Jubilee - Exposing Greed

You realize suddenly that our trucks, you'll see them.

We have a living hope.

So five or six hours after I boarded the flight and I was on my way to London, she had another

mini stroke so she had to be readmitted to the hospital.

So I'll leave again on Wednesday or Thursday.

So I may not be here this Sunday.

But I'm telling you man, for those of you who already know it, there's nothing like

taking care of a parent who's taken care of you for ages.

They put up with everything and now you get to put up with everything.

And it's fun.

So in case I'm not here this Sunday, you know where I am.

And so what should you pray?

That she'll be ready when the Lord calls her home.

Ready not in terms of salvation.

That happened many years ago.

Ready in terms of looking forward to it and unafraid.

That's what I would pray for her.

Because she's lived a rich 84, 85 years.

So it's good.

Cool.

So I want to talk about Jubilee, which is what we started two weeks ago and then last

week Derek spoke about consider your ways, I think.

And so here are the things we said Jubilee was.

Jubilee was reset.

Sorry?

Oh, I need to connect it again.

Cool.

Okay, so Jubilee, we said last time, was a reset.

God planned it so that we'd have a reset of things.

So here were some of the things we said.

I'm just going over them quickly.

Jubilee was reset, meaning he would reset things economically.

He would reset things as a community.

He would reset things spiritually.

Jubilee was release.

And the strange thing is when Jesus comes and says, when he reads Isaiah 61, 1 to 3

in the synagogue, just before he starts his ministry, he's actually saying, listen, I

am your Jubilee.

I am the year of favor.

I am the year of Jubilee.

As in, it's not going to happen once in 50 years.

I am here and I'm here to bring this to pass.

And so Jubilee was release.

When Jews were freed, people in bondage would return home.

Jubilee was rest, both for the land and for people.

We went over all this.

Jubilee was recovery.

It was a recovery of a person's identity and a person's history because people would sell

their land because they had gone through poverty.

They'd sometimes sell their children as slaves.

They would lose their heritage, lose their identity, and along would come once every

50 years, this magic button that God would push and everything was supposed to go back

to place where lands would be returned, heritage would be returned.

And so it was recovery of identity and history.

Jubilee was restoration where an inheritance that was lost would now be restored.

Jubilee was radical.

It was God's way of disrupting status quo.

And here's the thing.

Israel never practiced Jubilee because it was too hard.

Why was it too hard?

Because if you practice Jubilee, you'll have to stop being greedy.

I mean, imagine amassing wealth for 50 years and now you're supposed to return it.

I'm a businessman who's worked hard.

It's through diligence that I've gathered wealth.

I've got Dilna's property because he had to sell his property because it cost too much

to take care of the dog.

So he sold his property and now I have his house.

I have Tunis guitar.

I have Chawas degree.

And so I keep amassing these things and legitimately, I haven't done anything wrong.

I've taken things legitimately and now I've prospered.

And so having prospered now, every 50 years I'm supposed to return to him his land, to

him his degree, and to him his guitar.

Now it's an antique guitar because it's 50 years old.

And so we return it to him.

And everyone gets back what they've started.

And then for that 50th year, I'm not supposed to do any business.

I'm supposed to live on how God is going to bless me in the 49th year.

He says I'm going to bless you so much in the 49th year that through the 49th, 50th

and 51st year, you won't have to worry.

And for an entire year, my business shuts down.

So that is why it was impossible for Israel to live it because it would be the end of

greed.

And so one of the things I've written there is Jubilee exposed human selfishness and greed

in a community.

And if Jubilee was a great reset, then greed was its greatest enemy then and now.

And so I want to talk about greed, how greed is present amongst us in everyone's lives.

The problem with greed is it's never an evident instant sin.

It's usually over a long period of time, it corrodes you.

It's very hard to pinpoint something that happened in your life today that was greedy.

But if I took two years, I would find out many instances in your life where you were

greedy and where I was greedy.

Greed is what then prevents us from resetting things economically, communally, spiritually.

Any questions before we go on?

Greed is the enemy of Jubilee.

It's impossible to practice Jubilee if I don't deal with greed.

And please don't think greed is something that the wealthy have.

There are thousands and thousands of poor, greedy people.

It's not a wealth-related thing.

It's a condition of the heart.

Any questions?

Okay.

So, Jubilee exposes human greed and selfishness.

And the law never had the power to change it.

The law exposed it but couldn't change it.

The law exposed greed but couldn't change it.

But couldn't change it.

And so, one of the things that had to happen is the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the only one who can change it.

And why can he change it?

Because it's an internal condition.

Because it's an internal condition.

And when you start with greed, you usually think, I don't have this.

That person has it.

And I think one of the things that the Spirit of God wants to do is point out that, Jacob,

you have greed.

You have greed.

