SERMON
In the Way of Jesus
Proverbs
3: 5-10
Pastor
Many of the things we have learned and now do,
whether habits or behaviors are foundationally “modeled” activities. Even Jesus
modeled activity. In John 5 we hear Jesus give this answer to his disciples, “I
tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He can do only what he
sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For
the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he
will show him even greater things than these.”
As Christ Followers, our lives are intended to be modeled after Jesus. We are
to do what we see him doing. Jesus modeled every area of life for us – even
giving.
Jesus modeled giving WILLINGLY
Jesus modeled giving JOYFULLY
Jesus modeled giving SACRIFICIALLY
First, GIVING MODELED AFTER CHRIST IS GIVING WILLINGLY
Remember John 3:16? “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Giving willingness is based on love. For
God so loved the world because God is love.
God so loved that God gave God’s best for our best. God gave his Only Son for
the best of humanity. And we are to do the same. We too are to give our best
for another’s best. That means we will need to hold back our own needs at
times. It means we will need to sacrifice our self-interest for another’s
interests. God gave because God loves us.
God gave because God knew what sin would do to us without his giving.
I’m sharing quite a few Scriptures with you this morning and among them is
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were
still sinners, Christ died for us. God gave so that we might have life.” God
gave so because God loved. God gave so we might have abundant life.
We will not give biblically if we are not giving willingly. And for a gift to
be a gift it must be given willingly – An unwilling gift is little more than a
tax deduction contributed to the charity of my choice, the local church.
Secondly, GIVING MODELED
AFTER JESUS IS GIVING JOYFULLY
We read in Hebrews 12:1-2 that, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a
great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin
that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out
for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith,
who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat
down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
So much in our life ambushes joy:
Lifestyle stress, Relational Stress, Financial stress. What we want to happen
here at Skyline is for every person to give at the level that brings your
spiritual joy.
A traveler recently told me that one of most unusual sights in her trip to
When she asked about all of
these banks – quite unusual for the poorest country in the northern hemisphere,
she was told that these were not banks at all but places where people could bet
on the lottery numbers in America. If
they won, the place guaranteed to pay.
We bank on many things. We
take risks in the hope that the risk will be warranted and the return will be
great. But the focus on money as I shared in the children’s message can block
our vision.
When we hold a twenty-dollar bill up to our eyes and focus on the money, when
the money is held close (about a half inch from our face) then we cannot see
anything beyond it. We cannot even see the money itself clearly. Such shortsightedness
blurs our joy.
We need to stretch out our
arms and hold money at an arm’s length—Get some detachment from the power of
money and the attraction of the stuff of this world.
We will be most successful in
doing so when we again look to Jesus as our model.
Jesus fixed his attention beyond his present circumstances.
Jesus fixed his attention towards his goal.
Jesus fixed his attention of what brought spiritual joy.
Jesus defined his goal as obedience to God, which brought the salvation of the
lost and troubled people of the world.
We too need to focus on what will bring us the greatest joy.
It is not our circumstances.
It is to hear our Lord’s voice, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
“You have been faithful with
a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your
master’s happiness!”
Giving modeled after the way
of Jesus is GIVING WILLINGLY, it is GIVING JOYFULLY.
And, GIVING MODELED AFTER
CHRIST IS GIVING SACRIFICIALLY
I love the quote from C. S. Lewis: “I do
not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe
rule is to give more than we can spare.”
Jesus gave everything so that
we might live. Jesus gave everything so that we might remember that we belong
to God.
We are to follow the way of
Jesus.
I once heard a man say he was
never coming back to a particular church because all they ever talked about in
that church was give, give, give. I cannot think of a better definition of
Christianity than that: give, give, give. Give willingly. Give Joyfully. Give
sacrificially.
Thank you for modeling your
lives after Christ. I am aware, by the privileged place I hold as your pastor,
of your maturing in faith. As you grow in Christ, you inspire me in my
discipleship every day. For one of us to step forward in our walk with Christ,
then the whole church is a healthier community of faith.
Thank you for growing in
faith and generosity. Thank you for giving willingly, joyfully and even
sacrificially.