Today we’re wrapping up the book of
Philippians. Tomorrow my plan (God willing) is to spend a day on Philemon, then
that’ll be it for our extremely abbreviated overview of Paul’s letters.
Before we leave Philippians,
however, I’d like to spend just a moment on our attitude towards giving and God’s
providence.
Like I’ve mentioned repeatedly and
you can see by just a cursory overview of the letter, Paul had nothing but love
and affection towards them. They weren’t a dysfunctional church that needed to
be salvaged, but a wonderful group of believers who just needed a nudge to "step it up a notch" in what they were already doing. They loved the Lord and Paul, and
they’d shown that love by sending Epaphroditus with their love offering. Today’s
passage which finishes up the short book is sort of ‘housecleaning,” but from
it we can glean some deep insight.
First, we need to understand that
when we give to true ministries, the Lord “credits” that to our “account.” Now,
to be sure, he’s incredibly gracious in doing this. Everything we supposedly
own is really on loan from him, and one day we’ll have to give it back to him
and also give an accounting
for how we used it. But if he demanded we give everything up for him right now,
like he did one
prospective follower, the only legitimate response would be to immediately do it with a smile on our face. If we gave him full 100% obedience towards him all of
our days (which no one does), he still
really wouldn’t owe us anything, since we’d only be giving back to him what
he gave us first and that which was owed to him in the first place: The right attitude
we have towards any “sacrifice” we make for his Kingdom should always be
“We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.” Perfect obedience and perfect
willingness to sacrifice anything and everything for him is only what he’s
owed. He’s under no obligation to reward us for anything we do or give.
But
he doesn’t treat us like that at all. He delights in showering his
blessings on us, and even the faintest sparks and first steps towards obedience
he rewards abundantly. Did you read the story I mentioned above from Luke about
the nobleman who went to a far country? He came back to his servants, and the
one who’d gained him 10 “minas” (a mina was about 3 months average payment), he
put in charge of ten cities! In other
words, the servant’s reward for faithfulness was way out of proportion to
how much he’d actually gained for his Master.
So when we give to the work of his
Kingdom, whether it’s talents, time, or treasure, he “credits” that to our “account.”
One day, when everyone gives an accounting
for what they’ve done for him, he’ll reward us all out of proportion to what we
“gave” him. On that Day, no believer will look at his reward and say “That's all you're giving me? It wasn’t
worth it.” Quite the opposite.
And in the here and now, while we
still live in this sin-wrecked world, he still gives us cause to trust him. I
have a confession to make. You know how I always harp on “context context
context” when studying the Bible, like I get paid every time I use that word or
something? Well, several years ago, I was guilty of taking a verse out of
context. Yes, me. When I was in college, I used to post a devotional “thought
for the week” on my front door, and one time I used verse 19 by itself: “My God
will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
I used that as a blanket promise to believers, trying to encourage them.
Another well-read brother gently pointed out that I’d taken the verse out of
context. This was written specifically to believers who’d been faithful—even sacrificial—in
their giving. Yes, he’s our Father, and he longs to provide for our
needs. We have no need to worry,
just to trust him like a little child does towards every good father out there.
But verse 19—looking at the context—doesn’t
appear to be a blanket promise to every believer. When we’re obedient and faithful to sacrificially give towards the work
of his Kingdom, he notices. And he promises that even in this world, we won’t do without anything we need. He’ll
provide for our needs not in a stingy way, but “according to the riches of his
glory in Christ Jesus.”
What if I took this perspective
towards my possessions? What if I understood that it’s all his, that I’ll have
to give it back to him someday in an accounting, and that he’ll take care of my
needs super-generously according to his riches when I give sacrificially? How
would that affect my giving? Would it make a radical change?
I don’t know. I’m willing to find
out what happens when I trust him. How’s about you?
Father God, help me to trust you, and to
show it. It all belongs to you anyway, and you promise that you’ll take care of
my needs. No one who trusts you, who does things your way, ends up regretting
it. I believe that, so help me to live it out. And let that trust show up in my
checking account and calendar.
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