Living Generously - How Does God Measure Generosity?, Part 2

God blesses generous people.

Let me repeat that. It's an absolute principle from Scripture. God blesses. He causes His favor, His blessing to be upon people that are generous.

Now here's the problem. We often think we're generous, but He measures it different than we do. Today, learn how God measures generosity.

You don't want to miss it. Well, thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Living on the Edge is a discipleship ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram. I'm Dave Druey, and today Chip wraps up his series, Living Generously, with an amazing reveal of God's generosity to every aspect of the Christmas story. Now, lest you think, it's not Christmas. Why are we talking about Christmas?

Well, what Chip explains is that everything about the Christmas story is a model for how we can live generously 365 days a year. So let's join him for part two of his message, How Does God Measure Generosity? I want to give you the best of my time. I don't know what that looks like for you. It's the early morning for me.

I want to give you the best of my time. And if you're like me, you're going to get a call from someone, and it shows up on your phone. And I have about three people in my life, when their name comes up, it's like, this is not a short conversation. It's never a short conversation. In fact, it's a conversation where I can ask one or two questions, and 45 minutes later, I'm not sure.

If I hung up, they wouldn't know it. But you know what I've realized is, Jesus loves unlovely people. Jesus made time for people that most of us don't want to make time for. And what I'm really saying, see, what generosity is, it breaks your pride.

Generosity says, this person, where this dysfunction, with this conversation, with this baggage, matters to God, so they matter to me, because He lives inside of me, and giving my money is a pretty high control. I can do it on my terms. I give my time.

It gets messy. The shepherds left work. It's one thing to write a check, but I mean, to leave work, to not work so much, to give time to family, or a friend, or to minister, or to open your home in a small group.

Oh, but I'd have to leave work early, and other people would get ahead. Yeah. Takes faith, doesn't it?

Are you starting to see? Time is way more valuable. But it goes beyond that. The man introduces a new character, and we get Joseph, who's engaged. And as you read this engagement period in the Jewish culture is, you know, the families would be involved, and the families would agree, this is the right man, this is the right girl, and in this culture, it would be a semi-arranged marriage, and then there would be what's called the betrothal, and so you would get engaged, and then you'd have up to sometimes a year, and the man would then get the house ready, and get financially responsible, and where they're going to live. And the betrothal period was very official. Isn't it like today when you're engaged, and say, hey, you know, I'm not sure this is really right, let's break the engagement.

The only way to break an engagement then was to have a divorce. Now listen to Joseph's story, and think of what it would be like, especially, guys, think of this as your girlfriend, and you hear this story about her. Matthew chapter one, beginning at verse 18, it says, this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

Because Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man, he didn't want to expose her to public disgrace, but he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he considered this an angel of the Lord, that phrase often, angel of the Lord, is the pre-incarnate Christ. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home with your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son. You will give him his name, Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. And all of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God is with us.

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and he took Mary home to be his wife. Now just, you talk about your reputation, alright guys, those of you that think about way, way back for some of you when you were engaged, and your girlfriend comes to you and says, hey, I just want you to know, I've never been with another man, but I'm pregnant. And you say, well, how can this be? And she says, well, it's God.

Oh, really? Yeah, it's God. Angel told me. Yeah, okay, so let's get now, you have an angelic visit, and this angel, literally, I mean, in the middle of the night, you have this dream, and he speaks to you and says it's okay, and then he says, this is the savior of the world, the Messiah's coming, Mary told you the truth, this is the real deal, I want you to do it. Now sometimes we read these Bible stories like Joseph, some wind-up religious robot, oh yes, God said it, I will do it, God said it, I will do it, he's a guy, he's thinking, now wait a second, I mean, this is when the sexual mores were way different than they are now. I mean, you could get stoned for adultery, you don't have babies out of wedlock, so now Joseph is going to marry a girl that's pregnant, what are the guys down at the bar gonna say? Joseph, you fool, Joseph, you idiot, can you believe that?

I mean, all of his life, the suspect, the suspicion, how in the world could any man marry some woman who's pregnant with someone else's kid? In that day, his reputation, gone. Let me ask you, when you start thinking about money or time or reputation, what's the most valuable, what's the hardest to give? I'm gonna guess that group this size, we have people that probably give your money faithfully. And I bet there's people in this room that actually are pretty willing to give your time, but I bet there's some of us that as relatives come in, or when a topic comes up at work, and it's one of those black and white issues, and you know the Bible says this, and it's really clear, and your personal convictions are here, but you know if you would fly your flag and verbalize that, they would think you're one of those Bible-thumping, anti-intellectual, evangelical weirdos, and you know what you do? You don't say anything, because what people think of you matters more than what God thinks of you, and how you appear, and it might impact your career, and it might impact the future, right? You tell people you go to church here, and they look at you like, so you're just not smart or what? You're not a thinking person?

You're not an intellectual? Are you willing to give God your reputation? Are you willing to kind of go out there on the limb and say, you know Lord, and by the way, I don't mean be stupid. I don't mean be argumentative. I mean there's a lot of Christians that please, you know, act in ways that actually hurt God's reputation. I'm talking about you know those areas when the Spirit of God is prompting you to step up and verbalize and model what you really believe, and all this pressure that you're so afraid of what people think.

