don’t get caught up when it comes time to bless the one who blesses us?
My brothers and sisters, it becomes necessary today for us to reevaluate our responsibilities to God. Giving to God is NOT an option, but it is something that has been required from time immemorial. Just like we give gifts to bless others for many, many reasons, gifts were given to God for a multitude of reasons by the children of Israel.
First of all, gifts were given to honor God. So many times we see people get up before the church saying: Giving honor to God, to the Pastor, to the Officers, Members and Friends, so and so and so and so and so and so and so. And yet they don’t honor God where it counts: with their money. One televangelist coined the phrase “money cometh,” but I stopped by to let you know today that money won’t cometh unless you bringeth. Have I got a witness?
Proverbs 3:9 (KJV) tells us to “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” In other words, we are to honor God with what we have; with the first portion of what we have. A lot of times in our giving, we have a tendency to take care of every one else and leave God for last. We will pay our house note, our car notes, our light bill, our water bill, our gas bill, our credit car bills, and all the other bills that we have and IF there’s anything left, we’ll make sure we have lunch money for work or change for the snack machine, and THEN we’ll put 50 cents or a dollar into the collection place on Sunday morning. We’ll present that less than perfect gift to GOD and then poke our chest out like we’ve given a whole mint. But I stopped by this morning, on my way to heaven, to let you know that GOD doesn’t want your scraps. Maybe other church folk don’t see your heart, but GOD sees your heart and knows what you’ve done. The Lord doesn’t want gifts that can’t bless Him the way HE and HIS house deserves to be blessed. GOD wants what is rightfully due unto Him. He wants your best, not your mess. Tell your neighbor: God wants your best.
Not only does God want your best, but He wants you to give your best willingly. When some of us give, it is not because we want to “willingly” bless God. But instead, we give out of necessity. We give expecting to receive something in return. We give because we’ve been commanded to give. We give because we’ve made it a habit to give, however, shortchanged our giving might be. But I want you to know this morning that if you’re not giving willingly, then your giving AND YOUR LIVING, is in vain.
God tells Moses in Exodus 25:2 to “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.”
Moses then confirms their purpose in Exodus 35:5 by telling the people to “Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD.”
Then when Moses is giving the Mosaic Laws in Deuteronomy, the Word of God is written in chapter 16 and verse 10 that “thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. In other words, the offering should given of one’s own freewill. You should not be forced to give, but you should give willingly. Am I speaking to someone this morning?
It is when we give willingly that GOD will bless us. God tells us that when we bring Him His offering, the offering that He’s entitled to; if we give willingly, then we are able to take of HIS offering. I don’t know about you this morning, but I know how rich my God is. My God has abundance on top of abundance. My God is rich beyond rich. If HE blesses me, you better believe I’ve got a blessing that can’t be topped. And all I’ve got to do to get my blessing is to give unto HIM willingly. Turn around and tell somebody: “I want my blessing.”
Not only should we give to God willingly, but we must also give perfect gifts to Him. Gifts to God should not be imperfect in any way, shape, form or fashion. In biblical times, the children of Israel were not permitted to give a lamb of a goat or a sheep that was blemished in any kind of way. They were not permitted to give animals that were less than perfect. They were not allowed to bless God with animals that had been raised by those who did not know the Lord. The gift had to be perfect. It had to be worthy of presentation to God.
And I’m not going to tell you what is or is not worthy for presentation to the Lord, but IF you ask Him, he’ll tell you himself. He’ll let you know when what you give is less than perfect because you will not be able to keep what you chose to keep for yourself. Your car will break down and money will have to come out of your pocket. The pipes in your house will burst and money will have to be spent for repair. Someone will break into your house and steal what you worked hard to buy and you’ll have to spend what you have to replace what you’ve lost. And it has nothing to do with being cursed. It has nothing to do with the devil trying to trip you up. But it has everything to do with you and the fact that you’re not properly giving to and blessing God with perfect gifts. Tell your neighbor: It’s time for a change.
