Giving is Better than Keeping.

Sermon Transcript

What if I told you that I have a foolproof plan for you to have more money and more friends? Well, I don’t quite have that but the book of Proverbs gives us principles, in line with how God created the world, that show us how we can utilize the resources God has given us to generally end up with more money, more friends, and more earthly and temporal blessing in the process.

The means by which God intends to bless us is through generosity. Whether we are generous or not with our treasure, time, and talents will have a tremendous impact on our earthly lives and eternal destinies. You might know that Citylight Church is about 75% of the way through our sermons series on Proverbs. In the fall, we covered Proverbs 1-9 one section at a time, and now here in what we might call Spring (depending on the day and the temperature), we are covering the topics and themes that come up again and again throughout the book, this week’s being generosity.

As you gather up all the different proverbs on generosity and giving, on greed and stinginess, blessing and wanting, a principle emerges that is so simple that I hope we can all take it to heart and bring it to mind when opportunities arise. The big idea of Proverbs on generosity is this: Giving is better than keeping. Giving is better than keeping. This raises the question, why is giving better than keeping? Proverbs gives us three reasons: 1) Generosity enriches the giver, 2) Generosity is good for you, 3) Generosity honors God.

GENEROSITY ENRICHES THE GIVER

Giving is better than keeping, because generosity enriches the giver. In light of how stark that statement is, and because of the disgust you probably rightly have for the prosperity gospel that says “give and you’ll be rich enough to fulfill your every desire,” this idea is worthy of its own point, we’re going to spend a good bit of time here and I want to show us all exactly where in the book of Proverbs it comes from.

Let’s start with Proverbs 11:24. One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. – Proverbs 11:24 The image here is of one scattering seed, dispersing it widely, freely, and generously. It’s ironic, the one who gives actually winds up growing richer. The one who keeps for themselves suffers want and winds up with less. That might not sound intuitive to you, but hold onto it as we continue. Here’s the very next verse, Proverbs 11:25: Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. – Proverbs 11:25 When we are committed not to enrich ourselves but instead to bring blessing to others, we will be enriched. There’s a selflessness and other-orientation involved in this kind of giving that says first I’ll water, and then trust that God will ensure I’m watered. That’s different from the mindset that says, before I determine how much I give, I’m going to ensure all my needs are met. The way that Proverbs is describing giving has trust in the Lord built into it. Here’s Proverbs 28:25 – A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the LORD will be enriched – Proverbs 28:25. Giving is better than keeping. Keeping, greed, those things come from a heart that does not trust that the Lord will provide, and out of that heart comes things like strife. We’ll continue to see this principle in action, but now let’s pause to gain some Scriptural guidelines on what we ought to give toward, according to the book of Proverbs.

The first Scriptural principle in what we should give toward is to honor the Lord with our firstfruits. Here’s Proverbs: Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; 10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. – Proverbs 3:9-10. The greatest value, worth, and dignity we can give to our income when we receive it is, before anything else, to first set aside a portion of it and say, “this is for the Lord” and to trust that He will use it for his grand, eternal purposes in the world. Practically speaking today, this means setting aside a portion of your income to support the ministry of your local church. It’s outside of the scope of this sermon to get deep into the weeds of exactly how much each of us should set aside, but I’ll give you some pastoral advice: while tithing (giving 10% of your income) is not strictly speaking required for Christians, it is a great place to start. Randy Alcorn calls tithing the “training wheels” of Christian giving. Even more than that, I’d like to reframe the question in light of this teaching from Proverbs. Instead of asking the question, “How much should I give?,” if we want to be like the farmer who sows seeds freely, we might ask “How much should I keep for myself?” That is probably a radical shift in mind-set for most of us, but it’s the kind of thing that will help us grow into generous people.

Now let’s look at a second scriptural mark of the generous person who is enriched by their giving: Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. Proverbs 22:9. The person with a bountiful eye is always looking for opportunities to give. They certainly obey God’s priorities when it comes to their giving, but they’re always looking for a way to give some of what they have to support others, in the case of this particular Proverb, the poor.

