TEXT: Luke 6:36-49

SUBJECT: Luke #21: Be Generous

Today, with God’s help, we’ll continue our study of Luke’s Gospel. At the moment, we’re at the end of a great sermon of our Lord. Some think it’s an abbreviated version of the Sermon on the Mount; others believe it’s a different sermon altogether. In any event, it is the word of our Lord Jesus Christ and has to be taken seriously. We take it to heart—the Lord says—when we put it into practice. There’s a lot here to study, admire and believe—but study, admiration and belief are not enough! We’ve got to become

Last time, we looked at the disciples’ duty to love his enemies. This love includes not doing them wrong, but it doesn’t end there. It goes on to the positive duties of

Have you been doing these things for the last seven days? Have you tried to help someone who doesn’t like you? Have you spoken well of somebody you know is talking behind your back? Have you prayed for people who have no claim on your love? If not, you need to repent! These are not hints for happier living; they’re commands of Jesus Christ. To be a disciple of Christ means you do what He says—even when you don’t feel like it!

Now that you know how to treat your enemies, let’s move on to see how the Lord wants you to treat your brothers and sisters in Christ.

He starts with a negative command. It is one command, put in two ways.

To judge can be understood in two ways. It can mean to discern or to know the difference between good and bad. We might say, "He’s a fine judge of character" or "You can trust his judgment". In this sense, we’re allowed to judge others—and ought to. If you cannot exercise this kind of judgment, how can you choose the right friends or elect qualified church officers or find a suitable husband or wife? Of course you can judge others in this way.

To judge can also mean to be quick to criticize or harsh in your evaluation of other people. This is what our Lord forbids. If you’re quick to criticize and put others in as bad a light as possible, Jesus Christ says to you,

This kind of person is always eager to justify himself. He thinks he has the Bible on his side. Doesn’t the Bible command us to rebuke erring brothers? Sure it does. But that’s not all it says. The same Bible commands us to be "longsuffering and patient"; it also praises the man who’s big enough to "overlook a fault". But—most of all—it tells us that God does not

The Lord is perfectly just. But He tempers that justice with mercy. If you want to be a disciple of Christ, you have to do the same. The Prince of Peace is not well served by subjects looking for a fight.

That’s the negative command—quit judging your brothers and sisters; stop condemning those for whom Christ died.

It is followed by a positive command, in fact, two of them. The first is

When other believers do you wrong, pardon them for Christ’s sake. It would be best if they apologized to you and made things right. But if they won’t, you take the initiative.

The word, forgive, means to let go. And that’s exactly what we do when we forgive others. We let go of the hard feelings; we let go of the strained relationship; we let go of the victim status. Life is too short for holding grudges. How can we harbor ill feelings for one who’ll be in heaven with us forever?

When it comes to forgiving other believers, there are no exceptions to the rule. It does not matter what they have done or how many times they have done it. A few chapters later, we’ll find the flimsiest repentance in the world! Yet the Lord says we’re to take it as genuine,

Some people won’t forgive at all; others will, but reluctantly; others are more willing that that, but we’re to be more than willing. Disciples of Christ are to forgive others eagerly!

And that’s not all we’re to do. We’re also to be generous with them—

When we think of "giving", we usually think of money. And that’s part of the deal, but only a small part of it. What the Lord is calling for here is a generosity of spirit. It’s a willingness to give yourself, your time, your sympathy, and your money to your brothers and sisters in Christ.

That’s the key word here, generosity. It pretty well summarizes the believer’s ethic toward other Christians. Without being stupid and naïve, we’re to think well of other believers, speak well of them, forgive them when they do us wrong, and help them as much as we can.

There’s nothing new here. You’ve heard all this a million times. But have you got past hearing it? Have you put it into practice? This is what discipleship means. It’s not listening to the Master or admiring what He says. It’s obeying Him.

Stinginess of spirit is far easier than generosity. It doesn’t cost you anything; there’s no self-denial in it; there’s no cross to be carried. It doesn’t have to be learned or prayed for or worked at. It’s easy to be narrow-minded and hard-hearted.

But you ought to choose the hard way. Our Lord gives you four reasons for choosing His way over your own.

In the first place, if you’re not generous toward others, they won’t be generous toward you—and nobody can live on justice alone!

