Generosity

This week we are continuing our series on The Basics of our Christian Faith.

These basic, fundamental things we’ve been talking about are what make up the Christian life. I hope you’re noticing that these things are not rules, they’re not law, they’re not something you get in trouble for not doing them, but they are guidelines and opportunities.... Invitations, really, to get the most out of life.

Jesus said in John 10:9-10, / / Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. or as some translations say, Life and Life more abundant.

Jesus came so that we could find abundant life. Notice, he doesn’t say eternal life here, he says abundant life. He’s talking about the here and now. He’s not talking about eternity, or heaven, he’s talking about your life right now.

Two words there. Abundant. Life.

Let’s look at life first. It’s the greek word / / zoe, and it means: the condition of living or the state of being alive; especially healthiness, happiness, exuberance, energy, vitality and the like.

And Abundant, or the word / / perissoteros in the greek and it means: even more, greater in size or importance or degree.

So, Jesus is saying the purpose that he came was so that you could have a greater life! Even more health, more happiness, a more exuberant and energetic life than you ever thought possible.

Pretty sure that’s why Paul prayed in Ephesians 3:20, / / Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

See, if we don’t truly understand that God WANTS to bless us, and that it is his intention to bless us, we will live like that’s not going to happen. And what have we been talking about lately, the cycle of expectation and belief.

My / / beliefs dictate my expectations, my expectations dictate my experiences, and my experiences reinforce my beliefs. And we end up in this cycle of reinforced negative beliefs, expectations and experiences.

So, if we don’t truly believe that God wants to bless us, that will severely impact our expectations of what God WANTS to do in our lives.

Philippians 4:19, / / And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

James 1:7, / / Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.

2 Corinthians 9:8, / / And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

That’s just three of a multitude of scriptures that talk about the fact that God wants to bless you.

Again, with all we’re looking at. When it comes to instructions from God, His intent is to bless us. After giving Israel the instructions for life, in Deuteronomy 28 it describes what God will do, but listen to just the first few verses.

/ / If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God: Your towns and your fields will be blessed. Your children and your crops will be blessed. The offspring of your herds and flocks will be blessed. Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed. Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed.

Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed.

How? If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands.

But that sounds pretty similar to what Jesus said to his disciples before he left them and went up into heaven, doesn’t it. We’ve read it the last couple weeks. In Matthew 28:20, / / Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.

Why? Because they lead to life! And that’s what God wants for you!

So, we’re going to jump into our next topic here in The Basics that just like the others is intended to cause blessing in your life, and that is / / Generosity.

Generosity and God go hand in hand. I’ve been saying this over and over again, when it comes to these basic principles of the Christian Faith, it isn’t about us “doing good” but about God giving us clear instructions on how to live a blessed life. Think about it. Jesus gave his life for this.

Romans 5:6-8 says, / / When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners.

I think this beautifully defines for us the true heart of Generosity as displayed by God himself.

It doesn’t have to do with US. What we have done. What we have accomplished. It’s not us proving ourselves. Being Good.... None of that. / / God gave to us while we could do nothing for him.

That’s the true heart of generosity. You can’t do anything for me, or, you don’t HAVE to do anything for me, I just WANT to give to you. You haven’t proven that you’re good. But I’ll give to you anyway. And notice God doesn’t give to us in a way that enables our sinful nature, he gives us what we TRULY need, the salvation of Jesus Christ through His sacrifice. Being Generous isn’t just giving everything to everyone without thinking. Being Generous is knowing exactly what we are doing, and choosing to do it for a reason.

Maybe you haven’t noticed this, but God doesn’t just give us everything we ask for, does he?

And I truly believe God is the most generous being there is, but that doesn’t mean he just gives without thinking because he can. He gives thoughtfully, and carefully, and sometimes gives us what we need, not what we want, or what we’re asking for. So,

/ / What is Generosity?

By Definition / / Generosity is the act of being kind and generous. / / Generous means showing a readiness to give MORE of something, as money or time, than is strictly necessary or expected.

Alright, I want to take a quick moment and clear the air a little bit… See, when a preacher man starts talking about Generosity, there is an automatic stereotype that he’s going to be telling you to give money to his church. It’s like you can feel it in the air, “Get ready, they’ve got the money plates ready to pass out...”

Now, if you’ve been coming here for any length of time, or joining us online, you’ve probably noticed we don’t really talk about money around here too often. There’s a reason for that:

1. I don’t ever want anyone to feel manipulated into giving to this church.

2. I don’t ever want anyone to misunderstand or have any reason to question my motives when it comes to money.

However, this is also true. I would be doing you a serious dis-service if I told you all the things God wants to do in your life, but left money out of it. And the reason is this. Jesus didn’t leave money out of it. The bible is FULL of wisdom, knowledge and understanding when it comes to finances. And as we are going to see, just like all of the other things we’ve talked about in this series, when God tells us to do something, and we do it, we get more out of it than we could ever expect and we realize he told us to do it because he wanted to bless us, not because he was trying to keep us in line.

