A Generous Gift

December 27, 2015 Background Scripture: Matthew 23:1 – 12; Mark 12:38 – 44 Lesson Passage: Matthew 23:2 – 12; Mark 12:38 – 44 Giving is an act of love. Generosity is a degree of love. A generous gift is at act of love at its highest degree. Most people I know appreciate receiving gifts. Simple and inexpensive gifts are appreciated just as much as gifts that are more than that. However, when gifts cross the line—and the line is not necessarily well defined, and it seems that there is something unusually special about the gift, we deem the givers as being generous. Generosity always exceeds our expectations of what one would receive from another. In our lesson today, Jesus validated the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees but condemned their actions for trying to make themselves important in the eyes of others. (It should be noted that Jesus admonished the multitude to follow the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees but not their example. This takes away the excuse many use to not be involved or even come to church because of the shortcomings of leaders. Ministry leaders are ordained of God and therefore their teachings are also ordained but their examples are not always what they should be. Although I have not found a record that shows that the scribes and Pharisees taught people to “do as I say and not as I do”, this is precisely what Jesus instructed the people to do.) After condemning the actions of the teachers of Israel, who had the privilege of sitting in the leadership position once occupied by Moses, Jesus went on to teach the multitude how to receive freely from God what the scribes and Pharisees were attempting to take for themselves. Those who want to be exalted should learn to serve others with humility. Then God will gladly give them the recognition and accolades that were being sought by those who were placing themselves above those they were sent to serve. This reminds me of a simple lesson I was taught many years ago: If you take care of your character, God will take care of your reputation. The gift that God gives freely to those who belong to Him and trust Him is that He will exalt them far above any level they can attain on their own. This is an expression of God’s generosity brought about by the proper attitude of His servant. Our society teaches that those who are great in society have others at their beck and call. Some will even dare measure their success by the number of servants they employ or the number of people who trip over themselves to follow them voluntarily. True success, as described by Jesus, can only be measured by the number of people one chooses to serve in humility. By extrapolation, the greatest of all is the one who humbly serves everyone. This greatness is bestowed on the individual by God and is not received by the individual from the multitude. The true servant gives his life to serve others and thereby offers himself as a generous gift to those who are served. With this understanding, now we can begin to explore God’s gift of Jesus to a sin-sick world. Jesus, in turn, gave his life to serve others and then as a ransom for all who put their trust in him. The proof of his generosity is the indwelling Holy Ghost who comforts, leads, and instructs all believers who open their hearts to receive God’s generous gift of His son. Robert C. Hudson November 20, 2015