Stewardship as Counterculture: Stewarding Our Wealth

Good evening to all of you. Welcome, especially if you're new or visiting.

We are in the middle of a series looking at the concept of stewardship, broadly speaking.

The idea that God owns everything that is, and that whatever in our lives has been entrusted to us,

we are to use in ways that reflect his heart, his values, rather than our own agenda.

So we've looked at this and how it applies in a variety of ways.

We've talked about stewardship of the environment.

We've talked about stewarding our own bodies.

We've talked about stewarding our time.

And it has gotten personal.

What's been interesting is that week to week, different people have, you know,

we've been striking nerves, but different topics strike different nerves and different people.

I think everybody's had their feathers ruffled a bit over the last few weeks.

I hazard a guess to say that tonight maybe more feathers than usual might be ruffled.

Wells Fargo did a survey of the most challenging, most uncomfortable topics to discuss.

And they really wanted to know what's the most troubling issue out there.

And on the top list of most disturbing topics to discuss,

you had the usual suspects of death and politics and religion.

But by far the most troubling issue is the issue of money, personal finance.

That makes everybody uncomfortable.

And for that reason, a lot of churches don't ever talk about money.

We're more uncomfortable than most at talking about money.

And even in the history of Advent, we've been here 10 years,

we've only addressed money a handful of times.

But the reason that we need to talk about it, actually there are two reasons.

The first reason is that we're doing a series on stewardship,

and it would be negligent not to at least spend one evening

talking about the concept of money and stewarding our wealth.

But there's an even more important reason.

And that is that we're a church who says that one of our three core values

is spiritual formation.

And you really cannot talk about spiritual formation

without addressing our relationship with our stuff.

Because spiritual formation is all about the relationship we have

with God and with one another.

And so our stuff figures largely into those two relationships.

So we're going to be talking about that tonight,

the stewardship of our wealth.

And we're going to be looking at 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9.

2 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

Now these are, together, they comprise the most extensive,

in-depth teaching anywhere in Scripture

on the concept of financial stewardship.

So this is what we're going to be looking at.

And the passage really shows us that faithful stewardship,

which is, as we said, using our money in ways that reflect God's heart,

can be boiled down to one concept,

the concept of generosity.

Faithful stewardship means generosity.

And so that's what these chapters are all about, generosity.

And what we're going to see is that true generosity is three things.

It's evidence of spiritual health and vitality.

It's an exercise of faith.

And it's an overflow of joy.

It's evidence of spiritual health.

It's an exercise of faith.

And then it's an overflow.

It flows out of an abundance of joy in the Lord.

Let's pray and then we'll dive in.

Our Father, we just prayed this prayer

that we would read and mark and learn

and inwardly digest your word.

All of it.

Lord, we want all of it.

Leave nothing out.

And so we pray that by the power of your spirit,

as we open your word together,

that we would be able to be nourished by it.

That you would speak to us in nourishing ways

that satisfy our hearts,

that grow us more into the image of your son.

And it's in his name that we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

So true generosity,

financial stewardship,

that looks like generosity,

when it's lived out,

is evidence of spiritual health.

Now when we talk about spiritual health,

what are we really talking about?

We're talking about the state of your heart.

And if I were to ask you right now,

what is the state of your heart?

You would probably have a hard time

really accurately answering that question.

And certainly if I were to say,

hey, what's the state of her heart?

Or his heart?

You would have an even more difficult time.

If you think that's an easy question to answer,

you've got issues.

Nobody can answer that question about other people,

much less themselves.

Because why?

Unlike Jesus, we can't see the heart.

We don't know the truth about people's hearts.

Not even our own.

And so what we have to do,

in order to gauge our own spiritual health,

is to rely on indirect measures.

We need barometers

barometers

that are reliable indicators

of the state of our heart,

the state of people's hearts.

And Jesus teaches that

one of the best barometers

of the heart out there

is the way we spend our money.

And that's what he's talking about

in Matthew 6.

He says,

For where your treasure is,

there your heart will be also.

