We've been programmed to think that we don't have enough.
From infancy, we have been programmed to believe that we don’t have enough. We don’t have enough time in the week. We don’t have the giftedness or the natural ability. We don’t have the financial resources (this is a big one right now with the economy and all the layoffs). We don’t have enough material things to go around. We don’t know the right people or have the right kind of connections. We don’t have enough knowledge or education.
All of this is drilled into our brains from the time we are born until we draw our last breath. "Someday I’ll have enough," we tell ourselves. "Someday I’ll be ready, but not now. It's too soon." So we kick back and wait, hoping something more will fall on our lap, letting so much time and opportunity pass us by. "I’ll work. I’ll finish school and graduate first. I’ll wait until the kids have moved out. I’ll wait until I save enough. I’ll wait until I retire. I’ll wait until I am healthier."
My friends, it is all one great lie. We have been brainwashed. We are not as poor and penniless as we’ve been led to believe. The testimony of scripture is that we have been equipped, abundantly equipped, with everything necessary to live for God. As Christians, we’ve already been given the capacity to bless other people in extraordinary ways.
Take a spiritual inventory of your assets.
This morning is a great opportunity for us to take a spiritual inventory. Ephesians 1:3 (NIV) tells us,"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." In the following verses the verbs just pile up. God chose us, predestined us, adopted us, redeemed us, forgave us, lavished us with wisdom, understanding, and grace, included us, marked us with his Spirit, and made us his possession. (Ephesians 1:4-5)
2 Peter 1:3 (NIV) says, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness."
According to the Bible, our someday has arrived. We’ve been given everything we need for life and godliness. We’ve been given everything we needto live out our calling of bringing glory to God and putting his goodness on exhibition. Our someday is today. It's now. We lack nothing. We have all the riches of heaven backing up whatever good thing we set our hearts and minds upon achieving. If we’d begin sowing the seeds of generosity, we’d see first how God provides seed for the sower. He richly supplies our generosity.
Generosity is played out in the Christian's life.
Notice how generosity is to play out in the Christian’s life. 1Peter 4:7-12 tells us, "The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen."
Grumbling is a form of ingratitude.
Grumbling is something the world teaches us to do. Grumbling is a form of passivity and ingratitude. Itflows out of an impoverished soul. Those who grumble see their lives in terms of what they do not have and cannot do. But when we begin to see with a clear mind how we have been given every spiritual blessing in Christ, a whole new way of life opens up! Suddenly we find ourselves able to love one another deeply, we offer hospitality without grumbling, and we use our gifts to serve others. We begin seeing the possibilities!
Grumbling is an affront and adenial of the spiritual blessings we’ve received in Christ! What do you mean when you say, "I don’t have enough time.I don’t have any gifts or abilities. I don’t have any money to give those in need. I don’t have the material things I need. I don’t know the right people or have the right kind of connections. I don’t know enough."Do you really believe all of that?
Ephesians 4:7-12 (NIV) says, "But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: 'When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.'(What does 'he ascended' mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built upuntil we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."
Do you realize what these verses are saying? They are telling us that when Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, he gave us gifts. He apportioned his grace to each one of us individually. We’ve all been given the capacity, like little mirrors, to reflect some aspect of God’s goodness, generosity, and grace. We are to be like a million points of light, all reflecting the kaleidoscopic array of God’s glory!
It is the job of the Church to unleash our capacity to reflect God's goodness.
And these verses are saying that it is the job of Church leaders,pastors, and teachers to unleash our capacity to reflect God’s goodness and grace. So that instead of grumbling, we begin blessing. So that instead of seeing ourselves as impoverished, we begin showering others with generosity.
These verses encourage us to being thinking of ourselves as entrepreneurs. You’re no longer a rank and file employee. You no longer just punch a time card and go home for the day. You’re now a business owner, an entrepreneur! Your business is to multiply God’s grace in your life and others. Your business is to maximize your own generosity as well as the generosity of every person around you. Entrepreneurs never get any sleep at night because they stay up all night long, dreaming up new ideas and new ways of enlarging their enterprise.
