Give Generously

"And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, 'This is the thing which the Lord commanded... Take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the Lord...'" ... "And the people were restrained from bringing, for the material that they had was sufficient for the work to be done—indeed, it was too much." (Exodus 35–36)

When everything we have belongs to God, generosity stops being a burden and becomes an expression of His own heart in us.

Life in Connection

This is our sixth and final study in the series we have called Life in Connection. Over the first six weeks of this year we have taken time to articulate our mission, vision, and values as a church—answering why we exist, who we are, what we do, and how we do it. Today's message is on everyone's favorite topic: giving. Give generously.

I am convinced that the abundant life Jesus promised in John 10:10—"I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly"—is a life lived in connection with God and with one another. The thief came to steal, kill, and destroy, and through the Fall humanity was robbed of true communion with God and genuine fellowship with one another. Jesus comes to restore both.

The result of worshiping together, connecting in community, serving one another, and engaging in mission is a deepening relationship with God and one another. And then, finally, we come to giving generously.

"The Church Is Always Talking About Money"

When I talk about giving, some of you instantly think what many people in our culture say: "It seems like the church is always talking about money."

About ten years ago I set out to buy a new car, and I decided I wanted a Jeep. As soon as I started researching them, suddenly there were Jeeps everywhere—hard-tops and soft-tops, black ones and white ones, lifted ones. Now, not everyone really had a Jeep. But when you focus your attention on one thing, you begin to see it everywhere.

I'd suggest that some people think the church is only ever talking about money because that's where their minds already are. By our very nature after the Fall, our minds are absorbed with wealth. The Bible actually speaks about money more than almost any other single topic—over 800 passages from Genesis to Revelation deal with money, wealth, saving, giving, budgeting, or debt. Why does God address it so much? Because He knows we are focused on it, looking to our wealth as the source of our provision and security.

It is providential that every unit of our currency since the mid-1950s bears our national motto: In God We Trust. We are so tempted to trust not in the God who gives us life, but in how many of those dollar bills and coins we have. That motto is a good challenge: Do I really trust completely in God? We are tempted to put our faith in our MasterCard rather than in our Master God.

God Is Not After Your Money

The last thing God needs is your money or mine. He is not trying to make money; He is trying to make us—to make us more like Him. Paul warned 2,000 years ago about those who enter ministry purely out of greed, and we know there are people in our day who misuse Scripture to make money. But that is not God's intent.

God is the benchmark of generosity. The verse that immediately comes to mind is John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave." Compelled by love, He gave—not to get anything back, but sacrificially and to the fullest extent: "He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Romans 8:32 tells us God "did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all," and asks, "How shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

He does not need our money. One verse always makes me chuckle: "God owns the cattle on a thousand hills." In a culture where wealth was measured in herds, that meant God owns it all. In our house, when an unexpected bill comes, Andrea and I have prayed somewhat tongue-in-cheek, "God, it's time for You to auction one of them cattle." And we have always found Him faithful to provide—though He does stretch us. It is very easy for God to stretch us in the area of our finances.

From the Garden of Eden, which He gave to humanity, to the New Jerusalem, which He has promised to give us, God is pictured as the supreme giver from Genesis to Revelation.

Jesus Gave It All

God in the flesh—Jesus—came and gave it all. In Mark 10:45, "the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." He came to seek and to save that which is lost (Luke 19:10), to pay the price you and I could not pay.

And this is a gift, not a payment for services rendered. Ephesians 2 says, "By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." We did not work to receive it, and we do not work to maintain it. God is sacrificially gracious.

Sacrificial Generosity Is an Expression of Christlikeness

If God is sacrificially gracious, and Jesus came and gave it all, then sacrificial generosity is an expression of Christlikeness. When we give for no other reason than being compelled by love—not to get anything back—we display His glory.

