Values: Every Person Blesses
March 11, 2021
When was the last time you were the recipient of someone’s generosity? What was it like for you? How did it make you feel? Becky and I were the recent beneficiaries of an act of generosity. The week we were gone on vacation in California our lodging was given to us to enjoy by some good friends. All week long I was buoyed by this strong sense of appreciation. We felt loved and honored. Blessed. We were so grateful, and we still are!
I imagine how we feel is little bit like how the little girl Troy Gardner told you about last week felt. That’s right, we heard all about her story. About this sad little girl who lost her parents and didn’t want to participate with the Shoe Box celebration in her village. This little girl wearing the Dora shirt, who was eventually handed a box full of Dora the Explorer items. I can only imagine her joy, her sense of appreciation and the reality that God truly did love her. That one act of generosity changed her life.
That’s the thing about generosity. When you’re the recipient of someone’s generosity you can’t help but feel loved. And then, when you’re the giver of generosity, such giving is never done out of duty, it’s always done from a place of love. That’s one of the reasons why extravagant generosity has always been one of the core values of Rock Springs Church. Extravagant Generosity is one way we get to share the love of God in a tangible way. Extravagant Generosity is one way we get to be the blessing God has called us to be.
In fact, this value has been part of Rock Springs from the very beginning. I love how our church continues to give above and beyond what is budgeted to feed people through the Eloy Food Bank. We’ve shared an outpouring of love to the people of Eloy through that Food Bank since the Fall of our first year together. Then there’s our giving to Regeneration Church. I love how every year our church has increased its giving to help support Mark Porter’s ministry to the broken and forgotten people of Ocean Beach. And I love how many have given to support our short term mission trips to Ocean Beach, and how some of you have even given your time and energy to go and love on the people of Ocean Beach. And of course there’s Operation Christmas Child. Every year we’ve given more and more boxes and funds to help bless children around the world with a tangible expression of God’s love. But there’s more: Whenever there’s been a crisis, you’ve stepped up and given. From Hurricane Relief in Houston to aiding those who were displaced by the Paradise Fires, you have always been generous. So, it’s not hard to see how this value permeates who we are as God’s people.
So today, we’re going to take a fresh look at this value of Extravagant Generosity, and see what God has done for us to help us embrace this value as we seek to live out our vision of people helping people become friends, family and followers of Jesus. In fact, today were’ going to look at three ways God helps us to be a blessing through extravagant generosity.
And the first way God helps us to bless others with this value is through: God’s Love for Us Jesus said it this way: For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Generosity begins in the heart of God. God’s extravagant generosity to us… to give us His best, to give us His Son to die for us was initiated by His love for us. That’s what love does. God loved us because God saw our desperate need. He saw how our sin caused us to go our own way, alienating us from His loving presence. He saw how our sin blinded us from the wisdom of His ways, so we are left to figure out life on our own. He saw how our sin led us to live selfish lives that ruined relationships. And He saw how our sin led us to live lives void of meaning, purpose and peace. So out of His great love for us God gave us His Son. He gave His best. He gave us His all. And so Jesus became one of us, lived a sinless life so that He could offer up His life on the cross to save us from our sin. That’s extravagant generosity. God loved us so much He gave His all for us.
And now, when you receive God’s gift of love in Jesus, God not only forgives you, but He gives you so much more. Paul says it this way in Romans 8, He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? So what Has God given you through His Son?
He’s given you eternal life: You can now know the One who created you to know Him and love Him. Jesus promised this: Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:3
He’s given you a peace that surpasses understanding. He’s given you His peace.
He’s given you freedom from the penalty and power of sin. There is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ.
He’s given you a whole new life: The moment you trusted in Jesus God made you a new creation in Christ. God removed your heart of stone and gave you a new heart, a new nature. And now His law is written on your heart, so you willingly live to please God.
He’s given you the unspeakable joy of being reconciled to Him and the unshakable hope of knowing you belong to Him forever.
