[00:00:01] Welcome to the River Church podcast. We're all about bringing the life, hope and love of Jesus to everyone around us. For more information, check out our
[email protected] so we're continuing our series called Forgotten Pathways.
[00:00:19] And today you're going to get two for price of one. So we're putting two together. Generosity and service.
[00:00:28] And no, I don't want to join the hotspot. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:34] So when we do a series like this, it can be quite tempting to think these 10 pathways that we're looking at. Solitude, Sabbath, fasting, generosity, service, community, confession, witness, scripture, prayer. It's tempting to say, wonder which is the most important. Have you found yourself doing that? So you've looked through these things? You think, I wonder. You know this one? Yeah, I'm looking forward to this one. I'm not really so bothered about this one down here.
[00:01:01] That's not so important.
[00:01:03] I think the answer to that question is they're all important, okay? They're coming from the Bible, therefore that's a clue as to why they're important.
[00:01:12] But I think for us who live in a relatively affluent society where we don't really know a lot about poverty, and I'm not going to decry people who are struggling to make ends meet, it's very real and I appreciate that. But compared to people in many parts of the world, we're an affluent society.
[00:01:39] And I think generosity can actually be a challenge to people like us.
[00:01:47] I remember overhearing a conversation and I don't even know who it was talking, but it was one of those, you know, those sort of lots of people around, and you can't help hearing what they're saying. If you've been in those situations, you know, people seem to talk very loudly about things that you think should be private, perhaps. But anyhow, these people were talking, these two guys, and one of them, I guess one of them must have mentioned something about tithing about giving 10% of what you earn.
[00:02:22] And the other guy, his response was, well, I don't know. I earn a very high salary.
[00:02:28] I think 10% is much too much to give.
[00:02:32] Okay, let's just pause a moment and think of that, because there may be people here who wouldn't say it quite as bluntly as that, but you might think that way sometimes. 10% of a high salary, that's a lot to give. Do you know what? There's also a lot left over.
[00:02:47] If you're only earning £100 a week, and £10, you've only got £90. Left. If you're earning £1,000 a week, I'm simplifying the figures, okay? And you give 10%, you've still got 900 pounds left. That's a lot more than the guy who gave a little. But somehow this guy seemed to convince himself that there's a sort of ceiling on what you should give, and that to go over that ceiling was just a bit too extravagant.
[00:03:19] In the parable of the sower, which you may be familiar with, Jesus talks about seeds falling on different sorts of ground and the seeds that fell amongst thorns. He said, this represents the worries of this life and the deceitfulness.
[00:03:37] There you go. The deceitfulness of wealth. Must remember to press the button.
[00:03:43] Wealth can be deceitful.
[00:03:47] It can be a trap to us. It's not saying that it's evil or it's wrong to be wealthy, but actually we must take that responsibility that comes with wealth in terms of what we do with it and how we use it.
[00:04:03] John J. Rockefeller, I don't know if he's one of your friends, he doesn't look that cheerful. But he was reckoned to be one of the wealthiest individuals in history.
[00:04:13] And when he was asked how much money was enough, he reportedly replied, just a little bit more.
[00:04:19] How much is enough? Just a little bit more. Always striving for more, for more. Even though he is one of the richest people in history, Jim Carrey, the actor, he said this.
[00:04:34] He said, I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they could see that it's not the answer.
[00:04:43] Okay, an honest statement there. It's not the answer. Just having loads of money is not the answer.
[00:04:50] Okay? Sometimes we think we really want to be like Jesus, and we're talking about this series is helping us to become more like Jesus. And sometimes when we think like this, and I'm sure many of us have thought these things, that being like Jesus is just like being on this whirlwind of excitement and some amazing things happening.
[00:05:10] Turning water into good wine. Healing the dying son of a government official. Healing a man who's been disabled for 38 years. Remembering to press your button the right time.
[00:05:23] Healing.
[00:05:25] Feeding 5,000 people from five loaves and two fish. Walking on water. Healing a man who's been blind from birth, or even raising your friend from the dead.
[00:05:33] Okay?
[00:05:35] It must be amazing to be like Jesus. I'd love to be like Jesus. I'd love to live that sort of life, wouldn't you? You're seeing those sort of things happening day after Day, time after time.
