The Heart of Giving

Introduction

When we think of Christmas time, most of the world thinks of gifts. The world is consumed with materialism this time of year. Back in 2015, shoppers at a local Walmart in El Paso Texas were determined they were going to get their discounted TV’s on black Friday. Security footage shows people pushing and punching each other for these TV’s and even trampling an older woman. Back in 2008, a Walmart employee was trampled to death in Long Island by the shoppers intent on getting their deals. With the focus of Christmas polluted by so much materialism, it would be rational for a Christian to say, “You know what, this year we are going to celebrate Christmas but we will not give any gifts. After all its not about the gifts right?”

What I want us to remember this year is in a way it is about the gifts, but especially the gift giver. This series is going to begin with a sermon on the heart of giving as a response of worship to Jesus Christ, but then each of the following messages will look at gifts that Jesus has given us because of our salvation. We will unpack each one in gratitude for the gifts we have been given.

But this morning, I want to talk about why we give gifts. Why give anyone anything? I have worked hard for all the money that I have received, why not just hold onto it. To answer that question, we are going to look at a popular text. We are going to look at the story of the wise men. But my goal this morning is to show you the connection between worship and giving gifts. It is only as we value others that we will desire to give gifts.

Matthew 2:1–12 “Now when Jesus was born in Beth-lehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Beth-lehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Beth-lehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Beth-lehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.”

The Motivation to Give

To start with we are going to look at the motivation for giving. Why should we give? All of our points are going to come from verse 11 this morning so you can focus in on that one verse.

Matthew 2:11 “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”

Why you give says a lot about you. Some give because it will get them a tax write-off on their business. I honestly believe that most of these companies that donate to charity are doing it for that reason. Others give because they feel they have to. It is expected of them or they feel obligated to give, but if they could get away with it they would just keep their money. Recognition, control, to appear spiritual The wise men didn’t give for these reasons. They truly desired to give. We know this because of how far they traveled to come see Jesus and because of what they did when they got their.

Their motivation to give was worship. The English word worship comes from the root worth ship. It literally means to prize something as the most important thing and act accordingly. It is seeing the worth of something and responding to that worth. Another way of wording it is valuing something. The wise men came to worship. It was the first thing they did. I would argue from this text that they gave because they worshiped. When we truly understand how great God is, when we truly feel his goodness in our lives, we cannot help but value him the way that we should. And that worship overflows in giving.

But in order to see the value of something you have to know something about it. Bring in some weird object that no one knows what it does. As long as I don’t know what this is for, it is going to sit in my drawer doing nothing, but when I know what it can do I value it. I becomes something that is helpful. When we know how important something is we treasure it. The wise men valued, worshiped this little child because they knew somethings about Him.

The wise men desired to worship because they had a knowledge of scripture

There is implied evidence in this passage that the wise men knew scripture. Some have suggested that they had the writtings of Daniel and so they knew exactly when the Messiah would be born. Back in Matthew 2:2 “Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” Somehow they knew to be looking for a star and they knew that that star would be connected with the birth of the King of the Jews. If they just followed it because it was a strange occurrence, it doesn’t make sense that they would connect it with the birth of the King. They also claim that this star is not just any star but it is his star.

The only scripture passage that ties a star with the coming of the Messiah is found in:

Numbers 24:17 “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: There shall come a Star out of Jacob, And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite the corners of Moab, And destroy all the children of Sheth.”

Here is the point, the knew some how from scripture the value of this baby being born. They knew he would be a king, they knew he would have a star. Whether that was because of the writtings of Daniel in Daniel 9 or because of this prophecy in Numbers, it doesn’t matter. If we are ever going to value God, we must go to the one place where God tells us about Himself: scripture.

The wise men desired to worship because they knew who he was

Gold- Christians have traditionally saw meaning in the gifts that the wise men brought. They were not random gifts and some would not have been expected at the birth of a child. Gold is often linked to his kingship. These wise men clearly knew He was a King.

Frankincense- Frankincense was used by the priests in worship of God. It is possible that this gift speaks of his diety and priestly ministry.

Myrrh- this was used for the preparations for burial. They had a knowledge that this king would die for the sins of the people.

Herod pretended to desire to worship

Not everyone in this account wanted to worship Jesus for the right reasons. Herod feigned a desire to worship the child, but we know that was not the case. His desire to give was not because of his understanding of the value of the child. He feigned a desire to worship out of fear, greed, and hypocrisy.

