Living by Faith: Generous Faith

A group of elementary-school-aged kids were asked what they would do if they had a million dollars.  Here are some of their answers:

One student said: (I would buy) Headphones and a car

Another answered: (I would buy) A Ferrari or Lamborghini

A third one replied: (I would buy) My own private jet …

Not unexpected.  But this next answer kind of threw me for a loop:

 A young lady stated: I would take a trip to Arkansas.

 Really?  You have a million dollars and the foremost thing you’d do with it is take a trip to Arkansas?  That would certainly be at the top of my list!  Not.

A recurring theme in all the answers was that if the kids had a million dollars, they would buy something with it—even if it’s a fancy trip to the Natural State.  I think this is true for most people.  The thought of having a million dollars is the thought of an unbridled shopping experience.  Get whatever you want.  Buy whatever tickles your fancy.  But would that really be as glamorous and joyous as it sounds?

 • William "Bud" Post won sixteen point two million dollars in the Pennsylvania Lottery.  He spent all his winnings and was living off Social Security when he died.

• Two years after winning thirty-one million dollars in the Texas Lottery, Billie Bob Harrell Jr. had bought cars and real estate and given money to his family and friends.  But after his death, which was by suicide, it wasn’t clear whether there was money left for the estate taxes.

• Or Victoria Zell.  She shared an eleven-million-dollar Powerball jackpot with her husband but is now serving time in a Minnesota prison, her money gone.  Zell was convicted of causing a drug and alcohol-induced collision that killed one person and paralyzed another.

• Finally, there’s Evelyn Adams, who won the New Jersey Lottery twice for a total of five-point-four million dollars.  She gambled and lost all her money.  Fifteen years after her second win, she was poor again and living in a trailer.

If you think having a million dollars, or more, holds the sure promise of a richer, more blessed life, you’ll likely be disappointed.  The temptation to fritter away that money on selfish wants and desires has turned that kind of promise into an empty one for many people.

And when it comes to the Bible, the whole idea of attaining a life of riches and comfort seems to be a bit of A PARADOX: The Bible reveals that GENEROSITY ENRICHES—GREED IMPOVERISHES.  In other words, the more generous you are, the more you give away, the more you have.  Whereas the greedier you are, the less you give away, the less you have.  That seems crazy.  Everyone knows that the more you earn and the less you give away, the more you’ll have in the end.  But the more you earn and the more you give away the less you have at the end of life.  But that’s not the teaching of the Bible.  This paradox is revealed in Proverbs, chapter eleven.  At verse twenty-four we read:

Proverbs 11:24 There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in poverty.

Here’s the paradox: A person who generously shares with others and doesn’t greedily hold onto what they have has more in the end.  On the other hand, the person who withholds and greedily hoards has less in the end and comes to poverty.  Some evidence of this can be seen in the lives of these lottery winners I just read about.

The ideas taught in this proverb, written three thousand years ago, were widely disseminated and believed in ancient Israel.  That’s because the Israelite saw within this proverb A PROMISE: a promise that GOD REWARDS GENEROSITY.  This is evident in the next verse that is curiously juxtaposed with verse twenty-four.  Look at the verse twenty-five:

Proverbs 11:25 A generous person will be prosperous, And one who gives others plenty of water will himself be given plenty.

God promises that a person’s life will be richer and blessed in ways that could never even be imagined when it is characterized by generosity.

Of course, there certainly are greedy people who, despite their stingy, selfish ways, still seem to prosper.  Maybe you know someone like that, a real stinker of a person who would never even think of giving you the shirt off his back but would not hesitate at the chance to take yours.  We all remember Scrooge in Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol”.  That’s how he was.  Truth be told, it often appears that greedy people are substantially enriched in this life.

This conflict kind of presents A PROBLEM for us.  Life often seems to testify to just the opposite of God’s promise and demonstrate that WORLDLY LIVING REWARDS GREED.  If you’ve ever wondered about this, join the club.  So have many others, including biblical authors like Asaph.  Listen to his words in Psalm seventy-three:

Psalm 73:3-5 A psalm of Asaph. … 3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. 5 They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills. …

At verse twelve Asaph continues:

Psalm 73:12 This is what the wicked are like—always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.

