A GENEROUS MERCY
Notes
Transcript
Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
In Romans 12:9-21 Paul uses participles to help us understand and apply His opening imperative.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
A participle is a word formed form a verb and used as an adjective. Uh? It’s a verb with a descriptive action. Paul uses participles to help us evaluate our obedience to verses 1 and 2. The manifestation of these participles in our lives gives validation to our obedience.
You can be generous and not be a Christian but you cannot be a Christian and not be generous.
Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Today’s participle is “contribute to the needs of the saints”. Contribute means a lifestyle of sharing of one's possessions, with the implication of some kind of joint participation and mutual interest.
Paul roots this participle in Romans 1-11 when he says “therefore.” For those who have experienced God’s many mercies, their only reasonable response is to give themselves totally to Him and live pleasingly to Him. Therefore . . .
The mercies of God take a person who is bent on getting and turns them into a person who is bent on giving.
The mercies of God take a person who is bent on getting and turns them into a person who is bent on giving.
Paul uses the same logic in
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
In the context, Paul is appealing to the Corinthians to be generous toward the poor believers in Jerusalem. The appeal is: Christ’s grace on the cross for those who were spiritually helpless and destitute should motivate us to be generous to those in need.
Generosity reflects a cross-centered life because it reflects Christ's work at the cross.
Generosity reflects a cross-centered life because it reflects Christ's work at the cross.
THE CALL TO GENEROSITY
THE CALL TO GENEROSITY
So in verse 13 Paul is saying,
The mercies of God call us to be generous toward the saints.
The mercies of God call us to be generous toward the saints.
The application of Paul's exhortation is clear...When the children of God fall into want, take a part of their wants upon yourselves. Make their wants your wants to the full extent of your ability to relieve them. Remember, our family connectivity
so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
Have you ever questioned your prosperity?
You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.
God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.
Jesus taught that how we handle money is the litmus test of our faith in Him. He said
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Generosity helps me to locate my heart - living for self or a living sacrifice. Scripture, in ways I cannot fully communicate today, teaches us that our standard of giving will be reflected in our standard of living in Heaven (see Matthew 25:14-30).
Your stewardship of earthly prosperity has a direct connection to your eternal prosperity.
Your stewardship of earthly prosperity has a direct connection to your eternal prosperity.
SOME GUIDELINES TO HELP EVALUATE YOUR GENEROSITY:
SOME GUIDELINES TO HELP EVALUATE YOUR GENEROSITY:
Generosity is a lifestyle that flows out of an attitude. It’s a bit difficult to define, since there is a subjective element in generosity.
Webster says that it refers to liberality in giving. But what seems generous to one person may seem stingy to another. Warren Buffet made the following statement in an interview concerning his $26 billion gift to the Gates Foundation:
"My gift has not changed my lifestyle one bit. I still go to the movies I want to go to and eat at the restaurants I want to dine at. But what about the person who gives a gift that requires they can't go to the movies or eat out. They are the true givers—the true heroes [of generosity]."
"My gift has not changed my lifestyle one bit. I still go to the movies I want to go to and eat at the restaurants I want to dine at. But what about the person who gives a gift that requires they can't go to the movies or eat out. They are the true givers—the true heroes [of generosity]."
Buffet is helping us to understand the heart of Paul’s teaching. Giving out of the overflow of abundance is not giving sacrificially.
Sir Henry Taylor is even more helpful
He who give what he would readily throw away, give without generosity; for the essence of generosity is in self-sacrifice.
He who give what he would readily throw away, give without generosity; for the essence of generosity is in self-sacrifice.
So what may look to us like a stingy gift may actually be quite generous if the giver is poor, or what may look to us like a generous gift may be stingy if the giver is wealthy.
So we should not judge others, but seek to please God with our giving and let Him be the judge of others. Here are four guidelines to use in evaluating your own generosity:
A GENEROUS PERSON HAS RECEIVED GOD’S GENEROUS MERCY IN CHRIST AND IT OVERFLOWS IN GENEROSITY TOWARD OTHERS.
A GENEROUS PERSON HAS RECEIVED GOD’S GENEROUS MERCY IN CHRIST AND IT OVERFLOWS IN GENEROSITY TOWARD OTHERS.
There are a lot of wrong motives for giving: pride; the desire for power; guilt; greed (the thought that if I give, God will give back to me far more); pressure; or, responding to gimmicks.
The right motive for giving is that God has mercifully and generously given me eternal life through the sacrifice of His own Son.
