GENEROSITY:
Boaz Doesn’t Keep Score, He Just Keeps Giving
“If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 "And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.”
Matt. 5:40, 41
Leadership must be generous, predisposed to give their resources to others. They believe a candle loses nothing when it lights another.
No one models this better than Boaz, the spiritual leader who became Ruth’s husband. He owned a large field, and like other landowners, employed reapers to gather his harvest. When the reapers finished, the less fortunate were allowed to “glean” in the field, taking whatever remained of the harvested crops. Ruth was one such person.
Boaz’s generous spirit surfaced immediately when he saw Ruth. He asked the reapers about her identity, then expressed his generosity to her. Boaz displayed his generous leadership in several ways:
1. He was generous with his compassion (Ruth 2:8, 9)
2. He was generous with his compliments (2:11, 12)
3. He was generous with his courtesy (2:14)
4. He was generous with his crops (2:15, 16)
5. He was generous with his credibility (3:11-13)
6. He was generous with is commitment (4:9, 10)
You can give without loving, nut you cannot love without giving. Jesus talked about this generous spirit. It was a generous spirit that drove Boaz to go the second mile with Ruth, even before he suspected she might become his wife.
Sunday Morning Lesson
“21” Crucial Qualities of Christians: #9 - GENEROSITY
Acts 20:28-35
I. The Quality Defined
a. Acts 20:35
II. Boaz Gives Willingly
a. Ruth 2:1-18
III. The Heart of Giving
a. Acts 4:32-37
b. Acts 5:1-11
IV. Paul Encourages Generosity
a. 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
V. Conclusion
a. Acts 20:35
Sunday Eveninng Lesson
The Resurrection Appearances of Jesus
Acts 1:1-3
I. Testimony of Resurrection Appearances
II. Invitation of Examination of Evidence
a. Matt. 28:5-6; Luke 24:2-3
b. John 20:26-29
c. 1 Cor. 15:6
III. Invitation to Examination Accepted
a. Mark 16:1
b. Luke 24:15-16
c. John 20:9
d. Luke 24:11; Mark 16:11-13
e. Luke 24, 37, 39-41
f. John 20:20, 24-28
g. Luke 24:36-43
h. Acts 1:3
i. 1 Cor. 15:6
j. Mark 16:19-20
GENEROSITY: Ananias & Sapphira Only Pretended
Acts 5:1-11
Leaders give of themselves liberally – at least, they did in the New Testament.
The whole church enjoyed unity and generosity, and it all started at the top. The example of the apostles spread a spirit of generosity throughout the whole church. Unfortunately, a couple of pretenders, Ananias and Sapphira, sold some land and gave part of the proceeds to the apostles, reporting that they had given all the money to the church. God revealed their deception to Peter, and he called them on it. Their sin was not lack of generosity, but lack of honesty. They lied about what they had done. They wanted to be though of as generous without paying the price.
God would have nothing to do with it. He surgically removed the spiritual cancer from the church by taking their lives. “So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things,” Luke says (Acts 5:11).
Look closely at Ananias and Sapphira’s problem:
1. They clung to their possessions
2. Agreed to lie about their giving
3. Pretended to be someone they were not
4. Thought they could get by with appearing to be generous
5. Felt more concerned with their image than their relationship to God.