"Giving Like a Gileadite" by Neal Pollard

exercise dominion over them, but it shall not be so among you.

But whosoever is great among you, let him be your servant.

Whoever is first among you, let him be your slave, even

as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom

for many." Matthew 20,

Matthew 20:25–28

verse 25 through 28. Great teaching,

but also great exemplifying of it.

Because here's Jesus near the end of his life. He is facing the cross.

With his mind's eye, he can see it just a few days away. And as he has just his

apostles

together, he blows their mind. He confounds them

by washing their feet. And when he had taken his garments and had sat down together

again,

he says to them, do you know what I have done unto you?

You call me master and Lord, and you say it right, for so I am. If I then your Lord

and Master have washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another's feet.

I have given you an example that you should ever do as I have done unto you.

Behold, the servant is not greater than his master,

neither is he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If you know these

things,

blessed are you if you do them. John 13, 12 through 17.

No wonder Luke would look at the life of Jesus

and he would say, of all that Jesus began both to do

and to teach, Acts chapter 1 and verse 1.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

You know, I was raised in mostly small

congregations, small church buildings, and I can see a lot of them

in my mind today all over, mostly Georgia, as my dad did domestic mission work.

In several of those church buildings, maybe it was the fashion of the day,

there were signs posted in the back of the auditorium. I don't know if you ever

saw this before,

only in one place that I preached. The sign on the,

maybe we didn't have a clock back then, but they had the sign, and it said,

enter to worship, leave to serve.

Now the thing is that when we read about Barzillai, he's not coming from a

worship service.

He is coming from service, and yet he gives us an example that we need to

follow in our lives today.

You'll notice that we're talking about giving like a Gileadite. I'm talking

about Barzillai.

What can we learn from him and to be better servants? We come

into the services of the church every Sunday and we get our cups filled.

We receive so much. God wants us to go from here with what we have been given

and to give to others. That's the giving we're talking about.

If you're worried about a sermon on money, you can set your minds at ease. We're not

talking about that kind of giving today. We're talking about the giving

that Jesus calls for us the inside out of ourselves.

And Barzillai is a great example. Very briefly, I want us to notice

five things we learn about giving from a Gileadite. First of all, we learn

from him that you give what you have for

the poor, the thirsty, the hungry,

and the weary. That's the way it's put for us in 2 Samuel chapter 17

2 Samuel 17:27–29

verse 27 through 29.

You have a couple of men. You have Barzillai named along with two others and

they're out there in the wilderness and they provide for

David and his army. Things like kitchenware

and utensils and furniture and lots of food for them to eat.

I can't imagine how much it would have taken to have fed the crowd that

had gathered around David. We see hundreds of individuals

who had gathered from different places and they come

and they are there with him and they have needs.

And here's Barzillai and two others who see that and it comes from a heart of

compassion.

They do what they do. They give of all that they have because they said they

are hungry

and they are weary and they are thirsty in the wilderness, 2 Samuel chapter 17

2 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

and verse 27. It's a heart of compassion that drives them

to see the needs as they exist and then to address

those needs. It's interesting that these are literal and physical needs.

And when God talks about what it means to be a disciple of his,

he wants our hearts to be open and our eyes to be open so that we can see the

physical needs of those around us.

It's amazing that at the end of his public ministry in Matthew's gospel

he ends with a series of parables.

A parable is about being prepared for the second coming of Christ at the very

end and in the very last one of those parables he talks about how one gets

ready for the judgment and here's what he says.

Then shall they be gathered before him, the king,

in all of his glory as he sits on his father's glorious throne. And before him shall be

gathered all the nations

and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divides the sheep

from the goats and the sheep

will be on his right hands but the goats on his left. And then shall he say to those

on his right hand,

Come you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the

foundation of the world.

Why? For I was hungry

and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink.

I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick

and you ministered unto me. I was in prison and you came unto me.

Then they on his right hand will say, Lord, when do we see you

in all of these various needs and minister unto you? And he shall say,

Inasmuch as you did it unto one of the least of these

you did it to me. Jesus has us

responsible for meeting the physical needs of others.

And yet isn't it interesting that that same language that's used in 2 Samuel 17

is applied in the New Testament to the spiritual needs

of those all around us. Jesus says that he came to be the bread of life for the

hungry soul.

