Sermon Series: Generosity

“Generous with your time”

Luke 10:25-37 “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”

I. Intro

Nothing gets to the heart of who God is more than His generosity. From the first chapters of Genesis- when God created the world and gave it to humans to steward- to the last chapters of Revelation- where God gives humanity a new, recreated Earth- God gives.

God gives grace. God gives provision. God gives companionship. Everything we have is a gift from Him. Ultimately, God gave His Son to redeem creation from the prison of sin. The Bible tells us, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). At the heart of God’s all-encompassing love, is generosity. As we seek to help the people we lead to understand and live out God’s heartbeat, we must teach them to give as God gives. In this series, we will go through three of Jesus’ most well-known parables, to help show us how to be faithful stewards. This entire series was founded on one truth-Everything we own comes from God.

One day, a man was lost in the desert without water, but he saw an old shack. He was dying of thirst. He knew he didn’t have much longer so he painfully made his way to the shack. Inside the shack on the floor was a little jar of crystal clear water next to a pump. Flooded with relief, he walked over to the jar to quench his unbearable thirst. As he reached down to pick up the jar of water, he noticed a sign. The sign read, “Use this water to prime the pump out back. When you are satisfied, refill it and leave it for the next person who will pass through.” He found himself on the horns of a dilemma because he was so very thirsty. What if he followed the directions on the sign, and there was no water in the well? He had to make a decision to either serve himself now, or invest and take the chance that deep down, there was so much more. Giving is a method of priming the pump of God’s blessing in the life of a believer. You have a choice. You can either take the little that God has given you and consume it for yourself, or you can use it to prime something that has so much more. It all boils down to whether you believe there is something underneath the ground, or in this case, beyond the clouds.

II. How God looks at time.

God created it.

Genesis 1:4-5 “And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”

Our time is limited.

Job 14:5 “Seeing his days are determined, The number of his months are with thee, Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;”

God wants us to use the time He gave us for His glory.

1 Corinthians 10:31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

III. The Good Samaritan

Two key questions

How do I receive eternal life? Jesus sums up the entire law with Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.

Who is my neighbor? (Or how do I show love to my neighbor?) Jesus responds with a story.

The Story

A man is on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho when he falls into the hands of robbers.

A priest passes by the injured man.

A Levite passes by the injured man.

A Samaritan uses his time generously.

The Samaritan’s Response

The Samaritan bandages the man’s wounds.

The Samaritan puts the man on his own animal and takes care of him.

The Samaritan pays for an inn keeper to care for the man until he can return.

IV. How do you use your time generously?

You must care.

The Good Samaritan showed compassion.

God the Father regularly shows compassion

Jesus showed compassion.

Matthew 14:14 “And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.”

The Bible tells us to do likewise.

Colossians 3:12 “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;”

You must do something, it is not enough to simply just care about others. You must act on your compassion and use your time to help them.

V. You must partner with others.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

The Good Samaritan enlisted help from the innkeeper.

You’ll multiply your efforts when you work with others to help people through your local church.

VI. Conclusion

Two groups of people who were born enemies. Israelites didn’t associate with Samaritans. And vice versa. They hated each other. In fact, Israelites would travel around Samaria just so they wouldn’t have to travel through Samaria. But he didn’t see an Israelite. He didn’t see an enemy. He saw a man that needed assistance. He saw that this man needed compassion and generosity. He had compassion because the love of Christ dwelled within him. Instead of passing him by like everyone else did, he went to great lengths to take care of his enemy. How many of us would or could do this? Not just for our neighbor, but for someone with whom you don’t particularly get along with? What if it was a member of a terrorist organization? Would we stop and give them aid? Would we call an ambulance? Would we put them in our own car like the Good Samaritan did, drive him to a hospital and pay for all his bills? Then come back to check on him? Or would we just look at them and try and out of there as soon as possible? Jesus said be compassionate to everyone, not just a select few.