As Christians, when we seek a model for generosity, we need look no further than the Resurrection story. At the highest level, it’s a story of a Father giving His Son, the Son giving everything He has, and the Father and the Son giving the Spirit (John 15:26 ESV). The Spirit allows us to be abundantly generous and view the world from the perspective that God owns everything and we are stewards. Without God\u2019s help through the Spirit, we imperfect humans simply wouldn\u2019t be generous. What a gift!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I reread the story during Resurrection week through the lens of generosity, some other people stood out. In the unknown hours after Jesus\u2019 death and prior to the Resurrection, there are sweet, tender moments of human generosity that set the stage for the early church as a result of the miracle of the Resurrection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we give, we gain<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After Jesus was crucified, \u201cJoseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus…And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.\u201d (Mark 15:43, 46 ESV). <\/p>\n\n\n\n To fully understand the significance and depth of Joseph of Arimathea\u2019s generosity, we need to break down what really happened here. Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin, but \u2013 secretly a follower of Christ \u2013 he had not consented to having Jesus condemned to death. In a bold act of faith, he risked everything by asking Pilate for the body of Jesus. He purchased a linen shroud to honor Jesus by wrapping his body, quickly yet tenderly, before the Sabbath began. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, Joseph used his family tomb as a place for Jesus\u2019 body. The common practice was to keep a family tomb only to members of that family. By allowing the body of Jesus to be buried in his tomb, Joseph was forfeiting his right, or the right of his family members, to use that tomb forever. Little did he know that when he and the women returned the next day to rub the body with oil and spices, the tomb would be empty and the world would be changed forever. At the heart of every decision Joseph made was his deep and personal love for Jesus. It was that love that motivated Joseph to act with courage, generosity and compassion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like the Mark passage above says, Joseph\u2019s eyes were on the Kingdom. He was putting into practice Jesus\u2019 words in Luke 9:24, \u201cFor whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.\u201d (ESV) Joseph was willing to give up his wealth, his reputation, his tomb, maybe even his life, to honor Jesus in his death. What an incredible model of human generosity! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Generosity as a witness for the Kingdom of God<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Over His lifetime, Jesus shared many parables about how we are to be stewards. Acts 4:32-36 tells us that after the Resurrection, the church started living in a new Kingdom reality and modeling radical generosity. Aware of and meeting needs, the church shared possessions for the benefit of others, leaving no needy among them. Barnabas \u2013 in what I like to think of as the first example of a complex gift in scripture \u2013 sold his field and laid the proceeds at the apostle\u2019s feet. The church heard and understood Jesus\u2019 teachings of stewardship, \u201cand no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own \u2026 \u201c Acts 4:32 (ESV)<\/p>\n\n\n\n In many ways, the picture we see in Acts 4 is<\/em> the Kingdom\u2013God\u2019s rule and reign in our midst. It\u2019s generosity for the benefit of others, right? Generosity is a witness for the Kingdom of God. It points to places where the Kingdom is at work and serves as one of the most prominent ways to display what the Kingdom of God looks like. It\u2019s sacrificial, sometimes radical, and always out of love. It\u2019s generosity that draws people in and prompts them to ask, \u201cWhy?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n God made a promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 that he would be blessed abundantly. He told Abraham that the purpose of that blessing was not for Abraham to hoard or keep for himself, but that he will be blessed to be<\/em> a blessing. God designed Abraham to be a conduit to pass blessing through to others. The acts of Joseph of Arimathea and Barnabas are shining examples of this shared blessing on the heels of the unbelievable story of Christ\u2019s Resurrection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How will you be a blessing to others by faithfully and generously stewarding all God has given you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As Christians, when we seek a model for generosity, we need look no further than the Resurrection story. 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