Well, you could almost hear the bagpipes, couldn't you? Sounds like a real Scottish melody. Please open your Bible with me to Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 28. Some of you have never met the most important helper that I have in this world, apart from the Holy Spirit, and that is my wife. She teaches second grade in the first hour, and so they hardly ever see her, unless they have second graders. But she worships with us in this hour. And would you stand? We have been married 23 years today.
Happy anniversary. Do I have lipstick on my cheek here? It has been a wonderful marriage. I have learned a great deal from her. I like to be around generous people, and Jeanette is one of those people. I have learned a lot from people in my life who have been generous, because I am not naturally generous. The influence of generous people lingers long and sweet in the lives of all of us.
I recall when I was just out of college in my first church, where I was working as a youth intern, that there was a couple who invited myself and my buddy, who had also graduated from college, over to their place after church on Sunday nights. Joanne made the biggest, juiciest hamburgers I had ever seen up to that point in my life. She was from Houston, Texas, and of Greek origin, and I don't know whether it was olive oil she put in there.
She liked to eat jalapenos just out of the jar as a snack. Maybe it was jalapenos she ground up into the hamburgers. But I have never tasted a hamburger quite like that. It was thick and juicy. She and Bill would bring on the ice cream, and boy, it must have been a quart of ice cream they would give to both of us every Sunday night. I was overwhelmed by their generosity, and you can tell here I am more than a quarter of a century later telling you about them.
Perhaps you have similar kinds of people in your background. Generosity will always leave a more pleasant memory than stinginess. Today I want us to think about the community of the Saints as a community of generosity. This fall we have been thinking about the Church of Jesus Christ, and what our part is in that, what our commitment to it is. Today we think about the Church as a community of generosity. Truly of all people, the community of Saints ought to be known for its liberality.
For our Master Jesus Christ has given liberally to us. Go break to the needy sweet charity's bread. For giving is living, the angel said. And must I be giving again and again, my peevish and pitiless answer ran? Oh no, said the angel, piercing me through. Just give till the Master stops giving to you. We have a generous Master, and we as his people need to be characterized by generosity. Avarice gathers itself poor, whereas charity gives itself rich. It is the hand that gives that truly gathers.
Christians show what they are by what they do with what they have. Today, as in ancient Ephesus, there are some Saints who are tempted to stealing. A policeman told me a few days ago that most of the theft that occurs in large companies, occurs not in retail stores from shoplifting, but from employees. It's one of the great problems that we face in America today. Employees are stealing in unprecedented amounts from their employers.
Paul writes to believers in Ephesus and says to them in verse 28 of Ephesians 4, Let him who steals, steal no longer. Do you notice the implication there? He's writing to Saints, and some of them are still stealing. He says, let him who is stealing stop it, but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have everything his heart desires. Is that what it says? No, I guess it doesn't, does it?
It says, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need. The community of Saints is exhorted to be generous in its giving. There are three truths about generosity which if you and I would learn and put into action in our lives, it would change our lives forever.
I've outlined these three truths there in your bulletin on a piece of paper, and you may want to pull that out and keep notes, which we encourage you to do every week, so that you can later reflect on some of the things talked about. You will notice on the back side are some questions. Those are primarily for our cell groups, which use those as discussion points in their meetings, but you can use them for other occasions as well.
The first truth about generosity that can literally change your life is to understand that generosity is rooted in divine grace. We hear the statement, to err is human, to forgive is divine. Can we adjust that slightly to say, to keep is human, to give is divine? This book of Ephesians is about God's grace in the new community, the church. In fact, from beginning to end of the book, it is an exaltation of God's grace.
Grace is God's giving, and that giving spirit is to be reflected in those calling God their Father. Now we have a little problem. It's called the flesh, which all of us struggle with yet. The flesh is naturally selfish. Believers struggle with the flesh. Paul knew that, and so in chapter 5 he writes these rather harsh words. He says, For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
He says, If a man's character is that of being greedy, then it says something about him spiritually, which is most alarming. But he's already told us that believers, too, can be tempted to greediness and even to stealing. He says in this verse that covetousness is idolatry. Most of us would never think of going into a temple and there bowing down to an idol made out of wood and stone.
And yet the Bible says that when we allow greed to come into our hearts so that we have an insatiable desire for more, because that's what covetousness is, an insatiable desire for more, that when we allow that to dominate our lives, we are in fact idolaters, because something is in the place of God in our lives. It is dominating us. It's idolatry. Strong words. Greed robs the miser of his own life, of his significance in the world.
