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Response to an Impacted Heart Today I am going look into the Old testament reading and as it stewardship month, I felt it appropriate to investigate Jacobs response of giving a tenth of what God provided for him. How did he get to this point? I have been brought up all my life in the Christian scene and so I hear form time to time the stories of people being heavily pressured to give as much money as they can to God’s ministry (i.e. the church), when at times these people pressured are not really in any position to do so. So how do we address the tension between giving away some of what we earn to glorify God and ensuring that we are not putting ourselves into a financially vulnerable position. Today I will attempt to address this tension. Jacob had just tricked his way into receiving the blessing from his father. Jacobs’s brother Esau was not too impressed. Gen: 41 “Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his Father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob”. Rebekah, the Mother of the men wanted to protect Jacob so she suggests to her husband, Isaac, that perhaps Jacob should marry someone away from home. Jacob reaped the fruit of his sins, by having to leave the comfort of his own home. At this point it is only indirectly that we have been able to gather anything of Jacobs’s relationship with God. On his own, with no companions and literally fleeing for his life we can only imagine what he was thinking as he laid down is head on a stone in the middle of nowhere. What does my future hold? As he falls asleep, he begins to dream of a stairway resting on earth. His eyes follow up the stairway and he sees the top reaching up to heaven. Perhaps this stairway is a symbol that there a division between Jacobs deceit and sin to that of the holy and perfect God in heaven. But this stairway is not inactive. We see the amazing grace of God as he allows his angels to ascend and descend on this stairway, indicating that even though Jacob was a sinner, God’s grace out-triumphed his sin. Perhaps God was signally that he was prepared to keep the stairway of communication open. Here is Jacob alone and unsure of his future, sleeping with a burden of sin and then a dream from God comes along indicating that He wants to connect with him. This symbolical message is a powerful one, and we can take much encouragement from it, however in that same dream something much deeper was revealed. God did not just want to open up communication between Him and Jacob, He also wanted to be apart of the journey. In verse 25 Garth Williams – A great biblical scholar describes 4 divine P’s “I am with you and will watch over you, wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” Divine Presence – “I am with you.” Yes there is a Gap between your sin and my holiness but I want to be present with you anyway. Divine Protection – “I will watch over you, wherever you go.” There is no magical boundary line that we have to stay within to ensure God is within reach. Divine Preservation (upkeep) – “and I will bring you back to this land.” Regardless of the journey, God will continue to preserve the plans and purposes of our lives. Divine Promise – “I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” God has promised his unconditional grace until the day we meet him face to face. When Jacob woke from this dream, it was more then just a “Well that was interesting night”. It impacted his heart so much that he was afraid. Not afraid that he was about to get a beating, but afraid of the overwhelming revelation that he had. He said “How awesome is this place” This is none other then the house of God; this is the gate of heaven. Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called the place Bethel which means the house of God. Jacobs’s heart was impacted. It is then in verse 20 we get to witness the unveiling of Jacobs mind on how he is going to respond to his heart. “If God will be with me and watch over me in this journey I am taking, and will give, food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father house, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” Notice how it does not say “I felt guilty, as God is good and I am not, so I will give you a tenth” nor does it say “I suppose I better give a tenth now that you have done something good for me.” While these statements are also thought out with the mind, they do not come from an impacted heart. Important message - Giving comes from an impacted heart. It is an expression of worship, just like singing or communion. You maybe thinking, well I don’t have dreams about stairways, how can I make this apply to my life. I have come up with three progressive steps in which we can balance our heart and mind so that we are not just using our hearts and giving insensibly but also not just using our heads and giving when it is convenient. First step – allow what you do see and hear to impact your heart. In Acts 2 we read of the Holy Spirit coming down on the day of Pentecost. People saw the effect of the Holy Spirit and then heard Peter proclamation in verse 36 “let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” In 37 when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart. In Verse 44 they respond with their minds “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possession and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.” They allowed what they saw and heard to impact their hearts. They responded with their minds by deciding to give according to their disposal. You may have encountered something of the goodness of God, allow that to impact your heart and perhaps respond by giving up something for say - the garage sale. Once we have lived in this space, I think it is important as our faith journey grows to move to step two. Step two – moving from a place of seeing and hearing to seeking. Seeing and hearing is reactive. Seeking requires us to be proactive In Luke Chapter 12, Jesus comforts his disciples but telling them not to worry, but to seek his Kingdom. 29 And do not set your heart on what you will drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his Kingdom and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid little flock, for your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there is your heart also. Let our hearts be impacted when we seek the kingdom of God and with impacted hearts let our minds take us from step one ‘giving according to our disposal’ to giving according to where we want our hearts to be. “For where your treasure is, there is your heart also.” Once we have lived in this space and our faith develops further let us move to step three. Third step – moving from a place of seeking to partnering with other believers The last thing that is recorded in the Matthews Gospel is Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the holy spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded to you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Let this commandment impact our hearts collectively. Let us partner together in proclaiming the goods news in a way that will be understood and relevant to our secular society. Further to proclaiming the good news let us invest our time and money into making disciples of Jesus, teaching them to obey everything we have learnt from Him, as surely Christ is with us to the very end of age. I think it is through Step 3 that our minds shift from a place of giving in accordance to where we want our hearts to be, to a place of giving where we want the hearts of others to be. What I mean by that is that we begin investing to transform lives and hearts of those who do not know Christ. I am going to be courageous and suggest that it is in step three that we should give money to God on a regular basis because we believe in this great commission form Jesus should occur on a regular basis. Even if it be $5, $50, $500 a week, committing to regular giving is committing to the Great commission on a constant basis. Please hear my heart… I recognise there are times in our lives where we can be under financial strain and during those times we need to hold onto our money and just invest in our own nuclear family, but other then those times we should be searching for hearts that are impacted like Jacobs. A heart that is overwhelmed by the grace of God. Jacob saw the stairway from heaven to earth with the angels ascending and descending, we too can experience the divine intervention of God Divine Presence – of Jesus Christ Divine Protection – through his death and resurrection overcoming death and all evil for you and me. Divine Preservation – “that he who began a good work in you will carry on to completion” Divine Promise – Jesus is the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever (Gospel Reading John 6:6:51) Let these truths of grace impact our hearts and in response let our minds make sensible yet kingdom building decisions around our financial giving 2 Corinthian 9:6-8 remember this: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having that you need, you will abound in every good work.” |
