A carnival set up in the concourse down in Chatswood.
They had a variety of side shows on display,
one of which was a strongman competition.
What that means is they had this 150 kilogram muscle-bound hulk of a bloke
who was squeezing oranges into a glass
until he couldn't get any more drops of juice out of it
and then he'd throw the challenge out there to the crowd that had gathered
and amazed at how strong this guy was.
Throw the challenge out.
Anyone who can squeeze even one more drop out of the orange,
you get $1,000 in prize money.
Many from Crunch Gym tried, but no one succeeded.
Until that is a young Asian lady watching from the back,
stepped up to the platform, grabbed the orange,
proceeded to squeeze and squeeze this orange
until another half a cup of juice came out of the orange.
The crowd roared with delight as the $1,000 of prize money was handed over.
The muscle-bound hulk of a bloke was somewhat embarrassed and flabbergasted.
And so he asked her who she was and how on earth did she manage to do that?
She said, my name is Wendy Jay.
I'm the treasurer of the local Anglican church.
And I do this every Sunday with a collection.
It's not a true story.
Just for Jason's sake, wherever he is, where's Jason?
It's not a true story, Jason.
What I'm speaking about today is practically a taboo subject in our culture.
While we might put up with a money sermon once or maybe twice a year,
we expect it's sort of things like on, you know, Commitment Sunday,
if we do it much more than that,
and I run the risk of being accused of just being interested in people's money.
And yet money is a big deal to God.
Jesus talked about money 10 to 20 times more than he talked about sex,
and twice as much as he talked about prayer and faith.
One third of Jesus' parables were about money,
and he sets up money, of all the things he picked on,
he set up money as the alternative God,
where he said you cannot serve both God and money.
The practical reality is that all too often raising funds for ministry and for mission
is like squeezing the orange,
trying to get those last drops out
and making every little bit stretch as far as we possibly can.
The reason for that is that money is a spiritual issue.
It is not a financial issue for the Christian.
And so we're finishing 1 Corinthians
with the first four verses of the chapter, of chapter 16,
where it raises the issue of taking up a collection
for the support of other churches.
And we're going to jump around the Bible a bit
and look at this issue of radical generosity,
how the cross shapes our wallets and our purses.
We're going to see how money exercises power over us,
which is why we don't give as much as we should.
We're going to see why money exercises power over us
and how we break that power that it has over us.
1 Corinthians 16, if you've got your Bibles open there,
begins with the familiar now about or now concerning.
It's the fifth time that Paul has used this little phrase
to address another issue that the Corinthian church
had previously written to him about.
And so he's bringing clarity to them on this particular issue.
The collecting of money here is the issue that they need clarity on.
And it's collecting of money from the missionary churches of the Gentiles
that Paul had established and planted
for the mother church back in Jerusalem.
The collection started as a support of the mother church
during a severe famine, which hit Judea in the first century,
and it brought enormous hardship throughout Judea
and particularly the capital in Jerusalem.
And Paul gives very simple advice to this church of Corinth
as he did with the other churches that were collecting money for Jerusalem.
It's in verse 2.
He says,
On the first day of the week,
each one of you should set aside a sum of money
in keeping with his income.
And so what he encourages here
is regular proportional giving accordance with your income.
Over time, though,
this church of Corinth stumbled on this issue.
They might have had a good start,
but they sort of petered out over time.
Paul addresses the fact that they were petering out
on his instructions here in 1 Corinthians 16
in his second letter, 2 Corinthians,
and in chapters 8 and 9.
Paul was concerned not that this church of Corinth
would fail in the collection.
His concern was that they would fail to excel
in the grace of giving,
that they would fail to keep giving and go beyond giving.
That was his concern.
What we notice as you go through the scriptures
is that the Bible revolutionizes our view of money and generosity.
In 1 Chronicles,
and this is where I want to challenge us tonight
in terms of our view of money.
Let's have a biblical perspective of it,
on what we have.
1 Chronicles 28 and 29,
King David is raising funds
for the building of the temple in Jerusalem.
And he prays to God in these words.
He says,
Everything in heaven and on earth is yours.
Wealth and honour come from you.
Everything comes from you.
And we have only given what comes from your hand.
What that's saying there is
that everything that you have,
everything that we have,
is a gift from God.
Everything.
Now, that might seem a little offensive
because we've worked really hard for what we have,
but we've worked really hard,
or your parents have worked really hard,
with abilities, opportunities, circumstances,
and health that God has provided.
