This is the last of a series of 5 messages on stewardship, and probably the most important.
Good stewardship is more than just giving of money, time or things to God. It is about the HEART of stewardship.
• In order words, good stewardship is a matter of ATTITUDE. The attitude behind our giving and our service to God.
• It is not the ACT of giving that is important but the HEART of giving.
• It’s not just what you give or what you do for God; it’s WHY you do it.
If stewardship is just about the size of the contributions we make for God, then the rich who give would be highly honored and high achievers would be greatly praised.
• But the Lord did not praise the Pharisees in His time, although they were religious and pious. He says they have the ACT but not the HEART.
• They give, not for the love of God but the praise of men.
• If we give money (your resources) or do ministry (serve the church) with such attitudes – a desire for self-glory, popularity or out of pride, we're not being good stewards.
We need to give out of a HEART OF WORSHIP to God, a heart of LOVE for God!
• Don’t give just out of need, although we are often challenged to give out of needs. We highlight the needs of the poor, the hungry, the sick, and people do give.
• But our motivation must go beyond just needs; we give out of a love for God and the passion to see His will be done in our world today.
[Young people, if you have already started working and earning, give a small token to your parents… not because they need it but because you love them. It is a way of honoring them.]
When you read the Scripture you’ll find that the people who are singled out for their giving to God would not have given if they had made their decision based on reason.
[1] The poor widow (Luke 21) would not have given her two small copper coins if she had acted strictly from reason.
• She gave because she worships God. Her giving was not out of reason or need, but of love and faith.
• By human reasoning, she should not have given (she is poor) but she did. It’s love that did it.
[2] Mary who broke the alabaster jar of very expensive perfume (John 12) and anointed Jesus.
• And Judas was angry at such a waste, complaining that it could be sold and the money given to the poor.
• That’s human reasoning, but she did that out of a love for Jesus.
[3] The little boy would not have given his meal to Jesus if he had acted on reason (John 6).
• Giving away means he would have nothing. And moreover, it would be too little to be of any use.
• But he acted on faith instead of reason, and gave it. And the lunch fed not only him but everyone else – all 5000 men and beyond.
[4] If the Christians in Macedonia (mentioned in 2 Cor 8) had acted only from reason they would never have given to help the poor Christians in Jerusalem.
• Paul says that they gave out of their ‘severe trial and extreme poverty’ (8:2) and gave ‘even beyond their ability’ (v.3).
• If they had sat down and carefully calculated how much they can afford to give, they would not have given anything.
• But because they were prompted by love, they were able to give and give generously.
You see, if you work strictly from reason - add up your income and subtract your expenses, whatever is left over after you have given to yourself, you give to God - you would probably not give.
• Most likely, you won’t have enough. Or at least, you’d tell yourself you don’t have enough. Frankly, who would like to say they have enough?
• So we learn to give, not what we can afford, but with love (heart of worship) and in faith…
• God challenges us to return the tithe to Him; it is the first fruits, not the leftovers. It is an expression of our trust in Him.
We give with a HEART OF FAITH.
2 Cor 9:6-11
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:
"He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
It takes faith to sow. You have to give up the seeds in your hand. It takes faith to trust God.
• You have to sow before you see the rewards; you have to sow to SEE the rewards.
• We sow ANTICIPATING the harvest because it will come.
• The Lord says He “is able to make all grace abound to you… so that you will abound in every good work.” (v.8)
It involves ‘risk’. Investing involves an element of ‘risk’ – you dare to trust God with your investment.
• You throw the seeds and believe that God will work. He can take what you offer Him and do wonders with them.
• When you throw the seeds, you do not see the fruits immediately, but you believe growth is taking place, under the ground, unseen.
The harvest will come because God is working. He takes what you give Him, just like the 5 loaves and 2 fish, and accomplishes His purposes.
• So we give in faith. Without faith we it is impossible to please God. Not ‘it is difficult to please God’ but it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.
• Faith is telling the Lord I trust you. Giving is the practical expression of the faith we have in God.
We give with a HEART OF GENEROSITY (GLADNESS)
• It is more than just about the quantity; it is about the joy or the gladness of giving.
• “Not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (v.7) It is giving out of a heart of gladness. You are happy giving it.
You cannot fake it. You give wanting to glorify yourself and hope that it will bring you joy; it won’t. God knows better.
I heard a story about a man who had a mouse in his house and his wife wanted him to catch it. His problem was that he didn’t have any cheese (and do not want to buy it). So he cut a picture of cheese out of a magazine and placed it in the trap. He thought, "I’ll just fool the mouse."
When he would to check the trap the next morning to see if he had caught the mouse he found a beautiful mouse in the trap. There was only one problem. It was a picture of a mouse.
It’s not genuine. Counterfeit people who use counterfeit tactics will always produce counterfeit results!
Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China, believed that Christians should do all things wholeheartedly, not just those actions that can be seen.
• He reasoned, “As our Father makes many a flower to bloom unseen in the lonely desert, [let us] do all that we can do, as under His eye, though no other eye ever take note of it.” [Our Daily Bread, Nov 23, 1998]
It is not always easy to give out of gladness. When we lost that joy, if giving of ourselves has become difficult, it is because we have lost our focus on Christ.
• Look at Zacchaeus, he met Christ and the result was he decided to gave half of what he has to the poor (Luke 19:8).
• Look at the prostitute who met Christ, experienced forgiveness, and wet Jesus’ feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair (Luke 7).
• Encounters with Christ changes our heart.
• We have to return to point (1) and (2); to rekindle our worship of God and our faith in Him. Everything else flow from a love for God and a deep trust in Him.
A fund-raising event may move you for a moment, a disaster relief program may stir your heart to give to the need of the moment, but the HEART of a steward is a heart that gives, constantly and consistently, because it has been touched and transformed by Christ’s love.
• We give because we WORSHIP Him (love Him); we give because we TRUST Him; and we give because we are HAPPY to (just like Zacchaeus); we want to.
• The motivation will come from within – not without.
CONCLUSION
Why stewards? Why are we called to give of ourselves and resources? [Screening of a short video clip GET SERVICE.MOV about looking out at the needs of people around you, and not just your own needs.]
Because people need the Lord; the world needs it, that is how God can touch lives, through our giving – giving of ourselves, our time and resources.
• We need a new perspective. Wear a new pair of glasses! Don’t be self-centred. Touch lives today with all that God has given us.
• Let us give out of a heart of worship (love), of faith and of generosity (gladness).
