Extravagant in Generosity 

January 22, 2023 

Our message series is “Selfless.” The first week we learned to speak boldly about what we believe deeply. Last week we learned to be faithful in service since Jesus came as one who serves. Today, we are talking about the cousin of serving: generosity. Jesus talked often about money and giving. It was one of his favorite topics. He said, “Where your treasure is, there you heart will be also.” If we follow Jesus, we’re called to be bold in witness, and also we’ll serve, and we’ll give. Today we’ll look at, what does it mean to be generous? Why be extravagant in generosity? What’s in it for me? 

Imagine suddenly, you have a new checking account, with all the money you wasted in your life. Remember the exercise equipment you bought and never used? The money you paid for it is in this checking account. Do you recall the time you carried a big credit card debt? All the credit card interest you paid is now in this checking account. All those things you purchased that you never used? The money you spent on them is in there. 

All this money you wasted is in a checking account. You can use the checking account: but only to give. You have to use it to give to worthy causes. You probably think you’d rather have all that money to use however you want. But it might surprise you that you actually enjoy deciding how to give a lot of money away! 

The world is trying its best to make us selfish: to tell us, spend more, you deserve it! “Have it your way,” says Burger King. “There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard!” “Let’s go places,” says Toyota. When we listen to the world, we spend to be happy. 

We’d all like to be generous, but we think we can’t. We have bills to pay. So how can we be generous? 

Today we’ll be looking at two stories in the Scripture of people who were inspired by Jesus to become very generous, and they really enjoyed it! These generous people are Zacchaeus the tax collector, and the woman who washed and poured very expensive perfume over Jesus feet. 

So first up is Zacchaeus. Who was he? The Sunday school song says he was a wee little man, who climbed up in a Sycamore tree to see Jesus. The thing is everybody was shorter back then. The estimate is that Jesus was 5’ 1 to 5’ 5” tall, since that was the average height of a man back then. Zacchaeus was shorter than that. He was in a crowd that gathered to watch Jesus pass by on the road. He couldn’t see, so he climbed a tree! Then Jesus noticed him and said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”  

Jesus knew that Zacchaeus needed to spend time with him. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and very wealthy. Tax collectors were Jewish but would collect money for the Roman empire. They were able to demand extra taxes and keep that money for themselves. So, this is how Zacchaeus became very wealthy: he cheated people! Jews hated tax collectors. They considered them one of the worst kinds of sinner! So, everybody looked at Jesus going to the chief tax collector’s house, and suddenly they didn’t like Jesus as much! 

But Zacchaeus gladly hurried down and took Jesus to his house. Zacchaeus was so happy and excited that Jesus forgave and loved him and was coming to spend time with him! Zacchaeus announced how he would change his life for the better: “Look, Lord! Here and now, I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Can you imagine? He just gave half his possessions away, and he’s so excited! Zacchaeus has a giving plan: he is going to take his ill-gotten money and be extravagantly generous with it! 

Jesus says, Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. What does generosity have to do with salvation? When we give some of what we have away, we live in faith, faith that God will provide, God will take care of us. God won’t let us end up homeless because we gave a donation. We put our faith not in the money we have or things we can buy, but in God. Generosity is faith, we are saved by faith and through Jesus Christ. 

One very important thing Zacchaeus can teach us, is that extravagant generosity isn’t occasional. It’s not giving just sporadically. Everybody is generous once in a while. We see other people giving, and think, ok, I’ll give too. The Salvation Army bell ringer is there, ok, I’ll give, I’ll put a dollar in the kettle. That is very different from Zacchaeus’ new generosity: he had a plan! With math! Half to the poor. If I cheated someone, I give back four times the amount. This wasn’t just lip service. He was now serious about being extravagant in generosity. Jesus knew he would follow through! Salvation had come to Zacchaeus! A passion and a plan to be generous leads to a more joyful life.  

That generosity plan is often an amount or a % of income, how much of what I have will I give away? My husband’s parents always gave 10% of their income to the church. My parents also gave 10%, but they never told me. I never knew for years. When I was grown, I had heard of 10% giving but didn’t think I could give that much. Kevin and I got married and served churches and we were more average givers for a while, about 2 % of our income. We had big student loan debt and kids. We thought that was all we could do. But about 20 years ago I felt a nudge from God: to give 10%. I didn’t like that idea at first, but Kevin and I worked on it, we had a plan to go up in our giving by one % over time, until we gave 10%. I also got serious about our finances: we made a budget and a plan and got more responsible with our money. It wasn’t always easy, but it was rewarding. It makes me happy that I can be extravagantly generous TODAY, not someday, if I’m lucky. If you pick a % or an amount to give, you can enjoy giving to what you believe in! A passion and a plan to be generous leads to a more joyful life. 

The other person who was generous because of Jesus is Mary. There are two stories of a woman who pours perfume over Jesus’ feet. In one story, a sinful woman pours perfume on his feet. In our gospel today, John 12, it’s Mary who pours the perfume. Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Jesus had just raised her brother Lazarus from the dead! You can imagine how happy Mary is! Then Jesus comes for dinner at their house, Lazarus sits with Jesus, and Martha prepares the meal. Mary wants to thank Jesus, but she is not the kitchen type to go help with the meal, we know that from another story in the Scriptures! We’re so thankful for people who cook and clean, but Mary is not that. Mary decides to spend a WHOLE lot of money on expensive perfume, an entire pint of it! It was really expensive! And she pours it over Jesus’ feet and wipes his feet with her hair. Wow!  But she is so grateful for Jesus. 

Judas, who would soon betray Jesus, complains about how much money she spends, wastes in his eyes, on this perfume. You could sell it and help the poor, he says. Not that Judas cares about the poor. Jesus tells Judas, “Leave her alone!” Jesus is ok with her extravagant generosity! Mary’s extravagant generosity comes out of a grateful heart and a broken heart. Mary is extremely grateful that Jesus brought her brother back to life. What are you grateful for? When you have a plan to give, you have money set aside and you can give out of what you’re grateful for: to the church for loving me and helping me all my life! You give to the cancer society because you are grateful for overcoming cancer, or to a society for veterans because you are grateful for their service to our country. You can give out of a grateful heart. 

Mary also gives out of a broken heart. Jesus has raised Lazarus, but the religious leaders now want to kill Jesus. The next day Jesus will go to Jerusalem, where that week he will be killed. The perfume Mary pours is like a fragrance that could be used to anoint Jesus after his death. Mary is generous with the perfume because her heart is broken for Jesus going to die. 

What breaks your heart? Kids in foster care? Child abuse? People who don’t have enough to eat? When you have a plan to give, you get to choose, and make a difference, giving where your passion is. You give out of a grateful heart and a broken heart. 

My challenge for you this week is to think of that checking account full of money, and where you would give it. Imagine how that would feel! Tell someone near you what is something you might give that money to: 

Jesus calls each of us to serve and also to give. Not just to sporadic giving. He invites us to the joy of extravagant generosity. We are not victims of our finances. When we make a plan for our money and how much we will give, we waste less. We find room to be extravagantly generous. We experience the joy that comes from a grateful and compassionate heart that gives and makes a better world. Amen.