Regular & Sporadic Generosity

Well, good morning, everyone.

Great to see you.

If I've not met you before, my name is Steve,

lead pastor here at St Paul's.

And you have caught us in the middle of this series

or towards the end of this series on rhythms of grace.

And we come to the one which is the one

we particularly don't want to talk about in our day and age,

and that has to do with money and giving,

probably because it's one of the biggest idolatries

of our day and age.

It's deeply connected to who we are as people.

So let me pray because this one probably tends to be

the most difficult one for us to hear.

And as I preach, the tendency will be to listen

to the voices in my heart and the voice of society

coming up with all kinds of excuses and reasons

and justifications as to why we don't need

to obey God's word at this point.

So let's pray.

Gracious God, you are magnificent.

You are worthy of all of our honour and praise.

You are the God who has called us,

who has made us and called us as your people

into obedience to you.

Lord, you have gifted us with everything good.

You are a radically generous God.

You are the God who owns all things,

and you have called us to be your stewards.

And yet we are existing in a day and age and a culture

with hearts that love to build our identity

on all sorts of things,

but primarily in this day and age

on the accumulation of things,

of wealth and security.

We love the idea of security.

We love the idea of comfort.

And so, Lord, challenge us that we might lean into you more

and that we might experience your generosity

and joy in you more.

So let us hear your word today.

We pray for whatever is needed for each heart that is gathered,

that you would speak through your word,

by your spirit and bring change.

And we ask it for your glory.

Amen.

It's a well-sighted fact that in the three years

of Jesus' earthly ministry,

he said more about money and possessions and greed and wealth

than he did about faith or sex or family or anything else.

And that in a day and age,

which was when under Roman oppression,

where the family unit and the idea of society

as a collective unit was prominent

in the way that they, in terms of their value system,

and yet he spoke more about money

than he did about anything else.

One-third of his parables are on the topic of money.

Our perspective on money and possessions and wealth

and how we handle them,

therefore, lies at the very heart of Christian discipleship,

which is the concern that we have at the moment

for our vision series.

What we do with our resources will influence eternity.

And God has recorded in the Bible

everything that we need to know about his investment priorities.

What does it mean to be a steward of the resources

that he's given us?

He's recorded everything we need to know

about the high standards he has set for management

and the rewards that he offers his faithful stewards.

The New Testament gives us plenty of examples

of the good that is done by a life of financial generosity.

2 Corinthians 8 and 9,

we see that sacrificial giving is acceptable to God

in verses 11 and 12.

It supplies the needs of others and relieves hardship

in verses 14 and 15.

It stirs up generosity in others in chapter 9, verse 2.

It enhances Christian fellowship and partnership

in chapter 9, verse 14.

And it leads to the praise of God in chapter 9, verses 12 to 15.

But it is what financial generosity does to our own hearts,

our own lives, that is just as important

and why we would include it in our list of rhythms of grace,

Christian disciplines, holy habits,

that it should be a regular thing that we are constantly practicing

to drive the big truths of God down into our heart

and out into the way we view the world.

So Jesus connects our hearts and our wealth

when he encouraged his disciples

to store up for themselves treasures in heaven in Matthew 6.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

And wherever your heart is will drive the course of your life,

what your value, what your priorities are,

how you behave, what you commit to,

what you say yes to day in and day out.

Maybe we also think that the Apostle Paul was using hyperbole

when he wrote, the love of money is the root of all evil.

The spirit of our age actually prefers Mark Twain's version of that verse

where Mark Twain wrote, the lack of money is the root of all evil.

Maybe we think Paul was overreaching when he wrote in 1 Timothy 6.10

that an eagerness for money causes some people to wander from the faith,

piercing themselves with many griefs.

He must be talking about someone else.

He must be clearly talking about the very rich people.

How could money be that tightly connected

to eternal issues like salvation?

And so we come to Luke 18, James just read out to us,

where Jesus has an interaction with a guy

who through the centuries has become known as the rich young ruler.

He's rich, he's young, and he's a powerful figure.

