RADICAL GENEROUSITY

Gracious Father, we thank you for the indescribable gift that you've given to us in the Lord Jesus.

We thank you that we who, deserving of separation from you for all of eternity, have been brought,

that we might worship you for all of eternity because of the work of the Lord Jesus.

Thank you for your radical generosity towards us.

And we pray, Father, that you would impress upon us what you've done for us in such a way that our hearts would be overflowing with generosity towards others, towards you.

Make us, we pray, a church of radical generosity.

For the glory of your name we pray in Jesus' sake. Amen.

On Sunday the 10th of July this year I told a fictitious story about Wendy J, our treasurer, squeezing juice out of an orange as part of a carnival sideshow.

I want to emphasise it was a fictitious story.

Someone asked me afterwards, when was that carnival down at the concourse?

I said it was a fictitious story.

The punchline was that she was able to squeeze half a cup more juice out of an orange after a 150 kilogram hulk of a man got all of he could out of it.

And it was because she is the church treasurer, that's what she does each week with the offertory.

The reality is that all too often raising funds for ministry and charity is in fact like squeezing out those last drops and making a little bit go too far or stretch far.

This is certainly what's been happening for us as a church this year.

And so this core value that we're looking at tonight, number six in our series of seven of our core values, has particular relevance for us now.

But it's not just for that, that we're looking at it tonight.

And as we look at this core value of radical generosity, I'm basically going to say what I said in July.

I looked at this core value again and figured I couldn't come up with anything better than what I'd said last July.

And with a few adjustments, we're going to hit it again.

And so there'll be things in this that will be familiar to you if you heard me in July.

We're going to see how money exercises power over us, why money exercises power over us and how we can break that power.

It seems that money is a big deal to God, probably because it's a very big deal to us.

Jesus talked about money 10 to 20 times more than he talked about sex, twice as much as he talked about prayer and faith.

One third of his parables are about money.

And of all the things that he could have picked, Jesus sets money up as the alternative God when he says you cannot serve both God and money.

Now, given that money is a big deal to God, it shouldn't surprise us that what the Bible does is it revolutionizes our view of money and possessions and generosity.

For instance, 1 Chronicles 28 and 29, King David is praying in response to the overwhelming generosity of the people of God to build the temple in Jerusalem.

And he says, everything in heaven and earth is yours.

Wealth and honor come from you.

Everything comes from you.

And we have given only what comes from your hand.

What that means is that everything that we have is a gift from God.

Everything.

Totally everything.

Now, that might seem a little bit offensive because you might have worked pretty hard for what you have.

But those verses from 1 Chronicles and others like them in the Bible say that you've been working very hard with abilities, opportunities, circumstances and health that God's provided.

A bunch of other stuff that God himself has provided.

But it's not just that everything that we have comes from God, but that everything that comes from God is still God's.

He still has ownership of it.

God does not give up ownership of something when he gives it to us.

And so we relate to our money and possessions and resources the way an investment manager relates to the wealth of their clients.

If you're an investment manager, you don't operate as if the money that you have been entrusted with is yours to do whatever you want.

There is an accountability.

If you have to invest, you have to invest the money in line with the purposes and the desires and directions and values of the investor.

And so if you take their money and ignore their directions and decide instead to go and buy Ferrari with it, it's called fraud.

And there's an accountability for that.

And so if we deny the investment manager role we have with God's resources and regard ourselves as the owner of it to do what we want with it.

Well, that's called robbing God.

That's how strong the language is that God uses in Malachi 3.

If you've got your Bibles there, Malachi 3.

When referring to God's people's failure to be generous, he says, you have robbed me.

And so chapter 3, verse 8, God poses a question.

Will a man rob God, yet you rob me?

The word rob there is a very rare word in the Bible.

In fact, it's used in only one other place.

It's in Zechariah 5, verse 3, where it's translated as curse.

Zechariah 5:3

And it's a word that really means to oppress, to pillage, to plunder.

It's quite a violent word.

And this is what the people of God were doing to God when they weren't being generous.

And so they hear this and they're shocked.

Verse 8 says, how do we rob you?

How could we possibly be doing that to you, God?

What on earth are you talking about?

And God comes back and says in verse 8, in tithes and offerings,

that is how you are pillaging and plundering and raping my purposes for the world.

