Sacrificial Giving......

Sacrificial Giving......

I was recently in a leadership situation in which I was challenged to give sacrificially and to encourage others to do so. This particular situation involves far reaching decisions that were made in healthier economic times. So I began to ask, “What is sacrificial giving and what does it look like in terms of its practical application?” Since I believe that the Scriptures provide our most fundamental framework for truth and decision making, I went back to them.

My first thought was the reminder of King David’s statement in 2 Samuel 24:24. I’ve included some of the context here:

On that day Gad went to David and said to him, "Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite." So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. When Araunah looked and saw the king and his men coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" "To buy your threshing floor," David answered, "so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped." Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take whatever pleases him and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. O king, Araunah gives all this to the king." Araunah also said to him, "May the Lord your God accept you." But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

David’s sacrifice to atone for his sin had to involve a cost to him. He would not and could not offer a sacrifice to God that cost him nothing. That was sacrificial giving to him, there had to be a cost associated with it.

I also was reminded of the scene of the widow in Luke 21:1-4:

As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

In this scene the widow is putting in what appears to be a very insignificant amount of money into the offering box (ESV), but in fact, it was all she had. It meant that she would not have money to pay for food, clothes, or household needs to say nothing of the vacation, Starbucks or cable tv. She was giving sacrificially, all that she had. She was not giving out of her excess, what she didn’t need to live on, but ALL she had. That was sacrificial giving and there was a huge cost associated with it.

Finally, I thought about Paul’s admonition to the Romans in chapter 12:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Our bodies are to be offered as living sacrifices; sacrificial giving is more than throwing a few extra dollars in the offering plate to help with the church debt. It involves a lifestyle of sacrificial service; giving of our money is just one of its many aspects. Sacrificial giving is really sacrificial living, the realization that all I am and have is His and it only makes sense, in return, to return it to Him through my acts of giving and serving. This type of sacrificial giving is not something that is natural for us, nor is it being modeled for us. Jesus lived it, He willingly laid down His life for us—the perfect example of sacrificial giving....and living. The apostle Paul modeled it; he gave of himself sacrificially for the cause of Christ.

So the question for me comes down to this, is it reasonable for me to be asked to give sacrificially? I would say yes, and I must give. God’s word demands it. However, it is necessary that I choose wisely as I direct my sacrificial giving. In this pursuit of following God’s Word that calls me to be a living sacrifice, I am personally considering these four points:

• God’s purpose—Is my time, efforts, gifts, and/or money going to further God’s purpose rather than man’s agenda?

• Godly repentance—If sin was committed, in other words, if Scriptural principles regarding debt were ignored, has true repentance occurred and has the acknowledgment of the repentance been made public?

• Honesty and Integrity in leadership—Is there honesty and integrity in these dealings which create and/or convey the greater need? Is there responsibility and accountability?

• Modeling leadership—Is the leadership leading by sacrificially giving of their own resources? Are they modeling the response they desire to see?

The question is not whether I will give, nor is it whether I will give sacrificially. The question is: How and where and to whom? And then that I do it, with all my heart, and all that I am, and all that I have.

This is my desire
To honor You
Lord, with all my heart
I worship You
All I have within me
I give You praise
All that I adore
Is in You

Lord, I give You my heart
I give You my soul
I live for you alone
Every breath that I take
Every moment I'm awake
Lord, have Your way in me
(Song Title: I Give You My Heart, Words and Music by Reuben Morgan)

May every gift that I give be “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.”- Philippians 4:18b