Will Our Lives Count For Much.
10/05/97 Eccl 11:1-6 Luke 19:1-10 Text Luke 6:20-38
In the end, how long you lived is not going to be nearly as important as how well you lived. Jesus is going to show us today "its not the duration of life of how many years we live but the donation of life, what we do with those years that really count." Today can be a life changing day for our lives, because we’re going to see discover some strange ways to make our lives count.
Let me ask you a question, if you died right now, what donation would you have made to life itself.? Would you die knowing "I really have not contributed that much to those around me?" Have you been a grabber for yourself or a giver to others?. Many people have lived long years, and when they died basically all you can say is they died holding on to things. They never became a giver in life. Others have died in their twenties and they were known as givers. They gave, they donated, their hands were opened, and they put their treasures on the other side.
Jesus gives us some tremendous themes in the passage we are going to look at today. The core of the message is that "giving has nothing to do with our assets."" It has everything to do with attitude. " In Luke chapter 6 as we begin to unfold, it becomes obvious that when Jesus thought about giving, he was not thinking about how many homes we have, and whether we owned them or rented them, or the size of our bank account, or the kind of car we drive. In fact he was saying, some of the biggest givers in the world’s eyes have very few assets. Some of the greediest people in life, have everything to give.
Let’s start with verse 20 in chapter 6. Jesus Says Luke 6:20 Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Luke 6:21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets." Is Jesus For Real or what?
Let’s stop here for a moment. Isn’t it interesting that in verse 20, the people that are to be blessed have no or very little finances. They have very little food in verse 21. and they have very friends in verse 22. Do you see that. And yet the Lord says happy or blessed are you. Very few assets. The world would pass that person by and "Good Lord, pray you don’t end up like that!"
Now notice verses 24-26. He goes from happy and blessed and to woe and wretched. Luke 6:24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
Now its interesting that in verse 24 he talks about people who have money, in verse 25 he talks about people who have food, and in verse 26 he talks about people who have friends. What the Lord is doing is finishing his message known as the Sermon on the Mount and he’s dropping a series of bombshells on the people.
This is catching their attention. He’s entering into 13 verses on giving, and he starts off saying you’re blessed or you’re happy when you have very few finances, food and friend, and you’re in trouble if you have a lot finances, food and friends. You say wait a minute, "Is Jesus anti rich and pro-poor." No, that has nothing to do with this passage.
He’s saying, if you are a contributor or a giver in life, although you may have very little in the world’s eyes today, he wants you to know that you will be blessed in the future because you life is going to count for something in the end. If you have a lot, and you’re not a giver, you’re greedy and a consumer. You will die with a fist full of nothing spiritually. He’s not against what you have, He’s against you not being a giver with what you have.
If you basically collect and store and save, and don’t pass on to others Jesus is saying "You are receiving your comfort in full." In verse 24, it says you have already received and that means you’re not getting any more. What you have today, enjoy it, because you are never going to have more than what you have right now.
Go ahead and eat the food. Go ahead and enjoy the friends, because that’s the limit to all that you are ever going to have, because you’re not a giver in life. He’s talking about values. He’s talking about priorities. We have all seen the little plaque, "Only one life twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last." Do our lives indicate that we recognize the truth in these words.
In this whole process of making our lives count before God, we have a choice to make. The choice is, "am I going to be a giver or a taker, am I going to be a consumer thinking of number one first and foremost. Jesus wants us to be sure that we know that it has nothing to do with the amount of assets or possessions we have.. People will say, sure I’d be a giver if I had something to give. You have something to give my friend. Quit using that excuse. God has given you talents, God has blessed you, God has made you unique and you have gifts to give. The issue is not do you have anything to give. The issue is that it is a choice of whether you choose to be a giver or a taker.
Think about it for a moment and look at verse 27. How many assets or how many possessions do you need to love your enemies?. How large of a bank account do you have to have in life to do good to those people who hate you; to bless those who curse you or to pray for those who mistreat you. Jesus understood that it has nothing to do with assets. It has everything to do with your attitude. There are people with very few assets who are tremendous givers in life because they give out of a choice.