He says, you are robbing me.

When I say that, I'm talking about your lack of generosity, you know, with the money that I'm giving you.

I'm talking about the fact that you hold on to too much of it.

You spend too much of it on yourself and you don't give enough away.

So when they're keeping it for themselves, they are robbing God.

They're plundering, pillaging, raping God's purpose for his world.

And what's interesting is that according to verse 8, they're oblivious to this sin.

Quite a serious sin.

It's like, what are you talking about, God?

We're confused here.

You see, a great deal of the power that money has over us is that it blinds us to the power that it has over us.

Money is different to other things because we are blind to the hold that it has on us.

Greed is a sin that blinds you to its presence.

I'll show you what I mean.

Verse, Luke chapter 12.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

Jesus says, watch out.

And it's a massive explanation, Mark.

I won't yell it at you.

But Jesus says, watch out against all kinds of greed.

There's no other place where Jesus says, watch out for all kinds of sexual immorality.

Watch out for all kinds of adultery.

It's not because adultery is any less sinful.

It's because we're blind to greed and materialism in a way that we're not blind to sexual immorality or adultery.

Jesus doesn't say, watch out.

You might be committing adultery.

You don't know it.

I mean, the reality is, of course, you know it if you're committing adultery.

But we are blind to the sin of greed and materialism.

No one thinks it's their problem.

To this day, and I've had a whack of sin confessed to me over the years,

no one to this day has ever said, Steve, I think I've got a problem in the way I handle my money.

No one.

Not a single person.

But if we take the text of the Bible seriously,

then we should work on the assumption that we are blind to.

Just work on that assumption.

I'm not saying it's necessarily true of you.

I'm saying that the only way to give credence to the text of Scripture

is to always be looking for the blind spot.

And I would say, ask other people to help you look for the blind spot.

I don't think it's anything.

Because it's a blind spot, by nature, we need other people to help us.

Fortunately, the Bible does give us at least one guideline

that we can check ourselves to whether or not our use of money or our money has a hold on us.

It helps us to see if our understanding and generosity and giving to ministry and charity

is in any way in the ballpark of what God thinks it should be.

And it's right there in Malachi 3 verse 8.

Malachi 3:8

It's called the tithe.

Now, the Old Testament Scriptures require that God's people gave

10% of their annual income to the temple.

In actual fact, that was the minimum.

I mean, when you take on all the offerings and festivals and everything else,

it was kind of more like 30% is kind of what they gave away in reality.

Now, historically, it's been raised.

It raised a question of whether or not that tithe is an obligation for Christians.

Because the tithe is only mentioned once in the New Testament.

It's in Luke chapter 11 verse 42, Jesus talking to the Pharisees.

Luke 11:42

And he says,

Woe to you.

There's that word curse again.

Curse you Pharisees.

Because you give God a tenth of your mint, your rue and other kinds of garden herbs,

but you neglect justice and the love of God.

You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

You see, the trouble with the Pharisees

is that they were operating with a legalistic limitation mindset.

They give God 10% and they say,

This 90% is mine.

So God, you can have 10% of the herb garden.

The rest of the veggie patch is mine.

And so God gets the herb garden.

And when all of a sudden there's a need,

you know, there's a family over here that needs food.

They go,

Well, actually, you take it out of the 10% God.

This 90% is mine.

I'm not sharing my veggies with anyone else.

They refuse to go beyond the tithe.

They aren't being motivated by the gospel,

by love,

by justice,

but by a legalistic code of conduct that says,

I've done my bit.

And the 90% is mine.

Now, I don't think we could ever expect God to say to his New Testament people

with greater blessing and greater privileges

and greater hope in the gospel

that you, in fact,

can give less than the Old Testament people.

And I suspect the reason tithing isn't mentioned a whole lot in the New Testament

is because we're not meant to see it as a legalistic mindset,

limitation to our giving.

I believe it's meant to be a baseline,

a guide,

a rule of thumb,

a beginning.

It helps us to see whether we at all are in the range God expects us to be

and from there to see what we can do beyond it.

Now, I also think that Malachi 3 gives us a clue

as to why money has such power over us.

Verse 10,

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse

that there may be food in my house.

Now, the word house there at the end of that

means God's temple.

And God's instruction here is for his people

to give of their gold and their silver and so on

into the storehouse of his temple.

