STRAIGHT A'S IN GIVING

STRAIGHT A'S IN GIVING Luke 21:1-4 August 24, 2003 [Additional Notes] Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory The kids are all back in school this week. Soon they'll start taking tests again and getting grades. One little boy in the second grade told his teacher, "I don't want to scare you, but last night my dad said if my grades don't improve, somebody is going to get a spanking!" We're going to look at a report card. Jesus filled it out on a widowed woman and He gave her straight A's in Giving. Authority "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 Perhaps one of the most striking things about this story is the simple truth that there was a place in the temple where God's people would bring their offerings. God had given AUTHORITY for receiving tithes and offerings in the temple. It was in the Court of Women where virtually everyone would pass and find opportunity to give to the ongoing mission of the temple. Historians tell us there were 13 containers lined up in the courtyard area, easily accessed and, in fact, hard to miss. They were large, freestanding and they are described as "trumpet-like" because they were shaped like trumpets with the narrow part at the top and the wider part at the foot. Each of the trumpets was dedicated to a different area of need. For example, the money received in one of the receptacles was to help pay for the wood to burn the sacrifices. The offerings from one of the other trumpets paid for the incense that was burned on the altar. Another was allocated for the upkeep of the sacred vessels in the temple. Actually, they represented the various budget categories for the temple, and people were given the opportunity to designate their gifts to the various funds. So, if your favorite thing about the temple was how clean and well maintained it was, then you might want to place the majority of your offerings in the "building fund" trumpet. Or if your favorite part of the temple services was the burning of the incense, you'd hit the incense offering a little harder. It's no surprise that Jesus endorsed the offerings for the temple. He had some harsh words for those who didn't give appropriately or sacrificially, but the system-it was fine. After all, you've got to pay the bills, right? It's no different in any organization. There are building payments, power bills, salaries, upkeep, and other various operational expenses. Here at MECF, we have obligations as well. And that is at least one of the reasons we participate in voluntary giving, allowing all of our participants who benefit from the ministries of the church to help shoulder the costs. We are authorized by the Lord to carry out the ministry He has called us to, and He has also given the church AUTHORITY to receive monetary gifts to fund it. But there's more. We don't give just because there are bills to pay. There are higher motives involved. Charitable giving for a member of the VFW or the Elks Club is a matter of dues; giving for the Christian is an act of worship to God. There's an old story about a young boy whose dad asked him to shine his shoes for him. The boy eagerly agreed, so dad gave him a quarter and handed him the shoes. He shined them up as best he could and put them on the closet floor. The next day, his dad noticed something inside one of the shoes. He dug out the quarter and a small slip of paper that read, "I done it for love!" Christian giving is the heart response of saved people to the God who saved them. It is wrong for us to think of our financial offerings in the church as a tax or dues. God doesn't desire to operate that way. His way is to love and bless us and to expect His children's loving and generous response. The church has bills to pay, but, more importantly, we have a God to be worshiped. With our offerings we pay the bills that are generated in the ministry; with our offerings we worship God. If there is not enough to pay the bills, we are to simply remind God's people to worship Him and to demonstrate their faith and love toward God financially. If there is excess, we are to seek the Lord concerning the wisest way to use it. The Bible often refers to the AUTHORITY of giving and receiving money in the confines of the church. "And there you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of you hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings and the first-born of your herd and of your flock" Deuteronomy 12:6 Today we won't find too many people dragging a sheep or a goat to the communion table for their offerings. I can't remember the last time someone brought in the first harvest of their garden to put in the offering basket. Today, money is the common denominator of all trading and value systems. So, we give conveniently with currency or checks. But it is the same principle. Gifts to God borne out of loving response to His grace and providence, and brought as an act of worship to the central meeting place. The closing verses of Leviticus remind us of the importance of giving: "A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord." Leviticus 27:30 There is AUTHORITY in the Bible for the receiving of offerings. In fact, it is commanded. But there is another dimension to the authority of giving that bears mentioning here. God authorized giving in the church for this reason: so that He can bless the givers. Malachi 3:10 teaches, "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house…'" (Notice two things here-the tithes are brought to the storehouse, and the storehouse is "my house".) So the receipts of the tithes and offerings are to be used for the house of the Lord and its work. But watch what comes next. "'…Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.'" "It is more blessed to give than to receive," said Jesus (quoted at Acts 20:35). Paul said, "God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7). And to those who give sacrificially the Word promises, "He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and … your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." (2 Corinthians 9:10-11) Charlotte and I were privileged to attend the Cardinals game yesterday. It was, among other things, Transplant Day, and organ transplant recipients and living donors were honored. One young woman who threw out the opening pitch received a bone marrow transplant from her younger sister. But when her sister decided to donate her bone marrow, she saved not only the life of her sister, but her own life as well. As they were doing the necessary testing on her, they discovered a fast-growing, lethal cancer in her body. With no symptoms, she would have died from this cancer, had it not been detected. In her sacrifice of love for her sister, she actually saved herself as well. Blessings rebound to those who give. This principle is always true, and never more so than in the matter of tithes and offerings. The ultimate purpose of God is not just to subsidize His house, His work; it is to bless his people. The AUTHORITY granted to the