Steve Gentry
[0:00] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to Luke chapter 12. [0:03] We’ll be starting in verse 15 this morning. [0:07] But if you need a little review since Easter, [0:11] we’ve been unpacking through a series that’s just simply been called Life. [0:15] We’ve been unpacking what it is to build a real life. [0:21] Specifically, if you have faith that Jesus is God, that He rose from the dead,
[0:26] what type of life flows out of that? [0:31] What type of life comes through faith? [0:34] And so since Easter, we’ve been looking at the different attributes of a life [0:38] that God is going to build. [0:40] Some of it has simply been what does Jesus give towards us? [0:45] What does He give to us?
[0:46] Because that’s always where grace starts. [0:48] That’s where the gospel starts, is that Jesus finds us in our sin [0:52] and He pursues us in His love. [0:55] And He redeems us, giving us forgiveness. [0:58] He paid the penalty for all time, eternal, complete, whole. [1:04] He’ll never leave us.
[1:05] He’ll never forsake us. [1:07] God’s love is for us. [1:10] And then in that reality, God changes us. [1:13] He brings into our lives what’s called transformation, [1:16] and He takes us from dead in our sins to alive through faith. [1:20] And we begin to form a life of becoming a disciple,
[1:24] of learning what it is to follow Jesus, of learning what it is that we surrender [1:29] everything to Him and then follow Him with our lives. [1:34] And about a month ago, I heard a great quote that I think fits so well [1:39] for us to understand what it is to become a disciple, [1:42] what it is for us to live a real life. [1:45] And it was from a pastor by the name of David Platt.
[1:48] And what he said was, is for you and for anyone in this room to come to Jesus, [1:52] means to lay down your life and your possessions and your pursuits [1:56] and your family and your future, your everything to surrender to Him. [2:02] Jesus never calls a person to partial, [2:05] casual discipleship or cultural discipleship. [2:09] There’s one option, and that is radical discipleship.
[2:12] It’s the surrender of everything you have and everything you are to Jesus. [2:17] So every Christian in this room, to every follower of Christ, [2:20] you’ve surrendered the right to determine the direction of your life. [2:26] You do not determine where you live. [2:28] You do not determine how you live. [2:31] You do not determine how you spend your money.
[2:34] You’ve relinquished that right. [2:36] He determines all these things. [2:38] Your role in my role is not to consider what Jesus says [2:42] and then decide what we think about it. [2:45] Your role in my role is to listen and obey, [2:49] because Jesus is Lord.
[2:51] The reality of someone or something being the Lord of your life [2:56] literally means to surrender your rights [3:00] to that person or that thing. [3:02] It’s an absolute surrender. [3:04] So to the culture around us in every day, [3:07] when we become disciples, it will be radical to them.
[3:10] It will be us surrendering. [3:12] It will be us sacrificing who we are to who Jesus is. [3:17] But I believe that there are some of us, maybe you’re in here, [3:20] who still believe a lie. [3:22] We assent, we agree to everything that we say, [3:25] everything that we see in scripture, but yet we still live as if the lie
[3:29] that we can have it all is true. [3:33] There will never come a point where you’ll have to make different choices. [3:37] There will never come a point [3:38] where Jesus will call you to sacrifice anything. [3:41] But he does. [3:43] He calls us first to sacrifice our all to him.
[3:47] The gospel gives us a new authority. [3:49] The gospel gives us a new identity and the gospel gives us a new mission. [3:53] And that is what we’ve been unpacking throughout this series. [3:58] And so this morning, I want to further that [4:01] and get a little more specific and practical into our lives. [4:05] And I don’t know that all of us will appreciate where we have to go
[4:09] in working out our identity in Jesus and working out our faith. [4:14] But today I’m going to talk about two specific categories of our faith in this. [4:20] And that is our pockets and our pursuits. [4:23] So in some ways, I’m coming into this understanding [4:25] that I’m going to kind of poke a grizzly bear this morning [4:29] because I’m going to talk about your money
[4:31] and I’m going to talk about what you do to get that money. [4:34] I’m going to talk about the time that you use for the pursuits in your life. [4:38] But if we’re very honest, specifically in our culture, where we are here and now, [4:43] this is how we build an identity. [4:47] This is how we build the life that we have. [4:50] And I’m coming into this with the presuppositions of two things.
[4:54] The number one, Jesus is God. [4:56] And if Jesus is God, that changes everything. [5:00] Because that means there is someone higher than I am. [5:03] There is someone with more authority than I have. [5:05] There is someone with more power. [5:06] And he can tell me what to do.
[5:10] And secondly, I’m coming into it with a presupposition [5:12] that the Bible is his word, the Bible is authoritative [5:16] because it’s his way that he chose to reveal himself to me. [5:20] Therefore, what it says, I must take seriously if I’m being changed by faith. [5:27] And this is the means through which he specifically has chosen to speak into my life. [5:32] Then I must look into this as to what the changes should be
[5:37] and what the changes should look like. [5:40] And so when we talk about building a life that’s generous, [5:45] we must look at what God would have us to define generosity as for our lives [5:51] and then what we are to leverage for that generosity.