[00:05:46] Those things incidentally, are often referred to the seven miraculous signs in John's Gospel where Jesus revealed his glory. Because there's many more things that, that if you read other gospels and just the things. In fact, John I think says at the end of his gospel, if all the things Jesus did were recorded, the world wouldn't have enough room for all the books it would take.
[00:06:07] Jesus had an amazing ministry of doing amazing things.
[00:06:13] And wouldn't it have been. Wouldn't you have just loved to have been around Jesus, seeing those things happen, seeing some of those things taking place? Wouldn't it have been fun watching the master of the feast at the wedding where Jesus had just turned this water into wine, he said, take a. They scooped out of this, this jar that had been full of water and took this glass of water to the master of the feast to taste. And he tasted it and said, that's our best wine we've had all day.
[00:06:41] Wouldn't that have been a fun thing? Thinking, I wonder what he's going to do when he gets this glass of water. And then wouldn't it have been mind blowing to see him that this had been turned into some amazing wine?
[00:06:51] Wouldn't it have been fun if you'd been with Jesus when he had these 5,000 people who are hungry and he said, where are you going to get some food? If you've got food, let's give some food to these people. And his disciples said, well, we, we haven't got any food. We can't afford to get enough to feed all these people. And then one of them said, here's a little boy with five loaves and two small fish.
[00:07:11] Not sure what good that will be with this crowd of people, but Jesus said, bring it here, bring it here, that's fine.
[00:07:16] And he prayed over it. And then he somehow broke five loaves and two small fish into enough pieces to take 12 little baskets of stuff for each of his disciples. And he sent them there. He said, you go and feed them. And as they went and as they fed them, they took a bit out of a basket and, and ate it.
[00:07:35] Just remember, this is half a loaf and a scrap of fish. And they took some and ate it, but there was still more for the next one. And by the time they'd got to the end of the however many they were feeding, but 12 into 5,000, you do the math, okay. By the time they got to the end, they had more left over than they had to start with. It's mind blowing, isn't it? This sort of thing. Incredible things that were happening.
[00:08:00] What about when they're out on the lake and they're scared because then they see a figure walking across the water towards them and they're even more scared at that. And then it turns out this is Jesus come to calm them down and to be with them.
[00:08:19] People experiencing God at work. Amazing. What about when Lazarus, if you're one of Lazarus mates and you'd been at his funeral and you'd seen them bury this man, and then three days later, Jesus turns up and he comes and he says, roll the stone away. Open the tomb up. And he calls Lazarus out. They say he called him by name because if he just said dead come out, everybody would have come out of the tombs. It would have been chaos. But this is Lazarus, come forth, come forth. And this man who's been dead for three days comes out of the tomb. Amazing things that are happening.
[00:08:55] And wouldn't you love to be able to do some of the things and be more like Jesus? Well, you know, there are times when we see God doing some amazing things in provision, actually, I just remember Atelier gave me an update to give you before I started, so. Apologies, Atelier, but some of you may have noticed Marilyn wasn't very well earlier. Just to say she's fine now. Okay? So if you're worried about what happened there, she's okay.
[00:09:22] But even with that, I'm sure she got prayed for just then. You know, we see even maybe not on the magnitude of some of the things that Jesus did, but we see some amazing things that he does. He answers prayer and he's a good God and he blesses and we see people experiencing God's help.
[00:09:41] And I'm all for trying to keep on praying and expecting Jesus to do miracles. On Friday night, a group of us gathered to pray for Melina.
[00:09:52] As you know, he's very ill at the moment.
[00:09:54] I had a text from him this morning.
[00:09:57] I sent him a text just saying, we've been praying for you. Text this morning saying, thank you for praying. Please keep on praying for me. Okay, God, let's just pause, Lord, you're a miracle working God.
[00:10:12] And right now we just bring Molina to you again. We say, lord, would you touch his life? Would you touch his body? Would you heal him, Lord, from the things that are going on? Thank you, Lord, that the pneumonia and the COVID and things that we're calling breathlessness, it's eased over these last couple of days. We say thank you for that, Lord. Just keep working on him. Keep doing this Restoring him to life and strength and health.
[00:10:36] In the name of Jesus, we just bring him to you and we say, come, Lord Jesus.
[00:10:41] Thank you, Lord.
[00:10:43] Thank you, Lord.