Generous people. Joseph gave his reputation. For Mary, it was beyond her reputation.

I mean her reputation was ruined, but she gave her future. We pick the story up in Luke chapter one. It's in the sixth month. God sent the, now notice the angel Gabriel. He's the great messenger of God who announces the greatest announcements in scripture. Gabriel goes to Nazareth to a town of Galilee to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, the descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary, and the angel went to her and said, greetings, you're highly favored. The Lord is with you. I mean I just, I don't know how or where this happened, but I just picture it had to be in a private place, and you know maybe Mary was just getting ready for bed, or maybe she couldn't sleep that night, and all of a sudden an angel's in the room.

I mean light emanating out of him. He starts to speak to her. Her response is Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

Wouldn't you? But the angel said, do not be afraid Mary. You've found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you're to give him his name Jesus. This is really good because at least Joseph gets a dream that says Jesus is the name, and Mary gets a visit that says Jesus is the name.

So when they talk together, they're on the same page. Then notice, he will be great and be called the son of the most high. The Lord God will give him the throne of David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end.

Mary understood what was going on here. The throne of David, his kingdom. Later in the same book, she has this prayer, this magnificent prayer, and she talks about how God is faithful to the humble, and she quotes 12 to 15 different parts of Old Testament passages. This young girl was godly, maybe 15, 16 years old, knew God, loved God, found favor. Those words, the throne of David, he'll be called the son of God. She understood the long awaited Messiah, God visiting the earth, fully God, fully man, is going to take up residence inside my body. And I will give physical birth to the son of God, and I will be the mother of the Messiah.

But she sort of had a methodology question. And so her response is, how can this be since I'm a virgin? And the angel said, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you so that the Holy One to be born will be called the son of God. And then almost as though, can you imagine a little 15, 16 year old girl trying to take all this in?

And it's like the angel said, you know, by the way, let me give you a little touch of reality. You know Elizabeth, your aunt? Yeah. You know the old lady who can't have kids? Yeah. I mean, way past childbearing?

Yeah. Right now, she's six months pregnant. And what we find is after this, Mary goes and visits her, and I think it was a great encouragement to her faith, especially when she walked in the room. And John the Baptist would leap inside of Elizabeth in recognition of this is the mother, the savior of the world.

And he says, for nothing is impossible with God. And then I love her response. Because now I want to talk to you ladies. And I don't know much about this except I have one daughter and one wife. And I talked to my wife a lot about the dream she had someday and what the wedding would look like and this guy that she was going to marry and the kind of person he would be and maybe you know two or three kids or you know when you're a young girl, don't you have dreams about your future and what it's going to look like and who he might be and you know where you're going to live and you know back then I don't think they had white picket fences but you know Mary gave her future away.

Her life was never normal. And her response was, I am the servant of the Lord, be it unto me, according to your word. Here's what you got to grab. God who actually made all that there is wants to do things in you and through you beyond your wildest imagination. But he doesn't have your heart and can't start to guide you until you can demonstrate you trust him and you say Lord I'll trust you with the training wheels of my money.

And then you begin to say I'll give you the best of my time and then it's your reputation and then here's a lot of people get there and what they say is now God here's what I want you to know. Inside this box for my future as long as I work at this kind of job, marry this kind of person, never get geographically beyond where I am, you know I just want you to know inside this box you can do whatever you want with my life. You know what God does with most people's lives?

He does exactly what you let him do inside that little box. And you can go to church and you can write your first check to the Lord and you can read your Bible and you can go to a little Bible study now and then and even share your faith now and then and feel like but God's been tapping on your shoulder and say what about your future? What about your future?

You willing to go anywhere? 80% of all the people in America have a job they hate but they won't leave it because the economic income is greater than doing what they were made to do. See I mean it's a scary, you're starting to get generous when you say God I want to do with your future anything you want done in my future. And that usually requires some sort of step of faith and then people that we interview or people that you know that have the sort of winsome attractive love for God that oozes out of them and it's the kind of Christians we all someday kind of want to be. I will tell you what they've given their future to God and they're doing some things and experiencing things they never dreamed would ever happen. They thought it only happened to quote really spiritual people or really smart people really holy people and what I will tell you is the Bible is filled with only ordinary people through whom God does extraordinary things and the prerequisite isn't gift or talent or smarts or heritage or background. The prerequisite is trust and availability and that's why the Christmas story is a graduate level in generosity because it's unlikely people who God does improbable impossible amazing things as increasing levels of generosity and she gives her future and then Jesus does what? His life Mark 10 45 for even the son of man came not to be served but to serve and give his life.

For many the word for their means in the place of as a substitute for and you can kind of see I sort of picture, you know down here. They see a star little bit of revelation they respond to it they get an angelic visit over here while he gets a dream with an angel of the Lord she gets a visit from Gabriel Jesus. Before the foundations of the earth looks through the portals of time in the eternal now and who for the joy not reluctantly who for the joy was it hard. Yes, did he anguish in his soul. Yes, was it in the garden was it a struggle completely.