[5:56] We saw last week that Jesus changes my will and my work for the pleasures of God. [6:01] That’s what we saw in Philippians, Chapter two. [6:04] But this is the how of how we’re going to do it and what for what it’s going to look like. [6:10] We believe that Jesus will give us strength for it. [6:13] So we unpack when he said that he is giving us the ability to obey him. [6:19] He’s empowering us through the Holy Spirit.
[6:23] But there’s something that’s very real in our culture, [6:25] and there’s something that’s very real in each and every one of our lives. [6:28] And that is that money is how we keep score. [6:33] And I know that for some of you, maybe you’ve come in this morning [6:36] and there’s a pastor talking about money, so you’re starting to tune me out. [6:39] But I can’t avoid this topic any longer.
[6:42] I’ve tried to for about four years now. [6:45] But as we’re going to see, Jesus has much to say about this topic. [6:52] So look at Luke, Chapter 12. [6:53] And here’s what I believe. [6:54] Luke is this book that is by the apostle Luke. [6:59] That’s why his name’s on it.
[7:00] But but what he is, is he’s taking an account or basically a journalistic [7:05] perspective on the life of Jesus and many of the harder sayings of Jesus [7:09] are recorded specifically by Luke. [7:12] And here’s one of his very hard saying, starting in verse 15, [7:16] where he said to them, take care and be on your guard against all covetousness [7:21] for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
[7:27] And he told them a parable saying the land of a rich man produced plentifully. [7:32] And he thought to himself, what shall I do? [7:35] For I have nowhere to store my crops. [7:39] And he said, I will do this. [7:41] I will tear down my barns and build larger ones. [7:45] And I and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
[7:49] And I will say to my soul, [7:52] so you have ample goods laid up for many years. [7:56] Relax, eat, drink, be merry. [8:00] But God said to him, full [8:04] this night, your soul is required of you [8:07] and the things you have prepared.
[8:10] Whose will they be? [8:13] So is the one who lays up treasure for himself [8:15] and is not rich toward God.
[8:21] This is a hard saying, and I believe it’s a hard saying for us right here, right now. [8:27] It’s been a hard saying for all time, but specifically in our culture, [8:30] because I look into a crowd in a room full of rich people. [8:37] And you may be thinking to yourself, well, you have not seen my bank account. [8:40] You’ve not seen my wallet. I am not rich. [8:44] I’m not going to take the time to bust out any statistics on you,
[8:47] but I want you to understand that regardless of your situation [8:50] this morning, right here in our culture, you are without a doubt [8:55] in the top five percent, at least in the world’s wealth. [9:01] The greater possibility in this room is that you’re probably in the top one percent. [9:07] Of the world’s wealth. [9:11] And so when we deal with the economy of the world as a whole,
[9:14] I want you to understand that when you look at it holistically, even with your debt, [9:21] because understand that whether it’s student loans, cars, houses, [9:25] credit cards, whatever the debt that you have is, it’s because you bought stuff.
[9:30] All right, you have wealth, even if it was an education, there’s wealth. [9:35] So we are a people who have much wealth. [9:40] We have much gain. [9:42] And we must consider the question of how does that affect our faith? [9:47] And what does our faith, what role does it play in determining how we use our wealth, [9:54] but also how we pursue that wealth and more?
[10:00] And that’s what this parable specifically deals with. [10:03] He’s speaking to a man who came to him and said, Lord, will you make my brother [10:09] split his inheritance with me? [10:12] And Jesus looks to him and he says, am I the arbitrator between the two of you? [10:16] And then he just immediately lays this parable on him. [10:19] So I don’t know what that man’s response was.
[10:21] Scripture doesn’t record it, but I can only imagine that he at least walks away [10:25] with his head looking down to the ground ashamed. [10:30] Because he comes to Jesus one thing and Jesus looks to him and says, you fool.
[10:37] Ask him a question, he says, after all of the life, all of these things that you build [10:42] up with what you have, whose will it be? [10:48] And I believe Jesus was telling him two things. [10:51] Number one, they’re not going to be yours anymore. [10:54] They’re going to do you any good. [10:56] The number two, I think he’s also laying down a large theological truth here
[11:00] when he talks to him about being rich toward God, because he has to understand [11:03] all of it belonged to God in the first place.
[11:08] See, many of us like to piddle and believe that we give our first 10% to God [11:11] than the other 90 is ours. [11:13] Even what you keep belongs to God, friend. [11:17] Because it’s all his. [11:18] He created it all. [11:20] He sustains it all.
[11:22] Theologian Abraham Cooper once said that there is no corner [11:25] or spot in the universe that God does not look at and say mine. [11:30] Because it’s all his.
[11:34] So if it all belongs to God, then it is all to be used [11:38] and leveraged and stewarded to point to him, to point to his greatness, [11:44] to magnify his glory. [11:47] And specifically, what is the most glorious about God, [11:51] and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the cross and the resurrection. [11:55] And if we believe it.
[11:59] Then we’re to use all of our money, all of our pursuits [12:02] to make him look great. [12:06] But let’s be honest for a moment, it doesn’t take very long [12:09] to to watch much TV or to look in our parking lots and look at the way [12:13] that we live to understand that money specifically in our culture [12:17] is how we keep score.
[12:20] It’s how we find identity, it’s where we have worth, [12:25] how often in the past week have you asked the question, how much does it cost? [12:30] All right. And the older you get and when you have family [12:34] and you have a house and you have children, you find yourself asking that [12:38] more and more and more. [12:39] And you’re looking at things that are broken.
