Generous Giving

we are today drawing to a close our series, Generous God.

The thrust of this series has been that God's generosity to us

in the Lord Jesus Christ produces a life of generosity,

pervasive generosity, generosity in all areas of life,

generosity with our time, with our talents, treasures,

our testimony, with our relationships, hospitality,

with forgiveness, all of life, all of life.

And one of the challenges has been is that it's possible to be generous

in one area of life without being generous in another area of life.

It's quite possibly generous here but stingy over here.

It's possible to give away large portions of our finances and assets

while not willing to serve in a ministry.

What that tells us is that our time is more valuable to us

than anything else.

or to not draw close to others,

not to spend time but to share our hearts,

to share our emotions, our feelings,

because our privacy is more valuable to us

than our time or our possessions.

The radical generosity of God to us in Jesus Christ,

it is a holistic salvation,

produces a holistic, pervasive generosity

in all of life of those who follow him.

Radical generosity is so much more than money

but it's not less than what we do with our money.

That's why we've not really focused on the issue of money

in this entire series right through,

I dabbled in a little bit earlier on,

but right through this whole term,

we've not really touched on the issue of money

until right today, right at the end.

Because I didn't want you to think it was all just about money.

And I know you've been busting,

waiting for the money one to come.

And so here it is today,

just to complete the whole series for you.

Now, why are we doing it right now?

Why are we doing it?

There's three reasons I want to talk about money.

Number one, it's because I actually want us to celebrate today.

While we have had,

and you've been aware of this in communications,

we've had some significant financial challenges

this year as a church,

due to the childcare centre not coming off earlier this year.

and we've, however,

continued to give as a church,

which has been fantastic.

Back in 2014,

can't believe it was only 10 years ago,

part of the funding to redevelop our entire site here

was for us to take out a mortgage

of about a bit over $400,000.

We started this year

with about $93,000 or so left to pay off on that mortgage.

As of the end of last month,

that is entirely paid off.

St. Paul's is now debt-free

for the first time since 2014.

That's a celebration moment.

That is a phenomenal effort.

So as I talk about money today,

I'm talking about it with a heart of celebration for us as a church.

I think it's a phenomenal response that we've had this year.

Secondly,

I want to talk about money

because in Luke's gospel,

Jesus talks about money, possessions, greed, and wealth,

a whole lot.

One third of his parables in Luke

are about this issue.

He warns of the dangers

and what it looks like to have a life of pervasive generosity.

So Jesus talked about it

and we want to talk about it.

Thirdly,

crucially,

our perspective on money and possessions and wealth

and how we handle them

lie at the very heart of the Christian life.

At the very heart of the Christian life,

at the very center,

the core of the Christian life.

If you think that's an overstatement,

it is not.

I'm not using hyperbole here.

The Bible emphatically demonstrates

that what we do with our finances

significantly influences eternity.

Not just to other people's,

yours.

God has recorded in the Bible

everything we need to know

about his investment priorities,

his high standard of management

and the rewards he offers

his faithful stewards.

The issue of riches and wealth and money

come up again and again and again

as Jesus takes his journey towards Jerusalem.

And as he draws near to Jerusalem,

he's asked a question by a man known for centuries

as the rich young ruler,

which is our text this morning.

And with this interaction with Jesus,

there are three things to learn about money,

wealth and possessions.

And if you've got the St. Paul's app in front of you,

I'd encourage you to open it up

and you see the three points there in front of you.

And the first one that he highlights

is the danger of money and wealth.

And that's our first point.

We see it in the middle of the passage.

We're at Luke 18.

So I open that up if you haven't got it in front of you.

Luke 18 verse 24.

Luke 18:24

Jesus looks right at this rich young man

and he says to him,

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.

Now, John touched on this last week.

He strayed into my passage, unfortunately,

but that's okay.

I'm not correcting him on anything that he said.

I'm just gonna remind you of what he said

because it's so essential.

Jesus is using the metaphor of impossibility.

The camel was the largest land animal

the people knew at that time.

The eye of the needle was the smallest hole.

It is impossible, in other words,

he's saying here.

It is impossible for the rich to get into heaven.

Now, as I was writing this out,

the richest person in the world at that time

had a personal fortune of $251 billion.

I don't know if it's gone up or down since then,

but it probably doesn't matter to him a whole lot.

I personally do not appear on any of the published rich lists.

And yet, when Jesus says this,

he's talking to me.

He's talking to you.

Everyone sitting in this room here,

he's talking to us.

He is saying that it is easier for a camel

to go through the eye of a needle

than it is for us

to get into heaven.

Notice the reaction of those who are listening to this.

Verse 26.

Well, who then can be saved?