What he's saying is,

if you want to know the state

of somebody's heart,

look at how they spend their money.

You are how you spend.

That'll tell you something.

It's reliable as a measure.

And this is what 2 Corinthians 8 and 9

are really about.

If you were tuned in during the reading,

the context,

at the particular time that Paul's writing,

he's writing about famine relief.

There's a famine in Judea.

The people there,

largely Jews,

are poor.

They're starving.

And so Paul is writing to the Corinthians

so that they will give money

to help relieve the suffering in Judea.

But one of the things

that we need to understand contextually

is that at this point,

Paul's talking about famine relief,

but at other places,

Paul talks about Christian giving

and takes up collections

for other things.

So in Galatians,

he talks about the importance

of Christians giving

to support the church

and church leaders.

In other places,

like Philippians,

he references giving

to support the work of missionaries

and church planting.

In places like this,

he talks about the importance

of Christians giving

to relieve suffering

and to care for the poor.

So these are all categories

that Paul talks about

as categories of Christian giving.

Here he's talking about famine relief,

but what I want you to notice

is that if you read these chapters,

chapters 8 and 9,

he doesn't really get into

or spend much time on

the suffering in Judea.

In fact, his concern

is almost entirely for the Corinthians.

And the state of their heart.

So as he begins to get into it,

you begin to see

that the real issue

that he's focusing on

is the fact that the Corinthians

had been giving regularly

in the past.

If you see in verse 10,

it says that they had desired

to give a year ago.

But then for some reason,

they had stopped giving.

So these are people

who had been regularly giving

and then they stop.

And Paul flags that.

Paul's a pastor.

He notices that

and he says,

you know,

that may be an indication

that something is not right,

that there's a deeper

spiritual issue.

So he investigates.

And what he realizes

is that the Corinthian church

has become very much

like the surrounding

Corinthian culture.

Corinth was a port city,

very wealthy,

very cosmopolitan,

and as a result,

highly materialistic.

And the Corinthians

had essentially become

like the culture.

And a way of summarizing it

is they were promiscuous

with their bodies,

but they were very stingy

with their money.

Right?

And so Paul sees this

and he recognizes

this is evidence

of a lack of spiritual health

and vitality.

Because spiritually healthy Christians

are the exact opposite of that.

In other words,

spiritually healthy Christians

tend to be stingy

with their bodies,

but they're promiscuous

with their money.

And Paul says,

that's not what I'm seeing.

So I think there's an issue here.

And so this is why

Paul says what he does

about giving.

He doesn't just come in

and say,

there's a famine in Judea,

here's all the statistics,

here's all the suffering,

and for every dollar you give,

here's the impact

that you're going to have.

That's not his approach.

Right?

Paul comes in and he says,

in verse 8,

chapter 8,

I say this not as a command,

but to prove

by the earnestness of others

that your love

is also genuine.

He's saying,

you know,

I saw you come to faith.

I know it was real.

I know that you're a believer.

I know that love is there.

If I command you to do this,

it's going to take away

your opportunity

to do it out of love.

That's what it's really about.

And then down in chapter 9,

verse 7,

each one must give

as he has decided

in his heart,

not reluctantly

or under compulsion.

He's saying the same thing.

It's not about your money.

It's about your motivation.

It's almost entirely

about your motivation.

So see,

in one sense,

there's material poverty

in Judea,

but he's as or more concerned

about the spiritual poverty

right here in Corinth.

He's going for the heart.

So how does this apply to us?

Well,

people all the time

ask questions.

I've asked these questions

over the years myself.

There are a lot of questions

around how we think

about giving.

People say,

so how much should I give?

When I think about giving,

how much should I give?

And people say,

you know,

well,

what about tithing?

Are Christians supposed to tithe?

Is that like an Old Testament thing?

Are we still supposed to tithe?

In other words,

give 10% of our income.

People say,

okay,

well,

if I'm going to tithe,

then do I do that

on pre-tax or post-tax dollars?

And how does that work?

And many of us

have wondered these questions.

