Pay It Forward
I don’t keep a wallet because I went to Europe in high school, and we were told to get something that would attach to our belts because there are pickpockets everywhere. We were on the Tube, and I actually felt someone reach into my back pocket. I turned around and there was this sweet little old lady! And she just looked at me like nothing had happened! So from then on, it stays in my front pocket. How do you surround your money with your faith? You will hear frequently that if you give, God will bless you – you should give SO THAT you will get. We start thinking that we should give because we want to get. We’re going to give in order to manipulate God into giving to us! We need to give a blessing so that we can be a blessing. Not so we can GET, but so we can be a blessing! Have you ever done that?
It’s been an insanely crazy busy couple of weeks, and yesterday I was home and the doorbell rang. I was hoping it was Jehovah’s Witnesses, I was ready for them! It was a young kid, in high school. He had holes in his gloves, an old coat with holes in it, and he had a box of candy he was trying to sell, saying it was to raise money for a program to keep him off drugs and off the street, and would I like to buy some? Now, it is entirely possible that that was a complete hoax, and that’s the first thought that ran through my head. But I thought, “I’m right in the middle of my message on GIVING!” God has a sense of humor. I had $10 in my wallet, so I just gave it to him, but didn’t take any candy. I purposefully didn’t take the candy, because he had dark chocolate! That was a struggle! I don’t want to give so that I get a blessing, I want to give so that I am a blessing for this guy. Whether he’s for real or not, he’s going to wonder why I didn’t take any candy, and it’s going to sit in his head, and he’s going to think about it.
Where did I learn that? In the Bible, but also in my own life. My Grandpa is a piece of work. He’ll be 84 next July, and still has a full head of dark brown, curly hair. Every now and then he shows up here for church. He taught me, and then chided me for it later in life, “Give. Just give.” I can’t tell you how many times, how many people have come up to me and told me stories about how he paid their rent, paid for their wedding, sent my new spouse and I on a honeymoon, gave me an apartment rent-free for six months, he did this, he gave that, he gave, he gave, he gave. He’s not a wealthy man, he’s got a little bank-rolled but that’s because he worked hard. He says people gave to him when he didn’t have anything, and his mom used to say that, “Sweet Jesus says I need to be giving. I better not be hoarding. I better not be dishonest in my dealings.” So I watched this man who helped raise me give and give. Nici and I started off our marriage that way – I can’t tell you how many mortgage payments we’ve made, how many gas tanks we’ve filled, how many meals we’ve purchased – and my grandpa would say, “Jason, STOP! You need a zipper on your chest because your heart is getting so big it’s going to fall out!” And I’d say, “Where do you think I learned it?” And he says, “Oh shoot.” I’m okay eating the dollar menu at McDonald’s. Give because it’s been given to you.
We have opportunities to give this morning. You have opportunities to give your tithes and offerings, to give your praise and worship, to give thanks.
It’s been an insanely crazy busy couple of weeks, and yesterday I was home and the doorbell rang. I was hoping it was Jehovah’s Witnesses, I was ready for them! It was a young kid, in high school. He had holes in his gloves, an old coat with holes in it, and he had a box of candy he was trying to sell, saying it was to raise money for a program to keep him off drugs and off the street, and would I like to buy some? Now, it is entirely possible that that was a complete hoax, and that’s the first thought that ran through my head. But I thought, “I’m right in the middle of my message on GIVING!” God has a sense of humor. I had $10 in my wallet, so I just gave it to him, but didn’t take any candy. I purposefully didn’t take the candy, because he had dark chocolate! That was a struggle! I don’t want to give so that I get a blessing, I want to give so that I am a blessing for this guy. Whether he’s for real or not, he’s going to wonder why I didn’t take any candy, and it’s going to sit in his head, and he’s going to think about it.
Where did I learn that? In the Bible, but also in my own life. My Grandpa is a piece of work. He’ll be 84 next July, and still has a full head of dark brown, curly hair. Every now and then he shows up here for church. He taught me, and then chided me for it later in life, “Give. Just give.” I can’t tell you how many times, how many people have come up to me and told me stories about how he paid their rent, paid for their wedding, sent my new spouse and I on a honeymoon, gave me an apartment rent-free for six months, he did this, he gave that, he gave, he gave, he gave. He’s not a wealthy man, he’s got a little bank-rolled but that’s because he worked hard. He says people gave to him when he didn’t have anything, and his mom used to say that, “Sweet Jesus says I need to be giving. I better not be hoarding. I better not be dishonest in my dealings.” So I watched this man who helped raise me give and give. Nici and I started off our marriage that way – I can’t tell you how many mortgage payments we’ve made, how many gas tanks we’ve filled, how many meals we’ve purchased – and my grandpa would say, “Jason, STOP! You need a zipper on your chest because your heart is getting so big it’s going to fall out!” And I’d say, “Where do you think I learned it?” And he says, “Oh shoot.” I’m okay eating the dollar menu at McDonald’s. Give because it’s been given to you.
We have opportunities to give this morning. You have opportunities to give your tithes and offerings, to give your praise and worship, to give thanks.