Freely Give
Matthew 10:1-15
Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness. Here are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon (also called Peter), then Andrew (Peter’s brother), James (son of Zebedee), John (James’s brother), Philip, Bartholomew,
Thomas, Matthew (the tax collector), James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus,
Simon (the Zealot), and Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).
Jesus sent the twelve disciples out with these instructions: "Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but only to the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep. Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!
"Don’t take any money with you. Don’t carry a traveler’s bag with an extra coat and sandals or even a walking stick. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve to be fed. Whenever you enter a city or village, search for a worthy man and stay in his home until you leave for the next town. When you are invited into someone’s home, give it your blessing. If it turns out to be a worthy home, let your blessing stand; if it is not, take back the blessing. If a village doesn’t welcome you or listen to you, shake off the dust of that place from your feet as you leave. I assure you, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better off on the judgment day than that place will be.
A month ago, Pam, Michael and I went to a birthday party. Kaylee, my niece’s daughter was turning 3 years old. Now I don’t know if you have been around too many 3 year olds, but typically they are not mature enough to understand the concepts of sharing and giving. Most preschoolers when they are in a situation where they are being given many different presents have a hard time letting other children play with their new toys. Most adults when they receive a new toy, whether it is that laptop you always wanted or that new car – we have a hard time letting someone else use it before we have had a chance to enjoy it.
That’s why I was amazed to watch Kaylee at this party. Most of her presents were clothes, and she gave the typical reaction to the clothes (open the present, pull out the clothes, say thank you because you mother is telling you to, and then move on to the next present.) Then she came across a box that contained a toy that she really liked. Immediately she wanted to play with it and forget the other presents, but her Mother encouraged her to keep looking at the unopened presents and put the toy to the side. While she was doing this, her cousins were starting to play with the new toy. At first this was a distraction to Kaylee, but she continued to open her presents.
Finally, after all the presents were opened, she was ready to play with her favorite toy. But Ethan her 2 year old cousin did not want to give it up. What amazed me was the kindness and self-control that Kaylee exhibited during this time. She had freely received this prized toy. It belonged to her. She had every right to take it away from Ethan and to demand that she be given her toy back. Most of the adults were trying to coax the toy away from Ethan and give it to Kaylee. They were upset that Kaylee wasn’t able to play with her new toy. But Kaylee didn’t seem to mind. In fact it seemed to bring her joy to be able to share her new toy with her cousin. It was OK that he wanted to play with it. She had freely received the gift, and now she was freely sharing it with someone she loved.
In the passage we just read we have heard the instructions Jesus gave His disciples as they prepared to branch out as His missionaries. Freely they had been given some amazing things. They had heard the Master speak. They had watched as Jesus performed amazing miracles of mercy and grace. They had witnessed the compassion and tenderness of the Good Shepherd. And not He was sending them out with these words: Freely you have received, freely give.
This morning I want us to look at our hearts this morning. I want us to answer some key questions regarding our Christian Faith. The questions I want to look at this morning are these:
- Why do we fail to give freely?
- What have we been given that God wants us to share?
- What kind of giver does God want me to become?
Usually when a Pastor does a message on giving, people immediately think: Oh No, He’s going to talk about money. I hate to disappoint you, but I am not talking about money this morning, though the principles we are going to look at could refer to money. Instead we are going to look at the disciples of Christ. What had they been given freely, and what did Jesus want them to give away? But first, we need to look at the obstacles to a giving heart.
1. Why do we fail to give freely?
I believe there are three things that keep us from giving to others. They are: fear, doubt, and emptiness.
Fear can be a powerful force in our lives. It can paralyze us. It can cause us to hide away and to hoard our limited resources. It can cause us to doubt the motives and sincerity of others. It can lead us to look out for number one at the expense of others. Fear can drive us to living self-centered lives at the expense of those around us. We may say to ourselves: “If I freely give to others, I may not have anything left for myself. If I freely share, I may get rejected or hurt or walked all over. If I put myself out there and freely give, I may fail.”
Sometimes when we are afraid, we think that it is best to keep things close to our hearts. We don’t want to share them, for fear of losing what we have.
