Be Generous
The Covenant • Sermon • Submitted
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· 3 viewsStealing what belongs to others is a denial of God's sufficient provision.
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August Prayer Focus - Each month, we pray for the church to have certain characteristics that define who we are and who God wants us to be. For the month of August, I’m asking you to join me in prayer that Crestview will be a place of MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS. God puts around us certain people that need to know him, and has brought us together to be more than just a club or a loose association of acquaintances. Pray that God will help us deepen relationships with others, both here and out there, and that he will use us as instruments of grace toward others.
Fellowship Meal - This Wednesday is fellowship meal night. We’re having hot dogs with all the fixin’s, so come join us. Dinner will be served at 6:30, and we’ll have Bible studies afterwards. Don’t miss out!
Nicole Bazzell - OCC
Darrell Baker - anniversary
Reading: Deuteronomy 5:19
19 “ ‘And you shall not steal.
Pray
We have a third commandment this morning which is very simple. Again, like the sixth and seventh commandments, the commandment before us contains only two words in the Hebrew: “not”, and “you will steal.” And like the prior commands prohibiting murder and adultery, this prohibition deals directly with living in community with others. We are to respect the property of others, just as we are to respect the lives and the marriages of others.
What Does This Commandment Reveal about God?
But I’d like to look at this commandment first from the theological perspective. What does the prohibition against stealing tell us about God? I believe that it points to one major character trait of God’s that fills just about every page of Scripture:
God Is Generous
God Is Generous
Take a gander at Scripture and you’ll see that God is a giving sort of God. He isn’t stingy or greedy, he’s not misery or parsimonious. He gives, and he gives very liberally. For us who are children of God, we need look no further than in the mirror to see how much God has given us. In Ephesians 2, Paul lays out our “rags-to-riches” story. He tells in verses 1-3 about how bad off we where before Christ. He says we were dead in our sins, following the influence of Satan himself and engaging in the fleshly desires that would destroy us. Then verse 4:
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Do you see the generosity of God on display? We were totally against God - vile, wretched sinners. But he loved us anyway, and gave us eternal life in him! To quote Dr. Chuck Kelley, there’s a Hebrew word for this: WOW! God’s goodness to us is unsurpassed by anything we can do, and shows us just how generous God is!
There are other passages that show God’s generosity. Just look through the Torah and you’ll see time after time God talking about giving Israel the land of his promise. He gives them manna to eat, directions by a cloud and pillar of fire to follow, water from rocks, and clothes and sandals that never wear out! (It’s too bad they don’t make clothes like that anymore!). Look carefully and you’ll see that
He Gives Lovingly
He Gives Lovingly
Notice the connection between the love of Christ and his ministry:
35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.
36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Even the most famous Bible verse connects God’s generosity with his love:
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Not only does God give lovingly, but
He Gives Willingly
He Gives Willingly
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells the crowd:
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
James also shows that God’s will and generosity are linked:
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
God’s perfect nature is one of generosity. Third, notice that
He Gives Abundantly
God’s giving isn’t limited to some constraint. God is able to give and give and give and still not lack. Look at the generosity of God on display in 2 Corinthians 9:8-11:
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
Did you see the number of alls and everys in that passage? God gives all grace for all sufficiency in all things at all times for every good work. We are enriched in every way so we can be generous in every way. He gives seed and food, so he will multiply our supply so we can increase our harvest of righteousness. Do you see how generous God is?
What Does This Commandment Require of Us?
So we have a generous, gracious God. But look back at the commandment:
19 “ ‘And you shall not steal.
The command is stated in the negative, because we as people often scheme to “cheat.” We don’t want to do things God’s way - at least, not in our flesh. We would rather cheat and swindle, lie and hustle and connive to get what we want. In other words, we’d rather be greedy and take it than be generous and give it. But God calls us to a different way of living.
God Calls Us to Be Generous, Not Greedy
God Calls Us to Be Generous, Not Greedy
There are numerous Scriptures that voice this calling of God. Throughout the Law, Israelites were called to lend freely to other Israelites so that all would have their needs supplied. Psalm 37:21 gives us a contrast, much like many of the Proverbs, between the righteous and the wicked:
21 The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives;
God promises good for those who demonstrate generosity to the poor:
17 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.
We read earlier from 2 Corinthians 9:8-11, but look at verse 7:
7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
God’s expectation of us is that we will give, and do so out of a heart of love.
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
When we are looking out for each other rather than only for ourselves, we are exhibiting the attitude of Christ. We are showing God’s generosity, birthed out of a thankful heart for all God has done and in love for those around us.
Stealing involves three specific actions, and we must be careful to avoid all of them:
Do Not Take What Others Have
Do Not Take What Others Have
28 Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set.
That’s a specific example, but the general principle is that we should respect the property of others because God has given it to them, and not us. But the command goes beyond just taking what others have:
Do Not Deny What Others Deserve
Do Not Deny What Others Deserve
Not only should we respect the property others have, but we should also honor what others deserve. Proverbs 3:27 says it plainly:
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.
Paul says in Romans 13:
7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
Whenever you can give what is due, give it. Pay your bills on time, or make arrangements when necessary. When Jesus was asked about taxes, he said to “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s...” When someone deserves credit for a good idea, give it. Whenever someone deserves something that you have, do not deny it. Give them what they deserve (at least, the good stuff - you can deny a punch in the nose if that’s what they deserve!). But there’s a third step we must take:
Do Not Withhold What Others Need
Do Not Withhold What Others Need
It’s one thing to outright steal from someone. That’s brazen. But to just keep something from them that they need - that’s cold. In fact, that might just be the worst kind of theft. God calls us not only to keep from taking someone else’s stuff, but also to have the integrity to provide for their needs when we are able. Deuteronomy 22 starts with a case in point:
1 “You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother.
2 And if he does not live near you and you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall stay with you until your brother seeks it. Then you shall restore it to him.
3 And you shall do the same with his donkey or with his garment, or with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he loses and you find; you may not ignore it.
4 You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again.
Sometimes we think something like this: we say to ourselves, “well, I can just hide this from them and they’ll never know.” Maybe, but God will, and so will you. God wants us to be so generous in fact, that we are even willing to help our enemies:
4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him.
5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.
James tells us that, even if we have good intentions but don’t provide what we are able to give, then it is no good at all:
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
God calls us to be generous. But we are naturally greedy. We only look out for ourselves. What we need is a generous God to lavish his love and graciousness upon us, so that we can be generous to others out of gratitude for his abundant gifts.