church for giving and receiving of financial gifts is for two purposes: to insure that the work on earth gets done, and to bring return blessings on those who give faithfully and sacrificially. With that in mind, I think we can better understand Jesus' response to the gift of this poor widow. It wasn't the size of her gift, it was the attitude of her heart, that won the Lord's commendation. Attitude The second "A" is for ATTITUDE. This widow demonstrated something quite remarkable. Jesus noticed it. And He used the opportunity to teach His first century and twenty-first century disciples that attitude is the central issue when it comes to giving. Clearly, when Jesus says this woman put in more than all the rest, He is not referring to the volume of her gift, but to the motive of her heart. Listen, you can give a lot or you can give a little, but what marks you out as a God-pleasing giver is your attitude. What was the widow's attitude? First, it was worshipful. Unlike many of the religious folks around her that day, she did not come to parade her piety, to make a spectacle of her stewardship or gloat over her giving. She came in humility and worship to honor her God. How do we know that? If you were very poor, and the offering style of your church was very public like this, and you had only two pennies to give, would you even show up? Not unless your sacrificial gift to God meant more to you than the opinion of others. Secondly, this woman's giving was faith-filled. Jesus knew all about her, that she was giving the very last of what she had-"all she had to live on" is how He put it. When she dropped those two leptons (worth a total of one-twentieth of a penny of those days) in the offering container, she did not know where tomorrow's bread and oil were coming from. Correction: she knew by faith that God would provide, because she knew more than anyone else in the courtyard that if you "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all that you need will be added to you." (Matthew 6:33) And she knew in her heart the teaching of Ecclesiastes 11:1 "Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again." She might well have witnessed Jesus teaching with these words, "Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap." (Luke 6:38) Mother Teresa of Calcutta had a dream. She told her superiors, "I have three pennies and a dream from God to build an orphanage." "Mother Teresa," her superiors chided gently, "you cannot build an orphanage with three pennies. With three pennies, you can't do anything." "I know," she said, smiling, "but with God and three pennies I can do anything!" Thirdly, she gave sacrificially. Someone said, It isn't an offering until it hurts. God is not interested in being tipped by His people. He is interested in being honored by them. What gift would you have to give to qualify as a sacrifice? What gift would you need to give to God to feel as though you honored Him? Go ahead and measure yourself by the standard of a first century widow who gave it all and was complimented by the Lord Himself. That leads us to our final "A". Amount This poor woman carried to church more than just two of the thinnest coins in history that day. She also carried an attitude of worship and faith in God. But there is another issue that we face in this story. The third "A" has to do with the AMOUNT of the offering. One author laments: "Ours is a culture that judges everything and everyone according to monetary value. We assume that if something costs a lot, it must be good -- if another brand costs more, it must be better. Ours is the society of the "supersize" and the economy size and the "Go to Sam's and buy it in volume" mentality. Bigger, more, newer. We are consumer slaves to such mindsets. Whatever happened to the beauty of simple gifts, the dignity of small gestures, the grace to appreciate good will and good wishes? With heavenly understanding and spiritual wisdom, Jesus understood the value of this woman's contribution." "Our challenge is whether or not we can buck this system and see true value the way Jesus saw it that day. Jesus said that the pittance poured down that treasury trumpet-spout by a faithful widow was more generous than all the spilling-over riches of the gifts that had gone before her. It calls us to sit up and take note. To make any sense of Jesus' pronouncement, we must radically adjust our value system". We must see amounts from a godly perspective rather than a worldly perspective. A tiny amount, given from pure motives of love, worship and sacrifice is worth immeasurably more than millions given with sub-kingdom motives. As the song puts it, Little is much when God is in it. In an article entitled, "Where is Christ in This Picture?" Hal Brady tells the story of Bishop McCabe, who was trying to raise a million dollars for missions. He received in his mail one day a letter from a little boy. When the bishop opened it, out tumbled a badly battered nickel. In the letter the boy had written: 'I'm so glad you are going to get a million dollars for missions. I'm going to help you get it, too. Here's a nickel! It's all I've got now, but when you want any more, call on me!'" Here are some questions to ask yourself as you prepare your offering. • Does it honor the Lord? Does it qualify as worship? • Does it represent my grateful response to Him for what He has done for me in Christ? • Does it cut deeply enough into my budget, my desires and my plans to represent a genuine sacrifice? Does it cause me to have to trust Him? • If everyone else in the church gave at the same percentage level, would we ◦ Have to add new missions? ◦ Meet budget comfortably? ◦ Have to close the doors? Conclusion The whole point of Jesus' encounter with this winsome widow, and the reason for its inclusion in the biblical record is this: Jesus wants us to be like this widow. He wants each of us to sincerely consider our report card in this matter of giving. What honors and pleases Him is a courtyard full of people who love Him enough and are committed enough to Him and His cause to: 1. Give into the kingdom under the authority of the church. It is His will that we give into the "storehouse". As we do, it might be well for each of us to imagine Jesus sitting over in the corner of the room, watching. How will you look to Him? Like a wealthy person being chincy or like a widow being generous? 2. Give with the right attitude. He loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7)-one who is worshipful, faith-filled and sacrificial. Don't worry about whether yours is a large or small gift compared with someone else's. Be concerned primarily with the condition of your heart as you give it. 3. Give the right amount. Determine carefully between you and Him what that amount ought to be. The Bible says there is a day of reckoning, of judgment concerning the good works of Christians (2 Corinthians 5:10). Prayerfully consider what your giving should be. Be assured, He who sees in secret is preparing a report card.   [Back to Top]