It's very easy for us in our culture to say,
well, I've just worked really hard,
and I've been really lucky,
and I've made some really wise choices.
If you were born in the 5th century,
in the jungles of New Guinea,
you wouldn't be able to say that.
Everything that you have
has been given to you from God.
But it's not just that everything comes from God's hand.
Here's the next bit.
Everything that comes from God's hand
is still owned by God.
It's His.
God does not give up ownership of something
when He gives it to us.
So what that means is that we relate to our money
and our resources
the way an investment manager relates
to the wealth of their clients.
And there are plenty of parables in the New Testament
that talk about this.
If you are an investment manager,
you don't operate as if the money is yours
and that you can do whatever you want with it.
There's an accountability to it
as an investment manager.
You have to invest the money
in line with the purposes and the desires
and the directions and the values of the investor.
If you take their money
and do something else with it,
it's called fraud.
And God is the great creator investor.
Everything we have comes from Him.
It is His.
And we are His investment manager.
And if we deny the investment manager role
that we have with God's resources
and regard ourselves as the ultimate owner
of everything we got,
we actually rob God.
That's how strong the language is in Malachi 3
that was just read out to us.
Where God is talking about His people's failure
to be generous.
God poses a question to them.
He says,
Will a man rob God?
And yet you rob me.
The word rob here is a very rare word.
It's in fact used only in one other place in the Bible.
It is a word that really means to oppress,
to pillage, to plunder, to rape.
It is a very violent word.
And this is what the people of God are doing to God.
And when they hear this,
they're shocked.
How do we rob you?
How on earth could we be possibly doing that to you, God?
What are you talking about, God?
And God comes back and says,
I'm talking about your lack of generosity with money.
I'm talking about the fact that you spend more on yourself.
You have a tendency not to give away.
You see, when they keep it for themselves,
they are robbing God,
plundering, pillaging,
raping God's purposes
for His world.
So instead of building up,
it's destroying.
And according to these verses,
these people in Malachi 3
are oblivious to it.
And that is the power that money has over us.
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 how much it is affecting us.
Materialism and greed
is a sin that blinds you to its presence.
That's why Jesus says in Luke chapter 12,
watch out!
Watch out!
In the same way that if someone was crossing Fuller's Road right now
and they're oblivious,
they've got their headphones in,
they're wandering along,
there's a bus zooming down on them,
you'd go, watch out!
Because they haven't seen the bus.
And Jesus says, watch out!
For all kinds of greed.
Is there any place where Jesus says,
watch out!
For all kinds of sexual immorality.
Now it's,
well, I can't think of any.
It's not because
sexual immorality, adultery,
all that sort of stuff is any less sinful.
It's because we're blind to greed and materialism
in a way that you're not blind
to adultery and sexual immorality.
You don't go,
oh,
when you've committed adultery,
you're not my wife.
You're not my husband.
You know they're not.
Jesus doesn't say,
watch out,
you might be committing adultery
not knowing it.
Of course you know it.
But we sin,
this sin of greed and materialism,
you're blind to it.
And it's interesting
that I find after,
you know,
about 20 years of ministry
that no one has ever asked me
to preach on money
except other ministers
who've asked me to come in
and do it for them.
No one has ever asked me
to help them think
through a godly response
to their use of their money.
I've never heard anyone confess
greed and materialism,
that is the sin of greed
and materialism to me.
I've had all sorts of stuff
confessed to me
over the years.
You name it,
it's probably happened.
Except terrorist
or something like that,
never done that.
But,
no one has ever confessed
greed and materialism.
No one ever thinks
it's their problem.
And I would hazard a guess
that no one here
sitting in this room
at the moment
probably thinks
it's their problem.
They could probably think
of someone who is
it as their problem,
but it's not them.
No one ever asked me
to pray for them
and counsel them
because they were ungodly
in the use of their money.
But if we take the text
of the Bible seriously
then we should work
on the assumption
that it's true for us.
This is a blind spot for us
in the wealthy West.
We're blind too.
Now I'm saying
it's necessarily true of you.
I'm saying that the only way
to give any credence
to what the Bible says
is to always be checking
for this blind spot
which means you need help.
And fortunately
the Bible gives us some help.
The Bible does give us
at least one guideline
by which we can check ourselves
to see whether or not
money has a hold on us
and our understanding
of generosity
and giving to ministry
and charity
is anywhere
in the ballpark
of what God thinks
it ought to be.