A number of years ago, in Anchorage Alaska, they had a big earthquake. A lot of damage was done. Calls poured into the governor’s office. He went on TV to try to reassure the people that they were doing all they could from the thousands of request that were pouring in. As governor, he felt a tremendous load because of the loss of the people and their insistence that something be done. He ended his TV spot with some encouragement he had received.
He had received a post card from a 10 year old boy. It had two nickels stuck on the back of it with scotch tape. The words were written, Use this wherever it’s needed. If you need more let me know. Two nickels, a million dollars, it’s all in the attitude. It has nothing to do with your finances.
I want to give you three truths about givers as taught by Jesus. First of all Jesus indicated that givers live on a higher level than most people. Jesus teaches us that givers live on a higher level than most people. In other words he says there are two roads to travel. You can travel the low road or you can travel the high road. High road is traveled by people that give in life.
Look at verse 27" "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back."
What separates the giver and the taker on this high road and this low road. Well first of all, givers are positive activist in life. Show me a giver and I’ll show you a person that’s active in life. She or he is constantly giving. Socrates said know thyself, Cicero said control thyself, Jesus said give thyself.
Givers are always giving. Christianity and Christian conduct emphasizes what you do. Jesus describes the giver. She or he prays for those who abuse them, blesses those who curse them, goes the extra mile, turns the other cheek. In other words Christianity is not a bunch of don’ts. It’s not legalism.
The Pharisees had a lot of legalism. There were all kind of things they did not do. Jesus says its not only what you don’t do, so what. A lot of sinners aren’t doing some of those things. It doesn’t get us brownie points with God. Now there are some things we are not suppose to do. But Christianity is leaving the past and doing something today. The Lord begins to tell us what the things are that we are to do. Something else about this high road we are too travel and that is that the givers who travel this high road do more than expected.
This becomes obvious as you go to verse 31 in which he says" Do to others as you would have them do to you. " Jesus then talks about how we are to do more than is expected. What does Jesus say. Look at verse 6:32 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ lend to ’sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full.
The Lord is talking about an unnatural way of living. He’s talking about us living in a place where we do more than what’s expected. This is what grabs the world.
The world sees us as Christians being givers and going the second mile, and turning the other cheek, and blessing those who curse us. They see that and say wait a minute, I do not understand these people. It’s the high road. It’s the high road that will change our society. It’s the road where the salt and the light comes in. He says one more thing about these people traveling the high road. He says they do good asking nothing in return.
Now that we’ve got to talk about. They do good expecting nothing in return. You see in verse 6:35 he says But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.. He did not say if you became this kind of giver, you will have nothing in return, he said to expect nothing in return.
In fact, isn’t it interesting that he tells us as we give to expect nothing in return, but in the very next verse He says "Then your reward will be great." Doesn’t that sound like a contradiction. He says expect nothing in return and your reward will be great. He gives us the difference between the good steward and the bad steward. The bad steward gives and expects something in return . He isn’t really giving he’s trading. I give something to you and you give something to me. Then I give to you and you later give back to me. This a trading deal going on.
Jesus is saying, if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you. He says if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you. He says if you lend to those who lend to you, what credit is that to you. That phrase what credit is that to you keeps being repeated. What does He mean?. He means givers, give without expecting something back in return.
Did you ever know anyone who kept score on their giving. You do something nice for them, they put it down. Now they can do something nice for you. They keep this going and get upset when you owe them one and don’t repay them. It’s a trading thing for them. People like this are not givers, they’re traders.
There are three kinds of people in the passage. There are three levels of giving. There is the grace level. The grace level says God what do you want to do through me. That’s the highest level of giving. You’re saying I’m going to be a channel or a river for God’s resources to flow right through me to somebody else. The middle level is the grit level. It’ s where we kind of breathe in and grit our teeth and say" okay God what do you want me to do. I’ll do my best to do what you want me to do." It’s like we’re going to bear our cross for Jesus all by ourselves. We’re not going to ask God to flow through us, we’re just going to do our best. The grace level says okay God, through me, right out to others. The grit level says what do I have to do. Then the lowest level is the get even level. It asks what do I want to do.
I’ll tell you what you want to do if you live on the get even level. You will always want to do unto others as you have just been done.
