Monday, May 4, 2009

Gospel-Centered Giving

I was shocked by my father’s response when I asked him for a loan. A few years ago, I believe we were led by the Lord to begin a specific ministry for a season. One major focus in this ministry was to conduct conferences in churches for people who were suffering through grief. One of the requirements to do this was that we would be traveling to various church settings; usually on weekends and that I resign my pastoral position. Because we would no longer have financial support from the church and needed a minivan to get us there, I needed money for the van. I went to ask my father.
I was more than a little hesitant because I wasn’t sure he understood the reason I resigned a paying position for a non-paying one. To be honest, I didn’t understand it all either but believed we had a clear direction from the Lord. So I related my need and layed out my proposal. I was asking that the repayment schedule would not begin until after a year had passed. At that time, I would begin to pay back what amounted to a huge sum of money over the next three years. I was shocked by what he said in response.
“Why don’t I just give it to you?” he said. Some would have considered the price of this van at least a year’s wages. And the year’s deferment before I began to pay back the loan wasn’t a standard procedure you could find at your local hometown bank. So after he responded, I remember thinking not many people give like this. Over the years since then I have thought that in a sense, this is how God gives to us. His gospel comes without a payment plan. Recognizing this, it can set us free to give in like manner.
Let’s look at one of the best stories in the Bible and learn from this model of Gospel-Centered Giving.

While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head.
But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her.
But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.”
“Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.” (Mark 14:3-9)


I. GOSPEL-CENTERED GIVING IS FOUND IN GOSPEL-CENTERED ENVIRONMENTS. (3)

While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head.

Three fascinating details of the setting of this great story are revealed in our text. First of all, Jesus was in Bethany. The Gospel of John says in Chapter 12 that Bethany was the home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Mark’s audience was alerted to this location and those who had heard the story of Lazarus would have known that Bethany was the place where the gospel comes to life. Here is where Jesus cried out at the tomb of a man four days dead to come out of his place of death and the one who had died came forth. Only God can give life to dead men. A casual reading of John’s Gospel may give one the impression that this story unfolded in the home of Lazarus as he is reclining at the table. But this text in Mark, similar yet different in detail, seems to describe the same event and it gives us the second fascinating fact.
They were at home of Simon the Leper. What a great place for what was taking place. I would suggest to you that Simon the Leper was called “The Leper” because Simon was no longer a leper. In other words, Simon, who used to be a leper, was a “leper no more” or he would not have been the host of these guests and no one would have been reclining at the table. Lepers were isolated and shunned, shut out even by their families, and especially by the worship community. This was likely a leper whom Jesus had healed. Remember the account in the early part of Mark’s Gospel where Jesus encountered a person with leprosy who testified that if Jesus was willing, He could make him clean. And that leper was a leper no more and he could not be quiet about it. Once you had leprosy, and you were cleansed, it was a huge deal. It was no less a miracle that Jesus was willing and able to cleanse a leper than raising the dead. The gospel comes to life when it does for mankind what mankind is helpless to do. The leper could never have helped himself be clean. The gospel is at home in the home of a “leper no more”.
The third revelation about this gospel-centered environment is that they were reclining with Jesus. There can be no encounter with the gospel without encountering Christ. There can be no gospel-centered environment without communion with Christ at the center of that encounter. To be able to commune with Christ is more than a miracle than someone raised from the dead or healed from leprosy. For any man to recline at the table with God, the separation that must be bridged is more than disease or death. The separation is sin which causes disease and death. Yet, here was God our Savior, reclining with sinful mankind. A more careful reading of John 12 tells us that Martha was serving. In a gospel environment we will find people like Martha, who serves frantically and frequently, sometimes to the point of forgetting why she is serving. Remember her demand on another occasion that Jesus command her sister Mary to help her. The Lord’s response to her was that Martha was bothered by so many things. But Mary had chosen the good part. Mary chose to hear the word of the Lord. For without hearing the gospel, we will not serve rightly. We will serve out of a sense of duty, not out of a sense of gratitude. We do not serve to earn our salvation. We serve because we are saved. Sometimes I want to tell those who are content to be like Martha to choose the best part. People who are content to serve and compare their service with others’ lack of service are missing God and will find their service miserable at times. Mary had chosen the good part. Mark does not identify the woman who anointed Jesus but John does. Once again Mary was there and she would do a good thing in the presence of the Lord. And once again her actions would be provocative in a gospel-centered environment.

