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It’s good to be back in person this week to continue our series on generosity, and I am very grateful for those whose generosity allowed me to share last week’s message. Our Tech Team generously gives their time, energy, gifts and ability each and every week to help us experience the overflow of God’s blessing in worship. We are so grateful for them and their giving and generosity is making a difference.
I hope this past week you were more aware of stories of generosity that are all around us. It seems like I can’t turn around now without hearing about how someone’s giving turned the life of someone else around. I also hope that maybe you saw an opportunity to be generous and you took it. I want to be the kind of person that gives and gives generously when God calls me to, and one reason I’m passionate about giving and giving now is because of a situation that I experienced when I was 19 years old.
I had just finished my first semester at MSU and was traveling home to CT with a friend. We had gotten a ride as far as NYC where we were going to pick up the train to CT. While we were in the city, we went to some of the famous stores like FAO Schwartz toy store and Tiffanys. As we were walking around the city on that cold and windy December day, I remember seeing a homeless woman huddled between two buildings.
The woman was sitting on what I assumed were all her belongings stuffed into a few bags. What caught my eye was that she was wearing a maroon windbreaker. It was exactly like a windbreaker I had at home. While it may have been called a windbreaker, I knew that jacket was not protecting her against the wind or the cold. The instant I saw her, I felt like I should do something, but what could I do? I was a poor college student. I didn’t have any extra money to give her. I didn’t know anything about the city to point her to help or services. I didn’t know what to do, so I did nothing. I just kept going. The image of her has not left me in 42 years.
I thought about that woman often during the next few weeks and I kept asking myself, what could I have done? God finally answered and said, you could have given her your jacket. That day I had on my favorite winter jacket. It was a fleece lined brown corduroy jacket that I loved. I thought about it and realized that if I had given her my jacket, I would have been cold for the day, but my parents would have been able to get me a winter coat for Christmas. I could have done something. I could have been generous. My giving could have made a difference in her life.
I’m glad God reminds me of this woman often because she reminds me that I do want to be more generous and that there is always something I can do. There is always some way and some thing that we can give. She also reminds me that there might be times when God will say, give all you have - even the coat off your back. In those moments, when I hear God call, I want to be the kind of person who gives.
Last week we saw how generosity leads to joy, not the joy others might experience when we give, but the joy that is ours when we give. The overflow of generosity in our lives brings joy, but there is more. Generosity also brings the overflow of peace. When we are generous and give, there is a peace we experience that passes our understanding. I know this because the opposite is also true. When we aren't generous and when we don’t give, there is no peace. I had no peace that winter season 42 years ago. I learned a lesson and I hope I have become more generous, but I had no peace.
We see the same thing happen to a man who asked Jesus what he had to do to get eternal life. Jesus said:
“If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
“Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Matthew 19:16-22
When asked how he could experience the full blessing of a life with God, Jesus said, go be generous. Give what you have away and don’t trust in the things of this world, trust in me. It says the man went away sad because he was rich. He didn’t want to part with his possessions. He didn’t give and he didn’t experience any peace. He went away sad and troubled by his lack of faith and maybe his lack of love and consideration for others. He didn’t give and he wasn’t generous, and he had no peace.
On a different occasion, Jesus was sitting in the Temple court where He could see people giving their offerings. As He watched, He saw, and probably heard, many people putting in large sums of money. He knew they were giving a lot because the offering boxes were metal, so the sound of a large offering could be heard by everyone. Jesus watched rich people put in lots of money, but then saw a poor widow put in two small coins. How did Jesus know it was two small coins, because her offering sounded different.
It wasn’t the wealthy that Jesus recognized. It wasn’t the rich men whose offering was lifted up as an example of giving, it was the poor woman. She generously gave because she gave all she had to live on. As I picture this scene, I picture all the rich men walking away hoping people noticed them and how much they gave. Not only were they hoping that their gifts would be recognized and honored, but I also see them filled with anxiety about whether someone else would come along and give more. No matter what they were feeling, I don’t picture them at peace.
But as the woman walked away after giving generously of all she had, I picture her at peace. She knew she gave God all she had. She didn’t have to ask herself if she gave too little or if God wanted her to give more because she gave all she had. And because she trusted God to meet all her future needs, she was at peace. She may not have known how God was going to do it, or where the resources would come from, but she trusted God to meet her needs and walked away at peace.
I shared last week that I first started to tithe when I became a pastor. My financial reality was that I had student debt, loans to pay off, and no savings or investments to live on, but if I was ever going to talk about tithing, I needed to practice it. Every week for over 30 years I have written out that check. Yes, I still write out the paper check because every week I need to remind myself that I am making the decision to give God what ultimately belongs to Him. Through the years I have challenged myself to give more. I started tithing on my net income but then I started tithing on the gross income. Then I realized the benefit I have of living in a parsonage so started tithing on my gross income plus benefits. Then I increased it from 10% to 11% and I keep pushing myself to give more. %.