You see, the disciples were confused by this

because in their culture, their day and age,

they thought it was the rich ones

who were particularly blessed by God.

Everything they had came from God.

So it must have been God

who had obviously particularly blessed them

because of their righteousness

or in some way.

And Jesus' response here is,

what is impossible with men

is possible with God.

Notice Jesus did not say,

what is impossible for rich people,

it's possible with God.

He says, what's impossible with men

is impossible.

In other words,

what is impossible for all people,

it's possible for God.

He's saying,

all salvation is a miracle.

It is impossible for anyone

to save themselves

because as Romans 3 tells us,

all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

It's not possible for anyone

to save themselves

except for God intervening

and doing the impossible.

Now, the reason why Jesus raises that issue here

is because the same thing

that makes salvation impossible for all of us

is made worse

by wealth, money and possessions.

In the Old Testament book of Proverbs,

it's a great book

if you have never read it,

it's about,

really about primarily concerned

with how to navigate life

in God's world well.

The Proverbs talks a lot about money

and it talks,

it's particularly got two very important things

to say

about the spiritual power of money.

Firstly,

it says that money has the power

to distract you

from what's important in life.

Distracted enough

so that you actually don't ask

the really important questions of life

or why am I here

and what am I really meant to accomplish in life?

In fact,

it can even be so distracting

for Christians

that they don't think

about the deeper issues of life.

What are my priorities?

What is my next step?

Proverbs 11 verse 4 says,

Proverbs 11:4

wealth is worthless

in the day of wrath

but righteousness delivers from death.

What that's saying there is

money can't help you.

It can't save you.

When the troubles of life hit,

it can't help you.

It does try to give you

some sort of a delusion

into think that if you've got enough money,

it will help you in those moments.

I get the cancer diagnosis,

I've got enough money,

I can go to the best doctors

to try and get that solved.

I've got a leg up there.

Get myself in trouble with the law,

got enough money,

I can hire the best barristers

to get me out of trouble.

It gives you the illusion

that it will keep you safe.

But you're not safe.

You're not safe from grief,

from bereavement,

from illness,

from disaster.

Ironically,

you're not even safe

from financial ruin

if you've got lots of money.

Money can't stop death,

it can't stop tragedy,

heartbreak,

and when it comes,

if you've spent your life

pursuing it,

trusting in it,

living for it,

it won't give you anything back.

Money has the power

to distract us

from the important questions

of life.

The second thing

that Proverbs says

about money

is it distorts

your self-image.

In Proverbs 30,

Proverbs 30:8

verses 8 and 9,

it says,

give me neither poverty

nor riches,

but give me only

my daily bread,

otherwise I will have

too much

and disown you

and say,

who is the Lord?

To see a person

humbled under prosperity,

to see a person

humbled under prosperity

would have to be

one of the greatest

rarities in the world.

In fact,

I remember reading once,

someone said,

it's amazing how

the wealthy self-made person

becomes an expert

at everything

in life.

Not just their area

of expertise,

but everything

in life.

Only the self-made

wealthy person

seems to have

that problem.

It puts the person

into a place

where they say,

who is God?

Why do I need him?

That's the danger

of wealth.

So why is it so dangerous?

We're going to go back

to the beginning

of this passage

and unpack

the second point,

why wealth

is so dangerous

for us.

So again,

Luke 18,

Luke 18:18

verse 18.

A certain ruler

asked him,

good teacher,

what must I do

to inherit eternal life?

Why do you call me

good?

Jesus answered,

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 your mother,

all these I have kept

since I was a boy,

he said.

Now,

when we read that,

we should be shocked.

We should be shocked

by Jesus' answer

to the question,

what must I do

to inherit eternal life?

Because it appears,

in fact,

not just appears,

it's what Jesus says,

obey the Ten Commandments.

We should be shocked

by that.

The implication is

that's how on earth

you get salvation.

Be good

is what Jesus says.

This should shock us

because immediately

before this,

Jesus tells the story

the Pharisee

and the tax collector

where the obedient

religious man

went home

not saved.

But the sinner

is saved.

So,

what's Jesus do?

I mean,

come on Jesus.

Why did you not

just pull out

two ways to live?

You know,

take the guy

through Alpha

for goodness sake.

Why say that?

Why did he not say,

I am on my way

to Jerusalem

to die on a cross

to pay a ransom

to take the penalty

that you deserve

for your sin

and if you put

your trust in me

you'll have eternal life

and salvation.

Why did he not say that?

Given it's consistent

with the New Testament

and everything else he said.

that's because

to say to this young man

I've come to die

for your sins

would have been

incomprehensible

to him.

Like most people

he didn't think

he had a problem.

His culture told him

he didn't have a problem.

