Stewardship – Part 2

Speaker: V. P. Black
Date: April 11, 2004, Sunday Morning Worship Service During a Gospel Meeting Hosted by the Strickland church of Christ in Glen, Mississippi
Main Scripture References: Luke 6:38

There are three attitudes manifested in the church of Christ concerning giving. And every member of this congregation embraces one of these attitudes.

Attitude Number One that is manifested by many is this: That God will punish me for liberal giving. But someone says, “Surely, Brother Black, no would say that God would punish an individual for liberal giving.” Yes, many, many people believe this. Did you ever hear a person say, “If I were to give as God has prospered me, I could not educate my children”? “If I were to give like the Bible teaches, I could not provide for the necessities of life”? “If I were to give like the Bible teaches, I could not provide for old age”? “Well, naturally, I want to educate my children. Naturally, I want to enjoy the necessities of life. Naturally, I want to provide for old age. But if I do—if I give as God has prospered me, all these will be taken away from me.” Why…that individual actually believes that God will punish him for liberal giving!

Attitude Number Two is this—that many embrace, obviously: That God does not care what I give. And again, I can hear someone say, “Now, Brother Black, surely…surely no one would say that God does not care what a person gives.” Well, let me read you something—this little paper, Just A Minute. Many congregations take it—published in Houston, Texas, by Brother Thurmon [spelling?]. Let me read you a question that was written to Brother Thurmon. “An Elder’s Example in Giving” is the title. This is a question someone wrote Brother Thurmon. It says,

So, here’s an elder in a church telling the members that God does not care what you give, or whether you give.

Attitude Number Three is this: That God blesses one for liberal giving.

Now, every individual in this auditorium embraces, consciously or unconsciously, one of these attitudes—if [whether] you believe that God will punish you for liberal giving, or you believe God doesn’t care, or you believe that God will bless one for liberal giving. Now, what we want to do in the next few minutes is to turn to the Bible to see if God cares about our giving, if God will punish us for our giving, or will He bless us for our giving. Now, if I know my heart—if the Bible teaches that God will punish one for liberal giving, that’s what I intend to teach with all the power of my being, that you may give, but God’s going to punish you for doing it…if the Bible teaches that. If the Bible teaches that God does not care what one gives, that’s exactly what I’m going to preach to the very best of my ability and with all my heart—that God does not care. If the Bible teaches that God will bless one for liberal giving, that’s what I intend to teach.

Now. Let us turn to the Bible and see which of these statements is true. So, we will begin in the Old Testament, and then come to the New Testament.

We will begin in Proverbs, the 3^rd chapter, verses 9 and 10: “Honor the Lord with the first of all thine increase, and so shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst forth with new wine.” There are two words I want us to observe in verse 9, “Honor the Lord with the first of all thine increase…”—the word, “FIRST’, and the word, “ALL”.

The Bible places great emphasis upon the word, “first,” in our relationship to God. In 2 Kings, the 17^th chapter, beginning with verse 8, there is a classis example. This is where Elijah had been in the wilderness, and the ravens had been feeding him, and he’s drinking from the brook. And the brook dried up, and the ravens ceased to feed him. And then, God spoke to Elijah and said, “Arise, and go to Zarephath…for I have a widow there who will sustain thee.” And Elijah obeyed the voice of God, went to this widow’s house, and when he arrived, she was gathering sticks. And Elijah said to here, “Bring me some water, that I may drink.” And while she was going to get the water, he said, “Fetch me a morsel of bread in thine hand, that I may eat.” And she said, “As the Lord God liveth, I have no bread. I only have a handful of meal. I’m going to bake a little cake. My son and I are going to eat it, and then die.” And Elijah told her, “If you will do this [if you will do as I have asked], as long as the famine lasts in this land, there will always be meal in the barrel to make bread for you and for your son.”

I don’t know that I can fully understand this. I really think I cannot. I was reared during the Depression. My father and mother had 10 boys, but I never remember going hungry. There are many of the luxuries of life that we did not enjoy. But to appreciate this, I want you, in your mind, to think…if you had just one small meal to eat when this service is over today, and then you’re going to die of starvation. There are no grocery stores in this county. Thousands of people have already died of starvation in this county. There’s no food in your house, except enough meal to make one little meal for you and your family, and than you’re going to die.

That was the circumstance of this widow. And Elijah said to her, “If you’ll go and do this, as long as the famine lasts in this land, every time you go to that barrel, there will be meal for you and for your son.” And the Bible says, “…she went…and did…according…to the saying…of Elijah.”