Political fear- King of the Jews- This baby was a threat to his position. Herod was King not this little child.

Eliminate the competition vs 13- the clearest evidence that he had no intensions of worshipping are seen in the death of the children.

Feigned piety to manipulate the wise men- vs 7- In vs 7, we see that he pretended to desire to worship because he desired to manipulate the wise men into giving him information. He didn’t make a big spectacle of it, but he brought them into a private room. This show was designed specifically for them.

I am going to spend a lot of time on this first point because it is the main takeaway I want you to get from this message. True heartfelt giving is always the result of valuing the other person. My desire to give something to someone is always in proportion to how I view that other person. It is influenced by my love for that person, how well I know them or what I know about them. If you find yourself a little stingy this Christmas, maybe spend some time thinking about who it is you are giving to. Think about how valuable they are to you. Kids remember all the things your parents do for you. Parents remember how much you love your kids because they are your kids. Church members remember who your brothers and sisters in Christ are.

But more importantly, remember who God is. Let his worth sink into your heart and flow out in giving.

The Source of our Giving

Now let’s look at the source of their giving. Sometimes, we feel obligated to give. We aren’t giving because we value the other person; so we try to get away with the cheapest possible gift we can find. The more money I can save for myself the better. Or we give some hand-me down, broken unwanted thing because it is lying around the house.Promotional items from their business, regifting, thoughtless gag gifts, something homemade that they didn’t put any effort into or thought.

What we give is directly tied to how we worship or the value the other person. The wise men didn’t bring things that were just lying around the house. They didn’t bring him the thing that cost them the least or convenient.

The text says they opened their treasurers. Matthew 2:11 “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” A treasure is something that is valuable to you. It has worth. Because they valued the baby Jesus, they wanted to give a gift that matched his value to the best of their ability. These men gave the best they could because they wanted to show how much they loved and worshiped the child Jesus.

This child would also someday give the greatest gift.

John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

But why would he do that? Why would he give his very life for us? It isn’t because we had worth in and of ourselves; rather it is because he loved us. Love assigns worth to something even when it may not be lovely. Jesus loved us when we didn’t love him. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Today, if you have never experienced that gift in your life, I challenge you during the invitation to come talk to me and we will partner you with someone who can show you how to receive the free gift of God.

I say these men gave their treasurers, but we must not be mistaken to think you must give the most expensive thing you can think of. Do you remember the story of the widow with her mites? When we say mites, we don’t mean the little bugs that bite chickens; but she only had two small coins to give in the offering. Jesus and the disciples stood their watching. Jesus made a startling claim. He announced that this woman had given more than anyone else that day. But she just gave two coins! The point here was that she did the best she could. She gave out of the heart while others gave because it was convenient. She gave because she truly understood the value of the person she was giving to. She gave her treasure which though it wasn’t much it was all she had.

The Acts of Giving

There is a third part to what the wise men did that many would assume, but I want to draw out a lesson from. Not only did they worship, and open their treasure but they presented their gifts. They actually gave them. Imagine if they had come in their gotten on their knees, opened the box of gold and then suddenly shut it and walked away. That would send a message. Maybe something was wrong here. Maybe the child isn’t who I thought he was. Maybe I have had second thoughts and I can’t give this much after all.

Matthew 2:11 “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”

The point here is that they followed through on their giving. I have known many Christians who because of an honest desire or feigned piety will say, “Oh I am going to do this or that for the Lord” but when it comes time, they never follow through. We may have all the right desires in our heart, we may understand how worthy God is of our gifts; but we fail to follow through.

Usually what I have found is that we really valued God and wanted to do something in that moment, but in the next, we forgot how much we valued God and wanted to do that thing. It is better to not vow and then go and do; than it is to vow and not do. We fail to follow through because we fail to continue to value the one we are giving to.

Conclusion

Christian, this morning I didn’t ask what should you give to God. We should give our lives, our love, our devotion, our time, our money and the list could go on. What I asked this morning is why should we give. Our motivation to give boils down to worship. What value do we place on God and others in our lives. This morning, why don’t you dive deep into your heart and evaluate your motives for giving.

Is it because it is convenient?

Is it because you feel obligated?

Are there ulterior motives like in Herod? You want to get something out of it?

Is it because you want to keep up appearances? You feign piety.

Or is it because you value and love the person you are giving to?