Meeting Jesus - Spontaneous Generosity
Are you a generous person? On a regular basis, do you demonstrate generosity in your life?
Now, before you roll your eyes and say to yourself, “Here we go. The Pastor is talking about money.” I am not.
Would your family, friends, and neighbors consider you to be a generous person?
Are you generous with your time?
Are you generous with food?
Here is a story about how I made a decision to be greedy with my time instead of living generously.
On Friday morning around 8:30, I put on my bike helmet and hopped on my bike to ride from my house to the beach. As I was passing the church, I saw cars and tables in the parking lot and remembered that it was “Food Distribution” day. I felt the compulsion, the desire in me to stay…then I heard the voice that said, “Its your day off. Keep riding your Bike.” So I pedaled off on my bike. I rode down to the beach, and up the coast to 48th. I used Google Maps to discover bike paths to ride to River Oaks Elementary.
But instead of taking me down nice, smooth, paved bike paths, my friend Google took me to Mountain Bike trails, with jumps, sudden down hill bursts, tight twists and turns…this was a trail for seasoned Mountain Bike riders, of which I am not!
My hands slipped off the handlebars a few times, I almost crashed.
I kept peddling, kept pushing, and kept pressing into my near death experience. I was exhausted. Cut through the underbrush and pedaled down the highway that had no bike trail…and you know how crazy the drivers are. By the time I made it to the school, my 50 year old body was worn out. My butt hurt. My legs hurt. My feet hurt. My eyelids hurt.
And I thought, “I sure wish I had been generous with my time and stayed at the church to help out.”
Today, all of my lower body is in pain! Greed can hurt! In more ways than one. Sometimes, when a loved one passes away, greed steps in and families fight over the property left behind, and relationships are strained or destroyed.
We can all learn lessons from a boy in Luke 9 that demonstrated generosity.
Luke 9:10-13a
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!
We see in the first few verses that Jesus did not plan on spending his day with this crowd of 5,000. Jesus wanted to spend time alone with his disciples talking with them about what they had just experienced. In the first few verses of chapter 9, Jesus gave his disciples the authority to heal diseases and cast out demons, then he sent them into neighboring towns and village. The disciples came back and they were so excited about what they had been able to do. They cast out demons, they healed people, they were excited, so Jesus pulled them aside to spend time listening to their joy and excitement. But the crowd found out where Jesus was going and followed him. So Jesus, gave generously of His time.
Jesus WELCOMED them and taught them about the Kingdom of God. While Jesus walked on the planet, his mission was to tell people about God’s love for them. The people were HUNGRY for the words of truth about God. Everywhere Jesus went, the crowds pressed in around him and followed him. People are still spiritually hungry to hear about God’s Kingdom of Love, forgiveness, hope and peace. Despite what we see on social media, I believe people are hungry to know God and the truth. People are hungry for church to focus on the mission of leading people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.
LIVING GENEROUSLY SUPPORTS THE MISSION OF JESUS
The mission of Jesus was to teach people about God’s Kingdom and communicate God’s love for them. If it had not been for this young boy willing to be generous with his food, some would not have experienced the mission of Jesus being unfolded in their lives.
Luke 9:12-13 (NLT2)
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.” “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?”
If the disciples had their way, they would have allowed their limited resources to end the dramatic life-change that was happening to the people in the crowd. Like parents of screaming toddlers, it was the end of the day and they were ready for their kids to be in bed. The crowd was tired and hungry. The Disciples were tired and hungry. Maybe they were all “hangry.” Hangry is when you get hungry and angry because there ain’t no food yet.
So, because everybody was hangry and there was no food, the disciples thought “send them away to find food and rest.” The crowd was tired and hungry, but it never dawned on the disciples that the crowd did not need Jesus permission to leave. Each person could have left anytime to go eat and rest.
They chose to stay because they were hearing about God’s Kingdom in a way that made sense. They were being fed spiritually, so they lingered in the presence of Jesus. I am so grateful that when Beach Church walked through the hard a couple of years ago with Covid and division, that the staff stuck it out because the mission of Jesus mattered!
Despite resources being limited, peoples lives were changed, baptisms increased, and the mission of Jesus continued. Similarly, this boy takes his lunch, his limited resources, gives it to Jesus, and the mission of Jesus continued. He could have been greedy, found a shady spot under a tree and stuffed his face. But somehow, this boy knew that if he was generous with his food, Jesus would be able to do something great with it.
Are you living generously like this?
Do you live generously in your home?
Are you generous in your time with your spouse?
Do you put down the remote, turn away from the television?
Do you put down your cell phone and live generously with your attention on your children?
You may think, “My time is limited. I do not have time to be generous.”
Let me say this, “You do NOT have time to NOT be generous.”
LIVING GENEROUSLY PROVIDES FOR YOU AND OTHERS
Luke 9:17 (NLT2)
17 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!
The boy, the one had had given away everything, ate as much as he wanted, too. When we live generously, God provides for our needs as well. When we seek to bless those around us, God provides for us as well. Feeding the 5,000 is an example of what Jesus taught in Luke 6:38 about generosity.
Luke 6:38 (NLT2)
38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”
This boy’s generosity is a clear example of God’s promise to bless those who are generous. He gave away his food. He put it in the hands of Jesus. And Jesus did far more with it than the boy ever could. The boy was fed. The crowd was fed and the mission of Jesus continued.
When we choose to live generously, we are choosing to trust God with our resources.
So, live generously.
If you have ever received bad service at a restaurant.
If a driver behind you at a light blew their horn when you did not accelerate immediately when the light turned green.
Live generously.
Bless the servers at your restaurant today with a generous tip, even if your food and service is bad.
Bless other drivers with a generous amount of patience. Instead of tooting your horn because the driver in front of you does not accelerate the second the light turns green, give them 5 seconds. Bless your family with generosity.
Leave the last slice of pizza for somebody else.
Do the laundry. Wash the dishes. Practice living generously because…
GENEROUS LIVING OFFSETS OUR INCLINATION TOWARD GREED.
2 Corinthians 9:6-7
6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”
When we are generous, we radiate God’s character. Think about how God has been generous to you.
God GAVE you life.
God GAVE you family.
God GAVE up his own son to die on the cross for you.
God GIVES you blessing after blessing after blessing.
When we are GENEROUS it allows God to BLESS US more.
Generosity says: I will bless others and trust God to bless me.
Greed lies and says: When I have enough, Ill bless others.
Generosity helps fulfill our mission to lead people to Jesus and aligns our heart with God.
Greed is never satisfied and always desires more. The only way to overcome the temptation to live out greediness is to practice generosity.
When we are generous on a regular basis – it opens the door to more of God’s blessings. Whoever sows BOUNTIFULLY will REEP BOUNTIFULLY. WHEN your HAND is OPENED and EMPTY GOD is going to put MORE in it to give to others. BUT there is a CAVEAT. YOU have to WANT to GIVE! God blesses CHEERFUL givers. God is not going to BLESS sour puss givers. He is not going to bless SCROOGE like givers. God is going to BLESS GIVERS who GIVE JOYFULLY. Not out of obligation. Not out of necessity.