Pam’s grandmother willed her sterling silver to Pam. But Pam’s mom did not think that Pam was ready to receive this gift, so she kept it, hidden away. The thought was that if Pam took the silver too soon, she may lose it and it was too precious to be lost. But what ended up happening is that the silver is gone. We don’t know if it was misplaced or stolen, but it is gone. When we hide things away out of fear of losing them, very often what happens in the end is that the very thing we feared happening takes place. We lose what we tried to hide away.
The scriptures remind us that “Perfect love casts out fear!” and if we give by faith,” It will be given back to you”.
What fear paralyzes you this morning from giving freely to others? I am sure the disciples were terrified of going out into the villages without Jesus. He was sending them as lambs among wolves. If they cursed Jesus what would they do the followers of Christ? He told them to go in faith. They weren’t to hoard any belongings, but to trust that God would provide for them. They weren’t to worry about opposition, but to move on to a more receptive place when the Word was rejected.
A second hindrance to giving freely is the hindrance of doubt. We doubt all kinds of things: Is God really sending me? What do I have to offer? Who am I? I don’t have any gifts and special abilities? I don’t have anything to give?
Sometimes we look at ourselves and we do not see what God sees. We see our failures. We see our constant struggle with sin. We see our imperfections and our confusion. We see our doubts and fears, and we think to ourselves: God couldn’t possibly use me. He certainly can do better than me.
But this isn’t what God sees. God sees a child that He loves, and one that He has gifted with every spiritual blessing to accomplish the good works He has prepared in advance for them to do. God sees a gifted part of His body. God sees someone who has freely received His gospel and the gift of the Holy Spirit. God sees a new creation. God doesn’t see what you are, but He sees the new creation in you. God sees His Son Jesus, living inside of you.
What do you doubt this morning? Do you doubt that God could use someone who still struggles with sin? Do you doubt that God could use someone who seems to have limited gifts and abilities? Do you doubt that God can do anything with you?
Moses was someone who doubted God. He said: “Who am I”, and he made God angry by His constant excuses. Gideon hid away in a wheat thresher. Jonah ran the other way. God specializes in people who think they are incapable. He only needed a little boy’s lunch to feed 5,000 men. He can take what little you think you have to offer and multiply it time and time again. But you must stop doubting and believe. You must stop hiding, and step out in faith.
A third and final hindrance to giving freely, is the hindrance of emptiness. You cannot give what you do not have. A person who has not been touched by the Spirit of God and who has not accepted the free gift of salvation cannot share with others what he does not possess Sometimes we feel empty inside. We know we are saved, and we know that God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives, but we feel dried up inside. But a curious thing happens when you start to freely give to others. Most of us think that when we are tired and worn out or burnt out, if we focus more on ourselves and take care of ourselves – then we will get replenished and be able to help others. But what so often happens when we do that is that we become self-centered and absorbed in our own problems. We tend to spiral downward into depression and discouragement. The more we focus on our own emptiness the more empty we feel. And the more empty we feel, the less likely we are to freely give.
But Jesus gives us a paradox. If you seek to save your life, you will lose it. But if instead, you lose your life, in other words – if you give it away, then you will find it. When we in obedience freely give of ourselves to others, God keeps filling our cup over and over again. But when we hoard our little resources, the little we have become less and less. In the parable of the talents, the one who hoarded the one talent he had, and who buried it away for fear of losing it, ended up losing it in the end anyway. God calls us to step out in faith and take a risk. Become a giver who gives away freely!
Think a moment of these disciples. They had witnessed Christ preach incredible sermons. They had heard His amazing teachings. They had observed Him healing all kinds of diseases. And now Jesus is saying, “OK boys, you’ve watched me, now it’s your turn. You go preach. You go teach. You go heal the sick.” You can almost hear the disciples going; “Woe, woe, woe. Wait a minute, Lord. It’s one thing for us to watch you do these things. You are the Son of God. Now you are asking us to do the same thing. You’ve got to be kidding?”
I am sure the disciples were afraid, full of doubt, and feeling very insecure in their own inadequacies. Where are we to go? How will people respond? I don’t know if I can do this? What if I fail?