Thomas Gibbons wrote, That man may last, but never lives, Who much receives, but nothing gives, Whom none can love, whom none can thank, Creation's blot, creation's blank. Greed robs us, but grace gives birth to generosity. Grace and its relation to giving is succinctly stated in 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. I'd like for you to turn there with me this morning. That human, that the human heart can give unselfishly is evidence of God's grace in that heart.
Unlike the man in this bit of verse that says, He dropped a nickel in the plate, then meekly raised his eyes, And he was glad that his weekly rent was paid for a mansion in the skies. Unlike the man in that verse, grace initiates generosity. You will notice in verse 9 of chapter 8, 2 Corinthians, That he speaks of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, That though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, That you through his poverty might become rich.
Now where is that verse that speaks of Christ's sacrifice? Is it in the middle of a passage dealing with justification by faith? Does he plop that verse into a text that is a treatise on the doctrine of the atonement? The answer is no, he does not. He gives us this beautiful gem, this statement of God's grace, In the middle of a chapter on giving. Why? Because grace is the root of generosity.
You will notice that in chapter 8 verse 1, he begins this whole text by saying, Now brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God, Which has been given in the churches of Macedonia. What does he mean by this? Well, he says that in a great ordeal of affliction, Their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.
I testify that according to their ability and beyond their ability, They gave of their own accord, begging us with much entreaty For the grace of participation in the support of the saints. The grace of God that is demonstrated in Jesus Christ's sacrifice for us, Produces in us another kind of grace that is also called the grace of God. It is the grace of liberal, generous giving to God and to His work in the world.
We don't have time to go through the rest of this chapter, But a number of times the Apostle Paul uses that word grace to talk about this very thing. For example, in verse 7 he says, Just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness, And in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this grace also. You see that? Generosity is rooted in divine grace. Paul says that the true motivation for generosity is God's grace and love in our hearts.
And when we give God generously, it proves His love. Notice in verse 8, I am not speaking this as a command, But as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also. What is he saying here? He's saying, look, I'm not telling you you have to do this, But I want you to prove that your love for Christ is genuine, Just like the Macedonians did in their poverty. Giving to God's work is a significant measurement of our spiritual life.
Did you know that the average Christian gives 2 to 3 percent of his income to God? And did you know that that's almost the very same amount that unsaved people give to charitable causes? Where is the grace of God that is the root of generosity? You can tell a lot about a Christian's walk with God by checking two of his books. His Bible and his checkbook. And by examining them closely, you will understand a great deal about his walk with God And his understanding of God's grace.
Someone says, well, I don't have much to give, Whether it be a dollar and a quarter, or it be a million. Whatever is in our hands, we're responsible for. Someone has written this poem. It's not what you would do with a million if riches should err be your lot, But what are you doing at present with the dollar and a quarter you've got? That's the question. When we grasp the grace of God, how can we be anything other than generous? Oh, let us learn of God's grace.
W. Gladstone said, there is no charity in a man leaving his money in his will. He has to leave it. The time to administer your trust is while you're living. May divine grace so free us from greedily grasping our money, That generosity will spring up from its work in our hearts. Generosity is rooted in divine grace. It's evidence of its reality in our lives and proof of our love for God. But there's a second truth that we need to get a hold of, and if we will, it will change our lives.
It is that generosity grows through biblical principles. There are 700 direct references to money in the Bible, And 2,200 other indirect references to money. In other words, God has a lot to say about the subject of our money. There are three principles that I want to draw on this morning to show you what I mean that generosity, though it is rooted in divine grace, grows through biblical principles that we put into place in our lives. Principle number one, the principle of ownership.
Very simple. It simply means God owns it all. It's all His. Everything that I have in my possession is God's. A lack of understanding that is the basic reason a lot of Christians don't give. Always say we believe it, but we don't, because we act upon those things we truly believe. We think it's ours. But the Bible says that it's all God's. We are but the stewards of it for a period of time. Most of us have no problem giving away somebody else's money.
If Paul were to give me his checkbook today, I would love to give his money away. I can think of all kinds of places, and there's lots of it too, isn't there? He's about to faint. I don't mind giving Paul's money away. And you know, when I realize that what I have in my bank account is God's, not mine, it doesn't hurt me to give it away. It's all God's. Have you ever seen a hearse with a U-Haul behind it?
Neither have I. What we accumulate in this life is ours to keep only for a while, and when this life is over, it's gone. Therefore, let us use it well while we're here. Whether we're giving it to the Lord's work, or we're buying groceries, or we're going to buy a ticket to a movie we want to see, it is all God's money. All of it. All of it. 100%. That's the first principle. If we could get a hold of that, it would change our lives. We would worry less.
