The Grace of Giving

what do you do 18 times a minute, 1,080 times an hour, 25,920 times a day, nine and a half million times a year, and yet rarely notice?

the answer is: you breathe

if you are forty years old, you have already taken more than 375 million breaths

and each of these breaths was a measured gift from the hand of God

your lungs are one of the most important parts of your body

they furnish your blood with oxygen, and get rid of carbon dioxide and water

without the gift of oxygen and the gift of your lungs, you couldn't live more than a few minutes

if your lungs ever broke down and stopped working, even for a short while, and you had to take them in for repair, you would die

instead, your lungs have worked without fail since the moment you let out a cry at your birth

the Scriptures say,

(Job 12:10) In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

in God's hand is the breath of all mankind

have you ever thought what dependent creatures we are?

our very existence depends upon the grace of God, giving us the next breath we breathe

let's hear some more facts

the layer of oxygen hugging the surface of the earth is very thin

most humans could not survive breathing the space oxygen at 40,000 feet above the earth's surface

do you ever realize that only 5 miles of oxygen sustain the planet?

if you traveled five miles up from here, you would die

the very air we breathe is the gracious gift of God

can anyone here doubt that God is a giving God?

I want to consider a statement of Jesus against this backdrop

it's not recorded in the Gospels, but Paul quoted our Lord Jesus Christ in Acts 20:35

(Acts 20:35) In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'

the words of Jesus again is that it is more blessed to give than to receive

now, we all know it's blessed to receive

there's not one of us that this morning would be disappointed if we received a wonderful piece of merchandise

I received a free T-shirt the other week

I didn't really need another T-shirt, my life has not been transformed by this T-shirt, I don't even spend time thinking about T-shirts, but let me tell you, when I received my free T-shirt the other week, I knew that it is blessed to receive

because I went right away and put on that free T-shirt

what we forget sometimes is that everything good we receive comes from the hand of God

(James 1:17) Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights

everything in life that we can call "good" comes either directly or indirectly from God

you see, God is a giving God, and what God gives is good

this morning I'm telling you that your breath, your health, your family, your work, your home, your car, your play, the ability to eat or to rest - everything you have that is good, it all comes from God

the late tennis legend Arthur Ashe inspired millions on and off the tennis court

Ashe contracted AIDS which he had contracted from a blood transfusion

he could have become bitter, asking, "Why me?"

listen to what he said:

"If I asked, 'Why me?' about my troubles, I would have to ask 'Why me?' about my blessings. Why my winning Wimbledon? Why my marrying a beautiful, gifted woman and having a wonderful child?"

you see, Ashe had perspective

insurance companies declare a hurricane, flood, or earthquake acts of God

but do you want to hear some things that are really acts of God?

the birth of a baby is an act of God - one of the greatest miracles, and it's God

the love of a parent is an act of God

the rainbow after rain, the majesty of a sunset - they're acts of God

the beauty of a composition, performed by a symphony - that's an act of God

many of you know Dr. George Bell, a pastor and previous president of Central Baptist Seminary

Dr. Bell lost his wife Gwen to cancer

in the hospital waiting room one day, someone asked him why he wasn't bitter about losing his wife

he replied something like this:

imagine your neighbor came to your door every day for 30 days and give you $100

he insisted that you take it, and wouldn't take no for an answer

then, on the 31^st day, you watched as the neighbor passed by your house for the first time and gave $100 to the next neighbor

would you dare open your door and scream, "You cheat! Where's my $100?"

he said, "God gave me Gwen for all this time. And now, on the 31^st day in a sense, he's taking her away. I choose to be grateful for the 30 days that I had her, instead of the 31^st day that she's been taken away"

friends, God is so good

88% of us will reach the age of 50, and some of you have made it already

over 70% of us will reach age 70, and some of you have made it there too

almost 17% of us will live to age 85 or more - Bill, you can take a bow

but most of us will live past age 70

just a century ago, do you realize that a 40-year old person was an old person in America?

