A, Mid Week Lent 2- Sermon Series "The Litany of Jesus' Treasures - Gift"

By the gifts of Jesus,     Lord teach us how to give.

The gifts of Jesus, so we might allow the Holy Spirit to inspire us to give.

Lord God Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit so we might rightly use your Word, to hear and learn how to give as Jesus gave to us.  Amen.

Come Lord Jesus be our guest and let these gifts to us be blessed.  Amen.

We all know this table grace.  Some of us say, “let this food to us be blessed”. 

Did you know praying before a meal is a continuation of the rabbinic practice of ritual cleansing oneself before a meal! 

A two handled cup is used to wash the hands and is followed by this prayer, “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments, and commanded us concerning the washing of the hands.”

This rabbinic practice extended to all Jews, and therefore, we hear Jesus giving thanks many times throughout his ministry.  In fact, Jesus most closely adhered to the traditions of the Pharisees, which is why he came into conflict with them so often.

Ritual purity was central for a faithful Pharisee, so they could be sanctified before God.  However, Jesus’ purity before God was done for no other reason than to give glory to God, whereas the Pharisees practiced the rituals to be glorified in themselves, and by those around them who honoured them for being “so holy”.

We give thanks before a meal, so what we put into our bodies does not defile us and make us unholy. So we receive it as a blessing from God.

In Matthew fifteen, we hear the Pharisees complain to Jesus that the disciples do not wash when they eat.  This is not a complaint about hygiene, but rather about one’s ritual practise and holiness before God.

However, Jesus teaches, “Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?  But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.  These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Matthew 15:17–20 ESV)

Jesus’ thanksgiving is not so much about what goes into the mouth but on what the heart is set, when one eats.  It’s at this point I now understand mum scolding me, concerning gluttony, on eating too many sweets when I was a child.  She would say, “One eats to live, not lives to eat!”

So, to give thanks as Jesus gives thanks, we give thanks to God for giving us earthly gifts to sustain us as we wait to receive the fullness of the heavenly gift of eternal salvation.  We eat to live in preparation for eternity, to feast in Paradise with thee.

Jesus’ thanksgiving opens to us his motives for giving.  It’s from what Jesus gives that is remarkable.  It’s not just a lesson on giving, but it’s also one of trust.  Jesus’ gift to you and me is a giving through faith.

As last week, in understanding Jesus’ prayers, to learn how we pray, and how to pray, we return to Philippians 2, to learn the motives of Jesus’ giving, what Jesus gives to us, the cost to him, and the value of what it is he gives to us.

Saint Paul says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  (Philippians 2:3–8 ESV)

Jesus gives thanks, but not as we give thanks.  The position from which he gives thanks is quite profound in light of the situation from which he gives.  We thank God for our food, with it usually sitting in front of us, but Jesus gives thanks in faith, with as little as five loaves of bread and two small fish to feed five thousand.

On Maundy Thursday, Jesus took the cup and the bread, and when he had given thanks, he gave the broken bread and wine to his disciples.  (Luke 22:17-20)   To give thanks to God the Father, knowing the body and blood to be given and shed, the very next day was to be his own, takes a humility more significant than all others. 

Jesus emptied himself!  What was left to give?  Nothing?  No!  His life! 

From a seemingly impossible position he gives.  In the same way, as something was made out of next to nothing to feed five thousand, Jesus allowed himself to be made nothing, and even then, gave everything for you and me.

Before Jesus gave himself on the cross, he makes an observation while at the temple in Jerusalem…

“Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box,  and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.  And he said, ‘Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them.  For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.’”  (Luke 21:1–4 ESV)

Like the widow, Jesus gave out of his poverty of human spirit, trusting in God by the work of the Holy Spirit.  How does your giving match up next to Jesus’ giving?  Our giving cannot match up to Jesus’ giving, this is the reason Jesus came and gave himself for us.  When you give to God, what do you think Jesus thinks of your giving?”  Do you give out of poverty like the widow or out of our abundance like the rich?

It’s here the Holy Spirit needs to step in before we condemn ourselves before God in our self-justification.  You and I need to be constantly brought back to the cross and receive the forgiveness of our many sins of gluttony, greed, withholding from God, and lack of trust in God’s providence.

We also need the Holy Spirit to inspire us, to give like Jesus gave.  We need the Spirit to motivate us in our giving so we, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than ourselves.  Let each of us look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind in yourself, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”

We need the Spirit to give as Jesus gave, we need the Holy Spirit to trust Jesus’ gifts, so we receive them in faith, without hedging our bets, keeping back what we know God wants us to give to others.

Without the Holy Spirit, we are greatly stricken.  With the Holy Spirit, we know we are greatly stricken.  So, in our affliction the Holy Spirit gives us Jesus and we receive the gifts that came from his suffering and death on the cross.

Therefore, “What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me?”  (Psalm 116:12 ESV) You are God’s saints!  You are precious in God’s sight.  The Holy Spirit comes from the Father and the Son to encourage you to die to self and give to God your trust, by giving to others what he has first given to you – yourself, your time, and your possessions.

May we not only pray, “Come Lord Jesus be our guest and let these gifts to us be blessed”.  But also pray and live our lives so, “Blessed be God who is our bread, may the world be clothed and fed.” Amen.

Next week - By the toils of Jesus, Lord teach us how to work.