We see that in John 6 and verse 35. He came to give satisfaction to the

spiritually thirsty

by being the living water. John chapter 4 and verse 14

John 4 · chapter mention

and Jesus himself speaks of himself by saying

that he came to bring comfort to those who were weary.

I'll give you rest, Matthew chapter 11 and verse 29,

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

and the Lord has made you and I bread and water

and comfort dispensers. We're here to see

the needs that exist, whatever they are,

and we are to respond to those. We are to be aware

and to do all that we can. And why do we do this?

Because of what we have received. You know, the story broke a few years ago about a

young woman who

called 911 and she got into a lot of trouble. She called to report that her

parents

had forced her against her will to go with them

on a vacation and to spend a week in a cottage

east of Toronto. That didn't go so well.

You know, her problem was that she

had first world problems. Her problem was not

that she had been taken against her will, but she hadn't been taught to be grateful.

And the point for us is we should never treat our Heavenly Father in this way.

Here is Barzillai who had been given so much resource-wise

and he was looking for whoever he could. We'd have to have our eyes closed

to miss all the needs that exist out there.

As those who have been the recipients,

we need to go out and find others. Barzillai teaches us

that we should give as we have to those

who are in need. But then second, we also learn from Barzillai that we are to give

what we have

until we can't give anymore. I want you to think about the passage that was read

in 2 Samuel chapter 19. Gary did a great job, but there's some difficult words in

2 Samuel 19 · chapter mention

there.

Verse 32 and verse 35 talks about the change in the situation.

Back when we read in 2 Samuel chapter 17,

2 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

it's a difficult circumstance for Barzillai because David

and his men are running away from Absalom. There's been a rebellion

and 2 Samuel 15 and verse 13 says that all the hearts of Israel

had gone after Absalom. They were following him and so David is running for his life

and that's when Barzillai and the others find them and take care of them.

But now Joab and David's army, they have won the battle.

The tide has turned and now David and all of his

companions can go back to Jerusalem.

David can now sit back on his throne again

and David is trying to help

and to repay as David always does

the good that others did to him and he's also going to try to repay the evil that's

done to him. But here's Barzillai

and he wants to do for him and so as they cross the Jordan River, he says, I

want you to come with me

and go all the way to Jerusalem so I can take care of you like you took care of

me.

And this is when we find out something about David's

companion Barzillai and his age and his physical condition.

I was hearing someone in my vicinity who was laughing when they saw that that

80-year-old person was

talking about how they couldn't see and how they couldn't hear and how they couldn't enjoy

good food and drink and so

80's different for different people and your degree of health or not but

generally speaking, four score years is on the tail end

of life, at least relatively speaking. And here he is saying,

I don't want to leave my hometown. I feel like I'm pretty near my end. I want to be

buried near my parents. We see that in verse 37

and so he's saying basically thanks but no thanks.

I was happy to do for you and we don't know

how old Barzillai was when he entered the ministry, when he started serving but

the whole time

that he was at Manahem, he provided for his needs.

Barzillai did as much as he could for as long as he could.

He couldn't do it anymore. You know it's been

neat to watch this. One of my favorite things when I look at the Lord's Church

is to see how some in the golden years of their lives

dedicate themselves to teaching and preaching and leading

and serving. When Carl was a little boy, we went out to

Valley Springs, California for a speaking engagement and the man

on your left is a man by the name of Perry Cotham. He's been dead for several

years. You may or may not have

heard of him. An incredible man. He preached after his 100th birthday

at the Memphis School of Preaching. But I remember

96-year-old and it was so long ago that Carl was way shorter than me.

And I had Carl there and he got to spend a lot of time with Perry Cotham. He saw him

preach with passion

and with zeal. He saw more than that. He saw him sit down with two middle-aged

women

and teach them the gospel and baptize them into Christ

at 96. The other man is William Woodson. William Woodson

and Carl and I stayed in a house together with a family.

William Woodson was near the end of his life. We lost him a little early, but he was

still elderly at that time.

And he sat and he not only taught Carl how to tie

a fly-fishing knot, but he also told him a lot about the Bible and about preaching.

And

he's preaching today, influenced in part

by an elderly man. He would call himself William Woodson.

I think about it in other places where I've seen that. One of my best friends in

Colorado was a man by the name of Johnson Kell.

And well into his 90s, he was teaching a new Christians class.