And in this interaction, there are three things to learn

about money and wealth and possessions

and the life of generosity.

And you'll see them on the screen.

That's our journey today.

First of all, the danger of wealth.

We see that in the middle of the passage, Luke 18,

if you've got your Bibles open at that point.

There's also an outline for today on the St. Paul's app

if you want to follow along and take notes

as we're cruising along as well.

So 24, verse 24, Jesus looks right at this rich young man

and says,

how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.

Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle

than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.

Basically, what Jesus is doing here

is using a metaphor of impossibility.

The camel was the biggest land animal

that people knew of that time.

The eye of the needle was the smallest hole

that they could imagine.

And so it's the impossibility of the rich

entering into heaven, into God's kingdom.

That's the impossibility.

And when Jesus speaks about rich people here,

he isn't referring to people

on the Forbes annual rich list in the world,

you know, the billionaires.

He's referring to people like you and me.

When it comes to...

It's interesting in our culture,

whenever it comes...

This is one of the issues

because money and wealth and possession

is such a key issue for us,

is that whenever it comes to wealth,

we always naturally look up the line

and look to people who are wealthy in us.

And we compare ourselves to people who are wealthy in us.

And when it comes to issues of morality,

we always look down the line

and we look at people who are less moral than us.

Either way, we feel better than those people

and we're not quite as good as those people.

And so whenever Jesus is referring to issues of morality,

well, he mustn't be referring to me.

He must be referring to those people.

When he talks about the rich,

he's clearly not talking to me.

He must be talking to those people.

And so we let ourselves off the hook

on every instance.

So I'm a pastor

and my wife is a teacher

and I think I've said this before.

We saw a financial advisor once

and he said to us,

you're not giving me much to work with here.

Come back when you've got other jobs

or you've got more money to play with.

Anyway, so we got rid of him

and got another financial advisor.

Anyway, so if I get my income

and I type it in

so you can actually get this website,

Global Rich List,

where it's not just about the Forbes Rich List,

it's where you can put your income

pre-tax or post-tax

into a website

and it will calculate for you

where you sit on the Global Rich List.

As it turns out,

more than 90% of the world's population

are poorer than my wife and I

based on just income.

Nothing else, just income.

90% of the world's population.

That means that if we own assets

in a place like Chatswood

or our surrounds,

then you are way higher than 10%.

In other words,

what I'm getting at here

is that Jesus may well be having

this conversation with you.

That's the point that I'm making.

It's easier for a camel

to go through the eye of a needle

than it is for us to be right

with our Creator God.

Verse 26,

the disciples hearing this go,

well then,

who then can be saved?

You see,

in their culture,

they thought it was the rich ones

who were particularly blessed by God.

And so if the rich can't get in,

well, who can?

And Jesus responds,

what is impossible with men

is possible with God.

Notice Jesus doesn't say,

oh, well, look,

what is impossible for the rich people?

It's possible.

He actually says,

what is impossible for all people

is possible with God.

That is,

the point he's making here is

salvation is a miracle.

It is in fact an impossibility,

rich or poor,

for anyone to be saved

because Romans 3 says,

all have sinned

and fallen short of God's glory.

It's not possible

for any human beings

to be saved

except that God would intervene

and do the impossible.

That God would intervene

and be radically generous

with those who don't deserve it.

Now, the reason Jesus raises that here

with this rich young man

is because the same thing

that makes salvation

for all of us

impossible

is made even worse

with wealth.

The Old Testament book of Proverbs

is a book really,

it's about wisdom,

it's about how to navigate life

in God's world well.

And it says two really important,

it says lots of things about money,

by the way,

but it says really two important things

about the spiritual power of money.

Not just the, you know,

fiscal power of money,

but the spiritual power of money.

And the first thing it says

is that money is distracting.

Money has this spiritual power

to distract us

from what matters most in life.

distracting us

from asking

the really important questions

of

so what am I here for?

What am I really,

what is my purpose in life?

What am I seeking to accomplish in life?

