Contributions

GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
CONTRIBUTIONS
DR. JIM DIXON
DECEMBER 3, 2000
ROMANS 12:1-8

R. G. LeTourneau died in 1969. Some of you know that LeTourneau built one of the largest earth-moving machinery companies in the world. It was LeTourneau’s machinery that helped the allied forces storm the beaches at Normandy on D-Day in World War II. It was LeTourneau’s machinery that built the Alaskan Highway. It was LeTourneau’s machinery that cleared 5,000 acres of swampland for the building of the Kennedy International Airport.

R.G. LeTourneau was a Christian. He had a deep love for Jesus Christ. He was 35 years old when he realized that God had given him a unique gift. God had given him the ability to make money and the desire to give it away. He made a commitment that year to God that he would give 90% of everything he made to the work of the kingdom of Christ on earth. He kept that commitment. In the course of his lifetime, R.G. LeTourneau gave millions and millions of dollars to Christian ministry. He became the president of the Christian Business Men’s International. He became the president of Gideons International. He was a very special man. But he was not alone.

Henry P. Crowell, who founded the Quaker Oat Company, was a Christian man. He also was given by God the ability to make money and the heart’s desire to give it away. In the course of Crowell’ s lifetime, he gave 70% of everything he made to the work of the kingdom of Christ in this world. William Colgate, who founded the Colgate Company, was a Christian. He also had a gift from God to make money and a desire to give it away. He began by tithing, giving 1/10th to the work of Christ. Then he began to give 2/10ths, then 3/10ths, then 4/l0ths, then 5/l0ths. In the last decade of William Colgate’s life, he gave 10/l0ths—everything he made—to the work of the kingdom of Christ.

J. L. Kraft wanted to be a missionary, but he could not pass his physical for foreign missionary service. At first he was disappointed, but then he resolved that he would serve the gospel of Jesus Christ by making money and giving it to the church for ministry and mission. He founded and built the Kraft Cheese Company and gave millions of dollars to the cause of Christ.

All of these people had what the Bible calls the gift of contributions. These were people who had a gift from God, a special endowment of the Holy Spirit; that gift was a special ability to make money and a desire to give that money to Christ. This gift is listed in Romans 12. In the listing, the word “contributions” is the Greek word “metadidomi.” This word means “to give a portion” or “to give a share.” But it is combined with another Greek word, “hadrotes,” which means “magnanimous,” “generous,” or “liberal.” And so, the idea of the gift of contributions is this: to give a magnanimous share, to give a generous portion, to give a liberal portion.

The Church of Christ has always needed women and men with the gift of contributions. That was true in the 1st century, and it is true today. This church, Cherry Hills Community Church, needs people with the gift of contributions. Some of you have the gift of contributions. You have a God-given ability to make money and a God-given desire to give it away for the work of Christ. Some of you may be led to pray for that gift. But what’s most important on this Stewardship Sunday is that we realize that all of us have been called by Christ to give. To be a Christian is to be a giver. If you take the name of Christ, if you claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ, you must be a giver. Christians are called to support the work of the Church of Jesus Christ on earth.

I have four teachings this morning, and these teachings concern the reasons we, as Christians, should give. Four biblical reasons. I want to begin with the least important and move to the most important. First of all, as Christians, we should give because of reverential fear of divine discipline. Now, this is not an easy teaching for me, and it’s not an easy teaching for you. The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” The Bible warns us again and again that disobedience in any area of our life invites the discipline of God. This is certainly true in the area of giving. If we’re disobedient, we invite the discipline of God.

In Joshua chapters 6 and 7, we read about the siege of the city of Jericho. We read how Joshua led the children of Israel across the Jordan River and how the walls of the city of Jericho fell down by the power of God. In those two chapters, we also read about a woman named Rahab and a man named Achan. Rahab was a prostitute. She was not Jewish. She was a citizen of the city of Jericho, but she had heard of the Jews. She had heard how they had crossed the Red Sea “as if upon dry land.” She had heard how the Egyptians, when they tried to do the same, were drowned. She had heard how the Jewish people had conquered the Amorites and cast down two Amorite kings.