[00:10:45] Thank you. I'm all for us just keeping on praying and expecting Jesus to be doing miracles amongst us. But let me just remind you that there's other things about Jesus that we're also encouraged to get hold of. And we want to be like Jesus. It's not just about miracles and walking on water and stuff like that. There's a lot more things that we are encouraged to be like. And I'm just going to try and stay on track with us. Title things here about generosity and service. Let's just look at a few scriptures to help us on this and let's see if we're anywhere near the right place.
[00:11:27] Let's go with this in Acts, chapter 20, which is not there, is it? Never mind.
[00:11:34] The Apostle Paul is speaking. He says, I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard.
[00:11:45] You might say, I'd rather say a prayer over somebody unless have them miraculous change. Paul saying, actually sometimes you can help people by working hard.
[00:11:55] Right? You can help people by working hard. And then he goes on to say, you should remember the words of Jesus, it is more blessed to give than to receive.
[00:12:04] Or the message puts it like this. I like the way the message puts it, says, you're far happier giving than getting happier giving than getting.
[00:12:13] If you ever experience that, sometimes you can think it's just, you give something, you see the difference, it's made into a situation and it just thrills your heart.
[00:12:26] And before I go any further on this, I'd just like to pause and say a massive thank you to those members of River Church, all of you who give faithfully and regularly and generously, that your giving enables all sorts of ministries and activities which are done to make Jesus known in our communities and beyond and into other nations even.
[00:12:49] And I trust that all of you who give may know the blessings of God and the happiness that comes from giving.
[00:12:58] Let me just give you a little example. If you feel prompted maybe to give to somebody anonymously, and it's not a bad thing to do that, you know, we don't want to give something and make people feel beholden to us, that's not healthy, right? But if you feel, you know, I really feel, and you find a way to give anonymously to somebody and then you hear them talking about it at some point and they haven't mentioned you because they don't know who you were because you were anonymous about it.
[00:13:24] They've put it down to God. They say, God has provided for me. And that's true. That's what happened.
[00:13:31] But you know what that means? That means that God involved you in his plan to bless that person.
[00:13:41] You were part of what God was doing.
[00:13:46] It's a privilege to be involved in things God's doing.
[00:13:50] Do you understand that? Do you believe that? It's a real privilege if God is doing it and draws you into it. It's a privilege.
[00:13:56] And so you, with your generosity on the pathway of generosity, you were able to be part of what God was doing. You know, that's being like Jesus. He lived his life being involved in things God was doing.
[00:14:11] And we can be given that opportunity in the same way.
[00:14:16] So how was Jesus generous? Well, in John 10, we've caught up with the slides. Look at that.
[00:14:23] He says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
[00:14:29] Ephesians 5:1 says, Follow God's example. Therefore, as dearly love children walk in the way of love. Just as Christ has loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. You can't get more generous than that, can you? Giving yourself, laying your life down.
[00:14:47] So that makes us think, well, is that what we're supposed to be doing? Are we supposed to live in such a sacrificial sort of life? Well, the sacrifice Jesus made was a unique once and for all sacrifice.
[00:15:00] We don't have to make it quite in that way.
[00:15:04] But if we want to follow him on this pathway of generosity and service, it will involve putting ourselves out sometimes to help others.
[00:15:13] And that's not a bad thing.
[00:15:16] We've got to get beyond the thing of, oh, I'm just too busy for that kind of stuff.
[00:15:21] Let's learn to put ourselves out to help and to bless others.
[00:15:27] And we also need to get God's understanding.
[00:15:31] Generosity.
[00:15:36] In Mark, chapter 12, just let me read you this passage.
[00:15:41] Jesus sat down near a collection box in the temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money.
[00:15:47] Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small copper coins.
[00:15:54] And Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions, for they gave a tiny part of their surplus. But she, poor as she is, has given everything that she had to live on.
[00:16:17] It's amazing, an amazing story.
[00:16:20] Jesus sees. It shows us the way. Jesus sees generosity and he sees all these rich people putting lots of money into the collection box. And then he sees this poor widow put in two small coins. Just imagine the scene from the temple's financial authorities point of view.
[00:16:44] These big elaborate buildings, they don't run themselves. They need finances, they need people to give generously. They love the rich people who come and put in their large amounts of money, but you can imagine they probably even despised this poor widow.
[00:17:03] My mental picture of this, I managed to find this as well.
