Generous Life

It'd be great if you can get your Bibles open at Luke chapter 10, if you haven't got there already.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

And also the St. Paul's app has an outline for today's message, The Generous Life.

Historical study has revealed that Karl Marx, the self-proclaimed defender of the working class

and the working class public, never truly knew or had any relationship with a single member

of the working class public.

So far as researchers know, he never set foot in a flour mill, in a factory, in a mine,

or any industrial workplace in his entire life.

He lived a carefree, bohemian lifestyle, an intellectual lifestyle.

He knew poverty because of his lifestyle choices, but he always kept company with middle class

intellectuals.

When he created the Communist League, he made sure that working class socialists were eliminated

from any positions of power and influence in the organisation.

It is also clear for all his endeavours to be the social benefactor of humanity, he disliked

people.

And he continuously fought with members of his own family and circle of friends.

Marx lived his life in an atmosphere of verbal violence, quarrelling with everyone with whom

he associated with, with any length of time.

He worked hard, in fact, most of his life to become middle class.

He spent the last two decades of his life in a comfortable middle class homes.

And for the last 10 years of his life, he never had anything less than two servants.

Why do I mention that?

It's because it is so hard for humans to live up to what we champion intellectually.

It is so hard for us to live out what we hold to as being our belief system.

You know, it's not uncommon to love the idea of loving people than actually loving people

themselves.

Now, from a biblical perspective, our love for people is even more revealing.

Because it indicates the authenticity and the health of our relationship with God.

The spiritual logic is clear.

Love for God produces love for people.

And when you turn that spiritual logic around on its head, you can discern a love for God

by the existence of love for others.

That's the correlation.

And it's there in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

And so today we're entering into this new series called Generous God.

And it's going to carry us to the end of term.

And the basic idea is that God's generosity to us in Jesus Christ produces a life of generosity.

Or another way to put that, God's love for us produces a life of love.

Sacrifice produces sacrifice.

Now, when I say generosity, I'm not meaning exclusively or primarily money.

I mean generosity in all of life.

Money is but a means of transaction.

It's a commodity in the same way that my time is a commodity.

Some of us can be generous with finances but not generous at all with our time.

And not generous with our emotional life.

I'm talking here about generosity in all of life.

With times, talents, treasures, testimony, relationships, hospitality, forgiveness.

All of life.

A life of love.

Now, our text for this series is the travel narrative in Luke.

And it's called the travel narrative in Luke because Jesus is traveling.

Who would have thought?

He's on a journey with his disciples.

Starts at Luke chapter 9 verse 51 where Jesus resolutely, it says there,

Luke 9:51

he set his face to Jerusalem.

And it ends in chapter 19 verse 44 when we discover that Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem.

And all the way along he teaches his disciples what it means to follow him.

And he says some radical stuff.

What we discover in the travel narrative is through the stories Jesus tells

that he turns the thinking of the world upside down and inside out.

Hence the graphic we have in front of us of a wheat field that's upside down.

Not because we're in Australia.

It's because it's upside down.

The travel narrative of all these stories that Jesus tells is he messes with the value system

of the world in which we live.

And there's probably no greater story, more controversial story he told

than the story of the Good Samaritan that Nolene just read out for us just then in chapter 10.

So three points today.

The mandate for a generous life, the magnitude of the generous life,

and the motivation for a generous life.

You'll see that on St. Paul's app.

Open that up.

And Luke chapter 10, kicking off with verse 25.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

The context of this story and the mandate for the generous life is where an expert in biblical law

asks Jesus what must he do to receive eternal life.

And we are told that he asked Jesus this question because he wants to trap Jesus.

He wants to trap Jesus because Jesus has been doing what they think he shouldn't be doing.

And that is welcoming people, welcoming sinners.

Jesus hanging out with people that he shouldn't be hanging out with.

And in their mind, he's disobeying the law.

Jesus is open.

He is friendly to sinners.

