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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.