[00:17:07] I hope that works up there.
[00:17:11] I had this image in my mind and I thought, I wonder if I can find something. And I said, look on, I googled this and found this picture, which is pretty much the way I was kind of picturing it in my mind. But this is my mental picture. An elderly lady, she's bent over, she's walking slowly up to the collection box where the money's put. Maybe she's walking so slowly that the people behind are getting impatient.
[00:17:35] Maybe one or two big givers are coming and they've started to mutter about it. What's the hold up? Why don't the officials move that old lady out of the way? We can't hang around here all day.
[00:17:49] Maybe some even slipped away and didn't give anything because time's money, you know.
[00:17:55] And eventually she gets to the collection box and she drops her coins in. Somewhere in the background, Jesus is watching the whole thing. She slowly lets her hand just sort of hover over the collection box.
[00:18:09] And then first coin goes in and 50% of what she's got is gone.
[00:18:19] Jesus looks excited. That's amazing. She's given 50%.
[00:18:26] What's she going to do next?
[00:18:29] Will she turn away? Will she go home?
[00:18:32] It's tension in the air. What's happening here?
[00:18:35] And no, her hand hovers over the slot again and oops. Holding the collection box.
[00:18:46] The second coin has gone in. She's given 100%. Jesus is excited about this.
[00:18:52] Learn a lesson, Mr. Big Earner.
[00:18:55] She gave more than you did, she's given more.
[00:18:59] You've been dishing out your bag fulls of coins, but she's given 100%.
[00:19:07] Just.
[00:19:09] You want people to be impressed by your generosity. Jesus is impressed by this poor widow who gave everything she had.
[00:19:18] Now, does this mean that we ought to give all our money to the church? No, I don't think it means that, but I think what it does mean is that we should change our attitude towards generosity.
[00:19:29] John Wesley preached a sermon entitled the Use of Money and he encouraged people, earn all you can, save all you can and give all you can.
[00:19:46] And don't waste money on haircuts.
[00:19:49] The picture's anything to go by.
[00:19:53] The Apostle Paul, writing his letter to Timothy, says, teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable.
[00:20:07] Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.
[00:20:12] Tell them to use the money to do good.
[00:20:15] They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others.
[00:20:23] Just notice something else here. Both these passages we've read about money and about giving, they've referred to it in the context of happiness and enjoyment.
[00:20:37] Let me just finish with just a couple of comments about generosity and service in Matthew chapter 25.
[00:20:47] You'll maybe be familiar with this thing where Jesus says God divides people into two groups, the sheep and the goats. And I'm just going to come in about partway through this.
[00:20:58] When the Son of Man comes in all his glory and all his angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne and all the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats on his left. And then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.
[00:21:23] For I was hungry and you fed me.
[00:21:30] I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you invited me into your home.
[00:21:35] I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you cared for me. I was in prison and you visited me. Then these righteous ones will reply, lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing.
[00:21:53] When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the king will say, I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of these, least of these brothers of mine, you're doing it to me.
[00:22:06] I want to finish around here because we so often we can just think of generosity in terms of giving money, which is part of it.
[00:22:15] But sometimes it's not being like Jesus.
[00:22:18] Sometimes just throwing money at something is a bit like the rich people pouring their money into the collection box.
[00:22:29] I think sometimes the issues that we need to be generous with are issues that require our time, not just our money.
[00:22:39] There are opportunities that there are to serve others. How often do we think of these verses and register what Jesus is actually saying.
[00:22:48] When you see someone in need, whether hungry or thirsty or alone or in need of clothing or sick or in need of a visit, and we respond to that need and reach out to them in some way, Jesus sees it as us reaching out to him.
[00:23:03] How often do we kind of put this story together and understand what he's actually saying to us?
[00:23:11] We have all sorts of opportunities.
[00:23:15] Jesus says, when you did it to the least of one of these, you're doing it for me.
[00:23:23] Now, we've already heard about food bank this morning.
[00:23:27] Food bank is one of these things where we can really give generously and it's a very easy way to do it, but actually it's part of feeding the hungry.
[00:23:41] You know, how often do you think of that? Jesus says, when I was hungry, you gave me something to eat. When you give to food Bank, Jesus visits, you're giving it to him. That's what this passage tells us.
