Extravagant means lacking restraint, it means exceeding the limits of reason and necessity. Again, this is not good if we are talking about candy and exercise, but it is good, in fact it is very good, when we talk about giving and generosity, and the reason extravagant generosity is good is because God is an extravagant giver. This month we have been talking about how to follow the example of Jesus who calls us not to be selfish but selfless. We aren’t called to horde for ourselves all the good things God has given us in life, but to hand out what we have been given to God and to others. And sometimes our giving needs to exceed the limit of reason and necessity.
Have you ever received an extravagant gift? Have you ever given an extravagant gift? When I was young, my grandmother gave each of her grandchildren a large sum of money. It was a gift completely out of the blue, for no reason at all (other than love), and it was a gift that allowed me to travel and have some experiences I would never have been able to have otherwise. My Grandmother is the most generous person I have known, but not all extravagant gifts have to be large sums of money. I also remember when I had knee surgery and some friends showed up to clean my house, including my bathroom. I was humbled, but so blessed by their extravagant gift.
The Bible is full of examples of God’s extravagant, selfless, and generous giving. In creation we see God’s generosity. The world in which we live is not a world of scarcity but abundance. We don’t see just black and white and shades of gray, but a world filled with extravagant colors and multiple shades of every color. God created an extravagant world overflowing with power, beauty, and the ability to multiply and provide for everyone. An extravagant creation given as a gift to humanity because God generously gave it all to us. Genesis 1:27-29.
When God led his people through the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land, God was extravagant in providing bread. It was called Manna, and it was there every day for 40 years. God also made sure the clothes and sandals that the people wore didn’t wear out. Even when the people weren’t faithful or grateful, God gave in extravagant ways.
As we talk about extravagant generosity, we are going to look at a story about Jesus that shows us what it takes to be extravagant givers, and what that giving does in our lives and in our world. Other than the miracle of the resurrection, there is only one other miracle found in all 4 gospels,. It takes place after a very long day of Jesus teaching crowds of people in a remote place. The disciples asked Jesus to send everyone home to get something to eat because it was late and there simply wasn’t enough food where they were to feed them. But then Jesus said, you give them something to eat.
Their response to Jesus was that it would take 8 months of wages to buy enough bread to feed all the people. At least that is the polite answer recorded in the Bible. But at the end of a very long day, I can imagine the disciples being a little frustrated and saying, What!? Are you crazy? There is no way we could do that even if we wanted to. There was simply no way they could give that much, to that many, in that short a time.
Jesus ignored their response and asked them how much food they had, and their answer was, five loaves of bread and two fish. Here’s what Jesus did. Mark 6:39-44.
It says that the number of men who ate was 5,000, this means 5,000 families ate, which means that perhaps up to 20,000 people were fed by five loaves of bread and two fish. Not only that, but after everyone ate their fill, they collected 12 baskets of bread and fish. There were left overs! Jesus wasn’t just generous in providing a meal, he was extravagant and made sure there were leftovers! The only miracle that was so important that each gospel writer wanted to make sure it was included was a story about Jesus providing food for everyone to eat and then providing them with leftovers! So what can we learn about generosity and giving from Jesus? How does this story help us go from being selfish to selfless?
The first thing we learn is that Jesus invites us all to give, and God gives us all something to give. Jesus invited the disciples to give a meal to the crowds that day. He wanted them to be generous and a part of some extravagant giving that would bless them and the people around them. The problem was that they didn’t think they had anything to give. They didn’t have enough bread or enough money to buy the bread, so they didn’t even stop to give what they had.
Too often we think the same way. We think that generosity and extravagant giving only applies to people who have a lot of money because you have to be rich in order to be generous and give without restraint. But giving extravagantly does apply to us because Jesus invited his disciples to be a part of extravagant giving knowing that they had very little to give. So the invitation to generosity has less to do with how big our bank accounts are and more to do with how big our hearts are. God wants each of us to look at the situations we are in and say to ourselves, God is inviting me to give generously in this moment to bless Him and bless others. What can I give? How extravagant can I be?
God calls all of us to give, and because he does, God gives all of us something to give. When we look at this story in the gospel of John, we see that the five loaves and two fish didn’t come from the disciples but from a boy who was with them. As we heard briefly last week, this boy was willing to serve, he was willing to bring a lunch, or give his lunch to Jesus. By using the gift of a child, Jesus shows us that everyone has something to give. Everyone is invited into this lifestyle of generosity.
The disciples were invited, a little boy was invited, and today you and I are invited. What is it that we have to give? Sometimes the gift is financial, sometimes it is a gift of faith as we pray for others, share with others, or forgive others. Sometimes the gift is time, as we give up time for ourselves to give our time to God, for God to use as he will. When we are willing to give what we have, and at times maybe give all that we have, we shift from being selfish to selfless, and our generosity blesses others and ourselves.
The second thing we learn from this story is that God can only multiply and bless what is NOT in our hands. As long as we are holding on to what we have, as long as we are holding on to our money, our resources, our time, and the gifts God is inviting us to give to others, these gifts cannot be blessed and used by God. The five loaves and two fish didn’t begin to multiply and feed others until they were placed into the hands of Jesus. Sometimes we don’t know how extravagant a gift can be, or how our giving can truly change a situation, until we are willing to actually give it away. And that choice is always ours.