Proverbs 11.4 says,

wealth is worthless

in the day of wrath,

but righteousness delivers from death.

What that means is

wealth is worthless

in the day of wrath,

is that money can't help you

when the troubles in life hit.

And yet it wants to confuse us

to think that it can.

Because we have this assumption,

the more of it we have,

the greater level of security we have.

It gives us that delusion

that we are safe.

But we're never safe.

We are never safe

from grief and bereavement.

We are never safe

from illness.

We are never safe

from disaster.

And ironically,

you're never even safe

from financial ruin.

Money can't stop death.

It can't stop tragedy.

It can't stop heartbreak.

It can't even stop poverty.

And when it comes,

we are totally unprepared.

Totally unprepared.

Money has the power

to distract us

from the important questions of life.

The other thing it says

is that,

that is,

Proverbs says,

it can distort

our self-image.

So,

Proverbs 30,

Proverbs 30:8

verses 8 and 9 says,

Give me neither poverty

nor riches,

but give me only

my daily bread.

Otherwise,

I may have too much

and disown you

and say,

who is the Lord?

What Proverbs is saying,

and you may be able

to see this

in your own life,

to see a person

humbled,

growing in humility,

under a growth

of prosperity,

it would have to be

one of the greatest

rarities in the world.

One of the greatest

rarities,

that is,

the growth in wealth

and accompanying growth

downward in humility

are not connected.

Wealth leads to pride.

It leads to pride.

It puts me in a place

where we say,

who is God?

I don't need God.

Look at me

and look at all

that I have.

I am a self-made man.

And of course,

the Proverbs also says,

give me not poverty

so that I might not

shake my fist at God

and say,

what are you doing

in my life, God?

It puts us in a place

of who is God?

Why do I need God?

That's the danger of wealth.

So,

why is it so dangerous?

Let's go back

to the beginning

of this passage.

We're talking about

Luke 18 here

and unpack it,

why it is so dangerous.

Verse 18,

right at the beginning.

A certain ruler

asked him,

good teacher,

what must I do

to inherit eternal life?

Jesus says to him,

why do you call me good?

No one is good

except God alone.

You know the commandments.

You shall not

commit adultery.

You shall not murder.

You shall not steal.

You shall not give

false testimony.

Honor your father and mother.

All these

I have kept

since I was a boy,

he said.

Now,

if you're a Christian

sitting in the room

and you'd know

anything about

the core message

of Christianity,

when you

read that,

you should be shocked.

You should be shocked.

You should be shocked

that Jesus

says to this guy,

the answer

to his question

of what must I do

in return,

Jesus says to him,

go and obey

the Ten Commandments.

As if somehow

that is how

you get right with God.

Why on earth

would Jesus

say that to him?

Because right

before this interaction,

Jesus tells the story,

another parable,

about a Pharisee

and a tax collector

where the obedient

religious man

pursuing the Ten Commandments

went home

not saved,

not right with God

and the sinner

was saved.

The one who lived

a life of disobedience

was saved.

And again

and again

and again

throughout the New Testament,

we see

it is impossible

to save ourselves

by being good,

by being religious,

by being moral.

So why does

Jesus

not say

to this guy

in this moment

when he rocks

up to him,

what must I do

to inherit

eternal life?

Why does Jesus

not grab

his blackboard

and his whiteboard

marker

and draw him

six boxes

and run through

two ways to live

or run through

for him

the four

spiritual principles

of life?

Why does

he not

say to him,

I'm on the way

to Jerusalem,

I'm going to die

on the cross

to pay a ransom,

to take the penalty

that you deserve

for your sin

and if you put

your trust in me

then you will

have eternal life.

Why does

Jesus not

do that?

Because

that's what's

been said

for

20 centuries

since Jesus.

Well,

because in this

moment

to say to this

rich young man

I've come to die

for your sins

would be

entirely

incomprehensible

to him.

You see,

the rich young

ruler at this

point

is in fact

like

most people

in our

society.

The vast

majority

of people

in our

neighbourhood

are

basically

good.