Rahab had come to the conclusion that the God of Israel was the one true God. She aided and abetted the Jewish spies who had come into Jericho to case out the city. Because of this, she and her household were spared. She was invited to live in Israel, and she became part of the Jewish community. All of her descendants after her lived in Israel as part of the Jewish community. You can turn to the gospel of Matthew, the first chapter, and you can look at the genealogy there. Amazingly, you will see that the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, descended from the line of Rahab the harlot. It’s an incredible story of God’s mercy and God’s grace.

In Joshua 6 and 7, you also have the story of Achan of the tribe of Judah. Now, to understand his story, we need to understand that when Jericho fell, God commanded that all the treasure of Jericho be devoted to the Lord. The victory was the Lord’s. The Jews had not won that battle. God had won that battle. He had brought the walls of Jericho down, and He commanded that the treasure of Jericho be dedicated to the Lord and that it not be used for personal use. But Achan looked on that treasure. He saw the gold, he saw the silver, and he wanted just a little bit of it. He took a little bit of the gold and a little bit of the silver, a little bit of that which was devoted to the Lord. The judgement of God came upon him and his house, and they were executed.

In the course of my ministry, I’ve heard many sermons about Rahab the harlot. People love sermons about mercy and grace. I’ve never heard a sermon about Achan of the tribe of Judah because it’s a story of God’s holy wrath and divine discipline. People don’t like stories like that so much. But the Jews understood that story, and they talked often about Achan. They understood that what was devoted to God must not be touched. The Jews regarded the tithe as devoted to God. The Jews regarded the tithe as dedicated to the Lord. Now, the Jewish people understood that everything belongs to God, but the tithe was devoted to the Lord and dedicated to God. It should not be used for personal use. It should not be touched. It was devoted to the Lord. But there were times in Jewish history when the Jews forgot this lesson, and they participated in disobedience. When they failed to tithe, failed to give their first fruits, failed to give the first tenth of everything they made to the Lord . . . then the discipline of the Lord came.

In Malachi chapter 3 it says, “Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the Lord God Almighty. But you say, ‘How can we return to You?’ Will men rob God? You are robbing Me. But you say, ‘How am I robbing You?’ With your tithes and your offerings. You are cursed with a curse, the whole nation of you, because you are robbing Me.”

When we rob God, when we touch the devoted things, when we fail to participate in giving and we participate in disobedience, we invite the cursing of God. The heavens did not give rain. The earth did not yield its produce. They sowed but they did not reap. They planted but they did not harvest. They ate but they were always hungry. They drank but they were always thirsty. They clothed themselves but they were always cold. They put food in their pockets. They put money in their pockets and their pockets were always empty. All of this is recorded in Haggai chapter 1. It was the curse of God for their disobedience.

I heard this story some time ago. It’s kind of a joke about a CEO of a large company. Years ago, this CEO went to a United Fund meeting, and he was deeply moved by the efforts of compassion. So, he made a commitment to the leaders of the United Fund that every single employee in his company would make a contribution to the United Fund that year. He came back to his business and called for his business manager. He explained his decision to the business manager. He said, “I want you to solicit contributions from every employee in the company.”

Three days later, the business manager came back. He said, “Every employee in your company has agreed to make a contribution to the United Fund except for one, a man named Paul Jones. The CEO called for Paul Jones. He said to him, ”What is this? I hear you’re not willing to make a contribution to the United Fund?” Paul Jones said, “That’s right. I’ve never given to the United Fund, and I don’t plan to start now.” The CEO smiled, and he said, “Well, I told the people at the United Fund that every employee in this company would make a contribution to the United Fund. You’ll either give to the United Fund or you will not be an employee of this company. Either agree to make a contribution today or you will be fired today.” Paul Jones reached into his pocket, pulled out his checkbook, and wrote a check to the United Fund for $500.00. He handed it to the CEO and said, “I would have given sooner, but nobody explained it to me the way that you did!”

