November 9, 2008 Message

Exodus 35:5; 2 Corinthians 8:1-15; Luke 12:15-21
“Extravagant Generosity”

When was the last time you got excited about 'Church Giving'? If you are honest, your answer might very well be, “Never!” – unless we count the times someone has asked us to give more. We get excited then don’t we? But I mean excited in a good sort of way - feeling positive about our giving, about our generosity. Throughout the history of the church, from the First century to today, Christians everywhere have discovered this one truth – that generosity enlarges the soul, realigns priorities, connects people to the Body of Christ, and strengthens congregations to fulfill Christ’s ministries.

Vibrant, fruitful, growing congregations practice extravagant generosity. People give generously to their church because they genuinely want to make a positive difference for Christ through the work of the church. They seek a higher purpose. They give because they love God and want to grow in love of neighbor. They give in response to the Spirit’s urging. They give joyously, generously, and consistently – and when they do, they feel good about themselves and what they have done. And because of all this, the ministries of the church are enriched and strengthened.

Generous congregations thrive with the joy of abundance rather than starve with the fear of scarcity.

There is a story about a children’s Sunday school class. The teacher was talking to them about the needs of a missionary the church was supporting and how they could help. She said, “Why don’t we give the missionary a million dollars?” And the class all cheered except for one little girl who thought it a lot to give.
Then the teacher said, “That’s a lot of money, I suppose, maybe we could give the missionary a hundred thousand dollars?” And again everyone cheered except for the little girl who again thought it a lot to give.
“How about a thousand dollars?” she asked. Again they all cheered except for the little girl. Then she said, “Well, what if we each gave the missionary one dollar?”
And a little boy who had been cheering all this time said, “No way!” When the teacher asked why not, he said, “Because I have a dollar!”

Extravagant Generosity is giving up “our dollar” or even more when we have it to give.

Generosity enlarges the soul and realigns priorities.. In the middle of a crowd someone yelled to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share… “ But Jesus’ response wasn’t about sharing or about being fair, it was about selfishness and self-centeredness. Jesus said, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). Then he told a parable.

Vibrant, fruitful, growing congregations practice extravagant generosity. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are rich beyond measure, aren’t we? So, what kind of giving suits us? And what does it mean for our generosity to be extravagant?

There is a story about Oprah Winfrey that could be true, although it is not. It seems Oprah was on her way to the studio one day to tape her TV program when a street beggar, quite boldly, approached her for help. He was hungry and asked for money for a hot meal. Oprah after hearing his request reached in her purse and then handed him a hundred dollar bill.
One of Oprah’s assistants was stunned at her generosity and said to her, “Wouldn’t ten dollars have met the beggar’s need. Why give him a hundred dollars?”
Oprah responded with the kind of conviction and certainty that characterized her accomplishments: “A ten dollar bill would have met his need, but a hundred dollars meets my giving.”

Extravagant giving suits who we are – followers of Jesus Christ – because it mirrors and mimics that of our Lord.

Generosity connects people to the Body of Christ. And as the Body of Christ we are able to continue the mission of Jesus Christ. Yet as much as we want to be part of that body, we somehow keep falling short. Being generous is hard. It’s our money right? Bishop Schnase says the one part of our lives that is the hardest to give over to the lordship of Jesus Christ is the financial part. As followers of Jesus we must ask whether we have allowed our wallets to be baptized along with the rest of us.

Giving reflects the nature of God. God’s treasure is love – for us. And that love is given generously to all creation. That is God’s nature. Jesus says to us, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Those words emphasize not only that how we spend our money reveals what sort of people we already are, but also what sort of people we become. Martin Luther, who sparked the Protestant Reformation, said “every Christian needs to experience three conversions: a conversion of the heart, a conversion of the mind, and a conversion of the purse.” Luther understood that unless we commit ourselves, including our money – to God, without reservation—unless we make Extravagant Generosity part of our spiritual formation—we will fall short.

Vibrant, fruitful, growing congregations practice extravagant generosity. In our study of the five fruitful practices, we are invited to practice living in an extravagantly generous way not because the church wants to be the object of our generosity but because it will change us. If we put our treasure—even our money—into our faith, our hearts will follow it there. The church’s task is to be a starting place for our doing just that. We are people who are on the same team, encouraging this faith developing skill in all of us.

Generosity strengthens congregations to fulfill Christ’s ministries. When those in the church practice Extravagant Generosity, the church radiates the resurrection life in this world; it reveals to the world that the kingdom of God has come into the present, and that this world, with all of its need, matters to God. In his letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul writes of the church at Macedonia, “…they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means,” (2 Cor. 8:4) and “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.” (2 Cor. 8:15)

Our giving, as Christian disciples, is a response to God’s call to make a difference in the world. Growing in the grace of giving is part of the Christian journey of faith, a response Christian disciples offer to God’s call to make a difference in the world.

Allan R. Bevere, First United Methodist Church, Cambridge, Ohio tells of a man he knew who practiced Extravagant Generosity in his life. The man was a mechanic who had saved and worked hard so he could buy a brand new car.
This man had a neighbor, an elderly widow, who drove a car that had seen its better days. Every time her car had a problem, the man would fix it for her free of charge because her income was fixed and was quite low. Sometimes he would accept a little for the cost of the parts because she insisted.
One Saturday, working once again on her car, he realized he was able to deal with her car and its problems, including the possibility of stalling by the side of the road, a lot better than she was so he drove his new car over to her house, and insisted she trade her car for his.

That’s the kind of generosity that should characterize all followers of Jesus Christ and suit who we are as the children of a loving and generous God, made in God’s image. Vibrant, fruitful, growing congregations practice extravagant generosity.

Partial source: “Children of God Practice Extravagant Generosity” by Allan R. Bevere, First UMC, Cambridge, Ohio