And to

walk in

and say

you need

a saviour

is

entirely

incomprehensible

to people

in our

day and age

as it was

for this

rich young

ruler.

See his

words,

verse 21?

All these

I have

kept

since I

was a

boy.

In other

words,

I don't

need a

rescuer.

I'm a

good person.

I might

not be

perfect,

but I

don't

need a

rescuer.

You know,

when I

look at

the people

down below

me in

the chain

of

morality,

I am

so much

better than

the vast

majority

of people.

all I

need

here from

you,

Jesus,

is just

a little

bit of

a push,

just a

little bit

of assistance,

just a

little bit

of guidance

to ensure

that I

get over

the line

in the

end.

And yet,

he still

comes running

up to

Jesus.

Despite

the life

that he

has lived,

deep down,

he wasn't

entirely

confident.

He knew

he wasn't

entirely

right.

Something's

wrong,

something's

missing.

Why would

he ask

the question

about securing

eternal life

if he thought

that he had

had it secured

through his

morality?

If we

think we

can get

right with

God by

being good,

we'll

always feel

insecure.

Have I

done enough?

Am I

doing enough?

Even those

who project

an image

that they've

got it

all together

on the

outside,

on the

inside,

they know

better because

in the

deep

recesses of

the heart

that no

one else

sees day

by day,

there is

that dark

corner that

we hope no

one will

ever see.

We know

the things

that we've

done and

the things

that we've

thought that

we could

hide,

but we

cannot hide

them from

our own

conscience.

Jesus is

reminding

this young

man that

his first

and fundamental

problem is

that he is

in fact not

good.

That's where

he had to

go.

No mere

mortal is.

What's the

point of

verse 19?

Jesus then

goes on to

show him

exactly where

he is not

good.

In verse

22,

when Jesus

heard this,

he said to

him,

you still

like one

thing,

sell

everything you

have and

give to the

poor and

you'll have

treasure in

heaven and

then come

follow me.

What's

Jesus doing

here?

Again,

what is he

doing?

I mean,

he has never

suggested to

anyone that

the way to

be saved is

to give all

of your

money away

to the

poor and

become poor

yourself.

He's never

suggested that.

So why

now?

Why now?

Because it

is a

brilliant

strategy to

help this

man see

his heart

and where

he needs

a saviour.

You see,

what Jesus

does here

is he

targets his

deepest

sense of

security,

his deepest

identity

marker,

his idol.

This is the

thing that

he's looking

to,

to give

him what

only God

can give

him.

You see,

for this

rich young

ruler,

money is

not just

some tool

for him,

it is,

in fact,

an identity

scorecard.

It is his

security,

it is his

hope.

This is the

thing that

is, in

fact,

squeezing

God out

of his

life.

And when

Jesus presses

in on him,

he sees

for the

first time

in his

life

that he

hasn't,

in fact,

obeyed the

Tenka

Moans

at all,

that he's

not,

in fact,

good at

all.

Jesus

pushes him

to give it

all up for

the poor,

give it

all up,

in other

words,

give it

all up

for God

and follow

me,

follow

Jesus.

And he

couldn't do

it.

He

couldn't do

it.

Verse 23,

it says,

he became

very sad.

The words

say,

he is

deeply

grieved.

He is

deeply

distressed.

What is

he deeply

distressed

about?

He's

deeply

distressed

because for

the first

time in

his life,

he has

understood

good that

he is

in fact

not

good.

You see,

his money

is just

a means

to an

end for

him as

it is

for any

of us

and his

money is

not just

money for

him,

it is

his worth,

it is

his hope,

it is

his security,

it is

in fact

his

greatest

treasure

and he

does not

want God

to get

in the

way

of that

and he

understands

for the

first time

in his

life that

he has

not obeyed

the Ten

Commandments

at all

because he

has not

even got

past the

very first

one.

You

shall have

no other

gods but

me.