[12:41] And the first question is, how much is this going to cost me? [12:44] How much is that meal going to cost? [12:46] How much is that thing going to cost? [12:48] So it’s how we ascribe worth to things. [12:51] There are some things that are worth more cost. [12:53] There are some things that are worth less cost.
[12:56] And the things that we give more worth are the things that we’re willing [12:58] to spend more money on from a very young age. [13:03] You define worth, you define success by money and possessions. [13:09] The very thing that Jesus says, that’s not true. [13:13] Your life is not made up by the abundance of possessions. [13:18] I remember when I was a very young child, I wasn’t even 10 years old.
[13:22] And one of my closest friends, his parents built him a batting cage [13:26] in his backyard. [13:27] And that was my first journey into covetousness, [13:30] because I began to ask myself, well, why don’t my parents [13:33] build a batting cage in my backyard? [13:35] And it has only gotten worse from there.
[13:41] We build our lives, whether we want to admit it or not, on an identity [13:47] of being worth and finding worth and financial success. [13:52] And material gain. [13:54] But even if it’s not money, it’s going to be something because I don’t want to talk [13:58] about money all day and have some of you feel like you’re on the sidelines [14:01] because you’re finding your satisfaction in something else,
[14:05] even if it’s prominence, even if it’s your career, even it’s in a significant other, [14:10] even if it’s in your children, even if it’s just simply in academic pursuits. [14:15] All of us are finding our identity in something or someone. [14:20] And the reality this morning is point number one is that Jesus changes [14:25] how you keep score.
[14:29] Jesus and faith in Jesus changes how you find and give worth. [14:37] He wants you to understand that none of us are reduced [14:42] to numbers, decimal points and paychecks and possessions and materials. [14:49] Instead, God has made his pursuit to help us understand that we find our worth. [14:56] We find our ultimate identity in Jesus and Jesus alone. [15:01] The gospel is to define my identity.
[15:04] The gospel is to define my worth. [15:06] The gospel is to define who I am and how I ascribe [15:11] or define my own value, as well as the value of other things. [15:17] Because there’s a tension that some of us struggle with where we want to just say, [15:21] OK, the gospel defines me and then everything outside of me that I’m actually [15:25] pouring my life into.
[15:27] We don’t put the gospel there practically at all.
[15:31] But the gospel goes out of your hands and your feet and everything that you do [15:35] every single day, all day. [15:38] He alone should be where you find your worth and your identity. [15:42] And if you find your identity in Jesus, [15:45] it will then drive you to be able to be generous with all that you have. [15:51] Why? Because you’re filled with value in Jesus
[15:55] and you don’t need all those other things as much as you once did. [16:02] So then you are able to freely give of yourself [16:05] because you’re not spending it keeping to find your identity. [16:10] You can hold things in an open hand. [16:13] So if you lose that thing that was once of so much value [16:17] that it would drive you to desperation, if you lost it in your life,
[16:20] for the loss of it doesn’t cripple you any longer because you say, [16:23] I still have Christ, therefore I have everything.
[16:28] Or if you find that God is calling you because there’s some great need [16:32] for you to give of that thing or those things.
[16:38] You’re not in desperation and you can freely give [16:40] because, you know, at the end of the day, you have the greatest gift of all. [16:43] You have Jesus. [16:45] She could freely give. [16:47] You can live the generous life, not because you just simply seek [16:52] to empty yourself, but because Jesus is constantly filling you with himself.
[16:59] It’s not about simple denial of having.
[17:03] It’s about having the right thing. [17:06] That is Jesus.
[17:09] But you see, friends, money shows what you find really important. [17:15] And it also shows where God stands in your life. [17:20] You see, in verse 15, Jesus warns us to guard against the want for great wealth [17:25] because the abundance of possessions should not and will not define a real life. [17:32] The example he uses to show should strike us because if it is how we keep score, [17:37] then we’re not pursuing Jesus.
[17:41] We’re not pursuing real faith. [17:45] We either chase and get the bigger barn or we spend our lives wanting that bigger barn.
[17:57] See, some of you aren’t tearing anything down to rebuild a larger barn.
[18:02] See, some of you do everything that you can to start off with the biggest barn or house [18:11] or car or bank account or whatever it be. [18:15] You want to start off with the biggest one that you can so that you can never fill it up.
[18:22] And you think you excuse yourself from this, but you don’t because that is the same thing.
[18:32] Whether it’s a house, a career, or a person, whatever you spend your life pursuing reveals your values.
[18:43] What does Jesus then say we should spend our life pursuing? [18:48] In verse 21, he says that we should spend our life pursuing being rich toward God.
[18:56] We should spend our life in pursuit of making much of him, of building our faith in him, of growing in our faith of him.
[19:08] Number two this morning, I want to get really specific with you and I want to make a statement [19:12] and then ask a question that’s just going to be logical with that statement. [19:15] How you spend your money shows your heart.
[19:22] The question is how should you spend your money?
[19:26] What should your heart reveal?
[19:30] Well first it should be that you score points for Jesus and not for yourself.
