Deacons and the Generosity and Sowing of Our King

Ecclesiastes 11:1-6; Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-37
November 21, 2021
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

Praise be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Aaron, Brian, Joey, and Tim were ordained as deacons. And all of us together have been ushered into a new era of diaconal ministry here at Highland.

I am excited about our future. There are many reasons why I am excited about our future. But one reason is simply this. In my humble opinion, you all are already good at being generous. Before the existence of Deacon Aaron, Deacon Brian, Deacon Joey, and Deacon Tim, you all were already good at giving your money, giving your resources, giving your efforts, and ultimately giving yourselves for the sake of others and for the glory of God.

I think about all of you who showed hospitality and opened your homes for various gatherings. I think about all of you who brought snacks on Sundays or got birthday cakes or set up volleyball nets. I think about all of you who took out trash to the dumpster. I think about all of you who volunteered for church activities and events. I think about all of you who fundraised for a family in Malawi two cows named Moolan and Mark Buffalo. I think about all the conversations and texts and phone calls and hangouts. I think about all the meal trains, all the flu shots, all the car rides, and all the tournaments. I think about all the money - all the tithes and offerings and givings placed in the plastic pink container.

This is to be commended. You all are awesome. We have a good thing going here at Highland. And now we have ordained English-speaking deacons? I can only imagine what our church will be like now. So I am excited about our future.

But dear Highland, make no mistake. The future depends on you. It depends on you because we reap what we sow.

Do not over-think this. Yes, it is true that God is sovereign over the future of our church. Yes, it is true that it is ultimately Jesus’ care and Jesus’ compassion and Jesus’ charity that is going to power through everything here at Highland. Yes, it is true that diaconal ministry will happen by the grace of God. But at the same time, we are also responsible for what happens here at Highland. We reap what we sow. What we do matters. Our obedience, our righteousness, our good works, our care and compassion and charity matters. We reap what we sow. Every single one of us here at Highland is called to do our best in helping and supporting and encouraging one another in the joy of Jesus’ salvation. We reap what we sow.

And we ought to be holy and hard-working and happy reapers and sowers… because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ reaped and sowed for us. For our salvation.

The book of Ecclesiastes is an invitation for a perfect king. An invitation for an eschatological king to be perfectly wise and perfectly generous and giving and perfectly caring and compassionate. And that king was and is and always will be Jesus Christ.

Jesus casted his bread upon the waters and found it after many days. This imagery of bread upon water is connected to the idea putting yourself out there, taking a risk, and seeing good results - like a trade ship that sets out to sea and then comes back with bountiful profit. Jesus is the eschatological king of Ecclesiastes who emptied himself by taking the form of a servant and humbled himself and suffered and died on the cross for your sins. This was his work. And his work saved you. This is the wisdom of Christ. This is the sowing and reaping of your most generous King.

The king that Ecclesiastes hopes for should give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for he knows not what disaster may happen on earth. The king must give perfectly (that’s what the number seven means). And the king must give abundantly (eight supersedes the perfection of seven). Jesus gave you so much. He gave you so much that it will take you an eternity to fathom it all.

Jesus gave you his perfect righteousness and obedience to the law for your credit so that you would be counted as righteous and given eternal life in his kingdom. Jesus gave you his body and his blood to be a perfect sacrifice for your sins so that the penalty for your sins would be fully and perfectly paid for and so that you would be forgiven. Jesus gave you resurrection life and hope. Jesus made you into a new creation. Jesus gave you his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, as a guarantee of our inheritance. Jesus gave you a new adoption and a new family that is his church. Jesus gave you his grace and his love. Jesus gave you himself. And he did this because he knows your disaster. Your ultimate spiritual disaster of eternal death in hell. This is the wisdom of Christ. This is the sowing and reaping of your most generous King.

In other words, your salvation came at a great cost for Jesus. But he did it. He worked for it. He paid for it. He was generous in it. And he loved doing it. This is your God. This is your King. This is the person and the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever (2 Corinthians 9:6-9). By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers (1 John 3:16-18).

Dear Highland, if all of this is true for you, then you can be amazing and dare I say perfect in your generosity and in your reaping and sowing as you participate in diaconal ministry and bless others with the care and compassion and charity of Christ. The logic is simple but profound. If you understand that you have every spiritual blessing in Christ, if you know that you are forgiven and saved, if you comprehend how much Jesus loves you, then you will know that you have nothing to lose. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

And that will profoundly affect how you live and how you give.

Instead of wondering if what you do matters at all, you will believe that what you do as a church member really does matter for others. Why? Because you have nothing to lose. Don’t be passive. Don’t be paralyzed. Don’t just observe the wind and regard the clouds. “He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.”

Instead of being selfish or being cynical about life or being disappointed in others, you will be selfless and hopeful and fearless as you show care and compassion toward others. Why? Because you have nothing to lose. Don’t assume that you know everything about everyone. “As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.”

Instead of facing the future of your church with uncertainty and doubt, you will trust in the Lord and abound in good works and give your money, give your resources, give your efforts, and ultimately give yourself for the sake of others and for the glory of God. It is true that we do not know the future. But it is precisely because we do not know the future that is the reason why we must be generous and giving and caring. “Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.”

Dear Highland, I wish you would know just how rich you really are. Your King, though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich (1 Corinthians 8:9). Dear brothers and sisters, you won. You have the kingdom. You have eternal life. You won. And so you can be generous. You can reap and sow without fear or hesitation. You can and you should be bold in doing lots of things for God and for his people who need your help and your care. You have nothing to lose.

This was the heart and mind of our brothers and sisters in the book of Acts. Look at what they did. Look at their generosity in their reaping and sowing. They sold their possessions and belongings and distributed the proceeds to those in need. Owners of lands and houses sold their worldly resources and brought the proceeds to the apostles’ feet. Food was eaten with glad and generous hearts. And the joy of Jesus’s salvation was protected by Barnabas and by countless other sons and daugthers of encouragement. This is who we are to be. This is what we are to do.

Dear Highland, let us be generous as we live during these last days. Let us contribute to needs of saints and seek to show hospitality (Romans 12:13) as we wait for Jesus’ return. Let us be privileged and obligated to be caring and compassionate toward on another as we have many members with many physical, mental, and emotional struggles and needs. Let us cheerfully and willingly give (2 Corinthians 9:7) out of love for Jesus and love for everyone in the EM and in the KM. Let us sow bountifully and reap bountifully as we encourage the sad and lift up the vulnerable. Let us cast our bread upon the waters and give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for we actually do know the future - the ultimate future of Jesus and his kingdom in the new heavens and new earth.

Soli Deo Gloria