Look at what he says

in verse 21.

All these I've kept

since I was a boy.

In other words

I don't need

a rescuer.

I'm a good person.

I may not be perfect

but I don't need

a rescuer.

So what Jesus is doing

in his response here

is he's trying

to target the heart.

He's trying to dig deeper

into this man's heart.

Deep down

despite his goodness

he must have been

feeling unsettled

in some way.

That something

wasn't right.

something was missing.

Otherwise why would he

come to Jesus

with a question

in the first place?

It's understandable

really his predicament.

If we think

that we can get

right with God

by being good

we will always

feel insecure.

Even those

who project

an image

that they've got

it all together

on the outside

deep down

on the inside

they know better.

We know better too.

We all know better.

We know the things

that we've done.

We know the things

that we've thought.

We know the things

that we

would work

our entire life

to hide

from everyone else

so that they

do not see

the true us.

The things

that we cannot hide

from our own

consciences.

Jesus is reminding

this man

that his first

and his fundamental

problem

is that he

is in fact

not good

at all.

No mere

mortal

is.

And then

Jesus starts

to prime

us to show

him where

he's not good.

Verse 22

when Jesus

heard this

he said to him

you still lack

just one thing

wouldn't that be great

just one thing.

Sell everything

you have

give to the poor

and you will have

treasure in heaven

and then come

follow me.

should be crucial

to point out

again that

Jesus has

never

never

suggested

to another

individual

that the way

to be saved

is to give away

all of your money

to the poor.

He's never done

that before

and never does

it after this.

He's doing it

here

as a brilliant

strategy

to help

this young

man see

that he

has a need

of rescuing.

he targets

his heart

his idol

is what he

does

the core

of his life

that he's

living for

the thing

that he's

looking to

to ultimately

make him

approachable

to God

or God

to like him

in some way.

