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The Disciplines of Spiritual Giving: Liberal Giving
Luke 6:38
Al Petroelje |
One of our favorite subjects of conversation is money. But haven’t you noticed that we are rather guarded in what we say about it. We will talk about the prices of things in general but how reluctant we are to divulge what we paid for something. We will talk in general about the wages people are making; but seldom, if ever, will we mention the size of our own paychecks. We seem to sense that there is something very personal about money. That becomes especially evident in our giving of money for church and kingdom and other charitable causes. For the most part we don’t want anyone to know what we give, and we may even prefer that little be said about giving from the pulpit.
But if we are going to be faithful to the Word of God, we have to address this matter of giving. The Bible not infrequently mentions money – our attitude towards it and how we use it. Our use of material things is a large part of our lives and that it matters greatly to God. The way we acquire and spend wealth is spiritually driven. So is our giving. Kent Hughes said it well in his book, DISCIPLINES OF A GODLY MAN, “The abiding spiritual fact is, there is no way to grow into spiritual maturity without committing one’s giving to the Lord. God can have our money and not have our hearts, but He cannot have our hearts without having all our money.”
God cannot have our hearts without having our money. As Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” If you read the Bible from its beginning, you will notice how God trained his people in their use of money and in the practice of giving. He laid down basic principles on how to think about money. He warned them not to make gods of it. He made clear to them He was God and must always be honored as such. He is the Creator who holds the title to the whole world and everything it. Secondly, God taught that in his generous goodness, He will provide for His people. Even when they are wandering in a barren desert, He is able and gracious to take care of them. Therefore, His people must trust him for all things spiritual and material. And thirdly, God taught his people that as He blesses them, He expects them to give of what they have been given and to give liberally.
This third lesson is maybe the hardest to accept because of what we are by nature. Let me illustrate with my two hands. One is in the shape of a fist – a tight fist. The other is open with palm upward. If we think of how we are naturally inclined as sinful people, we are like a tightly closed fist. That is how we handle God’s blessings – the blessings which He gives in his grace to the righteous and unrighteous. You see this already in small children. It’s a delight to hear them say their first words. And we coax them to say some simple words after us. One word that don’t need much coaxing to say is, MINE! And when you keep hearing, MINE from your child or grandchild, you know that original sin did not bypass them. They’ve got it and have a good case of it. We all have it. It is self-loving and self-centered. And it tightens our fists.
That work of God’s sanctifying grace in Christ can be described as God opening our clinched fists so that they are transformed into open, giving hands. And have you noticed that your hand more than doubles in size when you open it. A tight fisted hand is a small hand; an open hand is a large hand. So it is with our hearts. A selfish heart is a small heart; a generous heart is a big heart.
What do God’s big-hearted people do? They learn how to give. We find that in the life of the father of believers, Abraham. Genesis 14 tells the story of Abraham’s defeat of the kings of Canaan. What did he do to show his gratitude to God? He found the priest of God, Melchizedek, and gave a tenth of the spoils of war. And it is said of Jacob in Genesis 28 that he promised to God at Bethel a tenth of that God would give him. Before there was a law to do so, these men of God recognized that giving to God a tenth of what God gave them was the appropriate thing to do.
Later in the time of Moses, God gave a law whereby he expected a tithe of the income of his people. In Numbers 18: 21 the Lord specified that the people must present a tithe to the Lord. Since the Levites had no land allotted to them, they had no income of their own. The Lord provided for them from the tithes of the other eleven tribes. But the Levites themselves had to give a tithe that they received to the Lord for the support of the priests.
Besides this tithe, Deuteronomy 12 mentions another tithe. It was called the festival tithe. It was to be used for an annual celebration – a feasting with family, friends, and servants. And again the Levites were to be provided for in this celebration.
But there was yet another tithe prescribed in Deut. 14: 28. It is called a tithe for the poor. “At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” It was a type of a social welfare program for those who could not make a living for themselves.
Besides these tithes the Lord told the people who raised crops that they were not to harvest the corners of their fields or vineyards for the poor to come and glean for their livelihood. And other free will offerings were collected from time to time on top of the tithes. And there were the first fruit offerings – the first of the crops or livestock was given to God while the rest of the harvest was not even taken in yet.