The word house means temple.

The word storehouse in the Hebrew language means treasury.

In other words,

bring your treasure into my treasury.

And when God says bring your whole tithe,

bring your treasure into me,

into my treasury,

into my temple,

into the service of my salvation,

into the worship of me,

the implication is that if you are not taking it

and putting it there,

you've actually got it somewhere else.

Your treasure is in another treasury,

in another temple somewhere.

I'll give you two examples of what I mean by that.

Firstly,

if you find it very hard,

I mean really hard to give money away,

you know,

it's just hard to give money away,

but so incredibly easy to spend money

on clothes and cars and travel

and renovations and entertainment,

then those things are the real treasury of your temple.

You're looking to those things

to give you a sense of identity

identity and desirability

and acceptability and lovability

and awe and experiences

rather than looking to the knowledge and love of God.

Secondly,

there are those who look at people

who spend money on,

you know,

stuff like that

and clothes and homes and cars and travel

and you just sneer.

You know,

you're,

you're kind of proud of the fact

that you've been wearing

and repairing the same pair of undies

for the last 10 years.

You hang out your tea bags to dry

and so you can reuse them again

and you don't own a mobile phone.

You get really,

really frugal

and what you do

is you squirrel all your money away

into the bank,

into investments and savings

and stuff like that,

all for a rainy day.

You're still under the power

and control of money.

You see,

if you find it very hard

to give money away

but very easy to save money,

then ultimately

your bank is your temple.

Rather than God,

you're looking to your bank,

to your accounts

to give you a sense of control

in a very,

very chaotic

and unpredictable world.

Instead of God,

I get beauty and acceptance

because of the clothes that I wear.

Instead of God,

I get control

because of the investments that I have.

It's easy to give money

to whatever is your saviour,

whatever is your hope,

your happiness,

your identity,

your meaning,

your significance,

your security.

Now,

I like

giving money away.

Sort of.

I'll say sort of.

Sometimes

it's a battle.

It's not always joyful.

But I don't have

the same battle

with everything

that I buy.

There's not always

a battle for me

to spend money.

My ongoing battle

is with the temple

called Bunnings.

That's my ongoing battle.

I find it terribly easy

to pay homage

in Bunnings

with my money

in exchange for tools.

tools.

I don't

I find it easy

to spend money

on tools.

Why?

Why is that?

Because

in my family context

and in where I grew up,

I got a sense

of identity.

I got

praise and congratulations

for being useful

and practical.

That's

ultimately the issue.

That's why

I spend money

in that direction

because my identity

is wrapped up in it

in some subconscious

kind of way.

And so the question

for me is,

is my identity

wrapped up in Christ

and who I am

in Him

and what God

thinks of me

or is it because

people think

that I'm useful

and practical?

Where's my identity?

And

the reality is

it's both.

And that's why

the battle rages.

The battle rages

in tools.

In a way,

the battle does it.

I walk into spotlight,

the battle's not raging

for me.

There's no battle there

when I walk into spotlight.

You know,

Nat walks into Bunnings

with me

and she goes,

she walks into spotlight

and I go,

I can easily

spend $100

at Bunnings.

I want her to justify

every cent

that she spends

at spotlight

because there's my battle

but it's not there.

For some,

it's a bookstore.

You find it terribly easy

to buy books

because your identity

is wrapped up

in what people,

people like thinking

that you're smart

or something.

For some,

it's clothes.

That's where

you pay homage

because your identity

is wrapped up

in your appearance.

The point is

money reveals

what we really

worship.

And for me personally,

right now,

the battle's raging.

I've got two bids

on things on eBay.

Two tools.

And I'm kind of hoping

right now

I'm going to get

outbid on them.

Otherwise,

I've got some justifying

to do tonight.

You see,

radical generosity

is not just about

what you give away

but about

what you keep

for yourself

and what you spend

on yourself.

And that is why

Jesus says

you cannot serve

both God and money.

He sets up money

as the alternative God

because it promises

you identity.

It promises you

security and hope

and freedom

and a clear conscience

and control

and good health

but it will never

ever deliver

what it promises

to deliver.

The biggest

saving count

of the world

cannot stop cancer.

It cannot stop

traffic accidents.

It cannot stop

family disintegration.