And then start with me and then see if someone else has it.

So as soon as I say greed, it's not a sin you identify with.

You've never actually prayed saying, oh, Lord, forgive me for my greed.

Strange, eh?

That's not one of our prayers.

And yet, it's a common problem.

So the church today has to, by the Holy Spirit, translate this law into a walk that loves

God and loves your neighbor.

Jubilee was meant to reset things.

And this reset will not work as long as greed exists.

So that's what we look at today.

So if you were to define greed, one, greed flows from the lie.

Greed flows from the lie that I need to gather.

Greed flows from the lie that I must gather more.

I must gather more.

Because God only supplies daily bread.

This is one of the lies behind greed.

And you see this as something that has been happening for ages.

So in Exodus 16, 20, he tells them, listen, I'll provide you manna every day.

I'll provide you quail every day.

But it isn't enough.

So what do they do in Exodus 16, 20?

You see them going out, and you see them gathering more.

And he tells them, listen, you gather more, and it'll turn into maggots tomorrow.

But they still gather more.

And the next morning, they find out that it's all gone maggoty.

And it wasn't a delicacy in Israel.

And so now the bread begins to rot.

The point being, one of the reasons greed happens is because greed flows from the lie

that I must gather for tomorrow because God only provides daily bread.

Now your response is usually the human response, but we have to plan for tomorrow.

True, but let's just leave that aside for a while.

We're talking about greed, not about your ability to plan for tomorrow.

We leave that aside for now.

But this lies at the heart of it.

That I must gather because God only provides for today what will happen to my tomorrow.

That's one reason.

So greed then is gathering for tomorrow because I must hoard it because what if something

doesn't pan out tomorrow?

So greed hoards, greed hoards, greed acquires, greed possesses.

And once this becomes a habit, once this becomes a habit, you keep what you make.

Greed hoards, as in greed gathers or collects, greed acquires, as in greed possesses.

And once you fall into the habit of gathering, acquiring, possessing, then you keep what you make.

It doesn't go out because it's always like once I retire, once this contingency is over,

once this emergency is taken care of, once my children go to school,

then I will distribute it and you keep what you make.

This is an odd way to define greed, but this is why the reset was important.

And if we go down this route, on one hand your lives will be thoroughly enriched,

on the other hand there will be no poverty in your community.

It's an extreme measure, but it's an extreme God measure.

I know you're waiting for more good news, so let me give it to you.

Greed is a depraved, greed is a depraved, the Bible calls it depravity.

Greed is a depraved hunger for social standing and wealth.

Contentment, contentment in God is replaced with an appetite.

Contentment in God is replaced with an appetite that is never satisfied.

Contentment in God is replaced with an appetite that is never satisfied.

So like in the ancient Middle East when Jubilee was first commanded by God, as it is today,

social standing and wealth go hand in hand even today.

As we get more money, we move into fancier neighborhoods, our cars get better,

everything gets better because money and social standing are connected.

And so greed is a depraved hunger for social standing and for wealth.

So when Jesus would read Isaiah 61 3 and he said,

The spirit of the Lord is upon me for he has anointed me to bring the good news to the poor.

The poor were those that were completely undone from their social standing because of their poverty.

These were ones that were oppressed, these were ones that had lost their dignity,

these were the ones that were sold into slavery, these were ones that had lost their property.

The loss of property was the loss of a name because land was precious to Israel.

Land was the litmus test for how Israel was.

And so greed is depraved hunger for social standing and wealth

and contentment in God is replaced with an appetite that is never satisfied.

And we think it will be satisfied but strangely enough it is not.

Unless there's a deliberate intent of heart against it.

One has to deliberately decide, I have to deliberately decide this is not the route I'm going to go.

Otherwise, as money, I'll need to change this mic guys, I think the battery is dying.

I'll use the other mic.

Or is there something wrong? Is the battery good? Because it's going up and down.

Okay, I'll continue.

Because it's going up and down.

Yeah.

So the appetite never goes away.

One of the ways I know that there is greed in my life is there's always a desire to go further up,

further up, further up, better neighborhood, higher apartment, nicer car, better clothes.

It's this escalation. There's no end to it because there'll never be an end to it.

There's no end to it.

It's so natural for us that we don't think there's anything wrong with it.

Should your fields prosper, praise God.

It is not, I'll say this later, it is not how much a man makes, it is how much a man keeps.

So this is not a statement against prospering.

God prospers for us.

God is the best.

God is the best.

God is the best.

God is the best.

This is not a statement against prospering.

God prospers people.

But greed is something different.

Don't equate greed with your wealth.

This is not a sermon on how to get poor.

This is a sermon on how to get rich and then what you do with your riches.

It's a condition of the heart.

Let's keep defining greed.

Greed is not synonymous with the wealthy.

