What Lies Behind Generosity?
The power of generosity is displaying a heartfelt return to worship that persuades Jesus-followers not to offer anything to the Lord that costs nothing.
We’re moving along into our fourth message on the power of generosity. We want to highlight once again the truth that generosity not only includes giving our resources, but it also means addressing the need of becoming engaged in changing the world for Christ. Where does generosity come from? What motivates it? Surely, generosity does not rise out of a vacuum. As a virtue, it must be connected to some deeper beliefs or motivations. As Jesus-followers, our commitment to generosity is intimately connected to our relationship with God. Christianity sees life itself as a generous gift from God.
We must be advised! When we go to a doctor for our annual check-up, he or she will often begin to poke, prod, and press various places, all the while asking, “Does this hurt? How about this?" If we cry out in pain, one of two things has happened. Either the doctor has pushed too hard, without the right sensitivity. Or, more likely, there's something wrong, and the doctor will say, "We'd better do some more tests. It's not supposed to hurt there!" So it is when pastors preach on financial generosity, and certain members cry out in discomfort, criticizing the message and the messenger. Either the pastor has pushed too hard. Or perhaps there's something wrong. In that case, we may say, "My friend, we're in need of the Great Physician because it's not supposed to hurt there."
God’s Word for us in this message may hurt. There are those who give faithfully to God the very best they have—it costs. This message will not hurt them. There are those who are learning to give God their best and this message although it may bring a few of them some discomfort, overall it will help them to give with greater sacrifice. There are a few who are not sensitive to God’s Word, and they really don’t want or care to give to God in a sacrificial way. This message will really hurt. They will cry out in discomfort, criticizing the message and the messenger. Hopefully, we will all grow in our understanding that we will not offer to God anything that costs nothing!
The coming of Jesus and his subsequent death and resurrection demonstrate the next chapter in God’s generosity. God set an example for everyone to follow. Our faith, then, is at the very heart of our belief in generosity. Other people practicing generosity will point to their faith in Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, or Hinduism as the foundation for their behavior, while still others hold to an ideology or philosophy rather than a religious belief.
Because Jesus-followers in the true sense of the term are activists, we have to discipline ourselves to push back and think about these deeper motivations, otherwise the activity itself becomes the fuel for our generosity. And experience must teach us that one activity after another will not carry the heavy freight of generosity. It must go deeper. Otherwise life is one frantic, adrenalin-fueled emergency after another. Too often the tyranny of the urgent undermines the necessity for time and reflection to feed the soul.
Spiritual direction is the key step to ensure that our humanitarian intent doesn’t damage others or ourselves. The highway of helping is littered with human lives that have been burned out and destroyed by the constant pressure to do more for others while neglecting personal disciplines and responsibilities. Without these safeguards, negotiating the potholes of temptation and the despair of failure will overwhelm even the most generous spirit.
It’s getting closer to Thanksgiving Day. During holiday seasons in America, we can actually call the Butterball Turkey Hot Line. And, yes, we can get an answer to whatever turkey question we may have. A whimsical news commentator, Paul Harvey, said they had monitored that hotline last Thanksgiving. One lady called and she said, "I've had this turkey in my freezer for 23 years. Can I use it?" This is really true! The man on the hotline said, "Well, if your freezer has been set on 0°F the whole time and it has not been defrosted, then the turkey is probably okay. But maybe not the taste." Well, the lady decided not to use it. She gave it to the church. When that lady gave to God's work what she really had no use for, she wasn't the only one. That's been going on for a long time. We don’t know her intention for giving an outdated turkey to God, but we can certainly understand that her act of generosity lacked giving from a heart of faith.
Malachi 1:6-14
6 "A son honors his father, and slaves honor their master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you priests who show contempt for my name. "But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?' 7 "By offering defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' "By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. 8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty. 9 "Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?"—says the LORD Almighty.
10 "Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "But you profane it by saying, 'The Lord's table is defiled,' and, 'Its food is contemptible.' 13 And you say, 'What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously," says the LORD Almighty. "When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the LORD. 14 "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations.
These verses record a powerful, powerful dialogue of what the Lord expects from those who offer up sacrifices. The religious leaders were giving a lot of lip-service to worshipping God; but their life-service was lacking. Their lives did not support their words. Their humanitarian attempts damaged themselves and the lives of others.
Generosity from the Bottom
God through Malachi confronted the religious leaders of the day for failing to honor him. They had been generous to God from the top and not the bottom of their lives. Malachi goes on to identify the ways these religious leaders showed contempt for the Lord.
There are three areas in which God calls the religious leaders, and all Jesus-followers everywhere to be credible and authentic before the Living God:
We are to demonstrate respect in our confession
6 "A son honors his father, and slaves honor their master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you priests who show contempt for my name.”But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?' 7 "By offering defiled food on my altar.” But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' "By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible.
They were demonstrating disrespect to the Lord by placing defiled food on God’s altar. Old Testament Law described in detail how sacrifices were to be offered. This was not a mere ritual: careful observance of the rules governing sacrifices was a way to show respect for the Lord. The leaders, however, disregarded the Law’s regulations and so defiled the sacrifices and made them ritually unclean. The leaders’ outright refusal to live up to what they claimed was tantamount to treason. They verbally affirmed that God was Lord, but submitted in no area over which God had rightful authority. In effect, they showed contempt for God’s name.
We are to show esteem in our gifts
8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty. 9 "Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?"—says the LORD Almighty.
