"Leading Generously"

Leading Generously

A very important question we all need to ask ourselves is “am I generous?” Selfishness is the enemy of generosity and tries to
take the place of God. A generous heart stems from a grateful heart. The most extravagant gift you can give God is yourself.
We can be generous toward God once we realize that He is more than generous in His love toward us. God is extravagant, and He rewards those who give generously. We actually Get To Give; we don’t Give to Get

Please in your bibles turn to John 12:1-6. We are going to talk about Leading Generously

You Ready… Let’s Go

Read John 12:1-6 (NKJV)

Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had
raised from the dead.  2  There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table
with Him.  3  Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with
her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

4  But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said,  5  “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for
three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”  6  This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. (NKJV)

When I read this, I thought of two questions
1. Why would Mary give such an extravagant gift; such a generous gift. Why would she do that? And I will explain
to you later how extravagant it was.

2. Why would it get Judas upset?

There are two hearts displayed here. A heart of generosity and a heart of selfishness. And I want you to notice what revealed
each heart…GIVING

So when I say “Am I Generous,” I put it in the first person so that I/you are asking yourself because to be honest, sometimes I
am and sometimes I’m not. But I want to be…I don’t want to have a selfish heart.

So let me tell you three things about generosity. Three points:

The Enemy of Generosity

The enemy of generosity is selfishness

By the way, we are talking about generosity and selfishness

Generosity begins with a G

Selfishness begins with a S

God is Generous; Satan is Selfish; just to help you remember

We are all born selfish, we are. But we are born AGAIN generous; that’s the great news; we just have to renew our
minds and transform our hearts

We really want to be generous, but oftentimes we don’t know how to

I want to show you how to accomplish that today

I said we are all born selfish, right. If you really think about it, one of the first words that a child learns to
pronounce very well is the word MINE, MINE, MINE! And a child learns to say it at such a pitch, that it will get
on your LAST NERVE! You can be watching the game (men) or your favorite reality show (women).
And all you hear from the other room is MINE, MINE! You ever heard that? And a parent has to get up and go
through the house to find that sound. And it’s normally the younger child wanting something from the older child.
Then us parents quit caring about justice and start caring about peace and quiet. We don’t care whose toy it is. We
just want some peace and quiet.

We got this word MINE in our heads and God wants us to understand and grow out of this.

This is an amazing story because when it talks about Judas, he makes this statement… “why wasn’t this sold and given to the
poor?” Ever heard that statement before? Can I just remind you who originated that statement? It was Judas. We do this a lot
because we see the extravagance or the perceived extravagance of someone else. By the way, let me give you the definition of
extravagance…the one who has more than you! That is extravagant.

Ex. That neighborhood there is an extravagant neighborhood, until you get a raise and move into that neighborhood. Now,
your new neighborhood is not extravagant anymore. It is another neighborhood. That is the definition of extravagance.

We always want to point to someone else so we don’t have to point to us

Here is the other thing that amazes me about this particular story in the bible.

It says that Judas had the money box or the offering box; Jesus was in a traveling ministry

People gave offerings; we know this from scripture; people gave offerings

What is shocking to me is “who gave Judas the money box?”

Well, let me ask you this question. Who is the leader of this bunch?

So, do you think Jesus knew Judas was a thief when he gave him the money box?

I know he knew because 2 years before this, 2 years, Jesus said did I not chose you 12 and 1 of you is the devil; He
knew

So, why would He do this? He didn’t do this for Judas to fail; He did this to give Judas an opportunity to pass

God will test you, not tempt you. James says God tempts no one. And when you are tempted by the devil, Jesus will
provide you a way of escape. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

So, the enemy of generosity is selfishness

The Reward of Generosity

Read Mark 14:9 (NKJV)

Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a
memorial to her.”

Notice I said the reward of generosity; She was rewarded

Jesus said that wherever the Gospel is preached, this is going to be told. But she didn’t come to get a reward, she
just came to give.

I asked you why Judas was so upset about this. It’s because he was selfish. Selfish begins with a S like Satan

Why then did Mary give such a generous gift? Let me answer that question

Because two months before this, her brother Lazarus was raised from the dead

See generosity comes from gratitude; grateful people are generous

Let me ask you something…If one of your family members had been raised from the dead, would you be grateful? And
do you think it might change the way you give to others?

By the way when I say one of your family members, let me just remind you that all of us that believe in Jesus have
been raised from the dead.

Read Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder
of those who diligently seek Him.

The word rewarder is a Greek word that is only in the Bible one time; only in the New Testament one time

It’s a five syllable Greek word and nearly every syllable means (when you put them together) to pay what is due

But I want you to understand that she did not come to be rewarded; but God rewarded her

God always reward generosity; you can’t beat God’s giving

Let me give you the definition of generosity. That is when you give and expect nothing in return

Selfishness is when give and thinks that God owes you something

Generosity is when you give to not get anything back; here is the amazing thing, God always rewards that kind of heart

When God gives you the opportunity to give an extravagant gift, take full advantage of it because He has so much more
He wants to give you; you can’t beat God’s giving

The Love in Generosity

Read Mark 10:43-45 (NLT)

Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,  44  and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  45  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus said the “leader is ;as the one who serves”; – Servant Leadership

The “unbelieving” world thinks that leadership means lording it over others

Being his follower involves serving others

Read John 13:4-5; 12-15 (NLT)

So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist,  5  and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing?  13  You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am.  14  And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your
feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet.  15  I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.

Foot washing was a gesture of hospitality

Jesus offered his own example to demonstrate what leadership in God’s Kingdom means

Jesus defined true leadership as service; meeting the needs of others and empowering them to be all that God has
called them to be

Jesus gave of himself all the way to the cross; that’s leadership; that’s love in generosity

Generosity begins with a G; God is Generous

Close

In this boarding procedure something was a bit off. They announced pre-Board. This usually includes those in wheelchairs. When the pre-board was announced, I notice a gentleman in a wheelchair. He should have been escorted down the jetway prior to even the pre-boarders. Instead, the gate agent called “group 1” 

I went over to the gentleman in the wheelchair and asked, “Are you on this flight?” He said he was. I went over to the gate agent and let her know this gentleman needed assistance. She had inadvertently forgotten him. I also let her know that he could have my first class seat. She immediately stopped the boarding process. She came over to the wheelchair bound man.
Apologized. She then began to wheel him toward the jetway. Then, unexpectedly, she looked at me and said, “Give me your boarding pass. I have an extra first class seat on this flight.”  At the bottom of the jetway I said to the agent, “It was very generous to allow me to sit in first class.” She replied, “It was generous of you to alert me to the wheelchair.”
What did I learn? 

It doesn’t take much to provide generosity

Often one generous act begets another generous act

No one should be generous with a motive to gain something

Remember we get to give, not give to get