Generous, Day 21 - True Life

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 Tim. 6:17-19

Love God. Live Simply. Live Generously.
This has been the challenge of every generation of believers since the time of Christ.

When God led the people of Israel into the Promised Land, Moses stopped outside the borders to have conversation.  Over the last forty years, God had faithfully led the people through the desert, protecting and providing for them every step of the way.  Their clothes had not worn out, their enemies were defeated and their future was secure. Everyone knew that they never would have made it a week without God.

And yet in his last sermon to the people of Israel, Moses expresses one concern:  the Israelites tend to be a forgetful people.  His concern was that once they settled in, they would forget who got them to where they were.  His concern was that they would forget God in their wealth. (Deut. 8).  Wealth tends to affect our memories as well as our priorities.

In Paul’s time, he gives the same type of warning in 1 Timothy 6.  The church at Ephesus, where Timothy was ministering ( 1 Tim. 1:3) was a strong church, a vibrant church and a wealthy church.  Timothy, who often struggled with boldness (2 Tim. 1:3, 2:1, 4:5), was given the task by Paul of challenging the rich to put their hope in God and not in their wealth.

According to Paul, they were to “do good”.  I believe when Paul gives this command to “do good”, it was a command to do good in such a way that only a rich person can do good.  He goes on and says “be rich in good deeds”.  Again I think his is talking about the kind of good deeds that only rich people can do… “to be generous and willing to share”.

Today Americans own over half the worlds wealth even though we only number about 6% of the worlds population.  By 2006, median family income in America reached $50,000, putting the average American in the top 1% of the richest people in the world.  Even those individuals who live in poverty level in America ($11,000 per year) are in the top 13% of the wealthiest people in the world.

The question for us today is the same question that every generation of Christians should ask: Why do we have all this wealth?  In this passage, Paul says that we have more than we need to help those in need.  We are to help in a way that only rich people can help – with our finances.  Financial investment in the kingdom is expected of every person who might be considered rich in this world.  All of us will face God one day and give an account of everything we’ve done in this world whether good or bad (2 Cor. 5:11).  It is not a judgment of salvation, but a judgment of rewards (1 Cor. 3:10-15).   In the end, God will accomplish his work, with or without us.  You and I have the privilege of being invited into the work of God (2 Cor. 5:18-20), to live our lives for something bigger than ourselves, to use our worldly wealth as a tool (Lk. 16:9), and to use our lives to display God’s love (Mt. 5:14-16) to a lost and dying world.  The determination of how we will live is shown by where we put our hope.  Wealth is not our hope. God is our hope. (1 Tim. 6:17)

Possessions are not our life (Lk. 12;15), Jesus is  (John 10:10, 14:6).  So we are to Love God.
Earth is not our home, heaven is  (Phil. 3:20). So we are to Live Simply.
Our treasure is not stored on earth, but in heaven (Mt. 6:19-21) . So we are to Give Generously.

Love God. Live Simply. Give Generously.
Take Hold of the Life that is Truly Life.

Generosity Challenge (Day 21) - Write a note of thanks to God for all he has provided for you.  Acknowledge him as the owner of all things and commit to be more generous.  Share your plan with your family – if single, with a friend.

Generous, Day 20 - Giving Your All

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.  You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”  “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.  When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.  Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”  Luke 18:18-24
As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”  Luke 21:1-4

For some of us, how we handle our money will become the story of our lives.

He had a question to ask.  It’s plagued him for days as he thought about what the Master might say, but in his heart he was ready for the response.  Walking briskly as he sees a break in the action, the rich young religious leader approaches Jesus and blurts out ““Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  His boldness startles the crowd, but not Jesus.  He had come to expect such things from those seeking the answers to life’s questions.  But this was a serious question…eternal life was in the balance.  And yet Jesus without much fanfare simply replied, “Obey the commandments”.  The disciples were stunned.  After all, that was not the answer they expected.  Wasn’t it Jesus who told them that in order to get to heaven, their righteousness had to surpass that of the Pharisees (Mt. 5:20)?  Who could do that?  And yet as the young man insisted that Jesus list off “Which ones?”, He insisted that he has indeed done so.  

This response made the disciples indignant.  What nerve.  What arrogance. They couldn’t wait to see how Jesus would respond.  But Jesus did not judge the young man.  He looked at him and loved him (Mk. 10:21).  Instead of judging him, he would let the young man’s actions be his judge.  “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

At this the hopes of this young man were dashed.  It was an answer he did not expect.  More prayers, more trips to the temple, more good deeds…he could handle all these.  But Jesus had hit his soft spot.  He had hit a nerve that drove him to his knees.  If Jesus had challenged him in any other area, he would have willingly followed Jesus.  But Jesus knew the one thing that rivaled God in this young man’s life.  Money was his god and he could not part with this counterfeit god for the one true God.   As the young man walked away, he thought he had kept the one thing that he needed.  Instead he lost the one thing that mattered.  
(Mt. 10:37-39)

Contrast that with the elderly woman who approached temple at a very slow pace.  The pain of her frail body is only matched by the painful fear of her heart.  She is about give God everything.  It wasn’t much to anyone else, but it was all she had.  We don’t know her story, but by Jesus’ reaction we can speculate that her husband had died and her children were gone.  She had no family to speak of and, in her old age, society had forgotten her.  Little did she know that as her two copper coins slipped from her hands, she had caught the eye and won the heart of the One who had all the resources of the world at His disposal.

As these two very different people walked away from Jesus, which one do you think had the more certain future?  

Extravagant trust catches the eye of our Heavenly Father.  The most fabled stories in the Bible are those of great trust in God with our finances.  The widows’ oil (2 Kings 4), the woman with alabaster jar of perfume (Mk. 14:1-9), the good Samaritan (Lk. 10:25-37), the prodigal son (Lk. 15:11-24) , the boy with five loaves and two fish (Jn. 6:9), the Pentecost church (Acts 2:42-47), Barnabas (Acts 4:32-37) and the Macedonian church (2 Cor. 8-9).   All gave generously and sacrificially to see the work of God advance.  Extravagant trust results from extravagant love and results in extravagant giving.

When David was given the opportunity to select a place to build a temple for God, the owner, Araunah, offered to give David the site for free.  David’s response was “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” (2 Sam. 24:24)  He knew that honoring God and sacrifice were connected.

Jim Elliot, missionary martyr to South America, once was quoted, “He is no fool who should choose to lose the things he cannot keep to gain what he can never lose.”  The young man did not understand this, but the old woman did.  What is your story?

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1

Generosity Challenge (Day 20)– Go to Helping Hands and sponsor a child for $5 a month through Project Impact (www.helpinghandsinafrica.org). If you already do so, add another one!  Challenge two friends to do the same.

Sun Valley Church, Used by Permission

Generous, Day 19 - A Tool, A Test and a Trademark

Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’ “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’ “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’ “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ ” ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’ “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? 
“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Luke 16:1-14

This story begins with a manager who has cheated an owner.  The owner finds out and gives the man a few days to pack up his things and leave.  The deceitful manager knows that he has little time before he is out on his own with no support from the owner.  But he also knows that with the little time he also has a little opportunity.  So he takes advantage of his situation by going to those who owe his boss and makes deals to ensure his future.  

“You are going to cut my bill in half?”
“Yep.”
“Do you have the authority to do that?”
(He looks at his watch) “Right now I do.”
And as the debtor leaves he looks back and says “Listen, you really helped me.  If there is ever anything I can do for you, please let me know.”