It cannot stop

broken hearts

and broken marriages.

God is the only one

who can give us

security.

The only significance

we can get

and the only love

that we can never lose.

So it seems to me

that if we do not

have the freedom

because money

enslaves you

if we do not

have the freedom

to joyfully

give our money away

in eye-popping

proportions

it's because

something

besides the Lord

Jesus

is in fact

our functional

Lord and Saviour.

And so how do we

break the power

that money has

over us?

The only answer

is the gospel

of the Lord Jesus.

You see radical

generosity

this core value

of radical generosity

is not a different

subject to the gospel

of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Radical generosity

is a value

that displays

the wonder

of the gospel

in a world

enslaved to money.

Paul puts it

like this

in 2 Corinthians 8

when the Corinthians

were failing

to follow through

in their commitment

to raise money

for ministry of mission.

He says

see that you also

excel in this grace

of giving.

I'm not commanding

you but I want

to test the sincerity

of your love

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.

There's the gospel

right there.

Now everyone

in this room

has set their heart

on something.

Something has your heart.

It could be children,

grandchildren,

status,

career,

physical beauty,

leisure,

investments,

great Australian dream,

tools,

it could be anything

and whatever it is

we will do battle

in order to get it.

We will pay

any cost for it

anything to maintain it

sustain it

and reclaim it.

We will give our lives

for it ultimately.

We will sacrifice

for it.

Some in you know

I will sacrifice

for tools

but I will give

my life away

for my wife

and my kids

because they got my heart.

Jesus came

and he died

for us.

Why would he do that?

At least one answer

is that you

and I

are his heart's treasure.

every other treasure

will insist

that you die

in order to

sacrifice,

in order to purchase it.

You will sacrifice

in order to purchase it

but Jesus

is the only treasure

that sacrificed

to purchase us.

And so the way

we break the hold

of money

over our life

is to think

and to think

and to think

on the radical

generosity

of Jesus Christ

on the cross

until we get

the freedom

to joyfully

give generously.

There is no

other motivation.

When we see

Jesus dying

because he so

loved the world

only then

will we

actually love him.

When we see

we are his

greatest treasure

then he

will become

our greatest

treasure

which is

part of our

mission statement

as a church.

The advice

of the Apostle

Paul here

is

don't sit down

with a calculator

if you want

to break

the power

of money

over your life

and to grow

in generosity.

Sit down

with the cross

and think

about what

Jesus did

what he has

given

and what he has

promised

until it

causes us

to be generous

like he

has been

generous to us.

Now I

recently read

the sad

reality is

that many

Christians

are in fact

not radically

generous.

What that

means is

that although

they profess

faith in

Jesus

they haven't

fully grasped

the significance

of the radical

generosity

of the Lord

Jesus on the

cross.

Same recent

survey

20% of those

who regarded

themselves as

mature or

very mature

Christians

had never

given a

single cent

to any

Christian

ministry

at all.

And what's

more the

average

Christian

gave just

2.7%

of their

income away

to anything

not just

to mission

but to

charity work

and anything.

Because of

the gospel

we should

seek this

core value

of radical

generosity

to shape

our attitudes

and our

actions in

our life

here as a

church.

Radical

generosity

is not

just about

what you

give

it's also

about what

you keep.

Now let's

be frank

we're all

at different

levels here.

Some of us

are sitting

fairly securely

financially

let me just

restate that

every single

one of us

here is

sitting secure

financially

given that

every member

of the

Australian

population

is in the

top 1.5%

of wealthy

people in the

world.

So it doesn't

matter where you

are you're in

1.5%

wealthiest people

in the world.

If you own

one motor

vehicle you're

in the top

half a percent

of wealthiest

people in the

world.

So on one

level

taken in

perspective

we're all

sitting fairly

securely

but some

more secure

than others

you might

say.

And the

Bible says

those have

been given

much as

expected.

Some of

further down

the scale

on that

some of us

are sitting

here thinking

our small

contribution

won't make

any sort

of difference.

I want

to say

radical

generosity

is not

about the

size of

your bank

account.

It's not

about that.

It doesn't

matter what

end of the

spectrum you're

on.

Equal

sacrifice

but unequal

giving is the

biblical

principle.

Equal

sacrifice

unequal

giving.

So sit

down.

