Proverbs, Practical Kingdom Living, #5: Sharing Generously. Sun., Oct. 12, 2014. Thanksgiving Sunday

- "Automaker Henry Ford was vacationing in Ireland when he was asked to contribute toward a new orphanage.  Ford wrote a check for £2000, which made headlines in the local newspaper. But the paper accidentally reported the gift as £20,000. The director of the orphanage apologized to Ford. "I'll phone the editor straightaway and tell him to correct the mistake," he said.

- "There's no need for that," Ford replied and promptly wrote a check for the additional £18,000.

- Whether to save face or not, Henry Ford gave more when given the opportunity.  A generous heart always responds to needs as it can.

- Obviously, one cannot meet all the needs of the world, but everyone must pray for guidance for the needs God wants us to meet.

- Solomon tried to teach his son that God expects his faithful children to be generous with those less fortunate than themselves.

- God may ask us for our time, treasure, or talent, but the resource and the amount are up to God.

- Having a heart that is ready to give and being open to God's leading are up to us.

- We are going to focus on a few Proverbs that will help us unpack today's take-home truth: When my heart is set on generosity, the Lord will guide my wallet.

- We are going to take a look at what generosity means in two ways.

- First, we will see that sharing generously means looking for ways to meet others' needs.

- Second, we'll see that sharing generously also means avoiding the sin of oppressing the poor.

- First, Sharing generously means looking for ways to meet others' needs.

- #1. Proverbs 3:27-28 emphasizes how giving freely lets me provide others what is needed without putting it off.

- Proverbs 3:27-28, "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, 'Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it' – when you have it with you."

- Solomon attempted to alert his son to a frequent sin of omission: not giving people what they should have.

- Solomon pointed out that it's not only inconsiderate to not pay someone what they are owed, but it is also unjust.

- In Bible times, the standard practice was to hire day laborers who would be paid at the end of each day, so that they could go and buy food and other necessities for their families.

- Imagine if someone hired you and then at the end of the day refused to pay you. You would go home without any money and you and your family would go to bed hungry.

- Those to whom it is due is not just the day laborer, but also the requests of the poor

- The Bible is clear. If you owe someone money or a reasonable request made of you, pay it without delay.

- Giving freely lets me provide others what is needed without putting it off.

- #2. Proverbs 11:24-26 emphasizes how giving freely frees me to grow without hoarding selfishly.

- Proverbs 11:24-26, "One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another with holds what he should give, and only suffers want.

          Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

          The people curse him who holds back grain, but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it."

- Verse 24 highlights the paradox of giving: when we give, we are freed to give more. However, when we refuse to give, holding on to what we have with tight fists, we will find we only want more.

- The Lord Jesus himself said that those who tried to keep their lives will lose them and those who give up their lives for his sake and for the sake of the gospel will find them.

- In verse 25, Solomon was drawing the attention of his son to the importance of having an open hand and generous heart when giving to the poor.

- He would discover in his efforts to refresh the lives of others that he also would be refreshed by those he helped as well as by God.

- Verse 26 brings up the issue of hoarding, which is a kind of greed.

- In Old Testament times, grain was often used in trade.

- Imagine a wealthy landowner purposefully choosing to keep his grain off the market in order to drive up prices, much like how wealthy oil barons keep their oil off the market in order to keep the price of oil and gas high.

- The goal of the wealthy landowner was to extract more money out of the little people, to get rich off the backs of those less fortunate than he.

- Of course, ordinary people would curse him, but they would bless the one who sold his grain for the lower price.

- Giving freely frees me to grow without hoarding selfishly.

- #3. Proverbs 19:17 and 22:9 largely emphasize the same point. Giving freely lets me bless the poor and be blessed in return.

- Proverbs 19:17, "Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed."

- Proverbs 22:9, "Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor."

- Giving freely lets me bless the poor and be blessed in return.

- The poor cannot help themselves, so a compassionate person is a person who takes action to give them help.

- Giving to the poor is like lending to the Lord because God will bless deeds of love.

- Through the Bible, God calls the 'have not' attitude to the mat.

- Any time I think, "I cannot afford to be generous, I barely have enough for me," I am telling God, "I don't want to be blessed because I'm stingy."

- Sharing with the poor out of what you have God sees as an invitation for him to bless.

- Giving freely lets me bless the poor and be blessed in return.

- One more proverb about how sharing generously means looking for ways to meet others' needs.

- #4. Proverbs 25:14, "Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give."

- Come with me in your imagination for a moment: The parched land cries out for rain, the soil so dry it cracks, the breeze baked land left barren.

