25 Sermon Illustrations on Generous Giving

William Allen White, a famous newspaper editor in Emporia, Kansas, once gave a 50 acre tract of land to the city for a park. At the dedication, he made the strange statement that there are "Three kicks in every dollar." He explained, "One kick is when you make it-and how I love to make a dollar! One is when you save it-and I have the Yankee lust for saving. The third kick is when you give it away-and the biggest kick of all is the last one." It seems Mr. White discovered on his own what Jesus taught 20 centuries earlier: "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). Do you believe that? Want a big kick? Make a lot of money! Want an even bigger kick? Give your money to a worthy cause. There is a "kick" in seeing needy people helped. There is a "kick" in seeing your money carry the good news everywhere. There is a "kick" in seeing your church touch the spiritual needs of the unsaved. You, too, can get three "kicks" out of every dollar.

A woman took her two small boys and a daughter to see Peter Pan at the matinee one Saturday afternoon. The tickets were two dollars and fifty cents each. The young daughter watched as the mother pushed ten one dollar bills under the window and received four tickets. The next day the same mother and daughter were at church. When the collection was taken the child saw her mother open her purse, take out a quarter, and put it in the plate as it passed them. The little girl looked up at her mother and in a clear stage whisper which everyone around could hear said, "Mother, church is a lot cheaper than a movie, isn't it?" A Parable of Life Life is like another parable from another land. A blind Indian beggar sat beside a road, fingering the rice in his little bowl. Wearing only a loin cloth, he sat in poverty beside a road that stretched into nowhere both ways. The scarce travelers occasionally gave him a little rice. One day he heard the thunder of a chariot in the distance. It was the grand entourage of the maharajah. This was a moment that had never come before. Surely the great one would stop and give him baskets of rice. Indeed, the golden chariot of the maharajah stopped before the poor beggar. The great one stepped down and the beggar fell before him. Then the sky seemed to fall in. "Give me your rice," said the great one. A fearful, hateful, scowl masked the face of the beggar. He reached into his bowl and thrust one grain of rice toward the maharajah. "Is that all?" said the great one. The beggar spat on the ground, cursed, and threw him one more grain of rice. The great one turned, entered his chariot, and was gone. The beggar-angry, empty, and crushed-fingered the remaining rice he had hoarded in his bowl. He felt something hard, different from the rice. He pulled it out. It was one grain of gold. He poured out his rice, caring nothing for it now. He found one other grain of gold. Had he trusted the great one, he could have had a grain of gold for every grain of rice.

Three deer hunters from the city stopped at a humble farm dwelling and asked permission to stay there during deer season. The farmer and his wife graciously received them, and though crippled with arthritis, the farmer showed them some good deer haunts. Tired and hungry after an exciting day in the woods, they did justice to the piping hot meal that awaited them. When each hunter had his deer, they made ready to leave. "Now, what do we owe you?" they asked. "Not a penny!" exclaimed the farm couple. Then they went on to say, "We have enjoyed your stay here. Come again!" A few weeks later, two trucks drove into the farmyard. An electrician explained to them that he was sent to wire their buildings; the plumber in the other truck assured the surprised couple that they would soon have plenty of hot water in a sparkling bathroom and at the kitchen sink. The three deer hunters had shown their appreciation this way for having had the privilege of staying there during the hunting season. The grateful recipients learned that their heavenly Father had a way to reward them for giving of their time and means. You can't outgive God!

On his tenth birthday, a sensitive boy received 10 shiny silver dollars from a thoughtful uncle. The child was very appreciative. He immediately sat down on the floor and spread the coins before him. Then he began to plan how to use the money. He set aside the first dollar saying, "This one is for Jesus." He then went on to decide what to do with the second, and so on until he came to the last dollar. "This one is for Jesus," he said. The boy's mother interrupted, "But I thought you gave the first dollar to Jesus." "I did," the boy replied. "The first one really belongs to Him, but this one is a gift to Him from me."

