Introduction : (Play pollination video silently as I speak)
Hummingbirds, bees, bats, even butterflies - They fly around. Maybe they annoy or scare us. Unless we’re paying attention to them, they’re doing something really important we don’t realize at the time – they’re pollinating, well, most everything that needs to pollinate!
And, they don’t even realize it at the time. I don’t claim to read the mind of a bat, but I seriously doubt they are thinking to themselves, “Just doing my part for the plant world!” They’re just trying to eat – but the whole time they do it, they’re getting covered with pollen, and they scatter that pollen where it needs to go. They don’t realize what’s going on while they’re just trying to eat! (stop video here)
The Bible talks about what happened when we were baptized; when we confess our sinfulness; when we pray, when we worship, when we forgive, when we humble ourselves, when we draw near to God.
This morning, I want to talk about what happened during the offering. You may not have realized it – not who got up for a break, what song was sung, or what was that loud clunk that sounded like someone hitting his head on the pew. I mean, as you were dropping in a check or bills, what was happening? What was going on there that goes beyond just someone moving money from their account into the church’s general fund? You were just putting your offering in the plate.
There has to be more to it than that, right? And there is, because something was happening… something was happening during the offering…
(Philippians 4:14-20)
I. You’re Connected With the Work (14-16)
To more fully appreciate the setting as Paul writes this letter, we need to look back to that time when he first visited the Philippians.
Acts 16:11 - the Lord tells Paul in a vision to travel to Philippi and he goes. He stays there “for some days.” (about 6 or less) because it’s on the Sabbath that they find a place of prayer and preach the gospel for the first time there. Lydia responds and becomes a disciple, and now Paul and Silas stay “many days”(18). Over those days, Paul and Silas upset some of the locals and they’re beaten and thrown into the prison. There, the jailor also becomes a disciple, and Paul and Silas are released because they had been unfairly put in prison. Apparently, a church has started and is using Lydia’s house as a gathering place. Then, ch 17, they travel on the Thessalonica. They’re there for at least 2-3 weeks as they reason with the Jews. They sneak away and go to Berea in 17:11. After some days there, the Jews from Thessalonica stir up trouble and Paul ends up sneaking away to Athens in 17:14. Later, he’ll go to Corinth, and ultimately to Antioch where, like any good missionary, on a Wednesday night at Church, he’ll show slides and display little instruments, hankies, coins, and postcards from Macedonia.
Paul is looking back to these days of his 2nd missionary journey when he says to the Philippians:
Philippians 4:14 …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.
Now, stop and remember back to all the comments of such a personal nature in this letter. How much time had Paul spent with these people? Not nearly as long as some places. It looks like it was several days – that’s it. Still, there’s this connection between Paul and this church. We don’t have a highly personal letter Paul wrote to the Church in Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Paphos, Perga, or Pisidian Antioch. What makes the church in Philippi stand out is the way they supported Paul while others weren’t. It was this “matter of giving and receiving.” At some point, they had taken it upon themselves to support the missionary effort, not long after they were established as a church. Even though they were about 100 miles away, and even though Paul’s stay in Thessalonica was only about 3 weeks, Philippi sent him financial help – more than once.
Philippians 4:16 …you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.
Have you ever noticed how something becomes “our work” instead of “their work” when you’ve contributed to it financially?
They hadn’t just “shared money,” they had “shared in his troubles.” There was a connection there, and some of it went back to the time when they collected an offering and sent it to Paul.
Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” There are a lot of people here this morning whose hearts just aren’t all here! Nope, I’m afraid there are people here this morning whose hearts are also in Lincoln, Oblong, Polo, OK, Iowa, MO, the Philippines, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Mexico, and Italy, and a bazillion other places! Their hearts are there, because they’ve sent their money there, they’ve helped send other people there, they’ve spent time praying for the Church there, some have even visited there.
It just happens – when you gave this morning, you gave to the continuing work of the Lord’s Church around the world, and you connected yourself with those people in ways that are greater than you even realized. A dollar you gave may have made the difference between someone learning about Jesus or never hearing about Him at all.
