GROWING A GENEROUS HEART
There is a natural progression to these sermons we have been hearing. Growing a beautiful mind led easily into growing a contented spirit. As we have learned to rejoice in the Lord and control our anxiety through prayer we laid a foundation for being content in whatever situation we find ourselves in. Now with a joyful heart and a contented spirit we move to the next level to grow a generous heart.
I find it interesting and it makes a lot of sense that when we are content with our stuff that it is easier to give it away. Living the life of joy, as Paul has described it, is a life that expresses itself in generosity. So you may not have seen this coming but this is a lesson on giving.
For some of us the topic of giving is as fun as going to the dentist. Our money, our possessions, our wealth are all sacred cows to us. That is, we don’t like it when people touch them or examine them. It feels quite uncomfortable. And every so often the pastor has to remind us that we have to give.
There is a story of two business men who were flying to a conference overseas. The small plane they were in developed engine problems and they had to crash land on a deserted island. One of the men began to cry stating that he will never get to see his kids grow up and never tell his wife how much he loved her. The other man simply leaned against a palm tree and fell asleep. His friend woke him and confronted him – “How can you sleep? Don’t you care that we are going to die on this island?” At this the calm companion said, “I am not worried at all. I make $500,000 a year and I always faithfully give ten percent to my church. I know my pastor will find me!”
What we want to do this morning is study this final component that is essential for our joy in the Lord. I hope to convince or affirm you that growing a generous heart makes us joyful worshipers of God. Let’s look at 4:14-20.
1. Sharing is a means of Christian Fellowship
Previously Paul had told the Philippian church that he was so thankful that they had renewed their concern for him. But, he said, I am not in need. Rather, he was quite content in his situation and had learned the secret of contentment for any situation.
Paul was non ungrateful for their concern and wanted to affirm their generosity. So he said, “Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need” (4:14-16).
Twice he uses the word “share” in this encouragement. In English we can’t see it but there is a special word buried in the Greek construction that we have heard before. That word is “koinonia,” the partnership of believers in the common cause of Christ. As Paul saw it, generosity was inseparable from Christian relationships. It was a means of Christian fellowship.
His needs were their needs. They felt his needs and responded to them. His suffering did not go unnoticed but touched them deeply so that they fellowshipped in his need.
We see this principle expressed in other parts of the Bible as well. John wrote, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:16-18).
John appeals to the extreme love and sacrifice of Jesus as our motivator to give to people in need. Jesus gave it all; could we not give a little? But our excuses pop up and we evaluate the need of the so-called needy. We point to their lack of financial management or their self-defeating ways and say “they don’t deserve my hard earned money.” Or maybe we think that if we earned more money we could give more too.
The Philippians did not think this way. They gave because there was a need. And they didn’t want to miss out on the joy of sharing in Paul’s troubles. Weird huh? But cool just the same.
Paul speaks further to the Corinthians about giving: “Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality…” (2 Cor 8:13-14). That is the fellowship of sharing with others. It is expected that there will be a mutual sharing, a reciprocity when the need arises. No one who is in Christ should take-take-take; Christian generosity is give and take. I help you knowing that somehow in some way you might be able to help me. But if not, that’s okay, the Lord bless you.
2. Generosity is a means of Eternal Investment
Growing a generous heart involves understanding that giving without expecting something back is means of eternal investment. Paul expresses this in the next verse: “Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account” (4:17).
You know you can’t take it with you…money, that is. But Randy Alcorn said, “You can’t take it with you but you can send it on ahead.” If our hearts are in the right place we will have an eternal perspective about money.
It’s like the story of the sailor who was shipwrecked on a South Sea island. He was seized by the natives who carried him to their village and set him on a crude throne. They treated him as royalty. Soon he learned that their custom was once each year to make a man king, king for a year. He thought this was a pretty good deal until he started wondering what happened to all the former kings after their year was up. He found out that after the year, the king was banished to a deserted island where he starved to death. That worried him, but he was a smart king, so he put his carpenters to work making boats and his gardeners to work transplanting fruit trees and other crops to the island where he would be banished. His carpenters built a nice home there. So when his year was over, he was banished, not to a barren island, but to an island of abundance.
The point of the story illustrates a spiritual truth: what we do now with our earthly goods has eternal consequences for our eternal rewards. The greatest treasure is having a relationship with Jesus. Giving to others here and now shows that we want that eternal relationship with Jesus. Money that is given to help others is called fruit. Our gifts to others are encouraged by God, noticed by God and greatly desired by God.
Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:19-21).
Someone said, “God raises our standard of living so we can raise our standard of giving.” The act of giving isn’t only for the benefit of the recipient. By our giving we show God that our hearts are rich toward him. We show that we trust him with what he gave us in the first place. Giving is evidence of spiritual maturity as we grow into the likeness of Christ.
3. Giving is a means of Spiritual Worship
You will notice in your bulletins that for some time now the time for giving your offering has been called “Worship through Giving.” This is very deliberate on our part. We worship in music; we worship through reading the Word of God; and we even worship by hearing a sermon, especially if we respond in obedience to the Word. But to worship through giving is indeed a very important element of our praise to God.