Notice,

as I said,

2 Corinthians 8 and 9,

most extensive teaching

anywhere in the Bible

on financial stewardship.

Notice what is not mentioned

anywhere.

Tithing.

Paul never mentions it once.

Isn't that odd?

You know,

one of the only times

tithing comes up

in the New Testament

is when Jesus

is talking about tithing.

But it's very interesting.

Luke 11,

listen to what Jesus says.

He says,

Woe to you Pharisees,

for you tithe mint

and rue

and every herb

and neglect justice

in the love of God.

These you ought to have done

without neglecting the other.

So what's he saying?

You know,

on the one hand,

yes,

there was an Old Testament command,

give 10% of what you produce.

And so the Pharisees

were doing that.

But they had taken that

and gone way beyond

that simple command.

And they were tithing

on everything.

They were tithing

on their vegetables

and on their produce.

And they were a little sprig

of parsley for the Lord.

And every little thing,

they were giving 10% away.

They were scrupulous

and meticulous

and exacting

to every cent.

So they were living up

to the letter of the law.

And Jesus says,

you know,

you should have been doing that

but in doing that only

you've missed the whole point.

The whole point is

the love of other people,

justice,

and the love of God.

You're not doing this

with your heart.

You're not giving

from your heart.

In other words,

it's not really about

God.

It's not really about

other people.

It's really about

you.

And so this is

this indictment.

And he's saying

you're missing

the whole point.

And then he goes on

in verse 44

to say,

woe to you

for you are like

unmarked graves.

That's harsh

because he's saying

you look alive.

You look spiritually

healthy and vitalized

because you're tithing

in all these

hyper-specific

meticulous ways.

But the reality is

you're spiritually dead.

You're unmarked graves.

And you know,

the message is clear

for us.

The moment we ask,

and I've asked this

many times,

the moment we ask,

so how much

should I be giving?

We're missing

the whole point.

We're missing

the whole point.

And,

you know,

this applies

in lots of other ways.

You know,

when people say,

well,

how far should I go

physically with people

that I'm dating?

Or,

you know,

how often should I pray?

You say we should be praying,

but how often should I

really be doing that?

Right?

The minute we begin

to go down that road,

we're missing

the whole point,

which is all about

love and fidelity

to God

and to other people.

Right?

So imagine,

if you're married,

imagine saying,

well,

how much attention

do I have to give you?

You know,

to your spouse.

You know?

Or,

I know you're upset,

but what's the,

what's the,

how much empathy

do I need to give you

before I,

you know,

because I'm busy

and I'm tired

and what's the minimum standard?

You know,

that would be awful

and hopefully,

you know,

hopefully nobody does that.

But it's the exact same thing.

It's the language

of spiritual death.

I mean,

that's what it is.

That's how spiritually

dead people talk.

And the most amazing thing

is this contrast

between that mentality

and the Macedonians

that Paul talks about

at the beginning

of chapter 8.

The most amazing thing

about the Macedonian Christians,

these are Christians

who are incredibly generous,

is not that they were willing

to give money

even when they were

in their own crisis,

which by the way,

they were.

But that's not,

that's not the most amazing thing.

And the most amazing thing

is not that they were giving

way beyond their means,

which is also pretty amazing.

The most amazing thing,

and the reason that Paul

brings up the Macedonians

as an example

is because of what he says

in verse 4.

He says,

they gave of their own accord,

begging us earnestly

for the favor

of taking part

in the relief

of the saints.

So what's he saying?

He's saying,

you know what,

we saw this crisis

in Judea,

people suffering,

and we thought,

who can we ask

to give money

to try to relieve this?

And we looked

at the Macedonians

and we thought,

you know,

they're going through

a lot right now

and they don't have any money

and so we're not even

going to ask them.

And then the Macedonians

come to Paul

and they say,

why didn't you ask us?

We would love to give.

We would love to give.

How much,

how much will you take?

Will you take more from us?

And Paul says,

we weren't expecting this.

It just happened.

And the word that Paul uses

again and again and again

in this passage

is the word readiness,

which can also be translated

eagerness.