[19:36] Because in keeping score with money and possessions and other things, what we’re doing is we’re making much of ourselves. [19:44] God has never called us to do that. [19:47] He’s called us to live a life in which we score points for him, not for us. [19:52] I’m using an allegory there, I don’t literally mean the points.
[19:56] Jesus is wanting us to make much of him who he is in our life. [20:00] Therefore our bank account should show that. [20:04] Because some of us when we talk about money we excuse ourselves because we’re just bad stewards. [20:10] And we don’t want money to matter. [20:12] And so we never pay any attention to money. [20:16] But note one thing that’s very important about this parable and it’s what Jesus builds off of.
[20:21] Note that he did not tell him to not be successful.
[20:26] He does not start with a guideline that the fact that this guy filled his barn with grain and goods was sinful. [20:34] No.
[20:37] What he does is, he says how he used that gain is when he became sinful. [20:44] So some of you sinfully spend your life pretending money doesn’t matter. [20:54] So you excuse yourself from ever having to be generous because you never have anything to be generous with to begin with. [21:01] And you do this not only with money but you do it with time. [21:04] You do it with anything of building any type of success will ever look like so that you can excuse yourself from ever growing anywhere.
[21:14] Failure is not a fruit of the spirit. [21:17] It does not disqualify you from the gospel. [21:20] Failure is where God ultimately finds us and builds us with grace. [21:24] But understand that Jesus was not a failure.
[21:28] And there is He called us to be. [21:30] We should find great comfort in our failure. [21:33] But we should understand that this is not an us versus them. [21:37] God is going to give some people great wealth. [21:42] The rest of us are going to say I wish that was me. [21:44] But God is going to give some people great gain.
[21:47] What we look at in this world and we measure is great success. [21:51] And it’s just going to happen.
[21:53] And what God calls them to? [21:55] Live sacrificially. [21:56] Live generously. [21:58] Use it to make the name of Jesus great. [22:00] And for some of us God is going to give less. [22:03] That’s His prerogative.
[22:05] And what’s He calling us to do with less? [22:08] To make His name great. [22:10] To spend it well. [22:11] To steward it. [22:12] To make much of the name of Jesus.
[22:17] No matter where you are. [22:19] God is calling you to look at what you have. [22:23] And be a good steward with it. [22:26] Because you will not thoughtlessly drift towards obedience to Jesus. [22:31] No one does. [22:32] We thoughtlessly drift towards sin.
[22:36] It takes great intentionality to follow Jesus. [22:40] And build a life of discipleship. [22:43] And that is what Jesus is calling these people to hear.
[22:48] Consider. [22:49] What do you do with any gain in this life?
[22:55] Whether it’s two cents or whether it’s two million dollars. [22:59] What do you do with any gain? [23:02] You leverage it with generosity. [23:05] You leverage it with sacrifice.
[23:10] When He says be rich towards God. [23:13] That’s what He’s talking about. [23:15] The thoughtful, faith-filled life of following Jesus. [23:21] Paul gives us a great example in 2 Corinthians chapter 9.
[23:26] Starting in verse 1, he begins the chapter by telling them that their faith will drive them to give.
[23:34] And what Paul says to them, if I were to say it to you, you may never come back. [23:39] But Paul was pretty ruthless. [23:41] Paul literally looks to them in the first five verses of this chapter. [23:45] We’re going to start reading in verse 6. [23:47] He looks at them in the first five verses and he says the brothers are going to come to Corinth. [23:52] And they’re going to take up an offering to take back to Jerusalem.
[23:55] Because people in Jerusalem were dying for their faith. [23:58] People in Jerusalem were losing their jobs because of their faith. [24:00] People in Jerusalem were serving with faith. [24:04] And he wanted to take up an offering to give to the elders. [24:06] So that they wouldn’t have to worry about money. [24:07] So they give to the deacons so that they could serve more faithfully.
[24:10] And Paul looks to the church at Corinth and he says the brothers are going to come through. [24:14] Don’t embarrass me when you give.
[24:20] That’s literally what he says. [24:22] Because if you don’t give to this faithfully and generously, [24:28] it will make my work in Corinth pitiful. [24:31] Because it means you did not truly come to faith in Jesus Christ. [24:34] So in 2 Corinthians 9, Paul directly connects how you use your money with what your faith in Jesus is really like. [24:44] And so then this is what he says starting in verse 6.
[24:47] The point is this. [24:49] Whenever Paul offends an entire room, he tends to transition with that type of phrase. [24:56] He says look, here’s my point. [24:58] Since all of you are tuning me out right now. [25:01] Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. [25:04] And whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
[25:07] Each one must give as he has decided in his heart. [25:10] Not reluctantly or under compulsion. [25:13] For God loves a cheerful giver. [25:15] And God is able to make all grace abound to you. [25:18] So that having all sufficiency and all things at all times you may abound in every good work. [25:22] As it is written.
[25:23] He has distributed freely. [25:25] He has given to the poor. [25:26] His righteousness endures forever. [25:28] He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seeds for sowing. [25:35] And increase the harvest of your righteousness. [25:37] You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way.
[25:41] Which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. [25:44] For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints. [25:48] But also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. [25:51] By their approval of this service. [25:53] They will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ. [26:00] And the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others.
[26:04] While they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. [26:08] Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. [26:13] Do you see what he did in that terminology? [26:15] He says the amount of giving that you are willing to do. [26:19] The amount of sacrificing and generosity that you are willing to do. [26:23] Reveals what your faith in the gospel actually looks like.
