UNLEASHED: KALEIDOSCOPE



UNLEASHED: LAVISHNESS

The Church Turning the World Upside Down

Acts 4:32-37

Dave Stone, July 2011, NACC

James Sayers, October 7, 2012, RCC

In the past month, we’ve been working our way through the book of Acts, looking at how God has unleashed His Spirit on the church. He is expecting that His unleashed Church will be a kaleidoscope of diversity, that it will reach innumerable people, causing pandemonium, and that the world will be shaken by the power of the Gospel. I have been enjoying the series, but I have been feeling more and more uncomfortable with the challenges God’s truth presents us each week. That’s not going to change this morning.

Do you know the word “lavish”? Have you used it in a conversation lately? “Lavish” means expending or bestowing profusely, something produced in abundance or excess. Synonyms are extravagant, exorbitant, extreme, inordinate, insane, excessive. Antonyms are moderate, modest, and reasonable.

As we continue our survey through the book of Acts, we find an account that reveals the impact that God’s Holy Spirit was having on these first Christians. Let me read Acts 4:32-37.

“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.”

The norm for the first Christians was lavishness. They were loving God by loving people, caring for the material and emotional needs of their neighbors. The early church lived a life we might describe as lavish. They desired and designed to share more with each other than was expected.

Years ago in Los Angeles, a mugger attacked Mrs. Hollis Sharpe. It was, she said, a terrifying and painful experience—he broke her left arm. But, despite terror and pain, Mrs. Sharpe was able to recognize a kind of ironic, theatre-of-the-absurd justice in what happened.

As has been her habit for years, Mrs. Sharpe was walking her 7-year-old miniature poodle, Jonathan. Mrs. Sharpe is a woman of sensibility and consideration. She always carries a plastic bag and a newspaper with her on her nightly walks. When Jonathan does what dogs do, Mrs. Sharpe carefully scoops it up with the newspaper and drops it in the bag for sanitary disposal later. "You have to think of your neighbors," she said.

That night, Jonathan had done what dogs do, and Mrs. Sharpe had done what women of sensibility and consideration do, and she was carrying the plastic bag in her right hand when the mugger jumped out of a car and grabbed her. She screamed, fell, and broke her arm. The mugger snatched the plastic bag from Mrs. Sharpe, ran back to his car, and sped away.

"I only wish," said Mrs. Sharpe, "there had been a little bit more in the bag."

Even in the face of personal injury, Mrs. Sharpe demonstrated a desire for lavishness, desiring to share more than is expected.

Our text shows us two areas where the church was living lavishly.

1. Love Lavishly. Going beyond what is expected.

Paul writes about the way Christians should express love in Romans 12:9-10,14.

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

How do we communicate that love to others? By composing an email or handwriting a card or a letter. By sending an encouraging text message. By making a phone call. In a thousand different ways, we let people know that they matter to us. Lavish love is a constant attitude that is concerned with others and is communicated to them. Lavish love is unexpected and extraordinary. It’s the kind of love God has for His children. John writes in 1 John 3:1. “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”

What is our lavishly loving Father in Heaven leading us to do in lavish love? To reach out to someone who seems completely at odds with God. To love someone who is utterly contrary to God’s will and direction.

The world knows what the church is against. Do people know what the church is FOR? Do YOU know what the Church of God is FOR? We are for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We are FOR a world that is lost and dying, just like Jesus.

There are churches that get that wrong. The folks at Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS, come to mind. They seem to believe that God is only for those who are already saved, that Jesus came to establish a very small church of self-righteous, self-seeking people. But God lavishly loves ALL His children. Do we?

May our lavish love be a magnet to the Lord of Love. Who do we need to love lavishly? How would your spouse respond if you chose to love lavishly, to share with them more than was expected? Even a spouse who is not reflecting that kind of love? Teachers at your kids’ school? The homeless guy that hangs out at 31st and Wall? The single mom with four kids in line behind you at the grocery store? I heard this week that high risk elicits high reward. What kind of risk are you willing to take today?

Don’t just love lavishly, but . . .

2. Give Lavishly

Expressing lavish love through generosity.

Our text in Acts 4 tells us about a special man named Barnabas. His name means “son of encouragement,” the kind of person we’d all like to know and spend time with. Maybe you know someone like that, who is a pleasure to be around because they are positive, hopeful, and uplifting. That’s who this Joseph Barnabas was. And he demonstrated that spirit in the lavish way he gave, too.

Paul says in 2 Cor. 9:7 that God loves a cheerful giver. And so do we.

I want to share something that Stacy and I were challenged by several months ago. Many of you probably keep track of your finances and investments in a portfolio. What if you were to start recording the lavish gifts you give in a heavenly portfolio? Anytime you give something to someone that goes beyond your regular giving at church. Taking someone out to lunch. Sending an extra check to a missionary. Buying an anonymous grocery store gift card for a struggling family. And so on. If you will do that, I am confident that you will see a pattern. Blessings will pop up when you’re giving lavishly. Make your heavenly portfolio a ledger where you track what goes out and what comes in. Someone buys a meal for my family. We receive an unexpected gift. I believe that the more you try to give over and above the norm, the more God will continue to give in return. Don’t misunderstand me: I’m not suggesting that you give lavishly so you can receive blessings. I am suggesting that you’ll find out that you cannot outgive God. That ledger becomes a tool to teach your children about giving.

You have been blessed to be a blessing.

1 John 3:18. Don’t love with words or speech, but love with actions and in truth. It is important for us to communicate that we love people, but we cannot stop at communication. It must be demonstrated by what we do.

What has God done for you and your family? Has He healed an illness? Has He restored a relationship? Has He comforted in tragedy? Has He delivered hope from despair? Has He been a refuge in a storm? Has He provided when you had nothing? Has He forgiven rebellion? Has He led you through confusion and indecision? God does all of these things and more because He loves you. Don’t you believe that we would be just like God if we were to live and give in these ways to others?

Jesus’s words are recorded in Acts 20:35, that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” We are blessed when we receive, but we are more blessed when we give. Put the teaching of Christ into action today.

God cares about your attitude toward money. He loves a cheerful giver. We can always come up with reasons to hold things close. With lavishness, amounts and limits are irrelevant. How much you have is irrelevant to lavishness. The first Christians were changed by God’s Holy Spirit and we see their incredible lavishness. Grace revolutionizes giving.

Author Warren Wiersbe has written that “An open heart cannot maintain a closed hand.” How will you give to God today? Closed heart and hands? Wide open and ready to dump into others?

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