AVOIDING GREED THROUGH GENEROSITY
LUKE 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
P.S. Generosity is more than the state of your bank account, it is the openness of your hand and heart.
INTRODUCTION
There was a guy who died and was being given a tour of heaven, and he saw a friend of his drive by in a beautiful Mercedes. He said, "Boy, this is great!"
"Oh, yes," St. Peter said, "your friend was really generous on earth; we had a lot to work with. Your transportation up here depends on your generosity down there." Then Peter gave him his transportation: a Honda motor scooter.
He said, "Wait a minute, he gets a Mercedes, and I get a scooter?"
"That's right, it's all we had to work with." So the guy drove off in a huff.
A week later Peter saw this guy all smiles and said, "You feeling better now?"
The guy said, "Yea, I have ever since I saw my preacher go by on a skateboard!"
When it comes to generosity, most people automatically think of money. The excuse becomes,”Well, God understands that if I had more money, I could give more. Generosity responds, would you?”
P.S. Generosity is more than the state of your bank account, it is the openness of your hand and heart.
When it comes to giving to world need, did you know that Canada ranks third highest in the world?
According to the Christian Science Monitor, Canadians are the third most generous people in the world — slightly ahead of Americans and behind Australians, according to an international Gallup poll.
The survey of residents of 153 countries attempted to find out how much they donated to charity, volunteered their time and were willing to help a stranger. Their findings, nevertheless, have Canadians appearing quite kindly. In regards to Canada, the pollsters found:
• 64 percent of Canadians say they donate.
• 35 percent volunteer.
• 68 percent help a stranger.
Here are Gallup’s leading six countries, starting with the most “generous” citizens:
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Canada
- Ireland (tied with Canada)
- Switzerland
- U.S.
Residents of developing countries such as China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and India (which send many immigrants to Canada) do not rate highly on the generosity index.
Whatever the case, the related story in the Christian Science Monitor said:
“Canada’s World Giving Index (WGI) score – an average of these three percentages – was 56 percent, 1 percentage point higher than the US’s 55 percent.
“Canadians’ higher rank than Americans is based largely on their giving more money to charities. Canada has more government-led charity campaigns than the US, said a Gallup spokeman.
“Looking at the region more generally, North Americans are most likely to help a complete stranger, averaging at 67 percent. Aiding a stranger is defined as aiding someone in need, whom you don’t know, in any dollar amount.
I think those are pretty good numbers. Pat your neighbor on the back and say, GOOD JOB!
Now what about our church specifically? I asked Donna to provide me the specific giving of our church to missions this past year.
Would you like to know how our church has been a part in bringing change to the world?
Over the past year we have been privileged to join hands with the following world changing ministries,
The Drisners in China through Global 180- $1000.00
Our PAOC Missionaries the Radnors- 500.00
Empower Ministries Bible distribution in China- 820.00
Our PAOC Missionary in Cuba, Bonita Abrams- 300.00
Training nationals for the ministry through Operation Timothy- 600.00
Masters College and Seminary- 500.00
This brings our mission giving to $3720.00. When we add our District tithe of 2416.36 the total becomes 6136.36.
Can I hear someone shout Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When we hear the word generosity, our default reaction is to think about money and ficnces.
Money along with religion is a topic which people do not feel comfortable talking about; especially in church.
The Bible however, does not shy away from the topic of money. Money, and how our attitude towards it is a practical issue we all face.
Did you know that money is the number one cause for marriage conflicts? It is one of the major sources of conflict in churches, and of course how our government handles finances has a direct impact upon our livlihoods.
There are three very prevalent attitudes about money and giving. The first is, What’s yours is mine and I’m going to take it.
This is the attitude which believes my money is mine to do with and the more I get the better I will be. It also follows the worldly philosophy, “Get all you can anyway you can.’
People who live with this attitude have the mistaken belief that money will solve all their problems and give them what they need to be happy in life.
But the Bible says clearly, Money can’t buy you SECURITY
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.” Matthew 6:19-21
Money can’t protect you from decay and theft and loss. Nothing you own is safe in this world. Just ask all the people who invested in GM and RIM before the last recession.
The second prevalent attitude says, What’s mine is mine and I’m going to keep it.
This attitude says that since I earned it – or since I have it – it all belongs to me – and if I’m not willing to give it to you I have every right to keep it.
Jesus told this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ "Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."’
"But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." Luke 12:16b-21
So, money can’t buy security. It can’t buy contentment. And it can’t buy protection from death.
In short - money cannot buy life.
So, does that mean I sell all my worldly belongs, and live like a pauper for the rest of my life?
No, The spirit of generosity says, What’s mine is God’s and I’m going to share it others.
The Bible does not condemn money nor wealth. In fact He talks a great deal about blessing.
Proverbs 11:24-26: Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. People curse those who hoard their grain, but they bless the one who sells in time of need.
These two verses present a paradox.; That we become richer by being generous. The world says to hoard and to hold onto as much as possible, but God blesses those who freely give of their possessions and money, time and energy.
When we give, God supplies us with more so that we can give more. This brings us to the passage I want us to leave with today, Luke 6:38.