So spiritually healthy Christians

are eager to give.

When somebody comes to them

with a need,

they say,

this is an opportunity.

So the language

of spiritual health,

of spiritual vitality,

is not,

how much should I give?

It's,

how can I give more?

Are there other needs

that are out there

that I might be able to help

or alleviate

through my giving?

So true generosity

is evidence of a spiritual health,

a spiritual vitality.

It's the state of your heart

being reflected in generosity.

And then if we go a step further,

it's also an exercise of faith.

It exercises your faith.

So what do I mean by that?

Well,

faith is exactly like a muscle.

And it needs exercise.

And many of you are like me.

You used to get a lot of exercise.

And now maybe you don't get

quite as much exercise.

And what happens?

Right?

When your muscles

are regularly challenged

and maxed out

and pushed beyond

what they can do,

they grow

and they get stronger.

Right?

If you neglect them

and don't use them,

they atrophy.

They get weaker.

And you get weaker

as a result.

Faith is exactly the same way.

If you live the kind of life

that is constantly

challenging your faith,

it will grow.

But if you live the kind of life

that shelters your faith,

that protects it,

so it never has to be used,

it will atrophy.

And so giving regularly

and giving sacrificially

is one of the best exercises

for faith that there is.

And in chapter 8,

Paul is saying

that sometimes we are

the ones meeting needs

and sometimes

we are the ones

in need,

but every day

we need to be trusting God,

exercising our faith,

that God will provide

exactly what we need

when we need it.

That's the exercise of faith.

And then he quotes

Exodus 16, 18,

whoever gathered much

had nothing left over,

and whoever gathered little

had no lack.

Now that's a specific reference

back to Exodus

when the Israelites

are in the wilderness

and there's not enough food

for them to eat

and they're crying out to God

because they think

they're going to starve to death

and God miraculously provides food

in the form of manna.

Now manna is some kind of strange

flower-like,

bread-like substance

and there's a lot of arguments

and debates

over what exactly it was.

That's not really our focus here.

But the point is

is that the people were commanded

go out and gather,

which they had to go out

and gather it,

gather only what your family needs

for the day.

And then something

quite miraculous would happen.

Some people,

because of injuries

or limitations or whatever,

wouldn't be able to gather enough.

They just wouldn't be able to do it.

Other people would go out

and they would have

their whole team ready

and they would gather

and hoard tons of this stuff

because that's human nature.

God makes it miraculously

appear on the ground

and you go

and you pick it up

and all of a sudden

you deserve it.

You're entitled to it.

And that's what happened in Israel.

You know, I saw that play out

with my boys the other day.

Just, just, just a Saturday,

yesterday,

I had all three kids

read the playground

and I'm,

I walk around the corner

and I see all these pennies

and all these coins

that have just some,

you know, fallen out

and I look around

and there's nobody,

nobody at the playground

so all these coins

are just laying on the ground.

So I say,

Riley, come over here.

Look, look at all this.

And Riley just immediately

starts gathering up

all these coins

as fast as he can.

He goes, Dad,

I'm going to be rich.

And I was like,

well, you know,

it's a start.

And he's, you know,

gathering it all up

and has this thing.

And then Matty turns

and he says,

what are you doing?

And Maddox,

my other son,

starts running toward us

and I say,

Riley, you should share

some of that with Maddox.

And Riley goes,

no.

He's like,

it's mine.

You know?

I mean,

he didn't even know

it existed two minutes ago.

That's human nature.

That's human nature.

And that's what,

exactly what happened

with the manna.

But what happened?

The people who didn't think

they had enough

actually found that

at the end of the day

they had enough.

It miraculously increased.

Vice versa,

the people who gathered

way too much

and hoarded it,

they woke up in the morning

and it was rotten

and infested with worms

and inedible.

And this is the principle

of wealth

that we see

sort of embodied

in manna.

God is training

his people

to exercise

their faith

to be able

to handle

wealth.

To be able

to handle it.

And the connection

between manna

and wealth

is made explicit

in Deuteronomy 8.