Note the first two verses,

If you’re quick to criticize others and harsh in your assessment of them, they’re likely to be the same with you. Do you want others to judge you without hearing you out? Do you want them to impugn your motives or put the worst possible construction on everything you say or do? If not, don’t treat them that way.

After all,

If you need patience and mercy and sympathy, give the same to others. Paul warns,

Ask yourself: If my husband picked at me the way I pick at him, would we even be married any more? Or, to put it in a church setting: If everyone at church had the same spirit as I have, would there even be a church here? If you have to wonder—even a little bit—you need to repent of your pride and impatience.

That’s the first reason you’re to be generous with other believers. Because if you’re not, they won’t be generous to you—and nobody can live on justice alone.

The second reason you’re to be generous is because Critical people are not qualified to criticize others.

This is what the Lord is getting at in vv.39-42,

Here he have a comparison. The sinning brother is like a man with a speck of dust in his eye. It’s really there and he needs it removed. But the critical brother is not the man to do it because he’s got a plank in his eye!

The plank is pride. And pride is a spiritual problem much worse than the problem he’s trying to correct in someone else.

If this kind of person is allowed to lead, both he and everyone else will fall into the ditch. Letting him take charge can only result in others becoming like him.

This is ironic, isn’t it? The only person who’s fit to criticize is the person who’s reluctant to criticize. He feels his own sin is so great that he’s slow to point out the lesser sin in others. If the critical brother wants to straighten out everyone, let him start with himself! Let him repent of his own pride, and he’ll be qualified to speak out against the sins of other Christians.

The third reason you should be generous with the faults of other people is because a judgmental spirit indicates bad character.

We often think of critical people as meaning well, but lacking judgment. Something needs to be said, maybe, but they don’t say it at the right time or in the right tone of voice. This is a very charitable take on their character. The Lord is not nearly as sympathetic. He says the bad fruit of constant criticism is the result of a bad heart.

That’s the illustration: the quality of fruit tells the quality of the tree. But what does it mean to people who are always nagging and finding fault? It means

The believer who treats sinning brothers with patience and kindness, rebuking them humbly and always with hope for them is a good man. But the one who lashes out at people or picks them apart all the time is a bad man.

The fourth reason is also the easiest to explain: you should be generous with other believers because the Lord Jesus Christ says so.

How can you call Jesus Christ your Lord if you’re not willing to be generous with His people? If He commands you to overlook transgressions and eagerly forgive those who have wronged you, in what way are you His disciple if you keep pouncing on people with your criticisms? The implied answer is: you’re not His disciple—even if you say you are, go to church, and do good works.

The disciples of Christ are far from perfect. But we are submitted to Him—not always and never fully—but He is our Lord. We try to obey Him.

When it comes to criticizing others, are you making this effort? Or are you rather pleased with yourself as you are?

Whatever else it means, discipleship certainly means obedience. If Christ tells us to be merciful to our fellow believers, we must be merciful to them. Even if we think otherwise.

One great freedom of the Christian life is that we don’t have to make up our own rules. They’ve already been made up—by the Man who knows what’s best and Who loves us with all His heart.

The challenge here is the same as last time: It is to translate fellow believers into real people—to put names and faces on the people we’re so prone to look down on or to criticize.

Do you feel this way toward your husband or wife? Your kids or your parents? Are you eager to find every fault you can in him or her without considering your own defects? If you are, shame on you!

Isn’t the Word of Christ clear enough?

If it’s not, you can’t miss His own example. Who was more aggravating than the Twelve? How foolish they were, how stubborn, carnally-minded, lazy, angry, cruel!

Yet, in reading the Gospels, you can probably count on two hands the number of times the Lord reprimanded them. How kind He was to them! How patient, how generous, how good He was to them.

And how good He is to us. We’re as bad—or worse—than they were, yet instead of hitting us across the face with a 2X4, He gently nudges us into the way.

The Church is the stage on which Christ shows the world what it means to be His People. Looking at us—and listening to us—what does the world think of Christ and His People? That they’re no better than anyone else. And He’s offers nothing special? Is that it? Or can they see that God is love because we live in love?

That’s the challenge: to treat each other with respect and patience and tenderness. Now go do it. And the grace of God be with you. Amen.