body-container-line-1
24.10.2014 Feature Article

GENEROSITY: A CHRISTIAN VIRTUE

GENEROSITY: A CHRISTIAN VIRTUE
24.10.2014 LISTEN

LUKE 6:38
"Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure--pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return" (NASB).

INTRODUCTION
Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guestroom. Instead, the angels were given a small space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, “Things aren't always what they seem.”

The next night the angels came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk has been their sole income, lay dead in the field. The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel, “how could you have let this happened?” The first man had everything, yet you helped him, she accused. The second family had little, but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die. “Things aren't always what they seem,” the older angel replied.

“When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his fortune, I sealed that wall so he wouldn't find it.” Then last night as we slept in the farmer's bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead. “Things aren't always what they seem.”

Sometimes that is exactly what happens when things don't turn out the way they should. If you have faith you have to trust that every outcome is to your advantage. You might not know it until sometime later.

I. BELIEVERS ARE OPENHEARTED V. 38a
I cannot do justice to this passage without first of all, telling you the context from which I am pulling out this verse for our consideration.

This passage comes in the context of Jesus' teaching of the Beatitudes. Definition of Beatitude: Beatitude is a state of utmost bliss. I can hear someone saying what is bliss? Bliss is supreme happiness or joy. In other words, Jesus is saying if you want to experience supreme but not superficial happiness or joy, and then practice the beatitudes. The beatitudes are found only in Luke 6 and Matthew 5:1-12. The beatitudes of Jesus run counter to the world's definition of bliss or happiness.

In verse 37 Jesus has just finished teaching about the evil of a judgmental or critical and unforgiving spirit. By the way, the Bible commands us to have moral evaluation of people. We are not to be naïve and close our ears, minds and eyes to moral and ethical evil.

• The Essence of the Beatitudes:
In the beatitudes Jesus was teaching about the requirements or demands of kingdom living. Someone has said that the Sermon on the Mount is the “Magna Carter” of the Christian life. Max Lucado calls the “Beatitudes,” “The Applause of Heaven.”

When the world ridicules and calls you a fool for suffering unjustly for Christ's sake, the heavens, the saints in heaven, and God's angelic hosts applaud you. The problem that many Christians have is how to make a balance between their worldview and biblical worldview. In other words, the way Christ teaches us to live our lives as Christians is entirely different from the way we have been taught in our various cultures. I am not saying that we have to discard our culture. There is no culture or worldview that is perfect, except the biblical worldview.

Now let's dig into the text before us. Jesus commands you and me to “give.”

The word “give” is an imperative or command. It is a present continuous imperative. You don't just give one day and quit. Giving must become part and parcel of your life. You and I are to obey the commands of Christ. Jesus said that the only way we know that we love Him is when we are obedient to Him.

The Christian life is a giving life. Jesus has given His life on the cross for our sakes. Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit to assist us to live the Christian life victoriously. He has also given us eternal life. We will spend eternity with Him in heaven. The Christian life is the exchanged life. When you give your life to Jesus, you exchange your sinful life for His sinless life. This is the question: If this is true and it is; why do many Christians find giving so hard to do?

Humans by nature are selfish, for example, watch siblings. Giving doesn't come naturally. Parents must consistently teach our children to learn to give to others. Some of you are teaching your children how to give to the Lord's work, and that is a good beginning. Selfishness is in the human blood. It is only the love of Christ that can remove it.

ORIGINATION OF SELFISHNESS:
It began in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve decided to have it all to

themselves. Selfishness also breeds or engenders greed. It was selfishness and greed that caused the first couple to fall into Satan's temptation. As humans giving does not come natural. We need to be taught to give. And nobody is more qualified to teach giving than Jesus Himself.

In teaching us to give, Jesus is teaching you and me who are Christians that we are the forgiven. And the forgiven are to be openhearted, and open-heartedness has consequences. Jesus did not specify what we are to give. However, in other passages Jesus speaks specifically of giving of money and treasures (Luke 6:27-30). In verse 38, Jesus leaves the giving hanging in the air. The giving in this context is very broad. Therefore, you cannot excuse yourself and say, Jesus is not talking to me.

II. BLESSING FOR THE OPENHEARTED V. 38b
Jesus commands us to keep on giving and reminds us that when we give people respond in kind. Jesus says, “Give, and it will be given to you.” There is reciprocity in giving to God or others (Proverbs 22:9). There is a reward for being generous to the poor. The generous person has a benevolent disposition, keen social conscience, and concern for the poor.

This is a person whose life is opposite to “those who are stingy and covetous.” The irony is that because the generous person is not the prisoner of his/her selfish desires, he/she achieves the highest degree of fulfillment.

