Give it!
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In 1913, Dayton, OH experienced the greatest natural disaster in Ohio history. In March of that year, a series of severe winter rain storms hit the Midwest. Within three days, 8–11 inches of rain fell throughout the Great Miami River watershed on already saturated soil, resulting in more than 90 percent runoff. The river and its tributaries overflowed. The existing levees failed, and downtown Dayton was flooded up to 20 feet deep. By comparison, the volume of water that passed through the river channel during this storm equals the monthly flow over Niagara Falls. Approximately $100 million worth of property was damaged and 360 lives were lost.
The people of Dayton were determined to prevent a flood like that from ever happening again. The governor appointed people to the Dayton Citizens Relief Commission, and in May 1913, the commission conducted a 10-day fundraiser, collecting more than $2 million (in 1913 dollars) to fund the flood control effort. The result was the construction of the Miami Conservancy District’s flood control system, which has prevented flooding in this area more than 1,500 times since its completion.[1]
When water has no place to go, it can be destructive. The same can be said about our money. When we hoard our money and only use it to perpetuate our own selfishness and desire is can destroy us.
A generous heart is a heart like God’s. Our God is the picture of generosity. The Gospel is the ultimate story of generosity- for God so loved the world that HE GAVE his only Son. So when we are generous we look the most like God.
So, let’s think through 3 principals we need to remember for generosity.
First, generosity is objective
First, generosity is objective
The Bible sets the foundation of generosity at 10%— the tithe. I love how God does this, because 10% adjusts with your means. There is no flat fee- no $20 a month mentality. No matter how much income you have there is a call.
But the story of the widows mite reminds us that all of our gifts have value in the Kingdom of God even if our gifts are vastly different in eyes of the world. God can use, and will use all gifts that are given with a grateful heart.
Which means today that we must listen to God’s voice for what to give- we cannot allow man to dictate how we are generous. Some of us across this sanctuary are struggling to get by- living paycheck to paycheck; our 10% gift is sacrificial and takes a lot of faith to give each week. But there may be others in room who are in a different financial situation with a good amount of discresionary income. For them a 10% gift may not be a sacrifice at all- God may be calling them to give more in order to offer a sacrificial gift.
Jesus is not looking for a dollar amount, he is looking for a heart condition- grateful and sacrificial. We must avoid the pitfall of thinking that in order to get God’s blessing we need to give more money- that is not always true. We cannot buy God’s favor.
The question we need to ask ourselves is not how much to I have to give; but how much is God calling to me give...
Jim and Sherry....
Make plans to be generous
Make plans to be generous
2 Corinthians 9:7 says Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
I once heard a man say it is impossible to be accidentally generous. We must be generous on purpose.
They had already decided what to give- the Corinthian church had a plan to be generous.
Most of the time when I struggle to give it is because I have used all my money somewhere else. I was going to give my tithe, but we spent too much at the grocery store; I was going to give money to the homeless ministry, but then the car had a flat...
Our budget....
Can’t give 10% tithe right now? Ok, give what you can, but make a plan to get to 10%. Have a charity or a person you want to give to? Awesome, now put action to it and decide how you will do it.
I wonder, what would be different in our church, our community, and in our homes if each one of us left here today and made a plan- decided to be generous on purpose.
Well, let’s do some simple math for a second. There is at least 100 people in this room. If each one of us increased our giving by $100 this year- for those keeping count or Mrs Slater our math teacher- that is $1.92 a week we would have $10,000 more dollars to give to our community this year.
Wow, now I am betting that we can probably do better than that. What if we each made a plan to increase our giving $500 this year; that is $9.61 a week— you guessed it $50,000 could be pumped into our community.
A Hilarious Giver
A Hilarious Giver
One last note about 2 Corinthians 9. I love this.
Second Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” The translation here of “cheerful” comes from the Greek word hilaron, which comes from the same root hileos, from which we get the word “hilarious.” Are you ready for some laugh-out-loud, joy-filled, hilarious giving? Maybe you have been tithing for a while, but is God calling you to try more?
God loves a hilarious giver. I want to be hilariously generous. I want to be the kind of generous that someone laughs at me if they know what I am doing.