He was organizing a prayer service. I want you to think back a few months ago

that a man who was far older than Barzillai

got up behind this pulpit and preached a sermon. Well into his 90s, our brother

Garnett Baker.

And we could call other names. I don't want to embarrass you because you don't want to be

thought in terms of your age.

But in your golden years, you're serving God.

You are serving Him until you can't serve

anymore. Now I want you to think, there are some of you who are a fraction

of that age, or maybe you're half that age, or you're at least

younger than that. That should be an inspiration to keep serving God.

We're nowhere near. There is no spiritual retirement. We are to do what we can

because night is coming when man can work no more. John chapter 9 and verse 4.

John 9 · chapter mention

I believe we learn from Barzillai that we should

give what we can until we can't give

anymore. But then third, we need to give without expectation

of return. We see that in 2 Samuel 19 and verse 36.

Here is a man who

has now the opportunity to receive

a gift from David. He has carried him across the Jordan River.

He's only been thinking of David's needs, and now David wants to give

a reward. And Barzillai is almost surprised,

I don't think offended, but amazed that David would try to do something for him.

Because he wasn't doing it for that reason. Everything we know about him was

that he was just trying to meet the needs

that came along. I think about how the Lord speaks to us and He would say the

same thing. Remember

Jesus is teaching the Apostles in Matthew chapter 10 and verse 8.

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

And what He says there is, you have received

freely. Freely give. Out of all that we have already been given,

the most important thing we can do is to give what's most important to others

without any expectation of earthly recognition.

Jesus very early on is talking about discipleship and what it means

to be a true follower of His, to have real righteousness and not the shallow

righteousness

of the Pharisees and the scribes and the chief priests.

And in Matthew chapter 6 He says, don't do your

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

giving, don't do your praying, don't do your fasting to receive a reward of men

because when they see you and they praise you and that's what moves you,

you've received your reward in full. We come in here and we worship and we get

our

cups filled and most of us when we leave here we go out and we labor in fields of

obscurity.

If you're a preacher, an elder,

a deacon, a member, in any way you would describe yourself,

most of us are not going to go to the hot spotlight

of the media and reporters and

cameras and capturing all of our movements. I know that social media wants

us all to think we're a star but most of us

are pretty invisible when we leave here. And as we go out,

what drives us? Paul says in 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 25

that those who are participating in the games

exercise self-control in all things. This they do for a perishable wreath

but we an imperishable one, 1st Corinthians 9

and verse 25. Do you remember when the Olympics were

in British Columbia, Vancouver and then one of the

Winter Olympics events was the 10,000 meter speed skate?

There was a Dutch skater by the name of Swin Kramer

who his coach lined him up in his lane and you have to be in each of your individual

lanes to compete

and his coach inadvertently put him in the wrong lane.

He wins but he's disqualified

and when he is disqualified he is visibly upset. Of course

you know you would expect that with the competition and the spirit of that but

this

seemed to be more and they investigated and here's why he was so upset.

He had signed a provisional deal in which he would get five hundred thousand

dollars

in endorsements had he received the gold but when he didn't he received

absolutely nothing. The Olympics are about

representing one's country and fighting for their honor. It's not about base

motivation

but you know things like money can cloud our motivation. Recognition,

fame, the attention of others but here's Barzillai

a man who has quietly come and supplied all of the needs and

now David says what can I do for you? He says

nothing and you and I what we are

aiming at is that imperishable wreath

but then fourth when we look at Barzillai's life we see that this Gileadite

gives others an opportunity. When we read about

him saying no it's interesting that Barzillai turns around and he says but hey what

about Chimham? Can you give Chimham

what you're gonna give to me? Who is Chimham?

Well we might conclude from first Kings chapter 2 and verse 7 and the ancient

1 Kings 2 · chapter mention

historian Josephus

tell us that he is a son of Barzillai.

Barzillai has many sons. We also see that there is a place Jeremiah 41 verse 17

Jeremiah 41:17

that is called Chimham Geruth and that name means

an accolade, a reward that is according

or accorded or given to Chimham. Barzillai doesn't want to go

but he wants to make sure that Chimham

gets what he was going to receive. There's a spirit there that I think should live

in all of us. Our attitude should be that we want to give

others an opportunity. You know as God gives us

opportunities in various stages of our life there are others, there are people

within the body of Christ that

we can mentor, that we can encourage, that we can share

and allow them to grow in their service to God. There are people outside the

body of Christ

that need us to go out and to give them what we

have received. Galatians 6 and verse 10 says, as you have therefore opportunity let us do

good

unto all men especially unto those who are the household of the faith.