And it's right here
in Malachi 3.
It's called the tithe.
The Old Testament scriptures
required
that all people
give 10% of their annual income
to the temple.
And historically
this has raised a question
for whether this is an obligation
for Christians or not.
And the word tithe
is mentioned only once
in the New Testament
but it is very significant.
It's in Luke chapter 11
verse 42
and Jesus is talking
to the Pharisees
and he says this to them
woe to you Pharisees.
In other words
curse upon you Pharisees
because you give God
a tenth of your mint
you ruin all kinds
of garden herbs
but you neglect justice
and the love of God.
You should have practiced
the latter
without leaving
the former undone.
That is
it's right for you
to give a 10%.
But the trouble
with the Pharisees
is they have this
legalistic limitation
that they're operating in.
They give 10%
and view the 90%
as theirs.
God you got your bit
the rest is mine.
And so when an issue
of justice and love
or some other need
pops up
they go
not my problem.
They refuse to go
beyond the tithe.
They aren't being driven
by the grace
they aren't being driven
by the gospel
by love
by justice
they've been driven
by a legalistic code
of conduct
that pats themselves
on the back.
And I don't think
that we could ever
expect God to say
to his New Testament
people with greater
blessing
greater privileges
greater hope
in the gospel
you can give less.
I suspect
the reason
tithing isn't
mentioned a whole lot
is because
we're not meant
to see it
as a legalistic
limitation
to our giving
but as a baseline
a guideline
a rule of thumb
a beginning
make sure
that you're
in the ballpark
and then
like the Lord Jesus
go beyond it.
Radical generosity.
Money
sorry
Malachi 3
also gives us
a clue
as to why
money has
such power
over us.
Bring the whole
tithe into the
storehouse
that there may
be food
in my house.
The word
house there
means God's
temple.
God's instruction
here is for
his people
to give
their gold
and silver
and their
resources
and so on
and whatever
into the
storehouse
of the
temple.
So the word
house means
temple
the word
storehouse
means treasury
it's the
treasury
of the
temple
and so
what the
instruction
here is
bring
your
treasure
the
stuff
that
I've
given
you
into
my
treasury
and when
God
says
bring the
whole
tithe
to 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
doing
that
then your
treasure
is in
another
treasury
it's a
matter of
who or
what you
really
trust
money
has a
hole in
us
because we
expect it
and we
trust it
to deliver
what only
God can
deliver
I'll give you
two examples
of what I
mean
firstly
if you
find it
really hard
to give
money away
and I
mean
you know
it's
hard
you've
got to
think
about
so much
just not
natural
just so
difficult
but it's
so incredibly
easy to
spend money
on clothes
on cars
on travel
on renovations
on entertainment
on takeaway
on you know
almost effortless
piece of cake
whip it out
spend it
go on
just like
that
then those
things
are your
real treasure
they are
your real
treasure
oh sorry
they are the
real treasury
of your
real temple
because
what you're
really doing
no matter
what you
say you
believe
is that
you're
actually
looking
to those
things
to get
the sense
of
security
desirability
acceptability
lovability
or experiences
whatever it
might be
rather than
looking to
God
for your
satisfaction
your
contentment
your
security
alternatively
there might
be those
amongst us
who look
at all
these people
around us
in our
consumeristic
culture
and you
puke at
that
these people
spending money
on clothes
and homes
and cars
and travel
and you
just sneer
you look
down your
nose
and you
think
what a
waste
and you're
so proud
of the
fact
that you've
been
wearing
and repairing
the same
pair of
undies
for 10
years
and that
you hang
out your
tea bags
to dry
so you
can reuse
them
and you're
living in
a small
apartment
and you
don't own
a mobile
phone
and you're
just really
frugal
and what
you're doing
instead is
you're putting
your money
away into
banks
and investments
for a rainy
day
but you
like the
spender
is still
controlled
by money
you're still
under the
power of
money
if you
find it
very hard
to give
money away
but very
easy to
save it
then your
bank is
your temple
rather than
God you
are looking
to your
bank to
give you
control
that's what
it ultimately
is about
it's about
control
in a
very
chaotic
and unpredictable
world
where only
God has
control
instead of
God
I've got
beauty
and acceptance
because of
these great
clothes
instead of
God
I've got
control
because of
these
investments
instead of
God
I've got
comfort
and security
because of
this great
house
it is so