And this scholar in this moment wants to expose Jesus as someone who does not respect the word of God.

That's his intent.

He asked Jesus, what must I do to be saved?

What must I do to be accepted by God?

And he expects Jesus as someone who's not taking God's word seriously to say,

it doesn't matter.

Look, in the end, we'll all get there.

In the end, it'll all be fine.

Just do some good stuff.

That's what he's expecting Jesus to say.

God will accept everyone.

But instead, it's Jesus who traps him.

And it's a good trap.

Never be afraid to be trapped by Jesus.

It will turn out for your ultimate benefit.

The law expert's heart is exposed by Jesus here.

And Jesus asked him, well, what does the law say?

And he gives Jesus a summary of the law.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength,

with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Which is great.

You know, like, it's much better for Luke not to have to record the entire law again,

the whole Torah, and put it in there.

He does a summary version, which is what the Old Testament does.

Deuteronomy 6, Leviticus 18.

Does a summary of the law.

Love God, love your neighbor.

What does it mean to, first of all, love God?

What does that mean?

Archbishop William Temple put it like this.

Your religion is what you do with your solitude.

There's a description of what it means to love God.

Your religion is what you do with your solitude.

In other words, where does your mind go naturally in the moment of quiet?

I know we don't allow ourselves quiet very much nowadays,

but where does it go in a moment of quiet?

In other words, where does it love to dwell?

Where does your mind love to dwell?

Is it God?

Is it his love?

Is it his characteristics?

Is it his attributes?

Is it his excellencies?

You know, when that moment where the TV's off,

and you're not scrolling through Facebook,

and you're not updating your life,

and you have, just, I need 10 minutes to consider the excellencies of God.

There's a go there, naturally.

That's what it means, according to Archbishop William Temple.

It means to love God, is that you are dwelling on him.

So do you love God?

William Temple says,

Where it goes is your real religion,

your real God,

your real faith,

your real salvation,

your real hope.

The first test

is love God so much

that he dominates your solitude.

Love him so much

that you are content in any circumstance,

because you will always have what you want the most.

So let me ask you,

anyone here pass that test?

Anyone?

Okay.

Let's leave that.

That's only 50% of the test.

One more to go.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

As yourself.

Meet the needs of your neighbor

with all the force,

all the joy,

all the speed,

all the power

by which you meet your own needs.

Be as happy for them

when their need is met

as when your own is met.

Is that it?

That's all?

Pretty simple.

Well,

when you see the law,

when you see what the law is after,

as opposed to,

I've obeyed that one,

I've obeyed that one,

tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

When you actually see

what the intent of the law is,

you go,

wow,

I'm starting to feel the force of it now.

It is brilliant

what Jesus does here,

because the law outlines

a way of life

that is right,

but the force of the law

helps me to understand

that I cannot do it.

The law is the way of life,

but it can't be the way to life.

That's the brilliance

of what Jesus does in this moment.

We should live this way,

but when you see the force of it,

you realize you cannot live this way.

And so Jesus traps us.

The mandate to live a life

of radical generosity

and love towards others

is so,

so crucial

that Jesus makes it,

in fact,

the test of genuine love for God

in Matthew 25.

Okay,

so that's the test.

That's the mandate.

And then we get to

grappling with the magnitude of it,

because this is essential.

What does this law expert do

as soon as he hears Jesus say this?

He immediately,

his natural inclination

is to put limits around it.

This religious expert

immediately wants to put limits.

Verse 29,

he wanted to justify himself,

and so he asked Jesus,

hang on,

when you say neighbor,

who is my neighbor?

I mean,

who do I really have to live like this with?

He wants to reduce the force

of the biblical law

so that it's reasonable,

so that it's doable.

You see,

the premise of his life

has always been,

God will accept me

because I am good.

I'm good enough.

So what's the minimum standard

that God requires?

And that's when Jesus launches

into his most famous story,

and the magnitude of the generous life

becomes very clear.