[26:28] And he says if you sow sparingly you will reap sparingly. [26:31] If you sow bountifully you will reap bountifully. [26:34] What will you reap? You will reap righteousness. [26:38] Sometimes we like to turn this phrase and say if I give 50 I will get 100. [26:43] If I give 100 I will get 10,000. [26:46] No! That is not the example he uses.
[26:48] That is not the context. [26:49] You will reap what real riches are. [26:54] The gospel of Jesus. [26:56] God will fill you with the life of Christ. [26:59] He will fill you with a yearning for his righteousness. [27:03] And with a relationship with him.
[27:05] And with closeness with him. [27:07] Therefore if you are willing to give the more you give the more of God you will get. [27:14] Because that is the greatest reward he could give. [27:18] If there is anything greater that God could give you other than himself that would be God.
[27:24] And so sometimes we say God if I give you some of my false God I want you to give me back a lot of my false God.
[27:35] That would be damnation if God did that to us. [27:39] That would be cruel.
[27:42] Now God desires for us to show his great worth to this world. [27:45] Because look what he says. [27:47] God loves a cheerful giver. [27:51] How could you do that? [27:53] How could you sacrifice and be joyful in it? [27:58] If your reward was something better than what you sacrificed.
[28:03] That is how. [28:04] And then Paul lays the trump card. [28:09] Paul says praise and thanks be to God for what? [28:14] For his inexpressible gift.
[28:18] I mean that trumps him. [28:20] Because there he says you can’t out give God. [28:22] You can’t out sacrifice God. [28:24] You can’t out love God. [28:26] You can’t out gift God. [28:28] You can’t out do God in any of this.
[28:31] Because God gave to his people who didn’t deserve anything other than hell. [28:39] Everything he found us in our sin emptied himself. [28:44] The one who spoke the world into existence became a man laid his life down on the cross paid the penalty for our sin. [28:53] Endured the wrath of God the father. [28:58] And gave us his righteousness forever.
[29:08] Paul looks at that crowd and says how could you ever look to that God and say God you are requiring too much. [29:15] You are asking too much. [29:17] You want me to be too generous.
[29:22] Paul looks at that logic and he says are you truly thankful for his inexpressible gift. [29:33] It’s so great you cannot put into words its value. [29:40] Because it’s the greatest gift that has ever been given. [29:43] It is the life of God himself into the lives of sinners. [29:48] It’s us.
[29:51] And so when you begin to look at everything you have in comparison to what God promises us in the gospel. [29:57] You will find a group of people that just look at all they have and they will say God it’s yours. [30:02] Take it because I’ve got you. [30:05] No matter how much I lose. [30:08] So got you. [30:09] No matter how much I gain in this life.
[30:11] It’s nothing compared to you.
[30:15] So it builds a life of generosity.
[30:23] So understand.
[30:26] When we look at how we spend our money we must understand that Jesus calls us to give generously.
[30:34] Our generosity correlates with our faith. [30:38] If you give much you will get much. [30:41] The question then becomes. [30:43] Okay specifically tell me Steve how much do I get. [30:47] Alright. [30:48] I want to start out by telling you straight up.
[30:50] I’m not going to argue this. [30:51] I’m not going to beleaguer this point. [30:53] We can talk about it later if you’re a pocket theologian in here and you want to argue with me. [30:56] I’m not going to satisfy your cravings right now. [30:58] I do not believe we are bound by the tithe. [31:03] Okay.
[31:03] I don’t believe the law condemns. [31:05] I do not believe we are bound to it. [31:07] I believe Jesus frees us from its bindings. [31:09] Therefore we are not bound by the tithe. [31:14] But it’s a good place to start.
[31:17] With the Old Testament tithe. [31:20] It’s a pretty good indication of the kinds of lives we can reasonably expect to live. [31:25] Because for many of you with the income you have. [31:29] You can’t give away just 2 or 3 or 5 percent. [31:33] And be demonstrating anything about your devotion to Jesus. [31:37] Other than it’s not good.
[31:42] So I’m not giving you a law there. [31:45] I’m giving you reality.
[31:48] Okay. [31:49] Now if your household has an income of $80,000 a year. [31:55] And you say where did you get that number? [31:57] The Midlothian website. [31:58] Because that’s the median income of one job. [32:02] Alright.
[32:03] I looked at that and demanded a raise. [32:05] I’m just kidding. [32:05] I’m just kidding. [32:07] Some of you are like we need a meeting. [32:09] No that was a joke. [32:10] That was a joke.
[32:11] Okay I didn’t do that. [32:13] Alright. [32:14] But if you have an income of $80,000 a year. [32:17] And you give $100 a month. [32:21] That is not saying anything to the world about your commitment to Jesus. [32:25] I’ll be that frank with you.
[32:26] I’ll be that blunt. [32:28] There’s no sacrifice there. [32:31] If you’re not missing it. [32:33] It’s not generous. [32:35] You’re like okay. [32:36] But I don’t make that much.
[32:38] So I’ve still got an out. [32:40] Let me be more clear. [32:42] If you spend more money on hygiene products. [32:45] Than you give. [32:47] You are not generous.
