A Generous Life

Intro

In ancient Egypt, the practice of burying the dead in tombs filled with jewels and treasure was quite a common one.

The richer you were in this life, the more things you might be buried with with. In fact some Pharaohs were buried in solid gold coffins surrounded by chests full of jewels, gold, and other high value treasures.

In addition to treasure, common everyday items like furniture, pottery, clothing, and other household items would be placed in the tombs of the dead.

The idea was that as the dead went into the afterlife, whatever they were buried with would go with them.

So the more gold and money they had, the better their afterlife would be; the more everyday items they took with would make their afterlife more comfortable.

So if you have a favorite lazy-boy chair, you would have it buried with you so you could sit in it for eternity in the afterlife.

This was the prevailing thought of the day. So there was a motivation to do everything you can in this life to get as much as you can so you can take it with you when you die.

You can imagine the greed, subjugation, and brutality that this belief created. We see it in the Bible in the way Egypt enslaved the nation of Israel in order to achieve what they wanted.

If you are just joining us this morning you know that we have started a new series in the new year on wisdom.

And for several weeks are looking to learn the Ways of the Wise from the book of Proverbs; also known as one of the books of wisdom.

And it will be these principles that if we would put them into practice, they can set our lives in a completely new direction for the better in 2022.

Power in the Text

I mentioned the burial practices of ancient Egypt, and we think to ourselves, how silly. If you are a Christian then you and I have a very different view of the afterlife.

We know we can’t take those things with us, yet so often when you look at how we live our lives in relation to our things, you might think we do.

There used to be a bumper sticker that said “He who dies with the most toys wins”. But in reality, what it should say is “He who dies with the most toys still dies”.

It doesn’t matter how much or how little money you make; eventually, you’re going to die. And then you’re gone and so is the money you spent your life trying to obtain.

So what is your life goal?

Proverbs 16:16 NLT 16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, and good judgment than silver!

This proverb says that it is better to get wisdom than gold. My question for you this morning, is do you agree with that?

If you could choose between the two—wisdom or infinite wealth—which would you choose? He who dies with the most toys still dies and will then face judgment.

Proverbs 11:4 NLT 4 Riches won’t help on the day of judgment, but right living can save you from death.

The hard truth of the matter is that you can’t buy yourself out of that scenario.

So if wisdom is more important that wealth, then that means we need wisdom to guide the way we see our wealth and possessions.

Proverbs has some really good principles to guide us in how to do just that.

Application

One of the first things we see is that Proverbs shows us that being wise with our money means we value hard work.

Proverbs 6:6-8 NLT 6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! 7 Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, 8 they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.

The Bible teaches us that as a result of sin, we have to work for everything we have, and it is going to be hard at times. It is part of the curse.

And so God places value in working hard and not being lazy, because not working hard is satan’s shortcut around the curse of sin.

The enemy of our souls wants us to believe that we can have it all by doing a little as possible. This in turn creates a sense of entitlement that says I deserve what you have, even if I didn’t work to achieve it.

It isn’t an economic, or even philosophical issue, it is a deeply rooted spiritual issue. One where satan is gaining ground in our culture.

This is the problem with programs that seek to provide things to people for free without oversight or accountability.

Yes, Biblically speaking we need to provide and care for the least of these among us. The orphaned, the widowed, the disabled. Those who do not have the capacity to earn and work.

But for those that do, our goal should not be to provide, but to prepare so that they in turn can provide for themselves.

The truth is, anything that promises you something for nothing is typically too go to be true, and even unbiblical.

This is why I’m not a huge fan of lottery’s and gambling. There are some who take a very legalistic approach to such things and won’t even buy a raffle ticket at a benefit dinner for fear that they might be in sin if they win the fruit basket.

No my issue with these things is that they promise wealth for nothing. Or at least nothing other than the money you worked hard for.

In the US we spend $70 billion a year on lottery tickets and another $40 billion on traditional gambling.

We complain about things costing too much money but we will light $110 billion a year on fire because with the odds of actually making money being so out of you favor that is exactly what you are doing.

