Live Like You'll Live Forever: Life A Life of Startling Generosity (Mark 12:38-44)

 Perhaps you have heard the axiom, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” In other words, while you still can, use what you have in order to enjoy life to the fullest. If this life is all there is, St. Paul agrees that would be a good philosophy. Paul wrote, “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’” (1 Corinthians 15:32). However, note the “if.” Paul was saying that the epicurean approach to life makes sense only if this life is all we have. But it isn’t. Jesus will raise us from the dead and take us to live in his home, a place of perfect comfort and beauty. Knowing that, we are set free from the need to live a self-indulgent life now. Instead, we can be generous people, using the wealth that God has given us to serve both him and others. We can live a life of startling generosity.

Transcript

Amid all the post-election buzz, isn't it refreshing to talk about generosity? In a world where self-interest often prevails, sacrificial giving stands out like a beacon, especially now. At a time when people are pushing agendas at the expense of selfless love, it only heightens the examples we see of such generous sacrifice. How can veterans not come to mind? God graciously has given me more opportunities than I could ever deserve to serve veterans with the Word, and in the self-intoxicated culture we live in, it hits me every time a veteran shares his or her story with me. To hear all they’ve been through, the things no one else knows about, things they should recognized for, but never will be. Yet despite all that, every time I have asked these brave women and men, “Would you do it again knowing what you know now?” The near-unanimous answer is “Yes.” Such generosity, such willingness for sacrifice stuns us because it’s so different from the world we are waking up to today. But this isn’t new. The pursuit of self-promotion has been around since Adam and Eve, the temptation to give with the goal that you will receive. 

That thought reminds me of a “Friends” episode, where Joey challenges Phoebe to do a completely selfless act. And Phoebe struggles to do so because even having a good feeling after being generous can be a pursuit, right? It illustrates that even in our most generous moments, don’t we still hope for something in return? Everything from social media to our finances, to politics, to our new church building, to relationships can involve the age-old question of the sinful nature: “But what will I get out of this?” But can you see the pressure that question brings? 

It means life becomes this never-satisfied existence that wears you down, always needing more, more, more. I think of those of you in high school, even in middle school, the pressures tweens and teens have today, the push to be involved in charities and volunteer service, why? Not just to give the love of Jesus, but to build up the college application, right? Why do we struggle with a life of selfless generosity? Because of the misguided thought of sin: “When we give we suffer loss.” This struggle was around when Jesus walked this earth 2000 years ago too. What does Jesus have to say to that? Let’s find out!

It’s the Tuesday of Holy Week, Jesus is in the Temple when he calls out the hypocritical giving of the religious scholars. He says, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.” In other words, they were all about status, to give only to get, and when it came to the most vulnerable, widows, they would take advantage of them while putting on the facade of praying for them. They would “pray” for those they were preying on. Doesn’t that really bother you?

Doesn’t such injustice and pride get your blood boiling? Can you picture the big show they would make as they poured their coins into the offering horns? In fact, it was such a spectacle that this location became a tourist attraction. Not to mention it’s during the week of Passover, so all eyes are watching. But in your seething at this selfish giving, do you see why you’re irritated? You and I are no different. Because of sin, we have the same self-promoting tendencies too.

I think of my young self who really wanted to join the military at one point, and when I think about my motives back then, the sin of self was there. Sure, I wanted to serve, but the thoughts of glory were there too. How many people have had that experience whether in the military, in another career, as a parent, when you have these dreams of success only to realize the agony that comes? Like President Lincoln wrote once to a grieving young daughter who lost her dad in war, “In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all, and to the young, it comes with bitterest agony, because it takes them unawares.” We so often give to gain glory, and why do we do so?

Because the self never likes to give up anything. We want our agendas to become reality, and here we find the irony of sin that Satan wants us to forget. The more you try to grip and control, the more owned you become. Instead of gaining self-sufficient freedom, the more controlled you are. If your career is the primary value-giver for you in your life, any threat to it will completely throw you off. If your children are what give you value, their losses will become yours and you will find yourself feeling worthless. If money is what you crave, like John D. Rockefeller replied to the question, how much money is enough? “Just one dollar more.” If you place your hope in the promises of a certain political leader, you will be distraught when the promise goes unfulfilled. Whether it’s romance, or emotional happiness, no matter what it is, the more you try to grip those things, the more chained you will be. Can’t you see Satan lurking in all of it?

Here’s the reality of God’s definition of generosity: The more you try to hold on to something, the less you can enjoy it. God’s grace turns this whole thing upside down. How? By showing us that until by God’s grace you see Jesus is everything, you will never know the majesty of the grace of giving. Put more simply, when you live knowing Jesus is your everything you are set free to give, and that is real freedom. How does this work? Let’s go back to the Temple with Jesus.

