The Joy of Discovering Hidden Treasure – 7

The Joy of Discovering Hidden Treasure – 7

Subject – What Excellent Giving Looks Like

By Rick Welborne

Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)
¹⁹  "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
²⁰  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
²¹  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

2 Corinthians 8:7 (NIV)
⁷  But just as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us--see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 

--Suppose you have something very important you want to get to someone who really needs it. You wrap it up and hand it over to the UPS guy. What would you think if instead of delivering it, he took it home and kept it?

--You would be upset and rightly so. You would say, “The package doesn’t belong to him! He’s just the middle man. His job is to get the package from me and get it to the person it was intended for!”

1. Money in Our Hands

--Just because God puts money in our hands, it doesn’t mean He intends for it to stay there. Listen to what Paul told the Corinthians, encouraging them to give to the needy in Jerusalem:

2 Corinthians 8:14-15 (NIV)
¹⁴  At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality,
¹⁵  as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."

--A good question…Why does God give some of His children more than they need and others less than they need? So that He can use His children to help one another. He does not want us to have too much or too little.

Proverbs 30:8-9 (NIV)
⁸  Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.
⁹  Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. 

--When those who have too much give to those with too little, two problems are solved. When they don’t, two problems are perpetuated. 

--I am sure we have all wondered about this, God distributes unevenly not because He loves some of His children more than others, but so His children can distribute it to their brothers and sisters on His behalf.

Alcorn – Paul said that the God Who supplies seed to the sower will increase our store of seed. Why? So we can stockpile seed or eat it? No, so we can spread it out that it might bear fruit. Abundance isn’t God’s provision for me to live in luxury. It’s His provision for me to help others live. God entrusts me with this money not to build my kingdom on earth but to build His Kingdom in Heaven. 

--Are you eager to plant God’s money (remember all of it is His) in the field of the world that needs Christ? Missions. Does the thought of giving to what will count for eternity make your heart leap?

--If we understood the out-of-this-world rewards, we would join with the Macedonians and beg for the privilege of giving. Many of us, with no thought, continue to take the blessings and spend it on ourselves. It is wrong!

--Before I move on to the next point I want to emphasize something that hopefully will help us all. We need to be satisfied with God wherever we are in our journey. Having little or a lot.

Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV)
¹¹  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
¹²  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
¹³  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

2. Five Minutes After I Die. 

--Alfred Nobel dropped the newspaper and put his head in his hands. It was 1888. Nobel was a Swedish chemist who made his fortune inventing and producing dynamite. His brother Ludvig had died in France. 

--Alfred’s grief was compounded by dismay. He had just read, not his brother’s obituary in a French newspaper, but his. The editor had confused the two brothers. 

--The headline read, “The Merchant of Death is Dead.” The obituary described a man who had gotten rich by helping people kill one another. Obviously, he was shaken by the appraisal of his life.

--He resolved to change his legacy with the wealth he had obtained. When he died 8 years later, he had left more than nine million dollars to fund awards for people whose work benefited humanity. The Nobel Prizes.

--Alfred had a rare opportunity to assess his life’s story and to make changes. Before he died, his life made a difference and something of lasting value. 

--We often talk about how sinners will not have the opportunity to go back and make changes in their lives that would change everything, but hear me today, neither will Christians. We have only one lifetime to live.

John Wesley – I judge all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity.

Missionary C.T. Studd – Only one life, twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last. 

--Five minutes after we die we will know exactly how we should have lived. But God has given us His Word so that we don’t have to wait to die to find out. He has also given us His Spirit to live that way now.

--Ask yourself, five minutes after I die, what will I wish I would have given away while I still had the chance? When you come up with your answer, why not start giving it away now. Close the gap of what you wished…

--If Nobel could change his legacy in this world, what about you changing your legacy while you still have time to do it? Do you want to be known as someone who just accumulated what he couldn’t keep or gave it away?

--Don’t feel regret for what you haven’t done up to this point but repent and do what you should have been doing all along. Lest you thinking I am only talking about church, you are mistaken.

--When was the last time your generosity was such that it made a waitress cry for joy because you blessed her so much. It met a need just in time for her or at least let her know someone cared. 

--Christians, hear your pastor, your witnessing in restaurants will only be as effective as your generosity. How can you care for their souls when you don’t care that they make a good living?

--My daughter was appalled one time when she went through a drive through with another family and they did not give the person at the window something extra. Our kids are watching us.

3. Giving is a Spiritual Gift.

Romans 12:6-8 (NIV)
⁶  We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.
⁷  If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;
⁸  if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

--Sadly, in our Western culture, probably the gift that is thought about the least is the gift of giving. We are all called to serve, to show mercy, and to give even if we do not think we have those particular gifts. 

Alcorn – Suppose God wanted to fulfill His plan of world evangelism and help an unprecedented number of suffering people. What gift would you expect Him to distribute widely? Why not the gift of giving? And what might you expect Him to provide for those to whom He’s given that gift? Perhaps unprecedented wealth to meet those needs and further His Kingdom. Look around. Isn’t that exactly what He has done? The question is, what are we doing with the wealth He’s entrusted to us?

--Many churches establish accountability groups where tough questions are asked about Bible study, sexual purity, witnessing, but never about our giving. We have adopted don’t ask, don’t tell when it comes to giving.

--When we are teaching young people about how to grow in their faith, how to pray, or even how to be a leader, what do we do to teach them about giving? I hope Missions has been that opportunity here at Life Church.

--What I have been trying to do with this series is to motivate you to a lifestyle of generosity. It’s my job and my mission. I have tested it for years and it has become one of the joys of my life. Giving? Yes, giving!

Hebrews 10:23-24 (NLT2)
²³  Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
²⁴  Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

--I want to conclude this sermon by showing you a clip from Schindler’s list. This man saved so many Jews from being slaughtered.

--Listen to his heart as he expresses how he wished he would have done more. Turn up the volume.

Schindler’s List