www.thecarpenterschurch.org
GOG - 20 - 288 - Extravagant Giving
Extravagant
Giving Pa s t o r C h a r l e s O m o f o m a h
1 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 lled 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. 7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.” John 12:1-8 3 And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster ask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the ask and poured it on His head. 4 But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? 5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply. 6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. 7 For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. 8 She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. 9 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.” Mark 14:3-9
Extravagant giving is synonymous with superuous giving, big giving, gigantic giving,
It is wise to plan your giving; make up your mind about what to give to God before you go
plenty of giving, etc. Extravagant giving sets
to Church. Sadly, some people make it a
you apart, as though you are the only one
practice of giving anything small as their
giving, and still you continue to give more.
offering. They search for the lowest
The texts recount two different narrations of
denomination of cash they have with them;
the same event, and the purpose of this is to
they look carefully in order not to bring out
get a better understanding of Mary’s actions,
any high denomination. That is not good. God
how she gave extravagantly. In this article, we
deserves the very best from you. When you
will be learning some vital lessons from her
have to meet with the King, be prepared.
giving.
Pour Out Your Oil Break Your Box
The second lesson we learn is that the woman
The rst lesson we learn from our texts is that
did not open the box, she broke it, and the oil
she broke her alabaster ask of ointment, and
poured out. Pour your money into the work of
she did it for good. What this woman did is
the kingdom; it will be put to good use. Give
what I would call an unreserved giving. When
cheerfully, and not grudgingly, let it pour.
she broke her alabaster ask, she was no
Don't be one of those who only gave in the
longer in control of what happened. She broke
past and stopped giving; don't let your giving
a year's wages at the feet of Jesus. We could
be in the past tense, you are only allowed to
say that she worked for a year, got an
talk in the past tense when making a faith
ointment with the money, and anointed
declaration such as, “God has already done
Jesus's feet. Just like this woman, you can
it”. Your story should be that your giving is
break your bank accounts. Don't get into a rot
new every morning.
in your giving; let your giving be like the faithfulness of God that is new every
Early in my Primary school years, I remember
morning. If you really believe the gospel, you
being asked to make a sentence, and I said
would look for avenues to give. I love to give
"The water is rushing slowly". That was
and I see genuine excitement in a person when
wrong grammar because water cannot rush
I give because a problem has been solved.
slowly; it rather rushes uncontrollably or
There is only one way to live an exciting and
gushes uncontrollably and that is how your
satisfying life, and that is by giving. One of
giving should be.
the things that can change your story and turn it around for good is giving. It might be
It Is For Kingdom Purposes
painful initially, but it is an exciting
The third lesson we learn is that her giving
adventure, and the dividends always come.
was for kingdom purpose. In verse 8 of our
Give of yourself, give of your service, give of
text Jesus said, “She is doing this in
your worship, and give of your money.
preparation for My burial” (Mark 14:8). This is
The Carpenter’s Church, Greenville, Port Harcourt. All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or any other form, without the prior permission of the above.
www.thecarpenterschurch.org
GOG - 20 - 288 - Extravagant Giving the highest form of giving; giving for
against them. If you have all the billions in
God can locate where your money is because
kingdom purpose. The Scripture was careful
the world, you will still have to budget and
He knows where it is. We learnt this from
to say that the oil was very costly. It is costly
plan, however, give to God extravagantly.
Jesus when He sent His disciples to go to the
to give. It pains to give. Many times, you have
sea, cast in a hook, take the sh that comes up
to think twice or thrice as hard to give. When
Extravagant Giving Has Its Reward
rst, and they would nd a piece of money in
you know that your God is a God that multiplies, you would give unreservedly.
It honoured Jesus The fourth lesson we learn is that extravagant giving honours Jesus. There is a quote that goes thus: Show me who you honour and I will show you what your life will be like tomorrow. The Bible records in 2 Samuel that David was so thirsty that he wished for water from the spring at Jerusalem. Then, some of his men broke through the troop of the Syrians and fetched the water for him. However, David would not drink it. He said, “These men went to get this water at the risk of their lives, so I am not going to
its mouth (Matthew 17:27). Your money might be hidden from others, but it is not
The fth lesson we learn is that extravagant
hidden from the eyes of God unto whom
giving has its reward. The Bible says in Psalm
everything is naked and bare. This act of
126:6 that he that goes forth with precious
Jesus: of locating the money in the mouth of
seed shall doubtless return with his sheaves.
the sh also signies the transfer of the
The word “sheaves” means bundles. It's time
wealth of the wicked to the righteous. The
to come with your bundles. When I talk
whole earth is full of the goodness of God
about reward, don't try to gure out how
(Psalm 33:5). Do the right thing to attract His
God is going to do it. God can reward you
goodness. The blessing of the Lord is the
any way He wishes, and when you attract
ability to excel in everything you do and this
God's reward, they come in from every side.
is what God wants to give you. The blessing
Extravagant giving has its reward. 2
of God breaks through barriers, generational
Corinthians 9:6 says, “He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly and he that soweth
makes you rich and adds no sorrow to it.
bountifully shall reap also bountifully”, and
When you give radically and unreservedly,
curses, and all generational nonsense. It
you receive in the same measure.
drink this. God, You have it”. In
God locates where your money
other words, “I don't deserve this
and your wealth is and opens
honour or maybe I do, but there is
your eyes to see where they are
Someone who deserves this
and take possession of them.
honour more: God”. God said David was a man after His heart.
When the woman poured out the
There is no giving that can equate
oil, everybody could smell it
the one that Jesus gave on the
because the smell was all over the
cross for you and me. “For God so loved the world that He gave…”
place. It made an impact. You've got to make an impact. When you
(John 3:16). If we love the Lord,
make up your mind to begin to
then we should give to His
give radically, God blesses you in
people, give to His ministers and
advance for it. God has come to
give to the children of God. David said he was not going to drink the water, so he presented it as a sacrice to honour Jesus. Does your giving honour Jesus? The Bible specically says honour the Lord with your substance and the rst fruit of your increase (Proverbs 3:9). Become someone who honours God in your giving. Be a distributor. An athlete who hasn't practiced for a long time may not perform as well as he used to before and may tend to become rusty. Don't get rusty in your giving, be fresh, keep practicing because the more you give, the easier it becomes. I am deliberately making a demand on your giving and I am doing it for the kingdom's sake and your sake. Giving will turn your life around for good. Enough of managing and always trying to sort it out. Planning and budgeting are good practices and I am not
know me as a man of integrity,
Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it
give, even before I do, I start getting
will be measured back to you.” You can
dividends and returns, and that stirs and
and I say this in utmost humility. I observed that many times, when I make up my mind to
determine how “goodly” is measured back to
spurs me up to give even more. That is the
you by how well you live on this earth. The
only life you should live – a life of giving. It is
present standard you are experiencing is a
both an exciting and adventurous life.
function of your giving. You can give yourself out of lack. Give, give, and give again. Ecclesiastes 11:1 says to cast your bread upon the waters and after many days you shall nd it. It says give a portion to this; that is after you have given completely, then give again. When you cast your bread upon the waters, you are not going to nd it the same way you threw it in. It will come back
Knowing the purpose of the abundance God puts in your hand is also vital. When God makes a multi-millionaire out of you, work in your purpose, and do kingdom distribution. The prosperity of fools destroys them because they do not know the purpose of it. Your prosperity elevates you when you know what to do with it.
swollen. How swollen it gets depends on you. Begin to give extravagantly. If you are already a giver, continue to give, and you will receive the same way.
The Carpenter’s Church, Greenville, Port Harcourt. All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or any other form, without the prior permission of the above.