Honour. Generosity. Simplicity. Contentment. Trust.
"Who likes Gingerbread cookies?"
And with that a whole bunch of hands shot up in the air. The little hands in front of me ( as well as several big hands from the adults) were seated around this simple "Children's Story" during a recent church family gathering.
Selecting one young student, I asked "If you were given a plate full of 10 cookies, what would you do with them?"
Now, she's a conscientious and kind hearted young girl. She turns and looks at her young peers seated around her.
"I'll give them to the others." And she stretched out her hand to take the plate of cookies.
Before she could grab them and begin her act of sacrificial nobility, I asked her another question: "What if I could share with you a word to help you in times when God gives you something? It would be a word that will help you with more than just cookies."
Silence...she's pretty much staring at the plate of cookies, as are all the others.
That word is "Honour". Whenever we are given something, we need to remind ourselves that God is the one who is giving it to us, and so we honour Him first. The way we do that is we give him back 10%. Or in this case 1 cookie, because we have 10. This reminds us that these are God's cookies and we are to take care of how we use them all.
"Now maybe you're thinking, "Well now I have less cookies, but the number of people who need cookies hasn't gone down."
Well let's see what happens. But before you do, let me give you a second word. The first word was honour, recognizing God as the Provider. The second word is Generous. God has provided so you can be generous to others.
And with that she turns and passes the plate to the others. Interestingly, some decline, others take only half a cookie. She turns back with an empty plate and a quizzical look that says, "there's still others who need a cookie."
Noticing that she also did not take a cookie, I remarked now you all have helped us learn two other important words: Simplicity and Contentment. No one took more than one, some took only half, and still others sacrificed their opportunity knowing there were others who "love gingerbread cookies so much." And yet there is still a need. So what do we do when we still see a need and we've been Honouring God, giving generously, living with simplicity and content in our circumstances. The last word for today, is Trust. We learn to talk to God and trust him to provide.
And with that I filled her plate with 10 more cookies. "What will you do now?" - She immediately turned and started to hand out the cookies.
Pausing her excitement, I simply asked, "what was the first word?"
"Honour". And she took a cookie and gave it back, and then went to those who had passed it by the first time and those who had only taken half. Suddenly some of the adults wanted in on the cookies. And at the same time the children noticed that there was two big barrels of cookies behind a box that they hadn't noticed before.
There were enough cookies for everyone!
Honour. Generosity. Simplicity. Contentment. Trust.
That's a cute children's story isn't it? But what if it was more than that.
Just a couple hours later I had the heart-wrenching privilege of hosting a funeral service for a man whom I've known for over 20 years. His kids went to school with our kids. His life, weaved in and out of mine because we lived in the same neighbourhood, knew the same people. His death was tragic and sudden. The family didn't have funds for any kind of funeral arrangements that many of us take for granted.
How can we help? What could we bring in such a difficult time? - Space - Welcome.
In offering to host the funeral, they asked what the cost would be: Zero. How do you put a price on helping a family grieve? Our facility and our time would be given freely. They couldn't believe it.
When the 16 or 17 of us gathered in the same place where cookies were passed just a couple hours previous, we shared Timbits and Coffee. We cried, we laughed, and shared stories of the goodness we had all seen and heard, that too often were overpowered by the battles he dealt he fought within. Though we came feeling as though we each had nothing to give, we left knowing that God had so much more to give us as we helped one another cling to Him and HIs promises.
A couple of them had ordered pizzas from the local shop down the street for the group to enjoy as they shared more time together.. When they went to pay, they were asked about the occasion for all the pizzas. Upon hearing of the passing of our friend, the owner said he would donate the pizzas - he also knew him - we're all in the same neighbourhood. From brokenness with nothing to give and nowhere to turn, there was a community of people helping one another and there was more than gingerbread cookies. There were timbits, coffee and now pizza,
I wish I could make this stuff up...
The next morning I received a message from a young woman who was serving with YWAM in Tanzania. It's been exciting to watch her faith grow as big as her smile and wide eyed wonder at the world. She shared this story in her blog post:
"This past Sunday,...Near the end of the service, an offering basket was placed at the front of the room. One by one, people slowly began making their way to the basket, dropping in bills and coins - whatever they had to give. I was quickly taken by surprise when I noticed people bringing chickens to the front, but I soon understood that their generous offering was simply all they were able to give...Giving wasn't a burden for these people; they were overflowing with generosity. It was nothing but a sweet joy for them as their coins clinked at the bottom of the offering plate, as their hearts were filled with truth and trust in God's unfailing promises. As I watched in fascination, my heart posture began to shift. Suddenly this became a beautiful thing, their complete dependence on Jesus and unwavering trust that their security was in Him alone."Honour. Generosity. Simplicity. Contentment. Trust.
Malachi 3:10 - After warning people about ignoring the oppressed and the needy, God says this: "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse...test me in this...and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour oust so much blessing..."
Matthew 23:23 - Jesus also speaks a generosity of justice toward others in our giving:"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former"
2 Corinthians 9:6-7 - the Apostle Paul affirms: "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
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