STEWARDSHIP THE GRACE OF GIVING EASTER
Matthew 28:1-7
“We make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia II Cor. 8:1
Romans 6: 5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
Today is Easter Sunday.
God’s grace has been given for the world
John 3:16 is fulfilled.
The 23 Psalms has been given flesh and blood.
The Greatest commandment of Mathew 22:37 has been obeyed
Jesus has won the victory.
Ephesians 1:7-8 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
TODAY WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE GIVING GRACE OF GOD.
This is a story in Japan about a man who renovated his house.
When he tore open the walls, he found in the hollow space a lizard
Who was stuck there because a nail was hammered into its foot from the outside.
As he studies the Lizard he discovered that the nail was 10 years old
When the former inhabitant had remodeled.
The lizard had been pinned there.
He began to wonder,
How did he the lizard survived for 10 years in that dark wall partition
Without moving a step since his foot was nailed.
What did he eat.
So he stopped his work and watched.
It wasn’t long until another lizard appeared from somewhere,
with food in its mouth.
He was stunned and at the same time, touched deeply.
What a beautiful gift for 10 years.
This little creature had been feeding its partner.
Without giving up hope.
What commitment
What love.
What sacrificial giving.
But that is nothing compared to the love of God in Christ.
Who took upon himself all the sins of the world.
And nailed them there forever.
So that we might go free.
The resurrection shows us the
I. SACRIFICIAL GIVING OF GOD.
In the death and resurrection of Jesus the old testament fulfilled.
In the Old Testament Giving is specific;
In the New Testament Giving is sacrificial.
They were to offer up a Lamb, or a dove,
Very specific offering for a particular sin.
But New Testament giving is sacrificial.
Not just a specific part of us is offered,
But Jesus gave his all.
Lamb of God that climbed onto the altar for our sins.
A once and for all sacrifice.
Romans 8:3-4LB
3The law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful. God destroyed sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4He did this so that the requirement of the law would be fully accomplished for us£ who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
When Jesus gave his all for us.
It changed the outcome of his life and our forever.
And friend when you give your All to God.
The act should change forever the outcome of your life.
It did the Macedonians Christians
Out of their most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.” II Cor. 8:2-3
It change their attitude toward giving.
The Macedonia gave not out of their prosperity,
But out of their poverty.
Theirs lifestyle was “down to the bottom”.
War, famine, persecution affliction had left these Greek Christian
debased, beggarly, and poor.
They were bumping heads with the Leaders and culture of their day.
But in their difficulty the Grace of God came and
Resulted in SACRIFICIAL GIVING that resulted in their greatest joy.
Do you think that Jesus thought it might get easier the closer he came to the end?
Well Pilot wanted to make sure it didn’t ,
He figured the pressure, the beatings, and the humiliation would
Change it all.
Richard Bandler tells about a man at a mental institution who insisted he was Jesus Christ in the flesh. One day Bandler walked in to meet this man. "Are you Jesus?" he said. "Yes, my son," the man replied. Bandler said, "I’ll be back in a minute." This left the man a little bit confused. Within three or four minutes, Bandler came back, holding a measuring tape. Asking the man to hold out his arms, Bandler measured the length of his arms and his height from head to toe. After that, Bandler left.
The man claiming to be Christ became a little concerned.
A little while later, Bandler came back with a hammer,
some large spiked nails, and a long set of boards.
He began to pound them into the form of a cross.
The man asked, "What are you doing?"
As Richard put the last nails in the cross, he asked, "Are you Jesus?"
Again the man said, "Yes my son."
Bandler said, "Then you know why I’m here."
Somehow, the man looking at the cross, suddenly recalled who he really was.
"I’m not Jesus. I’m not Jesus!" the man started yelling.
unlimited Power, pp. 184-185. New York: Ballantine Books, copyright 1986.
God Took the worst evil that man could throw at him.
And Put them together in the willing sacrifice of His son Jesus,
And we get the most Generous GIFT the world has ever known.
When God the Father raised him from the dead
And He is alive and
We too thou we die yet shall we live.
He changed the world.
If you and I will follow his Sacrificial giving of Christ
We will touch and change the world around us.
For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. II Corinthians 8: 12:
If your out of sync with God and don’t know where he might be in your life.
Give you way back to God.
Grace giving does not produce equal gifts, but equal sacrifice.
Easter is the glorious climax of grace giving at its highest.
Jesus gave his way back to God.
II. GRACE LEADS TO SPONTANEOUS GIVING
The second thing we see this morning in Jesus and the resurrection
Is that God gift of Grace in Christ was spontaneously.
It flowed out of his love for us.
Take a young teenager who mother has a terrible time getting him
to dress up and take a bath.
And wash the car
Put on a little cologne.
But let that boy find a new girlfriend in school.
And suddenly its showers in the morning and evening.
New clothes,
And spontaneously he out washing the car
And you can smell him a mile a way?
Why? New affection.
Getting it ready.
You don’t have to work at it.
It happens to adults.
Take a new golfer who has been bitten by the golf bug
Suddenly there are new clubs, bags, shoes, balls, and shirts.
And this nonreader is paging through golf magazines.
And this non speaker is mumbling manta’s and formulas
”Head down, arm straight, follow through”
This guy who could scarcely buy a box of candy or a flower for his wife
Opens a bank account for a new game.
