01(Gen 14,17-21) Legacy of Giving
At Christmas, it is hard to value what to give. Our families are priceless. We can never give enough. We set practical limits. It is not that the family member is only worth so much, but that we can only give so much. The gift then becomes a symbol of our love or appreciation for the recipient of our gift.
If we are “lucky”, we have a rich relative whose value system is much greater than ours, right? What if the God of the universe were your father, what would you expect under the tree? A new car, a million dollars? You’re thinking too small. What about health? Money can’t buy happiness, but God can. But those are just stocking stuffers. What would he give you if he loved you more than anything - eternal life?
I. Receiving the Gift.
Abraham was offered a gift from the King of Salem and from the King of Sodom. He received the gift from Melchizedek. It was a priestly gift, bread and wine. The gift gave glory to God as the one who delivered Abraham in battle. But Abraham refused the spoils of battle from the King of Sodom.
Think for a moment about the choice of bread and wine. This is not a priest following the Passover (not occurred yet) nor any of the bread/wine ceremonies which are described in Mosaic law.
Hebrews tells us what we already know, he is a priest after an order that occurs before the Aaronic priesthood was established. He is of the same order as Jesus. So now the bread and wine take on significance because we know how Jesus, our high priest, viewed these elements.
They were symbols of the gift given to us as well – eternal life! The bread and wine remind us of the cost of that gift.
2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."
We must bow down today and acknowledge that we have received an indescribable gift of eternal life. It is a gift we now have.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
II. Our Response to the gift.
Matthew 2:11 “And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
When we consider giving, we have to place a value: we give what is appropriate. Abraham paid a tenth to the priest of Salem. Paul takes it a step further.
Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
That does not mean time instead of a tithe. I think it means, tithe, time, talents, your life.
We are generally concerned that we give gifts that are reasonable financially. Sometimes we set limits so we give and get about the same thing. We are not concerned about being ripped off. We are concerned that we might not give enough.
Paul says your life is a reasonable exchange of gift. We get eternal life, we give our mortal life.