It says,

take care lest you

forget the Lord your God

in verse 1

and then go all the way

down to verse 16

who fed you

in the wilderness

with manna

that your fathers

did not know

that he might

humble you

and test you

meaning train you

work out your heart

to do you good

in the end.

This is for your benefit.

I'm training you

to be able to handle

wealth.

Why?

Because his promise

was to give them

a land,

a homeland

and to bless them

with abundance

of wealth

and provisions.

Food and tons

of land to graze on

and everything

they could ever want.

But he says,

before I give this to you

I need to be able

to know that your heart

can handle it.

So I'm training you

now.

Preparing you for that.

And he says,

beware lest you say

in your heart

my power

and the might

of my hand

have gotten me

this wealth.

You know,

just think of Riley.

Mine.

I got this.

It was the sweat

of my brow.

I gathered them up.

Right?

That's what we say

about our job.

I work hard

for this money.

All the things

I do for money.

To put food

on the table.

Right?

Beware lest you say

my power

and the might

of my hand

have gotten me

this wealth.

You shall remember

the Lord your God

for it is he

who gives you

power to get wealth.

It is he

who gives you

the family.

It is he

who gives you

the genetics.

It is he

who gives you

the education.

It is he

who gives you

the privilege.

It is he

who gives you

the relationships

and the connections.

It is he

who gives you

the opportunity.

Beware lest you say

you did this yourself.

And so we're meant

to see all of wealth

as a form of manna

meant for the good

of everyone.

Not just me.

And so this is

the principle

that Paul's talking about.

I'm training you

to be able

to handle wealth

because what I want

to see,

the way I want

you to steward

this is with

an eye toward

the whole.

Is everybody

sufficiently provided

for?

That's the point.

He says unless

your heart can

handle wealth

you're going to

have people

hoarding it.

You're going to

have other people

going without.

This is not

something that

could be enforced.

This is not

talking about a

form of socialism

or communism.

It can't be enforced

top down.

It has to be

inside out.

Your heart has

to work this

way.

That's the purpose

of the training.

So what does

this mean for us?

Well, we could

talk a long time

about all the

ways that this

applies but I'll

just hit one

for the sake of

time.

This manna

and the reference

to manna that

Paul makes is

I think meant

to teach us

a theology

of sufficiency

or you might

say a theology

of enough.

I said at the

beginning of this

series that it

was going to be

the title of

the series is

stewardship as

counterculture

meaning if we

live as stewards

in all these

various ways

we will by

default become

more and more

and more

countercultural

and here's where

you see the

countercultural

practice

clearly

because we live

in a culture

of more

and we are

bombarded by

ads that are

convincing us

that we need

more.

More, more, more.

We need bigger

houses.

We need, you know,

I mean, and

everybody, you know,

it's hard to

live in D.C.

But one of the

most common

complaints not only

that I hear but

that I feel in my

own heart is,

man, we just need

a bigger place.

You know, we don't

even have a closet

anywhere on our

first floor.

Our vacuum cleaner

just sits in our

dining room, you

know, but then

there's somebody

else who's like,

you have a

dining room?

And everybody,

everybody, everybody

says we need

more and in fact

people don't

actually think they

need a ton more,

they just think we

just need a little

more.

I mean, if you

look at the

research, it's

surprisingly

consistent that

people say,

you know, when

people are asked

how much more

money do you

think would make

a meaningful

difference in

your life?

Really get you

where you need to

be.

Help cover your

expenses, have a

little left over

to have fun, put

some away in

savings, start

saving for your

kids' college fund,

how much more

would you need to

really get there?

You know what

most people say?

They don't say

that they need

double or triple

what they make.

The majority of

people say about

10% more.

If I just had a

little notch up,

a little 10%

increase.

But then guess

what happens?

If you follow

those people, as

some researchers

have done, and

you ask them

years later, once

they've gotten

that increase,

hey, are you

good now?

They say, well,

you know, actually,

if I had about

10% more, I'd be

great.

And why?

