What Can You Give?

I month ago I had the opportunity to attend a great church in the Dallas area, Southlake to be exact. The sermon that particular morning was on stewardship. Ok, I know about half the people reading this already cringed…don’t worry…I’m not going to ask for your money. Back to the point, the sermon was done very well. It got me to thinking about the “things” in my life that I consider my own. Then a flood of answers came swooshing by…money, time, possessions, job, etc… I do in fact possess these items, but I don’t own them. God has blessed me with the money, time, possessions, and job that I have, but I do not own them. God owns them, but He has made us stewards of what is His. What does this mean for us? Well, I am glad you asked…

In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus gives us an idea of what stewardship is.
“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.”

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'”

"His master replied, '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!'”

"The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'”

"His master replied, '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!’”

"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'”

"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.”

"'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'”

So we now have a clear idea what the Bible says about stewardship, but how can we apply this? We need to be willing to give our time, our money, possibly our possessions, and be willing to offer our job to God. I know this may sound crazy, but bear with me. I’m not saying “Give it all up, sell it all, quit your job, and then go do God’s work.” I am saying, however, that we need to have a hear t that realizes what we have is not our own.

For me, giving money is easy, but its giving of my time that’s difficult. For you it may be different, but God wants us to have a giving heart and many times He calls you to give in the very area that is difficult for you to give in. So we have to change out heart. That’s not an easy thing to do, but when we do manage to do it God’s response is “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!” Seek God out in this. It may take God breaking you and that’s ok. Rejoice in your brokenness. I think we’d all prefer to not be broken, but if that’s what it takes then that’s what God will do. He wants a cheerful giver.

Understand that when you are faithful in your giving, and you do so with the right heart, God will bless that. On top of the blessings you receive, and I am not talking about monetary blessings although it may be monetary, God will bless how we give. He takes our gift and multiplies it. That’s one of the wonderful things about God. He took seven loaves and a few small fish and fed four thousand people. God CAN take a small amount of time, money, or whatever and turn that into a huge surplus. I recently volunteered some time with the Red Cross during the Ike cleanup. My job was a rather menial task. I was to clean huge plastic containers that held food. Many of them contained the spilled remains of the lunch. As I cleaned these containers it dawned on me, sure what I was doing wasn’t great and glorious, but I was serving a purpose. On that particular day it was estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 people were served meals. Wow… When I left the Red Cross area that day I wept. I realized that even though I was “merely” a cleaner, I had a part in helping bring hope and food to people in need. I still get choked up. You see, God is bigger than our little minds can conceive. He WILL take what you give and multiply.

My challenge daily, to myself and to you, is to take what God has given and use it to bring Glory to Him. I close by writing something that touched me deeply this morning. I finished Ephesians in my quiet time and the very end of the book stuck out at me.

Ephesians 6:21-24 “Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.
Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”

This particular section stuck out at me because Paul was writing this letter from prison. He was at a point where he didn’t know what was going to happen. His life may have been demanded from him right after sending this letter, but his concern was not of his life, it was encouraging the church at Ephesus and wishing them grace and peace. Paul knew what it meant to be a good steward. He was willing to lay down his life for the cause of Christ, but he realized that it wasn’t his life. God blessed him with life and Paul truly understood what it was to give. Ultimately Paul did lay down his life, but God has used that in ways that even Paul could have never imagined. So, again, my challenge to myself and to you is to bring glory to God by giving. It is all God’s anyway…