The Least of These

Christmas season's over and we have had a lot go on over the couple of weeks leading to the New Year. Many Church events, family gatherings, friendly visits, outreaches and gift giving. As we went through all of it, have we ever stopped and thought about why all of this happens only in December? Have you ever wondered during this season, why most people invite people over and throw a party, although we like to attend them, what is their motive or intention behind it? There are many more outreaches done, with more people being actively involved compared to the rest of the year.

Why is Christmas called the season of giving?

Firstly, the nature of our Father in heaven is giving. This verse from John 3:16 plainly explains His giving nature, which says "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life". With this we understand that it is out of love for us He gives, and he gives what ever He treasures the most. Not only that, even if we are not deserving of His giving, He still gives. The love of the Father is beyond our human comprehension and to even try to embody it with our own strength is impossible.

Then there is Jesus, who was the gift from God to mankind. He came and became an example of giving for all of us, by giving more than imaginable. He gave wine from water to a wedding party where there was not enough, He gave fish and bread to thousands of people on two different occasions when there was hardly enough to feed a few and He paid temple taxes for Himself and His disciples even though he was divinely exempt. To continue, He gave life to the dead, health to the sick, sight to the blind, good news to the poor and ultimately, His own life so that you and I can have a relationship with God.

Gods giving nature does not change, but His response relies on the nature of our hearts. In the story of Cain and Abel when both of them bring their offerings unto the Lord, notice how Cain gives 'some of his fruits' and Abel brought 'fat portions from the first born of the flock' (Genesis 4:3-4). This indicates the difference of their heart posture in giving, which God clearly addresses by rejecting one and accepting another. Abel reserved the very best for God, whereas Cain gave what ever he gave without any special inclination. When the Lord looks with favor on Abels offering and not on Cain's, it reveals Gods responsiveness to the posture of your heart.

Human nature is fickle, especially with giving. We want to be generous, but then there is the flesh. Before we give, we are contemplating many things, like if we will get anything in return, if we will run out, the persons credibility, if they will take advantage of us and so on. Well, give anyway, For the Lord loves a cheerful giver! Giving is the nature of God and so should be our nature. We cannot possibly have fellowship with God and be selfish at the same time. As followers of Christ, we are meant to serve and not be served, which in this context means to have a giving heart and not an expectant one.

Many of us believe that giving mainly means financial. Whilst that may be one of the ways to give, money and things are not the only way. You can give your time, your attention, your love, your thoughts, your prayers, your advice and your belongings. These are but a few examples of the many ways to give, so let's not live with the belief that tithing, offering, lending, gifting are the only ways. Money, although an important tool, should be at the lowest priority of giving, for it is written in Proverbs 8:10 that "Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold", which indicates that God values your obedience, His wisdom and knowledge, over earthly things.

Lets talk intention, now there might be some people doing all the types of giving but if their heart is not in the right place, they are not giving unto the Lord. If you are doing anything and expecting something in return, you are not giving but actually transacting. It's like taking a loan from the bank, only to repay it back with an additional value. It is written in Matthew 6:3 that "Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing", which instructs a believer not to expect any praise, appreciation and returns while giving.

The best way to give is to give yourself to God and to His kingdom's service. It is an act of complete surrender to the will of the Lord, allowing Him to do through us what is necessary for the advancement of His kingdom on Earth, sacrificing our own desires and wants. It is written in Romans 12:1 to "offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship" which means to deny ourselves and only have His desires on our hearts.

Jesus in the parable of the Sheep and Goats teaches us about giving, different ways to give and how the Father will respond to people who do and do not have a heart to give. This parable mainly talks about Judgement day, the second coming of Christ and how the segregation of the righteous from the un-righteous will take place specific to each and every persons giving nature. However, Parables also instruct followers on how the Kingdom of God is expected to operate and can be extremely valuable even in today's day and age.

Parable of The Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Firstly, if you go through the entire parable, one things is definitely clear: when you give, you give unto the Lord! For when Jesus says "you did for me", it means that your giving is a direct service to the Lord himself. To continue, Abel and Cain could be taken as examples of the sheep and the goat, when how one offering was accepted and the other rejected. This indicates that when you give unto the Lord, you are surely blessed and when you do not give, you are eventually cursed. If you do not give what belongs to the Lord, the entirety of it will be cursed by Him, which is confirmed in Malachi 3:8-9 when God was asked how He is being robbed by the nation of Israel, He replies "In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me".

To continue, Tithing is not the only way to give unto the Lord, for it is mentioned in the parable of the multiple ways to give. Jesus speaks here about the hungry and the thirsty, which could not only mean food and water, but also be people who are in need of spiritual nourishment. He speaks about inviting strangers over, which could also look like making someone a part of your group even though you don't know them. He speaks about clothing people who do not have clothes, which could look like being there for someone who is ashamed about something they have done. He speaks about people being sick or in prison, which could also look like visiting people who are going through struggles such as losing their loved one.

Yes, we need to do what the parable says in the literal sense, we also need to give what we can in every situation presented to us in life. We find ourselves ignoring and staying away from people who are in trouble or who cause trouble. If people hurt us, we tend to close ourselves up and not give them a chance to grow, making us averse to potential Godly relationships in the future. We do not want to invite people over because the house will get messy or its too much work. These kind of reasons are plenty and shows our true nature, which is not reflective of Gods character. As we walk with Him, you will find yourself wrestling with this aspect, it would do all of us good if we just surrender to the giver inside of us.

The parable also talks about inheritance in the Kingdom of God, which is what Jesus emphasizes to strive for in most of His teachings (Ex: the Beatitutes, the Parables and when the disciples were surprised about how they were delivering people). We usually are driven by worldly gain, although that is important for us to thrive here on earth, it should not be our primary focus. We worry about how to attain worldly things, but Jesus makes it very clear to seek God's kingdom and His righteousness first and all other things will be added, which points to having a giving heart and not worrying about what we will get in return. The focus should be on working to be a righteous giver, which would be of value to Gods Kingdom.

When God blesses us with His riches, influence and power, it is not so that we can boast and keep it to ourselves. It is always given to be multiplied, stewarded to build and grow His Kingdom. Many preachers remind us that we are blessed to be a blessing. It is important to spread love in this world full of callousness, what better way than to give? Let us take heed of this and ponder, allowing the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts to be sensitive to His instruction of giving, slowly becoming into the image and likeness of Christ. For as Jesus said in Luke 6:38 that "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", give and may the Lord bless you with more than you can fathom!