Self Denial

Good morning, sorry this post is a few days late, things have been hectic! Last night I lead my Corps evening meeting and I decided I would post my sermon as this weeks post. I hope you enjoy it and it makes you think a bit about self denial.

Here are the Bible readings which I had people read out before the sermon.

 

^{Luke 6:38}

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

 

^{Luke 21:1-4}

As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.

He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.

 “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.

All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

 

^{Luke 14:12}

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

 

^{Luke 12:33-24}

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

 

As I have been thinking about self denial this week I wondered where and when did it all start.

 

So I started looking through some of my old Salvation Army books and this is what I found.

 

General Booth came up with the concept of self denial after Major John Carleton said he would ‘go without his pudding’ for a time and donate the money he saved to the Army’s mission work.

 

‘Why not have an annual effort,’ said Booth, ‘in which everyone shall be invited to perform some act of self-denial?’

He announced the establishment of the ‘Self-Denial Fund’ in the 14 August 1886 edition of The War Cry:

 

Which stated

‘We propose that a week be set apart in which every soldier and friend should deny himself some article of food or clothing, or some indulgence which can be done without, and that the price gained by the self-denial shall be sent to help us in this emergency.’

 

The Self-Denial Appeal was expanded internationally in 1888 and many innovative projects and methods were used to raise funds.

 

Over the years, the way the appeal is conducted has become standardized and formalised to use the now recognised forms of envelopes and altar services.

But Christian giving goes further back than this, we can read in the book of Acts and in Pauls letters how the early Church members used to give money to other towns or cites churches when they were in need.

In fact just after Jesus' death we are told his first followers shared their possessions and sold their personal items to financially support each other.

But we are set examples of giving even further back than that. Our four Bible readings this evening all came from the book of Luke. Each one is a comment Jesus gave on giving.

Our first reading came from Luke 6 and tells us if we give our own things more will be given to us. This Bible verse is often misinterpreted, often for financial gain.

The other day I was flicking through the religious channels and I came across one which was focused on this verse. However I believe what they were saying was totally wrong.

According to this TV channel, this verse meant if you sent them $300, God would bless your giving and you would receive at least $3000 back in return!

This really annoyed me. I wondered how many poor people in a last attempt to keep their heads financially above water sent in $300 to these people. I really do think they took this verse totally out of context and used it for their own financial gain.

Where in the Bible does God say this is the easy way to make money? Where does Jesus say follow me and I will make everything easy?

He does not. Jesus clearly says in Luke 9 verse 23

 “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

In our second Bible reading from Luke Jesus tells the story of the Widow who gave her last coins as an offering in the temple.

This offering was much smaller than the offerings given by the rich around her. However Jesus tells us that this small offering of hers means more, because she did not give what she could afford. She gave God her last, all the money she had to live on.

She gave from the heart, trusting that God would provide for her. Not expecting to put in her two coins and gain two hundred back by some miracle. But she gave knowing and trusting that God would look after her physical needs.

I can hardly imagine how much trust this woman put in God, to give the last of her money to him and just trust that he will provide.

At the moment most of you know I have my notice in to leave the Royal Navy and hope to enter the training College for Army Officership. This basically means I will have to live and support myself unwaged for about two years.

So right now I am busy trying to save what wages I can to help me with this. At times I almost want to panic thinking I will not have enough money, yet really I should look at the widow and her giving and realize if it is God's plan, then he will help and support me.

 We should also see from this widow and her giving that giving should be a sacrifice. If we are giving so little that we can give easily and without care then we should really think and pray long and hard about what we are giving.

Our third reading from Luke sees Jesus talking about giving aid to the poor. He tells us that we should not be giving just so we are given in return.

Although he is talking about hosting a banquet the example he uses can be used for just about every part of our lives.

How often do we give to those around us, who, to be honest don’t actually need anything, yet we neglect those who are poor and really in need? How often do we buy people gifts which in honesty will probably be used once or twice but will then be discarded?

There are many charities including the Salvation Army who allow you to buy certain things on other people’s behalf. For example with the Armies Just gifts scheme, I could get mum a Cow for her birthday and Dad a goat.

Yet they would not actually be given these items, someone around the world who really needs them would be given them. This seems like a much better way to spend some money. Rather than buying something which will probably not be used. Although I might just have given away my parents Birthday presents!

But there are many other ways we can help and give to the poor and the needy. We can help just by buying someone homeless in the street we see something to eat or drink.

I often wonder in horrible weather like we are having at the moment how on earth homeless people out on the street survive? Surely buying someone you see on the streets a tea or a coffee will not hurt your pocket that much.

You will not get anything physical in return, but what you will do is make someone's life better, even if just for a few minutes.

But another thing we can give to God and others is our time. There are many ways we can use or time to help and make life better for others. Whether it's helping at something here at the Corps, out on the streets at night with street pastors or just visiting a neighbour; in an age where time is a precious commodity for many, a gift of your time can be just as needed as any monetary gift and also just as much an act of self denial as you may have to deny doing something for yourself to help someone else.

Our fourth Bible reading came from Luke 4 and here Jesus really sums up all he says about giving in a few simple sentences.

He tells us to sell our possessions and give to the poor. Ouch! that’s a tough one! In a time where having this and that seems to be the most important thing, Jesus is telling us we do not need all of that.

Today many people actually make themselves poor, driving themselves further and further into debt to buy things they do not actually need to survive, but things the world tells us we need to survive.

Jesus tells us we do not need to do this. He tells us that the things we buy and store here on earth are no good for us. In the long run they do nothing for us.

The popular says is "You might as well spend it as you can't take it when you are gone"

But in reality Jesus is saying "You might as well give it, as you can’t take it when you are gone, but you will be rewarded for your giving when you are gone."

Jesus also tells us that where our treasure is, our heat will be also. Surely then out treasure should not be in monetary things but in the acts we do serving the Lord?

In conclusion we can see Jesus talked a fair bit about giving. The four examples we have looked into tonight are four of many things Jesus said about the subject.

But it is quite clear how he felt about the act of giving and how he expected us to act and feel.

We need to trust God, when we give to him we need to trust that he will provide for our needs and will not see us starve because we have given to him.

We should give what we feel we can and then probably give a bit more. Giving should not be easy, it should be hard and should be done a sacrifice or form of self denial.

We should give joyfully, but not boastfully. What we give is between God and ourselves. It is not anyone else's business but we certainly should not give to try to make ourselves look good or wealthy.

We need to give not just monetary gifts as self denial but also our time and effort.

We need to ensure we don’t become victims to consumerism and spend all our money just trying to keep up with what the world tells us we should own or buy.

All of these things might seem hard, they might seem impossible in fact. And to many in the world they would be impossible to do. But these acts of self denial are all things we are called to do.

Not because of anything we will receive or be given here in this life, but because our rewards will be in heaven.

I will try to post again on Friday, hope you all have a good week.

The Sailing Salvationist