- Great thunderheads loom overhead promising rain, but roll on by, the thunder echoes in the distance and lightning flashes, but the earth is ruined and waterless.

- Bitter is the boasting of a promise unkept.

- Solomon presents an ugly picture of one who brags about how much he's going to give and fails to deliver.

- When my heart is set on generosity, the Lord will guide my wallet.

- We now come to the second idea that Solomon was teaching his son, that sharing generously also means avoiding the sin of oppressing the poor.

- #1. Proverbs 14:31 emphasizes that giving freely to the needy honors the Lord.

- Proverbs 14:31, "Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him."

- It's easy to discuss the oppression of the poor on a strictly human level or the importance of the social issue of being kind to the needy.

- Solomon, however, pushes our buttons at the deepest spiritual level by confronting us with the truth: contempt for the poor is in reality contempt for our Lord and Maker.

- A lack of concern for the poor shows a lack of concern for our standing before God.

- Caring for the poor and the needy, on the other hand, comes from a heart that seeks to honor the Lord and serve the less fortunate and underprivileged who occupy a special place in God's heart.

- Giving freely to the needy honors the Lord.

- #2. Proverbs 22:22-23 emphasize that those who steal from the poor will be punished.

- Proverbs 22:22-23, "Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate, for the Lord will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them."

- Only the nation of Israel in the ancient world is the Lord God presented as the one who protects the poor, the widow, the fatherless, and the stranger.

- The wealthy and the influential may be able to take advantage of the poor through the abuse of their power, but in the end God himself will take them to task and prosecute them in his court where they are sure to be judged.

- Those who steal from the poor will be punished.

- #3. Proverbs 29:7 emphasizes that righteous people stand up for what's right for the poor.

- Proverbs 29:7, "A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge."

- Those who walk with God in right relationship with him through Jesus Christ have a genuine desire to see justice for the poor and are concerned personally about the plight of the poor and look for ways to get involved and take a stand for what's right.

- The wicked have no such concern. They don't even understand what it means to be concerned about the poor because they don't know right from wrong.

- Righteous people stand up for what's right for the poor.

- When my heart is set on generosity, the Lord will guide my wallet.

- Well, how do we apply all this to our lives? I want to suggest three possible ways.

- #1. Entrust your resources to the Lord (time, treasure, and talents).

- In first Corinthians chapter 6, Paul told the Corinthians, "You are not your own, you were bought at a price."  Paul was talking about their bodies, but this word applies to all that we have and all that we are.

- We are called to honor God with our possessions and finances, i.e., our treasures.  We are called to honor God with our bodies by giving of our time in service to others and by using our talents, skills, abilities, and spiritual gifts to honor God and serve others.

- Entrust your resources to the Lord, giving of your time, treasure, and talents.

- Is there a ministry you could make a difference in if you were involved? Consider what you enjoy doing, your gifts, skills, talents and abilities, as well as the amount of time and/or money you have to offer.

- #2. Trust God to meet your needs as you tithe and give sacrificially.

- God promises to bless those who faithfully obey the command to give 10% of their income and give sacrificially to meet others' needs.

- Deuteronomy 14:22 and 29, "You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year-by-year. …that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do."

- Let's really believe it so that we do it.

- #3. Because God cares for the poor, He expects his people to do the same.

- Deuteronomy 15:11, "For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, 'You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.'"

- When my heart is set on generosity, the Lord will guide my wallet.

- The Mazatec Indians of southwestern Mexico have a unusual outlook on giving. They believe that there is only "so much" of anything they have to give. E.g., they rarely wish someone well. Not only that, they are reluctant to teach one another or to share the gospel with each other. If asked, "Who taught you to bake bread?" the village baker answers, "I just know," meaning he has gained the know-how without anyone's help. This strange behavior comes from Mazatec concept of "limited good." They believe there is only so much good, so much knowledge, so much love to go around. To teach another means you might drain yourself of knowledge. To love a second child means you have to love the first child less. To wish someone well – have a good day – means you have just given away some of your own happiness, which cannot be got back.

- This kind of thinking is exactly the reverse of the truth; it contradicts the clear teaching of the Bible.

- God is able to multiply our resources for every good work that he wants us to do.

- As the psalmist wrote, the Lord owns the cattle on thousand hills.

- The more you love, the more you can love.

- The more you give, the more you are able to give.

- In God's economy, the more you give, the more God will bless your giving.

- The Lord Jesus said, "Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you," Luke 6:38.

- When my heart is set on generosity, the Lord will guide my wallet.