Acts 11:27-29 "Don't Be Generous!"

Kim likes to say, “If you want a friend, be a friend.” Problem is, friends are expensive. They’re always wanting to do things—grab coffee, eat food, have birthdays, open presents. So here’s a pro tip for the holidays: get into a huge argument about the election at Thanksgiving. Boom! Instant savings on Christmas gifts and no need to attend New Year’s parties. It’s like a buy one get one free up your entire schedule and save big money sale! Who needs friends and family when you can be sitting alone in a dark room, surrounded by all the money you saved, and thinking, “Wow… Thank God no one invites me to anything anymore.” 

They say it’s better to give than receive but have they tried keeping?

Generosity is just a fancy way of saying, “Here, would you spend this money for me?”

Why buy someone lunch when you could buy yourself lunch, twice?

Generosity might fill your heart but selfishness keeps your wallet nice and full.

One of the biggest criticisms people make about the church is that greedy preachers are always asking for money. Well, not me. Not here. I don’t want you to be generous. I want you to hoard your treasure like a black-hearted dragon, to die miserable and alone—clutching your bag of gold with a bony, skeletal hand. Be tightfisted. Be selfish. I want you to miss out on the joy that comes from thankful giving. I don’t want you to get any of those blessings God promises to generous people—so maybe I can get more of them myself! I want you all to stay miserable, like Ebenezer Scrooge sitting alone in his dark house, surrounded by nothing but gloom and regret. Keep your money like Gollum holding onto the one ring as he falls into the fires of Mount Doom.

So, there, no one can criticize me for asking for money!

No. The truth is, the life of a Christian is to be characterized by generosity. Sacrificial generosity. To their local church? Yes. But not only to their church.

Today, we’re continuing in the Book of Acts, going line by line through the story of the early church. From the very beginning, the followers of Jesus took care of each other by giving their money and possessions to those who were in need, and to support the ministry of preaching the Gospel. You can’t read Acts or the rest of the New Testament without noticing this.

The early church was marked by a spirit of generosity, giving according to their ability to help fellow believers. The church today is still called to reflect that same heart of generosity.

So, the church had started in Jerusalem but due to persecution, had spread all over, especially among the Gentiles. The new headquarters was in Antioch. We pick up our story in chapter 11 with some visitors coming from Jerusalem with a message from God for the church in Antioch…

Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius).  Acts 11:27-28

A prophet is someone who says what God tells them to say. The Bible is full of prophets, sometimes they tell the future, sometimes they preach warnings to get in line with God’s commandments, sometimes they proclaim the good news of what God has does for us through Jesus. Every preacher is a kind of prophet. Anyone who speaks God’s word is performing the role of a prophet—they can be men or women, there’s at least one example of God using a donkey. Most of us can probably think of other examples where God used a jackass as a preacher. 

In this case, Agabus was a man from the Jerusalem church who was told a famine was coming. They went to the leaders of the church in Antioch to tell them about it. 

Naturally, they were like, “O come on. Stop your fear-mongering! Conspiracy theory preppers! Fake news!”

No, they knew a message from God when they heard it. They decided to get ahead of it and do something about it. God didn’t send Agabus with a famine forecast so the people could hunker down and buy all the beans and toilet paper from the local HEB. He sent him so they could act in faith and compassion—so the church could prepare in advance to bless others.

God knows what’s coming. He’s not surprised by things that happen. He makes sure His people are ready, that we’ll have what we need. And He does this through the church. We all need to be alert, paying attention to what God’s telling us. We should always be praying, asking, “How can we, as a church, be ready to meet the needs that He wants us to meet?” Ask Him to reveal those needs to us.

And would we be ready to recognize it if He did? Would we listen? Would we act?

The Antioch Christians certainly did. When the church got together for worship, they took up an offering.

So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. Acts 11:29

The people in the church gave according to their ability to give. They gave it to the elders, the leaders of the church and trusted them to do what needed to be done with it.

This has always been the way God’s people have given as part of their worship. According to their ability. You know what everyone has the ability to give? Part of what they have. No one was required to give all they have, or more than they have, that only makes sense to the IRS. 

So how much should we give? What is the right amount? God’s people have always understood that a tithe is the starting place for faithful giving.

A tithe is ten percent of our increase. If I make ten bucks, I show God that I’m thankful to Him for providing for me by giving Him one dollar. That symbolic act of giving ten percent shows that I understand it all came from Him and it all belongs to Him. I’m just a steward of His generosity to me.

John D. Rockefeller, one of the wealthiest men in history, often told the story of how he learned to tithe. When he was a young boy, he earned a single dime for his first job. His mother encouraged him to tithe on it—just one penny. He said if he had not learned to be faithful to God with that dime, he wouldn’t have been faithful when he earned his first dollar, or when he made his first million. His point was that faithful generosity doesn’t start when we have enough, it starts when God trusts us with a little. 

Now, some people will say the New Testament doesn’t say anything about tithing. That it was part of the Mosaic Law and doesn’t apply anymore.

Well, Jesus affirmed the tithe when He scolded the Pharisees for tithing on their spices but ignoring the more important things. He said, “

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” Matthew 23:23.

He affirms the tithe, but says we shouldn’t stop there.

The first tithe in the Bible was when Abraham paid ten percent of his war plunder to Melchizedek, the Priest King of Salem. In Genesis 14:18-20 it says…

"And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, 'Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!' And Abram gave him a tenth of everything."

This is over 500 years before Moses and the Law. The tithe is built into creation, it didn’t start with the Mosaic Law any more than worshiping God Most High did.

In the Book of Hebrews, we’re told that Jesus is our High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. We don’t know much about him—pretty much just this: Bread, Wine, and paying a tithe. Kind of hard to argue that the worship under our new High Priest, Jesus Christ, wouldn’t at least include those things.