What do we gain through generosity?
1. Give away your life you’ll find life given back.
Jesus says that the Divine pattern is
Give, and it will be given to you.
Of all the verses concerning giving, this quote by Jesus is one of the most familiar and at the same time to most misquoted verse.
One of the most common mistakes people make about this verse is assuming Jesus is speaking only about money. Jesus is really revealing a truth that applies to every area of our life.
Take a look back at verses 36-37, ‘You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven…’
It is then Jesus says, give and it shall be given to you…’ Yes this verse applies to our giving but it also applies to how we give forgiveness, mercy, understanding and patience.
Jesus is speaking about what I refer to as WHOLE LIFE generosity. Warren weisbe summarizes this well,
If we live to give, God will see to it that we receive; but if we live only to get, God will see to it that we lose. This principle applies not only to our giving of money, but also to the giving of ourselves in ministry to others.
God rewards generosity liberally. You will expereince generosity in your life when you make a habit to give away your life then you will also discover,
2. Your gift will return to make room for more
To the generous giver, God will give
A good or full (lit)measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.
To the liberal giver God will give a FULL measure. This kind of giving has in view the measure of grain that graphically pictures a super abundance of blessing.
The word lap ( kolpos) refers to the fold in an outer garment, used as a large pocket.
When Jesus said these words, his listeners who were primarily farmers got it! After more than 2000 years, we need some help to understand Jesus’ illustration.
Robert Morris helps us to understand the background,
The terms Jesus uses are all farming terms. According to instructions in the OT, farmers in ISreal were to leave the grain in the corners of the field for the poor. Thus, each year at harvest time there were two sets of harvesters in the field: The primary harvesters in the middle of the field who were being paid to bring in the crop and the poor people in the corners who were harvesting the crop in order to feed themselves and their familes.
Primary harvesters out in the middle of the field would fill up a basket then carry it over to the barn or wagon. They would then dump it out and go back to the field to begin filling the basket again. To these workers, it really didn’t matter how full their baskets were. They were being paid by the houir, so they didn’t care. They just needed to stay busy and keep working until all the grain was in the barn.
This was not the case, however for the poor people working in the corners of the fields. That field was probably nowhere near their home. They had probably walked several miles to get there. However much food they could get in their baskets would be the amount available to their families. They had a life and death incentive to get as much in the basket as possible.
If you were in that position, you would first make sure you had put a good measure, not just a partial measure or a half measure. Then you would press it down to compress the grains together to create more room. After topping the basket off again, you would then shake it to eleiminate any air spaces between the grains . Having done all that, you would then pour in as much grain as you possible could, heaping it up above the rim until it began to spill over the sides.
It is one thing to receive a basket of free grain. It is far better thing to receive a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over basket of free grain.
Heres Jesus point, whatever you give, you’re going to get a whole lot more of the same in return. This is a universal principle with God, you always receive back more than you give.
As you begin to give your best , you make room for more and then you discover the blessing that
3. Generosity produces generosity
For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you
Many well meaning preachers fall into the trap that the ‘give and it shall be given to you principle’, is to be our reward, not our motivation.
This is why Jesus prefaces his promise by saying, ‘Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.’
This context puts this promise in a rather sobering light. Jesus is saying, if you give judgement, judgement will be given back to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together. If you give condemnation, comdemnation will be given back to you.
It works both ways!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The good news is, if you give forgiveness, an abundance of forgiveness will be given back to you. If you sow love, you will receive an overflowing harvest of love.
This is a fundamental principle in the kingdom of God. It is a truth the Bible calls the principle of law of reciprocity.
Job 4:8- ‘My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same.’
2 Cor. 9:6- Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.
Gal.6:7- Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.
The point is, that God wants our hearts not just our wallets.
When our hearts are right with God and in-line with His purposes, then we catch His heart. You see, God does not want you to just have a vision for getting He wants you to have a vision for GIVING.
In other words, God is saying, ‘when you give just to give, I’m going to reward you by giving back to you in much greater measure
The BIG PICTURE
It’s a matter of the HEART.
Yes, as we give faithfully to the Lord, we will receive back in return. But when it comes to pleasing God and operating in line with His kingdom purpose, it is the heart that matters.
It is our hearts the Lord is concerned about. And a properly focused heart is more excited about the giving part than the receiving part. The reward comes as we allow God to do a work in our hearts in the area of giving not just the area of getting.
When we open our hearts to God, we then open our hands to give and as we do, the Lord pours back, forgivness, joy, peace, love mercy and blessing.
The question you need to ask yourself today is do I have a closed heart or an open heart for God to bless.
If you hand is closed today because of unforgiveness, bitterness or offence I want you to consider, why are you holding onto to something that is not yours to keep?
You will receive only that which you hold onto. Are you bitter, then let go of bitterness. Are you offended, let go of the offense.
Are you in need, let go and let God pour back into your life today His blessing.
Rob Morris writes, ‘God pours blessing on givers, and he does it so they can continue to give even more to His kingdom, but it takes a change in the heart.