But the amazing thing is that they went. They took that step of faith. They trusted that Jesus knew what He was doing when He picked them to go. Will you trust Him as well?
2. What have we been given that God wants us to share?
As believers in Jesus Christ we have been given amazing things:
- We have been given the free gift of the Holy Spirit of God who comes to indwell us and to fill us with His power and love (Acts 2:38)
- We have been given the free gift of eternal life. We know that we will live forever with the Lord because He has adopted us into His family and He will never leave us or forsake us. (Romans 6:23)
- We have been given the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit, supernatural abilities to teach, preach, help, show mercy, administrate, lead, have wisdom and faith, and so on. (I Corinthians 12)
- We have been given salvation as a free gift of God’s grace. We are forgiven, redeemed, and made into new creations. (Ephesians 2:8)
- We have been blessed with every spiritual gift in the heavenlies and every good and perfect gift has been given to us from the Father of lights (James 1:17)
- We have been given amazing gifts that we did not buy with our own money or earn with our own goodness, but which we have freely received as part of the package deal of believing in the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Specifically, Jesus reminded His disciples of 4 things that they had been freely given that He gave to them so that they would freely give. Let’s take a look a these 4 things.
a. He gave them authority. (Verse 1) Authority is an amazing thing. I have been seeing a lot of movies lately for free. Now I could try and go up to the box office window of Regal Cinema and say, I’m here for my free pass. They would look at me and very gently remind me that the movie costs $9.50 and I am not going to get inside unless I have a ticket. I can plead with them to give me a break. I can tell them that I don’t have the money. I can offer to pay them later. I can tell them I’d work for them for an hour to make the money. But they aren’t going to let me in without a ticket. I can say, don’t you know who I am. I am Dave Hicks, Pastor of Faith Alliance Church and I demand you let me in. And of course, they may be impressed with my education and my position, but they aren’t going to let me in.
There is a way I can get in to see the movie for free, however. If I go in the authority of my son, Michael, then I can get in for free. You see Michael, as an employee has certain benefits and one of them is that he or his guest can get in free to see movies. And so if I go under the authority of Michael and in His name, they will let me in.
Jesus holds the keys of heaven. Jesus holds all things together by the power of His name. Jesus is the authority over all creation. He tells the waves to stop and they stop. He speaks and the sun begins to shine. He calls forth Lazarus from the grave and Lazarus rises. Jesus has authority and power over all dominions. And he sends us under and in His authority. Matthew 28:18-20 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. GO therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The disciples could have showed up in a town and started preaching in their own name and in their own strength and in their own power and authority, and they would have failed miserable. They would have not been representing the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But when they went in the authority of Jesus, it didn’t matter whether or not he was physically right there beside them. They were their under His authority and in His name
Jesus gives you authority to make disciples. He gives you authority to preach the Gospel. He gives you authority to tell others about Him.
Now authority is a great thing to have, but authority without the second gift will accomplish little. The second thing Jesus gave is this:
b. He gave them ability. (verses 1 and 8).
Amazingly Jesus gave these disciples power to heal the sick, to cast out demons, to deliver those who were oppressed by illnesses, and to proclaim the kingdom. Before they weren’t preachers, but now they would be. Before they weren’t healers, but now they would be. Before they were incapable of accomplishing anything for God, but now they would have power to do what only Christ could to.
Jesus would later tell them to remain in Jerusalem until they had received the power of the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses. And He also would promise them that the things they had seen Jesus do, they would do and even greater things would they be able to do, because Jesus would be with them in the power of His Holy Spirit.
You have been given a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. God’s spirit lives in you, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ. His Spirit is capable of doing amazing things.
When filled with His Holy Spirit, you can preach a sermon.
When filled with His Holy Spirit, you can show mercy even though your fleshly nature is to run away from those who are hurting.
When filled with His Holy Spirit, you can lead others to Christ.
