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Giving

Giving

Jul 29, 2018

Passage: Acts 4:32-35

Preacher: Michael Grigsby

Series: I Love My Church

Category: Love, Stewardship, Church

Detail:

Title:Giving

Text:Acts 4:32-35 NLT

Theme: Help people recognize that sacrificing and meeting needs are abundant expressions of love.

 

            We are in week 3 of our series “I Love My Church” where we have been looking at what it really means to love our church. Last week we looked at what it means to have true community with God, and each other. And we build the community that God wants for us by removing our fences, and allowing others into our yard.

 

            Today we are going to be talking about one of the most controversial topics in modern Christendom, the topic of giving. I am not real sure why people get so worked up over the topic of giving, but I think by the end of the message today we will all have a more biblical understanding of giving. The point of this message is to help you realize that sacrificing and meeting needs are abundant expressions of love, not of compliance.

 

            How many of you either had a hope chest someone kept for you or are keeping a hope chest right now for someone else? Maybe you didn’t have an actual hope chest, but you did have something precious that you wanted to save and pass down to future generations.

 

            These treasures we hang on to—we do it not for the pleasure of hoarding. We hang on to them because we know they might mean something to those coming behind us. Possibly the value of the item will skyrocket, and become an Antiques Roadshow moment for your grandkids. Maybe it’s great-great-grandma’s change purse with a story attached about making it to a new life in the land of opportunity.

 

            Regardless of the reason, it’s being saved because it holds hope, promise, memories, and value for the future. And to put it in a box for the time being is a sacrifice. You can’t use it right now, because you want it available for someone else to have and hold in the future. It’s the exact concept we see played out by the early church, and one very serious way we get to love our church!

 

OPENING PRAYER

            Acts 4:32-35, “32 All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. 33 The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. 34 There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them 35 and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.” NLT.

 

            When it comes to possessions, the first church knew how to help one another, to love one another. One of the best examples in my life of someone living this mentality out is Rich Stevenson. I remember when we first moved up here Rich came over to the house, and gave me a key to his house and truck with the instructions that if anyone needed they were welcome to use what was his, because it was God’s anyways. Rich lived with a heart for those in need, and everyone who had the opportunity to know him knew that he would always be there when he was needed.

 

            I wonder how long it took before someone decided that they needed to hang on to their stuff? And I wonder if, when we start holding tightly to our bank accounts, sometimes this is what we sound like to God when we start talking about our money and our stuff. (finding Nemo video clip)

 

            One of my favorite quotes about giving comes from one of my favorite pastors Francis Chan, and he had this to say about giving; Francis Chan, “Non-churchgoers tend to see Christians as takers rather than givers. When Christians sacrifice and give wildly to the poor, that is truly a light that glimmers. The Bible teaches that the church is to be that light, that sign of hope, in an increasingly dark and hopeless world.”

 

            Today we are going to look at 3 ways that we can begin to live with the same mindset as the believers in the first church.

 

  1. Release your grip.

            Acts 4:32 says: Acts 4:32, “32 All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.” NLT.How awesomely different and beautiful this mindset is compared to what our current societal norm is. Society says to store up for the possibility of a storm in life, and God tells us to trust in Him when the storm comes.

            The first church had a loose grip, and in case we’re quick to say, “Well, they just didn’t have a lot so it was easy for them to have a looser grip,” I want you to remember Ananias and Sapphira who were struck dead because they lied about how loose their grip really was.

 

            This is simply not the place to make excuses for being seagulls. Because the truth is, it’s not yours. It never was. It’s God’s, and we’re the bank, sorry I mean the credit union. He invests with us, and hopes to see a good return on His investment. His measurement for that good return is how we love others with what we have. Release your grip, because it’s not yours. This is as hard a sermon for me to preach as it is for you to hear. Trust me.

 

            Everything about who we are today tells us that we have to hold tight onto what we have in order to survive. When all the while Jesus tells us that we have to let go in order to truly live.

 

            This is not a simple message of “Give to the church.” This is not the standard “giving” message folks like to grumble about—“Every time I go to church, they’re asking for money.” That’s not at all what this passage is about. It’s not at all what I am preaching. It would be easier to say, “Give it all to the church and we’ll be your clearinghouse.’”

 

            The truth is the first church didn’t demonstrate their love by giving to the corporate entity called the church; they loved by sharing everything with one another by giving to the personal entity called the church, the people.

 

            Though the apostles were helping with distribution, clearly they weren’t maintaining lawns, and purchasing curriculum. I want you to hear me there isn’t a thing in the world wrong with lawns and curriculum. The fault comes when we fail to meet the needs of people, because of lawns and curriculum. So release your grip, and ...

 

  1. Tighten your belt.

            Making room in our budgets to help people that’s exactly what the first church was doing; Acts 4:34-35, “34 There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them 35 and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.” NLT.