Tithing isn’t something a bunch of greedy preachers came up with—it’s a practice that’s woven throughout Scripture, from Abraham to the New Testament. It’s not about paying dues; it’s about showing gratitude and acknowledging that everything comes from God. It’s a reminder that we’re stewards, managers, not owners.

It comes down to this: Do we trust Him or not? It's really a test of our faith. God’s ways often defy worldly logic. Jesus says whoever loses their life for His sake will find it—to trust in the Lord instead of our own understanding. He says we’ll get more done in six days than we would in seven if we set one aside for Him. And yeah, He says that 90 will go further than 100 if we give the first 10 to Him. And yet, very few Christians these days know how to multiply by ten percent.

So, each person in the Antioch church gave as they were able. Anyone who says the modern church shouldn’t be taking offerings or talking about money hasn’t actually read the Bible. Jesus talked about money more than anyone, and half the New Testament is made up of letters to churches asking for money to help people in need.

But God loves a cheerful giver. He’s not extorting anyone. We give because we’re grateful for what God has trusted us with—blessed to be a blessing.

Don’t worry, we’re not going to take up another offering after the message. Relax. We’re just learning here. Breathe! In. Out. 

The church in Antioch collected money to help Christians get through a famine that hadn’t happened yet. Let that sink in.

This is what the church has always done. From the beginning. Proactive generosity.

Hospitals are an invention of the church. Basillias were first established by St Basil of Caesarea in Cappadocia—they were a hospital, a hospice, and a shelter for the poor. Infirmaries came out of monasteries across Europe to care for the sick and poor. Various institutions were created by the Church all over the Roman Empire to offer medical and social services to people in need.

During times of epidemics, it was the Church that made leper hospitals and havens for people no one else wanted to go near.

It’s the same today, most of the relief organizations are Christian ministries. Even in the non-religious charitable organizations, it’s Christians who give the majority of the money. 

World Vision International, Samaritan’s Purse, Catholic Relief Services, The Salvation Army, Advent Health, Bethany Christian Services, Compassion International, YMCA, International Justice Mission, Habitat for Humanity, Baptist Healthcare, Methodist Hospitals, Lutheran World Relief, Lutheran Services in America, Lutherans for Life…

We’d be here all day if I tried to list all the organizations that were started by the church to help people in need. This has been part of the mission of the church since the beginning.

At NewChurch we give a generous portion of our offerings to local ministry partners: Hope Impacts (a local ministry that treats the homeless with dignity and helps them get off the streets), Pregnancy Help Center (offering support and help to women in unplanned pregnancies), Faith West Academy (a pre-K through 12 Christian school offering an education without compromising faith or Christian principles—they also generously provide this space for our church to meet), and the Texas District of the LCMS (who use the money to plant and support other churches, ministries, and needs throughout Texas).

And you might be like: that’s all great. Cool. Got it. Like the church in Antioch, we’re supposed to take up offerings, trust it in the hands of our church leaders, and do our part in supporting all these things. But what do I get out of it? Other than a thinner wallet? I mean, times are hard, you know?

God says some pretty wild things about what He promises us if we are faithful in giving. 

In Malachi 3:10, He actually invites us to test Him. He says if we give faithfully, bring the full tithe, He promises to

“open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”

The blessing may not always be financial but God ensures your needs will be met.

In 2nd Corinthians 9:6, it says

“whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”

This is that “blessed to be a blessing” thing. God blesses us so we can bless others—and He promises the treasure we invest in “heaven” will get a great return every time.

Jesus says in Luke 6:38,

“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

In other words, the way you give is the way you will receive—generous giving leads to abundant blessing.

Not that God is a vending machine—you don’t put in a quarter, push the button, and get back a dollar. That’s called a Ponzi scheme.

These promises are about provision, receiving what we need, grace—joy, and all the spiritual blessings that come through a heart of generosity.

It’s been said many times: Money is not the mission, but the mission requires money. We all know this.

We show up here every week to respond to the grace God has given to us through Jesus. Our worship is a response to His immense generosity to us. He gave it all. We give back as a small token of our appreciation.

When we give, we embody the Gospel, just a little, showing Christ’s love and care through tangible support and provision. Generosity isn’t just a command—it’s how we reflect the heart of the Gospel. Jesus gave all of Himself for us, and when we give, we’re reflecting a small part of that great love. God loved us first, and our generosity is simply a reflection of His amazing grace. 

We have to support each other, help each other. We also have to be ready and willing to help when we’re made aware of needs outside our local congregation. God trusts us with the things He gives us, He calls us to use those things to help other people—not just help ourselves.

I know talking about money in the church can be a sensitive topic—I get that. But it’s not about making anyone feel obligated; it’s about inviting everyone to experience the joy and freedom that comes with generosity.

Let’s ask ourselves this week: How can we be more like the church in Antioch? How can we prepare to meet needs—both in our church and beyond—before they even arise? God has certainly blessed us. Let’s live that out, and see how God’s love flows through us in ways we never imagined.

So yeah, maybe friends are expensive. Being generous is costly. But what if that’s the point? What if we’re meant to invest in each other, not hoard treasure like a lonely dragon? Generosity opens us up to relationships, and it’s in relationships that we experience God’s love and presence. So, here’s the real pro tip for the holidays: If you want to experience joy, freedom, and the blessings God promises, try picking up the check, leaving a really good tip, open your heart and your wallet. Be that generous friend you’d like to have.

In the end, generosity isn’t just about the church, or money, or even gifts. It’s about being part of God’s work in the world. We get to join in His generosity, to mirror His love, and to step out of the darkness of selfishness and into the light of giving. And really, that’s the best investment we can make. AMEN