The Romish Bishop of Orleans, preaching for the Rouen distress, said, "This is no time for long sermons, but for good works. You are all acquainted with the calamities of those whose cause I am come here this day to plead before you. Once upon a time, a king, whose name is still cherished by us, said to his companions in arms, on whom he thought with reason he could rely, 'My good friends, I am your king; you are Frenchmen; yonder are the enemy: let us march!' I will not address you in any other words this day than these: I am your bishop; you are Christians; yonder are, not our enemies, but our brothers, who suffer: let us fly to their succor!" The bishop then descended from the pulpit, and made the collection himself, which amounted to 15,299 francs.

Get all you can without hurting your soul, your body, or your neighbor. Save all you can, cutting off every needless expense. Give all you can. Be glad to give, and ready to distribute; laying up in store for yourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that ye may attain eternal life. J. Wesley.

Princes have melted pearls into the wine wherewith they entertained monarchs: let us do the same. Let us make rich offerings to Jesus; let our duties be more faithfully discharged, our labors more willingly performed, and let our zeal be more eminently fervent. Spurgeon.

HIVE AND THE WALNUT TREE.—The following account is related by Mr. Charles Stokes Dudley, of England: At one of the meetings for the circulation of the Scriptures, held in Dorsetshire, in 1833, a clergyman, from a distant county, related a circumstance which had fallen under his own immediate observation. A young farmer and his wife, having attended a meeting for the establishment of an auxiliary society, and another held in the evening of the same day for the formation of a ladies' association, became much interested in the object. On returning home, the wife expressed her earnest desire to subscribe a guinea a year to the female branch of the institution; to which her husband replied, that having become himself a contributor of the same sum to the auxiliary society, he thought they could scarcely afford two guineas a year. His wife reminded him that he had given her, a few days before, a guinea to purchase a hive of bees, which she had not yet bought; and that she should much prefer giving the money to the Bible Association. To this arrangement he consented. On the following day, a swarm of bees settled on a tree in their garden, and was soon safely hived. Struck with the circumstance, they immediately determined that the entire produce of those bees, and of the successive swarms from the hive, should be annually contributed to the Bible Society. The circumstance occurred in 1829. In 1830, the sum of £2 was contributed: in 1831, it increased to £10; last year it was £8; and, this year, they fully expected it would be £10 again, if not more.

I had a speedy proof that the relation of this little fact was not in vain. A friend of ours who was present, and under whose hospitable roof I was staying, observing me, on the following morning, admiring a noble walnut tree in his garden, whispered, "That tree belongs to the Bible Society; my wife and I have just dedicated it." I am happy to say, I never saw a tree better laden in my life.

At one of the anniversaries in London Rev. Richard Knill said:

When I used to travel for the London Missionary Society, I went to Peterborough. A farmer there had read the report of that society. He found that we had 123 missionaries. He sent to Mr. Arundel to say, "I have a great desire to hit out something new." I question whether any member of Parliament would have hit it. He said, "I am determined to have something to do with every tract distributed, every sermon preached, every school established; and for this purpose I will give a sovereign for each of the missionaries. Here is a check for £123, in order to do something all over the world." That is what I call an enlarged idea. But in the mean time another report came out, and stated that 13 new missionaries had been sent forth. "Well," said he, "I am determined to keep it up;" and he gave another £13.

41. Beneficence with Industry and Frugality.

My monthly missionary meeting, writes a clergyman in the Missionary Register for 1817, is, indeed, delightful. You would be highly gratified at witnessing the earnest prayers that are there offered up in behalf of the poor heathen, the interest produced by reading the missionary anecdotes, and the uncommon readiness and willingness, in the poor people, to contribute their pence towards so glorious a cause. One of the poorest women (yet one of the richest in the true sense) in the parish, was heard to say, that she would give her penny a week, if she took it from her food; and she has literally been as good as her word; for though tea was her only beverage, and often her only meal, she has for some months deprived herself of sugar, in order to contribute her penny, which she does with great regularity every week. But not content with this, as she obtains a livelihood by going about with a basket which contains needles, cotton, etc., she begged me to write a few lines to authorize her to receive any mite which she could collect in her daily travels from house to house, that she might have a chance of getting a penny, even where she could not sell her needles; and, indeed, I think I may safely say that she is not more gratified when she takes sixpence for herself, than when she receives a penny for the missionary fund. By this means she generally brings in about three shillings every month, in addition to her own fourpence

Such an instance shames many. True charity begins only with self-denial.