There's a second principle, and that is the principle of tithing, which means giving 10% to God. It's important to understand that tithing predated the Law of Moses, and it exists as a principle after the Law. It is true it was incorporated into the Mosaic Law by God's command, but it was not initiated by the Law. Tithing is a principle that appears to be universal and timeless in its application. When one ties, it is a signification of our realization that all of it belongs to God.
We give a piece of it, and in doing that, say, God, we recognize that everything truly is yours. You give me 90% so that I can support myself and my family. I give you the 10% back because I know that it belongs to you. The tithe is a God-planned reminder of this first principle we've talked about. The fact is that God honors those who practice this principle of tithing, and He also withholds blessings from those who do not practice this principle of tithing.
We see this illustrated in a text in the Old Testament in the context of Israel. Turn back to the book of Malachi with me. Now, if you don't know how to get there, just go to Matthew and put it in reverse. You'll get to Malachi real quick. In Malachi 3, verse 7, God says, From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, How shall we return? This is Malachi 3, now verse 8.
Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, How have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings you are cursed with a curse. For you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house. And test me now in this, says the Lord of hosts.
If I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows, then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it may not destroy the fruits of the ground, nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes, says the Lord of hosts. What is God saying in this text? He is saying that we can test Him and prove Him, that in bringing of our tithes He will open the windows of heaven and pour blessing into our lives. And He will also call off the devourer.
What is that referring to? It's talking to those things that happen, that eat up our income, which God will allow to go on unabated in our lives, and which will usually eat up at least 10 percent. God says, if you will practice this principle, blessing will be yours. I'll call off the devourer. Warren Wiersbe writes, when we rob God, we only rob ourselves. We cannot keep anything that rightfully belongs to God. That is true, my friend.
Somebody asked, well, why isn't tithing then commanded in the New Testament, clearly? Well, let's make a couple of observations. First of all, nowhere is tithing ever canceled as a principle of worshiping God and giving to Him. Furthermore, tithing is commended by Jesus, tithing that is from the heart. Tithing was generally understood in the early church as the way to give to God. And that is suggested in those texts as those in Corinthians that talk about proportionate giving.
Generosity grows when we begin to put in place in our lives the principles of God regarding giving. The principle of ownership and the principle of tithing. I think you need to know that those who are in leadership in our church practice tithing. All of our staff tithes. Our elders tithe.
While we don't go to the salary and figure it out by 10 percent, before anyone is brought to the congregation as a nominee for elder of the church, there is evidence that we have in the church in our counting that that person is serious and thoughtful about his giving. It's an expectation that we have to set an example to all of the church and obedience to the principles of God. One of our elders shared this with me.
When my wife and I were married, I was immediately confronted with giving 10 percent or tithing. This was something new to me since I hadn't been a Christian very long. Admittedly, I wasn't too excited about giving up 10 percent of my income for this purpose. We had bills, bills, bills. All I could see was my money taking flight and the thoughts of all I could do with that money. My wife was very committed to giving in this way and was very patient with me during this time.
We prayed a lot about this matter and I began to see the wisdom and scriptural principle in giving. We worked our way up to the 10 percent and more and now give off our gross. Scripture teaches us to give back to God first and the rest of our needs will be taken care of. What we give to missions is above and beyond our tithe. It's possible that it may take you time also to be able to be in a position financially to really experience the blessing of giving a tithe.
But you can experience the blessing of giving. Anyone can. All of us must. It is an evidence of God's grace in our lives. And when we get to that exciting point that we practice the tithe, we put in place a principle that will revolutionize us in our understanding of who we are, in our participation in God's work, and our joy in it all. There's a third principle that I want to share with you that I believe is biblical, and that is the principle of the storehouse.
We saw that word used here in Malachi 3. In the Old Testament, the storehouse was the temple. The Jewish people would bring their tithes annually to the temple with the support of God's ministry. Today, the local church, the new community, has replaced the Jewish temple and the Jewish order. I believe that the storehouse today is the local church where we gather, we worship, we pray, we're ministered to, and through which we reach out and touch the world.
The storehouse today is equivalent to what is said in 1 Corinthians 16, 2, Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him. Now, there are a number of things that we could point out in that verse, but I'm talking now about this matter of storing up. Now, whether that amount, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, was kept in the church's bank account or in the individual's account is not the issue.
The amount was for God's work and God's use, and it was to be laid aside. The fact that life was much less complex and ministry less institutional in those days doesn't change the principle we're talking about here. I'm convinced that it is, in fact, a sound principle that the foundational gift of the tithe should be directed to the local assembly of the saints.
