"45And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need."
“Dying to ourselves” is a popular Christian phrase, coming from verses such as:
Galatians 5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
You know what I realize about dead people? They don't own things. They don't hoard stuff, they literally have no ability to keep possessions to themselves. It’s not like a corpse can stand up and defend itself against grave robbers.
So is it any wonder that the NT is filled with radical, insane, completely nuts sort of giving?
Luke 3:11 And he answered them, "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.
This is John the Baptist talking before Jesus started public ministry, and the next verse Jesus talks about what to do with your enemies.
Luke 6:29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.
It’s not just in the NT. The idea of giving is not new, it’s all through out the OT too. People giving in support of the temple and the priests and the poor and needy.
I recently just read through Leviticus, proceeding through the books of the law. It’s full of regulations regarding when to give, for what, what to give, how much to give. What is quite different though in the NT is how God brings to the forefront the heart behind giving.
Mark 12:41-44 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."
Jesus didn’t raise the OT bar, He broke it.
It wasn’t about a monetary percentage, no longer about meeting a certain standard in order to obey God. At the same time, there is no longer this line where you can say you’ve done enough.
As if it wasn’t common sense already, it’s all God’s, everything you have. Now it boiled down to how much you realize that and how much you trusted God, that He won’t screw you as He voice calls you, one moment to the next, to surrender all that you are as His son/daughter.
Be very clear that I’m not talking about giving to Westside so we could be a bigger organization and so that staff can make a good living out of this. Sadly, in general only about 2-3% of an North American mid-sized church’s giving actually goes away from themselves, most of it comes back to them in staff, buildings and programs.
So I’m glad that most of us are not paid ministers, that whatever you give of yourself here for the most part never returns to you in terms of pandering staff, or well-equipped buildings, or elaborate events. Though I am almost certain those missing comforts will be sorely missed by some of you in your journey with us, and we’ll try our best to help you be stronger through it.
I want to tell you, in all frankness and honestly that here we give away what God has given us, without demanding some sort of return on investment, from this organization or from God, though I know He is faithful to our giving, and it does not go unnoticed.
We say that the old has gone the new has come, that the old self died. Well, surrendering what you have is a defining part of dying. Giving up ourselves, our stuff, our time, our energy and efforts, that everything we have received in our new selves to our Lord as we pray your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Whom, or perhaps more appropriately, what are you giving yourself to these days? Is it eternal? If its not it’s not worth it.
Will you spend your life giving God’s love? Would you trust that God won’t screw with you when you do, and that’s He’s got lots more where that came from? I’ll talk more about this next week.
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