I’m not your boss, and you are not my employees. I’m just your pastor, and I cannot force you to do anything; but I can tell you that God has commanded all of His people to give, and I can tell you that disobedience is disciplined. Disobedience has consequences. So, this is the first teaching. We give out of reverential fear of divine discipline.

The second reason we give is because of the promise of reward. I know many Christians will say, “Well, we really shouldn’t give with a desire for reward.” And it is true that our primary motive in giving should not be reward; but it is also true that, in the Bible, the promise of reward is used by God as an incentive for giving. We see this again and again. We see this even in Malachi chapter 3, “Bring the full tithes into My house and put Me to the test, says the Lord God of Hosts, and see if I will not open up the windows of heaven for you and pour down upon you an overflowing blessing.” The promise of reward.

In the Sermon on the Plain, recorded in Luke 6, our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Give and it will be given to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together, overflowing. It will be poured into your lap.” The promise of reward. In the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew 6, our Lord Jesus Christ said, “When you give, give in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.” The promise of reward. In 2 Corinthians 9, the Apostle Paul writes in the context of giving and contributions, “He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will reap bountifully.” The promise of reward.

We can see that this is true even in the natural world. When we give, oftentimes it is returned to us manyfold. I love the story of George C. Bolt. George C. Bolt was a clerk at a third-rate hotel in the city of Philadelphia. It was a cold, stormy, rainy night when an elderly couple came into that Philadelphia hotel looking for a room, but there were no rooms. The hotel was full. All of the surrounding hotels were full because there were many conventions in Philadelphia at that time. But George C. Bolt was moved by the need of this elderly couple, and he said, “You can have my room, and I’ll just stay here in the lobby tonight.” The elderly couple stayed in George Bolt’s room.

It was only two months later when George Bolt received a letter from the elderly couple inviting him to New York City. They sent him the money and tickets. He went to New York City. They took him to the corner of Avenue and 34th Street and showed him the newly constructed Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The elderly couple said, “We want you to be the new manager of this hotel.” That elderly couple was Mr. and Mrs. William Waldorf Astor. An amazing story, but true. It illustrates that many times when we give, it is returned to us manyfold.

I love the story of Ida Fuller. Ida Fuller died in 1975 at the age of 100. She was the first woman ever to receive a Social Security check. Her Social Security number was 000-00-001. From 1935 to 1940, Ida Fuller paid $22 in Social Security taxes. But from 1940 to 1975, she received $22,000 in Social Security benefits—$22 in, $22,000 out.

I know that many of you are concerned that Social Security is not going to work that way for you, but the kingdom of heaven works that way. This is the promise of God. Why do we give? In part, because of the promises of God. “Give and it will be given to you in full measure, pressed together, overflowing. It shall be poured into your lap,” Jesus said. So, we give out of reverential fear of divine punishment or discipline. We give out of the promise of reward. But those are the least important motives biblically.

So, we come to the third teaching. We are to give out of gratitude. This is the will of God for us as Christians, that we give out of gratitude. Gustav Hauser was the president of Warner Brothers Cable. He was a pioneer in the cable industry. He was one of the developers of the Nickelodeon Channel. He later became the president and CEO of Hauser Communications Company. He made millions of dollars. According to “the Associated Press,” a little over six years ago, in October of 1994, Gustav Hauser gave to the Harvard University Law School the largest gift that law school had ever received. In fact, he gave the largest gift any law school anywhere in the world had ever received.

Gustav Hauser gave a gift of $13 million. They asked him why he did it. “Why did you give $13 million to the Harvard University Law School?” He had graduated from that law school, but he never practiced law. He said that he gave that gift to the law school out of gratitude . . . but not for his education. He gave the gift out of gratitude because it was there that he met his wife Rita. She was a student at that law school. They had been happily married for all of those years. They both attended law school at Harvard in 1955 and 1956. They were married the day after they graduated. They’d been married for almost 40 years when he gave that gift. He was so grateful for the fact that he’d met his wife there.