The reality is that no one gives completely sacrificially outside of Christ. There are always strings attached, whether for gain in this life or to "pay it forward" into the next, hoping to earn some righteousness. That is our base nature because of the Fall. But in Christ a transformation takes place. Jesus says, "Freely you have received, freely give." Compelled by His love, we give not only of our finances—though because our hearts are so attached to money, that is an important part—but also of our energy, our assets, and our time, which for some is more costly than what is in their bank account.

The world needs to see the character of Christ, and they need to see it in the church. I stand here with a happy heart, because the church has been the most generous people throughout history. Even secular research bears this out: Gallup found that evangelicals in America give about ten times what the average non-believer gives—an average of $4,200 a year per evangelical, compared with about $490 for the average atheist. That is an expression of Christlikeness.

Giving Is Commanded

None of us stepped into the church completely perfect. When we first follow God, we carry the baggage of our old way of thinking—and our old thinking is absorbed with finances. It takes time to be sanctified, to realize we can let these things go.

That is why giving is commanded. Between the moment we first believe and the day we give freely out of devotion, there is a command to give out of duty. Have you ever done something the Bible told you to do that you didn't want to do? Like every day—love one another, be patient with the person who just cut you off on the freeway. God gives commands because He knows our minds are not there yet, even as He is changing our hearts. Over time the "want to" comes, because the heart has been changed.

The Old Testament is filled with commands to give. The first was the tithe—ten percent—commanded in Leviticus 27:30–32, where the firstfruits were to be made "holy to the Lord," consecrated to Him. We all understand consecration: setting money aside for a house, or for taxes, and refusing to touch it for anything else.

In Numbers 18:20–25, God directed that tithe to the Levites for the spiritual service of the nation. But it didn't stop there. Deuteronomy 12 and 14 commanded another ten percent for the national festivals, bringing it to twenty percent. Then another tithe every three years—three percent annually—went to the poor, bringing it to twenty-three percent. Beyond that, farmers had to leave the corners and edges of their fields unharvested and make only one pass through their fields and vineyards, leaving the gleanings for the poor—a national welfare plan. Every male twenty years and older also gave a half-shekel temple tax, primarily as a census of those who could go to war. And all of this was apart from the taxes a future king would take once Israel moved from theocracy to monarchy.

What About Us?

We are not the nation of Israel. We don't live under the old covenant, don't have Levites, and don't fund national festivals. So do we have to give in the same way?

Interestingly, in Matthew 23 and Luke 11, Jesus affirms the tithe. And in 1 Corinthians 16:1, Paul tells the Gentile church at Corinth, "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also." Giving was a regular part of church life.

In Acts 2 the early Christians supported one another's needs. In Acts 4 many sold land and possessions and gave the proceeds to the church. In Acts 6 they supported widows. In Acts 19 they supported missionary work. Paul taught the churches to give sacrificially (1 Corinthians 16; 2 Corinthians 8–9), thanked the Philippians for their generosity (Philippians 4), and taught Timothy to charge the rich to give (1 Timothy 6:17–18). John says giving declares the love of God (1 John 3:17), and Hebrews 13:16 exhorts us not to forget to do good and to share.

You may say, "But I'm not rich." Remember Occupy Wall Street—"We are the 99 percent"? Every one of us here is among the wealthiest of the world. A family of four in Escondido earning $50,000 a year has more wealth than 91 percent of the world. If you own a home and two working cars, you are in the top two percent. Three billion people—half the world—live on less than $2.50 a day, less than we spend on a Starbucks latte. We are far closer to the one percent than the 99.

So the New Testament charges us to give, but without setting a fixed number. Why? Because it says, "Give generously, out of your love for God, in a way that mirrors His generosity." I would suggest—though it might earn me some emails—that ten percent is a starting place, not the goal.

Generous Giving Is an Issue of Stewardship

A steward is a manager of someone else's goods. Everything we have, including the ability to make money (Deuteronomy), comes from God. "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof" (Psalm 24:1). "The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine" (Haggai 2:8). "You are not your own; you were bought with a price" (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).

