Generous God, Generous People

Reading : 1 Peter 4:7-11 ‘Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.’ v10 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. Being a good steward is not just about money. It is about our whole life: time, talents and treasure. God has gifted us with time (though with all the demands upon it there may only be a small part for specifi

Reading : Hebrews 13:5-6, 15-16 ‘Keep your lives free from the love of money’ v5 ‘Do not neglect to do good’ v16 (NRSV) Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you;     never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.     What can mere mortals do to me?” Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. We share a common heritage with the first century world in which this letter is set. No doubt the message has been true in every generation, how can we remain pure in a materialistic world? It is easy to say ‘let us sit light to our possessions’. It is always harder to do. The writer to the Hebrews encourages his listeners to keep themselves free from the love of mo

Reading : Proverbs 21:1-8 ‘The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.’ v5 In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water     that he channels toward all who please him. A person may think their own ways are right,     but the Lord weighs the heart. To do what is right and just     is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Haughty eyes and a proud heart—     the unplowed field of the wicked—produce sin. The plans of the diligent lead to profit     as surely as haste leads to poverty. A fortune made by a lying tongue     is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare. The violence of the wicked will drag them away,     for they refuse to do what is right. The way of the guilty is devious,     but the conduct of the innocent is upright. Here is the contrast between those who take the long-term view and those who look for ‘get rich quick schemes’. The saying goes that ‘if a scheme looks too good to be true, then it

Reading : 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.’ v32 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. Whenever we hear the cry ‘we must return to New Testament Christianity’, does the speaker include this passage? The early be

Reading : Matthew 22:15-22 ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ v21 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away. Taxation is

Reading : Luke 12:16-21 ‘So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.’ v21 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” What a contrast between the farmer and the birds of the air. In itself the famer’s desire to have big barns and to store his crop was not wrong. He was taking thought for and providing for the future. But it was

Reading : Luke 16:1-14 ‘whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much’ v10 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’ “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’ “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ “‘Nine hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’ “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “‘A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundre

Reading: Matthew 25:31-46 ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ v40 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give yo

Reading : Matthew 25:14-30 ‘a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.’ v14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will

Reading : Amos 5:6-15 ‘Hate evil, love good; maintain justice’ v15 Seek the Lord and live,     or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them,     and Bethel will have no one to quench it. There are those who turn justice into bitterness     and cast righteousness to the ground. He who made the Pleiades and Orion,     who turns midnight into dawn     and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea     and pours them out over the face of the land—     the Lord is his name. With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold     and brings the fortified city to ruin. There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court     and detest the one who tells the truth. You levy a straw tax on the poor     and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,     you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards,     you will not drink their wine. For I know how many a

Reading : Deuteronomy 15:7-11 ‘I command you to be openhanded towards your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.’ v11 If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land. This passage com

Reading : James 1:19-27 ‘Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress’ v27 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not kee

Reading : 1 John 3: 1-23 ‘If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?’ v17 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one