Over The Top Week 1

Be generous with our time.

[INTRODUCTION]

Welcome to Over the Top, a series about the big and small ways we can be over the top with our generosity.

Usually, we think generosity is about giving money away, but it is so much more than that.

If giving stuff away was a competitive sport to see who could be the most generous, YouTuber Mr. Beast would be at the top of the game.

Mr. Beast gives away so much of what he makes to random people and keeps very little for himself.

To start thinking about generosity differently, we need to move from the world of YouTube stars to rock climbing.

In June of 2017, a rock climber named Alex Honnold, once considered the best climber in the world, attempted to climb "El Capitan," a 3200-foot rock face in Yosemite National Park, California — without ropes.

They captured this climb in a documentary called "Free Solo."

In the rock climbing world, "Free Solo" is what climbers call scaling a rock face without the support of equipment. That means he climbed 3,200 feet (2/3 a mile) straight up without a rope!

And even though Alex climbs "El Capitan" on his own, it was not a solo effort. Alex tells a story about preparing for the climb, where a friend spent multiple weekends helping Alex take loose rocks that could get in his way on the climb by putting them in a backpack and carrying them down the rock face. This friend helped pave the way for one of history's wildest, over-the-top extreme stunts, and it required no money. He simply gave his time and expertise.

Think about the amount of time, energy, and, not to mention, safety all of these people gave to help Alex. But also think of his friends' assurance by simply being there with him as he climbed.

Were these friends acting generously?

[TRANSITION]

God has a more extensive definition of generosity than finances, and a letter in the New Testament written by one of the founders of the early church can help us begin to see what this looks like.

Paul wrote to a community in the ancient city of Thessalonica, which was located in what is now the northeastern side of Greece. The Roman Empire ruled this city, and its Christians faced immense social and cultural pressure from the Romans.

The pressure was mounting from city officials who wanted them to stop inviting others to be part of a community centered on Jesus. Even though the Christians had resisted up to this point, they were getting tempted to abandon their faith and stop living generously as Jesus showed them.

So listen to what Paul writes to encourage this community:

1 Thessalonians 2:1–6 (CSB)

1 For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our visit with you was not without result. 2 On the contrary, after we had previously suffered and were treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, we were emboldened by our God to speak the gospel of God to you in spite of great opposition. 3 For our exhortation didn’t come from error or impurity or an intent to deceive. 4 Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please people, but rather God, who examines our hearts. 5 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy motives—God is our witness—6 and we didn’t seek glory from people, either from you or from others.

We face immense social and cultural pressure to be influential in real life and online.

Usually, I look at how people being generous with giveaways on social media get noticed, but Paul helps me see that our generosity has one audience — God.

He believed that God wanted to build a community that would exemplify generosity, love, and compassion. It can be easy for us to forget how we can give of ourselves to the people right in front of us.

In the Early Church, "over the top" generosity wasn't about giving away free cars for more views. It was about sharing their lives in small, meaningful ways.

Over time, all those small moments added up to an extreme impact.

[TRANSITION]

Creating a community like this takes time. In the face of massive amounts of adversity, overcoming it would require generous contributions from everyone involved.

As much as Paul and Silas would have loved for it to be a quick, smooth process, it wasn't. They faced weighty social and cultural pressures. It wasn't easy back then, and it's not easy today.

It would have been like climbing a 3000-foot rock face without any climbing gear. But, it is possible when we listen and allow God to direct our generosity.

That is why Paul wanted them to know how they could do this.

1 Thessalonians 2:7–8 (CSB)

7 Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nurse nurtures her own children. 8 We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.

If Paul defined generosity only regarding finances, this would be an incredible place to encourage the Thessalonians to give more money or gifts to the cause.

And we know from other passages of Scripture that both Paul and Silas gave every material resource to their mission.

They could have highlighted that to help the Thessalonians overcome this resistance, but they didn't. They pointed to something else.

As he was helping this community understand how to overcome adversity and continue following Jesus, Paul says that he gave this community his time. This allows us to see that the good hard work of following Jesus is giving our time to others so they, too, can experience who Jesus is.

Paul and Silas shared their life. They shared their "own selves" and their presence with their community of friends.

It didn't matter if those friends followed Jesus or not. The sharing of their time together would help usher them in that direction.

Paul is giving us insight into how God works in the world. Undoubtedly it is important to be generous with our finances, but there are many other ways to be generous.

Generosity is so much bigger than finances! We can be generous with our time. We have 24 hours in a day. We can show generosity to others by giving some of our time to them.

In this passage, Paul uses a specific analogy to help the Thessalonians remember how much he cared for them and helped them experience Jesus.

He compares it to how nurses would take care of their kids. A nurse wouldn't just sprinkle a little generosity on their child.

[TRANSITION]

Paul and Silas didn't come up with the idea of generously giving their time, energy, love, and care to their community. They experienced it first from Jesus.

Paul reflects on where he learned this from when he wrote another letter to the Early Church.

Ephesians 2:4–10 (CSB)

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6 He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

God shows "immeasurable riches" of love not in material possessions or financial resources, but in the person of Jesus. A person who we can have a friendship with because of God's grace.

This is the way Jesus encountered Paul. God generously gave Paul the gift of time and friendship as he prayed and grew in his faith journey. And now, Paul is offering his friendship to this community, trying to follow Jesus. Despite the difficulty, God invites us to be generous with our friends, families, and each other by giving our presence and time.

Jesus was generous with his time. Paul was generous with his time. This shows us that as we grow in our relationship with God, we can develop the habit of generosity in our everyday interactions. Scripture shows us that you can be generous with your time.

[CONCLUSION]

We can see how impactful it is when someone gives us their time, and we can all do this for each other. Here's how:

BE HONEST: To be generous with our time, we must understand where our time goes. Being honest with how we spend our time and taking stock of where we spend it allows us to see where we may have time to give.

BE SACRIFICIAL: Many of us feel our schedules are full, and there is little time to focus on others. That's why being generous with our time is such a big deal. When we show up for those around us, we give up doing other things. Being generous with our time means giving something to someone we will never get back. This is why it can feel challenging, but also why it's so impactful.

BE INTENTIONAL: It would be easy to use your time in the ways you're used to. If you want to change, you will need to make a plan to do something differently, intentionally. Maybe you plan to pray for someone, make them a meal, or go to their play. Whatever it is, look at your schedule, pick a time and place, and do it!