The little boy was not forced to give his lunch, and we are not forced to give, it is our choice. When we choose to give and when we place our gifts into God’s hands, it is then that the gift can be blessed, multiplied, and used. Sometimes we don’t see our giving as extravagant at all, but once it is given, we see how God uses it to bless others. Once we give, miracles can happen. Once we give, God can multiply our gift and use it to bless others, but nothing happens until we give.
The last thing we see from this story is that God can only bless us when we actually give. Acts 20:35b says, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Which means that it is when we give that we are blessed. There are some blessings that we will only experience when we give. For example, the blessing of a deeper faith and trust in God may only come when we give because it is in giving that we learn to trust less in ourselves and more in God. This is what many people learn when they tithe, or give to the church in intentional and consistent ways. When we give, we find God trustworthy and faithful so our faith and trust grows as well.
The blessing of peace may only come when we give because it is when we give that we begin we see the power of God at work, and it is seeing that power at work in the world, and knowing that God will care for us, that brings peace. It might also only be in giving that we experience the blessing of joy because joy comes when we empty ourselves and help others. Joy comes when we shift from being selfish to selfless. If you have ever given in a unique, maybe extravagant way, then maybe you know the joy that comes only when we give. Here is a great example of Extravagant Giving
You can see and hear the joy of those two boys who gave their clothes to their classmate. They would never have known that joy if they had not given. Think of the joy the boy must have felt when he gave his lunch to Jesus and saw more and more and more people eating. He watched his gift feed 20,000 people. When this story was told for years to come, and it was told because it made it into all 4 gospels, he knew it was his gift that made the difference. He knew he had done something important. Can you imagine the joy he must have felt in knowing that what he gave made a difference.
And let’s not forget that he was also blessed. He not only got to eat his lunch, he got to eat as much as he wanted, and then take home leftovers. At least I like to think of the disciples giving him a basket of bread and fish to take home. Can you imagine the joy of his mother, his parents, and his family in seeing him bring home more than he started out with that morning. Those boys who shared their clothes with a classmate were also blessed when the news of their giving went viral, people like Will Smith and Ellen DeGeneres heard and not not only gave them gifts, but gave gifts of new clothes and shoes to every child in their school. The generosity of these boys inspired others to be extravagant in their generosity. While we don’t give in order to get more material wealth in return, the promise Jesus made is that when we give, every time we give, we will be blessed.
We are all invited to give in extravagant ways because God has given us all something to give. God will bless and multiply the gift once it is out of our hands and in his hands, and God will bless us when we give. So let me close with a story about the extravagant giving of this congregation. It was five years ago that the leadership of the church came up with the idea of giving away our Christmas offering. In many churches, it is the Christmas offerings that help cover the budget and make ends meet, but we had seen God’s blessing and heard God invite us to extravagant generosity. In 2015 we gave away our Christmas offering, and invited people to actually set aside money for this offering. We gave to the needs of people in Japan who had just suffered through the devastating effects of a tsunami. Together we gave $12,500.
The next year the gift was to the refugee crisis we saw unfolding all around us, and we gave $13,300. The next year it was Lisa Gibboney who invited us to join her in giving to the Rohingya people who were being persecuted and displaced and so we gave $14,100. The next year it was a gift to our friends and family in Venezuela and we gave $22,000, and this past year, we wanted to give to people right here who needed homes, and we gave over $23,300 to Habitat for Humanity. This is over $85,000 given away. Extravagant Generosity that was more than we ever thought it would be.
We have been able to bless people all over the world, and in turn we have been blessed. We have experienced profound joy, we have grown in our faith and trust as a church, and during these same five years we have seen our congregation grow, and we have seen God’s work in us and among us grow. We have been blessed in ways we would never have imagined, and those blessings will continue as long as we continue to give generously and extravagantly.
In what way is God inviting you to extravagant generosity? He is inviting us all to give because he has given us all something to give, and when we place that gift into the hands of God, God will do amazing things with it. Let us be selfless and allow God’s extravagant generosity fill our lives.
Next Steps
Selfless - Extravagant in Generosity
1. Beside the miracle of Christ’s resurrection, there is only one miracle recorded in all four gospels. It is a miracle of extravagant generosity. Read this miracle in all four gospels. What lessons do we learn about giving from this story?
● Matthew 14:13-21
● Mark 6:30-44
● Luke 9:10-17
● John 6:5-13
2. When have you been the recipient of someone’s extravagant giving? How did that experience bless you?
3. When have you had the opportunity to give extravagantly? How did that experience bless you?
4. Extravagant generosity is for everyone.
● What keeps you from giving more generously?
● Identify five ways God has given extravagantly (either to you or in general).
● How can these examples motivate you to give?
5. Everyone has something to give.
● What do you have that you could give to God?
● What do you have that God is inviting you to give to others?
● In what simple ways can you give extravagant gifts?
6. Some blessings we only experience when we give.
● Find one new way to give this week.
● Give more than you think you can.
● Thank God for his generous blessings and gifts.