So, we’re going to look at two passages of scripture this morning:

First is in Acts 20. Paul is about to leave on a trip, and he’s called the elders of Ephesus, one of the churches he spent 2 years with, and he gives them basically his last message. He knows he’s not going to see them again. He actually says, I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but in every city I have been in lately, I hear the Holy Spirit say jail and suffering lie ahead. And he says this in vs 25, / / “And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again.” So he knows his time is short. How many know, when someone who is really smart, who you really look up to, if they’re about to die and they know it, and they want to tell you something, you BETTER listen!

Whatever it is they are about to tell you is incredibly important.

So, in Acts 20:33-36 Paul says, / / I have never coveted anyone’s silver or gold or fine clothes. You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me. And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

So, there’s 3 things here I want to pull from this first scripture this morning:

/ / Money isn’t everything, but it is something.

Paul starts with, listen guys, you know me, I’ve never been all about the bling. I don’t need the silver & gold, or even the fine clothes. I feel good about myself just the way I am.

And if you stopped there, you could easily say, “see, he said we aren’t supposed to think about money.” BUT - you would be wrong.

There is a misconception about money. And the argument has been around forever. Is money good, is money bad? We know we are supposed to live by faith, so should we live so much by faith that we don’t know where our next dollar is coming from?

Does having more than we need mean we won’t have faith, or will it deter us from having faith?

Paul actually says in Philippians 4:11-13, / / …I was never in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

/ / Experiencing the strength of Christ in any circumstance is the key to a life of victory and of truly being content.

See, Paul is saying here. listen, it doesn’t matter WHAT you have, there’s still gonna be stuff you go through. And I think we all know that, money is nice, but it certainly doesn’t answer all the questions, it doesn’t make the hurt and pain go away, or the trauma we have experienced.

It doesn’t give us what we truly need. Money is simply a tool.

Experiencing the strength of Christ. That takes some of the hardest moments we can go through. Listen, follow me here, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, and this is Paul writing again, about this strength he has experienced in Christ. He says, / / So now I am glad to boast about my weakness, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weakness, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Doesn’t matter how much money we have in the bank, how looked after we are, we still have weakness, and still need Christ. See when Paul says that, he doesn’t even talk about money. He says, my weakness is insults, hardships, persecutions, troubles. If you are in here or at home today and you don’t have any troubles, I would like to meet with you after service so I can learn your ways!!! We all have troubles, don’t we?

OK, so money isn’t everything, but it is something. It’s a tool that God uses to bless us, and it’s a tool we use to bless others.

2. / / Work Hard, Give More

He says, You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs AND EVEN the needs of those who were with me. And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard.

The man got a job and worked to provide for himself, and for the people that were with him.

If you’ve been joining us in the Daily Bible Reading, which I encourage you to do, and it’s never too late to start… if you’ve been joining us, have you noticed how much Proverbs talks about working hard and how that will cause you to have blessed life?

Proverbs 14:23-24, / / Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty! Wealth is a crown for the wise;

Proverbs 12:24, / / Work hard and become a leader;

Proverbs 16:3, / / Commit your actions to the Lord and your plans will succeed.

I like that one, because it brings us back to the real point. When we commit our actions to the Lord, we see results. See, we would be wise to always keep in mind that all we have is truly from God. He makes the sun shine, and the rain to fall. The bible says He gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. We all have God to thank for life. Even when I work hard, and maybe I could say, “ya, that was by my hand that I got this.” I try to remember to be thankful to God.

If I work hard, and God blesses me and I have the ability to be generous, I should.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 says, / / Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.

I’m sorry, did the bible just tell us that generosity is linked to experiencing true life? It sure did!

Guys, this is why I keep saying, God tells us to do things, FOR OUR BENEFIT. If we could only get that. This one little passage says SO Much…

- God is the one who richly gives to us.

- God gives to us for OUR ENJOYMENT.

- He asks us to do good with what he gives us, to do good works and be generous. To share with others....

- We benefit with experiencing true life. Which brings me to my 3rd point from Acts 20.

3. / / Giving has benefits

Then he says, / / You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

The word “Blessed” or some translations say “It is better to give than to receive” actually means that it makes you happier, there is a joy that giving produces in your life.

God is wanting us to be generous because that’s who HE is, and because when we are, we are blessed. Proverbs 11:25 says, / / The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. The verse before that Proverbs 11:24, / / Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything.