We must change our attitude in our giving to God. The Bible tells us that GOD loves a cheerful giver. He doesn’t want us all frowned up when it’s time to give. When we give, we have to get out of the mode of thinking that the preacher is getting all the money. We have to get out of the mode of thinking that somebody is stealing the church’s money. We have to get out of the mode of thinking that the church won’t do what I want them to do with “MY” money. That’s not your responsibility. Your responsibility is to give and to bless God. God will take care of those who abuse there authority under Him. You’ve got to give because GOD tells you to give. You’ve got to give because you’re blessing GOD. You’ve got to give because you’re blessing GOD’s tabernacle. God knew that it would take money to run His house. He knew that it would take money for the church to bless the widows, to bless the sick and shut in, and to bless the poor and downtrodden. GOD knew that it would take money for the church to bless the elders who rule well and are to be counted worthy of double honor. GOD knew the needs of the church, so He told his people to give. He told his people to bring their first fruits to the store house. During this time of year, we get caught up in giving to man. But on this day, my brothers and sisters I invite you to get caught up in giving to God. Can I get a witness?
When you give to God, the Bible tells me that He’s capable, willing, and able to open up the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that you will not have room enough to receive it all. Ain’t the Lord alright?
When you give to the almighty God, the Bible tells me that God is able to make your enemies your footstool, and cause strong men to fall at your feet. Am I right about it?
When you give to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you can rest assured that the Lord is your shepherd, and you shall not EVER want. Oh Lord.
When you give to the almighty God, the Bible tells me that God will rebuke the devourer, and that old devil won’t be able to take anything that belongs to you. Ain’t the Lord alright?
When you give to the Lord God almighty your prayer line will become a hot line. His line, will never be busy. His answering machine will never be turned on. But when you give to Jehovah-Jireh, the God who provides, I’m here to tell you that He can and He will, make a way for you out of no way. Have I got a witness?
When you give unto the LORD, it’s like paying on your insurance policy. What are you talking about preacher? Well, when you give to the LORD, you’re guaranteed to have a doctor in the sickroom who can handle you’re every need. Ain’t the Lord alright?
When you give to the Master, you’re guaranteed, a lawyer fighting your battle, who has never lost a case. Oh Lord.
When you give to the Father, he’ll be your friend, when all of your friends, have left your side. Ain’t the Lord alright?
When you give to my GOD, He’ll give you life, and he’ll give it more abundantly.
Well brother preacher, how do you know that God can hear and answer my every need? How do you know preacher, that he can save me when I’m on my sick bed? How do you know Pastor Davis that GOD will step in when my finances run out? How do you know man of God, that he’s a friend to the friendless – a mother to the motherless – a father to the fatherless. Tell me, pastor, how do YOU know?
Well one Sunday morning I was lost in a world of sin. I was down, and I was almost out. But I felt my JESUS, reaching down, picking me up, turning me around, placing my feet on solid ground. He healed my body. He fixed my soul. He saved me when I couldn’t save myself. How do I know? Well Brother and Sister, I know because I tried Him for myself?
Have you tried Him? Have you tried Him? Won’t he make a way for you, out of no way.
He’s bread in a staving land.
He’s water in dry places.
He’s a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
He’s the alpha and the omega; the beginning and the end.
He’s the light of the world.
But what I like most about my Jesus is that HE my saviour. Who climbed up on an old wooden cross. He hung, bled, and died, but early one Sunday morning, because I gave, all that I had. All to Jesus, I surrendered. All to Him I freely gave. I will ever, always trust Him. In his presence. Anywhere. I surrendered, my life to him. And he didn’t let me down. Because early, one Sunday morning. He gave me a new walk. He gave me a new talk. He gave me a new life. Is there anybody here, who has a new life. Say yeah….yeah……ohhhhh yeah!!!!
