Many times after Christians come to accept Christ Jesus as Lord, there is a point in which a question of giving comes to mind. The struggle with just how much is appropriate for me to give, is the question? There is a lot to be learned from this thought. On the one hand, we are to give ALL we have to the Lord, for His service and use, and that includes making our money available as well, but this lesson is not about just monetary giving. This lesson will discuss the concept of giving ALL to Christ Jesus. The parting of a sum of money on a regular basis is an act of faith, and it can indicate the level of commitment we have to the Lord. The how much part is a matter of our conscious to the Lord. Whatever you give, give with a pure conscious before the Lord. If we give with a pure heart it is a blessing to the Lord. There is no legalistic weight around your neck, nor should there be a giving from shame or pride.
There are two stories in the gospels that discuss different amounts of giving, the “Widow’s Mite” and the “Rich Young Ruler”. These two stories, while using money to make a point, are really not about money at all. Just as our giving is not about money either, it is about the state of our heart. Let’s read the first story from Mark 12:41-44:
“Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”
What can we learn from this story? While there are whole doctrines built upon concepts that may be drawn from this story, I want us to focus on the heart of the matter. On the one hand, we see there is a lot of money being put into the treasury by those very well off. They were, no doubt, shown great respect and probably had a great deal of pride in the fact that they could point to the basket and have physical proof of their piety. Surely, such a giving person, God is pleased with and they are validating a deep relationship with the Lord. While this could be true in some cases, apparently this group was lacking in the giving from the heart category. The poor widow walked by and dropped two coins that equaled the smallest amount of money in the Roman currency and was singled out by the Lord as one who put in everything she had, her whole livelihood. She indicated a truly rich heart before God and a type of faith not understood by the others. She fulfilled the real meaning of the “burnt offering”, freely given and nothing held back from the Father’s use. One coin would have been a fulfillment of obligation, but two was above and beyond obligatory and moved into the realm of loving faith, not withholding anything from Yahweh God. This definitely was pleasing to Him and Jesus pointed her out as an example for all of eternity. We are to hold nothing back from the Lord’s service, if we are going to truly move in His pleasure and power on this earth.
The other story is a sad story of, what could have been, potential wasted, and a life that walked away from the Savior. This is the story of the “Rich Young Ruler”, from Luke 18:18-23:
Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”
So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
There was a common practice in Judaism for a Rabbi to pick the most outstanding students for His disciple; He would pick the disciple based upon His dedication to the law. In some cases, the potential disciple would approach a rabbi and the rabbi would test the proposed student with asking Him to do something that was very hard or costly, to determine if the man was sincerely dedicated to following His teachings. If He was unwilling, then He could not be His disciple. This was the case with this rich young ruler, He was highly qualified from an outward standpoint, He had plenty of money to add to the treasury of Jesus ministry, and He had all the right ability to be an outstanding ministry partner. Jesus would have been able to take care of all that synagogue time with no problem, travel costs, etc.., why the sky was the limit as to the doors that this man's money could open for theJesus Ministry
This didn't occur though, why? Why would Jesus turn down this man's offer with so much to promise, after all, if there was a little problem with the man's heart, surely that could be corrected by Jesus powerful presence and mentoring in the young man's life? You might even think that Jesus would be doing the young man wrong by not bringing Him under His wing and teaching one with so much promise the right way to live. This didn't occur either, why?
Well, some might say that Luke 14:33 solves this problem,” So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." Well, that answers it, right? Wrong! It was not the forsaking of all the worldly possessions that Jesus was necessarily after. Why would I say that?
So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”
So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
There was a common practice in Judaism for a Rabbi to pick the most outstanding students for His disciple; He would pick the disciple based upon His dedication to the law. In some cases, the potential disciple would approach a rabbi and the rabbi would test the proposed student with asking Him to do something that was very hard or costly, to determine if the man was sincerely dedicated to following His teachings. If He was unwilling, then He could not be His disciple. This was the case with this rich young ruler, He was highly qualified from an outward standpoint, He had plenty of money to add to the treasury of Jesus ministry, and He had all the right ability to be an outstanding ministry partner. Jesus would have been able to take care of all that synagogue time with no problem, travel costs, etc.., why the sky was the limit as to the doors that this man's money could open for the
This didn't occur though, why? Why would Jesus turn down this man's offer with so much to promise, after all, if there was a little problem with the man's heart, surely that could be corrected by Jesus powerful presence and mentoring in the young man's life? You might even think that Jesus would be doing the young man wrong by not bringing Him under His wing and teaching one with so much promise the right way to live. This didn't occur either, why?
Well, some might say that Luke 14:33 solves this problem,” So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." Well, that answers it, right? Wrong! It was not the forsaking of all the worldly possessions that Jesus was necessarily after. Why would I say that?
Read the following excerpt from,"52 Sermon Starters", by Spiros Zodhiates, probably the world’s foremost Greek scholar. "The Greek verb in Luke 14:33 translated "forsaketh" explains the philosophy of a disciple of Christ. The Greek word is apotassomai derived from apo, "from, or away from oneself," and tassomai which means “to place in the proper category." The Lord never taught reckless abandonment of self, relatives, or possessions. He wants us believers to put them where they belong. They should come after Christ."
So we see that having the money and possessions was not the problem here, but the LOVE of them was the problem, there can be no love paramount to the love of Jesus in a believer's life. This love that causes us to pick up our cross daily and follow Him, the love that leads us to worship Him with joy each day, this love that passes all understanding, will cause us to put our temporary possessions in proper perspective. We may then say, "Rich or poor, I serve you Lord. With all my heart, I give my ALL!"
May we all have the heart to say with Paul in Philippians 4:11-13, "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
So we see that having the money and possessions was not the problem here, but the LOVE of them was the problem, there can be no love paramount to the love of Jesus in a believer's life. This love that causes us to pick up our cross daily and follow Him, the love that leads us to worship Him with joy each day, this love that passes all understanding, will cause us to put our temporary possessions in proper perspective. We may then say, "Rich or poor, I serve you Lord. With all my heart, I give my ALL!"
May we all have the heart to say with Paul in Philippians 4:11-13, "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
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