SHAP – Generosity III – final

St. Michael’s.

June 25, 2023.

II Corinthians 9:5-12; John 2:1-12.

First impressions can have an impact, right?

I remember the first time I met Jane’s mother.

I was in theological college, and it was the very early 80’s, so I trimmed my beard and carefully straightened my mullet and put on my very best three-piece, brown suit and set off for Georges Rd, Vaucluse, in my late model two-tone Holden Commodore with the mag wheels, light blue vinyl roof, and straight-through ‘rumbler’ exhaust!

I was keen to make the right impression. 

And things went well enough. 

Only later did I learn that one of Jane’s mother’s well-worn pieces of advice to her youngest daughter was this: ‘never, ever, EVER trust a man in a brown suit!!’.

First impressions!

I think the people in Cana of Galilee would have been well impressed the first time they met Jesus. 

Q. How does God first manifest his presence (in ministry) to his people in and through his Son the Lord Jesus?

A. By turning water in wine. 

I want you to grasp something of the enormity and the attendant generosity of God in this event. 

The text tells us that Jesus instructed the staff at the wedding (where the wine had run dry – a terrible social faux pas) to fill six stone jars with water. 

The jars (according to the text) each held 114 litres; that’s 684 litres in total. 

And – in order to reveal his glory and authority (the text tells us), Jesus miraculously transforms the water into the equivalent of more than 700 bottles of, let’s say, Grange – Bin #95 or similar.

Remarkable!

If nothing else – and the onlookers at the time formed this view, it is a breathtaking act of open-handed and cheerful generosity.

They say, ‘you have kept the very best wine until now!’ – John 2:10.

It is in the nature of our Heavenly Father to be generous. 

This is clear from throughout Scripture. 

In Isaiah 61, for example, the prophet praised God for clothing him in the ‘garments of salvation’ and for covering him with the ‘robe of righteousness’ as ‘a bridegroom decks himself with a garland and as a bride adorns herself with jewels’. 

The Psalmist, in Psalm 36, was similarly convinced of God’s goodness and generosity. 

He speaks of God’s limitless and steadfast love; his overflowing fountains of life, and the abundance of his provisions.

The great beneficence and generosity of God is given its very clearest expression in the person and work of Jesus – who for our sakes becomes ‘poor’ (he goes to the cross and to death) so that we might become ‘rich’ (forgiven, saved, renewed) II Corinthians 8:9.

With this in mind, Paul urges the large, wealthy, upwardly-mobile and wonderfully gifted church in Corinth – motivated by God’s grace and kindness to them in Jesus – to generously use their God-given resources to advance the mission of the church; in particular to continue in supporting the work of the persecuted mother-church in Jerusalem.

Now then, for those of you who were here two weeks ago, I introduced you to an elderly, now deceased friend of mine, Gladys Phillips…and I was delighted by the interest and feedback in her story.

So here is a little more about Gladys Phillips that fills out what I shared before.

In 1990, Jane and I planted a church in NW Sydney -Quakers Hill Anglican Church – and we were the oldest members of the congregation; barely 30 at the time. 

We asked the Lord to send us some mature Christians and, it seems, he ‘assigned’ Gladys to us.

Gladys was an 84-year-old widow, a pensioner – who lived in a one-room bed-sit. 

Recognising the church’s immediate financial challenges, Glady’s set about raising money. 

As well as giving a percentage of her limited fixed income into the offering each week, she set aside money to buy wool to make knitted coat hangers that she sold at a street stall she’d set up outside a newsagency. 

With that money she bought cloth, fine cotton, and other materials to then create masterpieces: stunning embroidered baby clothes and layettes; they, in turn, were sold to high-end shops and the money – all of it (and it was substantial) – was then, without fanfare, cheerfully and joyfully given to the church treasurer for special mission and ministry projects. 

When Gladys died, she left all her possessions to the church – and they comprised three house dresses, a single bed, and her remaining bolts of cloth. 

Gladys never complained. Never.

In fact, she continually praised God for his goodness and kindness…and her greatest longing was to see Jesus face to face in God’s presence.

Gladys helped me understand the following principles that Paul lays out for the church in Corinth (and us) in the text of II Corinthians 9:5-8. 

1. Determine, in advance, how much you will set aside for ministry and be disciplined in giving that amount.

Paul reminds his friends to follow through on the bountiful gifts they have promised – voluntarily and graciously. 

He says, ‘give as you have made up your mind’ (II Corinthians 9:7)

Each fortnight, Gladys would place her ‘widow’s mite’ (to quote from Luke 21:1-4) in her weekly giving envelopes and joyfully contribute -as an act of worship, to the offertory.  Which leads to –

• Give cheerfully.

Paul urges his friends not to give reluctantly or under compulsion – but to give cheerfully – knowing (as the text tells us in verse 7) that God knows our needs (verse 8) and he will provide us in abundance with all that is required to do the good work to which he has called us (verse 8).  And we know that God has our very best interests in view as evidenced by his love being lavished upon us in and through our Lord Jesus. 

Jane reminded me of another instance of Glady’s cheerful giving. 

35 years ago, when our third son Will had just been born, Gladys (in her 80’s) walked from her home to a bus stop five minutes away. 

She then waited for the infrequent bus that took her from Quakers Hill to Blacktown railway station. 

Gladys then waited for a train that took her from Blacktown railway station to Redfern railway station.

She alighted at Redfern and then she walked the 3 kilometres uphill to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in the noon day heat – to deliver one of her lovely, hand-crafted, neonatal gowns as gift to Jane (for the baby).

And then, without comment or fuss, she made her way home – walking, train, bus, walking. 

Did I mention she was in her 80’s at the time?!!

Even in death, Gladys gave cheerfully. 

She left everything for the work of the gospel…and whilst a few bolts of cloth might not seem that impressive, it brings the utmost pleasure to God. 

Did you note what the text says, ‘God LOVES a cheerful giver’.

• Enjoy the bounty.

Gladys became a conduit of God’s bounty and blessing. Through her, the Kingdom grew, and God multiplied ministries; that little church at Quakers Hill, thanks to the generosity of Gladys and others planted and grew more churches – Stanhope, Riverstone, Rouse Hill.  

St. Paul reminds his friends, ‘the one who sows sparingly, will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully, will also reap bountifully’ – verse 6.

That is, as faithful people use God’s resources to bring transformation and renewal, God will give them greater opportunities to bring blessing to others (verse 11).

Gladys grasped this. 

What we might consider small change, was used to make artefacts for her street stalls and those earnings then used to purchase materials for her beautifully crafted baby-wear and the proceeds from those sales enabled student ministers to be employed, counselling services to be provided, and CMS missionaries to be placed into the field. 

Glady’s sowed bountifully and reaped bountifully, wouldn’t you agree?

________

I referenced first impressions at the outset. 

When Gladys first came to us, we wondered why the Lord had sent us this 4.11’ frail octogenarian??? 

We soon learnt that in his generosity and grace, he had in fact sent us a giant in faith, in joy, in selflessness, in love, and in the material and spiritual advance of his glorious gospel.

Amen.