[32:52] If you spend more money on cable. [32:56] Than you give. [32:58] You are not generous.
[33:07] And bring your hands toward God. [33:09] We must realize that we will be sacrificing for this. [33:15] C.S. Lewis once said. [33:17] And this is something that’s helped us as a staff team greatly in our own lives. [33:21] And so I share it with you. [33:23] I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give.
[33:27] I’m afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. [33:31] [33:31] In other words. [33:33] If our expenditure on comforts. [33:35] Luxuries. [33:36] Amusements.
[33:37] Et cetera. [33:38] Is up to the standard. [33:40] Common among those with the same income as our own. [33:43] We are probably giving away too little. [33:47] If our giving does not at all pinch or hamper us. [33:51] I should say it is too small.
[33:53] There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot. [33:57] Because our commitment to giving. [33:59] Excludes them. [34:01] You are always safe quoting C.S. Lewis. [34:03] There you go.
[34:07] Joke.
[34:10] Here is the reality. [34:12] When was the last time.
[34:16] You could not do something. [34:19] Because you had given away too much.
[34:25] When was the last time. [34:28] Something that you wanted. [34:30] That was just a thing. [34:32] It was an amoral thing. [34:33] It was an amusement. [34:34] It was a luxury.
[34:36] When was the last time you said no. [34:39] Because it would hamper your generosity.
[34:46] When was the last time. [34:48] You did not go to whatever restaurant is trendy right now. [34:53] Because you were using too much money to give away.
[35:00] You are not the only one feeling that right now.
[35:04] Most of us are in that boat. [35:07] But that is the type of inventory we must constantly take in our lives. [35:11] If we hope to apply the gospel to our pockets.
[35:16] Am I being generous. [35:19] Do you ever miss the money you give away. [35:22] Or is it a simple byline in your monthly budget. [35:26] And you never miss it. [35:30] Friends generosity is sacrifice. [35:33] And when it ceases to be a sacrifice.
[35:36] When you cease to have to give anything up for what you are giving.
[35:43] Then we are simply living a life of luxury. [35:46] And we are looking at the abundance of our possessions. [35:49] And saying that is my life. [35:51] Because it is all in a closed hand.
[35:56] There is no other culture on earth. [36:01] Where you just simply stop at the coffee shop on your work every day. [36:07] And buy a $4.50 latte thoughtlessly.
[36:17] That is why I know we are wealthy.
[36:21] I don’t mean to demonize any of those things.
[36:27] What I do mean to tell you. [36:29] Is that we are called to live lives of taking what God has given us. [36:34] And showing the world how great he is with it. [36:38] And when we spend just like our unbelieving neighbors. [36:43] And our unbelieving family. [36:45] And then wonder why don’t they take my faith seriously.
[36:50] I think we have our answer. [36:52] We are just not willing to admit it. [36:56] The answer is that your life is no more generous than theirs. [36:59] Your life is no different. [37:01] You find glory in the exact same thing that everyone else finds glory in. [37:06] And Jesus is simply an afterthought.
[37:11] Often we are too busy finding joy in things that have nothing to do with Jesus. [37:16] And we never experience his joy. [37:19] If that is true, what does it say about our faith?
[37:24] So where do we give? [37:26] Where do we give? [37:28] Your giving should start with the local church. [37:32] That is God’s plan of taking his mission to the world. [37:37] Therefore this is where it begins. [37:40] And we do everything that we can as leadership to steward that wisely.
[37:46] To give away appropriately outside of these walls. [37:49] As well as be completely transparent to those who give. [37:54] We will show you everything. [37:55] We will show you the books. [37:57] From salary right on down the line. [37:59] We are honest about these things with you.
[38:02] But I know that some of you have had painful experiences with frankly charlatans.
[38:12] And we are constantly on guard and constantly accountable to keep that from happening here. [38:16] We want to heal the wounds that unfaithful people have given you. [38:22] It is my goal in life to never be that. [38:27] So I surround myself with people that constantly make fun of me. [38:31] I am just kidding. [38:33] But they do.
[38:35] James.
[38:41] Our money does reveal our faith.
[38:45] When we fail, and we will. [38:49] I want you to be real about that this morning. [38:53] There will come moments of disobedience. [38:55] And you will fail.
[38:58] You must be willing to think about that and repent.
[39:04] But some of us use our disobedience as a reason to be more disobedient. [39:07] That does not make any sense in the lens of faith.
[39:12] Some of you have excused yourselves until now. [39:16] And you have said, we are talking about money. [39:18] I do not have any.
[39:22] So I am not going to listen. [39:24] It does not apply to me. [39:26] There is one of two boats. [39:27] I have already dealt with one. [39:28] You are just immature and you do not want to be a good steward. [39:31] Stop that.
[39:33] The second one is debt. [39:35] We have already said that debt represents wealth. [39:39] Typically. [39:41] There are extreme situations where I am not going to deal with outliers. [39:44] I want to deal with the majority. [39:47] So for those of you that are in debt.
[39:49] I understand that 3% will pinch right now. [39:57] So that is what I am calling you to. [40:00] But then if you are so mired in debt. [40:03] That you cannot use finances. [40:05] You cannot use possessions to make much of Jesus. [40:09] I call you to come and talk to us.