You’re always going to be trading. You do have three options in life. There’s the kind of person who goes through life saying, "I’m not giving anything. I’m just going to hang on to what I’ve got. It’s mine and it’s nobody’s business. I’m going to walk though life and take care of number 1. This type of person ends up really lonely and miserable. Basically we let them sit off in a corner and let them take care of number 1. We don’t want to be around them. Very few people are there at their funeral. Their lives won’t count for much in the end.
Then there is another level. This person. This person says I’ll give, but I expect something back. The second person is always going to be frustrated. I guarantee you, sometimes when you give, you don’t get anything back. Isn’t that true. How many of you have ever given something nice to someone and you thought halfheartedly they’d give you something back within a couple of months and they didn’t.
The third type of person says I’m going to give. I’m not keeping score, I’m not keeping track, and I’m not keeping a log. I’m going to give knowing that God, not other people is my source.
The second point Jesus says about givers is that givers understand the principles of sowing and reaping. Look at verse 37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Notices the and ’s between the relationships. He’s showing us this is the principle of sowing and reaping. Look at the ands. Verse 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
The principle of sewing and reaping is not I give you something now, you give me something later. That’s not giving, that’s trading. The principle of sewing and reaping is understanding that God is the source. Do you remember back in verses 32, 33, and 34 again, what credit is that to you. Did you notice back in 34 when he told the rich person you have already received everything. What are the verses saying. Basically Jesus is saying, the act of giving with the intention of receiving something back is not the principle of sewing and reaping.
The principle of sewing and reaping is doing good without seeing or seeking the reward. It’s just doing good. Now the Lord says if you do good without seeking or expecting anything in return, you’re going to be rewarded. In three scriptures he says he tell us we will be rewarded. The reward comes not from other people but from God. Back to the three levels of giving. If you hold on to everything yourself, you’re saying I am the source. If you give to others expecting them to give back to you, you’re saying others are my source. But Jesus says if you give expecting nothing in return, you will be rewarded, not by others but by me. The giver says I give expecting nothing in return because I know if I give, God will take care of me.
Jesus tells us that givers are blessed by God. He says when giving becomes a habit of life good things are going to happen Look what it says in verse 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." What an incredible verse of Scripture.
John D. Rockerfeller Sr. was at age 23 a millionaire. At the age of 50, he was a billionaire. He was the richest man in the world. But he was a miserable rich man. At the age of 53, he was eaten up with physical diseases and ulcers. He was a grabber, not a giver. He was always trying to get more money and he was a greedy man. Greed had so consumed him that at the age of 53, the doctors told him he had one year to live. Just one year.
Here’s a billionaire, the richest man in the world, and all he could eat that year, all that his stomach could handle was milk and crackers. Milk and crackers. The man could go out and buy any restaurant in the world, buy it; have any food before him on the table. But it wouldn’t do him much good. It was in that year, that Rockerfeller began to look at his life. He said I have all these possessions and I’ve never been a giver.
That’s when he decided to become a giver. He gave to churches, to hospitals, to foundations, and to medicines. Many of the discoveries we’ve had in medicine have come from money provided by the Rockerfeller foundation. That man who had only one year to live at age 53 because he was a greedy old man, do you know what happened to him. He started giving. He started releasing all this inward attitude, stuff that was in his body. He got rid of his stress, his tension, and his ulcers. He began to live, and he lived to the age of 90 years old..
People are killing themselves with stress and ulcers because they want to get even. They don’t want to forgive. They have filled their lives with resentment. They’re stingy and they are miserable. They wonder why they never enjoy life. You see it’s not how many years you live that counts; it’s the donations you make during the years that really count. Let’s pour out all of our bitterness, our unforgiveness, our anger, and our jealousies so that we can become givers in life.
Jesus went to Calvary and died on a cross on our behalf, all because he was a giver in life. Jesus died to get us to see beyond ourselves and into the very heart of God who is the greatest giver of them all. You can’t even begin to know God, without being willing to become a giver, for the first step in knowing God is to give your allegiance to Jesus Christ. It’s up to you. Will your life count for much in the end? Only one life, so soon it will past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.