God has been good in the extension of life

we should remember that God is a God of abundance

(Psalms 65:11) You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.

scientists say that one quarter of the ice-free areas of our world can produce enough food for 40 billion people

currently we have 6 billion

God has so created this world that if we got our acts together, this world could sustain almost 7 times the current population

he has made this world a world of goodness and life

God is a giving God

and God gives grace

the word grace in Greek indicates everything about an object or person that is winsome, appealing, and attractive

you and I are not deserving of God's grace

but God has given it to us anyway

and we can receive eternal life and be rescued from the consequences of our sins because of the greatest gift ever given - the gift of God's grace

God is good, and God has blessed us

repeat after me:

God is good

God has blessed us

now if God is a giver, that makes us receivers

life should be received by us as a gift from Him

that means we ought to realize we're not here because of random circumstance

nor are we the result of our own efforts

you didn't begin your own life

you didn't choose your family

you didn't choose Canada over any other country

there are a thousand such providences in your life with which you had nothing to do

they were received because they were given by the hand of God

and so, we should receive life as a gift from the hand of God

every day, in every occasion, and at all costs, we should see the goodness of life as a gift from the hand of God

Amen?

the greater blessedness belongs, however, to those who do not simply receive, but give

the world "blessed" should not be confused with the English word "happiness"

happiness depends on circumstances

blessedness does not

we are blessed as we not only receive, but as we give

it is more blessed to give than to receive

in the late 19^th century, psychiatry had moved from the continent to England, and it was all the rage in London

one day a man visited a psychiatrist in London

finally, the physician told the man, "You're so depressed, here's what I recommend - go see Grimaldi the clown"

Grimaldi was the most famous clown in history

the man said, "That's going to be a problem"

the doctor said, "Why?"

"Because I am Grimaldi the clown"

you see, that's the human predicament as it relates to happiness

happiness is fleeting and chancy, and it depends on human circumstances

the biblical word "blessed" however, reflects what is spoken of in Psalm 1

Psalm 1 compares the blessed person to a tree that is planted by rivers of water

the plural indicates the abundance of resources available for such a tree

in a desert land where life is only sustained by the presence of water, such a tree sustains an abundant life that never runs out of resources

that is the nature of blessedness

the blessed life is the life with deep roots and stability, secured because of the life's resources

in New Testament times, Greeks called Cyprus the "blessed" isle because that island contained everything within its shores to sustain life

nothing had to be imported

in fact, the island could export to others out of its abundance

hence, Cyprus was called the blessed isle

to this day, the archbishop of Cyprus is called Makarious, the Greek word for blessed

the blessed life is one of abundance

there is a fullness of life when you are blessed

here is the paradox of truth so characteristic of the Bible

become a giving person, and you will be more blessed

that is, if you give, you will receive more and more abundance in every area of life that really matters

import the full meaning of the biblical word "blessed" into this text

the life that has endlessly renewed spiritual resources is the life that gives

the life that only takes, grabs, receives, and refuses to give is the life that dries up its very source

if you doubt this, only remember the lives of those you remember as being grasping, greedy people

then consider the full lives lived by those who give

only a little reflection shows the blessedness of the life that gives rather than grabs

I'll remind you that the word miserable comes from miser

misers are miserable

after the 1991 military coup in Haiti, the international community imposed an embargo on the tiny Caribbean nation

life for many Haitians became a matter of daily struggle for survival

a missionary told of a Christian woman who stood up in a meeting and prayed, "We thank you, Lord, for the embargo. It has taught us to depend more fully on you. And it has given us a greater longing for heaven."

this attitude demonstrates a blessedness that goes beyond circumstance

a man touring a rural area in the Far East say a boy pulling a crude plow while an old man held the handles and guided it through the rice paddy

they visitor commented, "I suppose they are poor"