The ESV translates that a bit differently, and it’s good. it says / / One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

I said earlier, I don’t really like talking about money because if we are honest, the topic of money has been used by some in the church to gain wealth and there have been churches that haven’t been great with the money they have received. Listen, #1, I don’t ever want MY motivation to be wrong. I have certain things that I pray everyday. Here’s a few of them:

“God with your help I choose to believe that Cutler Bay Worship Center will be debt free, financially blessed, and a house that money is stewarded well so it can be a blessing to the community and those in need. That our vision will always stay humble, righteous and pure before You. That our actions will be above board, fully trustworthy and honorable.”

I’m putting myself in the mind frame that where we are headed, this is what life will be like. That we won’t carry debt, we will have the money we need to look after things here AND be a blessing to our community. Because that’s what this place is all about.

I’m not saying that to try and convince you of anything, I would actually invite you into praying that with me. That this church would be blessed so we can be a blessing.

/ / So, How does it work?

God loves ALL Generosity

And I think God BLESSES all generosity, too. Yes, The bible is actually quite specific about giving money to the work of God, but when we read all those great promises in proverbs, most don’t mention the temple, or God’s house, or the church. They simply say that if you are generous, you will be blessed.

We call this the Law of Sowing and Reaping.

2 Corinthians 9:6, / / Remember this - a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.

Jesus says in Luke 6:38, / / Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full - pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.

So, thinking in farming terms, you only get where you sow. Makes sense, right? You can’t expect a harvest if you don’t plant seed. And the reason I KNOW God loves all generosity is because I have seen this active in peoples lives that I don’t assume were followers of Jesus. They were simply generous. And as a result they saw abundance in their lives. No doubt in my mind, this principle is just like the law of gravity. If you jump, you’re sure to come back down. If you give, you’re sure to receive.

That’s how this works - it works when we do it. When we Give. It starts there. Being generous.

/ / What about the Church?

Giving to the church, what about that? OK, so, the Old Testament talks about the temple, or the tabernacle, which was a portable tent version before the actual temple was built. If you’ve been reading along with us on the Daily Bible Reading you know that Israel has 12 tribes, they come from the 12 sons of Jacob, who God gave the name Israel to. One of those sons was Levi, of which came the tribe the Levites.

The Levites were tasked with looking after the temple, performing the sacrifices and services, the upkeep etc.. So they weren’t allowed real jobs. God put in place what is called the / / tithe, which literally means a tenth. This is why people today still give 10% of their income to the church, because God asked the other 11 tribes to give 10% of their harvest, or livestock, and bring it to the temple. That ensured that the Levites didn’t have to have their own fields, their own livestock, other jobs to look after themselves, but that they could dedicate their entire lives to the service of God in the temple. It also provided for the mortgage of the temple, the lawn care etc...

This is where it comes from. And God was so serious about it that at one point the people of Israel had stopped following this, and God, says to the Prophet Malachi, tell the people of Israel that they have actually been ROBBING Me, and this is why their lives have been going so poorly. BUT, and listen to this, I LOVE this scripture because it just shows the heart of God for the purpose of giving:

Malachi 3:10, / / Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,”

God is literally CREATING ways to bless you.

GOD: hmmmm....I want to bless you. So, I’m gonna make it super simple. I’ll give you 100% of everything you get....give me..like 10% back, ok, then, after that, I’ll actually give you more...

ME: Wait, you’re going to give me a bunch of stuff…I give a little bit of that stuff back to you…then you give me more stuff?

GOD: Yup, you got it kiddo...

Now, in all transparency, the church is not the temple of God from the Old Testament, we know that. Jesus didn’t talk so much about tithing in the New Testament. There isn’t much said about it. But He does talk about it, and actually he says of the tithe, You are RIGHT to be doing it.

But, honestly, the reason I believe that the tithe translates to the church as we see it, is because it is the easiest, simplest way to honor God and be generous. Nothing has changed.

He gives us everything // We give him some // He gives us more.

The temple needed workers and upkeep. The church needs workers and upkeep.

Out of that money the community was looked after. The church is meant to do the same.

The lights need to be paid, the grass needs to be cut, the water, the garbage etc… This wasn’t this huge spiritual thing, it was so down to earth practical. God said, I want the Levites to be focused on their task, everyone else chip in and they won’t have to work a job on the side. And if you do that, I’ll bless you for it.

The reason Kelley and I survived last year through pandemic and all the money we had to pay out for the lawsuit that we were in was because Kelley has a job on the side. And we know that job on the side is blessed because we honor God through our giving. We know that God brought that job to her, so we give back what little he asks for by entrusting the church with it AND looking for ways to be generous to people in our lives, and we know we are blessed because of it. We do. We give 10%, and more actually, to the church. And in a year where I had to cut my salary twice so the church could survive, we actually paid off some debt and are in an ok place.