Because our

lifestyle increases

and keeps pace with

our income.

And for some of us,

the lifestyle outpaces

our income.

But you get a

raise and boom,

instantly your

lifestyle grows to

fill it.

So what if we

viewed our lives

the way God

called the

Israelites to

view theirs,

and we viewed

our wealth the

way they were

called to view

their manna?

In other words,

what if we sat

down and

intentionally

separated out

our true

needs from

our wants?

And really

made a clear

line there.

And what if we

decided on an

amount that would

be enough?

I know many

families, many

households who

have done this.

Here's what we

need, and this

is enough.

This is what we

need to live and

to provide for our

kids.

What if we

cultivated a daily

trust in God's

provision, lived in

such a way that we

need God to

provide, need God to

come through?

We don't

necessarily have a

gigantic nest egg

hidden away.

And here's the

really, I think,

the challenging

piece to this.

What if the

goal of salary

increases, the

goal of wise

investments, what

if the goal of

that was actually

not to increase

our quality of

life and

lifestyle?

What if the

goal of that was

to be able to

give more away?

And what if that

was the thing that

excited us about

getting a big raise?

Now I can give

more away.

Now, I mean, I

say this is

countercultural because

I think it doesn't

come naturally to

any of us.

Right?

But true generosity

is both evidence of

spiritual health and

it's an exercise of

faith.

When you've exercised

your faith and it's

gotten stronger and

stronger and stronger,

is it conceivable that

we might get to that

place where we say,

you know, I just want

to be able to give

more away.

That's why I want to

make more money.

Now I know that,

stop here for a

second and just say,

I know that as I'm

saying all this,

you're probably feeling

like I was feeling as

I'm working through

this a few days ago,

which is kind of

stressed out.

You know, if we can

be totally honest,

I think most of us

are probably high on

our list of sources of

anxiety is money and

just making it work.

And D.C. is an

incredibly expensive

place to live and we're

already trying to

struggle and to make it

happen.

And so this just feels,

you know, you're already

stressed and you're like,

well, I was already

anxious about money and

now I feel guilty.

On top of the anxiety,

I feel now guilt and

there's this added layer

that's just making it

more stressful.

And I get that.

And I think if we were

to end here and say,

therefore, go and be

generous, we would all

go out and the first

question we'd ask would

be, now how much

should I give, right?

Is it pre-tax or

post-tax?

That's how we would

operate, right?

And we would go the

road of the Pharisees.

What's the minimum

standard so I'll be good

with you and I'll be

good with the church

and I'll be good with

God and I can just,

you know, what is it?

And so that's the road

to death.

We can't go down that

road.

And so this third point

is crucial.

The third point is

that true generosity

is an overflow of joy.

It's an overflow of joy.

Which means, and listen

very carefully, it

cannot be manufactured.

It cannot be required

by government policy.

It has to be an overflow.

It has to be

an outpouring of

something that's going

on in our hearts.

And this is what makes

Christian giving unique

and distinct from any

other kind of giving.

It's not motivated by

the approval of others.

By the way, in our church,

we take great lengths to

make sure that, you know,

other than the treasurer,

really nobody knows

who gives what.

I know very little

about the specifics

of who gives what.

Because we want people

to know that when they

give, it's not about

the approval of others.

There's not going to be

any kind of special

recognition, you're not

going to get a plaque

if you gave X amount.

Because it's not about that.

Christian giving is not

about that.

It's not motivated

by tax deductions.

It's not motivated

by returns on investment

or immediate observable

impact.

It's not motivated

by any of those things.

It's motivated by joy.

And Paul really talks

about two sources of joy

that I want to hit

really quick with the

time we have left.

He talks about the joy

of the harvest.

And he talks about

the joy of the love of God.

The joy of the harvest

and the joy of the love of God.

The wellsprings

of Christian generosity.

The joy of the harvest.

Paul says in chapter 9,

verse 6,

the point is this,

whoever sows sparingly

will also reap sparingly.

And whoever sows bountifully

will also reap bountifully.

