Kids today have some AMAZING costumes! They've got full-blown BATMAN suits, SPIDER-MAN suits, IRON MAN suits. They look like they just walked off the set of a Marvel movie!
When I was a kid, we didn't have costumes like that! We had CHEAP, PLASTIC, PINCHY masks.
The mask had two tiny holes for your eyes. The eye hole edges would CUT into one of your eyelids. You'd be walking around the neighborhood with one eye closed, the other eye watering, yelling, “TRICK OR TREAT!”
Yet somehow, we SURVIVED.
Now, think about how STRANGE this holiday really is…At CHRISTMAS, we give gifts to people we KNOW and LOVE. But on HALLOWEEN…we give gifts to complete STRANGERS!
These kids show up at our FRONT DOOR. And then they THREATEN us!
“TRICK OR TREAT!”
That's basically saying, “Give me something GOOD, or something BAD is going to happen to you!” Terrorists.
And we SMILE! We tell them how GREAT they look! We reach into a bowl and give them CANDY! Sometimes we even tell them to TAKE MORE! We are GENEROUS to children we've NEVER MET! And we LOVE doing it!
Now, wouldn't it be something if we treated people that generously the other 364 days of the year?
What if we were just as eager to GIVE when somebody needed our TIME?
What if we were just as willing to GIVE when somebody needed our HELP?
What if GENEROSITY became more than something we practiced on a holiday?
Today, we're continuing our series, MIRACLES and we're going to discover something about GENEROSITY that I believe can CHANGE the way we live.
YOUR generosity may lead to a MIRACLE in somebody else's life.
Luke 9:10-13a (NLT2)
10 When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then he slipped quietly away with them toward the town of Bethsaida. 11 But the crowds found out where he was going, and they followed him. He welcomed them and taught them about the Kingdom of God, and he healed those who were sick. 12 Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.” 13 But Jesus said, “You feed them.”John 6:8-9 (NLT2)
8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. 9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”Luke 9:13b-17 (NLT2)
“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” 14 For there were about 5,000 men there. Jesus replied, “Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 So the people all sat down. 16 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. 17 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!
This day did NOT turn out like Jesus had planned. This day was supposed to be a day of rest. Jesus had sent the twelve out to preach and to heal, and they had just returned full of stories and adventures. Jesus WANTED to HEAR their stories. Jesus wanted to REST, chill out, and take a break.
Mark 6:31 (NLT2)
31 Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.
So many PEOPLE were coming and going that Jesus and his disciples didn't even have time to eat! The PEOPLE had worn them all OUT. But rather than taking 12 exhausted men somewhere with no crowd…rather than taking a day off…because the crowd found out where he was and followed….The plans of Jesus changed. Instead of having lunch with twelve men ---he had to feed 5,000 people.
So…the first thing we learn about generosity today is…
GENEROSITY puts people before CONVENIENCE
Jesus WELCOMED the crowd and TAUGHT them. He did not sigh. He did not send Peter out to explain that the Rabbi was unavailable today. He welcomed them. He taught them. He healed them.
Jesus had every reason to send the crowd away. Instead, He gave them His time, His attention, and brought meaningful life-change to their lives.
Too often, for us…convenience is the deciding factor in whether we care for people. We see in this MIRACLE that GENEROSITY puts people before CONVENIENCE.
Yes – we have to rest.
Yes – we have to protect our time.
But the generosity Jesus demonstrated is His willingness to respond compassionately when people interrupted His rest. So, if we are going to LOVE our neighbor as we LOVE ourselves, we must ALSO be willing to be INCONVENIENCED for others.
So what does generosity look like this week? It does not start with your checkbook. It starts with answering the phone.Walking across the yard. Getting up with the baby before anybody else. Taking your day off and handing it to somebody else.
YOUR generosity may lead to a MIRACLE
Now – let’s talk about the boy. The crowd of 5,000 men, plus women and children, was fed that day because of this kid's GENEROSITY. The boy could have easily justified KEEPING his food to himself. He could have found a shady spot under a tree and stuffed his face. He could have said, “Not my PEOPLE, not my PROBLEM.” But for some reason, this boy BELIEVED that if he gave his food to Jesus, Jesus might do something MORE with it.
Let me ask, does your TRUST in GOD LEAN into this type of GENEROSITY?
We tend to think of generosity as something we do with our MONEY. But generosity is also what we do with our TIME, our ATTENTION, our ENCOURAGEMENT, and our RESOURCES. And I see this kind of GENEROSITY happening all the time here at Beach Church!
Some of you are GENEROUS with your HOMES. You open your doors and invite people into your LifeGroups. You spend extra time CLEANING before everybody arrives. And then, when everybody leaves, you have to CLEAN all over again! You create a place where people can build friendships, encourage one another, and grow in their relationship with Jesus. That's GENEROSITY!
And then there is our Tuesday Crew…Every Tuesday, we have a group of volunteers who come to Beach Church and WORK! They're painting, repairing things, carpentry, and doing whatever needs to be done. They're giving their TIME and using their SKILLS to serve this church. That's GENEROSITY!
And some of you have RESOURCES that could make an incredible difference in somebody else's life. Maybe you've got an old vehicle sitting in your driveway. It doesn't RUN great… and you're not going to FIX it. What if you were GENEROUS and donated that vehicle to Beach Church?
Maybe we could find somebody willing to repair it and then give it to a single mom or a family that desperately needs transportation. Think about the difference that could make! Something that seems SMALL to YOU could make an ENORMOUS difference to somebody ELSE.
That boy’s lunch WAS insignificant compared to the needs of thousands of people. But Jesus took what was AVAILABLE and did something EXTRAORDINARY. YOUR generosity may lead to a MIRACLE!
We often hesitate to be GENEROUS. We worry that if we GIVE something away, we won't have enough LEFT for ourselves.
Look at the very last verse of this passage…
Luke 9:17 (NLT2)
17 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!
WHO ate as MUCH as they wanted? ALL. Jesus. The Disciples. The Crowd…AND the little boy!
A BIBLICAL principle UNFOLDS in this MIRACLE…
The GIVER became the GETTER
When we are GENEROUS, we often discover that WE are the ones who experience the BLESSING! When we generously FORGIVE someone who has hurt us, we experience the PEACE that comes from letting go of bitterness and resentment. When we generously invest our TIME into the lives of others, we develop stronger friendships and more meaningful RELATIONSHIPS. When we generously ENCOURAGE someone who's struggling, we often walk away ENCOURAGED ourselves! When we generously SERVE others we experience the JOY of knowing we made a difference in somebody else's life. When we generously share our RESOURCES to meet someone else's needs, we discover that what we HAVE becomes more meaningful when we SHARE it!
We often worry about what GENEROSITY will COST us. But we rarely stop to consider what GENEROSITY might GIVE us! THE GIVER becomes the GETTER!
Who needs your encouragement this week?
Who needs your forgiveness?
Who needs your attention?
Who needs you to put down your phone, change your plans, or make a sacrifice?
Who needs someone to show up and demonstrate the LOVE of JESUS?
We cannot perform miracles…But we CAN be GENEROUS.
To those of you today needing something from Jesus. You may be exhausted. You may be hurting. You may feel like you have absolutely nothing left to give. I want you to remember something we read earlier. When the crowds followed Jesus, HE WELCOMED THEM.
He knew their needs.
He saw their suffering.
And He responded with COMPASSION.
And that same Jesus loves YOU.
He gave His LIFE for you. He died for your sins, and He rose again so that you could experience forgiveness and NEW LIFE. Today, you can come to Him.
You don't have to earn His love.
You simply need to CHOOSE to COMMIT to FOLLOW HIM.