Heart of Generosity

INTRODUCTION

Have you heard that story of the guy who died and was being given a tour of heaven and he saw a friend of his drive by in

a beautiful Mercedes. And he said, “Boy, this is great!” “Oh, yes,” St. Peter said, “your friend was really generous on earth,

we had a lot to work with. Your transportation up here depends on your generosity down there.” Then Peter gave him his

transportation: A Honda motor scooter. He said, “Wait a minute, he gets a Mercedes, I get a scooter?” “That’s right, it’s all

we had to work with.” The guy drove off in a huff. A week later Peter saw this guy all smiles and said, “You feeling better

now?" The guy said, “Yea, I have ever since I saw my preacher go by on a skate board!”

BIBLE VERSE

1 Samuel 25 (ESV)

The Death of Samuel

25 Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah.

David and Abigail

Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. 2 And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite. 4 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 go to Nabal and greet him in my name. 6 And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7 I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time 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 come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”

9 When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. 10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. 11 Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” 12 So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. 13 And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.

14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. 16 They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17 Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”

18 Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 19 And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. 22 God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”

23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 25 Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 26 Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 29 If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, 31 my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”

32 And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand! 34 For as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” 35 Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”

36 And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light. 37 In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38 And about ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.

39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. The Lord has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” 41 And she rose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42 And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both of them became his wives. 44 Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.

1. Give to the Needy

EXPLANATION

David and his men where in need. They also provided a service. Seems to the more of a common thing done at that time.

Not only that but Nabal a had duty according to scripture.

Deut 15:7 “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your

God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, 8 but you shall open your

hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. 9 Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your

heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly[a] on your poor brother, and

you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. 10 You shall give to him freely, and your

heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in

all that you undertake. 11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide

your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

Nabal didn’t have a heart for Generosity but his wife Abigail did

ILLUSTRATION

Tom was once walking down a street and came upon a man was quite obviously hard pressed by life .. his clothing was a

bit tattered, he hadn’t shaved for several days, his face was gaunt, his eyes vacant. He was hungry, no doubt, and all Tom

had in his pocket was a quarter. Tom knew that it wouldn’t buy much, but perhaps it was a start, and He gave it to him.

As he looked at it, turned it over....a startled expression lit his eyes, and he handed it back to Tom. “I cant’ accept this," he

said. “It is far too much!”

Puzzled, Tom asked him what he meant... and he replied, “This is a very valuable coin. I know. I used to collect coins.”

To Tom, it was just a quarter, but the man insisted “Let me show you,”. Let’s go down the street a block .... and they walked

together. After all, Tom was going that way, anyway. We came to a coin shop, and went inside. He told Tom to show the coin

to the shopkeeper, which he did.

The store owner looked at it, looked at us, and said, “Sure, I will buy it. How about $125 ??"

When asked why it was worth so much, he said, “This is a 1932 quarter, made in Denver. It is very scarce, and collectors pay

a hefty premium for it.”

Tom told the dealer, “It belongs to this man. Pay him. He could see the value in it. I could not.”

And then, it hit Tom, like a ton of bricks .... how often do we pass by poorly dressed people on the street... and fail to see

the value in them?

In the words of William Barclay, “Jesus sees the sleeping hero in the soul of every man and woman!”

APPLICATION

I changed this from give to the poor to give to the needy because I believe it had a greater point.

Generosity is a quality that’s a lot like unselfishness. Someone showing generosity is happy to give time, money, food, or

kindness to people in need.

Prolife - homeless - Reese

2. Give to God

EXPLANATION

Nabal should have seen this as a opportunity to give not only to David but to God. This was Gods person. When you are

gods person he fights your battles. He takes care of you.

ILLUSTRATION

I once heard the story of a preacher at a small church in Northwest Indiana. Sometimes he would take his two small sons to

the Thursday morning Bible study. George, an elderly gentleman, would split his donut with the littlest brother. One Sunday

the little boy came to church with a sandwich bag full of Cheerios. George leaned over and asked him if he could have

some. The little boy reached in his bag, pulled out a Cheerio, and split it in half, giving George half a Cheerio! Sometimes I

think our view of our own generosity is often like that! God gives us so much, and we give Him back half a Cheerio!

APPLICATION

Matt. 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates

the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will

say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the

foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a

stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and

you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or

thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And

when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it

to one of the least of these my brothers,[f] you did it to me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his

angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and

you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they

also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did

not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of

these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Generosity is a quality that’s a lot like unselfishness. Someone showing generosity is happy to give time, money, food, or

kindness to people in need.

3. Give With Cheer

EXPLANATION

A pastor had a farmer friend in his congregation and they were talking over the fence one day. The pastor asked the farmer,

“Abe, if you had one hundred horses, would you give me fifty?" Abe said, "Certainly.” The pastor asked, “If you had one

hundred cows, would you give me fifty?” Abe said, “Yes.” Then the pastor asked, “If you had two pigs, would you give me

one?" Abe said, “Now cut that out, pastor; you know I have two pigs!” ? Generosity sounds good in the abstract; many

Christians picture themselves giving away half of an inheritance. Fewer, it seems, can part with one pig.

2 Cor. 9:6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully[d] will also reap

bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a

cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency[e] in all things at all times,

you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures

forever.”

ILLUSTRATION

A missionary in Africa was preaching his first sermon in a mission church. When time came for the offering, the people

danced their offerings forward. They danced and sang praise to God as they brought their offerings to the altar. For they

were "coming before God’s presence with singing".

After the service, the missionary asked the people, “Why do you dance and sing when you bring your offering forward on

Sunday morning?” They answered, “How could we not dance? We are so grateful to God for what He has done for us in

sending Jesus Christ to save us. Therefore, we have to dance and sing our thanksgiving. And besides, it says in the Bible,

God loves a cheerful giver.”

APPLICATION

CONCLUSION

How Generous Are You?

Out in Forth Worth TX a young man was taking his final examination at the police academy. Among other things on the test

was a question about what he would do if he had to break up a mob quickly and with no trouble. “I could handle this

situation very easily," he wrote. “I’d pass an offering plate. That scatters a crowd in a hurry.