 

            The first-century church wasn’t keeping hope chests. They were not storing up for a rainy day. They weren’t even hanging on to their personal property! They were liquidating everything. They were getting rid of it all so they could demonstrate their love for their church.

 

            Now, I’m not proposing we all sell everything we have, and move into the fellowship hall together! I’m simply suggesting that if our lifestyles, mine included, keep us from being generous with the people around us, it’s time to tighten our belts just as those in the early church were doing. Here are a couple statements that I think all of us can relate to. Maybe I need a less expensive car. Maybe it’s time to drop cable/satellite television. Maybe I just need to live on some kind of budget so I can meet needs when they’re presented.

 

            What kind of opportunities do we have to step into the gap for someone else? What about the single mom who’s riding the bus to work, because her car is broken down. What about the family whose dad just lost his job, and who might lose their home. What about the retiree who has to choose between his prescriptions, because he can’t afford all of them or how about the promising college student who may have to drop out for lack of funds.

            See, I’m not talking about the homeless folks on the street corner. We need to help them too, but the way we communicate love for our church is by making sure we aren’t neglecting the needs of one another. And here’s a hard statement: The only way we can do that is if we know what those needs are!

 

            Don’t misunderstand what I am saying. I’m not saying it’s your responsibility to tell us what those needs are. I’m saying it’s our responsibility to know one another deeply enough to recognize them. To look well past the fences each of us have put up, and to truly know each other.

 

            And when we’re finally able to see past the fence, we need to be ready to act on what we see, because we’ve tightened our belt.  And once we’ve loosened our grips and tightened our belts, then we have the opportunity to ...

 

  1. Give it all away.

            Once the first church ditched its “mine, mine, mine” mentality, no one ever had a need. Needs were always met. So fervently met that this passage says: Acts 4:33-34, “33 The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. 34 There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them” NLT.

 

            And what was the result of that generosity? Testimony to the resurrection and life of Christ in them! People knew the truth of Jesus, because the apostles and the first-century church were busy giving their money and possessions to one another! It wasn’t a service project. It wasn’t a homeless shelter. It wasn’t a missions program. It was one another! The testimony was present, because they were loving one another!

 

            This is just an awkward message, isn’t it? And frankly, it’s an awkward passage. We’ve spent centuries trying to get beyond the four walls of the church in order to impact the community, to become more than a “holy huddle” or “spiritual country club,” and now it feels like this passage is saying we got it all wrong.

 

            But that’s not what it’s saying at all. I think what it’s illustrating is simply this: In our passion and fervor to reach beyond our walls, we can never forget to also reach within them. (x2)

            We have needs represented in this room right now that none of us know anything about. Maybe you recognized your situation a few moments ago. Maybe it’s some other need. We must love our church, these people who are our church, enough to see those needs, and then, like the first church, we must be willing to sacrifice it all to meet those needs.

 

            So, let’s do something courageous. Let’s do something crazy. I’m not selling my house or getting rid of my car today, but in my wallet right now I have some cash. It represents all I have right at this minute. (drop money in chest)

 

            What if we each did this? What if each of us gave just what we have in our wallets or purses right now? Maybe it represents our Starbucks run or lunch after church. Maybe it’s just the change we have left over after our recent run to the grocery store.

 

            Whatever it is it’s all we have in this moment. And what if we asked God to bless this offering we’re about to give, and to use it to communicate love for His church—His people, not His building?

            And then what ends up in this box was “distributed to each as any had need”: Acts 4:35, “35 and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.” NLT? I’m just asking you to simply pray, and see if this might be one time where you could part with everything to love someone who sits next to you every Sunday. While this music plays, consider it, and I want to challenge you to give as God prompts you.

 

CLOSING PRAYER

 

            Now this isn’t how we normally handle offerings here, and even in the first church I suspect they were a little more intentional about this. But one of the ways we communicate love to one another is through generosity. Another way is through honesty. We have a families in our church right now who are going through some difficult life situations, and this is an opportunity to step into the gap just like the first church did.

 

            Now it’s possible the box will empty before the needs do. What then? God wants us to be a people who share our needs as generously as we share our possessions. Share your needs. Maybe you want someone to pray with you about God’s intervention on your behalf.

            Understand me here, this exercise is as much about making sure everyone’s needs are met as it is about making sure we are willing to share those needs as we have them. This is a hard one, loosening our grip and giving. Loving our church is knocking down fences, picking up brooms, and giving it all back.

 

            Why should we live a like this? John Piper has the perfect answer to this question: John Piper, “The highest act of love is the giving of the best gift, and, if necessary, at the greatest cost, to the least deserving. That's what God did. At the loss of His Son's life to the totally undeserving, God gave the best gift - the display of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.”