There's a guy traveling down

from Jerusalem to Jericho.

We are to assume

in this story

that he is a Jewish man.

This man gets robbed,

he gets stripped,

he gets beaten,

and he's left for dead.

By chance,

a Jewish priest

comes wandering by.

Surely,

he will help.

The priest

couldn't be bothered.

He walks on the other side

of the street.

He didn't want to go near him.

Now,

a Levite comes along.

Again,

expert in the law.

Jewish man

comes along.

You would think

he's going to help

a fellow Jew,

but he can't be bothered.

Walks on the other side

of the street

and continues on.

And then along

comes the Samaritan.

And Jesus

telling this story

to a mainly Jewish crowd

and they would have gone,

Samaritan?

How dare he bring

a Samaritan

into this story?

Jews and Samaritan tensions

were incredibly deep

racial tensions

over a very long period of time.

The Samaritans

were despised

more than any other

people group to Jews.

And the majority

of Jews

in Judea

and Galilee

absolutely

detested

Samaritans.

And by the time

of Jesus

in first century

Palestine,

that animosity

between these two groups

had grown

to the point

over several hundred years

where there was

violence

and murdering

of one another.

Genocide even.

In villages.

What's the Samaritan

doing in Jesus'

story here?

The Samaritan

sees the injured Jew

on the side

of the road

and he goes

over to him

and he has

compassion on him.

He cleans him up,

treats his wounds,

puts him on his donkey,

takes him to a local motel,

checks him in,

hands over his credit card,

says,

I'll fix up

whatever the

expenses are

when I come back.

No limitation.

It's one of those

American Express

platinum black thing,

you know,

no limit.

Hands it over.

Go for broke.

This story

is socially charged.

It is offensive

for the Jew

to hear this story.

So imagine

I get an invitation

to address

a neo-Nazi

far-right

white supremacist

rally in Australia.

and I get up there

and I tell this story

about this

Australian SAS soldier

who's been blown up

on the side

of the road

by a bomb

in Afghanistan.

He's lying there

on the side

of the road.

He is

dying.

Australian

military medic

comes along,

sees the man,

walks on the side

of the road,

continues on.

Australian

army chaplain

walks by,

sees the man

and continues on

and leaves him

there to die.

But friends,

let me tell you

about the ISIS

terrorist

who came along,

saw the man,

treats his wounds,

picks him up,

puts him in his

Humvee,

takes him

to a medical

facility,

treat and end,

hands are over,

pays for all the costs,

but also

pays for his

military pension.

Do you think

they're going to

invite me back?

Do you think

I'm going to

get out of there

unscathed?

That's the context

of Jesus here

right in this

moment.

Remember,

this story

is the answer

to a question

and the question

is,

who is

my

neighbour?

What is the

bare minimum

standard

that God

requires of me?

And at the end

of the story,

Jesus

says to his

lawyer,

do that.

Do that.

Treat

your worst

enemy

like that.

Treat

the whole

range

of their

needs.

Live

and act

and love

and serve

and think

and sacrifice

like the

Good Samaritan

all of the

time.

Not part

of the time,

not just

most of the

time,

all of the

time.

Meet

the needs

of people

who belittle

you,

curse

you,

marginalise

you,

ridicule

you,

hate

you,

berate

you,

ignore

you,

demean

you,

would even

kill

you,

with,

love them

with all

the force,

all the joy,

all the speed

and all the

power by which

you meet your

own needs.

that is the

magnitude

of the

mandate

of the

generous

life.

And Jesus

will not

allow us

one moment

to limit

the force

of it.

Not one

moment.

And yet we

try to.

We try to

limit the

who,

we try to

limit the

when,

we try to

limit the

how much.

It's natural

for us to

want to be

generous to

people who

are like

us and

who we

like.

You know,

after all,

Steve,

charity begins

at home.

In most

cases,

it never

goes beyond

the home.