Greed is not synonymous with the wealthy.

It is because the poor are greedy too.

There are poor, greedy people.

So don't equate it with the wealthy because we often think,

are the wealthy greedy?

I am not greedy.

They are the ones that are greedy.

Can you imagine Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Warren Buffett

redistributing their wealth every 50 years?

That'd be crazy, eh?

Mr. Buffett would have to give back all the companies he acquired

every 50 years.

This is why capitalism will not survive if Jubilee is instituted.

This is not an American value.

And it's not our value either.

This is one sin that goes so under the radar

that we don't even think we have a problem with it

till someone who's poorer than us looks at us and says,

oh boy, you are greedy.

And even that is relative.

Greed diverts work, greed, sorry, greed diverts

greed diverts money from kingdom work.

Trust me, man, I don't want to teach this.

I want to teach on rest.

I had such great notes on rest.

Greed diverts money from kingdom to luxuries.

Greed diverts money from kingdom work, from kingdom work

to personal luxuries.

That applies equally to the pastor

and the people in the church.

There is a tendency to think that

there is a tendency to think that if you earn money

and you spend it on something luxurious, that it is okay.

But if the pastor earns an income

and he spends it on something luxurious, it's not okay.

Because the pastor is using your money.

Not true.

Take that stuff in a pipe and don't smoke it.

But we can't make that distinction.

But the fact remains that greed diverts money

from kingdom work to luxuries.

Here's another one.

Greed is self, greed loves self-indulgence.

Greed spawns, greed spawns self-indulgence.

At the cost of the well-being of others.

Go to Luke, sorry, go to Matthew 23.

Matthew 23.

Matthew 23.

What's 25 for instance?

Matthew 23, 25.

Both you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,

for you clean the outside of the cup and the plate,

but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

Greed and self-indulgence go together.

Greed and self-indulgence go together.

So my self-indulgence shows my greed.

Your self-indulgence shows your greed

and all of us have it to some extent or the other.

What are we being called to?

An extreme way of kingdom living.

Is it uncomfortable?

Absolutely.

Can it be avoided?

Yes.

But today we're not avoiding it.

Go to Luke 12, Luke 12.

If I get a single hallelujah in this message,

I'll be surprised.

Luke 12, verse 19.

Luke 12:19

Luke 12, verse 19.

Luke 12:19

Well, let's start at Luke 12, verse 13.

Luke 12:13

Two things happen.

One is a real instance, one is a story.

Both are happening with Jesus.

Luke 12, verse 13.

Luke 12:13

Someone in the crowd said to him,

Tita, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.

But he said to him, man, who made me a judge

or an arbitrator over you?

And he said to them, take care and be on your guard

against all covetousness or greed.

For one's life does not consist in the abundance

of his possessions.

And in response to what had been asked,

now he tells them a parable.

And he told them a parable saying,

the land of a rich man produced plentifully.

And he thought to himself, what shall I do,

for I have nowhere to store my crops.

Legitimate thing, he's a businessman, a farmer,

a rich farmer, he has nowhere to store his crops.

And he said, I will do this.

I will tear down my barns and build larger ones,

and there I will store all my grain and all my goods.

And I will say to my soul, soul,

you have ample goods laid up for many years.

Relax, eat, drink, be merry.

But God said to him, fool,

this night your soul is required of you.

And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?

So is the one who lays a treasure for himself

and is not rich towards God.

And the crazy thing is, it is not possible

to be rich towards God without being rich towards people.

So what he is doing is normal.

He's collected a lot, now he needs to build barns.

But then the condition of his heart or the greed is exposed

in him building bigger barns so that he can store it up.

So that he can be self-indulgent at the cost of many others

in the community who perhaps don't have anything to eat.

Which was normal in those days.

You rarely identify greed with yourself.

You rarely identify greed.

You rarely identify greed.

You know the only time we identify greed

is when we go for a buffet.

When it comes to greed for food, it's called gluttony.

Starts with the same G word.

That's when you feel like, oh my God,

I was greedy over those prawns or bok choy,

which is my favorite thing.

Yeah.

And so you rarely identify.

That's why Nick and I get along so well.

You rarely identify.

When Nick invites me out for dinner,

I always have an excuse.

You rarely identify greed in yourself.

But you see it in others,

in others who have what you don't.

Strange how this disease works.

You don't see it in yourself.

You rarely see it in yourself.

But you always see it in someone else

who has what you don't have.

They seem greedy.

In 1 Corinthians 6, 10,

in 1 Corinthians 6, 10,

Paul says on behalf of God

that the greedy will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The greedy will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.

This is a problem for God.

It goes against the grain of everything he wants to do.

He says, I am your Jubilee.

I'm your favor.

I'm your year of favor.

And then he expects Israel to behave that way.

