Now, I was seriously considering, for irony's sake, talking tonight about fasting. But ultimately I decided that that was kind of a silly idea, considering that the point of Thanksgiving is, surprisingly enough, not the food or the football or the family, its the um, giving of thanks persay.
So lets get this show on the road and turn to Matthew 18, where we'll examine the parable of the servant with really bad spending habits.
Matt 18:23-35
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[a] was brought to him.
25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’
27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[b] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.
33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’
34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
On the surface this parable is about forgiveness, but I'd like to draw another image from it. That of giving.
Because when the servant is forgiven his debt there is an expectation there. That he will continue to do what has been done for him.
The king forgave the servant an unbelievably huge debt and he expects that servant to do the same to those that owe him a debt.
Because
Now, what does this parable have to do with thanksgiving?
Thankful people give.
Can you look at that servant and say: "Oh yeah, he was thankful for the gift he received." I mean, the King looked at the servants debt, a debt that I should note was for more money than you could probably ever spend, and said "You. Don't. Have. To. Pay. This. Back." and the servant just runs out and threatens to break his fellow servants legs if that other servant doesn't pay back the 20 bucks he owes him.
I mean, if you get given something and its awesome, its this amazing thing that you've always wanted and your sister or your brother or your parents get it for you, what is the first thing you do? You get on Facebook and you post a status update.
But no, seriously, if you are given something truly amazing then you want to share it with everyone around you.
Like I said, Thankful people give.
Paul is going to make this connection in 2 Corinthians.
Now lets look at 2 Corinthians as Paul talks to the people of Corinth about giving and the thankfulness it generates.
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
7 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.
8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
9 As it is written:
“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever.”[a]
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.
13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.
14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.
15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
So this is Paul talking to the people of Corinth about giving, specifically to another church in a different city that was in the midst of a time of poverty and persecution.
And there is a promise in there that God will provide for those that give to those in need.
God promises such wonderful words as "increase" and "enlarge" and enriched to a point where you can be generous at any time or place.
And "Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves,"
"Because of your actions which proved what you always said about yourself"
people will praise god.
Because apparently this is a confession of the gospel
Giving is a confession, a declaration of the gospel.
If you're one of those people who have a really hard time telling people about God and His saving grace, then this is it, this is your "shortcut":
Giving is a confession of the gospel.
And I don't think its a coincidence that Paul draws the peoples of Corinth's attention back to what they themselves should be thankful for themselves here.
I mean, it seems random but as I look at that first parable.
Thankful people give.
He's not just encouraging the people of Corinth to give, he's holding them accountable.
2 Corinthians 9:1-5
1 There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the Lord’s people.
2 For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action.
3 But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready, as I said you would be.
4 For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to say anything about you—would be ashamed of having been so confident.
5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given.
Now I know, talking to a youth group, a small youth group in a small church, its difficult to talk about giving because everyone thinks that giving is all about money and I'll be completely honest. When I look around this room I don't see a whole lot of high rolling millionaires. But please don't simply wave away everything I've said because you think that the only thing you can give is money is just plain silly. Certainly it is important, and its certainly its the focus tonight but understand that money isn't the only thing you can give. If you can, great, that's awesome, but those of you who can't understand that some of the greatest things you can give is not money but time (honestly, there will always be more money, your time in finite), and encouragement and prayer.
Paul himself says in 2 Corinthians 8: 10-12 that the desire to give what one can is more important than any magical number.
10 And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.
11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.
12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
Now, there are a thousand different ways to give during the Christmas season.
Countless, to the point that I wish some of those ministries would celebrate Christmas in July.
I mean, I go to church and there's World Visions Christmas catalog, there's Operation: Christmas Child, there's our church's ministry to San Quinten, you throw a snowball and you hit someone asking you to give to their ministry and I'll be honest, its a bit overwhelming to get gifts for my own family, let alone someone I don't even know.
There is one though that I'd like to draw your attention to though:
Pretty much all of you were at Winter Jam last week, which means that pretty much all of you heard a them talk about the ministry of Holt International, who are a group of people who seek to get orphans in asia and africa adopted. So, I thought how wonderful it would be for the youth group to meet that need.
So meet Dilgeba. She's a child in Etheopia that needs someones help, and it might as well be us.
Now, I can't tell you how much more pure and undefiled religion you can get than sacrificing what you have to bless someone who not only desparately needs it but we most likely will never meet. Such things
And like it says in verse 6, God will provide for those who give.
For example: Winter Jam, God proved an opportunity to make back the money I spent before I even went to the event.
Now if you walk away from tonight thinking "Oh David wants our money." Then I'm sorry, I've completely failed tonight because I don't want you money.
Money is only valuable because of what you can do with it. After world war 2 geman money was worth so little that it would take a wheelbarrow full to buy a loaf of bread. Honestly, they would have been better off burning it to keep themselves warm than trying to spend it, it was worth so little. Pennies cost more to make than they are worth. I don't want your money, God doesn't want your money.
If it comes down to it I will support this little child myself because I know that God will provide for me just as he is providing for her through me.
But this is a wonderful opportunity. To know that you are causing people to give thanks to God.
What is it say in the Westminster catechism? The chief end, the main purpose of man is to too what? Bring glory to God (and enjoy him forever). .
And think about this thanksgiving not just what you are thankful for but how you can make someone else thankful for something.
Let us pray.
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