You look around and see many people who have amassed great wealth and never give God any credit for their prosperity.  In some cases, they are stingy with their wealth.  Yet they seem to continue prospering.  So, you ask yourself, “Why am I putting forth so much effort into doing things God’s way when I’m not near as prosperous as these folks?  Why don’t I cut some ethical corners, and my life may well become easier and prosperous?”

It doesn’t take long for a thinking Christian to wonder about these things, just like Asaph did.  And it also doesn’t take long to figure out that if I’m going to live by God’s promise that “generosity enriches and greed impoverishes”, it’s going to take a lot of faith.  I’m going to have to believe God for something that my brain and senses often tell me isn’t true.

Thankfully, there is help in the Bible to strengthen our faith and resolve to live generous lives.  This help begins with A PROTOTYPE of living generously. This prototype is God himself…  Without a doubt the Bible teaches that GOD IS GENEROUS.  He is our ideal example.  He’s our perfect role model.  He’s not asking you to do anything that he doesn’t already do himself.  In the third chapter of Paul’s letter to Titus we read:

Titus 3:5-6 5 He saved us … in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He richly poured out upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior,

God gave generously to us when he sent Jesus Christ to be our Savior, to die on a cruel, wooden cross for our sinful ways of living and then be raised again to life on the third day.  The Greek word for “richly” has the idea of “generosity” and can be translated that way.  God gave richly, generously in his Son, Jesus, who died for our sins.  But he also continues to give richly, generously when he sends the Holy Spirit to indwell new Christ-followers at the time they believe.

God is generous.  He gives freely.  He is the prototype of generosity, our example, our role model.  He’s not asking you to be or do anything that he doesn’t model. So, if God lives generously, being good and helpful to others in life, then we as his followers need to believe his promise and follow his example that generosity brings reward.  Even though we can become bewildered by the prosperity of selfish, ungodly people, we can trust that God will honor his promise and bless the kind of behavior that he asks of us.

So, we have a prototype in the Lord.  But that’s not all.  To strengthen our faith and resolve to live generously, the Bible also includes A PORTRAYAL of this principle and promise of generous living.  It is found in the story of a husband and wife named NABAL and ABIGAIL.  It is a long story, found in first Samuel twenty-five.  Look there with me.  It is the ninth book of the Old Testament.  First Samuel twenty-five, and I want to begin reading at verse two. And so it happened that…

1 Samuel 25:2-4 2 A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. 3 His name was Nabal and his wife's name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite),

The reference to Caleb here is important.  He was one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to spy out the land of the Canaanites and return with a report.  When they came back, ten of the spies reported that the inhabitants were too powerful and could not be defeated.  It scared the Israelites.  But Caleb, along with Joshua, disputed this defeatist attitude.  Caleb spoke out with bold faith and silenced the people.  He said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Caleb was a model of faith.  But Nabal, his direct descendant, is described as “surly and mean”.  The Hebrew word translated “mean” essentially means “evil”.  And Nabal certainly lived up to it.  It is important to note that even with Caleb as his father, Nabal’s words and behavior suggest that he did not have faith in God.  My friends, here’s proof that God has no grandchildren.  Even when we parents carefully communicate the Christian faith to our children and grandchildren, it is still up to each one to personally place faith in the Christ.  Apparently Nabal had not done so.  In contrast his wife “Abagail” is described at verse three as “intelligent”.  The Hebrew word means “good” and is likely the author’s way of indicating that she did have personal faith in God.

