April 6, 2025
My generosity journey started with me being angry and afraid of generosity. I was a pastor in my 30s, Kevin and I had kids and student loans and car loans. I heard a pastor named Bill Easum say that a pastor of a church needs to tithe 10% to their church. They need to give 10% of their income away, and at least 5% to the church! That’s when I got angry! I thought, “I give what I can, I don’t have enough to give 10%!” I talked to Kevin about it. I was surprised that he wasn’t angry. He thought it sounded like a good idea! You need to give like you believe in the church, as a servant of God. I was angry. I thought, how could God expect me to sacrifice that much? But I had a feeling Bill Easum was right. I knew giving 10% would grow my faith. I felt like, God needs to be first in my life. But just thinking about giving 10% scared me! How in the world could I give like that? I felt angry and afraid.
People have strong emotions about money. For some, money means status. They value money because it means they have arrived! It makes them look good and feel good. For others, money is freedom. They value money because it gives them opportunities to buy what they want, go where they want, or live the way they want. For some people money means control. If I earn it, I get to decide how and when to spend it. For me, money is more about safety. I always want to have enough money in case of a disaster. I’ve got to have a rainy-day fund. Whatever you think about money, you have some emotions about it.
In today’s gospel story from the book of Luke, money is an emotional issue! Jesus has three friends: Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary. In John 11, the chapter before this, Lazarus becomes very ill and dies. But Jesus goes to the tomb and raises Lazarus from the dead!
Now in today’s gospel, Jesus returns to visit Lazarus, Martha and Mary. You can imagine how grateful the three of them are that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead! To show their gratitude, Martha goes to work making a wonderful dinner in Jesus’ honor. Lazarus sits and talks with Jesus. Mary comes up with her own way of honoring Jesus: she takes a pint of expensive perfume, (a pint! That sounds like way too much!) and she pours it on Jesus’ feet and wipes his feet with her hair! This seems really strange: what was she doing?!
She pours perfume on Jesus’ feet to be a servant. She knows a follower of Jesus is supposed to serve. This is before Jesus washes his disciples’ feet to teach them to serve. She is already living out the love commandment before Jesus taught it! Mary washes Jesus’ feet to be a servant.
In Israel, a king became a king by anointing. That’s what the prophet Samuel did, he used oil to anoint Saul as king. When Mary anoints Jesus with perfume, it makes you think of how Jesus is King. So, Mary’s overflowing gratitude to Jesus means she spares no expense! She buys a whole lot of the best perfume, she “washes” Jesus’ feet with it like a servant, and by anointing Jesus, she declares him, King!
After she makes Jesus’ feet smell sweet, an argument breaks out. Judas, Jesus’ disciple who will betray him, says, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold, and the money given to the poor? This perfume was worth a year’s wages.” Judas accuses Mary of wasting money on Jesus! But Judas will soon betray Jesus for money! Money will be more important to him than Jesus’ life.
Jesus defends Mary. He says in John 12:7-8, “Leave her alone! It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” If Mary was saving the perfume for Jesus’ burial, she changed her mind. Instead of saving it for his burial she uses it to honor him now. Maybe she realizes Jesus is going to die soon, so she uses the perfume on him while he’s still alive. She does not seem to care how much the perfume costs! Her gratitude and generosity are overflowing!!
Lazarus, Martha and Mary feel deeply generous to Jesus! They want to do whatever they can for him! He was, first of all, their friend. Mary and Martha were angry at Jesus when he didn’t come and heal Lazarus. But then he raised Lazarus from the dead, they were so grateful! Mary trusts Jesus! She doesn’t care that the perfume costs a year’s wages: she wants to give the best to God!
It might seem like Mary is too generous. But I think every one of us wants to be known as being generous. And you’d want to be generous if you had Jesus over for dinner, right? I mean it seems weird to pour perfume on his feet and wipe his feet with your hair. Maybe you don’t want to do that! But you would provide Jesus with the best food and the best hospitality you could!
The story of Mary anointing Jesus isn’t the only time when someone is crazy generous. In Luke 21:1-4 Jesus praises a woman, a widow, who puts her last penny in the offering plate! She gives all she has!
Generosity is not about how much you have; it’s about trusting God with what you have. It’s a matter of faith.
I understand the feeling of let me get to a safer spot financially so that I can start being generous. But you know what? Some people think it’s easier to be generous the less you have! And actually, people who have less are more generous percentage wise, than a person who has more. And it doesn’t matter if you have just a little, or if you have a good amount. It always takes faith to be generous. Generosity is not about how much you have; it’s about trusting God with what you have.
There was a wealthy young man who comes up to Jesus and asks what he has to do to have eternal life. Jesus says keep the commandments. The young man says, “I keep them.” Then Jesus says, sell what you have and follow me. What an opportunity this man has, to be a disciple! But instead, the man walks away sad and misses out on everything God wanted to do in his life. He’s sad, because he had more faith in his possessions than in Jesus. Generosity is about trusting God with what you have.
I’ll tell you the rest of my generosity story. Kevin and I decided to give 10% to our churches! We were giving about 2% of our income to our churches every year. We decided to go up by 1% a year. We made it to 10%, which we’re still doing. Sometimes I think, oh, I’d like to keep that money! But what keeps me going is the feeling of purpose and peace and joy I experience! Nobody ever has enough money! Isn’t that right? It doesn’t matter how much you have. We all think, I wish I had more! I like giving my money to God: he’s eternal, and he loves me and takes better care of me than any possession ever could. God does amazing things that money can’t!
I want to thank you for your faithfulness! Thank you for your generosity! Some of you may find purpose and peace and joy, stepping out in faith, trusting God, and seeing what He will do!
My homework for you this week is to think about a difficult time you went through, but you trusted God anyway. What did you learn about God through that experience?
Mary was a friend of Jesus. She was very generous, pouring a pint of perfume on Jesus’ feet! She didn’t count the cost. She showed crazy generosity! She served Jesus when he was about to go to the cross and die. We all want to be known as being generous. The world and riches can tempt us. We all have emotions about money. Generosity is not about how much you have; it’s about trusting God with what you have. It’s a matter of faith. Trust God, and see what He will do in your life! Amen.
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