[40:11] Because we have programs of help for you. [40:15] And it will take a long time for some of you to get out of that. [40:19] But your repentance and your discipleship will look like Jesus digging you out of that hole that you dug. [40:25] But you must be willing to admit and be transparent with us about that. [40:29] And in the meantime. [40:31] You are called to let giving pinch just like everyone else.
[40:34] But it may look smaller.
[40:38] For some of you it means selling your house. [40:40] Selling your cars. [40:42] Selling all of those things you have put yourself into a bad situation with. [40:47] And that may be what you are called to. [40:49] And I do not do it legalistically. [40:50] I do it compassionately.
[40:52] Because that may be the greatest decision you will ever make. [40:55] So that you have faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[41:01] But Jesus will find you where you are. [41:04] And love you far too much to leave you in that situation. [41:08] No matter how hard the road. [41:10] Even if it is one or two decades long. [41:15] It is going to be worth it. [41:16] Why?
[41:17] Because he is going to fill you with his righteousness. [41:20] That is the point of all of this. [41:22] He is going to fill you with his joy. [41:24] No matter where you are. [41:25] No matter what situation. [41:27] So whether you are in great debt.
[41:29] Great poverty. [41:30] Whether you are in great riches. [41:31] Understand the calling of God is the same on your life. [41:34] It is to make much of him. [41:37] But here is the boat some of us are in. [41:39] We get a raise at work because we have done a good job.
[41:43] And our first inclination. [41:45] I have got to buy a bigger house. [41:47] I have got to buy a better car. [41:50] I have got to find somewhere to put this.
[41:55] The gospel calls us to understand that our first thought should be. [42:02] How can I use this to further the mission of Jesus?
[42:06] It is about priorities. [42:09] It is about values. [42:11] It is about showing what really matters with your life. [42:15] It begins in the church and then stretches out to our circle of friends. [42:20] See some of us are so marginless in our finances. [42:25] That if a great friend or family member needed help.
[42:28] You couldn’t give it to them.
[42:34] It is not the generous life.
[42:39] And we are doing everything that we can to help those in need here. [42:42] This is where it starts. [42:45] But we need to be a church that when the member in our community group is going through a really tough time.
[42:53] We can help pull them up. [42:56] We can help show them a better way. [42:58] Because we are generous to our friends. [42:59] [42:59] We are generous towards God and we are generous towards each other. [43:01] And we are always generous with the gospel.
[43:05] Remember three this morning. [43:06] How you spend your time. [43:10] Also shows your heart.
[43:14] Some of us will say, okay. [43:16] I am giving money. [43:18] I am going to go work 80 hours a week now. [43:19] I can’t do anything.
[43:22] Some of us on the other side will say, alright. [43:25] I served here Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. [43:28] I was here all day Saturday. [43:29] I have been here for both services. [43:30] Somehow I was in the band and I did child care. [43:33] I mean I am the superstar.
[43:35] But I am not going to give you any money.
[43:39] That is not a whole life.
[43:43] See God has called us to give of everything. [43:45] God has called for us, for him to be our real God. [43:49] Our Lord. [43:51] Remember what is the Lord? [43:52] The Lord is the God that you surrender everything to. [43:55] Look in Matthew chapter 6 verse 19.
[43:59] Matthew 6 19. [44:01] He says, do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth [44:04] where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. [44:08] But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven [44:10] where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. [44:14] For where your treasure is there your heart is also.
[44:18] Note that he does not say where your heart is that is where your treasure will be. [44:24] Now he says where your treasure is that is where your heart will be. [44:28] Because some of us sit around waiting until God gives us this great passion.
[44:34] Well then I will put my treasure in that. [44:37] No. [44:37] What God says is where is your treasure right now? [44:40] Okay there is your passion. [44:42] That is what you love. [44:44] What are you spending all your money on?
[44:46] What are you spending all your time on? [44:48] What do you really treasure? [44:50] Okay that is where your heart is. [44:51] What God calls us to do is to move our treasure [44:55] and then he says our heart will follow our treasure. [44:59] Because that is the way it works.
[45:02] That is reality.
[45:04] Friends if you consistently work 80 hours a week at your job or jobs [45:08] you will have more money and less of God.
[45:15] You need to find a different job. [45:19] And I cannot qualify that to make you feel better.
[45:27] It does not mean that there are not seasons of bursts of busyness. [45:32] I am talking about the consistent pattern of your life. [45:35] Some seasons will be busier than others. [45:38] I know that. [45:39] For some of us we constantly pour our lives day after day [45:45] hour after hour into either a job, a game, a hobby, a sport, something.
[46:02] And we say I just wish I had more time.
[46:09] If you are sitting watching hours of television,
[46:13] you have got plenty of time.
[46:20] If you are spending all of your time on a field, you have got time.
[46:27] I would just say if you are spending all of your life building a career,
[46:34] you have got time. [46:37] You are just putting it into what you really treasure in this world.
[46:45] Down in verse 24 Jesus makes this statement. [46:48] He says no one can serve two masters. [46:51] For either he will hate the one and love the other, [46:53] or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. [46:55] You cannot serve God and money. [46:58] I want to extend that to say you cannot serve God and blank.
[47:10] Take inventory right now. [47:12] What is in that blank for you? [47:16] For a lot of us it will be money.