If you go back and you look at a lot of gifts given throughout the history of this nation and, indeed, the history of the world, you’ll see that many of those gifts were given out of gratitude, thanksgiving. Now, the biblical word for “gratitude” or “thanksgiving” is the word “eucharistia.” It is based on the Greek word “charis,” which is the Greek word for “grace.” We are to have gratitude. We are to be thankful for God’s grace.

Are you thankful for the grace of Jesus Christ? Are you thankful for the grace of God? It’s Jesus who died for you, and that’s grace. It’s Jesus who intercedes for you with the Father, and that’s grace. It’s Jesus who will one day come for you to receive you into heaven itself, and that is grace. How much gratitude do you have? Does that gratitude overf1ow in giving?

In Matthew 26 and Mark 14, we read about how Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon the Leper. While He was there, an unnamed woman came up to him and anointed His head with oil. She poured perfume out of an alabaster jar. We’re told that that perfume had a value of over 300 denarii. It was worth more than one year’s wages. What an incredible gift! What an incredible act of giving! Why did she do it? It was gratitude.

In John 12, Jesus was at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Mary poured a jar of costly perfume on the feet of Jesus Christ. It was valued at one year’s wage. Unbelievable giving. What prompted that? Gratitude. In Luke 8, Jesus was in the village of Capernaum in Galilee. A woman who was a sinner, believed to be a prostitute—some believe this is Mary Magdalene—came to Christ, and she poured an entire jar of costly perfume on His feet. She wiped His feet with her hair, washed His feet with her tears. What prompted that? Gratitude. How much gratitude do you have for the grace of Jesus Christ. Is your gratitude reflected in your giving?

There’s a still more excellent way, a still more important reason to give. This is our fourth teaching this morning. God wants us to give out of passion, passion for the cause of the kingdom of heaven. You can give out of reverential fear of God’s discipline. You can give out of a desire for the rewards promised. You can give out of gratitude. But that all pales when compared to giving out of passion for the cause of Christ. In Matthew 6, in the Sermon on the Mount, we read that great statement of Christ: “Seek first the kingdom of God.” We are to seek first the kingdom of God. This is to be our primary passion. The cause of the kingdom of God in this world is to be our first passion.

The statement in Matthew 6, “Seek first the kingdom of God,” is made in the context of money. Jesus had just said, “Do not lay up treasures on earth, where rust and moth consume and thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither rust nor moth consumes and no thief breaks in and steals. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. No one can serve two masters. They will either love the one and hate the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Then he went on to tell of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field and how God provides for His people. He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God.” Let this be your greatest passion.

The word “passion” comes from a Latin word which means “to suffer.” But this word has evolved. It generally means “to suffer for a cause.” It refers to “zeal,” “ardor,” or “fervor” in a cause. The word “compassion” means “to suffer with.” When referring to passion in a cause, it refers to compassion for the people that the cause benefits.

We live in a crazy world. We live in a world where there’s a lot of misguided passion. There are people who have given their life’s passion to meaningless things. Last week, Barb and I went out to California for Thanksgiving. We were a few days with her family and a few days with my mom in Southern California. Our daughter Heather and her husband came down from Washington to join us. Drew went with us. My brother Greg and his wife Barb were there as well. My oldest brother was there. It was the first time in 29 years that we had all been together at Mom’s house for Thanksgiving. It was a great time.

After Thanksgiving, on Sunday morning, we drove up to Santa Barbara—Barb and I, Drew, my brother Greg, his wife, and their son David. The six of us went up to Santa Barbara to spend a couple of days where we had gone to college. On that Sunday afternoon there in Santa Barbara, we really didn’t have anything to do. So, we went over to State Street in Santa Barbara. The guys kind of wanted to see the Broncos game. It wasn’t on TV, so we went to one of those sports bars. The women went shopping.

