Text: Mark 12:41-44; 2 Corinthians 8:1-2

Target audience: mainly Christians

My purpose for this message: To encourage those with little money to give, to give it in faith.

Delivered: February 28, 2010

 

 

A Big God of Little Things

Pray.

One of Keystone’s core values is “Sacrificial Stewardship” about which we say: We value the role of every Christian as a steward of God’s resources and strive to give sacrificially. 

Every Christian is a steward (caretaker) of God’s resources.  Everything we have comes from God and is really His:  car, clothes, house, college degree, job, savings account, investments, bicycle, books, real estate, hobby items,  …our money.   That’s as true for the new believer as it is for the mature Christian; as true for the poorest Christian, as for the millionaire. 

We are in week 2 of 4 weeks of straight talk about giving to the work of the Lord, in this case, helping build this “tool” across the road for God’s glory.  Let me be frank: I look for every person who’s part of this family of faith—including the children, to play a part in this effort.

This week a pastor friend told me about how church giving tanked last year when one family left year.  The businessman would occasionally mention, “If we don’t like something you’ll really be in trouble if my family leaves.”  When that happened, my friend discovered how much one person was propping up the church budget.

In general Keystone doesn’t have people like that, underwriting a large portion of the budget.  And I prefer having the responsibility spread widely.

Same with the building project.  There may be a few who can give large sums but in general it will probably be the many who have less resources—but who give the smaller amounts—in faith, that God leads them to give; amounts that require sacrifice.  It’s to the smallest of the small givers I want to speak this morning: will your gifts make any difference?  Yes, because the God to whom you give, is a big God of little things.

 

1.      Little flour & oil.  1 Kings 17:7-16

READ 1 Kings 17:7-16.  This Gentile woman is not named in the Bible, but we know she was a Sidonian.  In cannot be accidental that the author tells her story right after introducing us to wicked King Ahab who was married to the even more wicked Queen Jezebel.  Why was the story’s placement not accidental?  Guess who the widow’s king was: Jezebel’s father.

The widow was nameless, yet in all Jesus’ sermons, in all His teachings (spanning 3 ½ years of ministry), only once did he mention a widow from the past: this widow (Luke 4:24-25).  When Elijah met her, she and her son were likely little more than skin and bones.  As judgment for Israel’s idolatry, a deadly famine had gripped the land.  God decreed it would last a “few years” (1 Kings 17:1).  During that time, to protect his prophet from the king’s hatred—as well as provide him with food, God sent Elijah out of the country to stay with this widow.

Her supplies were spent.  The day Elijah showed up at her door she was preparing their final meal.  All she had left was a little bit of flour and oil.  Perhaps reluctantly she gave the “Man of God” what she had; a decision which saved her life.  The song says “Little is much when God is in it” and nowhere was that more true than for a widow and her son in Zarephath.  Because what should have been gone after just a single meal, lasted as long as Israel’s drought; she bought no more, but her oil and flour did not run out for years.

 

2.     Little lunch.  John 6:1-13

READ John 6:1-13.  5000 men; with women and children there could have easily been 12,000.  People had heard about the remarkable things Jesus was doing and flocked to him.  He taught them about the kingdom of God (Mark 6:34, Luke 9:11) and healed the sick among them (Matthew 14:14).  But what he did next so incited the people that they tried to make Him king by force (John 6:15).

 After praying over a boy’s little lunch of 5 barley loaves and two small fish, He fed thousands with the food.  Skeptical friends who choke when the Bible claims a miracle happened, say the story’s about human sharing: when one boy became generous, the rest of the stingy folks were either inspired to—or shamed into following his example.  But the text won’t allow for that.  John 6:14 calls it a “miraculous sign”, and in each of the 4 gospel accounts, it seems that the food blessed and distributed was limited to the 7 food items.  As if to remove all doubt, Mark writes, He also divided the two fish among them all (Mark 6:41).

 

3.     Little money.  Mk.12:41-44

READ Mark 12:41-44.  I wonder why Jesus sat down near this line of people.  Was He just taking a break, was he waiting His turn to give, or maybe aware that a teachable moment was at hand for His disciples?  Along the wall there were 13 chests shaped with narrow mouths and wide, flanged bottoms like the bell of a trumpet.  People filed past them, the well-to-do folks donating “large amounts”.  Note that Jesus did not despise the gifts or the giving of the wealthy. 

Now it’s the widow’s turn.  She had two pennies; why not keep one and give one?  There’s some uncertainty whether the OT describes 2 or 3 tithes.  If two, every adult Jew household donated 13% of their annual income; if 3, then 23%.  Either way, 50% was beyond going the extra mile; it was a huge donation. 

And yet, what can you buy with less than 1 cent?  What work can you get done at the temple, what supplies could be purchased with that?  Nothing and none!  Yet Jesus said she gave more than anyone else.  What we have left over after we give, is telling. 

When the wealthy went home that day, they had a full meal complete with appetizers, wine and desserts.  No one in the family failed to get clothes they needed—or wanted.  The vacation was not called off, the donkey’s checkup was not postponed—or his replacement delayed, the masons were still lined up to repair the southern wall on Thursday.  The lives of the big givers—despite making big donations, remained unchanged when they went home.  There was hardly a dent in their resources. 

But the widow’s stomach growled.  There would be nothing to eat tonight or tomorrow.  She couldn’t purchase firewood, or pay the cobbler to mend the leather pads that passed for her shoes.  There would be no vacation—hadn’t been since he’d died, there were no beautiful fabrics she could afford, no money to repair the roof that leaked in the rainy season.  She could not acquire the status that came with having money, a status that would ward off the men who leered at her and offered the lonely widow their “help”.

But no matter how she deprived herself by her gift, her Lord gave her the blue ribbon:  ...she has put more into the treasury than all the others.

Little things, but a big God.  Little flour and oil, but God made it last years.  Little lunch but God multiplied it to feed thousands.  Little donation, but Jesus said it mattered more than the rest.

 

Concl:

Steve Johnson—the brother from the non-profit Free Church organization that’s been helping us with our capital campaign, keeps saying that this effort is not about equal giving, it’s about equal sacrifice.  At the temple, the wealthy made no sacrifice despite their large gifts.  But the widow made an enormous sacrifice.  

No matter how large or how little, if we do what we can, God will do the rest; He’s a big God of little things.  When we get together at the Gap Family Center in 4 weeks (March 26), you are going to be asked to be part of this journey.  You are going to be asked to sacrifice for this journey; continue giving what you do to the ongoing ministry, and give more to the project.

If you’re out of work, have had your hours or wages cut, even a sacrificial gift you give may be small.  Couldn’t possibly make a dent in the need for $1.75 million.   What can $20 do, or $360 if you give $10 a month for 3 years?”  Nothing if God is not in it; everything, if He is.  If this work is truly of the Lord, it is not the size of our gift that will make the difference, but the size of our God.  A Big God of Little Things.

In Keystone’s vision, under the statement on financial stewardship, we say:

Driven not by duty but delight, we give as God leads, fully expecting Him to stretch our faith.  As we place more and more of our resources at the Lord’s disposal, we fully expect Him to repeatedly prove: “You can’t outgive me!”

Which we’ll talk more about in 2 weeks.