It

wasn't

until

Jesus

took him

to

you

shall

not

covet

and

because

coveting

of all

the Ten

Commandments

coveting

is the

one that's

an attitude

of the

heart

not an

action.

It's an

attitude

of the

heart

and the

attitude

of the

heart

has now

been

exposed

in such

a way

that he's

understood

that God

is not

his

greatest

treasure.

Of all

the things

that Jesus

could have

picked on

let me

just land

this for

us for

a little

bit

of all

the

things

that

Jesus

could

have

picked

on

he

sets

up

money

as

the

alternative

God

when he

said you

cannot

serve

both

God

and

money.

We

are

devoted

to

one

or

the

other

but

you

cannot

have

both.

You'll

be

mastered

by

one

or

the

other.

You

will

never

be

mastered

by

both.

So how

do we

escape

the danger

of money?

Jesus

the rest

of the

Bible

tells me

that

wealth

money

materialism

is

incredibly

dangerous.

It's

one of

the

major

distractions

for those

who

follow

Jesus

and I

would

add

it's

one of

the

I

would

say

it's

got

to

be

close

to

one

of

the

most

primary

distractions

in

the

21st

century

in

Western

civilization

distractions

in

terms

of

following

Jesus.

Now

I've

got

three

things

we

can

do

to

guard

against

the

hazard

of

wealth

while

also

maximizing

the

helpfulness

of

wealth

and

money.

The

first

thing

is

to

assume

that

we're

in

denial.

That's

the

helpful

thing.

You

start

there.

Assume

that

you're

in

denial.

You

and

me

we're

all

in

denial

here

because

Jesus

is

entirely

blunt

because

that's

what this

rich

young

ruler

was.

He

was

entirely

in

denial

and

that

is

in

fact

the

very

nature

of

addiction.

And

addiction

will

constantly

say

I'm

not an

addiction.

I'm

not

addicted to

this

thing.

I don't

have a

problem

with

this

thing.

So

assume

that

we're

in

denial

because

the

dominant

philosophy

of

our

time

is

what

is

known

technically

as

philosophical

naturalism.

That's

the

world

view.

That's

the

dominant

world

view

of

our

day

and

age.

Philosophical

naturalism.

It's

what a

secular

age

is

built

on.

And

what it

does,

philosophical

naturalism

asserts

that there

is

nothing

beyond

the

natural

world.

Nothing

beyond

the

natural

world.

And

the

common

term

that we

use

for it

is

materialism.

And

the

goal

of

materialism,

of

philosophical

naturalism

is if

there's

nothing

beyond

this

world,

then

the

goal

of

life

is

to

consume

as

much

of

this

material

world

as

possible.

As

possible.

To

make

life

as

joyful

and

as

happy

for

you

as

possible.

And

so,

if

you're

one of

the

older

generations,

baby

boomers

and

above,

the

whole

goal

for

you

has

been,

you've

inherited

it from

your

parents

and

your

grandparents

who

came

through

World

War I

and

World

War II,

is

to

have

financial

security

in

life.

Until

you get

almost to

the

end

of

your

life,

and

then

you blow

it all

on

tours

and

trips

and

comforts

and

leather

lounges

that

get to

your body

temperature

and

bigotiva,

it's all

comfort and

security.

If you're one of the

younger generations,

you go,

screw that,

I want it now,

and with the

benefit of credit

and everything

else,

I'm going to

live the

high life

now,

but mainly

so you

splurge on

your resources

and accumulate

experiences

in life.

So one

generation is

financial

security,

another

generation

is

experiences,

and it's

all coming

from

philosophical

naturalism.

Now,

the goal

here,

if you like,

assume that

you're in

denial,

on this.

You see,

in this

country alone,

$20

billion

is spent

every year

keeping us

marinating

in the

materialism

worldview.

$20

billion just

in this

world,

in this

country,

which,

by the way,

is vastly

more than

what this

country gives

annually to

charities and

non-profits.

So the

first thing

to assume

is that

you are

under the

influence of

that very

well-spent

$20

billion to

get your

life aligned

with

philosophical

naturalism as

a philosophy.