And He’s given you a love that will never end: And He pours His love into your heart the moment you believe. And now you are the object of His love forever. There will never be a moment when God takes His loving eyes off of you.
So now, it is God’s love for you that gives you a love for others. John reminds us of this truth by writing: This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10 And now, because God loved us with His extravagant generosity in Jesus, we can be generous in our love to others. God’s love for us is the motive behind this value of extravagant generosity.
God’s love for us is the reason we give of our time to serve one another. God’s love for us is the reason we give of our treasures to feed the people or Eloy, or love the broken of Ocean Beach, or send Shoe Boxes to children around the world. God’s love for us is why we give our offerings, give our time, and give our talents to be a blessing to others. For when we give out of love, that’s when we are most like God. So then, it is God’s love for us that unlocks our potential to be generous.
So God’s love for us helps us give of ourselves to bless others. But that’s not all God has done for us. A second thing God has done for us is seen in 2. Christ’s Attitude to us Paul describes Christ’s attitude toward us in 2 Corinthians: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:8-9
Think of Jesus with me for a minute. Jesus came to the world as a “rich” person. As the Son of God, He was rich in position. He had all the rights and privileges of God the Father. He was equal with God the Father in power. He had all authority on heaven and earth. But in Philippians 2, Paul unpacks for us the attitude Jesus had in coming to live among us. Paul writes, speaking of Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Philippians 2:6-7 Jesus was rich, but he became poor for us: He gave up His position. He gave up His power. He gave up His privileges. The Bible is very clear on this. He made himself nothing. He took the lowest position, by taking the very nature of a servant.
This is key in understanding how we can be generous like Jesus. In his becoming poor, in his becoming a servant, Jesus could now serve anyone – He could give himself away for anyone. This is why he became poor – so you might become rich. Not rich in the monetary sense – but rich in the spiritual realm. For the Bible teaches over and over again, that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation – the old you is gone, and the new you in Christ has come. And that new you, that spiritual person in Christ, is now an adopted Son of God with all the rights and privileges of Jesus. Jesus gave up all so He could give us all that belongs to Him. And now when you believe in Jesus you become a co-heir with Jesus. You become rich in Jesus: You gain His inheritance, His identity, His peace, His privileges, His nautre– everything! That’s one amazing act of generosity.
Here’s just one example of what Jesus gave you: When Jesus came to us the Bible says we were spiritually poor. The Bible says our righteous acts were as filthy rags. In other words, apart from Jesus we were morally bankrupt, we were spiritually dead. We had nothing to stand on before God. But when Jesus came, he changed this about us. Hear what God’s Word says: But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. Romans 3:21-22
What righteousness is given? Jesus’ righteousness is given to you when you believe in Him. The perfect, pure, sinless righteous character of Jesus Christ was given to you through your union with Jesus by faith. The moment you put your trust in Jesus, God completely filled your moral bank account with Christ’s righteousness. And when that truth sinks in, it sets you free. No more having to prove yourself to God – the pressure’s off. Jesus made you right with God – for ALL the righteousness of Christ has been given to you. And that’s the extravagant generosity of God!
But let’s look again at the attitude that allowed Jesus to be so generous to us. What was his attitude? It’s was His attitude of humility. Jesus emptied himself so He could serve us. You see, when most of us hear this word “generosity,” the first thing we think of is giving away money. But Jesus didn’t give money. He gave us so much more. JESUS GAVE US HIMSELF!
This is the most challenging aspect of extravagant generosity. Because if we are honest with ourselves – this is where we struggle. In our fallen nature we are naturally selfish. We can be selfish with our time, our attention, and our lives. This challenges me. I hope it challenges you. Giving generously is so much more than just writing a check. It’s really about giving yourself to serve others. It’s about putting yourself on the back burner and putting the needs of others ahead of your own. That’s what Jesus did, and that’s what made Him a blessing. And that’s how you and I can be a blessing too!