Sometimes we get the privilege of hearing about how our contribution accomplishes something like the way Psalm 119 is going to be translated into American Sign Language because of our VBS offering. Sometimes, we get reports, like this one from GNPI:
(Play video of Mike Schrage, greetings from GNPI in India)
Most of the time, we won’t realize just how much it accomplished. And, maybe, someday in heaven, we’ll be approached by people saying “Thank you! I’m a life that was changed! I am so glad you gave! Thank you for giving to the Lord!”
When you gave, you connected with people forever.
II. You Receive a Blessing (17)
Philippians 4:17 Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account.
A statement like this by anyone else might be subject to questioning. But this is Paul writing, and the giving has already taken place. He’s glad they gave, not because of what he received, but because of what they received in giving – a credit in their own accounts. There is a blessing in giving.
We don’t read about it in the gospels, but we know from Paul that Jesus said,
Acts 20:35 …remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" The converse of that must also be true: it is less blessed to receive than to give.
This morning, if you gave cheerfully, you already realize that you received a blessing in being able to give. Remember the creepy, little tax collector named Zacchaeus? When he had lunch with Jesus, he made some real changes in his life. He announced with joy that he was going to make right anything he had stolen, and, remember what else? ½ of all he had he was giving away to the poor. And Zacchaeus was blessed for giving.
Ill - Dr. Karl Menninger, the world-famous psychiatrist was answering questions after giving a lecture on mental health when one person asked, "What would you advise someone to do if he felt a nervous breakdown coming on?"
Most people expected the doctor to say, "Consult a psychiatrist." Instead he said, "Lock up your house, go across the railroad tracks, find someone in need, and do something to help that person."
He’s right. God knows that we’ll be our best when we engage ourselves in giving in some way. I don’t know how many times I’ve felt overwhelmed or concerned with my own life’s challenges when I have to go help someone else, and I end up realizing that my problems aren’t so bad after all. I went to give, and I left being the one who received.
There’s a blessing in giving – and sometimes it’s just the blessing of realizing that you’re in a position to give. This morning, when you gave, you were blessed.
III. God is Pleased (18)
Ill - This is a good time of the year for pleasant smells. I have 1,000 memories built around good smells from my past. I can smell the creosote treated rough-hewn wood as the sun comes up over the mountains and I’m sitting on the porch of the mess hall at Colorado Christian Service Camp. There are a couple of particularly memorable perfumes that remind me of a girl I liked so much I married her! And I can still picture Mom getting the icing ready to decorate her killer Christmas sugar cookies that she makes every year. Boy, did they smell good! This time of year is full of great, memory-making smells: cinnamon potpourri, evergreens, pumpkin pie, and the smell of a turkey in the oven – good stuff!
Lately, I find myself going out with Carrie and stopping off to smell candles…just to smell them. You know, if you’re not going to eat dessert, you may as well stop off and have a good smell of something. So, there I am at Yankee Candle, smelling my dessert! I almost feel like I should pay a use fee for the smell I removed from their candles!
And, did you know, that God is pleased by some certain smells too!
We generally don’t think of livestock as being the most pleasant-smelling thing there is. In fact, what odor could be stronger? I have, once or twice, had the hair on my arms singed off, and there’s a distinct odor when those few hairs burn. Imagine taking an entire animal – a goat or an ox, and burning the whole thing! Burnt livestock! Yet, somehow, the Scriptures often refer to the way that burning animals are a pleasing fragrance to God. Leviticus talks about the way the burnt offerings are all a “soothing aroma” to the Lord. And as early as Noah, God shows His pleasure in the smell of burnt animals.
Genesis 8:20-21 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
Did you know God was actually pleased by the smell of burnt offerings? Only, I don’t think it’s so much the inherent value of the smell of a burning animal. I have an idea that there’s something about that trail of smoke, and the heart of the person who has given his best to the Lord. He can’t take it back, and he’s giving up for the Lord. So the Lord “smells” that sacrifice, and it pleases Him.