On State Street in Santa Barbara, there are a whole bunch of these sports places. They’re really restaurants with outdoor cafes, and they’re unbelievable places. They have television sets everywhere, and they were jam-packed with people. We couldn’t believe it. We went into this one sports bar and literally every NFL game was on. Every one of them. We could barely find a seat. We took a seat. Whatever game you want, they will put on the TV right before you. Then they will bring an individualized speaker to your table so that you can hear the announcers of your particular game. We ordered hamburgers. They brought the burgers, and we listened to the Broncos game.

In the men’s room—and this is unbelievable—there is an individual TV screen above every urinal. You can go to the urinal with your game on. I mean you don’t ever have to miss a moment! This is an amazing deal! Absolutely amazing deal. We’re sitting there just kind of not comprehending all this. Five minutes before the end of the game, suddenly the screens all change. There’s the announcement out of Florida about the certified results of Florida’s election on the presidential election.

I know here in Denver they did a split screen deal; but there in California, every single TV went completely blank. Then all of the football games in the sports bar were replaced by this political deal. You couldn’t have believed the rage! It was just incomprehensible. People just went ballistic. Their passion for football, their zeal, their ardor . . . it was just unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable. We live in a world like that. It’s a crazy world. People have gone beyond being fans. People’s passion is so often misguided, and it’s wasted passion. I mean, football is entertaining, but it’s of very little earthly good. There’s a lot of misguided passion.

God wants you to have, as your greatest passion, your greatest zeal, your greatest ardor, the kingdom of heaven on earth. He wants your greatest passion to be focused on the cause of Jesus Christ and the Church of Christ. He wants that passion to be reflected in your giving.

Most of you have heard of Oskar Schindler. Oskar Schindler was a German businessman who made a fortune on military contracts during World War II. He gave almost all of that money away trying to rescue the lives of Jewish men, women, and children during the Holocaust. He was able, through all of that giving, to rescue 1,200 Jewish people from almost certain death. I have gone to Israel on two different occasions. I’ve gone to Oskar Schindler’s grave in Jerusalem. The Jewish people still come and put stones there, expressing their gratitude for the sacrifice and the giving that he made on their behalf.

In the movie “Schindler’s List,” You get a glimpse of Oskar Schindler’s passion for the Jewish people. You get a glimpse of his passion for the righteous cause of rescuing their lives. You see the Jewish people whose lives he had rescued, present him with a ring. The ring says, “He who saves one life saves the world in time.” Then you see Schindler’s sorrow, even with tears, that he did not do more. He could have sold his car and saved ten more lives. He could have sold a gold pin and saved two more lives . . . or at least one. You see his passion and compassion in that cause and how it prompted him to give. He was facing an enemy called Adolph Hitler, a madman who incinerated Jewish people in Nazi ovens and asphyxiated Jewish people in Nazi gas chambers. Hitler was a madman who murdered and butchered 6 million Jews.

But do you understand that we are facing an enemy far more hideous than Adolph Hitler? It is an enemy sometimes called “Lucifer,” an enemy the Bible calls “the devil,” an enemy the Bible calls “Satan,” “the adversary,” “the Prince of Darkness.” He wants to destroy people, body and soul, the world over. We have a cause greater than this world has ever known, and it calls for passion and compassion. This is what is to prompt us to give above all else. This is what is to prompt us to give.

Do you have passion for the cause of Christ and the Church of Christ? Is this your highest passion? Do you seek first the kingdom, and is it reflected in the use of your money? This is our passion at Cherry Hills Community Church—the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Jesus Christ. He has raised up this church. He has placed us here for a purpose. We are called to reach a generation of children, a generation of young people. We are called to reach, in the suburban south side of Denver, as many men and women for Christ as is possible in the time that is given to us. We are called to elevate the poor and oppressed in the inner city. We’re called to reach this nation and the world with the gospel.

There is no higher purpose, no higher call. There should be no higher passion. We’re asking you to prayerfully make the kingdom of heaven your passion, and let that be reflected in your giving. Let’s close with a word of prayer.