When we mediate on God’s mercy our hearts begin to reflect His generous nature towards others. Does your life help others to see your Heavenly Father is generous?
A GENEROUS PERSON GIVES CHEERFULLY AND THANKFULLY, NOT GRUDGINGLY OR UNDER COMPULSION.
A GENEROUS PERSON GIVES CHEERFULLY AND THANKFULLY, NOT GRUDGINGLY OR UNDER COMPULSION.
Paul puts it this way
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Generosity is closely tied in with a cheerful, thankful attitude. If it takes pressure tactics or guilt to get you to give, you’re probably not giving generously. Ask yourself, “Do I give cheerfully with thankfulness to God for His unspeakable gift to me?”
A GENEROUS PERSON GIVES PRAYERFULLY, SYSTEMATICALLY, AND FAITHFULLY, NOT IMPULSIVELY OR SPORADICALLY.
A GENEROUS PERSON GIVES PRAYERFULLY, SYSTEMATICALLY, AND FAITHFULLY, NOT IMPULSIVELY OR SPORADICALLY.
As we just read, biblical givers “purpose in their hearts.” They plan to give. As Paul wrote
On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.
He wanted the believers to be thoughtful, systematic, and disciplined with their giving. Impulsive, sporadic giving is usually not generous. Often it is a response to alleviate guilt.
So ask yourself, “Do I give prayerfully, systematically, and faithfully, or only impulsively and sporadically?”
A GENEROUS PERSON GIVES AS THE LORD HAS PROSPERED HIM, WITH HIS SIGHTS ON ETERNITY.
A GENEROUS PERSON GIVES AS THE LORD HAS PROSPERED HIM, WITH HIS SIGHTS ON ETERNITY.
I think that it’s a significant silence that Paul never wrote to Gentile churches to explain the need to tithe.
Rather, the standard is, “as he may prosper.” If the Lord has prospered you so that you have enough to provide for your family, then don’t use the extra to buy more and nicer stuff.
Use it to give generously to the Lord’s work or to genuinely needy saints.
The reason a generous person does this is that he realizes that whatever he lays up on earth will be lost, but whatever he lays up in heaven will be his eternally. As Jesus said
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Let me simplify these verses
What we keep we lose and what we give we have.
What we keep we lose and what we give we have.
When Jesus warns us not to store up treasures on earth, it’s not just because wealth might be lost; it’s because wealth will always be lost.
Either it leaves us while we live, or we leave it when we die. No exceptions.” So ask, “As God prospers me more, do I look for ways to give more or to spend more? Is my aim to collect more stuff here or to invest in that which lasts for eternity?”
THE CULTIVATION OF GENEROSITY
THE CULTIVATION OF GENEROSITY
Let me suggest five ways:
YIELD ALL OF YOUR MONEY AND POSSESSIONS TO THE LORD (WHO ALREADY OWNS THEM) AND THEN MANAGE THEM IN LIGHT OF HIS KINGDOM PURPOSES.
YIELD ALL OF YOUR MONEY AND POSSESSIONS TO THE LORD (WHO ALREADY OWNS THEM) AND THEN MANAGE THEM IN LIGHT OF HIS KINGDOM PURPOSES.
God owns the world and all that is in it
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,
For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.
He has entrusted each of us with a certain amount to use for His purposes until He returns, when we will give an account (Matt. 25:14-30). Jesus made it clear: You either serve God or Mammon, but not both (Matt. 6:24).
So we have to view ourselves as managers, not as owners, and keep the Owner’s objectives in view. Since His aim is to glorify Himself by having disciples from every people group before His throne in glory, we need to use His resources in view of that goal.
To keep money from its gradual encroachment, I need to constantly reaffirm God as the owner of all.
GET A JOB AND WORK HARD TO EARN SO THAT YOU CAN GIVE.
GET A JOB AND WORK HARD TO EARN SO THAT YOU CAN GIVE.
The American dream is to get a good-paying job so that you can pile up money and stuff for your own pleasure. Randy Alcorn says;
“God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.”
“God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.”
Paul gives this instruction
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
A thief who merely stops stealing hasn’t dealt with the laziness and greed that led him to steal. To deal with laziness and greed, the former thief needs to work so as to have extra to give to those in need.
Your primary responsibility is to provide for your own needs and those of your family. Paul didn’t mince words when he said
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Even unbelievers work to provide for their own families. Believers should not do less.
But once your family’s needs are met, you should think and pray about how the Lord may want you to invest it for eternity, rather than to run out and buy more stuff.