"Yes," said the guide, "when their church was built, they wanted to give something to help, but they had no money. So they sold their only ox. This spring they are pulling the plow themselves"

many people would say they're crazy

but they don't know the secret of the blessedness of giving

it is unlikely that the richest person in the area could even imagine the inner contentment of the two who had given the best they had to the work of God

there is a fullness and a peace about the life that so gives to God

God has carved into the world around us the clear teaching that it is more blessed to give than to receive

the sun is the sun because it gives heat and light

that great atomic reaction in the sun means that it is a living star

if the sun did not give, it would be a white dwarf - a dead and dark star without light

a tree lives because it gives

in the process of photosynthesis, the tree breathes in carbon dioxide and gives off oxygen which supports animal and human life

the ocean lives because it gives

the water of the ocean evaporates and forms clouds

these clouds in turn carry the rain to the earth, that forms the rivers which replenish the life of the ocean

all of nature lives because it gives

Jesus espoused the philosophy, "It is more blessed to give than to receive"

we might well ask ourselves, how did this work out in various people's lives?

Darwin taught a life of biological evolution with no place for God in the scheme of things

he died a miserable man

Marx taught a life of dialectical materialism, and likewise died without comfort

his philosophy is now discredited

Freud taught a worldview of the human mind as conflict and denied the existence of God

he died a haunted man

today, few psychiatrists follow the teachings of Freud

what of Jesus who taught that the blessed life is the life that gives?

no one in history was more giving than Jesus Christ

he gave up a place in heaven to come to the stable of Bethlehem

he gave up the comforts that even a poor man has in order to be a traveling preacher and healer

he gave time to teach, heal, and exorcise

at the end, all Jesus had left was a seamless robe

Jesus even gave that up as the cross fell upon him

finally, Jesus gave life itself on that cross for a humanity that did not deserve the life of the Son of God

the great validation of Jesus' philosophy of life as giving came on the third day of the Resurrection

God intervened and raised up Jesus Christ as a mighty vindication of everything that Jesus did and said

included in that is the philosophy of Jesus that it is more blessed to give than to receive

there were plenty of takers in Jesus' world

the Jewish religious establishment that ran the temple consisted of corrupted religious bagmen, takers of people's money

the Roman Empire was history's biggest taker, taking the plunder of the entire western world into its hoarded treasures

yet the only reason most of humanity remembers the Jewish leaders as Annas and Caiaphas or the Roman leaders of Augustus and Tiberius is because the shadow of Jesus Christ fell across their lives and times

no philosophy of life has ever been vindicated like that of Jesus

the same is true of those who followed Jesus

every movement in civilization that indicates mercy, care, giving, and nurture finds the Christian faith as its wellspring

where did hospitals originate? With the Christian faith

where did care for orphans originate? With the Christian faith

where did prison reform, women's rights, child labor laws, emancipation, and a thousand other movements that lightened the load of humanity begin? All with the Christian faith

civilization would not be around without the Christian faith

go to the Hindu world and you see no thrust for the care of others

the streets of New Delhi and Calcutta show it clearly

go to the Moslem world and you find no great institutions of charity

you find only the inflexible fatalism of Islam

but visit anywhere the Gospel has gone, and you will find that great people give, and because of that, people live

have you really tried the philosophy of life, "It is more blessed to give than to receive?"

try it

it is the only instance in which God asks people to put him to the test

(Malachi 3:10) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

when you make the commitment to give to God, to the work of God, and to the kingdom of God, you have the promise of Jesus that your life will become more blessed as you give

you have been given the grace of God in all of life

let that grace make you a giver

researchers have placed goldfish in tight little bowls

for months, they swim in small circles

when such fish have been released into a large pond of water, they continue to swim in tight little circles

they don't know that the barrier is gone

how much we're like that!

we move in our own tight little circles of getting, keeping, stowing away, hoarding and clutching

in so doing, we miss out on what the grace of God does in our lives

let us learn the truth of Jesus' words

we have experienced the grace of God

but the real blessedness consists in giving

DashHouse.com

Sermon Index

New! Sermon Audio

Subscribe to DashSermons

The Grace of Giving