And not once in 490 years it is believed

that Israel practiced Jubilee fully.

Not once.

And if you want to make America great again

and make Canada great again,

you can't practice it either.

Any questions before we go on?

We'll talk about how do we fight this.

Go ahead, Dilna.

Yeah, Joseph was a...

I mean, God gave him the idea,

but my God, he deprived people like crazy.

He made nations into slaves.

So what he did in the context of Israel,

the future of Israel,

if Joseph hadn't been sent before the famine,

Israel would not exist.

They'd have been wiped out.

So yes, Joseph played a part.

But what he did,

if someone did it today,

you would think of him as not very nice.

I'm saying to you that you have a family to feed.

Give me your land and I'll give you food.

And I take your land.

Then I take his land.

Then I take his land.

By the time Joseph was done,

all the nations belong to Pharaoh.

Not cities, not towns.

All the nations belong to Pharaoh.

How we are different is we give grain

without asking for land.

So yes, Joseph was critical for the survival of Israel.

Without him, Jacob and his sons would have perished.

But what Joseph did was bring nations into slavery.

Yeah, so that's one area where I would not

encourage Joseph economics.

Like Bidenomics, Joseph, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, in that he really devastated families and nations.

I better not go devastated.

I'll just leave it at that.

I don't know what else happened,

but we know that lots of people lost everything.

For grain.

But that's what happens, even.

You want to survive for food, for your family.

You'll give anything up.

People sell their children.

Yeah, is that any other question, Dilla?

Yeah.

So how do we fight greed?

How do we fight greed?

Any other questions, guys?

Go ahead.

Green is not meant to be.

Green is not meant to be.

I would say greed is about T3.

Time, treasure, talent.

And if you want to throw in an S, strength.

So greed is when one decides that these three or four things

will be mine and it will not be distributed freely,

because I have to gather this.

And I have to gather this and keep it for myself,

and I will not generously sow it.

Then it actually applies to all four things,

all three things.

Time, treasure, talent.

Or if you do give it, you'll put a price to it.

Your time will cost, your treasure will cost,

will cost as in there'll be interest on it,

and your talent will cost somebody else.

Pay me and I'll do this.

So how do we fight greed?

So the first way we fight greed is fight it with the word.

Fight it with the word.

What do you mean fight it with the word?

You must see Christ every day.

You must see.

Hey guys, here's the thing.

This is so pervasive, so like smoke

that it surrounds you.

It's everywhere.

You won't even know that you are in it.

Your clothes smell of it, your mind smells of it.

As students you come here, you smell of it.

As ones who worked here, you smell of it.

As ones born here, you smell of it.

It is all around you, you can't see it.

It's like invisible smoke, but we all smell of it.

It's pervasive.

It just worms itself into any and everything we do.

And that's why if I don't see Christ and the spirit of God

in the word every day, mammon will challenge me.

At the end of the day, who do you want?

Like what Jesus said is you cannot serve God and mammon.

He didn't say you cannot serve God and the devil.

That's an easy choice.

You cannot serve God and mammon.

Mammon as in the security that comes out of wealth.

The standing that comes out of wealth.

You cannot serve both.

And it's all around me.

So it becomes very hard to even think clearly

because you think and I think this is natural

and it is what it means to be human.

And God is saying this may be natural to humans

but I have called you out to behave differently.

If I take this to heart and I'm trying to take it to heart,

it'll change too many things in my life.

And so at what point do we draw a line and say,

thus far and no further?

I fight it with the word you must see Christ

and this work of the Spirit, you must see Christ

and the Spirit at work

in the gospels,

in the word.

Because if I don't mammon,

if I do, if I do,

mammon will lose its influence.

Go to Psalm 119, verse 36.

Psalms 119:36

Psalm 119, verse 36.

Psalms 119:36

Psalm 119, verse 36.

Psalms 119:36

Psalm 119, verse 36.

Psalms 119:36

I'm reading from the Passion Translation.

I'll read from other versions too.

Cause my heart to bow before your words of wisdom

and not to the wealth of this world.

Message, give me a bent for your words of wisdom

and not for piling up loot.

NIV, turn my heart towards your statutes or your laws

and not towards selfish gain.

NLT, give me an eagerness for your laws

rather than a love for money.

This tussle cannot be won if you do not have the word

as a shield over your heart on a daily basis.

Because it is an instant idol every day.

It is the one idol that is worshiped by the Buddhists,

the Christians, the Muslims, the Hindus,

the Democrats and the Republicans,

the Marxists and the Communists and the Socialists.

It doesn't matter who it is,

everybody bows at the altar of mammon.

So much so that Satan offers it to Jesus.

If you bow to me, I will give you all the kingdoms

and everything there is in the world.

It's pervasive.

It's an instant idol.

And it's everywhere, it's around you everywhere.

