Theme: Honouring God with our treasure
Text: 1 Kings 17:7-16; 1 Tim. 6:17-19; Mark 12:41-44
Giving is an attitude that is contrary to our fleshly nature. The flesh is a way of thinking that is contrary to the Word of God and it has been said that the last part of us to be converted is our pocket. We profess our trust in Christ yet are not willing to be generous although one of the hallmarks of the Christian faith is generosity. I am reminded of a story about a congregation that had gathered in an old Church to raise funds to build a new one. This Church had one rich member who had a prominent seat at the front. During the fundraising programme he got up and made the highest contribution of one hundred Ghana Cedi. As he sat down a piece of the roof came off and fell on his head. He immediately got up again and made another contribution of one hundred Ghana Cedi. For a minute there was silence in the whole Church. Then a whisper was heard from the back, ‘hit him again Lord.’ This story is an illustration of how we relate to giving when we forget the cross. The cross, the symbol of our faith, speaks of the generosity of God. It was where God gave man all that He had, His only Son. Our only response to God’s generosity is to follow His example by honouring God with our treasure.
Giving to God is the result of trust. You can only trust a person you know and when we put our trust in Christ we are also putting our trust in His revelations about God and about us. God created us in His image and likeness to fulfil His divine Will and we can be sure He is capable of taking care of us as we do His will. God met our greatest need for forgiveness by giving us a Saviour to make it possible for us to fulfill His divine Will. When Christ paid the penalty for sin on our behalf He not only restored the glory and image of God in us but also our authority and dominion on earth. We can trust trust God since He is capable and willing to meet our need. How can we refuse to trust the One who created us, knows us, and is capable and willing to meet our needs? His willingness to go to the cross in our place is evidence of His willingness to meet our needs as we fulfill His divine Will and purpose.
Trust can only result from a relationship. The woman of Zarephath trusted the Lord and this can only be a result of a relationship. If there had been no relationship the Lord would not have said “See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” Evidently the widow trusted the Lord and therefore believed the prophet. Although she had a need herself she first gave to the prophet and this activated the miracle supply of God. When we truly trust God to meet our needs we would have no reason not to give Him all that we have. Can we truthfully say that we have put our trust in God? Do we trust Him enough to entrust all that we have into His care?
One evidence of our trust in God is our sacrificial giving. What makes giving sacrificial is when God is given the best. God gave us His best when He gave us Christ. We daily experience His love and faithfulness as the Scriptures declare “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end” (Lam. 3:22). Christ shed His blood to pay the penalty for sin for our forgiveness. God gave His best for us and we can have no reason not to give Him our best. Christ bore the full judgement for sin in His body for us and the least we can do is to trust Him with our lives. No one can love you more than Christ and no One has gone to such great lengths to meet your needs as Christ has, “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” Perfected and forever speaks of a sacrifice that comprehends every need of the entire human race, and its effects extend throughout time and into eternity. The blood of Christ has not only paid the penalty for sin but has also imputed to us the righteousness of Christ. God’s righteousness gives us access to His presence as His beloved children. What more could we hope for? How can we know all this and not sacrificially give to God?
We can never forget the love and faithfulness of God? How can we ever forget the One who not only created us but also delivered us from slavery to sin, Satan and death? King David never forgot the love and faithfulness of God. This constant reminder made him attribute all his successes to God. He relied on God’s strength while protecting his father’s sheep to kill a lion and a bear. He relied on God when he faced Goliath by declaring “You come to me with sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied”. David knew who was fighting for him because of his covenant relationship with God and no giant could frighten him. Is it any wonder that David was very generous in giving to God? We have a far greater covenant relationship with God than David had through the perfect and eternal sacrifice of Christ. Jesus Christ died for us to fulfill God’s promises in our lives. He gave His life for us. What are you prepared to give Him at today’s harvest?
Giving to God is worship and honours Him. The sincerity of our worship is measured by our giving. Our worship is not only singing and dancing but includes prayer and the reading of His Word. The evidence of true worship is seen in the generosity of our offering. You cannot say you know God and have experienced His generosity and not be generous. Since giving is worship, generosity reflects the condition of the heart. A heart that is right with God will have no problems with giving. A heart that is right with God leads to a renewed mind that gives sacrificially trusting God to take care of everything in one’s life. The flesh will continue to mislead you about giving and lead you to see giving as deprivation rather than a blessing. The flesh acts contrary to God’s word by suggesting hoarding instead of giving. God is generous and being generous honours God. Our generosity acknowledges our realisation of God’s generosity. Belief in God’s generosity leads to a reliance on His Word.
The story about the widow’s mite is not only about money but also about the condition of her heart. Jesus made a contrast between people who had a lot of money and trusted in their own resources and a poor widow with very little who put her complete trust or faith in God. Jesus was not only concerned about the amount offered but about the condition of the heart. The religious leaders gave what appeared to be large amounts but compared to what they had it was very little. God does not look at the amount we give but at the amount we keep for ourselves. He sees in percentages. The religious leaders most likely gave less that 1% of what they had whereas the widow gave 100% of what she had. Her action clearly showed that she trusted God to take care of her. We do not hear anything more about the widow in the gospel account but we can be sure that God, who always responds to faith, met her needs. Just as the Lord took care of another widow we read about in our first Scripture reading, so He definitely would also take care of her. God always meets the needs of those who trust Him. However, every miracle, large or small, always begins with an act of giving. Very often we may not see the solution until we take the first step of faith.
If we really trusted Christ we would realise that we have a great deal to thank Him for. But many of us are not like the widow of Zarephath or the woman with the two mites. Rather we are like the Israelites in the wilderness, who instead of being thankful, were always murmuring and complaining. We should stop complaining, be thankful and generous and trust God to meet our needs as He has promised. When we are threatened by the winds and waves of life’s storms let our generosity be the evidence of our trust in God. When life deals us a blow and we appear to have hit rock bottom let our generosity be the evidence of our trust in God. When we fall and lose the financial resources we had counted on let our generosity be the evidence of our trust in God. In every situation we find ourselves, even when afraid we will never get back up let our generosity be the evidence of our trust in God. We have every reason in the world to be generous and trust Jesus Christ to take care of us. He has blessed us and made provision to meet all our needs. The least we can do is to join the Psalmist as he declares “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God”. It is our prayer that today we will all be generous as we celebrate God’s generosity to us to the praise and glory of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen!