BEGIN A LIFELONG WAR AGAINST GREED.
BEGIN A LIFELONG WAR AGAINST GREED.
Paul equated greed with idolatry (Col. 3:5), which is not a minor sin! Jesus warned
And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
All of the ads that constantly bombard us are designed to feed our greed. The advertisers want us to think that we can’t be happy unless we buy their product. But even after we’ve got their stuff, there is always something else.
Only when we altar our heart will we alter our lifestyle.
Only when we altar our heart will we alter our lifestyle.
The opposite of greed is contentment. Hebrews 13:5 exhorts,
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Paul said
But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
Then he went on to warn
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
So a major part of fighting greed is to find contentment in Christ, not in stuff.
GET OUT OF DEBT, LIVE FRUGALLY, AND ESTABLISH A SAVINGS BUFFER.
GET OUT OF DEBT, LIVE FRUGALLY, AND ESTABLISH A SAVINGS BUFFER.
Debt goes hand in hand with greed, because it feeds off greed by giving us what we want now, rather than making us wait for it or work for it in advance.
Debt almost always reflects impulsiveness, which is the opposite of self-control, a fruit of the Spirit. It usually reflects mismanagement and irresponsibility, which are not the marks of a good manager.
You can’t be generous in giving if you’re in debt. You need to develop a plan to pay off your creditors, live carefully within your means, and have a savings account to provide for upcoming bills and unforeseen emergencies.
This requires discipline, of course. But you won’t get out of debt unless you spend less than you earn. And you won’t be free to be generous if you don’t get out of debt.
GIVE FAITHFULLY, GENEROUSLY, AND REGULARLY OFF THE TOP OF EACH PAYCHECK.
GIVE FAITHFULLY, GENEROUSLY, AND REGULARLY OFF THE TOP OF EACH PAYCHECK.
If you wait to give until you see how much you have left over after everything else, you won’t give generously, if at all. So plan how much the Lord wants you to give and give it off the top, before you spend it.
How much should you give? If the tithe was the standard under the Law, it would seem that under grace we should give more, not less than ten percent.
George Muller is a great example for giving. In 1874, his personal income was 3,100 pounds ($482,494.53) a tidy sum which could have provided a lavish lifestyle. However, Mueller’s family lived on 250 pounds (8%) ($38,908.71) and gave away the rest (92%).
From 1870 on, Muller personally fully supported 20 missionaries with the China Inland Mission. Over the years 1831-1885, I calculated that he gave away 86 percent of his income to the Lord’s work!
God funneled it in the top, but Muller kept the bottom open, never hoarding it or squandering it on personal luxury.
Now that we have hear Paul’s call to generosity and learned how to cultivate generosity let’s begin circulating generosity.
THE CIRCULATION OF GENEROSITY
THE CIRCULATION OF GENEROSITY
Who should receive our generosity? This is a very difficult question to answer! Paul says that we should contribute to the needs of the saints (fellow Christians), but even that is not easy, since the saints may be needy for a number of reasons.
Paul does not say to contribute to the greed of the saints, but to their needs. But a believer may be needy because he has been undisciplined with spending on non-essential or extravagant things.
He may be needy because he has been too lazy to work or because he does not work hard on the job and gets fired. To give to alleviate needs due to those reasons would only treat the symptoms, not the cause.
But, some are truly needy due to factors beyond their control. They are the ones we should try to help.
Contribute means a lifestyle of sharing of one's possessions, with the implication of some kind of joint participation and mutual interest.
Contribute means a lifestyle of sharing of one's possessions, with the implication of some kind of joint participation and mutual interest.
Generally, our first responsibility in giving is toward
Truly needy family members.
Truly needy family members.
Support the local church
Support the local church
Christian organizations and missionaries that preach the gospel and alleviate the needs of the poor.
Christian organizations and missionaries that preach the gospel and alleviate the needs of the poor.
Every request for assistance must be evaluated.
Every request for assistance must be evaluated.
The commission of the church is to make disciples. Any help that assists a fellow believer in sinning violates this very commission. We don’t necessarily withhold help due to sin. We strategize our help with the aim of helping our fellow brother or sister towards righteousness.
The circulation of generosity amongst the saints seeks to promote righteous living in the giver and receiver.
The circulation of generosity amongst the saints seeks to promote righteous living in the giver and receiver.
So what shall you do with this call? How will you begin and continue to cultivate generosity in your own heart? Who do you need to be generous towards today?