And Jesus

won't let us

limit it here.

The Samaritan

reached across

an enormous

racial and

cultural barrier

to help

a natural

enemy.

We also

tend to

limit the

when.

It's

very

typical

to be

generous

to people

and

situations

when

we

think

it

isn't

their

fault.

When we

think they

deserve

our

generosity.

And Jesus

won't let us

do that

either.

You know,

a natural

disaster,

it wasn't

their fault,

it happened,

they're destitute

because of

that,

let's be

generous

towards

them.

we're

generous

when we

think they

deserve it.

The Samaritan

here would

have

absolutely

believed

that the

guy

along the

side of

the road

deserved

what he

got.

He's a

Jew,

he deserves

to be in

the gutter.

He's a

member of

an oppressing

group,

and he

still

helped

him.

So

imagine

I

decided

at the

age of

53

to take

up

parkour.

And I

decided

for my

first

attempt

at this

that I

was going

to

move

as quickly

as I

could

from

this

side

of the

street

to the

other

side

of

the

street

via

the

rooftop

of the

church

building

the

trees

and the

power

lines.

Obviously

I didn't

make it

very far.

I'm

on the

middle of

the road

or probably

actually just

at the

end of

the

building.

I've

got

multiple

fractures

on my

limbs

and

I'm

not yet

electrocuted

but that

was the

next thing

that was

going to

happen

to me

and I'm

lying

there.

Do you

think in

that

moment

I

would

do

anything

to

love

myself?

You

would

all

say

rightly

so

idiot.

What

was he

thinking?

What was

he

thinking?

And in

that

moment

are you

going to

I'm

not going

to read

the

ambulance

he's

getting

what

he

deserves.

Do you

think I'm

in that

moment

going to

lie

there

and go

no

no

no

don't

call

an

ambulance

I

do

not

deserve

to have

my

fractures

healed

and my

blood

put back

in

I

don't

deserve

it.

I

am

going

to

pursue

the

meeting

of my

needs

in that

moment

with all

the

force

and all

the

joy

and all

the

speed

that I

possibly

can

in that

moment.

I'm

going to

do

that

for

myself

even

though

I'm

an

idiot.

Jesus

won't

let us

limit

the

when

he

won't

let us

limit

you

only

meet

the

needs

of

people

you

only

meet

the

needs

of

people

when

you

think

they

deserve

it

because

there's

a

single

person

in

this

room

who

only

meets

your

needs

when

you

think

you

deserve

it.

If

Jesus

decided

to

only

be

generous

with

his

blood

to

those

who

deserve

it

he

could

have

saved

himself

a

trip.