You see

money for him

is not just

a tool

it's his

scorecard

it's his

security

it's his

hope

this is

the thing

that he's

squeezing

God

out of

his life

and when

Jesus

presses him

on this

one issue

he finally

sees that

in fact

he's not

obeying

the commandments

at all

he can't

even get

past the

first one

you must

have no

other gods

before me

his money

was his

God

because he

walks away

sad

refusing to

surrender it

and that

puts Jesus

up

where he

puts money

up as the

alternative

God

he could have

used a whole

range of

things but he

only ever

puts money

up as the

alternative

God

you cannot

serve both

God and

money

you're devoted

to one

or the

other

but it

can't be

both

that

is why

wealth

is so

so

dangerous

which brings

me to the

last point

how do you

therefore

escape

the danger

my landing

point here

is you

escape the

danger

through a

life of

radical

generosity

the first

thing

to escape

the danger

is to

assume

that you

are in

denial

just

assume

it

Jesus

is so

blunt

with this

guy

because he

was in

denial

and that's

the very

nature of

addiction

the very

nature of

addiction

is that

you're

in

I'm not

addicted

I don't

have a

problem

I've got

it under

control

the first

thing that we

need to do

is to

assume

that we're

under the

influence

especially

living in

a society

that is

deeply

deeply

committed

to

materialism

where

your

personal

scorecard

is

your

assets

your net

worth

is your

self-worth

that's

our

materialistic

culture

so assume

that you

are marinating

in that

culture

all the

time

and it

is

having a

significant

influence

on your

priorities

assume

that the

amount

of money

that you

think

you need

is more

than what

you really

need

and assume

also that the

amount of

money that you

think you can

give away

is less

than what you

actually really

can give away

assume both of

those things

assume it

the bible

says that

money makes

us blind

in a way

that other

sins don't

no one

commits adultery

and doesn't

realise that's

what they're

doing

they know

exactly what

they're doing

but not

when it

comes to

money

we're

blind

to this

issue

the second

way to

escape

and the

key way

to escape

the danger

of wealth

is to look

to the rich

young ruler

as your

hope

your salvation

and your

motivation

salvation

why would

you do

that

when this

rich young

ruler walks

away

and rejects

Jesus

why would

we look

to him

for our

hope and

our salvation

well it's

because I'm

not referring

to him

I'm referring

to the other

rich young

ruler in

this passage

there's two

of them

Jesus is

around 30

to 32

when he

is headed

to Jerusalem

the bible

says that he

existed with

God for all

of eternity

he's the

God who

made

everything

he's the

God who

rules

everything

he's the

God who

owns

everything

sustains

everything

and he

left that

came from

heaven to

identify with

the spiritual

poverty of

humanity

he is on

the way to

Jerusalem to

die on a

cross

and into

a poverty

deeper

than any

human being

has ever

ever experienced

in the entire

history of

humanity

he will know

and experience

a humanity

deeper than

anyone has

ever experienced

he will

experience the

abandonment

and loss

like no one

has ever

experienced

he will be

stripped of

everything

including his

life

life

and what

he has

done for

us

2 Corinthians

verses

chapter 8

verse 9

puts in

economic terms

for us

for you know

the grace of

our Lord Jesus

Christ

that though he

was rich

yet for your

sake he

became poor

so that you

through his

poverty

might become

rich

he was drained

of all riches

chose to do

that so that

we

though we

are spiritually

poor and

bankrupt can

receive the

abundance of

his riches

his bank

account has

been swapped

with ours

in Jesus we

get adoption

into God's

family

forgiveness

we get

pardoned

we get

eternal life

it is the

only wealth

that makes us

truly secure

even in and

beyond death

and so we

need to look to

the true

rich young

ruler

the true

rich young

ruler

until we

get excited

excited over

what he has

achieved for

us

what he has

gifted to

us

this is what

this series on

generous God

has been all

about from

start to

finish

it's been

about the

gospel

the good

news of

Jesus Christ

look to the

glorious news

of God's

grace and

riches to us

in the Lord

Jesus Christ

until it

drains all

the power

out of

money and

possessions

until it

no longer

becomes your

scorecard

until it

just merely

is currency

it is no

longer your

security and

your self

esteem

your hope

your salvation

salvation

and so that

leads me to

the third

thing that

we need to

do to

escape

and that

is a

life of

radical

generosity

have a

plan to

use your

wealth with

purpose

to use it

with eternity

in mind

as stewards

of God's

resources

and I got

four steps

here very

quickly

four steps

number one

investigate

what percentage

of your

income you're

currently giving

away

how much

goes to

Christian

ministry and

charity

Christian

ministry to

help people

out of

spiritual

poverty

charity to

help people

out of

physical and

emotional

poverty

investigate

what percentage

that's not

hard to

do

number two

if

that

percentage

is not

at least

10%

the very

least amount

that the

disciples are

to give

away

the very

least

biblical

amount

is 10%

work out

how you

could aggressively

move towards

10%

before the

end of

this year

which means

step three

work out

what sacrifices

you are going

to make

to get

there

selling

stuff

cutting

back on

expenses

if it

is not

sacrifice

to get

there

then it's

not radical

generosity

if you

don't need

to make

sacrifices

to give

10%

then you

aren't

giving

enough

sacrificial

giving

is not

about a

percentage

it is

about our

living standard

changing

in such a

way that we

feel lost

so that others

might gain

that's what

sacrificial

giving is

that's what

radical

generosity

is

it's not

a percentage

it's about

you feeling

lost that

others might

gain

let me add

to what

Jesus says

here at

the end

of these

verses

having seen

the rich

young ruler

walk away

Peter pipes

in verse

28

we have

left everything

to follow

you

what about

us

and Jesus

reassures

his disciples

that though

they have

sacrificed

many things

that they

have left

many things

they will

never fail

to receive

many more

blessings

now and

forever

truly I tell

you Jesus

said to them

no one who

has left

home or

wife or

brothers or

sisters or

parents or

children for

the sake of

the kingdom

of God

will fail to

receive many

times as much

in this age

and in the

age to

come

eternal

life

when you

choose to

lose for

others

you actually

gain

you actually

gain

in other

words when

you choose

to lose for

others

you're pursuing

your joy

step four

decide what

you're going

to give

and follow

through with it

make yourself

accountable

in other words

our giving

to ministry

and charity

is a spiritual

issue

and like all

spiritual issues

we're accountable

for it

to live radically

generous lives

with our money

our wealth

and our

possessions

you don't

need courage

as much

as you need

joy

you need

joy

you need

to understand

everything that

you have

in Jesus

what he

God has

already

provided you

with

we need

to be

relaxed

and at

peace

and secure

enough

to give

away

our

resources

and this

joy only

comes when

we look to

the true

rich young

ruler

who lost

everything

so that

we might

gain

absolutely

everything

for eternity

and the

more we

look to

Jesus

and the

riches

we have

in him

the more

we allow

the gospel

to be preached

to our hearts

and our minds

day in and

day out

the freer

we will

live

a pervasively

generous life

to have

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 8:9

8 verse 9

with you

every time

you go into

Westfield

to have

it in

front of

you

before you

choose to

upgrade your

house

or do the

next renovation

to have

that in

front of

you say

here is

my hope

not this

thing that

I'm

holding

from the

rack

Jesus

is my

hope

fill

yourself

with gospel

joy

before

you open

your wallet

phone

you

knew

good

okay

I

may

oy

but

I

don't

okay