What You Give to God, He Multiplies
Introduction
Hattie May Wiatt, a six-year-old girl, lived near Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia, USA. The Sunday school was very crowded. Russell H. Conwell, the minister, told her that one day they would have buildings big enough to allow everyone to attend. She said, ‘I hope you will. It is so crowded I am afraid to go there alone.’ He replied, ‘When we get the money we will construct one large enough to get all the children in.’
Two years later, in 1886, Hattie May died. After the funeral Hattie’s mother gave the minister a little bag they had found under their daughter’s pillow containing 57 cents in change that she had saved up. Alongside it was a note in her handwriting: ‘To help build bigger so that more children can go to Sunday school.’
The minister changed all the money into pennies and offered each one for sale. He received $250 – and 54 of the cents were given back. The $250 was itself changed into pennies and sold by the newly formed ‘Wiatt Mite Society’. In this way, her 57 cents kept on multiplying.
Twenty-six years later, in a talk entitled, ‘The history of the 57 cents’, the minister explained the results of her 57-cent donation: a church with a membership of over 5,600 people, a hospital where tens of thousands of people had been treated, 80,000 young people going through university, 2,000 people going out to preach the gospel – all this happened ‘because Hattie May Wiatt invested her 57 cents’.
The theme of multiplication runs throughout the Bible. What cannot be achieved by addition, God does by multiplication. You reap what you sow, only many times more. What you give to the Lord, he multiplies.
Psalm 25:16-21
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 Relieve the troubles of my heart
and free me from my anguish.
18 Look on my affliction and my distress
and take away all my sins.
19 See how numerous are my enemies
and how fiercely they hate me!
20 Guard my life and rescue me;
do not let me be put to shame,
for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because my hope, LORD, is in you.
Commentary
Multiplication of blessings… and troubles
Jesus promised his followers a multiplication of blessings. But he also warned them that alongside the blessings there would be trouble. He said that whoever followed him would receive a hundredfold in this life – with persecutions (Mark 10:30).
David expresses how ‘the troubles of my heart have multiplied… See how my enemies have increased’ (Psalm 25:17,19). He speaks of loneliness, ‘affliction’, ‘anguish’ and ‘distress’.
Wherever God blesses, troubles and persecutions tend also to increase. Any kind of leadership will involve opposition. The greater the responsibility, the more your troubles will multiply and your critics increase.
David prays to the Lord for his help in guarding and rescuing him (v.20). When under attack, always try to act with integrity, uprightness and faith (v.21). Do the right thing regardless of what people say or think.
Prayer
Mark 7:31-37,8:1-8
7
31 Then Jesus... went through Sidon... and into the region of the Decapolis. 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.
33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement... “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
8 During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 2 “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.
5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied.
6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. 7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. 8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
Commentary
Multiplication of resources
With seven loaves and a few small fish, Jesus fed the 4,000 and the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over – the extraordinary multiplication of God’s provision!
Interestingly though, Jesus doesn’t just do a miracle, he first involves the disciples. He calls them over to explain what he wants to do (8:1–3). He allows them to think their way towards a solution (v.4), perhaps hoping that they will remember the feeding of the 5,000 (6:30–44).
He then enlists their help, by asking them for the food that they have (8:5). It is only at that point that Jesus performs a miracle, multiplying the food that they have given him. Even then he gets the disciples to help with the distribution of the food (v.6). Jesus loves to involve you in his plans and work.
The disciples’ role seems fairly small in comparison to what Jesus is able to do. God is able to do a lot with a very small amount. Whatever you give to God, he multiplies.
Today’s passage starts with Jesus healing a man ‘who was deaf and could hardly talk’ (7:32). He prayed for him ‘with a deep sigh’ (v.34). Perhaps this is the kind of prayer that Paul is describing as ‘wordless groans’ (Romans 8:26). This represents the Holy Spirit struggling in prayer through us. Jesus ‘said to [the man], “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened”)’ (Mark 7:34). Jesus not only opens ears – he releases and opens up your whole being – your heart, mind, emotions, finances and every other part of your life.