[47:20] For some of us it will be something else.
[47:23] Understand, you will not continue on a path where you are convincing yourself [47:31] that you value them both.
[47:35] You will eventually begin to forsake God for that other thing. [47:39] That will show something about where your faith really is. [47:43] We bury a lot of idols under the disguise of praising God for how fortunate we are. [47:49] Really?
[47:52] Are we really fortunate?
[47:57] How much are your pursuits furthering Jesus’ mission?
[48:05] That is the real question of how fortunate we are.
[48:12] Jesus calls us to live generously for him. [48:21] Jesus calls us to look at our time, look at our family, [48:25] look at everything that we are and say how can I make much of Jesus with this? [48:29] The sad reality this morning is the very ones that we are called to live [48:37] and to pass our faith on to the next generation. [48:41] It is our children that we look at and we say I have to give them a better life.
[48:45] I have to give them a bigger house. [48:47] I have to give them a better school. [48:48] I have to give them a better this, a better that, a better car, a better clothing. [48:52] I have to give them better. [48:54] So we sacrifice all of our time for it. [48:56] We sacrifice all of our money for it.
[48:58] We have the American dream now. [49:00] When we look at our lives and the gospel says that we are called to take his word, [49:05] we are called to take his mission to the corners of the earth to people who have never heard the mission of Jesus. [49:12] We come and we praise him on Sunday morning and then we walk out the door [49:16] and we use the very ones that we are called to pass our faith on to as an excuse as to why we can’t live his mission.
[49:28] Your children do not need you to be rich.
[49:34] For some of you it would be a blessing for you to have less.
[49:41] Because then maybe you will disciple your children.
[49:47] We give them math tutors, chemistry tutors, soccer tutors, baseball tutors, softball tutors, tutors to help them tutor some day. [49:54] We give them all of this stuff and then we spend all of our time making more money to give them more stuff [50:00] and then we question why they forsake the faith in college.
[50:11] The gospel is far too important.
[50:17] Where is our faith, friends?
[50:21] What is our faith really in?
[50:27] People every day who have never heard the gospel are dying and going to hell.
[50:39] And I never do without to get it to them.
[50:45] For some of you this morning God is going to call you to spend a season sacrificing something. [50:51] It is called fasting.
[50:55] He is going to call you to sacrifice something for a season and give that to his work or give that to someone or give that to something. [51:03] Give that to the church, the gospel will go further.
[51:10] At the end of that season you will look at that thing and I have done this.
[51:16] I don’t really need it back. [51:18] Now if you fast from food you are going to need it back. [51:22] You will literally die if you don’t start eating at some point.
[51:28] When was the last time you did that? Have you ever done that?
[51:34] As the band comes up we could spend all day on this.
[51:41] What I really want us to grasp is that when Paul says thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift.
[51:52] That is to well up inside of us this thankfulness and gratitude towards the faithfulness of God. [52:00] Then we look at communion which we do every week here. [52:06] In the cup it represents the shed blood of Jesus and the bread represents the broken body of Jesus. [52:11] We look at those things and we have a tangible thing in front of our eyes that represents and shows us this gift that God has given us. [52:20] There was nothing too much for him to give.
[52:25] I was thinking earlier on a Sunday like this.
[52:35] Two thousand years ago. [52:38] That same Jesus rose.
[52:40] He rose to give me a real life. [52:45] He rose to give me a generous life.
[52:50] When we come this morning I want you to understand that you are coming to look. [52:55] You are coming to proclaim that inexpressible gift.
[53:01] For some of you this morning when you come I want you to come with the attitude that God I am so thankful for your gift. [53:08] Thank you for giving me the ability to be generous. [53:11] Thank you for giving me the ability to continue this journey of repentance of my sin. [53:17] To continue this generous life that you have already started.
[53:22] I know that there are also many of you in here this morning. [53:26] That when you come I want you to come in repentance. [53:30] I want you to come in repentance. [53:32] And understanding.
[53:35] Just be transparent to God and say God I have dug a hole. [53:40] Where I have found my worth in the abundance of possessions. [53:44] Where I am laying my money at the altar of stuff. [53:49] Finding my prominence. Finding my worth. [53:51] Where I am pouring my time into things that don’t make much of your name.
[53:57] God help me. [53:59] Here is what I want to tell you this morning. [54:01] Some of you are so far in your hole that you are hopeless.
[54:07] But see the gospel that inexpressible gift that means you are hopeful. [54:12] That means you don’t have to be hopeless. [54:14] Because you have not dug a hole so deep.
[54:20] That Jesus cannot come right there in your hole. [54:24] Save you forever. Change your life. [54:26] And then begin to build a life where you slowly but surely will fill that hole. [54:32] And then as you are doing it when you fail. [54:34] Jesus looks at you and says I will never leave you. [54:36] I will never forsake you. You are mine.
[54:38] Even if you die before this hole is full. [54:41] You are mine. I am going to take you with me. [54:43] And in the journey I will be there.
[54:48] That is how good our God is.
[54:53] So for some of you.
[54:57] Bring it all this morning and lay it at Jesus’ feet. [55:00] And then walk out this door and you begin to live differently somewhere. [55:05] It is going to be a long road. [55:07] But start with one step this morning. [55:13] Because Jesus is God. [55:17] When you are ready.