Stewardship-Will Our Lives Count For Much?

Will Our Lives Count For Much.

10/05/97 Eccl 11:1-6 Luke 19:1-10 Text Luke 6:20-38

In the end, how long you lived is not going to be nearly as important as how well you lived. Jesus is going to show us today "its not the duration of life of how many years we live but the donation of life, what we do with those years that really count." Today can be a life changing day for our lives, because we’re going to see discover some strange ways to make our lives count.

Let me ask you a question, if you died right now, what donation would you have made to life itself.? Would you die knowing "I really have not contributed that much to those around me?" Have you been a grabber for yourself or a giver to others?. Many people have lived long years, and when they died basically all you can say is they died holding on to things. They never became a giver in life. Others have died in their twenties and they were known as givers. They gave, they donated, their hands were opened, and they put their treasures on the other side.

Jesus gives us some tremendous themes in the passage we are going to look at today. The core of the message is that "giving has nothing to do with our assets."" It has everything to do with attitude. " In Luke chapter 6 as we begin to unfold, it becomes obvious that when Jesus thought about giving, he was not thinking about how many homes we have, and whether we owned them or rented them, or the size of our bank account, or the kind of car we drive. In fact he was saying, some of the biggest givers in the world’s eyes have very few assets. Some of the greediest people in life, have everything to give.

Let’s start with verse 20 in chapter 6. Jesus Says Luke 6:20 Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Luke 6:21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets." Is Jesus For Real or what?

Let’s stop here for a moment. Isn’t it interesting that in verse 20, the people that are to be blessed have no or very little finances. They have very little food in verse 21. and they have very friends in verse 22. Do you see that. And yet the Lord says happy or blessed are you. Very few assets. The world would pass that person by and "Good Lord, pray you don’t end up like that!"

Now notice verses 24-26. He goes from happy and blessed and to woe and wretched. Luke 6:24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.

Now its interesting that in verse 24 he talks about people who have money, in verse 25 he talks about people who have food, and in verse 26 he talks about people who have friends. What the Lord is doing is finishing his message known as the Sermon on the Mount and he’s dropping a series of bombshells on the people.

This is catching their attention. He’s entering into 13 verses on giving, and he starts off saying you’re blessed or you’re happy when you have very few finances, food and friend, and you’re in trouble if you have a lot finances, food and friends. You say wait a minute, "Is Jesus anti rich and pro-poor." No, that has nothing to do with this passage.

He’s saying, if you are a contributor or a giver in life, although you may have very little in the world’s eyes today, he wants you to know that you will be blessed in the future because you life is going to count for something in the end. If you have a lot, and you’re not a giver, you’re greedy and a consumer. You will die with a fist full of nothing spiritually. He’s not against what you have, He’s against you not being a giver with what you have.

If you basically collect and store and save, and don’t pass on to others Jesus is saying "You are receiving your comfort in full." In verse 24, it says you have already received and that means you’re not getting any more. What you have today, enjoy it, because you are never going to have more than what you have right now.