Let’s pick up the story again at verse four:

1 Samuel 25:4-8 4 that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5 So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel and visit Nabal, and greet him in my name; 6 and this is what you shall say: ‘Have a long life, peace to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! 7 Now then, I have heard that you have shearers. Now, your shepherds have been with us; we have not harmed them, nor has anything of theirs gone missing all the days they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore, let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on a festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’” 

Verse eight is very important.  To better convey its meaning, I want to read the last part of this verse from The Message paraphrase. David is speaking to Caleb:

1 Samuel 25:8 What I'm asking is that you be generous with my men—share the feast! Message

Eugene Peterson accurately captured the spirit of this verse.  While on the run from Israel’s paranoid King Saul, David gathered many discontented fighting men around him.  It took a lot of food to sustain a large group like that.  One day he heard that the wealthy sheep breeder, Nabal, was shearing sheep.  Sheep-shearing was a happy time and usually involved feasting.  It was likely Nabal could spare some sheep to feed David and his men.  After all, there’s nuttin’ like mutton.  So, David asked Nabal to return some generosity for David’s protection of his flock by sharing some of his sheep to feed David’s warriors.  We read Nabal’s response, beginning at verse nine: 

1 Samuel 25:9-11 9 When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal in accordance with all these words in David’s name; then they waited. 10 But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master. 11 Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men whose origin I do not know?”…

David sent ten emissaries to Nabal to ask for provisions.  But Nabal would not be generous with David or his men.  As Proverbs warns, Nabal withheld unduly the help that he could generously have given.  David’s emissaries went back and told him what happened.  It infuriated David, and he gave orders to round up the fighting men and go pay Nabal a visit.  The irony of it all is that David was determined to butcher Nabal’s household since Nabal wouldn’t give him any sheep to butcher.

Fortunately, Abigail, Nabal’s wife, was told what her mean and stingy husband had done, and she had a good idea of what David would do.  So, Abigail and her servants raced out to meet David who she suspected was on the way to her place.  Here’s what happened, beginning at verse eighteen:

1 Samuel 25:18-25a 18 Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine, and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain, and a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and she loaded them on donkeys. 19 Then she said to her young men, “Go on ahead of me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 And it happened as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain, that behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; so she met them. Now David had said, 21 “It is certainly for nothing that I have guarded everything that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing has gone missing of all that belonged to him! For he has returned me evil for good. 22 May God do so to the enemies of David, and more so, if by morning I leave alive as much as one male of any who belong to him.”

23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face in front of David and bowed herself to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your slave speak to you, and listen to the words of your slave. 25 Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and stupidity is with him; ...

She went on to ask David to let the gift which she brought to him to be given to the young men who accompanied him.  We pick up Abagail’s plea at verse thirty:

1 Samuel 25:30-33 30 And when the LORD does for my lord in accordance with all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel, 31 this will not become an obstacle to you, or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord’s having avenged himself. When the LORD deals well with my lord, then remember your slave.”

32 Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, and blessed be your discernment, 33 and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand. …

Finally, look at verse thirty-five:

1 Samuel 25: 35 So David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and granted your request.”

You don’t hear of many boys being named “Nabal” these days.  Now you know why.  Nabal’s name means “Fool”, and that’s what he was.  Even though he was an Israelite, one of God’s chosen people, he disregarded the generous way with which God had acted towards him and lived life in a greedy, stingy manner.  The biblical promise of generous living says that “greed impoverishes.”  It certainly wound up that way for Nabal.  Later, Nabal learns that Abigail spared him from death.  It so shocked Nabal, he had a heart attack and died about ten days later.  Just like the proverb of generosity predicts, Nabal’s stingy ways impoverished his life.  

On the other hand, Abigail was generous with David.  As a result, David blessed her and promised to remember her.  Which he did.  She not only had character, but in this story we also learn she was a beautiful woman.  So, after Nabal died, David sent for Abigail and married her.  Now, she’s married to the King.  She’s became a Queen.  That’s the promise of generous living: Generosity enriches—greed impoverishes.

Let me close today with A PRONOUNCEMENT… one that comes straight from the Bible.  It is to LIVE GENEROUSLY BY FAITH.  In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he issued this pronouncement:

1 Timothy 6:17-18 17 Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, …

“Generous and ready to share.”  Generous living is a life of faith.  There’s no New Testament promise of seeing tangible riches in this life.  Yet Jesus said to live this way because generous living is how we store up treasure in heaven.  And when we live a generous life, we are storing up friends who will welcome us into God’s heavenly Kingdom.  This is God’s desire for your life and mine.  And we can live generously because we have God’s promise that he will provide all we need in this life. 