Have you ever wondered what it takes to please the Lord?; not that you’re trying to earn your way into Heaven, but just that God has been so good to you that you want to please Him. Then I turn to I Co and I read…
1 Corinthians 7:32-34 I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs--how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world--how he can please his wife--and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world--how she can please her husband.
So, now that I’m married, I’m still concerned: how can I please God? Not because I’m trying to earn my salvation, but because, now that I’m saved, I want to please Him. Paul writes in II Co,
2 Corinthians 5:9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.
How can I do it? That burnt animal sacrifice doesn’t work. So what can I do now that drifts up as a pleasant aroma in the Lord’s nostrils?
Philippians 4:18 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.
Want to please God? When you put your offering in the plate, when you somehow gave of your substance, just like a burnt offering the sweet smell of that sacrifice wafts to the Lord and is pleasing for Him.
When you gave, you pleased the Lord.
IV. Your Needs are Met (19)
Story - A young businessman in Spring City, TN often prepares gourmet meals for family and friends. One year, he decided against the ordinary turkey or ham dinner and bought a bunch of Cornish game hens instead. It wasn’t the cheaper route to go, but he wanted to please his guests with a special meal. As she was packaging his poultry, the young woman at the store very earnestly said, "You know, for what it's costing you to buy all of these little chickens, you could have bought a turkey."
Philippians isn’t an appeal letter sent by a needy missionary asking for help. This is ex post facto. It’s one thing, when someone’s trying to raise money, to try to make a bunch of promises about what good things will happen if they reach the financial goal. It’s another thing entirely to make promises after the offering has already been taken. Paul says, “Here’s what you did. Here’s what happened. Here’s what’s going to happen.”
4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Sometimes, in the aftermath of giving, it helps to have reassurance that it was the right thing to do. That’s what Paul gives here. After praising them for their faithful giving, Paul gives the Philippians a promise that their needs will still be provided.
3 great features of this promise:
1. Who will meet the needs –
“my God” – He’s personal to Paul, but better still, it’s the God Who has taken care of Paul. This God, this One Whom I have served and been helped by, there’s no doubt, with Him in charge of it, that your needs are going to be well met.” Who will meet your needs? “My God”
2. The variety of needs He meets
“…all your needs.” – not just the spiritual needs; not just the physical needs; not just your emotional needs. My God will meet all your needs.
What if we were really convinced of this promise? What if we really believed that, if we were faithful in giving, God would make sure our needs are met?
How many of your needs will He meet? “All your needs”
3. To what level He’ll meet them
“according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus”
Boy, there must be a lot of people for God to take care of. What if He runs out? Just how far can His care for our needs go? Remember, He owns the cattle on thousand hills and the wealth of every mine. He can handle your relatively small financial woes. In fact, when we’re faithful in giving, listen to what level He’ll meet your needs:
Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
Ill - Reuters - The other twenty million finalists might as well give up. One of the gold-sticker-laden sweepstakes entry forms and magazine sales pitches that show up just about weekly in most Americans' mailboxes has been sent to God.
American Family Publishers sent its computer-generated entry form to "God of Bushnell," at the Bushnell Assembly of God, a church in central Florida.
"God, we're searching for you. You've been positively identified as our $11 million mystery millionaire," the form read.
The fine print showed the Creator was merely a finalist, but the letter encouraged him to try his luck.
"Imagine the looks you'd get from your neighbors ... but don't just sit there, God, come forward now and claim your prize."
Bill Brack, the church's preacher, told the Tampa Tribune that he had not yet decided whether the church would enter the sweepstakes. "God already has $11 million," he said.
I dare to make that same assertion this morning that Paul made – If you gave today, faithfully, deliberately, unselfishly, my God will meet all your needs. Paul didn’t say that blindly, and God hasn’t changed. So I can repeat it this morning: my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Conclusion:
We’ve spent these past 4 Sundays looking to restore some of the joy to our giving. Remember, Philippians, the letter about joy has lot to say about giving.
We don’t hesitate to invite people to do that today. Serving Jesus is all about giving – first, giving away our will to the One Who deserves to receive everything from us.
Maybe you need to make that first step this morning…