Our enterprise is grace. Our enterprise is generosity. As entrepreneurs of generosity we should be asking questions like, "How can I use my time to serve others? How can I focus my attention in a way that shows God’s goodness and kindness to others? What spiritual gifts has God given me to serve others? What abilities do I have that may help others? How can I use the financial resources God has entrusted to me to bless others? How can I use my material possessions to do good? How can I leverage my relationships and networks to advance God’s grace? What knowledge do I have that might help others? How can I invite others to follow me and invest fully in this venture?"
We are entrepreneurs of generosity.
Entrepreneurs don’t sit back and wait for something to fall on their laps. They don’t cross their fingers and hope. That’s just what the world teaches us to do. That’s what our government encourages us to do. Entrepreneurs don’t abdicate responsibility. They don’t hope against hope. They take inventory, they seize opportunities, they take the initiative, they take risks, they stir things up, they rally the troops, they passionately equip people to follow them on the journey, and they raise the temperature of generosity for everyone around them.
Entrepreneurs think about how they can pray, but also say, "How can I get others to pray also?" Entrepreneurs ask how they can serve, but also ask, "How can I create opportunities for others to serve?" "I know how to study the Bible, butcan I help others do that? I know how to share my faith. Can I help others do that? I’ve become debt free. Can I help others do that? I give to sacrificially to others. Can I help others do that? I've discovered my spiritual gift. CanI help othersdiscover theirs?I practice hospitality, I can lead a small group, I know how to parent well, I know how to be a loving spouse, I serve the needs of widows and orphans, I visitthe sick, I know how to listen well and counsel others, I’m an encourager, I’m a godly shepherd, I teach, I fix things, I make things, I help people feel relaxed and have fun, I love to sing and make music, I give, I share my material possessions. Now I ask how canmy generosity be multiplied through others ten-fold orone hundred-fold?"
Grumblers are idle. They sit back and complain about things. They complain about what nobody else is doing. "Nobody volunteers. Nobody is stepping up. Ten percent of us doninty percentof the work." Grumblers pass the buck. They whine. But entrepreneurs show leadership and they take initiative. They ask, "How can I equip those around me to love God and love people at their full God-given capacity? How can I help others live an abundant, generous life that brings fame to God?
God wants us to be generous with our gifts.
God has made his desire for the people of Lakeside abundantly clear in scripture.He wants us to be generous.He wants us to unleash the generosity of others. He has equipped us with everything we needand he wants us to be good stewards of what he has given us.
God wants our generosity to touch others at their deepest point of need. He’s not looking for superficial generosity orquick and painfree generosity. He’s not looking for generosity that is cute or novel or gimmicky. He’s looking for generosity that is sacrificial. He's looking for a generosity that causes us to truly trust in God for its supply, a generosity that truly causes us to grow, a generosity that makes God’s name famous, and a generosity so profound that it can only be explained as the working of God in his people.
God is looking for a generosity that is creative and that shows off the kaleidoscopic array of his goodness and grace. He’s looking for generosity that is fresh and multi-dimensional, a generosity that is purposeful and not random. He's looking for a generosity that redeems the world he loves andthat converts our enemies.
And he’s not looking for generosity from a few. He's looking for generosity from many. He wants generosity to animate every part of his body and bring synergy to the whole. He wants to see generosity multiply in an entrepreneurial way, as we apprentice others to love as we love.
He is looking for a generosity that is pure and unselfish, that is truly done for others, and not for personal gain or out of personal motivation. And he is looking for generosity that is indiscriminate, that doesn’t show favoritism, that is just as likely to touch the least as the greatest, the poor as well as the rich. God has graciously equipped us with all that we need to sow such seeds of generosity. Now if only it could become part of our Christian DNA, that building block which defines and shapes us the most.