Now let me say this,

a lot of people

take this verse

and they justify

what's known

as the prosperity gospel.

They say,

you sow,

meaning give a little bit

of money to the ministry,

you sow,

and then down the road

you sow seeds of faith,

you sow a little bit

of money,

and down the road

you will reap a harvest.

And,

which means more money.

So you,

and it says,

well if you give

a little bit of money,

you're only going to get

a little bit back.

If you give a lot of money,

you're going to get

a lot of money back.

And that's how

the prosperity gospel works.

And it's false.

It's a false teaching.

Because it's cherry picking

a verse out of the context.

If you look at the context,

it's saying something

very different.

If you continue reading,

it's not about getting

a financial return.

Paul talks about

the harvest,

you know,

when we give money

financially,

out of generosity.

We do reap a harvest.

But it's a harvest

of three things.

It's a harvest

of good works.

Meaning,

the more you give,

the more good

is going to happen.

The more God

is going to increase

your capacity

to do good works.

You know,

in other words,

generosity begets

generosity.

The more generous we are,

the more generous

we will be.

And God will enhance

and expand

our ability

to be more generous

and do more good

in the world.

So that's the first thing.

We'll reap a harvest

of good works.

We'll also reap

a harvest of righteousness.

And in this context,

righteousness is

God's righteousness.

It's God's

desire and ability

to put right

the world.

Righteousness.

To put things right.

To fix human relationships.

To fix all that is

broken in the world.

And so,

in other words,

it's saying,

when Christians give,

our giving becomes

a part of the healing

and the restoration

of the world.

There's a harvest

of rightness,

righteousness.

God putting things right.

And then thirdly,

it's a harvest

of thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving.

Very appropriate,

given the upcoming holiday.

It's a harvest

of thanksgiving.

And I think this is

really beautiful.

Paul says,

here's why you should give

and here's why it should

fill you with joy.

The more you give,

the more there are

people out there

who will see your gift

as a provision

of the Lord.

And they're not just

going to thank you.

They might not even know

it came from you.

They're going to thank God.

And he says,

the more you give

and the more that impacts

other people's lives,

the more people there are

giving thanks

and praising God.

And he's saying,

that's the whole point,

is having everybody

praising God

and recognizing Him

as the provider.

He says,

when we look at that,

the harvest of,

the increase of good works,

the increase of the rightness

in the world,

more and more people

giving thanks

and praise to God,

he says,

that is a source of joy.

That makes you want

to give more.

And then the other,

the other source of joy

and the real source of joy

in the Christian life

is the joy of God's love.

So our last question,

what is the real secret

of Macedonian generosity?

Paul says,

in the beginning of chapter 8,

they gave beyond their means,

they begged us

to be able to give more,

and this,

not as we expected,

but they gave themselves

first to the Lord

and then by the will of God

to us.

So the reason

that they gave so freely

of their money

is because they had already

given themselves

to the Lord.

He asked,

well,

why would they do that?

Well,

grace.

The answer is grace.

Verse 9,

for you know that the grace

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

that though he was rich,

yet for your sake

he became poor,

so that you by his poverty

might become rich.

So he's saying,

Jesus is the true rich man.

He has everything.

All of everything

belongs to him.

All power and glory.

And then Jesus looks at us.

And you know,

by the world's standards,

we may look wealthy.

You know,

maybe you have

a house that you own.

Maybe you have

money in the bank,

right?

Maybe you have

a car or two.

Maybe you have

all of these things

and you look like

you're doing pretty well.

And he says,

but in reality,

when Jesus looks at you,

he sees the truth.

That spiritually speaking,

we are destitute,

we are homeless,

and we are starving to death.

And Jesus looks at our poverty

and he looks at his wealth.

And then he looks at our poverty

and he's compelled by his love

to give up all of that wealth

to become himself poor,

destitute,

homeless,

starving,

and ultimately

to suffer and to die

to guarantee

that those who come to him

will never have to suffer that again.

That they will inherit

an eternal wealth.

And so, you know,

I know a lot of religions

out there

say God cares about the poor.