It’s in having the attitude of Christ – this attitude of humility, that will unleash you to be a blessing to others. This attitude is what makes it easy to be generous. It’s this selfless giving of ourselves that makes our generosity genuine. Are you starting to see why having the attitude of Christ helps us to be generous? With this attitude we can give freely and abundantly without every expecting anything in return. And when we do that, we will be a blessing.
So then just what is it that God would have us give? Would He have us give our time? Yes. Would He have us give our treasures? Absolutely. Would He have us give ourselves? Without question. But even the world can give all those things. So what’s the one thing we could give that would make us most like God? Well, this is the final aspect of extravagant generosity I want to unpack for us today. The thing that makes our generosity different from the world is this:
God’s Grace in Us Listen to Luke’s description of what made the early church different. In Acts 4, Luke describes the source of their generosity: All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. Acts 4:32-35
What a picture of extravagant generosity! It was this kind of generosity that turned the world upside down. First, All the believers were one in heart and mind. They were unified by God’s grace. Each one had experienced the mercy of God in the forgiveness of sin, and each one had received the grace of God through their new life in Christ. They all shared the same hope, the same love and the same Savior. All because of God’s freely gave to them what they did not deserve.
Next, we see that No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. In other words, being reconciled to God had changed their view of their possessions. They now realized they owned nothing. God was the owner. They were simply stewards of whatever God had given them. So since their stuff was God’s stuff, they held their possessions loosely, and shared them with whoever was in need. They shared their possessions, their treasures, their finances. Some even sold land or houses to give to help those in need. Everyone practiced generosity!
Then we see that, With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus changed them. No longer was life about putting food on the table, clothes on their backs or worrying about their Roman oppressors. They knew someone who was so much greater than anyone in this world. They knew Jesus. Jesus had risen. Jesus was alive. And with this knowledge their confidence soared, and freed them to be grace peddlers in a world devoid of grace.
And so Luke records this amazing legacy: And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. ALL had been transformed by God’s grace. All had been set free from guilt and shame. ALL knew God loved them. ALL had the certain hope of eternal life. And ALL believed Jesus as alive and living in them. So God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. That’s what God’s grace does! When God’s grace takes hold in your heart, it makes you a gracious person. Giving becomes second nature. You want to give. You want to help because God has helped you!
I’d like to think the same thing could happen again in our day. I’d like to think that the same grace that worked in those first Christians is working in us today. And I’ve seen it. Last year, Crossroads Church, through its three locations in Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio raised enough money in one weekend to pay off the medical debt of nearly 45 thousand households. Just this past week a Church in Oklahoma purchased 3.8 million dollars of medical debt that forgave the debt owed by 1,327 residents in Coal, Garvin, Hughes, Pontotoc, and Seminole counties. When God’s grace works in God’s people, God’s people will be extravagantly generous!
And all it takes is unleashing God’s grace in us to be a blessing wherever there’s a need. And if there’s one thing our world needs desperately today it’s grace. It’s how God means us to be His heart, His hands and His feet in a dying world. It’s letting God’s grace in you move you to help a neighbor in need. It’s letting God’s grace in you move you to look for ways to bless others. It’s letting God’s grace in you initiate kindness, become an encourager, to make yourself available to serve. It’s letting God’s grace in you move you to give yourself to love on a single mom in Eloy. It’s letting God’s grace in you move you to mentor a high school girl who wants to go to college. It’s letting God’s grace in you move you to open your home to make new people feel loved and included. It’s letting God’s grace in you move you to sit with a brother when he needs you, or cook a meal to encourage someone going through a tough time.
You see, God’s grace in us is our most powerful asset as God’s people. For when we give of our time, our treasures, or most importantly – of ourselves. That’s when we’re most like God. You rarely see this quality in people today, let alone in churches. For we live in a world where everyone “looks out for number one.” Yet, Jesus came into our world to show us another way. Jesus gave His all, so He could change us all – that we might give like Him – and be a blessing.
May Jesus continue to change us by His love, His humility and His grace so that we might give ourselves like He did, and be the blessing God calls us to be!
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