Now, to get deep into the details of how to best care for the poor without inadvertently hurting is beyond the scope of this sermon. It’s also inappropriate to use a passage like this as a kind of “drive-by” guilting to the person who has a sensitive conscience when it comes to giving to the poor but does not have a specific line-item in their budget dedicated to it. Instead of that, I’d like to encourage you and help get you unstuck in thinking of the way you give to the poor. As you give of your firstfruits to Citylight Church, a portion of every dollar you give goes toward relieving the suffering of the poor right here in Philadelphia in ways that really do help and not hurt people facing all kinds of suffering. Of course, there are other valuable ways to support the poor, but this is just one way you can get started.

These two places to give, the local church and the poor, aren’t the ONLY two places we ought to give, but they are two that are frequently mentioned in Proverbs. Sidebar closed, let’s get back to the point that generosity enriches the giver.

Remember that Proverbs gives us principles, not promises. Given what we’ve seen so far, the principle laid out in Proverbs is that those who sow bountifully with our financial resources, like those who sow their seeds abundantly in a field, will reap an abundant financial harvest. We gain by losing, get by giving. The farmer who sows seed in the ground temporarily loses his seed, sure, but what he gains in exchange is far greater, a season’s worth of harvest. This principle also shows up in the New Testament, note just how similar the language is to what we’ve been looking at in Proverbs: 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 – The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Both Proverbs and 2 Corinthians teach that giving is better than keeping, because generosity enriches the giver. Yet, 2 Corinthians 9 paints a more specific picture of why the giver is enriched: 2 Corinthians 9:11 – You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. Proverbs teaches that whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and 2 Corinthians 9 teaches us that we are enriched when we give not to use our money on our passions, but so that we can be increasingly generous, ultimately producing thanksgiving to God our provider. Note a clear distinction between this and the wicked prosperity gospel that says if you just give more, you’ll have so much more money to spend on your passions and all your hardships in life will be taken away. The enrichment in and of itself is an act of His grace, and it’s the giver’s joy to respond to that grace with increased joyful giving. When we’re faithful with the financial resources that God entrusts to us, He often puts more under our care (see Matthew 25:21).

But what if we aren’t faithful? Let’s look at the alternative to generous giving, being stingy and desiring to keep for ourselves instead of giving generously to others. Does the stingy person wind up happier? Proverbs 28:22 – A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him. Stinginess, covetousness, keeping over giving, these things don’t lead to happiness and enrichment. Here’s how I’ve seen that.

A friend of mine was set to receive a ten thousand dollar hiring bonus for referring a friend to work for their company. In order to work there, there was a really long and rigorous interview process, but the friend advanced through round after round. After every interview, that referral bonus seemed to be more and more real, and the person I knew started to make plans for what they might do when the inevitable windfall came. European vacations and other luxuries seemed within their grasp. An important detail for this story is that they knew of a great financial need but planned to spend as much of this bonus as possible on themselves (but they did plan to give a little). Finally, the company extended a lucrative job offer to and all that was left was for the friend to accept.

Now, you might already see where this is going. I don’t think the person knew this Proverb at the time, but they were convicted by the principle behind it and prayed that if receiving this money would grow the greed in their heart, that God would take it away. God answered their prayer: after a months-long interview process, the friend shockingly declined the offer and my friend kissed that sweet ten thousand dollar referral bonus goodbye. They hastened after wealth, but did not know the disappointment that was going to come upon them. It’s not only true that generosity enriches, but stinginess leads to poverty.

GENEROSITY IS GOOD FOR YOU

The second reason why giving is better than keeping is that generosity is good for you. While a good number of the Proverbs on the results of generosity have to do with the financial blessing that it leads to, there are a number of other blessings mentioned as well. Here’s an illustration of what I mean. If you sow a seed in good soil, and you water it, and mysteriously God grows it, you’ll gain a lot of vegetables. BUT, along the way, you’ll learn the discipline of waking up early to water and looking over your plants each morning, you’ll have eyes to see healthy plants and insects that present dangers, and for the medical professionals you’ll be upping your vitamin D simply by being outside in the sun. All of those things work together to make you a better gardener. In a somewhat similar way, there are some other blessings that come to the generous according to the book of Proverbs. Giving is better than keeping, because generosity is good for you. Let’s look at some Proverbs together, starting with 11:26.

