in our generosity of serving others...
First... We must stop thinking about numbers... Human Math... Money
When we look at our paycheck... We see a pie chart... This is for... Housing... This for food... Clothing... Taxes... Transportation... Health needs... Etc... And this is for me.
We seldom think outside the circle... Outside the pie chart... This is for the serving of Jesus in others.
Listen church... The widow and her two mites tell us that we don’t have to be rich to be generous in our doing good to others.
The billionaire Charles Feeney decided in 1984 to make a difference in the world. By 2016 he had given more than eight billion dollars to charitable organizations.
Bill and Melinda Gates were told by Bill’s mother... Those to whom much is given... Much is expected... Today their foundation has given away more than thirty-six billion dollars.
But... But... We don’t have to be... A Charles Feeney... A Bill & Melinda Gates... To be generous in service to our fellowman.
Take Albert Lexie for example... In 1981 Albert started cleaning and polishing shoes in the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh at $5 a pair. Albert purposed in his heart to give the Hospital’s Free Care Fund... Thirty-percent of his earnings... Plus all the tips.
The fund enabled cash-strapped parents to obtain healing care for their children. Albert retired in 2013... The Hospital Administration and Staff threw him a party... where they thanked Albert for his generosity in serving others... Over the years he had donated two-hundred thousand dollars.
Here it is church... Goodness begins with God…
Psalm 31.9 says… How abundant is Your goodness which You have stored up for those who love you and take refuge in You.
• We are only stewards of what God has placed in our charge...
• Plus He desires that we become conduits of His grace and mercy... Passing His goodness on to others… Regardless of how much or how little is placed in our hands.
We must see and feel the brokeness of humanity.
Here it is church... We are not likely to serve the needs of others until we’ve walked a mile in their shoes...
• Have you walked through Shanty Town in Cape Town or Johannesburg South Africa... Where as far as eye can see... People are living in pasteboard boxes with plastic or a shabby piece of sheet-metal for a roof?...
• Have we been to Guyana and encountered children begging for food on the streets?
We don’t have to travel around the world to understand and feel the pain of the poor...
• Do we see the homeless on the street corner?... They’ll be there when we go to lunch.
• Do we see the young man who lives in his car on our parking lot?
• Do we see the women and children in the shelters...
• Do we see those housed by the Salvation Army... And other benevolent organizations?
• Do we see those of our own number who cannot make it from one Pay Day to the next?
Until we see and know... Sense and even feel... The plight of the needy... We will never be generous in serving them.
Thirdly... Our generosity starts with little acts of kindness.
Remember this... Doing good to others... Generosity... Is not about big things... The narrative of the widow’s two mites tell us this.
Listen church... It’s not about the amount... But about the moment... What is in our hand at the moment?
Generosity begins in little things...
• Like increasing the amount of the tip at the restaurant. Many of the servers are single moms or dads trying to raise their families on our tips... Or paying for college... Maybe just trying to get by with a second or third job.
• Like carrying extra money with us... So that when God’s providence provides the moment we will be ready.
• Like picking up gifts for the Ladies Shoe Box Ministry.
• Like giving or serving as we befriend those women and children in shelters this Thursday Evening.
Number four... Start giving more... Time... Talent... Treasure... Energy... Than we can afford.
Blessings... Abundant blessings from God become ours when we serve others sacrificially... When we give what we can’t afford.
Randall are you sure you can say that Biblically?... I am!!...
For instance… The poor widow did not give out of her abundance... But out of her poverty.
Listen to Paul as he commends those in Macedonia... Now I want to tell you, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done for the churches in Macedonia. Though they have been going through much trouble and hard times, their wonderful joy and deep poverty have overflowed in rich generosity. For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the gracious privilege of sharing in the gift for the Christians in Jerusalem.
How do we answer the question of how much... Time... Talent... Treasure...Energy... Do we expend in service to others... The answer is SACRIFICIALLY... More than we can afford.
Here’s the sad news... Some of us are not expending…any… Any!!... of our God given REsOURCES in service to others... We need to rethink this... Amen??
Fifthly... Serve SPONTANEOUSLY!!
Mary anointed Jesus in the moment with what was in her hand. Don’t you think the Holy Spirit prompted her to anoint Jesus in this moment with the Nard?
Don’t be afraid of the long red light when the homeless are walking toward us... Will we make eye contact?... Will we connect with our resources??
Listen... I’m not trying to tell you who to give to or not give to... But know this... When we have a genuine heart for helping others... God’s Spirit will prompt us in the right direction... Trust His guidance... Amen?
Become radical in serving others...
What do I mean by saying... We need to be radical in serving others?...
Simple... Allow Jesus to be our example... Second Corinthians 8.9 reads... For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
Radical Christianity is our becoming like our Jesus... Participating in His Divine Nature... Having His heart... Disposition... His Benevolence.
Indeed church...
• God calls us to be like Mary...
• He calls us to radical Christianity...
• Generously serving the Jesus in others.
We must not lose sight of our goal.
Listen to Jesus... Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. But rather... Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. For wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be.
Steven King shared this with the graduating class at Vassar College... He said… A couple of years ago... I found out YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU. I was lying in a ditch at the side of a county road covered with mud, blood and the tibia of my right leg poking out of the side of my jeans.
Yes… Yes… I had a MasterCard in my wallet... But when you're lying in the ditch with mud in your eyes and broken glass in your hair... No one accepts MasteRCard.
We come naked and broke... We may be well dressed when we go out... But we will be broke... Warren Buffet... Going out broke. Bill Gates... Leaving broke. Tom Hanks... Going out broke. Steve King... Broke... Not a dime to his name.
All the money you can earn... All the stocks you buy... All the mutual funds you trade... All are smoke and mirrors.
Listen!!… It’s still a quarter past getting late whether you tell time on a Timex or a Rolex.
Here’s his closing challenge… A life of giving... Not just money... But time and spirit repays... So I ask you to begin giving and continue giving. I believe in the end...
• You’ll find that you got more than you gave...
• Much more than you ever had...
• And did more good than you ever dreamed.
Church... Remember these four things...
• Not all generosity is about money... But good deeds done to others.
• We are created to do good works… Works God prepared in advance for us to do...
• We are Bearers of God’s Image... James says... Every good and perfect gift comes to us from God above... We are to become conduits of His goodness.
• So... When God lives in us... We will be found generously serving others.
If you’re here and not a child of the… Father… creator… God... You can make it so this morning by... Faith in Him and Jesus... Repentance... And the New Birth of water baptism.
As His children... May we accept the challenge to be like Him in genuine benevolence to others... As we stand and sing this song together.