Spiritual Gifts are given to every believer in Christ. A gift is simply an aspect of the Holy Spirit’s person and power manifested in some activity. The Holy Spirit rebukes, corrects, instructs, encourages, guides, loves, and so on. When filled with the Holy Spirit, you will see His gifts become evident in your life. You will have abilities that the natural man does not possess. No believer possesses all the gifts of the spirit, but every believer has some of the gifts of the spirit. God will give you abilities to do His work. Those who receive freely, must freely give. Surrender your life to the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
c. He gave them a message. (verse 7) Jesus instructed His disciples to give a very simple message: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Now is the day of salvation. Today is the day the Lord wants you to be saved. This is our message. It is good news. We have been given this message freely, and God expects us to share it freely. News travels fast in our day and age. When something bad happens it seems the whole world knows about it immediately. Good News doesn’t seem to spread as quickly. Good News is all too often taken for granted.
Some of us are notoriously bad in sharing good news with others. My niece is expecting her third child. I’ve known for about 3 months, but I failed to share that information with Pam. She had to hear about it from my Mom, and she wondered why I didn’t tell her sooner. How many opportunities do we squander to share the good news with someone whose heart is ready to hear? Freely you have received this good news, now freely share it.
d. He gave them a ministry. (verse 6) Jesus instructed them to go from town to town. They had clear instructions that they were to share this message with the lost sheep of Israel. The time wasn’t ripe for them to share it with the Gentiles in the region. The Jews needed to hear first. Their ministry included whatever town they entered. Not every person would be receptive. Some would reject them and drive them away. Some would listen for awhile and then shut them out. Others would be receptive and open.
Jesus has a ministry field for you as well. The scriptures say that God determines where we live. He directs the details of our lives down to the families we are born into, the communities we call home, and the places we visit and spend our time. The day is filled with Divine appointments.
There are a couple of different ways of looking at God and His involvement in the world. Some view God as a kind of cosmic creator who made the world, but then detached Himself from the every day activities of the world. Others view God as controlling every aspect of creation and that we are nothing more than mere ants in His giant experiment. I believe both of these view are biblically incorrect.
God is creator and He is Sovereign over all of life. He gives man freewill, to make His choices, but once those choices are made, God is lovingly involved in every detail, every page of that person’s life. (i.e. The acrylic paper weight on my desk).
It’s not an accident of fate that you are living in your neighborhood. God. God divinely appointed you to be His representative, His ambassador to that neighborhood. It’s not a mistake of nature that you have that person in the cubicle next to you at the office. God hand-picked you to be His salt and light in that office and with that office mate. Every day is full of Divine Appointments. Some of us go through life and ask the question: God, I don’t know where my ministry is? I don’t know what you want me to do? God is watching to see what you will do with the opportunities He gives to you today. Your ministry is right where He has planted you. Your mission field is different from every other person in this room. What will you do with what God has already given you? Will you freely share what you have freely received?
3. What kind of giver does God want us to become?
We know that God loves a cheerful giver. We know that God wants us to give freely. We know that to whom much has been given, much will be required. Giving is to become more of a way of life than an activity. Giving is to become a part of who we are, not what we do.
The words of Jesus to His apostles indicate what kind of giver God wants us to become. In verse 7 Jesus says: “Proclaim, AS YOU GO…”
And in verse 11 Jesus says: “Whatever town or village you enter…”
These words indicate that Jesus is looking for people who live a lifestyle of service. In whatever situation you find yourself, wherever you are, or whenever God provides the opportunity, as you go through life – will you commit to follow the Lord in obedience? Will you commit to live a lifestyle of freely giving what you have freely received?
What needs to change today in your focus? What adjustments do you need to make in your thinking, as a result of this sermon today?
Perhaps you have been living in fear, full of doubts, worn out and weary and you have been holding on to your Christianity and have refused to step out and begin to share it with others? Confess your sin, and step out in obedience.
Perhaps you have felt inadequate or incapable of doing anything for the Lord? Focus on His authority and the abilities He has given you through His Holy Spirit, and take a step of faith.
Perhaps you have been holding back waiting for more direction or clarity in what your ministry is supposed to be? Don’t hesitate another day. Begin today to step out in the sovereignty of God knowing that He has you exactly where He wants you, and that you are to be faithful to Him today in the field He has placed you.
Whatever your decision, make it and step out in the grace and power of the Lord and watch what God does with, in and through you.
Pray.
