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.”

Generous, Day 18 - Under New Management

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ‘ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21

When God blesses you with more, what is your first thought?  That depends on your personality.  For the spender, when the blessing is material (that is $$$), his first tendency is to invest it in himself without much thought as to the purpose or potential of such a fund.  For the dreamer, the money was spent before she got it.  She has a very developed “if only” list detailing the things she will buy when the money comes in.  In that person’s life, as quickly as the income came in, it goes out.  The saver feels that a more practical response is appropriate so she puts the money in a secure place in case she needs it in the future…her future.  The entrepreneur, with all his business saavy, knows that the right thing is to reinvest it in the business.

The farmer in this story was very entrepreneurial.  When this year’s harvest produced a bumper crop, he knew exactly what to do.  He sold the crop, took the money and invested it back in the business. Anyone reading this story would have applauded the farmer for his prudent decision. Bigger barns would ensure room for this ever expanding enterprise of the wise farmer.

Generous, Day 17 - The Law of the Harvest

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Cor. 9:6-8

At harvest time, a farmer goes out to look at his fields.  The previous spring he was very concerned because he had limited amounts of grain in storage due to a drought.  With no promise of good weather, the farmer had found himself wrestling with a question – what if there is a drought this year too?   With the limited amount of seed, he was risking his future on the right amount of rain and sunshine.  What should he do?

Regardless of the impact of outside forces such as rain or drought, the laws of the harvest stays intact.  Those laws go as follows:

1. You reap what you sow,
2. You reap later than you sow and, in good seasons,
3. You reap more than you sow.

However, the most important laws of the harvest are as follows:

1. You cannot reap if you do not sow.
2. You will reap in proportion to what you sow.

How the farmer sows is really an issue of faith.  If the farmer does not sow, he will not reap – there are no lottery winners in the harvest (Pr. 20:4).  Also, if the farmer sows sparingly, he will reap sparingly and if he sows generously, he will reap generously.  

In this process, there are certain things that are out of the farmer’s control.  He cannot cause the rain or the sunshine, not can he cause the seed to germinate and grow.  In a sense, all these things are in God’s hands.  There are certain things that only God can do.  On the other side, there are certain things that God expects from the farmer.  He must till the land and plant the seed.  A farmer who does not do his part should not expect God to do his part.  The farmer cannot do what only God can do and he should not expect God to do what he wants the farmer to do.  The farmer does what he does in faith.

The same principle applies in giving.  Some of us are like the farmer who sees how little he has and wonders whether he should sow at all.  After all, if he does sow his seed, he might be left with nothing.  But the wise observer recognizes another fact – if he does not sow, eventually, he will definitely be left with nothing.

The Bible calls us to live as people of faith.  Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). Without faith in any areas of life we are subject to instability in all areas of life (James 1:6-8).  When we live in fear rather than in faith, we short circuit the power of God to do what He wants to do in our lives.  We must not give up in doing what is right (Gal. 6:9).  Our giving decisions are not impacted by God’s ability, but by our faith in God’s ability.  They are not impacted by God’s character, but by our trust in God’s character.  We will give cheerfully when we remember that God is the Lord of the Harvest.  God is who He says He is and He can do what He says He can do. God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Generosity Challenge (Day 17) - Check out three of our partnerships.  Go to Timber Bay www.timberbay.org, Youth Leadership www.youthleadership.org and Urban Homeworks www.urbanhomeworks.com. Also, go to Converge Worldwide, www.convergeworldwide.org.  Take time to pray for each.

Generous, Day 16 - Give. Save. Live

Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 1 Cor. 16:1-2
And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.     2 Cor. 8:10-12

It’s impossible to be generous without a plan.  Paul knew this when he talked with the church at Corinth.  He knew there was a connection between cheerful and planned giving.  The church at Corinth had a great heart, but had no plan.  In many things in life, motivation without training is pretty much a waste of time.  I know a lot of people who are motivated to exercise, lose weight, get an education, etc., but without a plan, it simply doesn’t get done.  I believe people want to be generous.  I also believe that they don’t know how to start.  The journey of generosity begins with a plan.

In talking with the Corinthians, Paul suggests that they follow the pattern of the churches in Galatia (modern day Turkey).  In Paul’s years of ministry and church involvement, I’m sure he had seen lots of motivated people who never got it done.  So in this moment Paul suggests a pathway to generosity.  He talks about prioritized percentage giving.

Paul begins by suggesting that giving should be prioritized.  “On the first day of the week”   In other words, before you do anything else, give first.  That advice ties well with the rest of Scripture.  All through the Old Testament you see the pattern of giving your first and your best (Pr. 3:9-10, Ex. 23:16,19) – in fact that is what God did (John 3:16).  We see it in the life of Abraham before the laws of the Old Testament came into effect (Gen. 14:18-20), reminding us that tithing is not just a rule to be followed but a life priority to be lived.

Paul goes on to suggest that our giving should not only be prioritized but percentaged.  He says each person should “set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income”.   We see references to percentage giving in the Bible as a first step in generosity (2 Cor. 8:12-15), showing us that generosity is not measured in the size of gifts but the size of sacrifice (Luke 21:1-4).  Again and again the Bible talks about giving God a “tithe” (Lv. 27:30, Dt. 12:5-7, 2 Chr. 31:5, Mt. 23:23, Lk. 11:42).  “Tithe” means 10%…once again an example of percentage giving.  Paul mentions that we should be “saving it up”, reminding us that Generosity begins with discipline.  If you cannot be disciplined to save, you won’t be able to give.  

At Cornerstone we call this progression Give. Save. Live. Give first, save second and live on the rest. As a starting point I would suggest a 10-10-80 plan.  First give 10% to God in obedience to His word.  Second, save at least 10% in savings and retirement.  Finally, learn to live on the rest (80%). As your income increases, don’t assume that your lifestyle should also increase proportionately.  Instead consider increasing your giving and saving.  Learn to live on less for more.

In 2 Cor. 8:7, Paul challenges us to “excel in this grace of giving.”  Giving should not only be prioritized and percentaged, it should also be progressive.  A tithe is a starting point, not a finish line.  Paul challenges us to continue to grow in generosity the same way we grow prayerfulness, evangelism, and study of God’s word. I would hate to think that my greatest days of faith in giving were the times when I made the least amount of money.

Prioritized. Percentage. Progressive.

Give. Save. Live.

Having motivation without a demonstration amounts to nothing in the mind of God (James 2:14-16, 1 John 3:17,18).  If we fail to plan, we plan to fail.   And although this can be very challenging to the person who has never done it, God promises to meet the giver where they are at and to provide for them as they learn to trust God (Phil. 4:19).

Generosity Challenge (Day 16) – As an exercise, take your income and multiply it by 10% (income x .10).  Ask yourself, “What would I have to do to be able to give that amount away in 2011?  (If you already tithe – that means give 10% – think about what you would have to do to increase your giving by 1-3% more.) Choose to become a percentage giver and make a plan to accomplish that step.