We bow to it many times a day, only we don't realize it.

It is an instant idol and it dulls sacrifice.

It dulls sacrifice.

As in, it dulls sacrificial giving.

And it accentuates self-preservation.

It dulls sacrifice and it accentuates self-preservation.

I don't know if you remember this thing I read you guys

long ago about self-preservation.

Let me read it out.

I'll only read it out once, it's hard to digest.

Self-preservation is the greatest enemy

of boldness in believers.

And it spawns avoidance and indifference to the ways of God.

The sin of self-preservation is when we choose to prioritize

our own well-being, our safety, our comfort, our provisions,

our plans, and even our very lives over the leading of the spirit

and the commands of Jesus in scripture.

Self-preservation seeks to predict the most favorable outcome,

the one that keeps us safest and the most comfortable

and avoids doing right if doing right will bring us hardship or pain.

It justifies that Jesus would never ask us to lose our job,

miss a meal, or risk our lives.

It is perhaps the most basic instinct of our flesh

and I believe the most deadly to our faith

and our witness to the rest of the world.

Powerfully.

Sobering.

Fight greed with purpose.

Fight greed with purpose.

So the first one is fight it with word, fight it with purpose.

Fight it with purpose.

You see this in Genesis 14, verse 17 to 24.

Genesis 14:17–24

Two kings are approaching Abraham.

One is the king of Salem, his name is Melchizedek,

and the other is the king of Sodom.

And both are approaching him.

He gives him bread and juice and gives it to Abraham

and blesses him saying, may you prosper.

The other comes and says, Abraham, you can have all the money,

just give me the souls.

And Abraham raises up his hand and says to El Elyon,

the creator or the mighty possessor of the universe,

he says, I will not take a dime from you

because my provider is the El Elyon, the possessor of heaven and earth.

I will not take so much as the strap of a sandal from you.

When one has purpose, one begins to know how to resist

the pull of greed, of money.

Now the guy who does this so well is Daniel.

So much so that an angel from the Lord comes and says to Daniel,

faithful man, you have set your heart on this

and you have decided that you will purpose yourself

to find out what I have for Israel.

And God has heard you and God is going to reward you.

Purpose has the ability to set you free from,

doesn't matter whether it's pornography or whether it's covetousness.

Purpose is something that can fuel you to have a singular track

when you know what you're waking up for,

when you know what you've been called for.

I mean, why is it that a woman who is perhaps okay about drinking,

be it hard liquor or wine or anything,

and a man who loves smoking,

both of them suddenly cease from smoking or drinking

because the woman is pregnant,

because they know it affects the child.

They know there's only one purpose. What's the purpose?

I have to bring a baby into this world that is completely healthy.

Bad enough that the world is hard to live in.

I am not going to do anything that will affect this baby.

And so for nine months, there will be no smoking,

there will be no drinking, there will be no touching wine,

there will be nothing.

Doesn't matter whether you're Christian or not Christian.

Why? Because now there's a reason.

One of the ways you can keep greed away is if you do not forget your purpose.

But the battle is to see, do you know what your purpose is?

Because many have squandered it.

Look at Judas, lost sight of his purpose.

Look at Gehazi, lost sight of his purpose.

He was supposed to be the next Elijah.

Judas was supposed to be one of the twelve that sits on the thrones

that are appointed in heaven.

Look at Achan.

For a few Babylonian garments,

he gives up entering into the promised land that was promised to his ancestors years ago.

Look at Demas.

It's said of him, Paul writes of him,

Demas has returned to the world, he has deserted me.

Look at Esau, the older brother,

the one who is supposed to inherit the blessings of Jacob.

For porridge, he sells it.

Look at Cain.

Guys who were greedy for something to the point that they lost sight of their purpose.

A man without a purpose is at the disposal of people and circumstances around to hijack them.

A man without a purpose, when I say man it means both man and woman.

A man without a purpose is a person who is at the mercy of circumstances and people around him.

The battle is to see.

See what you've been called for.

See what you're supposed to pour your life into.

And then when someone offers you a million dollars, you can say no.

Any questions on that before we move on?

Lot lost because he wanted the fertile grounds of Sodom

when he was being asked to flee further.

Fight greed by giving.

There are three types of giving.

There's disciplined, regular giving.

There's sacrificial giving.

And there is spontaneous giving.

And all three must be practiced in this order.

Disciplined, regular giving is what one has, one decides beforehand.

This is what I will give.

This is what I'll give.

And there's disciplined, regular giving.

We're not talking about tithing here because it's up to you whether you give 2% or 10%

as long as you give tearfully.

But disciplined, regular giving is one.

Second is sacrificial giving where Paul says to the church in Macedonia,

you guys were poor but in your poverty you gave sacrificially.

There's sacrificial giving.

