A Larger Portion

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:25–26 ESV

Who do you know that really knows you, knows your heart? And even if they did, is there anything they would discover in you that you could take credit for? Isn’t everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God? 1 Corinthians 4:7 MESSAGE

There is a Pink Floyd song called “Money.” One of the lines in the song is, "Money, it's a crime, share it fairly, but don't take a slice of my pie." I think that sentiment is a fairly common one. We are all in favor of generosity, but we get suspicious when people look in our direction for a contribution. Giving is a good idea . . . in theory.

Don't get me wrong; I am not saying that you or I or anyone else are not generous or giving people. I'm just saying that we are suspicious, or at least cautious when people start talking to us about giving our money away. I think we have good reason to pause. Requests for money have been misused as often as the money has been. Not universally at all, but enough so that giving in general and "church giving" in particular has been tainted. So then, as the pastor, I have a couple of choices. I cannot talk about money or I can try to recast and redeem the conversation -- and the practice -- of giving. Since Jesus talked about money more than He talked about hell (another preaching topic that has fallen into disfavor); talked about money more than anything except the Kingdom of God for that matter, the first option is not really a viable one. The reality is that God is interested in your money -- and therefore so am I. My goal is for us to be people who can say, like the Psalmist, I want a bigger portion of Jesus, not a bigger slice of the pie.

But I am perhaps getting ahead of myself. Before we talk about money at all, before we discuss giving, before we hash out God’s call to be a generous people, we need to begin with an understanding of all that God has done for us. Any conversation about generosity really has to start with grace. Paul asks the church in Corinth, “Isn’t everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God?”

And that is my sole question for you this week. Can you think of anything that you have or are that is not a result of God’s gift? You may be tempted to say something like, “Yes and no, I worked hard for . . .” Great. But where did you start? Why were you able to work hard? How might circumstances have been different so that your hard work would not have mattered?

Take some time and look over the things that you have and the person you are; think through the Bible’s assertion that every one of them is a gift from God. How might that change your perspective on these gifts? How might it lead you towards working harder to “get more?” How might it lead you towards putting less energy into “getting more?” Share your thoughts with someone and share them with me as well.

Peace, hope and love

Doug