What was God trying to teach his people? Certainly that He was the Giver of all things, but also that he expected a kind of thanks which would express itself in giving. He expected open hands that would give liberally and generously. There was once a TV preacher, one of those preachers who tarnished the reputation of ministers. It was quite obvious that he was a money grubber. He would say things like, “If you are feeling guilty about your money, give it to me.” And people gave – so much so that the preacher was able to wear diamond rings on his fingers and ride in limousines. But there is one thing he said that I want to make a point of. He said, “When the plate is passed, I don’t want to hear any noise.” In other words, don’t just throw in your pocket change. Only throw in paper money. Now the Rev. perhaps had unscrupulous reasons for wanting the people to give generously. But for holy reasons, God wants such giving from us. Stingy giving is unbecoming of those on whom God has lavished his grace and pours out his blessing.
Having heard all this, you maybe are thinking, but how much is liberal giving for Christians today? Are we bound by the OT laws on giving? A reading the NT does not give us prescribed guidelines. Jesus just says, “Give.” This word comes from Him who is the supreme Giver. When Paul encouraged the Corinthian Christians to give, he did not cite all the tithes laws of the OT, even though he was very familiar with them. Instead he appealed to his readers’ knowledge of Christ. II Corinthians 8:9 says, “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.” In other words, gratitude for the lavish grace of Christ must lie at the heart of our giving. When you consider what Jesus has done for us, that clinched fist begins to relax and to open and will reach down into ones pocket to find something to give. “Give,” says Jesus. Learn of me who was rich and became poor for your sakes that you might be rich.
Surely Christ would have us give out of gratitude for his grace, but the rest of our text appeals to our gratification, our desire for reward. “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Here Jesus is promising a super-sized reward for generous giving. He pictures for us a citizen in first century Palestine wearing a garment with a loose fold which hung over the belt around his waist. He or she could use the fold for a pocket for carrying things like grain or produce. The book of Ruth in ch. 3:15 mentions how Boaz showed kindness to Ruth by pouring six measures of barley into shawl she was wearing. One could hold quite a lot in that garment pocket. Jesus promises those who give generously will also receive back in copious supply. It will be like having grain or produce poured into your lap and having it pressed down and shaken so that you will be able to hold as much as possible – to the point of having the goods overflow.
What a wonderful promise! Do we believe it? Perhaps the biggest reason for our tight-fisted tendencies is the idea that by our giving we will lose something, that we will be the poorer for our giving. If we are honest, we have to admit that that kind of thinking is the product of unbelief, and we must repent of it. Unbelief says, “You give? You lose!” Faith in the Word of Jesus says, “You give? You gain!” This is what is comes down to, doesn’t it? Giving is grounded in gratitude to be sure. But even more, it is grounded in faith. Do we truly believe the promise of Jesus that liberal giving is rewarded with liberal blessing from God?
Jesus doesn’t specify what blessings God will give. He is likely referring to rewards that will be granted on the Day of Judgment, but also to rewards in this life, which come in vast variety – spiritual blessings, family blessings, health blessings, material blessings. You can’t out-give God.
How much should you give? That is the question many would like a clear-cut answer for. Is it a per member amount suggested by the church council to meet our church budget? Is it ten per cent of our income? A New Testament Christian who lives in the light of the grace of Christ wouldn’t want to give less than an OT saint. Perhaps a better way to decide the amount to give is to consider the words of Jesus: “For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” This is the same principle taught in II Cor. 9:6: “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly; and he who sows generously will also reap generously.” Be a stingy giver, and you will likely deprive yourself of much blessing. And the Bible gives examples of such a people. One is the man Nabal mentioned in I Samuel 25. His name means “fool.” He refused to give food and supplies to David’s men even though he was rich. His wife Abigail was the opposite and prepared a generous supply of food for David. God struck down Nabal and richly blessed his wife. So, to answer the question of how much should you give? Answer it for yourself: how much do you wish to be blessed?
Again we say that this whole matter of giving comes down to what we believe about the Word of God. That is why our giving is a reliable measuring instrument of our faith. It is of one piece with our prayer life and Bible reading and use of our spiritual gifts. It is my prayer that God will use these sermons to help us experience more of the blessing He has for us as His people.
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