[00:23:53] How often do you think, yeah, actually, I want to give something to Jesus. I want to feed Jesus.
[00:23:59] I want to do it for him as he encouraged us.
[00:24:04] What about.
[00:24:09] I'll just tell you a little story.
[00:24:11] I was in the supermarket a few weeks ago getting some stuff for Food bank.
[00:24:15] And I was in a hurry and just piling some stuff in the basket. I went to the till and I was almost embarrassed. It didn't come anywhere near the amount I'd planned to spend.
[00:24:28] Well, I don't know where.
[00:24:30] And it just didn't come near.
[00:24:35] And I thought, oh, well, this will do. And I went out, and as I was going to the car, I just felt Jesus say, be a bit more generous.
[00:24:43] So I put the stuff in the car and went back and got another lot. And you know that thing about happiness coming with giving?
[00:24:52] It works. It really works. And I just felt so much better. I thought, oh, that's. I'm not telling this. Just say, I bought a lot of stuff for Food Bank. I do try and do that, and I want to encourage you to do it.
[00:25:06] Let's take advantage of those sort of opportunities that we have. Showing hospitality, again, it's one of these things.
[00:25:16] Do you just have your best friends around, or do you sometimes show hospitality to somebody who's new in the church, somebody who maybe seems to be on their own a bit? You know, we can show hospitality.
[00:25:32] It's not just about inviting your best friend.
[00:25:35] Okay. It's about drawing one another in, into community of care and love, visiting those who are sick or in prison.
[00:25:45] I'm not sure where the prison opportunities will come, although I'm sure they're there if we look for them. But actually hospital visiting is much more on our patch, if you like. And it's just.
[00:26:02] It's such a blessing to somebody who's in hospital. If they're well enough to receive visitors, then receiving visitors really blesses them.
[00:26:12] Okay. Somebody will sit with them for a bit, who just chat to them, who listen to them, who pray with them. It's not difficult.
[00:26:22] Sometimes I've spent ages.
[00:26:25] It feels like I spent ages going up and down stairs and corridors in.
[00:26:31] Sometimes the people you want to visit, they're a long way away from an away entrance.
[00:26:35] Okay.
[00:26:37] But you know, it's such a blessing to the people that you visit. I want to encourage you to think about opportunities for things like that.
[00:26:49] See, my prayer for today is that we'll all have these words of Jesus just imprinted onto our minds, that when you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me in Galatians 6. I'm going to stop in a minute. In Galatians 6 it says, let's not get tired of doing what's good at just the right time. We will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up.
[00:27:16] Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to those in the family of faith.
[00:27:32] How do we do good to those in the family of faith?
[00:27:40] Do we come to church so that we get served?
[00:27:45] Or do we come with the attitude of I want to serve my brothers and sisters?
[00:27:53] If we want to be more like Jesus, let's remember that he said to his disciples, the Son of Man didn't come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.
[00:28:07] Can the band just come up? We're going to sing in a moment.
[00:28:12] Listen, last week, Colin, just encourage people to offer to help in one of the different teams that we have.
[00:28:22] One of the blessings of going multi site is that I think both sites are sort of seeing growth. One of the difficulties of going multi site is that in many areas the people who used to do stuff are at the other site or whatever. Seems to work both ways.
[00:28:42] Okay. But let's not just be sitting around waiting for somebody else to do it.
[00:28:48] If we want to get on this pathway of generosity and service, let's be looking to how can I serve? How can I bless? How can I fulfill some of these things?
[00:29:02] Remember that time when Jesus was with his disciples and there was nobody to wash their feet?
[00:29:08] It seems like they'd got a borrowed room and there was no servant available and they all kind of sat there looking. I wonder who's going to do it. Washing your feet was important. After a long sort of journey walking on sandy dusty ground, it's part of the custom.
[00:29:24] Nobody did it. And then in the end Jesus gets up and he wraps a towel around his waist and gets a bowl and he starts washing their feet.
[00:29:33] And afterwards he says, do you know what has happened? He said since I your Lord and teacher have washed your feet you ought to wash one another's feet.
[00:29:41] I've given you an example to follow.
[00:29:43] Do as I've done. For you see, we say we want to be like Jesus but sometimes that involves washing the feet of others.
[00:29:51] The question is are we going to get onto this pathway of generosity or are we going to carry on just wanting to be served it.