So instead of making money, we are wasting it and in many cases developing an unhealthy addiction along the way.

Imagine what we could do to help our communities with that money instead.

The reason we see so many people making bad, unwise decisions with their money is because we are looking for the easy route. When in reality, it is the hard worker, the one who earns what they have that has the healthier relationship with their material possessions.

God takes this so seriously that he is says in...

Proverbs 18:9 NLT 9 A lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things.

Why, because an entitlement mentality does nothing but destroy a society.

But this is a two-sided coin type of issue. There are many in our culture who point out rightly so that there people who are working hard, and yet just barely getting by. Why, because in addition to working for what we have, we also need to keep our greed in check.

Proverbs 11:24-25 NLT 24 Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. 25 The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

We live for the most part in a free enterprise, capitalist type of economy. Where in anybody can start a business and earn money and if that business grows earn more money and essentially with some regulation become a self-made millionaire or even billionaire.

And this is a good thing, because the opposite would be a government who dictates how a business is run, who can start it, and what is to be done with the profits. They dictate how much you can earn and take the rest.

However, with the system we have, the problem we face is that fact that all of us have a sinful nature that is bent towards greed.

So you have people who maybe employ 10 people or thousands of people who with the wages they are paid, still qualify for government assistance, or who make just enough that they don’t qualify but still not enough to raise a family on.

Yet those in power make more money in one month than some will make in their entire lifetime.

There comes a point where it is no longer about enjoying what you have worked for and being wealthy, especially when you have more money than you can spend in 10 lifetimes if the people who are working hard for you are having a good month if they don’t get a late notice on their heating bill.

Proverbs teaches us that the blessings we receive and the resources we worked hard for, in whatever form, are not meant to be hoarded for our own private enjoyment.

Instead we are called to be generous, it is the generous who truly prosper both in material possessions and heavenly ones.

When we refresh others, we too are refreshed. There is something that happens on the inside when we are generous with what we have in order to help those that need it.

If you are someone who struggles to be generous, be careful, because that is a pretty sure sign that you don’t own your things, instead your things own you.

And the last principle we see in Proverbs this morning is that a wise approach to our money also recognizes how important it is to put God first in our generosity.

Proverbs 3:9 NIV 9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;

We honor him first, not last, with what we have accumulated (truly been given!). The result can have an impact in the kingdom that can echo into eternity.

“First-fruits” is a biblical term that refers to the first yield of the crop. Even for those of us today who don’t live in a primarily agrarian society, this principle can still apply.

God still deserves our firstfruits; the “crop” we harvest is our income. The point is that we make a sacrifice of something that is given to us by God, and we give it to him first, not last or as an afterthought.

One of the most obvious ways in which we can do that is to give God a tithe of ten percent off the top of their income.

The point isn’t legalism, but a reminder of where our money and possessions come from—God—and putting him first as we grow in giving.

The truth is, for some, 10% is not a sacrifice. It would not be considered generous. We get so fixated on the number that it becomes a rule rather than an act of worship.

It isn’t about trying to hit a number, it is about giving the first of what we earn back to God in a way that causes us to have to sacrifice in order to give it.

The beautiful thing about New Testament giving is that we aren’t under the law, we aren’t bound to the same rules and regulations that the nation of Israel was bound to. Yet we can choose to still give our first-fruits to God anyway. And when we do, God honors and blesses our gift.

So commit now to proportional giving. To giving off the top first, not whatever you have left. Allow the tithe, or 10% to be your baseline, if you are already there, ask yourself if for you and what you have, if that is a sacrifice.

If you aren’t at 10%, what do you need to do in your life to get there? What changes do you need to make? Remember, it isn’t about a rule, it is about the heart.

Big Idea/Why it Matters

God is the source of all we have; we should therefore honor him with our “firstfruits” and with the use of our money in generosity and service, not in greed.

Closing

This is the heart of it right here. That to be wise with our resources we have to have this perspective.

We work hard

Don’t hoard but be generous and bless others

Honor God with our firstfruit.

If you can learn to do that, then this year, 2022 could be a year that changes everything for you as it relates to your money.