As all these religious celebrity-type people throw their money in, amidst all the hoopla, Jesus spots an unsuspecting widow. Can you imagine her confidently and quietly approaching the offering horn, and dropping in the last two coins she has? Giving one would have been an amazing gift, but she goes so far as to give both. Can you see her walk away, no big show, but perhaps with a smile crawling across her face? Did anyone notice this? No one it seems, but One. Jesus. And what does Jesus say to his disciples as she walks away, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” Now so often we focus on how she gave all her wealth, but Jesus is saying, “Forget the amount, that’s not the important part.” God has never needed our money or our abilities or our time, he in his love allows us to give so we can know the joy he has as the only ultimate perfectly cheerful giver. 

Why did this woman give all she had? Because she wanted to praise and trust her LORD. If the final thing she would ever do with her money was give it back to the God who gave it, could there be a better investment than that? That’s why I think it’s cool that Mark doesn’t tell us her name. He lets her giving stand as a witness. Now, maybe you’re wondering, how could she have such a praise mentality when she had quite literally nothing?

Only God’s grace can show us such a life of generous self-forgetfulness. Where do we begin to grasp this? You know. Remember what we heard from 2 Corinthians 8? “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” If there was ever a person who had no reason to give, it was Jesus. The triune God is always in perfect bliss. He did not need us. Yet, isn’t that what intensifies God’s love for you? He didn't give everything, including his life, simply to stroke his ego with your praise. He gave up everything, not because he needed to, but because he wanted to. Because he so very much wanted you. He meets us in our anxiousness when we feel we are too lacking to give, and our Heavenly Father says, “I tore my Son to shreds for you, and you’re afraid I won’t give you what you need?” Our Father in heaven, sent the treasure of his Son Jesus, who just a few days after this Temple encounter, would give up his dignity, his riches, his life, to be hung from a cross for one reason alone: To give you a forever-life defined by God’s never-ending generosity of grace. He gave up everything for you and me not because of our greatness or loveliness, but so that he could make us truly great and lovely one day. His love for you is not mere shallow Hallmark sentimentality. His love stems from his perfect will, to love you exactly as you need to be loved, and to give you blessings that you may not see as blessings. He loves you too much not to do so. And do you know what his abundant grace means for you?

It means that just like with this widow, Jesus sees all your generosity. He never misses the sacrifices of time, energy, dollars, and abilities you make. Through the filter of Jesus’ blood, your Heavenly Father sees all those sacrifices as precious even if this side of heaven they’ll never be completely separated from the effects of sin. But through Jesus, he sees your generosity not as filthy rags, but instead like a proud dad who who puts his child’s artwork on the fridge, and the world may pass by and call it “unimpressive” or “nothing,” but the Lord smiles at you through it all, and he never misses a thing. You’re his child, after all! Doesn’t that just floor you, that the God of the universe cares so intently for you? It’s true! How God’s Word sings a never-ending refrain of grace to us! And doesn’t that open our eyes to see the beauty it is that God gives us so much so that we can enjoy the grace-defined life of generosity?

It’s why we give! We give because we love Jesus. We give, not so people notice us, but for Him alone, and if people happen to notice our giving, we get to reflect it to Jesus and say, “All glory belongs to him.” The famous preacher Jonathan Edwards once said, “The grace that leads us to give and serve others is a reflection of the glory that awaits us in heaven. In our giving, we practice a small part of the love and joy that will be ours in eternity.” We know we have heaven waiting for us through Jesus and whatever we lose in this life will be regained and more when we’re home. Like Professor J.P Koehler realized, “To give is not only to part with what we possess; it is an act of faith in the God who provides for us. In every act of giving, we proclaim that our true treasure lies in heaven.”

When you have Jesus think about the boldness that is yours. You can give and give, and if something gets taken, it leads you to praise God for reminding you that he is all you need and will provide for your needs. You have eyes open to notice how he is providing for you, maybe not in the way you anticipate, but trusting that he will, which opens you up to give so that you can be the means God uses to provide for others, and in all this, doesn’t it point us back to Jesus? The picture in my mind right now is our churches on the continent of Africa, who joyfully dance as they gather their offering, not to put on a show, but out of joy that they get to be a part of Jesus’ mission to spread his hope to the world! 

It hits differently for you and me who live in a self-consumed culture, that maybe our greatest witness is generosity, sacrificial giving, the confidence you have because you know Jesus can’t be taken from you. For me, a dear Christian veteran now in heaven named Bud pops into my mind. During my seminary years, I coordinated worship services at a local nursing home, and Bud was a regular. A Navy veteran and in his nineties when my family and I met him, he remains the most amazing evangelist I’ve ever seen. We started with about 5 or 6 people who would attend. Just over a year later, the entire atrium and down the hall was filled with people. Of course, God gets all the credit, as Bud would always emphasize, but he could wheel around the complex and invite as many people as he could to come. During one of my last Sundays there, he pulled me aside and said, “Jonny, I love that God keeps giving me time, because I just love giving it right back to him.” This week and the rest of your life, dear friends, know the life of generosity God’s grace has given you. Reflect often on who our God is! “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” You know the answer. Amen.