Here’s a practical thought. Because sometimes it feels easier to give our time than our money. And I believe God honors that too. Generosity isn’t just money, it is time. And we’ve said how grateful we are for the time that y’all invest in this place and the things we are doing here. But I do want to challenge you here. Sometimes people donate items to the church, things we need, they buy it instead of us. Again, we are super grateful - and this is purely as a note of practical purposes. Any time I step into the bank to talk to someone, they want to see our income. And when you give items, that of course doesn’t show up as income. So, practically, I would rather people give and then the church can buy what we need. We also have the blessing and advantage from the government to not be charged tax. So if the stores I go to have provision for it, I don’t pay taxes on items for the church, and that saves us 7% all day everyday.

Here’s some practicals:

/ / The more we have, the more we can do, the more we can give, and it expands our ability to reach our community.

/ / Only 3-5% of church goers regularly give in what they consider tithing.

/ / Of that 3-5% 77% give 11%-20% of their income.

That means of those who read Malachi 3 and see that God says, “Go for it, test me in this...” have seen it works, it’s worth it, and they give MORE!

/ / 8/10 people who give to churches have zero credit debt.

And you could say, Ya, if I didn’t have debt, I would give too. Or you can choose to believe that when God says I want to bless you if you do this, he WILL bless you when you do it!

We are able to do, because people give.

Now, this might be the most important thing you hear today. It is my favorite scripture on giving and generosity.

2 Corinthians 9:7-10, / / You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.” For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

OK, as I’m wrapping up today. Let’s look at the 6 key points for generosity. This includes giving to the church and giving to anyone else.

/ / YOU DECIDE

If it’s not your choice, then you’ve been robbed. You decide in your heart what to give. If that is 1%, 2%, 10% or 25%, or if you decide not to give at all, that is YOUR CHOICE to make.

/ / DO NOT GIVE RELUCTANTLY

Reluctantly means in sadness, grievous, or with a heaviness attached to your action. Emotional pain experienced when sorrowful or unhappy. What that sounds like to me is, don’t make an emotional decision to be generous. The decision needs to be genuine and thought out.

/ / DO NOT GIVE IN RESPONSE TO PRESSURE

The word there means the state of being absolutely required. Man, this is where the church has gotten itself into hot water with people. When we demand they give. When we absolutely require it. It misses the point. Should we be generous. YES. Should we give to the church. YES. But when we put it as a law that must be followed we bind the person to something they were never meant to be bound to.

/ / GIVE CHEERFULLY

This is in response to not giving reluctantly or in response to pressure. God loves a person who gives cheerfully. What’s that mean, it means you WANT to give. You’re happy to give. Has someone ever done something for you and when you thank them they say, with all sincerity, “It was my pleasure, honestly. I enjoyed doing it.” That’s cheerful giving.

Years ago I came to a point where I realized I was tithing, giving that 10% to the church because it was always told to me that I had to. I was giving in response to pressure. It’s just what it was. And honestly, maybe that’s not what they said, but that was my take away. If I didn’t tithe, God couldn’t bless me. All my money problems were because I wasn’t tithing… And so Kelley and I made a decision that we would take a season and instead of tithing, we would pay a credit card off because I knew I wasn’t doing it for the right reasons, but I didn’t want to just spend that money. So, we took what we would normally have given to the church, and paid off a pretty substantial credit card over the course of that year. But at the end of the year when I got the donation receipt for my taxes, my heart broke when I saw how little we had given to the church. Why? Because we value the church. It means so much to us. We know that God uses the church to do good in this world. Kelley and I so believe in this community that God is creating that it is the first thing we do when we get our paycheck. We tithe. It’s the first line in our budget. Tithe. And we do it with all the gladness and honesty in our hearts. We make that decision because we KNOW it’s the right one for us.

/ / GOD IS OUR PROVISION

We have jobs, we are given things from other people. But in the end, we have to recognize that God is our provider. God gives us the breath in our lungs that keeps us alive today.

And God WANTS to provide.

vs 8, / / God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need...

vs 10 / / For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources.

/ / PROVISION PRODUCES GENEROSITY

God provides with this in mind. His generosity shows us how to be generous ourselves.

We just read vs 8 again, / / God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need AND plenty left over to share with others.

and vs 10, / / In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources AND THEN produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

What we have been given is a seed for us to plant through generosity.

And Generosity is one of the Basics of the Christian faith, to do well and share with what we’ve been given. God supplies to us so that we can be generous, in life, with our friends, with our family, and with the church.