II. GOSPEL-CENTERED GIVING IS PROVOCATIVE TO SOME WHO OBSERVE IT. (4-5)

But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her.

Who were these who were provoked to indignation? Who were the “some” who grumbled and murmured? According to the Gospel of Matthew, His disciples were there. No one there was a stranger to Christ. This is the hardest thing to understand for those who have been delivered by the gospel. Why don’t other disciples of Christ see Jesus the way Mary saw Jesus? Much has been made over the gift that was given. Three hundred days wages were cracked open and poured over His head. The general consensus was this was such a waste. Waste not, want not is one old adage that seems to be rooted in humanity. This can be a good guiding principle but not always a gospel-centered one.
At one time in our ministry we operated a food pantry. We collected and distributed food in the community to those in need. We received food from different sources and many local churches would collect donations from their congregations. One church dropped off a few boxes one day. Trying to be careful in what we distributed, we always went through the donations and checked expiration dates. A good portion of this particular collection was outdated. One can of oysters had been out of date for almost six years. Now some may say that as long as the can was unopened, the contents are safe. I would say to them, then you can eat those oysters! I don’t mind telling you that I was indignant. Often we give as if we can only give our leftovers. We use the occasion to serve ourselves and clean out our pantries. I would say give as unto the Lord. Give the best we can. Give because we can.
So why were these disciples indignant? Wasn’t the woman giving God her best? That wasn’t the issue. These who were indignant were worshipping the wrong god. People are created to worship so this comes pretty naturally. But unless we are transformed by the gospel, the worship we practice will be flawed and sinful. We will worship the greatest idol of all…the idol of our own desires. In Ken Sande’s book, The Peacemaker, he says that conflict arises out of the desires of our hearts. When these desires are not met, then we begin to act out a worship experience. Sande outlines four stages of idol worship. The four stages are I desire, I demand, I judge, and I punish. Unmet desires quickly become a demand. Because these demands are not met, then we pronounce judgment on another person who does not act like we (or our idols) demand. The judgment is carried out in some form or fashion. Idols demand that we punish the offender. The disciples were indignant because Mary had not worshipped their way or the way that they desired. So she was scolded. She was publicly embarrassed or humiliated. This is all the more painful because it came from followers of Christ. No one came to her defense. Except the One who has the most authority. Jesus defends her personally.

III. GOSPEL-CENTERED GIVING IS A PERSONAL ENDEAVOR. (6-8)

But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.”

It could have been given to the poor. Have you ever noticed how most people who are willing to give to the poor are hesitant to get involved personally in the lives of the poor? Have you ever noticed how many people who offer this alternative do not personally give their lives to Christ and His service? Jesus said you can give to the poor any time. Now was the time to give to Him. And Mary had picked the right time. In fact, time was running out on the time to serve Jesus. His cross was coming. He was hours away from His death. He had told them it was coming. He had told them it was necessary. They didn’t get it. Mary got it. The gospel had transformed her and given her understanding of her nature as a sinner and God’s gracious gift. She was eternally grateful. So her gift to God was an extravagant gift. Her gift to God was costly because God’s gift to her was priceless. When you come to the end of your life, will you think about all the things you never got to do or what to do with all the wealth you amassed or all the opportunities you missed to love God and others lavishly? Will you grieve that you have missed opportunities to give to God? Or will you be like Mary? She had done what she could when she could.
This was Mary’s parting gift to her Lord. It was a good one. She had anointed His body for His burial. We read in Chapter 16 of Mark that after the Sabbath, other women came to the tomb and their purpose was to anoint the body of Jesus. Too late! Mary had already done this good deed to God. Jesus recognized the personal nature of what was going on in the moment. Often we do good things in the name of Christ. But when we do good things to Christ and for Christ and in Christ and with Christ it is a personal endeavor. Mary gave personally because she knew the gospel was for her personally. She and Jesus were personally acquainted. Do you know a concept of God or are you personally moved by the work of God through the Word of God in your life? Is your life with Christ a personal endeavor?

