If I don’t take of myself, who will?

After our lunch at Cracker Barrel, the waitress brought the check. I reached into my pocket and pulled out $5 to leave on the table as a tip.  Ed, our 13 year old, looked at it and asked, “Why don’t you give her more? She was nice to us.” After explaining to him that usually the tip is a percentage of the check, I said that I liked his generous impulse.  My suggestion was that he use some of his own money to add to the tip. But, like so many of us, he did not feel so liberal when it involved his own resources.

My heart jumps for joy when I interact with a person who has a generous spirit. They are positive towards others, speaking encouragement, hope for the best, and give of their resources and themselves. They make the world a richer place. Then, there are those who keep score in every relationship and make certain that they get what they think is rightly coming to them.  Like my Ed, they might feel a generous impulse, but not if costs them personally.  It appears that their motto is, “Let someone else give and serve, I have to take care of ME.”

Jesus told a story about a man who failed the generosity test at the point where it is most important. “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 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 all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things 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 anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21, NIV)

That phrase, ‘rich toward God,’ begs for our attention. Are we generous in serving Him? Is our worship lavish? Do we serve with an eye towards minimal expectations or in a way that reflects deep devotion?  There were some religious professionals that Jesus observed who were not ‘rich toward God.’  They carefully calculated the tithe (10%) on even the herbs from their garden, but did not practice justice towards others.  Jesus’ words with regard to them are scathing: “How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you ignore the important things of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things." (Matthew 23:23, NLT)  

Love does not calculate returns. It overflows! If we are carefully keeping record of what we think God owes us, if we are clinging to our time, our money; yes, to our Self – we are not ‘rich toward God.’ Jesus said that the man who took such good care of himself was a ‘fool!’ Strong word, isn’t it?  He failed to understand that eternity waited and those things he had carefully laid aside for his own comfort would be spent by another.  He was not truly rich.  Are you a fool?  Are you playing hard at life while doing the minimal things for God that your conscience demands? Like the Pharisees, are you calculating your tithe right down to the penny, but missing the joy of a life given fully to the purposes of the Lord?

Take these words from the Word to heart.
"Walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?

What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."
 (Matthew 6:28-33, The Message)