James Crocker, a successful entrepreneur, once shared about the time that he and a few of his friends went out on a boat trip to trap lobsters. They were abundantly successful and succeeded in gathering a massive catch of one hundred twenty-five lobsters. 

When he got home and placed his share in the freezer, James had a freezer full of lobsters—more than enough to last him an entire year. The day after James got home, his friend Jeff dropped by the house, and James offered him a lobster.  Jeff was delighted.  This interaction prompted James to ask himself, “Who else do I know that might like to have a lobster?  James got so excited by the idea of giving friends lobsters that by the end of the week, he had given away one hundred twenty-two lobsters, leaving only three for himself.  He had such a great time giving, he didn’t even mind that his supply had dwindled from enough for a year to enough for a meal or two.

A few days later, James went into his garage and was assaulted by a terrible stench.  He followed his nose to the freezer and opened it only to find that the electricity had gone out, and his remaining three lobsters had spoiled.  As he cleaned up the mess, he felt sorry for himself.  But then he remembered all the lobsters he had generously given away, and it filled him with great joy.  If he hadn’t shared his bounty with others, all of it would have been wasted.

Now it may seem like non-believers who live with greedy and stingy lifestyles prosper in everything.  And maybe they do—in this life.  But they cannot take their stuff with them at death.  You never see a U-Haul trailer being pulled behind a hearse. Greedy unbelievers will sadly but certainly face God’s judgment, and an eternity spent apart from him in heaven.  But generous Christ-followers will lay up treasure in heaven where rust and rot can’t damage it, and where thieves can’t steal it.  Even if there is not the material reward in this life we desire, God’s promise will still prove true. Generosity will enrich you for all eternity; but greed will impoverish you.

So, live generously—by faith, like Abigail did, even if material rewards are not forthcoming in this life.  Here are three “T’s” about how you can live a generous life:

The first “T” is “Temperament”.  As you grow in your faith, ask God to help you develop a generous temperament.  A generous temperament is one that is characterized by affirmation.  Learn to affirm the humanity of all people and to affirm that every person is created in the image of God.  We don’t and often can’t affirm the behavior of others.  But we can affirm that in a creative sense they bear the very image of their creator and for that reason are of inestimable value.  A godly, generous temperament extends this kind of affirmation to all people.  In many cases this is an act of faith on our part, especially if we disapprove their lifestyle.  But we can still show God’s redemptive love by generously affirming their value as a human being.

The second “T” is “Time”.  Time is a generous gift from God that is oh so valuable.  Once spent it can never be recovered.  The Bible tells us to use our time wisely.  Some people use gift exclusively to satisfy their own wants and desires.  But for a Christ-follower the wise use of time is doing those things that will advance God’s Kingdom.  Rather than using our time to focus on building our own kingdom, we are to focus on building the Lord’s.  The old saying is still true:

“Only one life, t’will soon be passed; only what’s done for Christ will last.”

The last “T” stands for “Talent”.  What are your talents?  What are your spiritual gifts?  God gave you these to help his Kingdom grow, not only materially, but also spiritually.  In Exodus, three, we read this about Oholiab:

Exodus 3:6-10a 6 And behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill, so that they may make everything that I have commanded you: 7 the tent of meeting, the ark of testimony, the atoning cover that is on it, and all the furniture of the tent, 8 the table and its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, 9  and the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, 10a the woven garments as well…

God put into Oholiab the gift of craftmanship.  He had the talent to create beautiful objects to aid in worship in the Tabernacle and later the Temple.  He was gifted this way so he could use his giftedness to help grow the Kingdom of God.

You have some talent.  It may seem ordinary to you.  But when generously used for God’s Kingdom it becomes extraordinary.  So, offer to God your talents and let him use them liberally to grow his church.

Share generously with others your Christ-like temperament, your valuable time, and your unique talent.  As you do, trust wholeheartedly in God’s promise of rewarding generous living.  Your life will be richer now, if not financially, certainly spiritually.  And you will experience all the reward God promises you in your eternal life with him.  It’s an act of faith.

Let’s pray.