Aware of the multiplication of opposition, Jesus commanded people ‘not to tell anyone’ (v.36). However, ‘overwhelmed with amazement’ (v.37), they ‘kept talking about it’ (v.36).
After the miracle of multiplication, Jesus sent the crowds away so that he could concentrate on a smaller group of his disciples (8:9–10). The needs of the crowd were enormous – for evangelism and healing. Nevertheless, Jesus prioritised time with a small group of leaders.
In spite of all the miracles, not everyone believed: ‘The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven’ (v.11). They wanted compelling outward proof of his authority.
They were spiritually blind and unable to recognise the signs God had given. They wanted to choose signs of their own – which Jesus refused to do. It is still true today that miracles do not always lead to faith – people often dismiss miracles, thinking there must be some other explanation.
Prayer
Exodus 35:10-21
10 ‘All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the LORD has commanded.’
20 Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses’ presence, 21 and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the LORD for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments.
Commentary
Multiplication of volunteers
I have observed over the years the astonishing achievements that are possible when every member of even a small congregation gets involved in praying, serving and giving.
The people of God faced a massive task in the building of the tabernacle. They achieved it through a multiplication of involvement of volunteers. Moses assembled ‘the entire congregation’ (35:1, MSG). This is what is needed in every church today:
- Everyone praying
We saw in yesterday’s passage how ‘they all stood and worshipped’ (33:10). The Sabbath was not just a day of rest, it was a ‘holy day’ of ‘rest to the Lord’ (35:2). It was a day when people could devote more time to prayer and worship. The whole community prayed and worshipped.
- Everyone giving
They took up ‘an offering for the Lord’ (v.5a). Everyone was urged to give: ‘Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze’ (v.5b).
The task was not achieved by one generous donor alone: ‘And everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work… All who were willing, men and women alike’ (vv.21–22). Like Hattie May Wiatt, each one brought their ‘57 cents’.
If your community is to achieve everything that God is calling you to do, you will need everyone giving – not under compulsion but willingly (2 Corinthians 8 and 9).
As everyone got involved in giving, they had ‘more than enough’ (Exodus 36:5). ‘The people were ordered to stop bringing offerings! There was plenty of material for all the work to be done. Enough and more than enough’ (vv.6–7, MSG).
- Everyone serving
Everybody got involved in serving. The words ‘everyone’ and ‘all’ appear many times in this passage. It was entirely voluntary: ‘All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the Lord has commanded’ (35:10). For example, ‘everyone who had acacia wood… brought it’ (v.24); ‘Every skilled woman spun with her hands’ (v.25).
A key role was played by the artists, Bezalel and Oholiab. They were filled with the Spirit to make artistic designs and to teach others to do the same. Together they used their skills and ability to do the work: ‘Every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work’ (36:1).
All this was entirely voluntary. The people of God were ‘stirred up for God’ (35:21,26, AMP). The task was achieved by ‘everyone whose heart was roused, whose spirit was freely responsive’ (v.21, MSG). If we are to achieve what God is calling us to do as a community, we need this multiplication of volunteers.
Enthusiasm is infectious. Don’t waste your time hanging around people who try to belittle your dreams. Associate with people who inspire and challenge you, lift you higher and make you better. Walk with the visionaries, the believers, the doers and the courageous. Great people make you feel that you too can become great.
Stir one another up to pray, serve and give. You will be astonished by how God is able to multiply your 57 cents and do more than you could ever ask or even imagine.
Prayer
Pippa adds
Occasionally, when I am in a rush in the morning, I have to decide between having breakfast and reading my Bible. Generally, I decide on breakfast so I am very challenged by today’s New Testament passage in Mark 8:2, which says the people had been with Jesus for three days without having anything to eat. Their priority was right; it was (and still is) much better to be with Jesus.
Verse of the Day
Psalm 25:20
‘Guard my life and rescue me; for I take refuge in you’
Thought for the Day
Associate with people who inspire and challenge you, lift you higher and make you better.
Action for the Day
Give something to God; he multiplies.
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References
Hattie May Wiatt illustration from Sermon by Russell H Conwell ‘The History of Fifty-Seven Cents’, Sunday morning, December 1, 1912.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.