The people curse him who holds back grain, but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it. – Proverbs 11:26

Giving is better than keeping because giving strengthens relationships and keeping harms them. The man holding back grain in this circumstance is keeping, not giving, and it affects the way others view him. Instead of making an honest living by selling his essential goods at fair market prices, he has been possessed by greed. He views what he has – grain, a necessary food in the ancient near east – as an opportunity to maximize his profits at the expense of his neighbors, desiring to extract every possible cent he can. He intends to save his grain so he can jack up the price later and trample on the needy. He disadvantages the community at large so that he himself can maximize profits. This is a textbook image of the person who keeps, instead of gives.

The result of this greed is that the man who keeps, ruins his relationships. While he might in the short run make a larger profit because he times the market, he is cursed by the very people he hopes to take advantage of. You could imagine him walking through the market, engaging with customers and other vendors, and every one who has been overcharged is quietly praying for his downfall, cursing him and looking to God for the fulfillment of their bad words.

Contrast this to the person who is willing to sell the necessities of life at fair market values. He gives instead of keeps, and it leads to being blessed. His reputation is built up, and the people pray to God for his success.

In your financial dealings and in your relationships, where are you tempted to extract as much as you possibly can from others, depriving the community at large so that you can be personally enriched? Are you holding back what you should be giving so that you can financially gain? Turn from that today, become a giver and not a keeper so that you can have friends and not foes.

Next, we’re going to look at two Proverbs that complement one another to convey a complete message:

Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor. – Proverbs 14:21

Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. – Proverbs 21:13

Generosity is good for you because God blesses the one who is generous to the poor, but the one who ignores the poor will not have his cry be answered. Loving our neighbor is the second greatest commandment, and so despising our neighbor either by failing to be generous to the poor or by closing our ears to the cry of the poor carries serious weight.

We aren’t justified by the way we treat the poor, but our stewardship of our resources reflects our standing with God, and this passage identifies that ignoring the needs of the poor is a warning sign of a deeper heart issue.

Let’s connect this to the teaching of Jesus. In Matthew 6, he says: 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

GENEROSITY HONORS GOD

Giving is better than keeping finally because generosity honors God, particularly our very generous God that has created us in His image and given us everything we have. When we give generously, we respond to the generosity that God has shown us and we reflect His generous character. Here’s where we see this point in Proverbs:

Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him. – Proverbs 14:31 Listen to what distinguishes this Proverb from the others related to the poor, it dignifies the poor as the creation of the great Maker. Note that in Proverbs, as in our lives, the poor do not exist to be recipients of generosity, they are dignified creations of God. He is the maker of everyone, rich and poor. When we dishonor and oppress anyone but especially a poor person, we dishonor the God who has created them in his image. Proverbs 17:5 contains the same message: Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished. – Proverbs 17:5. When a person mocks the poor, they are basically looking God in the face and saying, “your act of creation is lacking. If you really knew what you were doing, you would have done a better job instead of making someone like this.” Do you hear the cruelty and ugliness of that? I hope you feel insulted on God’s behalf, but that is what we do every time we mock the poor. Generosity honors God, but greed and pride insult Him.

At the end of the day, you and I can never outgive God. On one hand, that’s true because God has promised to enrich the generous, but it’s even more true because God has expressed His generosity in a matchless way. On the cross, Jesus held nothing back, he generously gave his life. Jesus is the matchless giver: 2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. For his entire life, Jesus lived below his means so that we might become rich.

Our grasp on what we consider to be “our money” can be so firm, it can become a death grip, and yet Jesus counted equality with God – what could be greater! – not as a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself and humbled himself. Jesus was humiliated as died on the cross in our place for our sin in the greatest act of giving the world has ever known. But the story didn’t end there, his giving turned into gain as he was raised from the grave, conquering death, And now as Philippians 2 reads, “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him then ame that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” In your hearts and with your resources, confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.