They were showing a lack of esteem to the Lord by offering disqualified sacrifices. Old Testament Law also required that sacrificial animals be unblemished. These leaders accepted diseased or crippled animals for sacrifice. They would not even offer these animals to their governor. Yet they dared to offer such beasts to God, who is no mere governor but the universe’s great King! Numbers 18:29 says… “You must present as the LORD's portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.”
“The best, the holiest” God says. But, the best is what we want to hang on to. We want a low risk commitment that gives to Jesus what doesn't matter that much to us while holding onto the things that really do. Obviously, we know we need to give something to God who loves us and gives us life forever. But we want to reach into the freezer and meet our responsibility with some old turkey and maybe we can even get a receipt for it. It was as if our parents came over for dinner, and we served them a tasteless frostbit disaster, with all the trimmings!
We are to exhibit reverence in our worship
10 "Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "But you profane it by saying, 'The Lord's table is defiled,' and, 'Its food is contemptible.' 13 And you say, 'What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously," says the LORD Almighty. "When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the LORD. 14 "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations.
They disdained the Lord in the privilege of leading in worship, finding it burden and sniffing at it contemptuously. They had totally lost any sense of God’s presence, and were merely going through the motions of worship. God's reaction in verse 10 to that kind of giving was condemning to say the least. God says, "Close the church, cancel the meetings, put away your hymnals, shut off the power point, and forget your offerings. I am not accepting any of it anyway. What you have given to me is an insult not a sacrifice!”
Wow! What clear and simple—and yet overwhelming—tools for us to use as Jesus-followers in evaluating the quality of our own personal relationship with God. Are we careful to show respect for God in the way we worship, or are we careless in our church attendance and practice? Do we give God our best, or does the Lord receive only our leftovers? Do we look forward to worshipping the Lord privately and with others, or has worship become boring and meaningless?
Now we as Jesus-followers have a lot of time to put into making money, watching TV, recreation, sports, but we are just too busy to give prime time to the work of the Lord. When the call comes for young men and women to offer their lives for the Lord's work, we pull our son or daughter a littler closer and say, "Here am I. Send someone else's child". We give what we can afford to give, and keep most of our resources to indulge in ourselves. We must remember, Jesus isn't interested in the amount of the gift, but the amount of the sacrifice. We "dedicate our life to Christ", but only make him Lord of the areas that aren't really important to us anyway. Jesus is officially Lord, but we still maintain control of the things that really matter - our relationships, our marriage, our money, our business, our ministry, our dreams, our prize possessions. So like the believers of Malachi's day, we give to our Savior from the bottom not the top and we forfeit his blessing on our lives. We miss the peace and significance that could be ours if we gave God our best.
Incredible Moments on the Mountains
Let’s close this message with an understanding of what true motivations lie behind generosity. Every Jesus-follower has to make three key decisions. These decisions mark the heart of faith when seeking to follow Jesus.
Climbing three mountains. The first mountain every Jesus-follower has to climb is Mount Calvary. We climb to the top of the mountain to the cross of Jesus Christ. It happens to be level at the cross. We all need a Savior. We all need to receive Jesus Christ. When we partake of Communion, we remember what Jesus Christ did for us on Mount Calvary. His body was given and his blood shed so we can live in right relationship with God. Have we made the decision to climb Mount Calvary and give our lives to Jesus?
The second mountain every Jesus-follower must climb is Mount Hermon. Jesus was transfigured or changed in bodily likeness before his closest followers Peter, James, and John. This transfiguration revealed the glory of Christ’s person. Beyond the suffering of the cross would be the glory of the throne. The Holy Spirit today enables us as Jesus-followers to be changed into the likeness of Jesus. As we surrender body, mind, and will, the Lord transforms us from within so that we are not conformed to this world. God calls us to certain areas of service for him. Have we made the decision to climb Mount Hermon and do what God calls us to do through the power of the Spirit?
The third mountain every Jesus-follower must climb is Mount Moriah. Abraham was called to sacrifice his promised son Isaac on this mountain. Isaac was most precious to Abraham. In Abraham’s obedience, God provided a ram for the sacrifice instead of Isaac. God asks us to sacrifice to him that which is most precious to us. In our obedience, he gives back to us the intimacy of Christ. Have we made the decision to climb Mount Moriah and give to God what is our most precious sacrifice?
All Jesus-followers must climb Mount Calvary. Still, some may climb Mount Hermon. However, a numbered few climb Mount Moriah. But the power of generosity lies behind total surrender. It’s a surrender that is costly.
David expressed in 2 Samuel 24:24 these words…
“I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing."
Mother Teresa said, “I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.
Maybe we've been limiting Christ’s Lordship in our lives, offering to Jesus our leftovers. Maybe we’re afraid to really love because of the hurt. We need to make this the day we say, "Enough mediocrity, Lord. I've played games with your Lordship long enough. I am yours Jesus. I'm all yours." Jesus deserves so much more than we've been giving.
Generosity is no respecter of persons or status. It is the attitude of loving Jesus combined with the willingness to share that makes generosity available to anyone. From all classes of people, generosity is fueled by beliefs and values greater than ourselves. Like any virtue, generosity cannot run on empty.
So if we have fallen into the ways of the religious leaders of Malachi’s day, then we need to confess now before we partake of Holy Communion. First, we need to walk once again up to Mount Calvary and remember Christ’s sacrifice. Next, we can claim the power of the Spirit on Mount Hermon. Finally, we can place the most precious of all earthly desires on Mount Moriah. We need to center again on God’s love for us in Jesus, and ask the Lord to fan our love for the Lord into flames. Then we need to return to worship filled with a vital sense of Christ’s living presence as we bow down to him and display the power of generosity. Amen!