You should care for the poor

because God cares for the poor.

That's common.

You know,

the most kind of,

you know,

stridently atheist

secular humanists

will say

we should care for the poor.

But only Christianity,

as far as I know,

says that God became poor.

And that kind of love

is what changes

stingy hearts

into generous hearts.

It can't be done

any other way.

It's only when that love

strikes you

and only when you see yourself

as being poor

and then seeing what Jesus

did for you

that you will then

begin to become

generous yourself.

It melts your heart.

So Christian generosity

is not about

giving your stuff away.

It's about giving yourself away

to the one who gives himself

away for us.

That's the wellspring of joy

in the Christian life.

So we're out of time.

I just want to,

I want to take all this

and pull it together

and give you a couple of things

to think about

as we transition

and ultimately go

into our lives

tonight and tomorrow.

As we're thinking about

stewardship in general

every week,

I've encouraged you

to go home,

to pray,

to think,

think about your life,

decisions that you're making

and imagine

what this would look like

if it began to actually

shape how you make decisions.

And I want to encourage you

to do this

as you think about

your finances.

And if you are,

you know,

if you have a,

you know,

somebody with whom

you share finances,

then the two of you

should sit down

and have these conversations.

I just,

I want to give you

a couple of things

as you think about

having those conversations

to hopefully help you.

Number one,

generosity requires

thoughtful,

prayerful planning.

It's not just about

getting caught up

in a moment

writing a check.

We don't even

write checks anymore.

But it's not about

getting caught up

in the moment.

It's about planning.

It's about preparation.

It's about thoughtful

intentionality.

If you've never

thought about this before,

now's a great time

to start.

Most people haven't.

No.

So now's the time

to start.

Especially if you're

a parent

or if you're thinking

about having kids

down the road,

many people,

most people

who give regularly

as adults

when they're asked

what influenced you

to do that,

most of those people

will say that their

parents did.

That that's where

they learned it.

And not just parents

putting a dollar

in their kid's hand

to put in the plate

as it comes around,

but parents actually

encouraging their kids

to take some

of their own money

and put it in the plate

or give it to the

person who needs it.

It's a way of

habituating this

from an early age.

So that's the first thing.

It requires intentionality,

prayerful thoughtfulness.

I mean, Paul says

you should give

what you've already

determined in your heart

to give.

That implies

an intentionality there.

The second thing

I'll say is this.

Generosity is not about

how much money you have.

There's really no correlation.

It's about your heart.

It's about the motivation.

It's about the joy.

Statistically speaking,

if you look at

at least in our country,

if you look at

all the people

who regularly give

to their churches,

the majority of those people

have a combined

household income

of less than $50,000.

So it's not the wealthy

who are regularly giving.

It's people who make

under $50,000

who are regularly giving.

And by the way,

I said I don't know

any statistics

about specifics

in our church.

I don't know

who gives how much.

but our treasurer

has told me

that even in our church

that bears out.

That if you look

at our top 10 givers

across Brooklyn

and Columbia Heights,

apparently that top 10

includes a number

of people who are young,

who are just getting

started in life,

who maybe have

their first job.

So there's this sense

I think that a lot

of us have

that when I get older,

when I'm adulting

full time,

maybe when I'm married,

when I'm a little

more secure,

then I'll start.

But statistically,

people who start

in their 20s

are much more likely

to do this

through their lives.

People who wait

until their 30s

or their 40s,

the likelihood drops

way down

that you'll ever do it.

So statistically,

the earlier you start,

the more likely

you are to continue.

So it's not about money.

It's about

the state of your heart,

priorities.

So true generosity

as we think about this,

true generosity

isn't about

all of the ways

that it can be

mishandled in the church,

all the ways

that it can be

mishandled in the world.

True generosity

is something that

cannot be regulated

or enforced.

It's evidence

of spiritual health

and vitality.

It's an exercise

of faith.

And then lastly,

it's this overflow

of this wellspring

of joy

that comes from

belonging to the one

who gave himself up

for you.

Let's pray.