I like that because it is for me too. But when he gave his life, it wasn't a reluctant it was who for the joy set before him endured the cross despising the shame offering himself. So he could pay for you and you and me and you and you and whosoever would believe in him. The father goes beyond that. The father gave his son in that window in that moment of time when Jesus hung upon the cross for the first time in eternity. The father would turn away from the son and the just wrath of God your sin and my sin and the sins of all people of all time would be placed on him as a sin offering. And so he would cry my God my God why have you forsaken me and he would take on your sin and mine and the father would give. And for some of us as you learn to become generous and God uses you there's an Isaac in your life that's why that pictures in the Old Testament. There's been times when one of my kids has been an idol in my life and God are you willing to let him loose and go away and pursue this career that I thought he's never going to make any money he's never going to have a life and it's probably not going to work out.

And it's a long way from here. Yes Lord. Or letting your kid go to a mission field. There's another time in my life when my wife was an idol. And she would tell you now that's one of the hardest most difficult times but what God did in and then through. What precious possession what are you hanging on to that God just wants to pry your little fingers off of so he could let you experience his love. Last night at the end of the service there was a guy waiting around for quite a while and he thought what's up and he said I just came here to thank you.

I said what for? He said well I've been kind of involved in ministry and 29 years old I'm in a graduate program now and I do some teaching in my church and I've told people all kind of stuff for lots of years. But in the last two weeks three of the biggest things happened that just shattered my life and he said you know something there were two or three things that I've always held back even though I was involved in ministry and read the Bible. Two or three things that were just God I'm not trusting with those and I for the first time in my life told God I'm all in and I surrendered my life. I mean I've been a Christian for years but I surrendered all that I am all that I have God I want you to know I'm afraid but I believe that you're good and you're kind you're a son and a shield you give grace and glory you won't withhold any good thing but now I'm taking that step. And he said I just can't tell you what's happened in my life in my heart and I've been a Christian most all my life but the power and the experience of God and the love of God that I've heard about but never experienced came because I gave. Why what's the scripture teach give and be given good measure press down shaking together run over back into your lap but it's not about money.

Money's the training wheels yeah when you give yeah but time same reputation future life precious possession there's three little things I want you to fill in. I've shared these but I want you to jot down three observations about the Christmas story and graduate level generosity number one generosity is not so much a virtuous act as it is a virtuous response. Each time it was God God put the star God sent the angels God was in the dream God appeared to Mary he loves you he's reaching he's drawing you so generosity is something great you do you respond. Second God doesn't measure generosity by the size of your gift but the size of your sacrifice and I would just ask you to begin to ponder what would it look like to go from the step that I'm on to the next step on this journey. There's a sacrifice but not as a some legalistic I've earned God's favor but I want to respond to God's love at a deeper level of love and finally increasing levels of generosity bring increasing levels of reward and blessing.

I mean each time the blessing is greater and greater and greater and greater and greater because you give and God always gives back. You know before we do anything I want to stop right now and I want you to think about what you've heard I mean the scripture completely redefines generosity I mean there's the there's the training wheels of of money but reputation future life and then God is the most generous being in the universe he gave his son. And as you listen today I'm sure you had the lens of generosity but have you ever received the most generous gift that a human being could ever receive the forgiveness of your sins. Not based on your merit not working to sort of gain God's approval but to realize that Jesus hung upon the cross to pay for your sin in your place and that all you need to do is turn from your sin with the empty hands of faith and cry out. Oh God I have fallen short I have sinned I need you I believe today that Jesus died to pay for my sin I ask you Lord Jesus come into my life forgive me cleanse me make me your son make me your daughter. I believe you paid the price and you rose from the dead and I want to follow you I want to receive your gift if you've never done that do it right now in your own words just tell God you're sorry for your sin ask Christ to come into your life and accept the forgiveness that you already have. And for many of you who are thinking to yourself you know I remember when I did that could I ask you are you generous the way Jesus is have you given him your future have you given him your reputation does your time and your finances reflect that you're surrendered that you're all in.

Give all that you have to God that he might take it turn it around and give back to you the life that's really life. on the app or go to the new believers tab on our website Living on the Edge dot o r g we just want to help you get started and say welcome to the family well chip what a day this has been great. I have to tell you that teaching on money and wealth and work and the kind of things we're teaching on is at the core of discipleship and transforming people's lives I'm thrilled that I got to teach on this and I can tell you people will be realigning their priorities their lives and their finances because wherever their money goes according to Jesus their heart will follow. So thank you very much for your support financially of this ministry that allows us to teach those kind of truths so if you're looking for a place to invest in ministry that will really make a difference Living on the Edge might be a great opportunity. Well if Living on the Edge is ministering to you and you want to be part of ministering to others across America and all around the world today would be a great day to join the team to give a gift online just go to Living on the Edge dot org or if you prefer give us a call at triple eight three three three six zero zero three app listeners tap the donate button on behalf of chip and everyone here. Thanks in advance for your prayers and your support well I hope you'll be with us again next time until then this is Dave saying thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge.