[Scripture: Luke 12:27-34]
Today is the Thanksgiving Sunday. In 1621, 53 surviving pilgrims celebrated the first harvest. It is “First Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Although half of the people died in the first winter and still faced many unknown dangers and uncertainty to survive, they celebrated their new life in the New World. After that, Thanksgiving Day has been celebrated as the day of giving thanks to God as a proper response to God’s grace for Christian Church. Do you know why Puritan settlements should honor Thanksgiving Day before God because they appreciated God’s blessings and His grace for their life. Since then, Giving thanks to God has been our American Christian tradition since 1621.
I want to share with you why Christian should give thanks to God. Rick Warren says, “If you looked in your UPS package today and found a free gift waiting for you, it wouldn’t really be free. Someone paid for it at some point. The same is true of God’s grace. It’s totally and completely free to you, but someone paid for it” [1]
All you have is the grace of God. What is God’s greatest grace toward us? It is Jesus Christ who died on the cross to save us. It is a free grace given to us, but it is not cheap. In order to receive God’s saving grace, we must respond with deep gratitude in the Christian faith.
The word ‘grace’ literally means “favor” in the Bible. Traditionally, when a master shows kindness to a servant, the servant should repay the master with gratitude. This is what the scriptural sense of grace. Sincere gratitude is the right response to generosity. It’s called reciprocity. The exchange of reciprocal relations was a fundamental component of Greco-Roman society.
Spiritual Value
Today’s passages in verses 29-30, Jesus told his disciples to seek a worthy and suitable place to store up the things that make them rich toward God. Jesus was not talking about worldly values such as eating and drinking for the flash, but Jesus really talked about spiritual values that make us rich before God. The spiritual value is to love God and love people in the Holy Spirit that enriches our hearts and life in heaven, but eating and drinking only fills the stomach full.
In verse 33, Jesus talked how Christians can turn worldly values into spiritual values and store them up in heaven. Verse 33 says, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.” Jesus said, “Selling what you have and giving it to the poor is not a losing but investing it in heaven. It is an exchanging process worldly values into spiritual quality and depositing them in the heavenly bank of the kingdom of God.
Jesus asked us to invest what you have for better value.
- The possessions mean the things that you already have as discretionary income or funds under your control.
- The Kingdom of heaven is the great value to come to us as a new reality, new world, and new opportunity.
Using your possessions to have better value, it is the main point that Jesus Christ tells us.
The meaning of contributions
Today we are going to talk about Christian giving. Traditionally, giving is one of the best ways to thank, and it has been seen as an appropriate Christian response.
In the Bible, there are two typical contributions.
When you giving to the Church, it is called an offering: the Greek word “Doron”, in English translation is a gift, present, and a sacrifice.
The other contribution is a collection which is giving for people: The Greek word is “Logeia” definition is a collecting (things and money) an irregular contribution. (1 Cor 16)
(Soup supper), (bake sale), (salvation army)
The Biblical definition of offering for the Church and donation for people is one of the exchanging processes in which you put away less value and take a better value and put them in the right and safe place in heaven.
However, Jesus said, there are a proper attitude when you are contributing your money. When you donate things and money for people, you just put it on the box or basket in casual manner. But when you do your offerings to God, there are an appropriate and acceptable manner.
Offerings to God
In the Bible, there is an interesting story about an offering. One day, Jesus sat down opposite side of the offering box and watched. Many rich people throw in large amounts of money, and after that a poor lady came and dropped two copper coins into the box. Jesus Christ who searches our hearts knows the mind of people said to disciples “poor lady has put in more than all the others. “All rich people gave their gifts out of their wealthy but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on” (Luke 21:3).
In Jesus’ day, many wealthy and politicians tended to bring moneybag when they come out to public places and markets. Because when they come out of the square, poor people come and ask for money. The rich tossed a few coins into the hands of the poor so that they would not be stuck on the streets by the poor. Because if you don’t give money, poor people will follow them and ask for money.
In the same attitude, when they came to the temple, they put their hand in the moneybag and griped whatever might be and throw in the box carelessly.
The other hand, a poor lady put two copper coins with sincere heart. Two small copper cons were equivalent to about 2-3 dollars. It is considered poor people lunch money at that time. She did not eat a meal to save to do offering to the Kingdom’s business. She made a plan and prepared her offering before she came to the temple.
More importantly, her offering was accompanied with her sacrificial act that make pleasing God. To present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service to God.
Jesus Christ has a different standard than ours when it comes to large amounts money or small coins in our offerings. His attention is not the actual amount, but Jesus asks us where your heart and our motivation are. Jesus wants to see your heart, your mind, and your life with your offering.
When I was young which is 11 years old, I want to show my gratitude or want to show my love to my parents. I decided to buy a dozen of donuts that was my father’s favorite but the problem is money. I did not have extra money to buy donuts. One day, I walked 10 miles to come home in snowy winter season to save bus fare and bought donuts and carrying from town to home with happy heart. The distance from our church to Kroger in Monroe was similar in distance.
In the same way, when we want to do our offering, we need to prepare our heart, mind to God, and set apart our offering before coming to church. My case is that I put my offering in the Bible. Put your heart, your body as a living sacrifice, and your treasure with it. It is the right attitude of our Christian life before God.
[1] (http://pastorrick.com/devotional/english/full-post/grace-is-free-but-it-s-not-cheap)
2021.11.21. Pastor Cloud Poy
@ Photo on Unsplash
