The Way – A Generous People
A Sermon by Pastor R. D. Johnson
Preached at the Ann Arbor, MI Free Methodist Church
Scripture Text:
Haggai
September 13, 2009
Sermon #0173 (based on #0071)
There was a movie that came out in 1985 starring Richard Pryor. It was called ‘Brewster’s
Millions’. The plot of the movie was that Monty Brewster, Richard Pryor’s character was a
broke, minor league pitcher. He had a rich relative that he never knew who died and left him
all his money. The catch was this: He needed to spend 30 million in 30 days and end with
nothing to show for it. If he could do that, he would inherit 300 million. Or he could have
chosen to take 1 million and leave the rest to some foundation.
It wouldn’t have been much of a movie if he didn’t accept the challenge, and so he spends the
movie trying to spend 30 million dollars.
Point: You Can’t Take It With You
Can you imagine being given the money you have and then being told to give it all away,
every last penny? And if you did, you would inherit 10 times or a hundred times all you had
before?
Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." - Matthew 19:21
The Way we have been considering the last several weeks finishes with this.
The People of the Way are a generous people.
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.
– Proverbs 19:17
Paul’s advice to Timothy about the character of people of the Way was, “They are to do
good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure
for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that
which is truly life.” (I Timothy 6:18-19)
Called to be Generous
John Wesley was one of the great evangelists of the 18th Century, born in 1703. In 1731 he
began to limit his expenses so that he would have more money to give to the poor. In the first
year his income was 30 pounds and he found he could live on 28 and so gave away two. In
the second year his income doubled but he held his expenses even, and so he had 32 pounds
to give away (a comfortable year’s income). In the third year his income jumped to 90
pounds and gave away 62 pounds. In his long life Wesley’s income advanced to as high as
1,400 pounds in a year. But he rarely let his expenses rise above 30 pounds. He said that he
seldom had more than 100 pounds in his possession at a time. This so baffled the English Tax
Commissioners that they investigated him in 1776 insisting that for a man of his income he
must have silver dishes that he was not paying excise tax on. He wrote them, “I have two
silver spoons at London and two at Bristol. This is all the plate I have at present, and I shall
not buy any more while so many round me want bread.” When he died in 1791 at the age of
87 the only money mentioned in his will was the coins to be found in his pockets and dresser.
Most of the 30,000 pounds he had earned in his life had been given away. He wrote, I cannot
help leaving my books behind me whenever God calls me hence; but in every other respect,
my own hands will be my executors. In other words, I will put a control on my spending
myself, and I will go beyond the tithe for the sake of Christ and his kingdom.
John Piper, Toward the Tithe and Beyond: How God Funds His Work, sermon preached
at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minn., September 10, 1995.
In today’s money of the 30 million or so dollars John Wesley made in his lifetime, he gave
away 28 million of it. He ultimately tithed 85-90% of his income.
There are several areas I could speak about for us to practice greater generosity, but Walking
through the church last night, I believe God would have me highlight one. This is by no
means the greatest area to be generous, but too often for many churches it ends up being the
least.
Let’s turn to the Old Testament book of Haggai to see what it is.
In 1925 a movie was made based on a novel by Gaston Leroux, that inspired Andrew Lloyd
Webber to write a musical called “The Phantom of the Opera”. The book became a movie
became a play became a movie became Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical & another movie.
This story is about an opera house in Paris that’s controlled by a musical genius who is
tutoring a young singer/dancer named Christine. She falls completely under his influence and
power. Then along comes a young man she knew as a child and the two fall in love, but the
phantom will not let her go. She is unable to leave but the Phantom eventually lets her go
because of the other man’s willingness to sacrifice himself for her. But it wasn’t her lover’s
sacrifice that broke the phantom’s control, it was her response in sacrificial love that made
the phantom realize he had lost.
Think of Me
Doesn’t this paint a picture similar to that of Christ and us? The devil had us in his power and
under his control. But along comes Jesus who reminds us where we came from and we fall in
love. He sacrificed Himself to make deliverance from the devil possible, but we are never
free from the control of sin until we sacrifice ourselves for Christ.
This musical also parallels or scripture this morning. The Book of Haggai. A book that is
only 2 chapters long and took place between the first day of the sixth month, in the second
year of King Darius until the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (4 months).
In Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” there is a song called ‘Think of
Me’.
Think of me, think of me fondly, when we've said goodbye.
Remember me once in a while - please promise me you'll try.
When you find that, once again, you long to take your heart back and be free
If you ever find a moment, spare a thought for me... (Lyrics: Charles Hart)
This is what God said to the Jewish people in the book of Haggai. Remember me once in a
while!
The LORD Almighty said, “These people say, `The time has not yet come for the LORD's
house to be built.'” (Haggai 1:2)
And God responded with this, “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled
houses, while this house remains a ruin?” (Haggai 1:4)
They were more concerned with their own well being that with the condition of God’s
temple.
Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. You have
planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but
never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put
them in a purse with holes in it." (Haggai 1:5-6)
Fruitless.
This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the
mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it
and be honored," says the LORD. "You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little.
What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the LORD Almighty. "Because of
my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. (Haggai
1:7-9)
Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I
called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil
and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands."
(Haggai 1:10-11)
Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole
remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the
prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the
LORD. Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the
people: "I am with you," declares the LORD. So the LORD stirred up the spirit of
Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak,
the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to
work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth
month in the second year of King Darius. (Haggai 1:12-15)
God called them to think of Him and they did.
All I Ask of You
No more talk of darkness Forget these wide eyed fears
I’m here, nothing can harm you My words will warm and calm you
Let me be your freedom Let daylight dry your tears
I’m here with you beside you To guard you and to guide you (Lyrics: Charles Hart)
A month after the people began to rebuild God’s house, God asked this question,
“Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now?
Does it not seem to you like nothing?” (Haggai 2:3)
Then He added, “But now be strong… Be strong, all you people of the land, and work. For
I am with you.” (Haggai 2:4) He said, “my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.” (v.5)
"This is what the LORD Almighty says: `In a little while I will once more shake the
heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of
all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty.
(Haggai 2:6-7)
How?
`The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty. `The glory of this
present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty.
`And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty."
(Haggai 2:8-9)
God has resources we don’t even know about, if we would simply demonstrate our faith in
sacrifice and pray.
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give
you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept
him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you
and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the
world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On
that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John
14:15-20)
I Will Bless You
On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the
LORD came to the prophet Haggai: "This is what the LORD Almighty says: `Ask the
priests what the law says: If a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment,
and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, oil or other food, does it become
consecrated?'" The priests answered, "No." Then Haggai said, "If a person defiled by
contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?" "Yes," the
priests replied, "it becomes defiled." Then Haggai said, "`So it is with this people and this
nation in my sight,' declares the LORD. `Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is
defiled. (Haggai 2:6-14)
"`Now give careful thought to this from this day on --consider how things were before one
stone was laid on another in the LORD's temple. When anyone came to a heap of twenty
measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures,
there were only twenty. I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet
you did not turn to me,' declares the LORD. `From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day
of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the LORD's
temple was laid. Give careful thought: Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the
vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. "`From this
day on I will bless you.'" (Haggai 2:15-19)
The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.
(Psalms 29:11)
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you
all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my
peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled
and do not be afraid. (John 14:26-27)
for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say." (Luke 12:12)
For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without
limit. (John 3:34)
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24)
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak
on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
(John 16:13)
At a church meeting a very wealthy man rose to tell the rest of those present about his
Christian faith. “I'm a millionaire,” he said, “and I attribute it all to the rich blessings of God
in my life. I remember the turning point in my faith. I had just earned my first dollar and I
went to a church meeting that night. The speaker was a missionary who told about his work. I
knew that I only had a dollar bill and had to either give it all to God’s work or nothing at all.
So at that moment I decided to give my whole dollar to God. I believe that God blessed that
decision, and that is why I am a rich man today.” He finished and there was an awed silence
at his testimony as he moved toward his seat. As he sat down a little old lady sitting in the
same pew leaned over and said to him: “I dare you to do it again.”
Conclusion
Think of me, think of me waking, silent and resigned.
Imagine me, trying too hard to put you from my mind.
Recall those days, look back on all those times,
think of the things we'll never do there will never be a day, when I won't think of you... (Lyrics: Charles Hart)
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much
more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
(Luke 11:13)