Now I know what you’re thinking already…
“Oh dear, not one of these talks! Where Dan will outline all his amazing stories of how generous he is and how many thousands of pounds he has given to the poor and all these things that leave me feeling guilty.”
Well do not fear! I assure you, this talk will not be one that involves me boasting about stories in order to get you to feel guilty enough to start being more generous. It won’t be a talk that gives you a mandatory 3 practical ways to get you to give more and then see how much you’ve done.
No, this is not what I feel God leading us to. See rather if we want to have the ‘Big’ moments in our lives of transformational stories and testimonies, I think we have to let God change something in our hearts if we are to live a sustained life of going after Him.
I don’t think a 5 step practical talk cuts it to be totally honest with you.
While I will outline ways you can do this, please let those things be an outer work that comes from the more important inner work that takes place within you!
What is Generosity?
So as we begin to look at what it means for us to be generous in our everyday lives, it is helpful to establish language around what generosity means! How many of you know that it can be tricky to engage with a talk when you haven’t a clue what’s going on, right? Let’s look at a description:
· Oxford Language Dictionary states generosity is the quality of being kind and generous, or the fact of being plentiful and large.
We are designed to be Generous!
This definition provides a helpful framework that generosity is something that can clearly be a part of who we are. If we look at the word quality, a quality implies that it is part of that person’s make-up.
And if we’re to believe that we are made in the image of God, then we know that we are to mirror that image to others.
That image is one of generosity.
Just as God commanded the Israelites to ‘Be Holy, for I am Holy,’ he extends that invitation for you today to reflect His nature to your world.
That nature is one of generosity.
Matthew 6 – How much more does God value you more than the birds? He provides for them! The Lord clothes the flowers on the grass. How much more does he provide for you!
God is a generous God who provides generously for all his creation, and longs to have a people that reflects His generous heart.
Why?
So once we have established what generosity is (living larger/living bigger than yourself), we can ask the question of ‘Why?’ generosity matters.
Why should I care about generosity? Why does God care about generosity? Why does this all matter? Are all the questions that can come up.
The inner tug of war
Well if you are anything like me, you can admit that sometimes in life all you want to do is to care for is me! Me Me Me and Me! I’m worried about if I have enough. I’m focusing on how much I have. I’m only thinking about whether I’m happy or not. Everything is focused around one thing that is me.
Can anyone relate? Or think of a time where this happened?
And if we’re to remember that generosity is living a more outward focused life, then we can see we have a clash of two desires. The selfish desires accompanied with the call to live generously. They both collide.
And it’s in this collision spot where we have to go to something more than our own strength or wisdom to figure this ‘living generously thing’ out!
We have to go to the word of God and see does God care about whether we live generously or not?
Does God care?
Our first main reading to unpack in this journey of exploring whether generosity matters to God is found in 2 Corinthians 9:6 - 11
Generosity Encouraged (NIV)
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound (be enlarged/bring enlargement) in every good work. 9 As it is written:
“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
MSG – V10 - 11
This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.
The strong call to live Generously!
God gives generously to you, so that you can give generously to others. Don’t let the Lord’s generosity stop at your needs. Let it spill out.
Do you get caught up in the blessing as you are generous to others? Absolutely!
Is it meant to just stay within you individual needs? No!
Breaking the alabaster jar: as the woman gave generously to Jesus by pouring the costly perfume on Jesus’ feet and wiping her hair on them, we see the generosity of this act. But as Bill Johnson says, “both Jesus and that woman left smelling the same, right?” And that’s an image of how we live a life of generosity. Yes there’s cost, yes there’s sacrifice, but in the end, God’s generosity can’t help but splash on to you as you bring what you have to the Lord.
The Bible Project describes generosity through the following analogy:
1. God is the generous host, and we are the guests,
2. Once we’re in the party, we extend the generous hosts invitation to everyone else!
It’s just how His kingdom works!
It was always meant to spread to others.
As we receive God’s generosity in our lives, we are to use it to abound in every good work in our lives. Basically passing it on to make sure it goes around. And there will always be enough to go around as God is the source. He is the very definition of abundance. The lack in our world today is because the chain from the supplier to the deliverers (us) has been broken on our end, not His.