We see in him a man who is ready to raise up someone in his place.

Moses did not serve perfectly.

One of the things that Moses did that's admirable

is that he invested a lot into Joshua because he knew that he wouldn't always

be there

and when he left the scene Joshua is ready to stand in

and lead Israel in its greatest generation of the Old Testament.

God wants you and me to look for others

that we can bring alongside. Hey, let's think about that in terms

of what's coming in the near future. Think about vacation Bible school.

Don't we have an opportunity to bring other people on board? One of the great

things that our

education vision group has done is broaden the field and the vision

to bring in other people to teach and to learn. There are folks teaching our Bible

school program now

in scores that weren't before. That's giving

others an opportunity. How about you and me in our own lives? Are you going to

visit somebody

soon? Are you going to go encourage somebody? Why not take someone else with

you

and give them the opportunity? Then as we look at Barzillai we also see

that you give when others need your help.

At the end of his life in 1 Kings chapter 2 and verse 7

1 Kings 2 · chapter mention

Barzillai is mentioned by David as David is

about to breathe his last. He's on his deathbed and he's given

a series of charges to Solomon of how he wants him to treat various people

that David didn't deal with in his life and he says I want you to show kindness

and fellowship

to Barzillai's sons. He had recognized that in his

hour of trial when he needed him the most

that Barzillai had helped. Aren't you grateful

for the Barzillai's that come into your life?

Haven't there been moments when you needed help?

You were at the end of your rope. You felt you were in trouble spiritually if

not otherwise

and at that moment somebody came along. I can tell you

I can't count all the times that I've had Barzillai's come in my life.

But why not be a Barzillai? Why not

find those who are helping? Why not use your time to somebody who severely needs it?

Why not use your heart to counsel somebody who's in need?

Why not use your goods to help somebody

who is in genuine need? Why not give

of your talent to help the church to grow? The needs are existed everywhere.

We need to have our eyes open when others are in need.

His name means of iron and that

speaks of strength. When you think about iron and how

iron nourishes plants and how iron supplies oxygen to the blood and it's

the basic building block of steel.

Iron is the most common metal in the world. It's soft, it's malleable,

it's corrosive, but it's also durable. You see in front of you a picture of

an iron pillar that's standing in Delhi, India. It's been there since 400 AD.

It's 24 feet high. It's 15 inches

in diameter and it has stood the test of time.

The strength that Barzillai had, the iron

will that he had was to serve.

That strength, that greatness is something that we so often miss. The disciples had

been walking with Jesus and they missed it.

They wanted to know who was the greatest. Matthew 18 and verse 1.

And Jesus says we've got to have the humility of a child

to be great. Matthew 18 and verse 4. That humility

drives service. Our theme this year

is Mark 10 and verse 45. To serve like Jesus did.

It's incredible that we can go all over the New Testament and we can see

examples of that.

We can see principles taught, but then God inserts an obscure

person into the Bible that we don't spend a lot of time

reading about and then we see through somebody like a Barzillai

how service can come. When we look at the life of Barzillai we see

that you can give what you have to help others who are needy.

There are thirsty, there are hungry, there are

hurting and fleeing souls. We need to give what we can for as long as we can.

To the golden years of our life. We need to give without expectation

of return. We need to give others an opportunity

and we need to give when others are in need.

Jesus says that begins by giving yourself.

If any man will come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.

Luke chapter 9 and verse 23. For all that God has done

Luke 9 · chapter mention

to show himself the great giver. Jesus gave his life for us. Galatians 2 and verse 20.

That we might have eternal life. What he says in response is

give yourself to him. Maybe you're ready to do that.

We saw that on the last Lord's Day

when one obeyed the gospel two weeks ago. How beautiful it was to see someone do

that.

Maybe there's someone here today who needs to act in faith in Jesus.

Repent of sins and be baptized to wash away your sins.

To give your life to him. Maybe as a child of God

you need to be rededicated to him. Maybe you need to serve him.

Maybe there needs to be a quiet resolve or maybe in your life there needs to be a

return to him in a public way.

Chase is going to lead us in a song of encouragement. If you need to respond

why don't you do it right now as we stand and sing.