Some people here in the United States and in Africa are prisoners of their wealth. They keep their wealth to themselves and they wonder why they are miserable.

Nobody who is generous loses. You cannot give to God and lose. If this statement is true and it is, why do some Christians refuse to tithe and give offerings to God's work? Let us bring it home: How many of us can sincerely and honestly say that we give accurate tithe of our income?

When you receive your tax returns from the IRS does it occur to you to give a tithe of it to God? The fact that many of us don't give generously to God is a reflection that we don't trust Jesus Christ to meet our needs. Moreover, we are robbing God. To rob God means to take something that belongs to God by force.

The spread of Islam versus the stinginess of Christians. Christians give only about 2% of their income to local and worldwide missions. Spending on vacation and pleasure. At the same time they are complaining that their neighborhoods are becoming Muslims and Hindus. It takes money to send out Missionaries to other nations but you are not getting involved by giving money to help spread the word and work of Christ.

Inconsistency of our love and trust in Jesus while at the same time doubting His word. Even to His accusers Jesus said, "If you don't believe in Me believe in My teaching and the miracles you see" (JOHN 10:38).

• Here is the caution:
Jesus is not teaching prosperity gospel. This is the favorite passage for the proponents of prosperity gospel. Prosperity gospel is counter-productive. You know why? It blinds Christians from helping those who have legitimate needs. Why? Because if you have the potential of becoming a millionaire and you are not tapping into that source, why should I help you? Another danger is that it promotes and deifies materialism and greed. Read the Book of Jeremiah. Can you tell me that those who preach and teach prosperity gospel are more spiritual than Mother Theresa who left everything to serve the poor in Calcutta, India?

Can you imagine going to a church where material prosperity is preached Sunday by Sunday as God's way for every believer? Meanwhile, you are struggling to make ends meet. You will be filled with false guilt and blame yourself. Some will even think that you are living in sin. Jesus never taught that every Christian would be rich financially. Rather He teaches that the poor among us is God's mission for us (John 12:8). We will continue to have poor people in the world till Jesus returns. The other side of the matter is also true. Jesus does not encourage laziness or idleness. Nevertheless, Jesus knew that there will always be poor people among us, and these are our mission field to cultivate. We are to help the poor intentionally and purposefully.

III. BOUNTIFUL RETURN TO THE OPENHEARTED V. 38c
When God opens your heart to Himself and His word, He also opens your hand or wallet. Jesus is saying that you and I cannot out-give God. Not only will God give back what you give to Him; He will give beyond measure to you. The terms, “good measure,” “pressed down,” “shaken together,” “running over” are all metaphors. The metaphor is symbolic language for measuring out grain in such a way that full volume is given. Your “lap” is really your “bosom,” and it refers to a fold in the Jewish outer garment made as it hung over the girdle. It was used as a kind of pocket (Ruth 3:15).

Israel as an agricultural country. What are the basic needs of many people throughout the world? Food, clothing, drink, and shelter (Matthew 6:25-34). Jesus says that there is a principle of reciprocity in the affairs of life.

A man came to his pastor for counseling. He felt convicted that he had not been faithful in giving God a portion of the generous thousand-dollar weekly salary he was making. The man explained, “I had no problem thanking God and giving him a liberal offering when I was making just two hundred and fifty dollars a week. Please pray for me.”

The pastor then prayed, much to the man's dismay, “Father, please bring this man back to a two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar salary so that he can get back into your will.”

Those who think that the passage doesn't apply to them: Those who aren't rich, those who are content with their giving. God has gifted us in many ways: Gift of music; gift of helps; gift of organization; even the children and the youth need to learn how to give of yourselves to service. All of us who are Christians are the recipients of God's grace, but have concluded that telling others about the love of Christ is the pastor's job.

The gift of exhortation (example of Barnabas). Some pastors have created a co-dependency syndrome in their churches. Such churches are not healthy.

The Lord did not save you to be a bench warmer. He saved you to serve Him and others. Every Christian is a minister. Paul said to Timothy, “What I have taught you before many witnesses, teach the same to others also" (2 Tim. 2:2). The pastor's primary responsibility is to equip the church to serve (Ephesians 4:11-16).

If you are willing to use whatever gift or talent the Lord has given to you to serve Him and others, He will bless you beyond measure (Proverbs 11:24-25). In God's economy generosity often determines prosperity. You must give in order to gain. There are rewards for being generous to God and others. When you are being generous to others, you are providing for yourself. How do you use your time, talent, and treasure?

body-container-line