And that's something I want to address.

When you come in here as students in particular, you may be super tight for money

because what you have, almost all of it goes into paying your fees.

But regardless, you have to be very careful.

What you have, almost all of it goes into paying your fees.

But regardless, learn to give.

Even if it's $2, learn to give.

Teach your children.

As soon as your child can count till five, give your children an allowance.

Why give them an allowance?

So that they can learn to give.

Teach them.

Teach them when they are two and a half, when they are three,

when they can go A, B, C, D, and one, two, three, four.

Teach them how to give.

Give them an allowance of two bucks a month and then teach them what?

Twenty cents is.

Start with the Old Testament standard.

Teach them how to give.

Because many of us don't know how to give and hold back when times are tough

because it was not natural for us to give when we were kids.

You're not giving them an allowance because they ironed your shirt

and burnt a hole through it.

You're giving them an allowance so that they can learn to give.

Draw fancy envelopes for them.

Tell them it's either for Jesus or for somebody or for the church or for somebody.

Man, teach a two and a half year old that, imagine what will happen.

And to the students who are here, to the young that are here,

where you don't have jobs yet that give you much, where you have temp jobs,

and you're barely making ends meet,

and every time fees come up or the month comes up, you're scared of what will happen.

I'm saying to you, give.

You're not asking for 10% or 2% or 1%, but give.

Because it breaks greed.

I'm not even saying give to the church.

I'm saying give.

This is not a money grab sermon.

Somehow this church does well without taking up an offering.

And you are the ones that make it happen.

You're a generous group of people.

But we're not talking about generosity.

We're talking about the destruction of greed.

These three have to be practiced.

Discipline regular giving, sacrificial giving, spontaneous giving.

Spontaneous giving is, I mean I saw this at Paul's church in South Africa.

Spontaneous giving.

They have a basket that they put in front of the church,

and I thought we should start this too,

where they got a few baskets in front of the church,

and they have this written on it because they love.

Because they love.

And what happens is during worship, people come and they spontaneously give.

It's not legislated, it's not coaxed, but someone will get up.

And they'll sometimes come dancing, sometimes come sheepishly,

but they'll throw something in there because they want to spontaneously give.

I'll give time for questions after this point.

We must practice spontaneous participatory giving.

Because most of our giving is electronic and nothing wrong with that,

but it would be a good idea where it becomes part of worship.

Because you're letting go of something to show that you love.

You're letting go of something to show that you love.

Either him or his people or his cause.

I love you, therefore I give.

I don't need this.

Or even if I need this, I love you, therefore I give.

Any questions before we go on?

Yep.

Sorry, can you say that again?

Does it need to be money?

It doesn't have to be money, but money is the hardest thing to give away.

Because it's the one thing that you think you have earned.

Talent, you don't think you have earned.

Treasure, you always think you've earned it.

The sweat of your brow.

The thing with money, why is money so hard to give away?

Because there's nothing else that we think we have gotten free.

I mean, we think we've gotten everything free, but money.

Money we worked for.

My talent, if I can sing, God gave it to me.

Time, I have it.

Money, that I worked for.

It's the hardest thing to give away.

So, yes, one should give talent, treasure, strength.

But one should not leave out money.

And the amount is not what we are talking about.

And surprisingly, we're not even talking about just the church.

Why does God give you the power to not give you money?

Say that again?

Why does God give you the power to not give you money?

Good question.

Why can't spontaneous giving also not be electronic?

This is not a crass answer.

It might sound a silly answer.

Why can't we worship regularly on YouTube?

Why can't we sit at home and send our avatars to worship, which is possible now?

Because there is something in participatory worship.

And so there is something to participatory giving.

Where someone comes down the aisle as a cheerful giver.

You don't know what he's giving.

Maybe it's only a diamond.

You're like the widow who had just one mite to give.

But there's something about participatory giving that we are supposed to practice.

And while there's nothing wrong with electronic giving, trust me, spontaneous giving is better practice.

Where you suddenly feel, I've got to do this.

Father, I love you and I love the people I'm with.

Or I love the cause they're talking about.

Out you go.

It takes gutsy.

Anything that is public takes courage.

Yeah.

And so we balance both.

We don't make a big show.

You come dancing and say, look at this guys.

And then you don't do that.

Again, I'm being super crass.

But so on one hand, you have to balance and let your right hand not know what your left hand is doing.

But spontaneity is when it is something that erupts in your heart.

Just like Jesus also said, when you pray, pray quietly.

Don't pray like those guys who stand at the corners and speak loudly.

But there are times when he says, men, lift up holy hands and pray.

When they fast, do not let them know that you're fasting.

But there are other times where you're supposed to lament before God.

There's a weeping that's involved.

So it's not either or.

It's both held in tension.

And at the end of the day, the heart matters like crazy.

