“Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. For by the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
We’ve all heard bad lottery stories (see the entry for July 13) – but have you ever heard a story like this? In November, 2010, a retired Canadian couple named Allen and Violet Large won $11.3 million in a lottery.
What do you think they did with their new found mega-wealth? What would you do? I would like to think that had I won such a lottery, I would have considered a number of charitable donations – church, missions, etc. But I also think I would have probably looked to upgrade at least a few elements of my personal life – home, car – and a few toys!
But
Allen and Violet did the almost unimaginable. They gave it - all of it -
every last cent – to charity. They gave their lottery winnings to the
churches, hospitals and fire departments of their community as well as
to the Red Cross and to the Salvation Army. In explaining their
decision, Violet said, “You don’t miss what you never had.” Allen said,
“The money we won is nothing; we have each other. It makes us feel so
good to be able to do these things.”
The story of Allen and Violet Large is striking for many reasons – primarily because giving that much money away seems, at first glance, to be – well, crazy! And that’s because of the “gravitational attraction” of money that we talked about a few days ago. Money is powerful. A lot of money is very powerful. And we struggle to keep our balance in the face of such power. But the Larges kept their balance. Their hearts were not “bent out of shape” by $11.3 million. They understood where their true “treasure” lay – and so they were free to use their money rather than allowing it to use them.
The story of the Larges illustrates the truth that the most effective antidote to the power and lure of money – is generosity. In fact, I believe that generosity lies at the heart of everything good God wants to do in us and in his kingdom. For example; you cannot love and serve money while simultaneously expressing God’s love and grace through great generosity. Conversely, you cannot love and serve God while simultaneously loving money. It might also be said that the kingdom of God is not built with good intentions! The kingdom of God is built as those who love and serve God put their lives and their resources into his service!
You and I will never be free from the power of money until we can be generous with our money. Money cannot seduce your heart when you keep giving it away. And when we are generous with our money - especially when we give our money to purposes that please and honor God – money serves us and not the other way around. And when money becomes our servant – it can accomplish great things for God’s eternal kingdom.
Ask God to keep your heart free from the love of money – and ask him to grow your heart in generosity!
Pastor Brian Coffey
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