Giving Beyond the Gift

January 9, 1992

1 Corinthians 13:3

James 3:13-18

INTRODUCTION

The title of this sermon in the bulletin was a little "far out" and I apologize, sort of. (I changed the real title!)

I was thinking about a fragment of an old poem I learned in high school, a poem by James Russell Lowell called The Vision of Sir Launfel. Launfel was a knight who spent his life in search of the Holy Grail (the cup that Jesus was supposed to have used during the Last Supper.)

Of course Sir Launfel never found the Grail. But in the depths of his disappointment he comes across a beggar. He shares his meager food supply with the beggar, and gives him a drink from his own cup. Then he sees that the beggar is the Lord Jesus. The last few lines of the poem are:

"Lo, it is I, be not afraid:
In many climes, without avail,
Thou hast spent thy life for the Holy Grail;
Behold it is here— the cup which thou Didst fill
at this streamlet for me but now;
This crust is my body broken for thee,
The water his blood that died on the tree;
The holy supper is kept, indeed,
In whatso we share with another's need;
Not what we give but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three—
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and Me."
-James Russell Lowell

Giving is NOT unimportant. Last week we looked at the Christian acts of giving. We said that it is possible to give and not be Christian, but it is not possible to be Christian and not give. For Christians are to be givers, not just takers.

It is blessed to give, but our scriptures tell us that giving, in and of itself, is not quite enough. God is interested in why we give! He is concerned about the way we give! God's unselfish agape' love must permeate all that we are, as well as all that we do.

So we see that there are just:

I. TWO WAYS TO GIVE

THERE IS GIVING FOR ANY AND EVERY OTHER REASON EXCEPT AGAPE' LOVE. Even sacrificial giving!
Paul makes a simply amazing statement in the "love chapter." He says:
"Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not the quality of love, it profits me nothing!"
Giving for any and every other reason but agape' love simply does not impress God. It certainly can impress me! I might not be able to tell the difference. I am simply amazed at any kind of genuine sacrifice. But the Bible makes it clear that people can make great sacrifices for less than noble reasons!
GOD'S WAY FOR US TO GIVE IS THE WAY OF AGAPE'.
Agape' is the kind of love that gives the life a center of reference around which every other detail big and small finds its meaning.
Agape' love is usually made interchangeable in our thinking with God's love. We say, "God's love is AGAPE'!" and so it is. It is a love that gives our life a center of reference around which every other detail finds its meaning. But it is important to see that there are other agape' loves, too.
Many wise people who are not Christian have found that "success" of any kind demands a life-centering commitment. The warning of (John) is
"Love (agape') not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any one love (agape') the world, the love (agape') of the Father is not in that person!"
Wise people will always live by a life-centering, life-disciplining agape'. Most people just live from paycheck to paycheck.

II. THE TRULY WISE CHOOSE TO GIVE BECAUSE THEY LOVE

We need to remember that there are TWO kinds of wisdom. We come back to the passage in James:
1. James speaks of THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD. James labels it as earthly, sensual, demonic.
  Demonic wisdom is not always bizarre and evil-appearing! Worldly wisdom mocks the agape', or life-centering aspects of God's love. Demonic wisdom gives purpose and discipline to endeavors that begin and end with materialism and sensualism and selfish achievement.
  C.S.Lewis makes the evil wisdom of this world seem remarkably like the corporate giants of civilization to me in his book "That Hideous Strength." (I do not at all imply that the likes of IBM are evil; I merely state that Oxford don Lewis portrays evil as having wisdom in great measure; able to organize, able to civilize to a certain degree, able to do many things we would call admirable.)
  Wisdom focuses, centers life. But the earthly, sensual, demonic wisdom of this world is not true wisdom because it finally ends in death and chaos. It worships some idea or creature in the place of Almighty God. It destroys, finally, instead of finding eternal life.
2. James also writes about TRUE WISDOM, the wisdom he calls "THE GENTLE WISDOM FROM ABOVE." He tells us it (1) is pure, and (2) it is peaceable, and (3) it is easy to be entreated. It is centered in God and has that peculiar quality called HUMILITY!
  HUMILITY, of all the graces, is the one we least talk about! We all have "ego," and we know it. So we don't like to hear about this grace that is so central to true wisdom. HUMILITY gets a bad name in our "love yourself society." But we mistake the essence of what humility is:
  Humility is NOT assigning "no worth" to the human personality, even one's own!
  Humility is NOT pretending to be stupid or grovelling like Uriah Heep.
  True humility says: "I AM NOT GOD!" That's a relief!
  And true humility refuses to say, perhaps more than any other thing, that "I, IN ALL MY UNDERSTANDING, AM AN EXCEPTION!"
  Humility refuses to say 'I can get by without doing the things of righteousness in a simple and straightforward manner. 'I don't have to spend time with God each day. 'I don't have to faithfully attend upon the means of grace. 'I don't have to keep all the rules— after all, I am saved by grace, right?'
  No, the gentle, humble wisdom from God is easy to be entreated!
GOD'S WISDOM SEEKS TO FIND THE BEST WAYS TO LOVE:
Did you know that the Bible gives "graded examples of love?" As you follow through its pages— we see developing, expanding, deepening ways of living and giving:
1. O.T. standard: Love your neighbor; hate your enemy; do not do to someone else what you don't want them to do to you.
2. Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Usually we think this is the best we can ever hope to do. But Jesus called His disciples to an even higher standard:
3. The Great Commandment: "Love one another as I have loved you!" Can we ever even come close? Only as Jesus is the heart of all we are and do!

CONCLUSION

If we love like this we will be GIVERS! If we have this life- centering agape' love of God we won't be quibbling over whether we tithe or not. Jesus will be the reference point of love that gives life a center of reference around which every other detail big and small will find its meaning. That is real wisdom!

But, you say, "How can I have a life-centering love that I don't feel? How can I love God, and people, and even myself when I don't naturally feel loving?"

The answer is: GOD'S LOVE IS NOT ACHIEVED BY STRIVING TO PRETEND TO HAVE FEELINGS THAT DON'T EXIST. This kind of love comes from inviting God to dwell permanently in our very being. This kind of love is the result of spending time in God's Presence.

And this kind of love comes from being willing to OBEY the Lord who indwells us. Jesus put it this way, at the close of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said (1) "Those who hear what I say and DO what I say— they are wise! They will stand!" He also said (2) "Those who hear what I say and DO NOT act on it are NOT wise. They will fall." We cannot be Christian and not give! And, too, We cannot be Christian and not love!

Maybe the following doesn't rank as great poetry today, but it says it pretty well, doesn't it?

Not what we give but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three—
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and Me."

Let us pray (This was a Communion Service)