And that is so hard to judge.

And sometimes you can get judged wrong.

Out comes Derek in his green suit and throws some green bills into a green box.

And you think, oh, he's just being green.

And then you realize, no, his heart was really...

Green.

Yeah.

Green.

Not my fault.

You wear that.

So where are the pity giving, honor giving, and privilege giving?

Pity giving?

Pity giving and honor giving.

Okay.

So if you looked at the categories of giving, here are they quickly.

Give to the place that you are being raised in.

Give first fruits.

Give tithes.

And by tithes, I don't mean 10%.

I'm saying give...

Guys, here's the thing.

If this is a pizza and you want to give like God wants to give,

everyone will get a tiny little slice that they can't even chew.

So increase the size of the pizza.

If you take 10% and try to divide it 40 ways, my math is not good enough.

But increase the size of the pizza.

Go extra large.

Now people get a decent size, which is why we've got to stop thinking in terms of 10%.

That's just Old Testament standard that we begin with.

It's a good place to begin.

But it's not the best place to stay.

And it's not the best place to stay.

So look at the different areas you can give to the place you're being raised.

I don't even say fed being raised.

Give first fruits.

As in let's say you get a bonus tomorrow.

Take whatever you want out of that and give tithes.

And by tithes I don't mean 10%.

I just mean regular giving.

Give alms to the poor.

Give to orphans, widows.

That is true religion according to James 1.27.

Give for emergencies, floods, places that are devastated.

Acts 11.28 talks about it.

Give to poorer churches.

Give to the spreading of the Gospel.

The Gospel is free and must remain so.

Give to people who have broken or poured out sweat and blood into your life.

Give to those who have broken bread and wine into your life.

Like Abraham gives to Melchizedek.

Glean.

Gleaning was a principle from Deuteronomy 24, 19 to 21.

Hey, all those dresses and suits that you no longer fit into

and believe that you will fit into because you will go to the gym four years from now,

give them away.

You're not going to lose weight.

It ain't happening.

Yeah, time to give it away, Dawn.

The things I've hold...

I mean there are shirts that are in my closet that are really nice, hey,

that I have worn and I've take photographs in.

But I'm not going to get into them anymore.

Like I get into them till here.

And then the crockery, the fancy spoons and stuff that belong in a museum

that your grandmother gave you, give it away.

Precious China.

You're never going to use it.

You don't even bring it out because you're scared that Dawn will drop the cup.

Give it away.

Gleaning was this idea from Deuteronomy 24 where God would say to people,

hey, once you pluck the fruit from your trees, do not pluck everything.

Let people come and pluck the rest.

And after they pluck the rest, let the birds come and eat what remains.

Do not go and pluck everything.

Gleaning is giving away.

And there's so much we can give away.

Good shoes, they don't give away bad stuff.

Not the ones with holes in it, like soulless shoes.

No, you want to give away good stuff.

I give away good stuff to one person in this church like crazy.

And I keep getting two.

And then pay your debts.

Pay your debts.

These are different ways you can give.

I've got one more point I want to make and then we'll do the rest later.

This is an important one and I won't go beyond that.

Fight greed.

Fight greed by building safeguards.

Fight greed by building safeguards against bigger bonds.

Fight greed by building safeguards against bigger bonds.

As in it is natural as we begin to live here that you begin to prosper,

that you keep increasing, that you keep prospering.

And you have to find a way to prevent yourself from building bigger bonds.

Otherwise we'll just keep getting ritter and ritter.

So how do we go about that?

Can you turn the prosperity of your fields,

your investments into a blessing for others?

How?

Increase your percentage of giving.

Otherwise you will get richer and richer.

The issue is not what you make.

The issue is not what you make.

The issue is not what you make.

It's what you keep.

The issue is not what you make, it's what you keep.

Second Corinthians 8,

2 Corinthians 8:9

verse 9,

I'm not commanding you to do this,

but I'm testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of other churches.

Here is my advice.

And then he goes on to say in verse 14 and 15,

Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need.

Later they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it.

In this way things will be equal.

As the scriptures say, those who gathered a lot had nothing left,

and those who gathered only a little had enough.

The issue is not what you make, the issue is what you keep.

If you don't build and I don't build internal governors and external governors,

as in if there is not something that I decide internally that this should not happen,

I can't keep building bigger bonds.

If I don't decide that internally and if I don't have limits from the external that will help me with this,

then here's what will happen.

My wants will become my needs.

Hear me.

Wants become needs as we build bigger bonds.

I've seen this happen in my life, where my wants become needs.

It's not what you make, it's what you keep that matters.

As you increase in your wealth, are you distributing it so that you're ending up the same way you were five years ago?

I found one odd thing happening with my bank balance.

I had no problems if my bank balance was a hundred bucks because I had an overdraft of fifteen hundred.