His generous heart dreams for His people to reach beyond the personal parameters of individual needs, and move to addressing the needs of a community, of a land, of a nation, of the nations.
The why God cares about generosity, firstly is for you to be equipped. And secondly, is to then go and do some equipping of others.
And in all that process, as verse 11 puts it, produces great praise and thanks to God which is above all else, our priority.
To follow the Spirit’s nudge.
How can we live generously?
But it’s at this stage, where if I was in your position, I would start to ask the question of, “Well what does this look like? It all sounds lovely and fairlytail-ish, but how do we actually live this generous life that God appears to care about?
Well we are going to read a story of a woman that caught this lifestyle and began to live it out and actually go beyond just having moments of living it out, but rather living her whole life out of it.
Let’s dive back into the bible into Mark to read about this radically generous moment.
The Widow’s Offering – Mark 12: 41 - 44
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
Jesus what did you see?
And we read this and the first thing we say is, “Jesus do you know how to count?” Like did you do any maths in your carpentry degree apprenticeship? Because if so I hope you didn’t deal with the money side of things.
How many of you know that bags of gold coins and treasure are worth more than 2 copper coins? *Not a trick question* It’s an easy answer, right? The bags of gold coins and treasure obviously amount to more!
So now we’re deeply confused and concerned for Jesus’ mental arithmetic because He says, “This poor widow has put in more, than not just one of the others, but all of the others!” And now we’re even more worried about Jesus’ adding ability. Like maybe if He said one we could let him away with it, but he says “ALL of the others.”
Jesus what did you see? What were you counting in that moment? Because it sure enough wasn’t the earthly value of those amounts given. Jesus what did you see?
And as we’ve read, Jesus describes the conditions in which both gave their offerings out of. For the woman it was poverty, for the others it was wealth.
For the woman it was the little she had, for the others it was the abundance in which they had.
See I imagine this woman began this journey at the back of the temple. Thinking over that which was in her hand. Watching the other far richer, far more popular, far more influential people give their extravagant offerings before one another. I imagine as she watched the following questions might have popped into her head,
‘Did you see the amount that person gave?’
‘How can my two copper coins compare to those bags of treasure?’
‘I’m going to look silly bringing this offering.’
‘Maybe this is a silly idea?’
‘What will people think of me giving this?’
However, despite these questions she begins her journey towards the treasury basket. As we’ve already read, this woman is described as being in poverty, so we can assume that she wouldn’t have looked the same as those giving extravagant amounts.
Therefore I imagine she stood out as she made her way forward.
Maybe some started to murmur:
“Who’s that coming forward?”
“What could she bring to offer?”
“Where’s her bags of money?”
“Oh, that’s the woman who begs in the streets?”
But nevertheless, she still walks on. On a journey of generosity. On a mission to give that which looks worthless, but is everything she has.
So she gets to her destination. She reaches the temple treasury and puts in her two, very small copper coins, worth only a few pence. I imagine she thought:
“There you go Lord, it’s not a lot, but it’s everything I have.” As others probably judged.
BUT THEN…
Someone was watching
Someone was watching closely and observing carefully the journey this woman had made. Someone in the corner with His mates had actually seemed to find this whole mundane process, rather special, rather Holy.
That someone was Jesus.
This generous act, which would have appeared on paper to be the least significant offering given, was actually the most significant act made that day.
Amongst all the bags, crates, and treasure troves given that day, it was the two copper coins that seemed to capture Jesus’ attention above all else.
And more then just capture Jesus’ attention, but actually give him an opportunity to teach His disciples about why this was so significant.
Give what’s in your hand.
See the others who gave their extravagant offerings gave out of their already enormous wealth. So for them, this type of thing where you give an amount of money to God was manageable and comfortable. As weird as it sounds, it almost didn’t cost them much. It’s like asking a millionaire to give £1000. To the average person that’s massive but to them it’s perfectly manageable.
But for this woman, things were very different. She probably never seen the amount others were giving that day in the temple treasury before. It tells us that what she was holding in her hand that day, was all that she had.
Jesus describes it as giving everything out of her poverty. Giving all that she had in an overwhelming state of lack.
A type of generosity that is rare.
A journey of generosity that goes beyond the boundaries of the individual, extending the invitation of God’s generosity to all.