"Some years ago," says one, "I recollect reading a striking sermon by the late Mr. Simpson, of Macclesfield; the subject, I think, was Christian liberality; but what most forcibly struck my mind, was a passage quoted from Malachi iii. 10: 'Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,' &c. I cannot describe how my mind was impressed with the manner in which Jehovah here condescended to challenge his people, when he says, 'And prove me now herewith,' &c. Suffice it to say, that the subject made such an impression, I found it my duty to do more for the cause of God than I ever had done. I did so, and on closing that year's accounts, I found that I had gained more than in any two years preceding it. Some time afterwards, I thought the Redeemer's cause had an additional claim, as the place in which we worshipped him wanted some repairs. The sum I then gave was £20; and in a very little time afterwards I received £40, which I had long given up as lost."

A minister who was urged by his people to go out on a begging excursion, to solicit money to liquidate a debt on their meeting-house, put up on Saturday night with the deacon of a church to which he was to present the subject on the ensuing Sabbath. He seemed to be quite wealthy, and as he treated his guest with great cordiality and kindness, the preacher cherished glowing expectations of a very generous contribution from his purse. On the Sabbath, after setting forth the claims of his object in as forcible and eloquent a manner as possible, the plates were passed around for money. As the deacon sat near the pulpit, the preacher could not resist the temptation of rising up a little and peering over the pulpit to witness the expression of the good man's liberality. As the plate approaches the deacon, he leisurely puts his hand into his pocket. The preacher's heart palpitates with anxiety. But, alas, the deacon just drops from his thumb and fingers two red cents upon the plate and lets it pass! The preacher suddenly sank back into his seat, and hope and faith died within him. The collection, it seems, was small, and the preacher, mortified and indignant, went straight back to his people, told them the story of the two cents, and assured them they must raise the funds needed themselves or send some one else forth to beg besides him. The people caught his spirit—they determined to solicit no further—increased their subscriptions, and paid their debts themselves. 124-126

DECREES, DIVINE--DELAY OF REPENTANCE.

# 124. DECRE

A lady in Bristol, (Eng.) deeply impressed with the importance of the Bible Society, determined to make personal application in its behalf to an elderly gentleman of her acquaintance, who possessed great wealth, but never contributed to objects of this nature. She was told by her friends it would be in vain, but this did not shake her resolution. She called and presented the case, exhibiting all the documents calculated to promote her object. They produced no impression. She then reasoned with him, but without effect. At length she asked him the question, "Have you a Bible, sir?" "Yes." "What would induce you to part with it?" "I would not part with it on any consideration." "Sir," said she, "there are thousands in this land who are destitute of that which you profess to prize so highly. A trifling portion of your property would supply a fellow creature with the book which you would not part with on any consideration." This appeal produced the desired effect. The gentleman, however, concealed his feelings, and simply asked, with an air of indifference, "What do you think I ought to give?" Supposing that he was balancing between a small sum and an absolute refusal, she replied, "We receive any sum, sir, however small." He then went to his bureau, took a bag of guineas, and began very deliberately to count them upon the table—one, two, three, four, and so on. After he had proceeded some time in this way, the lady presuming he had forgotten the subject on which she came, and was engaged in his other business, ventured to interrupt him with the remark that her time was precious, and that if he did not intend to give, she begged to be informed, that she might solicit elsewhere. "Have patience for a few minutes," he replied, and proceeded until he had counted 73 guineas. "There, madam," said he, "there is one guinea for every year I have lived; take that for the Bible Society."