I'd be quite happy because I still had an overdraft of fifteen hundred.

And then strange things began to happen.

Money began to come in.

As money began to come in, a hundred bucks was highly uncomfortable.

It went to a thousand, went to five thousand.

Now anything below five thousand or anything, and the same applies to everybody here.

The moment it goes below five thousand, you begin to panic.

It's like you become poor.

Before, a hundred was still rich.

Now five thousand is poor.

What happened?

Somehow you start amassing, you start collecting.

What you earn or what you make or how you prosper is good.

May God prosper you.

But what you keep is what then determines my level of what I want to hold or be greedy about.

This is an extreme way of living, but it is the Christ kingdom jubilee way of living.

The other thing you have to do, especially if you're a minister or a pastor,

is you have to let at least two or three people know how much is coming in.

So if money is given in the church, it usually goes to the church and then it is given to me.

So somebody knows it's given.

What if money comes from outside of the church?

I still have at least two people that I tell, this money came in.

Why? Because people need to know what is coming in and going out.

And if not, you begin to build bigger bonds because bigger bonds are built in secret.

Nobody else knows about it.

One of the things Toonie does, when Toonie receives money

from anywhere outside of Acts 29, he immediately texts me and says,

Jacob, this person sent me this money.

And I'll say, eat, be merry, and share with me.

No, I'm kidding.

I say, eat, enjoy, enjoy what you have received.

But why does he do it? He doesn't need to do it.

He doesn't owe me an explanation, but it's the right way to go about it.

Any questions?

We'll stop here. We'll take the other points later.

I wrote it this way.

To have much is glorious only if you're distributing more

and find yourself in the same place as when you had less.

Hear me again.

To have much is glorious only if you are distributing more

and find yourself in the same place as when you had less.

This goes with 2 Corinthians 8, 14 and 15.

He who had much didn't have too much.

He who had little had enough.

It is good if your fields prosper, but what are you doing with it?

The issue is not what you make, but what you keep.

Any questions?

I hope you don't do this every week.

I'm talking about the tie and the thingy.

Yeah, this is worse.

Okay, can someone turn the video off?

No, I'm kidding.

We are concluding, so we'll get it done.

So, as you prosper, so you divest.

As you prosper, so you divest, like I'm doing right now.

As you prosper, so you divest.

Any questions?

Is this an extreme position?

Amen.

Is this worth practicing?

Amen.

Any questions?

Did they teach you this at Saurdh?

Saurdh or wherever you went to do your fancy degree?

It's pervasive, guys.

It is inescapable, which is why some of these points have to be practiced.

And as you do, God will increase.

What does he want?

What does God want?

He wants the largest conduit through which his resources can flow.

What does God want of you?

What does God want of Derek?

What does God want of Anthony?

What does God want of Dilna?

Can I make you the largest conduit?

What does God want of Prashant?

What does God want of Emmanuel?

What does God want of Crystal?

What does God want of Anna?

Can I make you the largest conduit through which I can cause resources to flow into the world?

Can your diameter increase as a pipe, as a conduit, so that I can cause resources to flow?

How can he cause resources to flow except supplying it through you?

And as he finds you faithful, you find your diameter increasing.

So you will not lack, but you will not gather.

This is Jubilee.

And greed will oppose reset.

I cannot preach this if I don't practice it.

Let's pray.

Jesus, this is hard.

But that's why you are worth following.

I want to live like this, Lord.

I want to live like this.

I don't want my wants to become my needs.

Because what I get that matters is what I keep that matters.

We want to become like this, Lord.

I pray this for this church.

You told us to start talking about Jubilee.

So we are.

But you've got to help us.

So, Father, I just pray that if there are people that want to live like this, that they just rise to their feet.

But be careful, because he'll take you at face value or feet value.

This is how you want to live, rise to your feet.

Some of you already live like this.

I know it from personal interaction with you.

I know you live like this.

Some of us live like this, but we can live even better this way.

Jesus, please do what you want with us.

Please make this happen through us.

If you ask us to learn about the Jubilee, surely it's not for head information.

Israel had head information and they did not practice it.

Will you look at these men and women?

Some of them wealthy, some of them on their way to wealth, some of them not wealthy yet, but they are standing.

I stand with them and I say, Jesus, please, Lord, break upon us by your Spirit so that the law of the Jubilee will be evident in our walk, O God,

so that others will benefit because people here stood up.

I bless this congregation.

May you prosper them so that the world may prosper.

Giving away so that even though we increase, we will be in the same place as if five years ago, six years ago.

In Jesus' name I ask. Amen.

Bless you guys. Thank you for listening and thank you for practicing it.

If you need prayer, someone will be here to pray with you.

And I'll see you most likely not next week, but the week after that.

Amen.