IV. GOSPEL-CENTERED GIVING IS MEMORIAL-MINDED GIVING. (9)

“Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

Gospel-centered giving keeps on giving. This day and many days like it, this prophecy comes to pass down through the ages. As we preach the gospel, the good news that God has come in Christ to do for us what we can never do, that He Himself has become sin for us and paid our price of death on the cross, reconciling us to God, putting sin’s penalty of death to death, and that He rose from the dead and overcame sin’s powerful death grip upon us, granting us life everlasting, we remember what this woman has done. Till the Lord returns, all over the world, what this woman has done will be remembered.
We remember what she has done because we remember what Christ has done. She gave because Christ gave. She would not have given so graciously had she not received grace. She would not have given so lovingly had she not received love. She would not have given with such abandon had He not abandoned His life to the cross. But He has not abandoned His people. He lives among us. He lives within us. He lives through us.

V. GOSPEL-CENTERED GIVING IS CHRIST-CENTERED LIVING.

Two ominous subplots bracket this event. Verses 1-2 tell us that while He was being honored in the home of Simon the Leper, there was a concerted conspiratorial effort underway to murder Him. This effort was spearheaded by the chief priests and the scribes, the religious elite of the day. In verses 10-11 they found an ally who would betray the trust of Christ and the disciples from among the disciples in Judas Iscariot. This gospel-centered giving event takes place in the context of people trying to destroy the witness and the work of Christ for their own self-centered motivations. We do well to remember that. Do we love Jesus that much? Do we continue to serve Him and lavish our praise upon Him in the midst of the fear and distrust that swirls around the gospel?
We are called to the table of Christ. What does that mean exactly? It is our opportunity to remember that what He has done overshadows anything in our lives. His sacrifice is the gospel. His death overcomes our sorrowful circumstances. His death gives forgiveness. Yet we hold onto our petty grievances with one another and pretend to worship God at the same time. We find fault with someone else’s way of worship because we do not like the way they are worshipping. Yet we do not worship Christ. We are as lepers who are lepers no more and dead men who are dead no more and we do not rejoice in grateful adoration of the One who heals us and gives us life. He is worthy of our praise. Yet we conspire to kill the witness and work of Christ because it bangs against our organized tradition and threatens our institutions. We betray our Lord when we attempt to manage the way God works according to our own personal and idolatrous agendas. Yet He still calls us to recline at His table.
It is not enough to serve God. We can serve Him without a clear understanding of why we serve. And our serving becomes a burdensome and miserable thing. We are called to recline at the table. We are called to the celebration. Jesus is the guest of honor. Mary understood that. This woman gave a gospel-centered gift because Christ was the center of her life. He was the reason she lived.
Is Christ the reason you live? Do you often think of Him and marvel at the life He has given you? Do you live to love Christ? Has His gospel transformed you?
I was right when I thought that most people did not give like my daddy. He was pleased to give to me as his son. But just anyone off the street would not have enjoyed that same privilege. Here is one difference between how my daddy gave and how God gives. God gives lavishly to His children. And whosoever will come and receive Him and His gift of the gospel of grace, to them He gives the right to become children of God.

This is gospel-centered giving. Take advantage of that today. Be a gospel-centered giver. Receive the gift of the gospel, so you have something to give.

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