My Life Group does a sermon-based study at 6AM on Tuesdays
at Mel’s Diner. (I call us the
Crazy-Early-Mighty-Men-of-God-Group.) A
few weeks back we were discussing the sermon “Conflicted Compassion” and
wrestling with how we give, why we give and the legacy we are leaving. At the end of the study I challenged the guys
to pay attention to the Holy Spirit’s promptings to be compassionate towards
others and we would come back and tell stories of what happened.
A couple of
weeks ago someone came to our door to sell something – pretty unusual for the
foothills. As we got talking it came up
that I’m a pastor and the guy began to tell me about his faith journey. He had a heart for the poor, hungry and
broken in the Sacramento area and formed a ministry to provide resources for
those in need and a transitional shelter for families.
In the
middle of his story, the Holy Spirit whispered in my ear, “Give him the money
in your pocket.” I don’t often carry
cash on me but that morning someone had given me a good amount of money and I
had just stuck it in my pocket. Now I’m being
told to give it away. So at the end of
our conversation, I took the money from my pocket, handed it to him and told
him to put it toward his ministry.
In our
conversation he had mentioned the website and Facebook page of his group. Later, I went to look them up but couldn’t
find the website and I began to wonder, “Did I just get ripped off?” If it was my money, I guess I could go down
that road but the truth is, it wasn’t my money I gave him – it was God’s. I wasn’t responsible for what he did with
it. I was responsible for listening to
God and obeying God.
It is a
constant battle for me to remember I ultimately own nothing. God has made me the caretaker of a tremendous
amount but it is not mine, it is his.
And God can do what he wants with it, when he wants to. In Paul’s first letter to the church in
Corinth he says twice “You were bought with a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:20,
7:23) I am not my own – I belong to
him. I needed to be ransomed from the
life of death and destruction I was following.
I was the recipient of an amazing grace that I can never dream of
repaying. Therefore, all I am, all I
have belong to God.
There can
be many motivations to give – guilt, a desire to do good, gratitude for what we
have – but the deepest, most enduring motivation to give is because of
grace. Grace-giving is when we become a
conduit of God’s generosity. It isn’t
about me or my agenda. It is about God,
his agenda and the abundance of his resources.
This Advent
season, I hope you will take the risk to be open to grace-giving. Open yourself up to the whisper of the Holy
Spirit to empty your pockets as a source of blessing to others. Just obey and allow God to take care of the
results.
Peace and grace,
David
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