Offerings are that which we give above the tithe, and may and should be given, in gratitude to God, to missionary friends, to other works of the Lord that he lays in our hearts. But I believe the principle of the storehouse is valid today, that the tithe is a foundational part of our stewardship, is to be directed to that work that we do together as the people of God in the local church. Someone has said tithing is a great place to begin, a bad place to stop, and that's true.
Proportionate giving is not limited to 10 percent, of course. There are some who can do much more than that because of the amount of their increase. I do believe that using the tithe for personal choice kinds of giving, that is, I choose to give to my friend who's in this work, or I choose to give to that ministry that has blessed me in radio, whatever, that that kind of use of the tithe is not proper.
It certainly does serve to undermine the community effort that we have as the saints of God in our local church, those things that we must and do, do together. I'm further convinced that what every local church needs for its mission will be provided by God within that community.
The problem comes in, in that some of God's people misuse and misspend what God has provided for his work through them, using it rather upon their own desires generated by a materialistic consumer culture like we live in. Most of us understand the need and place of public assistance for those who are truly needy. But we also decry the welfare mentality by which some think they should be supported by the rest of us. They take advantage and abuse the system and live off of others' hard work.
Does that have any kind of parallel in the church? I believe that generosity will grow as you begin to grasp the principles of God regarding giving. And believe me, when you begin to put those principles in place in your life, it will revolutionize you. Generosity is rooted in divine grace. Generosity grows through biblical principles. And finally, generosity bears fruit by God's promise. Let's go back to 2 Corinthians 9 for a moment.
In verse 5, he writes to these people and says, Be ready to give a bountiful gift not affected by covetousness. This I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Each one do just as he's purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion. God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.
Now he begins to explain what God promises to those who are generous. Generosity bears fruit by the promise of God. The first one is personal benefit. Verses 6 through 11, the benefits of genuine joy in our giving, of sufficiency in all things, and abundance so that we can give more. Those are all benefits that come to us by God's promise when we're generous. In verse 12 he goes on to talk about our generosity meeting others' needs. That's a benefit.
He goes on then to say that our generosity glorifies the Lord. He says the more we give, the more thanksgiving there is to God. God is glorified through your generosity. And finally, he says that generous giving among God's people unifies the community of the saints.
Notice how he says this in verse 13, Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, while they also by prayer on your behalf yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God. You see what he's saying? He's saying that when we are generous to others and generous to the work of God, the result of that is that it unifies the church.
Those in other places may receive from our bounty. They will pray for us. There may come a time when they will give and we will receive. We minister to each other. It brings us together as the community of the saints. As everyone participates according to God's plan, there is a pervasive sense of ownership and sharing in the work of God. We are exhorted to stop stealing from God and from others and to work so that we can give and give as generously as grace has demonstrated itself to us.
A favorite poet of many people is Helen Steiner Rice. She writes this poem. A very favorite story of mine is about two seas in Palestine. One is a sparkling sapphire jewel. Its waters are clean and clear and cool. Along its shores the children play and travelers seek it on their way. And nature gives so lavishly her choicest gems to the Galilee. But on to the south the Jordan flows into a sea where nothing grows. No splash of fish, no singing bird, no children's laughter is ever heard.
The air hangs heavy all around and nature shuns this barren ground. Both seas receive the Jordan's flow. The water is just the same, we know, but one of the seas, like liquid sun, can warm the hearts of everyone. While farther south another sea is dead and dark and miserly. It takes each drop the Jordan brings, and to each drop it fiercely clings.
It hoards and holds the Jordan's waves until, like shackled captured slaves, the fresh, clear Jordan turns to salt and dies within the dead sea's vault. But the Jordan flows rapturously as it enters and leaves the Galilee. For every drop that the Jordan gives becomes a laughing wave that lives. Its waters flow and never stop. And in this laughing, living sea that takes and gives so generously, we find the way to life and living is not in keeping, but in giving.
Yes, there are two Palestinian seas, and mankind is fashioned after these. You and I can give without loving, but we cannot love without giving. God has provided in His indescribably generous gift, Jesus Christ, an example. His grace causes us to give. There's a Persian proverb that says, What I kept I lost, what I spent I had, but what I gave I have. Let's pray. Lord, may Your grace, given so generously in Christ, be the root of liberal, generous giving in this community of the saints.
We call ourselves Grace Church. Now may we practice grace, free us, Father, from the covetousness, the idolatry of things that so easily entraps and snares us. Of these things we repent before You, acknowledging our sin. We would no longer rob and steal from You or from others, but owning up to our responsibility, applying Your principles in our lives, we deeply desire to know the full benefits that come to those who give as You have given to us. In Jesus' name, Amen.