We

also

tend

to

limit

the

house

it's

the

excuse

that we

can't

afford

to

help

people

it's

noticeable

that

Jesus

puts

the

story

of

the

good

Samaritan

on

a

particular

stretch

of

road

not

just

any

stretch

of

road

it

was

well

known

dangerous

road

it

was

referred

to

as

the

bloody

way

it

descended

from

Jerusalem

around

about

3,000

feet

above

sea

level

down

to

Jericho

down

to

200

feet

below

sea

level

a

windy

narrow

road

through

cliffs

and

crags

imagine

the

scenario

of

walking

through

the

darkest

alley

in

the

worst

part

of

the

worst

city

without

street

lights

that's

that's

the road

that this

Samaritan

is on

why did

the priest

and the

Levite

walk past

why did

they walk

past

because

they were

smart

that's

why

they

were

smart

they

could

see

that

the

man

was

not

yet

dead

what

does

that

mean

it

means

the

robbers

are

still

here

somewhere

they're

close

by

and

they

would

risk

everything

to

stop

stopping

would

be

fatal

when

the

Samaritans

stop

he is

risking

absolutely

everything

he puts

no limits

on his

generosity

at

all

and

when

we

do

when

we

do

we

are

saying

that

we

can't

afford

to

be

generous

with

our

time

and

talents

and

treasures

without

some

of

the

burden

of

that

coming

back

onto

us

and

Jesus

says

yes

that's

exactly

right

that's

what

generosity

is

he

says

if

you

can't

afford

to

help

if

you

can't

afford

to

help

if

you

can't

afford

to

help

then

you're

not

helping

enough

you're

not

loving

your

neighbor

we

can't

put

limits

on

the

generosity

on

this

story

or the

mandates

of the

Bible

to

live

generous

lives

and

so

my

final

point

is

what's

the

motivation

for

this

generous

life

at

at

the

end

of

the

story

Jesus

says

go

and

do

likewise

so

yeah

so

the

law

expert

is

was

that

is

that

it

you

kind

of

want

to

guilt

me

into

doing

stuff

is

that

is

that

is

that

what

Jesus

doing

here

you

know

guilt

motivation

by guilt

is

basically

the

approach

of

religious

and

secular

motivation

for

everything

religion

says

you

must

live

a

generous

life

because

a

holy

book

command

you

to

it

if

you

want

to

get

into

good

books

with

God

then

you

need

to

live

a

generous

life

that's

religion

secularism

says

that

you

must

do

it

because

you

have

so

much

and

they

have

so

little

and

it

will

give

you

a

sense

of

meaning

in

life

and

the

world's

a

mess

so

you

got to

do

something

about

it

guilt

and

in

this

story

there

are

two

very

moral

and

religious

people

who

do

nothing

the

priest

and

the

Levite

do

nothing

the

irony

is

both

the

priest

and

the

Levite

in

first

century

Judaism

had

the

job

of

distributing

financial

assistance

to

the

destitute

that

was

their

job

they

did

it

six

days

a

week

that

was

their

job

even

people

who

would

normally

spend

their

day

helping

other

people

can't

keep

the

mandate

of

living

a

generous

life

in

other

words

morality

guilt

legalism

will

take

you

somewhere

but

it

won't

take

you

far

enough

so

I

want to

ask

you

having

just

gone

through

this

story

already

does

anyone

here

right

now

feel

guilty

about

the

poor

in

our

society

does

anyone

here

feel

guilty

about

not

doing

enough

I

see

lots

of

head

knobbing

around

the

room

and

those

who

are

not

sure

whether

they

should

or

not

stop

it

stop

it

stop

feeling

guilty

guilty

because

it

won't

take

you

anywhere

near

where

jesus

wants

you

to

go

guilting

the

good

samaritan

this story

of the

good

samaritan

is not

about

guilt

so if you're feeling guilty

it's not the response Jesus wants from you

Jesus is not trying to make the lawyer feel guilty

Jesus has put something in this parable

that points to a different motive

the key to the parable

is to understand which of the four characters in the parable

does Jesus want this lawyer to understand he is

which of the four characters is Jesus saying to this lawyer

you are that person in this story

most people read it as if the lawyer

Jesus wants the lawyer to be the good Samaritan

that's not what Jesus is doing here

and I'll get to it in a moment

he puts the lawyer on the side of the road as the dying man

that's who he is

he puts the hated Samaritan in the rescue chopper

the hated Samaritan in the rescue chopper

the Jewish lawyer was meant to ponder

not what he needed to do for eternal life

but what has been done for him for his life

that's what he needed to understand

he needed to see that his life was ebbing away

that he could not save himself

what if his only hope

his only hope

was an act of free radical grace

from an enemy who owes him nothing

