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The Very Last Thing Paul said to the Ephesians Acts 20.17-38
Allen R. Hunt Mount Pisgah 6/10/07 (with thanks to Tim Keller)
“Now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (20.32-35)
I. First time ever happened in my ministry
Interesting email from a young couple – 1 year old daughter
Were celebrating first birthday – realized they and she had everything they needed
So decided to invite friends and family to bring diapers and wipes for Beacon babies and also to give funds for new baby who needed heart surgery
Thought of that Friday when saw in AJC – two pages – “how to throw a Birthday party your child will remember for the rest of his life!”

II. Paul’s very last words – to a church he has formed over 3 years
Perhaps the simplest verse in the Bible – “more blessed to give than to receive”
But these words are much more pregnant than they first appear

Look carefully at Paul’s words here
First, ‘remember the gospel of grace’ – you were not saved, now you are
God’s gift – grace
You belong to Him – great inheritance – live it out
Then, Paul returns to himself – ‘I did not covet when I was with you’
I showed you deeds of mercy – we must care for the weak
Paul sums it all up
Believe in the Gospel and live radically generous lives
Be radically, promiscuously generous – live the way I have lived
Be very careful about greed – care for the poor
Last thing he says – this must be really important
Two must be closely related – being saved child of God and being radically generous

So this message comes in 3 points
1) The Healing Power of Giving (Numbers 6.22-27; Psalm 102)
It is more blessed to give than to receive
No lightweight word – no “bless her heart” or “that sermon really blessed me”

Think Numbers 6 - When God teaches Moses how to bless the Israelites, He says
“May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”

To be blessed is to see face of God and to be drawn near Him – to be in God’s presence
To be near the face of God is to experience OT word - Shalom
“Blessed” = “Shalom”
Shalom come to mean lots of things – greetings, health, peace
But in the Garden of Eden – everything was perfect – we were near God, complete total human fullness, health, wholeness
But then we fell from grace – and lost our shalom
Broken, disease, strife, discontent – distance from God’s presence, wholeness

But Paul says here that giving has the power to help us experience shalom again
How does this happen?
When God created the world, in Genesis, says He did it like a master artist
Nearly all other traditions, even science, say world came into existence through violence, Big bang
Not Bible – harmony, artwork, shalom
All the parts fit together in harmony – with purpose

But brokenness entered the world
Physical – my body no longer whole when heart disease, cancer disrupts – no shalom
Conscience – when I do things know I should not – guilt permeates my mind – no shalom
Social – when I fail to treat people way God intends – brokenness occurs, no shalom
And generosity is a key way in how I/we treat other people

Lots of folks have ideas about why the poor are poor
Liberals think kids grow up in poverty and violence – because systemic racism and institutional failure
Conservatives – think kids grow up in brokenness because of family breakdown
But either way, it is not the kids’ fault – that’s the point

Kids born in my house – won the birth lottery – yours too – wealthiest 2-3% of world, exposure to education, never hungry, reasonably safe – they did nothing, just fact
Not so for most of the world’s kids, who experience no opportunities
And my giving can help change that – can help bring shalom to the world
In fact, when the people of God give as God desires – plow their resources into the world – seeing us all as one people – harmony – shalom – wholeness can occur
Giving can heal the world – in fact, it will heal the world
So Why is it so hard?

2) The Hidden Power of Greed (Exodus 20.17; Luke 12.13-34)
Paul very careful to say – I have not coveted anyone’s anything
Before he says I have poured myself out in giving to help the weak
Astounding when you think about it – these are the final words Paul says
Watch out for covetousness, greed!! – Would that be your last words to someone?
There must be something to this

Jesus talks about greed and money and possessions probably 20x more than about sex
Watch out for greed, be on guard against all kinds of greed
Never says, Watch out for lust, be on guard against all kinds of lust
Why?
Other deadly sins – when they are gripping you, you know it
Adultery, lust – hard to be having an affair and not know it – “Ouch, I did not realize you were not my wife!”
Not so with greed – listened to a lot of folks confess over the years to lots of different things – I have heard close to it all
Cannot remember a single time when someone came to me and said, “I love stuff way too much. I think greed is my problem.”
Greed is The deadly sin that no one thinks they are guilty of

Greed – inordinate desire for stuff
Not wanting it – but wanting it too much, excessive worry and concern

So let’s just think for a moment
A – Jesus talks about greed 20x more than sex and lust – and more than any topic
B – Greed one sin no one thinks they are guilty of
I think we should assume it is true for us – until we have seriously evaluated our souls
Other 7 deadly sins, you will likely be aware of – but not this one – so be careful

Reasons for that
Social – we hang out with folks in brackets – not identical income as us – but a little more and a little less
Now at lower income ranges – not much differentiation – 25,000/30,000/35,000
But as income goes up likelier to hang out with folks who are way wealthier than you are
Country club – likely to interact with couple worth 10x more than you
Always feel middle class – because there are folks who make way more
Appx. 94% of Americans consider themselves middle class – no one considers self rich
Why so hard for folks who come to see us from global mission partners, see our homes, our cars, our clothes, our lifestyles and hear us say that we just cannot give
They look at us and say, “Sure.”

But there is also the coveting reason for not being aware of greed
Coveting – has to do with idols
Money is not our idol – it shows us what our idol is
Me? I like to give but it still takes some effort
I like to eat – eat out – try restaurants – different kinds of foods – gives me great pleasure
Paying for that is effortless to me – does not bother me to use the credit card one more time for another meal – satisfies me
Buying clothes may be effortless for you – like the sense of approval it gives you, the coolness factor, sleek, chic
Or that car you found so wonderful to purchase – effortless to care for it – part of your identity tied up in having a car that is state of the art – having others say that dude is cool
Our identity is in Christ – ought to fight and defeat anything that distracts us from that
Because that is an idol

Or perhaps you are the opposite – frugal – and proud of it
Hang on to your money – gives you control – manage your assets, control over the future and environment around you
Not a power freak, or a food freak, or approval freak – control freak
‘Through money I can control my world’
Money shows where your idol is – where your treasure is, there your heart will be also
That is why greed is so powerful

3) Breaking the Hidden Power: Grace (Ephesians 1.3-14; 2.4-9)
Paul says I commit you to word of grace
Not enough to say – Give or else God will be mad!
Nor to say – Give because all these people need help!
Nor to say – Look at the ROI – souls saved by giving!
No – if really want to break the hidden power of greed – got to understand GRACE
= God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense
Expense is the key word here

Every other treasure will enslave you – own your life
You will do anything to pursue it, cut corners, tell lies, mistreat people
Except the treasure of Jesus Christ
This treasure died to purchase you – opposite of every other treasure
Career will not die for your sins – but Jesus did just that

Why did He come? You were the one thing He did not have
Gave up His glory, His comfort, His Father, the Universe
To purchase you
We are more valuable to Him than anything – anything
He will do anything to purchase us – anything for us
Does that impact you? Should

If you think you will enter heaven because you are a good person, you have no idea what the word GRACE means
Means you do not comprehend cross, the character of God – nor what you mean to God

When I see that I am Jesus’ ultimate treasure – melts my heart
Changes me on the inside – changes everything about me
All else becomes just stuff
And it frees me to use my life and my stuff to heal the world

Paul’s famous last words – more blessed to give than to receive
Makes perfect sense to me now