Paul spoke to this in this verse: “I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God” (4:18). These last three phrases bring us back to OT thinking. Throughout the Bible there are references to fragrant offerings presented to the Lord.
After the Flood, Noah offered a burnt offering to the Lord in Genesis 8:21 and we read that “The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of man…’” The burnt offering expresses obedience and dedication to God and God delights in this. So Paul takes that imagery and applies it to Christians taking note of Christian needs and generously sacrificing to meet those needs. For God, our giving, sacrificial giving, is the burnt offering, a sweet aroma to the Lord.
We have focused on Romans 12:2 the last two Sundays which challenged us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. But Romans 12:1 speaks to our giving as worship, it says: “Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – which is your spiritual worship.”
What God wants is holistic worship. When Paul says to offer your bodies he is speaking of not just your physical self, but your whole self. He wants your self at work; he wants your self at home; he wants your self with your family; he wants your self on the golf course. God wants your whole life on the altar – He wants you to give him your whole self. And that includes your bank account. This says to God that you trust him explicitly with everything that you are and have.
So when we give our tithes and offerings into those bags when they come down the pew we can say four things:
- With this offering, I am declaring my total dependence and trust in you.
- With this offering, I am resisting everything in our culture that constantly whispers in my ear that I need more.
- With this offering, I am sending my treasure ahead to heaven.
- With this offering, I am affirming that my heart belongs to God (adapted from Jeff Williams, Pontiac Bible Church).
Giving is a part of our spiritual worship.
4. Sacrifice garners Big Returns
Giving comes with a promise. These days when we look at our stock portfolios or our mutual funds we see loss. We may not see gain for some time. There is very little return on our earthly investments, but sacrificial giving promises big returns.
Now note that I said sacrificial giving. We might be hard pressed to confess that we do this. John Piper has said that the 10 % tithe is ‘a middle class American way to rob God.’ We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Most of us have houses, cars, and enough food to eat, and as such we are better off than the majority of the world’s population. We could be giving more. Especially in light of the promise we read here:
“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (4:19). There are three very important parts to this verse:
a) And my God – Paul makes this very personal. He could have said “And God will meet all your needs” but he said “my God.” Ray Pritchard said, “But when he says “my God” he is making it exceedingly personal. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is “my God.” The God who raised up Moses is “my God.” The God who led Joshua around the walls of Jericho is “my God.” The God who enabled David to defeat Goliath is “my God.” The God of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and all of the prophets is “my God.” The God of the Virgin Birth is “my God.” The God who raised Jesus from the dead is “my God.” The God of the apostles is “my God.” In short, when Paul says “my God,” he wants us to remember that the same God who worked all the mighty miracles in the Bible is the same God who makes this amazing promise.
b) Will meet all your needs – Then comes the promise that God will meet “all” your needs. Whatever you need God will provide it. Do you need forgiveness? He will abundantly pardon you. Do you need grace? His grace is sufficient for you. You get the idea. Name your basic needs and God will provide them for you. Plasma TVs are not basic needs. God will meet all your needs. The first law of Christian giving is: you can’t out give God.
c) According to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus – I like the implication of this promise: his supply will not be limited to the size of your need, but rather according to his riches. God’s resources are unlimited and infinite. He has more than we need and will supply us what we need when we need it and even more. The key is that he supplies it to us through Christ Jesus. Through Jesus come the blessings; and he is the sum of all the blessings, because we receive them “in” Christ Jesus. Jesus is the guarantee of our contentment, as it says in Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
Sacrifice garners big returns. God gave up his Son, Jesus Christ, as an investment in our lives. If we give up our grasp on the purse strings of earth, we invest in heaven and gain Christ ourselves.
Final Thoughts
If one first gives himself to the Lord, all other giving is easy. — Robert Harris
Growing a generous heart is an enormous part of worshiping God. It is a key factor in the process of discipleship whereby we learn to trust God. To know the joy we have been speaking of throughout this series on Philippians we must choose this journey. I am convinced that most of us will not know this joy overnight, but if we are faithful we will know joy as we continue to walk with Jesus.
Where do we need to consider giving? That is a question that begs some practical answers. Consider these:
1) The Church – Several Christian financial advisors wisely point to the church as the first recipient of our giving. This is your community of faith and we need to support it. Paying the electric bill may not seem divine but it is necessary to provide a place of worship that we all benefit from. By contributing you become a part of the ministry and blessings of this community.
2) People in need – Are there some people close by us whom God is nudging us to support? It may only be a gift or a limited time of support. It may not even be money that they need but our time or our assistance. Ask the Lord to show you who needs your help.
3) Organizations – There are a lot of mission organizations and charities you could support – you don’t have to support them all. Choose the ones that touch your heart and are faithful, and ignore the rest. You can’t support them all.
Considering these and acting on them will bring a blessing of joy to your life.
To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. AMEN