I want to

encourage you

tonight.

Sit down

with the

cross on

this

commitment

Sunday.

Make a

decision

to take

one step

forward

in showing

gratitude

in showing

gratitude

of what

Christ has

done for

you.

The

gospel

is to

be your

motivation.

Not even

our current

financial issues

are to be

your motivation.

The gospel

has to be

your motivation.

I want us

to be

joyfully

radically

generous

because it

reflects the

hearts that

are aligned

with God's

heart.

So our

grasp of

the great

eternal

treasure that

Jesus is

will be

reflected in

a life of

radical

generosity.

Especially so

in a world

that loves

money.

And so here's

what I want

you to do

today.

If you are

not, you

might be one

of those 20%

never give

anything.

If you are

not currently

giving, start

giving.

If you are

giving

irregularly,

spasmodically,

start giving

regularly.

Take one step

towards that

direction.

If you are

regularly given

but you're

only giving

a pretty small

portion,

take further

steps towards

that 10%

ballpark that

God seems to

have had there

in the Old

Testament.

If you're

irregular and

already hitting

the 10%,

then just go

beyond it.

It's not

meant to be a

legalistic

limitation.

Take a step

towards extravagant

giving beyond

that 10%.

And so with

the crossing

view and the

principle of

equal sacrifice

but unequal

giving in mind,

I want to

encourage you

to apply the

big gulp

principle to

your pledge

today.

Write a

figure on a

piece of

paper and

your big

gulp is

going to be

different than

my big

gulp.

That is,

write a

piece of

paper, a

figure, and

if it doesn't

cause you to

go,

then maybe you

should try

writing something

else on the

piece of

paper.

And then

pray for the

grace and

enabling of

God to

fulfill it

joyfully

throughout the

year.

You see,

writing something

on a piece

of paper is

one thing.

To joyfully

fulfill that

week after week

throughout the

course of the

year, that's

where it gets

hard.

You know,

when the bills

are racking

up and there's

things you want

to do and

other people

are buying

stuff and

you're not,

that's when

it gets

hard.

Do it

because of

the radical

generosity of

the Lord

Jesus going

to cross

for you?

I firmly

believe that

when the

cross of

Christ is

our motivation,

our experience

in giving

will in fact

be a joy.

So let me

read to you

what Paul

says about

the Macedonian

church in

2 Corinthians

8.

And now

brothers,

we want you

to know

about the

grace that

God has

given the

Macedonian

churches.

Out of

the most

severe trial,

their overflowing

joy and

their extreme

poverty welled

up in rich

generosity.

For I

testify that

they gave

as much

as they

were able

and even

beyond their

ability,

entirely on

their own,

they urgently

pleaded with

us for the

privilege of

sharing in

this service

to the

saints.

The

Macedonians

are models

of radical

generosity and

Paul shares

their radical

generosity with

the church

of Corinth in

order to

inspire them

into the

lives of

radical

generosity

themselves.

And I

believe they're

meant to be

an inspiration

for us

too.

In great

poverty,

they pleaded

for the

privilege of

giving.

They saw it

as a

privilege,

not a

burden.

And so

our core

value of

radical

generosity

reads like

this.

Our

gifts,

possessions,

finances and

time belong

to God.

We will

therefore use

them for

his glory and

not for

our comfort.

We desire

to be like

the Macedonians

whose joy in

Christ through

extremely difficult

circumstances resulted

in rich generosity

towards others.

We believe that in

a world that

loves money,

a lifestyle of

radical generosity

proclaims that

Jesus is our

greatest treasure.

And so as a

church we are

committed to

sacrificial,

enthusiastic,

joyful,

regular giving in

response to the

gospel of grace.

We're committed to

supporting those who

teach the word of

God.

We're committed to

the responsibility of

all Christians to

pay what they

owe.

We're committed to

the responsibility of

all Christians to

provide faithfully for

their family,

being generous to

the poor and

needy and supporting

the wider work of

the advancement of

the gospel in the

world.

So brothers and

sisters, as you

submit your pledge

tonight and as you

under God seek to

fulfill it in the

coming year, may

Paul's words to the

Corinthian church be

ever on your minds

and your hearts.

Excel in this grace

of giving.

I'm not commanding

you, but I want to

test the sincerity of

your love 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.

Amen.