It is the expulsive power of a new affection.
Spontaneous giving of his money to where his heart lies.
That’s what happens when we get into a new relationship with Christ.
The power of loves moves us to give.
We began to love what he loves,
And live as he lived,
And give as he gave.
And it flows like an artesian well from inside us.
This is not from outside us.
The secret of the Macedonian
they gave not out of legalisms
But a soft gracious willingness. II Cor. 8:3
Because a new affection had invaded their lives.
When the disciples saw that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Suddenly a whole new affection and love of God sent them
Into all the world with the good news.
He is risen.
How do you give? Out of an awful drudgery
Or a heart bursting with an opportunity of joy.
When you feel the touch of Christ.
The burden is easy and they yoke is light.
WE SAW IN THE RESURRECTION THAT GOD
III. GIVES SPIRITUAL GIFT OF GRACE.
Jesus death and resurrection was a spiritual gift.
Spiritual giving:
1. Doesn’t draws attention to itself. Matthew 6:3-4
2. Doesn’t give with ill will and reluctance. II Cor. 9:7
3. Doesn’t give out of the leftovers.
4. Doesn’t give grudgingly II Cor. 9:7
But give first of themselves.
Jesus could have been satisfied with giving the world bread and water.
HE could have given them a healing clinic in every town.
A leprosiaum.
School of exorcism.
No.
He gave himself.
Spiritual sacrifice to God.
Broke the bond of sin and death and set us free forever.
He left for us an empty tomb.
Did you ever wonder what the Difference is in the Sacrifices of the
OT and the NT.
“None of the Old Testament sacrifices could take away sins;
their blood only covered a particular sin for a week.
But the Lamb of God shed His blood,
and that blood can take away the sins of the world (John 1:29)
“ But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Hebrews 9:26
OLD TESTAMENT GIVING NEW TESTAMENT GIVING
GIVING IS BY LAW GIVING IS OUT OF GRACE /LOVE
GIVING IS SPECIFIC GIVING IS SACRIFICIAL
GIVING IS AN OBLIGATION GIVING IS AN OPPORTUNITY
GIVING IS BY PERCENTAGE GIVING IS BY PROPORTION
GIVING IS A RESPONSIBILITY GIVING IS A RESPONSE
The Macedonians inward relationship with God prompted
A spiritual response.
“And this they did, not as we had hoped, but first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.” II Cor. 8:5
It wasn’t God responsibility to save us.
But it was his response in Love that saved us.
Let me illustrate the difference.
Let suppose I came home on Donna birthday with a dozens roses.
She accepts them and say: “Oh you shouldn’t have spent so much.
But lets say: I foolishly answer:
“Well I’m your husband dear, and I’m just taking my responsibility
on your birthday, to get you flowers. I could do no less.”
How would she feel.
I would probably be wearing those roses
And not in my lapel.
I should say: Donna your worth more-then I could ever spend to me.
I did it because I love you.
The Macedonian responded in love
Their giving was a spiritual act, characterized by:
a. Willingness II Corinthians 8;3
b. Cheerfulness II Corinthians 9:11
c. Eagerness. II Corinthians 8:4
Only the grace of God can motivate giving base on love instead of Law.
Gods scoreboard will not be what you have earned or achieved in life
But what you have given in life.
When the women came to the tomb.
They found it empty.
The angel said: Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus,
who has been crucified. He is not here; He has risen!”
Jesus was alive – the tomb was empty.
Easter will always be the day to remember what God gave for us.
What gift will God remember you for giving?
Its not just our money that needed as we look to the future.
But its our lives, our attitudes, our behavior.
You can give without loving God,
But you cannot love God without giving.
Jesus went all the way to hell for us.
But he rose that we might have a story to tell.
Jesus is risen he is alive and he loves you is the greatest story we can tell
Will you tell it.
Let me close
Bill Wilson pastors an inner city church in New York City. His mission field is a very violent place. He himself has been stabbed twice as he ministered to the people of the community surrounding the church. Once a Puerto Rican woman became involved in the church and was led to Christ. After her conversion she came to Pastor Wilson and said, "I want to do something to help with the church’s ministry." He asked her what her talents were and she could think of nothing---she couldn’t even speak English---but she did love children. So he put her on one of the church’s buses that went into neighborhoods and transported kids to church. Every week she performed her duties. She would find the worst-looking kid on the bus, put him on her lap and whisper over and over the only words she had learned in English: "I love you. Jesus loves you."
After several months, she became attached to one little boy in particular. The boy didn’t speak. He came to Sunday School every week with his sister and sat on the woman’s lap, but he never made a sound. Each week she would tell him all the way to Sunday School and all the way home, "I love you and Jesus loves you."
One day, to her amazement, the little boy turned around and stammered, "I---I---I love you too!" Then he put his arms around her and gave her a big hug. That was 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon. At 6:30 that night he was found dead. His own mother had beaten him to death and thrown his body in the trash......."I love you and Jesus loves you." ...Those were some of the last words this little boy heard in his short life---from the lips of a Puerto Rican woman who could barely speak English.
This woman gave her one talent to God and because of that
a little boy who never heard the word "love" in his own home,
Experienced and responded to the love of Christ.....
That is what Easter is all about.