As I look back on my 30 years as a pastor, when it comes to my finances, I have experienced peace. I haven’t been anxious about money. I haven’t been anxious when God has called me to give more or give now or give generously to help someone in need. I have experienced an overflow of peace that I didn’t have before I started to give. I had always worried about money and not having enough to live on, but tithing started giving me peace. Generosity produces an overflow of peace when we give, and I pray that this is something that you have experienced or want to experience in your own life.
If you have financial anxiety and concerns, generously giving to God is a way to find peace. We hear this in Malachi 3:10-12.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
Go ahead and test me, God says. Give me the tithe. Don’t hold anything back. Be generous and watch as I bless you in ways you can’t even begin to imagine. And God doesn’t just promise a blessing of abundance, but a blessing of peace. What causes anxiety for a farmer? Pests that might destroy a crop and the uncertainty of weather and disease that might keep a crop from reaching maturity. What does God promise? No pests and a successful harvest. God provides peace.
Generosity brings us the overflow of peace, but there is more. Generosity also brings the overflow of purpose and presence. When we give to God, we know that God will use our gifts for His purpose. When we give to the work of God in and through the church, we know that our giving is making a difference in people’s lives. All of our giving to God is filled with purpose. Each gift to Operation Christmas Child is filled with purpose. The paper and pens in each box means a child can get an education. The greatest journey means they get to hear about Jesus.
Our giving to the church is making a difference. Through our generous giving, children right here are learning about Jesus in a culture where no one else is going to teach them. Our giving helps support teenagers during turbulent and difficult times in their lives. It lets them know they are noticed, loved, and cared for. Our giving over the next few weeks will support the Christmas Dinner that shares the love of Jesus in our community.
Your giving has reached out to help people from Ukraine to Belize to Venezuela to Sierra Leone. Your giving provides support and stability for single mothers, shelter for the homeless and food for the hungry in our own community. When we give to the church, we are part of something so much bigger than ourselves because we are helping create and sustain a community of people who provide hope and healing and love and joy and faith to on another and those around us.
People here are finding connection and community. People here are finding forgiveness and a future. People here are leaving behind depression and despair for the joy and love that is found in a relationship with Jesus. Sometimes we see how our giving makes a difference, and sometimes we don’t, but when we give generously to the church, we are part of God’s work in the world and I would say that there is no greater purpose.
There is an overflow of peace and purpose when we are generous, but we also experience God’s presence when we give. Generosity brings us closer to God. I shared a few weeks ago the story of your generosity seen when we gave to the church in Sierra Leone. Together we made up the $30,000 shortfall of our annual conference so that all the UM pastors in Sierra Leone would get their full salary. It was an amazing thing to be part of but for me personally, it made me feel so close to God.
I remember sitting at Annual Conference when I first heard about the shortfall and heard God say, you can do something about this. I remember going through all the amounts I was willing to give. $100, $500, and then finally $1,000, but God saying, no there is more you can do. I remember asking all of you to give and the outpouring of generosity was so incredible that together we stood in the gap and made the difference. God was doing something among us and I could feel it. I could feel God at work answering prayers and meeting needs. I could feel God move in ways that we don’t often feel God move. The presence of God was among us. I could feel it and I know many of you did too.
As we give generously, we experience more of God’s presence, we feel closer to God. Sometimes we experience more of God because we have to trust God more as we give. Sometimes we experience more of God because we are part of what God is doing and we feel the flow of His spirit. Sometimes we experience more of God because the overflow of joy is present and joy is a fruit of God’s Spirit. No matter what might cause us to feel closer to God, we are drawn to God when we are generous and we experience more of God when we give.
What we experience when we are generous is the overflow of joy, and peace, and a purpose greater than ourselves, and the presence of God. Last week we heard about the giving of the churches in Macedonia who were very poor but gave generously. They gave beyond what anyone thought was possible for them. Their giving filled them with joy and they were an example the Apostle Paul used to encourage others to give.
To the people in Corinth, Paul said, Since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 2 Corinthians 8:7
I would say the same thing. Since you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love you have kindled in you, excel in the grace of giving. Give generously and feel the overflow, the abundance, of joy, peace, power and the life changing presence of God.
Next Steps
Overflow - Peace, Purpose and Presence
Where have you seen examples of generosity this week?
What opportunities has God given you to give?
Generosity brings peace.
● Read Matthew 19:16-22. How did this man’s lack of generosity impact his emotional wellbeing?
● Read Mark 12:41-44. How might the offering of the rich men only created anxiety while the offering of the poor widow brought peace?
● When have you been generous and experienced the blessing of peace?
● When has the opposite been true?
Generosity brings purpose.
● In what ways do you see God at work in and through the church and its outreach, mission and ministry?
● Make a list of the ways your giving to God is making a difference in the lives of others.
Generosity brings God’s presence, a closeness to God.
● In what ways have you felt God’s presence when you have been generous?
● How might you find the fullness of God's presence in your generosity this week?
Pray:
Father, thank You for the generosity you show us. We’re ready for the peace, purpose, and the power of your presence that comes when we trust You with our finances. Please build our faith and trust in You, knowing that we can never outgive you. Thank You for the many ways You’re using our generosity to reach Your people. In Jesus’ name, Amen