When we recognize that God has lent everything to us to manage, we understand we are not owners but stewards—and "it is required in stewards that one be found faithful" (1 Corinthians 4:2). My car, my house, my savings, my investments—none of it is mine. It is His, given to me to engage in mission and bring Him glory.

Giving Lessens the World's Grip on Us

Giving lessens our grip on this world and its grip on us. I confess plenty of things in this world have a grip on me. Paul could say in Philippians 1, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain," and that he would rather depart and be with the Lord. Every time I read that I ask, "Is that true of me?"—and I have to admit this world still holds me. Giving releases that grip.

Remember the rich young ruler. He came to Jesus asking, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He had inherited everything else, but eternal life wasn't in the will. Jesus pointed to the one thing the man clung to: "Go, sell everything you have, give it to the poor, and come follow Me." He went away grieved, because he had many possessions. They had a grip on him—"the precious"—and he couldn't let it go.

Turn to Luke 12. Like the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will wear. Consider the lilies, consider the birds—your heavenly Father feeds them. The unbelievers seek all these things, but your Father knows you need them. Seek first His kingdom." How many of you are perfectly fulfilling the command not to worry? No hands. We are the wealthiest nation in the world and one of the most anxious. Everyone thinks, "If I just had that, I wouldn't worry"—and we have it, and we still worry.

So what is His cure for anxiety about our stuff? Luke 12:33–34: "Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail... For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." If you don't have it, you won't worry about it—I didn't say it, Jesus said it. And by giving, you invest in the future. There is a future beyond 65, and it is forever.

Gallup has charted American happiness for a quarter century, and when you line the happiness graph up against the stock market, they move together. The market drops 300 points and the nation's happiness sinks; it rises and we feel better. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Verse 35 says, "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning"—be ready to go, invested in the future.

Our Generosity Will Be Rewarded

This final point is somewhat difficult, because the Bible says amazing things about giving that have been hijacked by bad teaching. Our generosity will be rewarded. Prosperity preachers boil their message down to: Give so you can get. You can turn on the TV or radio and find them, and it was just as bad 2,000 years ago—Paul warned against bringing greedy men into ministry.

But because of that abuse, we are sometimes afraid to talk about the genuine promises—and we shouldn't be. God does reward generosity. Luke 6:38: "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over... For with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you." Notice He does not say "Give so that it will be given to you." He says "Give, and it will be given"—that is simply the reward of God.

In 2 Corinthians 9:5–15 Paul compares giving to sowing seed: sow sparingly and you reap sparingly; sow bountifully and you reap bountifully. Maybe you receive a reward in this life, but it is certain that "He who sees in secret will reward you openly" in the next. And Acts 20:35 quotes Jesus: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Why We Give

Why are we commanded to give? Because giving sacrificially declares God's glory in the world; people see His character in the church as we give. He is the standard of generosity, because Jesus gave it all. And He wants us to recognize that all we have—our assets, energy, gifts, and ability to earn—has been given to us by God. It is not ours; it is His. So we hold this world loosely and invest in a future beyond 65, where there is no sickness and no need for long-term care.

I know it can be hard, because we look at our finances and say, "My life is in disarray." So we are offering a free financial class here at the church on March 5th and 7th, Wednesday nights at 7:00, taught by our friend Randy Gladden, covering finances, debt, budgeting, and investments.

Finally, like the free-will offering in Exodus 35–36, we are receiving a special offering this morning for our Benevolence Ministry, which helps meet the financial needs of people in our church and community. If the Lord stirs you, as He stirred the people in Exodus, you may give now, later, or online. If you are visiting, we're not asking anything of you. We'll sing one last song as the offering is received.

Closing Prayer

Father, help us to magnify You in this world, to serve one another, to engage in the mission of seeking and saving that which is lost, and to give generously—not by compulsion, but with a glad heart that says, "Freely I have received, and freely I give." Make it a reality in my life, Lord, because I know there are so many things that have a grip on me in this world, and I want to let them go. We praise You and thank You, Jesus, that You gave it all to save us. Thank You, Lord. Amen.