IT’S NOT THE SIZE OF YOUR GIFT
BUT THE SIZE OF GOD’S BLESSING
Matthew 14:14-21 (KJV)
Zechariah 4:9-10 (KJV)
The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.
For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
I have often thought that the way Faith Promise is sometimes presented would never work in any other land than the United States.
· We are so focused on numbers, and it’s probably not wrong.
· We have so much to give that to ask, even expect that Americans would give in big ways seems right.
But what I have observed over the years of my Christian walk is that what most people think of when they think of increasing their giving for missions is either,
· I can ask God to give me a raise at work
· I can ask God to give me a better job
I remember hearing Warren Wiersbe once say that God had always answered his prayers for provisions by giving him work.
And that sounds great, unless you live in a third world country where there is no work.
How does God provide for Faith Promise missions there?
Is it true that, if you have very little, you are no longer responsible to God to tithe and give an offering to missions?
This year, for the first time in our lives, many of us have an opportunity to EXPERIENCE Faith Promise Missions.
With that in mind I want to remind you that it has never been about the size of your offering, but about the size of God’s blessing.
Notice first,
I. THE LOAVES AND FISHES
Matthew 14:14-21 (KJV)
And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
He said, Bring them hither to me.
And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
The first thing that I notice is that
A. This was a huge need.
A great multitude
We know it to be five thousand men and who knows how many women and children.
If Jesus and his twelve disciples and all brought a lunch, there would not be enough to feed them all.
Five loaves and two fishes.
Some people say it was a little boy’s lunch.
It doesn’t matter if it was an entrepreneur’s stock.
If the loaves are ten feet long and the fish are 50 lbs each, this isn’t enough.
One of our problems, I think, has been that we think /god blesses America BECAUSE we give so much.
It’s not true.
God has blessed us SO we can give.
During the first part of the Civil War, the Confederacy was dominating the battle fields.
Lincoln was frustrated because he could not find a general who was willing to fight and
Jeff Davis had generals like Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson
During the Southern heyday, one of their well-known Baptist pastors, I cannot remember his name, preached a message that was then published and distributed to every Southern state and every Confederate Soldier.
In the message this pastor declared that God had blessed them on the battlefield because they were so good at supporting missionaries.
That didn’t last very long, did it?
It doesn’t matter how much we give, the need is far too great for us to help them all.
I notice secondly
B. They brought what they had to Jesus
This is the great secret.
It is not the size of our gifts that meets the need.
It is the blessing of the LORD.
Could it be that the LORD will allow us to see that the true blessing in giving to Faith Promise is not to count how big our promise is, but to mark how much GOD does with it?
C. When it was said and done, there was more left over than was given.
Some of the missionaries could be in real serious trouble because so many churches operate like so many peopledo and like even our government does –
They spend everything and more than they make.
I have told this account many times, but wish to do it again.
Back in 1990 my family made a trip to Mexico and stopped in a church in California on the way home.
The evening we were at this particular church they had a church planter preaching.
The man thanked the church for all that they had done to help him and said that because of them their church was almost debt free.
Once the message was over the pastor got up and said, “We didn’t give so you could be almost debt free. What debt do you have?”
The church planter said that the city had required him to pave their parking lot and they still owed for that. Maybe it was $20,000.
The pastor right then asked for a motion to pay this church’s debt.
Motion, second and passed.
After I asked the pastor how in the world were they able to do that.
He said, “We don’t commit all of our Faith Promise. We save back a portion so we can do things like this.”
They gave to missionaries AND had over to give even more to missionaries.
I believe it is Biblical, even Christlike.
By the way, it would be smart if our country would learn to do that.
And if our families would too.
Let me give you another account, that of,
II. THE WIDOW’S MITES
Mark 12:41-44 (KJV)
And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
I note first of all
A. Jesus was watching people give
It’s nobody else’s business what you do or do not give to God.
But it is God’s business and He seems to be keeping books.
· I’m not trying to make you feel guilty
· I’m not trying to motive you with the fear of the Lord
I’m just preaching the Bible.
B. Jesus called His disciples to see
Somebody has to keep count down here too.
We do not keep a record of your Faith Promise.[1]
· But we do add the promises up
· And we do keep an account of what comes in and goes out
C. Jesus was not impressed with the size of the offering
He was impressed with the sacrifice of the offering.
· It might be that this year you can’t promise as much money as before.
· But this year you can promise a bigger sacrifice than ever before
I have just one more
III. GOD’S GRACE IN MACEDONIA
2 Corinthians 8:1-5 (KJV)
Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;
How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves;
Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.
A. They gave in great trial and deep poverty
And yet they were filled with joy and they gave liberally (generously).
Did you notice that God graced or blessed them so that they gave in a time of affliction and poverty.
God blessed us by organizing our Faith Promise during this pestilence.
B. They gave beyond their power
They gave both to their power and then beyond.
I take it that they figured out what they could do, and then did even more than that.
And they even did that willingly.
C. They gave themselves
We often say that we give our tithes first, then our offerings on top of that.
That’s only partly true.
The Biblical order is:
· Surrender yourself first
· Pay your tithes secondly and
· Give your offerings after
Conclusion
I am not giving you permission to give less than you have given in the past.
I do not have authority from God to do that.
I am saying, this:
· What matters this year is not that you match or better your promise from last year.
· What matters is that you better your sacrifice over last year.
It’s not the size of your gift the missionaries need.
It’s the size of God’s blessing.