Assume that

some of the

message is

having some

level of

impact on

you.

Assume that

the amount

of money you

think you

need is

more than

what you

really need.

And assume

also that

the amount

of money

you think

you can

give away

is in

fact less

than what

you really

can give

away.

The Bible

tells us

that money

makes us

blind.

So assume

you're in

denial.

Secondly,

look to the

rich young

ruler.

To counter

the constant

messaging of

our society,

look to the

rich young

ruler as

an example

for us.

And when I

say that,

you need to

hear me

this,

I'm not

referring to

the guy

that's in

front of

Jesus,

talking to

Jesus.

I'm referring

to the

other rich

young ruler

in this

passage.

Jesus is

around 30,

32 when

he was

heading to

Jerusalem

to die

on a

cross.

The Bible

says that

he existed

with God

for all

of eternity.

He's the

one who

made

everything.

He's the

one who

owns

everything.

He is

the one

who rules

and sustains

everything.

And he

left all

of that

aside

and came

from heaven

to identify

with the

spiritual

poverty

of humanity.

And he's

on the way

to Jerusalem

to die

on a

cross

and into

a

physical

and a

spiritual

and an

emotional

poverty

deeper

than any

other human

being has

ever gone

on the face

of the

earth.

He will

be stripped

of everything.

The one

who is rich

beyond all

measure

will be

stripped of

everything.

and he

does it

for us.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 8:9

8 verse

9 puts

it in

economic

terms

for us

the

gospel

of Jesus

Christ.

For you

know the

grace of

our Lord

Jesus

Christ

that though

he was

rich

yet for

your

sakes

he became

poor

so that

you

through

his

poverty

might

become

rich.

he was

drained

of all

riches

so that

we

though

spiritually

bankrupt

beyond

measure

can

receive

his

riches.

You see

in Jesus

we get

adoption

into God's

family

we get

forgiveness

we get

pardon

we get

eternal

life.

It is

the only

wealth

that makes

you truly

secure

not just

in this

life

but beyond

life

we get

the

affirmation

of the

eternal

God

the

praiseworthy

says

you are

my

much

loved

child

in

Jesus.

It's

the only

security

that this

world

cannot

take

away.

The only

identity

and so

the second

thing

is

we need

to look

to the

rich

young

ruler

until

we get

weepingly

excited

over

what he

has

achieved

for us

what he

has

gifted

to

us

look

to the

glorious

news

of God's

grace

and his

riches

to us

in the

Lord

Jesus

until

it

drains

us

of

all

power

of

all

the

power

of

money

and

possessions

let me

just

swing

this

back

to

what

I

wanted

the

earlier

message

if

you

are

not

in

God's

word

and

meditating

on

his

word

and

experiencing

day

in

and

day

out

the

wealth

of

what

you

have

in

Christ

and

pushing

that

down

in

your

heart

if

you

are

not

doing

that

daily

then

you

must

assume

that

you

are

in

denial

because

you

are

marinating

in

20

billion

dollars

worth

of

advertising

and

it

is

winning

the

war

against

your

soul

if

you

are

not

daily

in

his

word

then

the

messaging

of

our

society

and

where

you

get

your

security

identity

is

most

definitely

winning

and

so

look

to

the

glorious

news

of

God's

grace

and

these

riches

to

us

in

the

Lord

Jesus

until

it

drains

all

power

out

of

money

and

possessions

it

just

becomes

money

and

things

it's

no

longer

my

security

or my

identity

and so

the

third

thing

is

to

have

a

plan

to

use

your

wealth

with

purpose

to

use

it

with

eternity

and

as

stewards

of

God's

resources

resources

while you

have

them

so

here's

a couple

of steps

for you

step

number

one

take

the

time

to

investigate

how much

am I

actually

giving

away

at the

moment

based

on my

wealth

how much

am I

giving

away

and how

much

of that

is going

to

Christian

ministry

and

charity

Christian

ministry

to help

people out

of spiritual

poverty

charity

to help