YOURS, MINE, or OURS
Proverbs 19-20
INTRODUCTION:
I read an article where a pastor told about a woman who fainted in church one Sunday while he was preaching. She fell over and struck her head on the end of the pew. Immediately, an EMT in the congregation called an ambulance. As they strapped the elderly woman to a stretcher and got ready to head out the door, the she motioned for her daughter to come near. The daughter leaned close to hear what her mother had to say. Her mother whispered to her: “My offering is in my purse.”
Now there’s a woman who came to church with a heartfelt desire to GIVE to the Lord. Today we’re going to look at our attitudes. Do we go through life looking for ways to TAKE or ways to GIVE? Maybe this scene along the Jericho Road will help get us started:
DRAMA: GOOD SAM
I probably don’t need to tell you that was a slightly modified version of a very familiar parable. Today we’re going to talk about some of the main characters in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. We’ll talk about the Religious Leaders and the Samaritan in a minute. But first, lets look at the ones who set the whole plot in motion: the THIEVES who attacked the victim. The THIEVES were walking down the Jericho road looking for what they could TAKE. They had the attitude:
1. What’s YOURS is MINE and I’m going to take it
Chances are no one sitting here is planning to commit highway robbery on their way home from church. But there are other, more subtle ways that we commit robbery. Proverbs 20:10 says Differing weights and differing measures – the LORD detests them both. In all our business dealings and in our personal finances, God expects complete honesty. In fact, anything less than total integrity is robbery in God’s eyes.
The verdict is in on Martha Stewart. She has a net worth in the billions, but she risked everything to save $60,000 in stock value. And now she faces prison time for something that must have seemed like a small infraction to her. Like her, we may think that small departures from integrity are no big deal.
And like her, we may find out it is a bigger deal than we think. Proverbs 20:17 warns: Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man, but he ends up with a mouth full of gravel. I’ve never had a mouth full of gravel myself, but it doesn’t sound very appetizing… We may look at something as a clever way to get ahead. But if it involves tricking or defrauding others, God will hold us as guilty as the THIEVES in the Parable.
Now, the RELIGIOUS LEADERS in the parable were not breaking any laws. Most people would say they were just minding their own business. But the RELIGIOUS LEADERS were walking down the Jericho road with the attitude:
2. What’s MINE is MINE and I’m going to keep it
The Levite and Pharisee in Luke 10 would never believe they were anything like thieves and robbers. But the way God sees it, if we hoard what He has given us, we are as bad as a robber.
In Malachi 3:8-10 God asks a shocking question: Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But,” you ask, “How do we rob you?” God goes on to explain: You rob me in tithes and offerings. You are under a curse --- the whole nation of you --- because you are robbing me.
What would be worse? To rob a stranger on the Jericho road, or to rob Almighty God himself? I don’t know about you, but that one verse is all I need to tell me I need to get serious about giving back to God from what He gives to me. But that one verse is not all we have. Look at the promise God gave next:
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
Beyond giving our tithes and offerings, God commands us to provide for our family members. Proverbs 19:26 says He who robs his father and drives out his mother is a son who brings shame and disgrace. God holds us responsible for meeting the needs of our families. To do anything less is robbery. This means working hard to provide for the ones who depend on us. We may not always like our jobs, but we stick with it because God has called us to take care of our families.
Sometimes taking care of our family is a simple matter of planning ahead so that others depending on us will be taken care of. Things like written wills and life insurance policies are important ways to express our love to those we leave behind when we die. Otherwise we impoverish the very ones we say we love the most. Apostle Paul reminds us that those who neglect their families are “worse than infidels.” Strong words indeed on an important matter we must not neglect.
Proverbs 28:27 shows that God also holds us responsible for helping the poor. He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses. A curse in the Old Testament refers to a sign of God’s judgment. A curse is the opposite of a blessing, which is a sign of God’s favor and touch in your life. So if we follow the logic of this text, those who SHARE what they have receive blessings, while those who HOLD ON to what they have receive curses.
Look at your life like a Lake full of water. God’s blessings flow into your life through various streams and rivers. In order for the lake to be fresh and alive, you must have water flowing in AND water flowing out. What flows out are the things we share, and what flows in are God’s blessings.
Anyone who HOLDS ON to what they have will become like the DEAD SEA. The Dead Sea has inlets, but no outlets. It has become a stagnant body of salt and mineral loaded water. In fact, it’s deadly. As soon as a fish hits the water of the Dead Sea, it dies. Blessings can only flow through the inlets only if we are willing to build outlets and share with others.
The Good Samaritan understood this. The SAMARITAN walked down the road looking for what he could GIVE. He had the attitude:
3. What’s MINE is YOURS and I’m going to share it
Proverbs 19:17 puts it this way: He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.
The word used here for poor here is a very general term. It can describe virtually anyone who is suffering hardship: a person who has been laid off in a recession --- someone whose medical bills have caused them to have financial stress --- a single parent who needs help with the kids.
And the kindness a person shares can take many forms. It might be helping someone pay a monthly bill, or buying them groceries, or babysitting their children, or fixing the brakes on their car.
Sometimes we hold back from helping someone because we are not sure they “deserve” the help. Maybe they brought some of their trouble on themselves by their own bad choices. I’m reminded of Eliza Dolittle’s father in the play My Fair Lady. He was an alcoholic, complaining that everyone wants to give money only to the deserving poor. He said the undeserving poor need help just as much, and maybe more! In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus never said anything about the victim. We don’t know if he was deserving of the help or not. We don’t know because it doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t matter because He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD. Can you think of anyone in the Universe who’s in a better position to pay back a loan than God himself? God’s credit rating is off the charts! And God guarantees that when we share with those in need --- even if they turn out to be undeserving --- God will still make it right. The Good Samaritan was the only one in the parable who understood this. He gave with no expectation of return.
From the Samaritan in the Parable, and the words in Proverbs 19 we learn the benefits and blessings attached to generosity as well as the curses attached to selfishness and greed. So we abhor the mindset that says, “What’s yours is mine and I will take it.” We also know to avoid thinking, “What’s mine is mine and I will keep it.” So we let our Master teach us how to say and live out the words. “What’s mine is yours, and I will gladly share it.”
May the words written in the scriptures leap off the page, take root in our hearts, and be seen in our generous actions.
CONCLUSION:
Jesus said, Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
The next time you are tempted to turn away from someone in need, think about how Jesus lived. Think about how he responded to people who hurt him. Most of all, think of how He died. Remember His words on the cross: Father, forgive them for they know no what they do.
(In the Passion movie Jesus prayed those words. When the High Priest walked past, he taunted Jesus, saying “If you’re really the Messiah then come down from the cross.” The thief on the cross next to Jesus spoke up to the High Priest and said with amazement, “He is praying for you!”)
The Parables of Jesus can teach us. But it’s the life and death of Jesus that gives us the one and only perfect example of a giving life. Remember Him next time you’re walking down the Jericho road and see someone in need.