what if your only hope in life

is an act of radical generosity

from someone who owes you nothing

but rejection

you see Jesus isn't giving this Jewish scholar

a to-do list

he's actually giving him a dynamic

not a to-do list

a dynamic

a grace dynamic

that can change his heart

it's not until this lawyer sees

that he is the one

on the side of the road

bleeding out

unable to save himself

but saved by an act of grace

by someone

who he has rejected

is he then able to be

that person to others

in other words

he will never be

a good Samaritan

until he has received grace

from the good Samaritan

and where would he get

something like that

notice how Jesus turns the story around

at the end

let me point out to you

the lawyer starts off

by asking

who is my neighbor

but at the end of the text

Jesus asks

which of the three

was the neighbor

he uses his language

and reapplies it

not who

who

who was the neighbor

but who was the neighbor

in other words

which of the three

was neighborly

and the law expert

can't even bear

to say the word Samaritan

but he gets out

the one who had shown mercy

what's the point of this story

who is the good Samaritan

who is neighborly

to those in need

who is the neighbor

to those

who

who's been rejected

by others

but is

the neighbor

to

the one who needed

a neighbor

the Christian faith

says it's Jesus Christ

the core of the Christian faith

the gospel

says that

every single human being

like this law expert

is a self-justifier

we are all

self-justifiers

whatever it is

that we set our heart on

to justify ourselves

and to feel worthy

and good and acceptable

ultimately

is the thing

that controls us

it drives us

it's caused us

to do anything for it

and make us miserable

because that thing

whatever it is

and for some people

it's religion

whatever it is

will never

ever deliver on its promises

it will kill us

for instance

power will only

cause us to want

more of it

and the fear of losing it

the more power we have

the more insecure

we will feel

have a chat with

Vladimir Putin

about that

if we set our hearts

on power

in order to be significant

power will ultimately

control us

and enslave us

you see

if it's not God

whatever it is

that you set your heart on

if it's not God

it will beat you up

and it will fill you

with fears

and discouragement

and failure

and the Christian faith

says that

Jesus Christ

God the Son

the creator of all

that is

the author of life

itself

the one who owes us

nothing

except us

experience

nothing

but rejection

from the humanity

that he has created

Jesus Christ

came into the brokenness

of our road

and had compassion

on us

the word compassion

is there in verse 33

and verse 34

not literally

translated in English

in every translation

but it's there in verse 33

and verse 34

and it's a word

that's used

more often

than any other word

in the Bible

to describe

Jesus' emotional life

Jesus knew

that to come to us

on the road

to rescue us

wasn't to risk

his life

it was in fact

to give his life

as the good Samaritan

came down the road

and lifted up

his enemy

onto his horse

so Jesus

came down

to us

and pulled us

up to his place

I keep going back

to this verse

again and again

and again

but I just want to say

it one more time

for today

2 Corinthians 5 21

God made him

who had no sin

to be sin for us

so that in him

we might become

the righteousness of God

didn't just deal

with our sin

but lifted us up

if we see Jesus

as the good Samaritan

the one who has

radically

generously

neighboured you

it will change

you forever

it is the dynamic

and the only dynamic

that begins

the process

of changing us

as people

who overflow

into radically

generous lives

the evidence

that we have been

radically

neighboured

loved

mercy

of Jesus Christ

generous life

to our neighbours

everyone

is the evidence

that we have been

radically neighboured

only when we see

the true neighbour

do we become

true neighbours

in such a way

that our actual neighbours

must look

to the true neighbour

to come to grips

with what they are

experiencing

in radical

generosity

from us

only then

I wonder

are you still

feeling guilty

are you still

feeling guilty

if you are

then

do

what Jesus

wants you

to do

with that guilt

what did

Jesus

want

the law

expert

to do

with his

guilt

he wanted

him to

feel the

weight

of sin

and expectations

he wanted

him to see

that his

goodness

was not

good enough

that his

generosity

was not

good enough

he wanted

him

to run

to Jesus

with his

guilt

until we

are crushed

by the

mandate

and the

magnitude

of

generosity

that God

requires

from us

until we

are crushed

by that

we will

not be

humble enough

to receive

the mercy

and the

generosity

that he

offers us

in Jesus

a generosity

offers us

in the

not good

Samaritan

but the

great

Samaritan

Jesus

Christ