incredibly
easy
to give
money to
whatever
is your
saviour
your lord
your hope
your happiness
your meaning
your significance
and your
security
money reveals
what we
truly
worship
and that is
why Jesus
says you
can't serve
both God
and money
he sets
up money
as the
alternative
God
because it
promises us
security
and hope
and freedom
and a clear
conscience
and a good
health
but it will
never deliver
for us
what we think
it will deliver
for us
the biggest
saving account
in the world
cannot stop
cancer
it cannot stop
traffic accidents
it cannot stop
family
disintegration
it cannot stop
broken hearts
God is the
only one
who can give
you genuine
security
he's the
only one
who can give
you genuine
significance
he's the only
love that you
can never
lose
and so
how do we
break this
power that
money has
over us
the answer
is the
gospel of
the Lord
Jesus
Paul puts
it like this
in 2
Corinthians 8
this is when
he's addressing
this church
at Corinth
that failed
to really
follow through
in his
instructions
here in
1 Corinthians
16
so this is
his second
letter to
them
he says
see that you
also excel
in the 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
everyone
in this
room
has set
their heart
on something
every one
of them
every one
of us
here
you've set
your heart
on something
it might
be
the children
your
grandchildren
it might
be a
status
it might
be
career
it might
be
physical
beauty
it might
be
leisure
it might
be
investments
it might
be the
great
Australian
dream
it might
be
international
travel
any list
of things
that you
could set
your heart
on
whatever
your heart's
treasure
is
you will
do
anything
for it
you will
pay any
cost for
it
you will
do
anything
to
maintain
it
sustain
it
and reclaim
it
and what
this
passage
here says
from 2
Corinthians 8
is that
Jesus Christ
came and
he died
for us
why would
he do
that
why would
he do
that
I think
at least
one
answer
to that
question
is that
you and
I are
his
heart's
treasure
he has
set
his heart
on you
me
every
other
treasure
in this
world
will insist
that we
die to
purchase
it
that we
sacrifice
to get
it
but
Jesus
is
the
only
treasure
that
died
to
purchase
you
and
that's
why we
have a
mission
statement
that says
that we
exist
to treasure
Jesus
above
everything
in this
world
now what
Paul does
here
he puts
no pressure
on your
will
he doesn't
say
I'm
an apostle
you're
Christians
I started
you churches
do what I
tell you to
do and
give money
doesn't
say that
he doesn't
even put
pressure on
your emotions
he doesn't
try to
even wind
the heart
come on
guys
you're so
rich
you got
all these
possessions
you got
all this
money
you'd
say this
and look
at these
poor
orphans
over here
starving
kids
with big
eyes
and your
heart
goes
oh man
I've got
to hand
over 20
bucks
to help
feed those
kids
he doesn't
play with
your emotions
he doesn't
force your
will
he just
says simply
here that
if you do
not have
the freedom
to give
away your
money in
eye-popping
proportions
it's because
something other
than the
Lord Jesus
Christ is
your functional
Lord and
Saviour
that's what
he says
and he
says the
way to
break the
hold that
money has
on your
life
is to
think about
the radical
generosity of
the Lord
Jesus Christ
on the
cross
until
you get
freedom to
give
when we
see Jesus
dying because
he loved the
world so
much
then and
only then
will we
love him
when we
see that
we are his
greatest
treasure and
that he has
given everything
for us to be
the treasure of
his heart
then he'll
become ours
the vice 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
grow in
generosity
sit down
with the
cross and
think about
what Jesus
did what he
has given
what he has
promised until
it wells up
in you
a freedom
a radical
generosity to
give your money
away in eye
popping proportions
I read
recently the
sad reality
is that many
Christians are
in fact not
radically generous
that is they
confess with
their mouth
that they
follow Jesus
but they have
really little
grasp of
the impact
of the cross
they're not
actually living
the cross
shaped life
recent survey
said that
20% of
those who
regarded
this is
evangelical
Christians
these are
people in
our camp
20% of
those who
regarded
themselves as
mature or
very mature
Christians
let alone the
rest of them
had never
given a
single cent
to any
form of
ministry or
charity
nothing
20%
that's
astounding
it's astounding
that anyone
would link
Christian
maturity with
a lack
of giving
that's an
oxymoron
doesn't exist
you can't
you cannot
be a mature
Christian and
not give
money
it's impossible
and also
it's said that
in the western
world the
average Christian
gave just
2.7%
of their
income
away
2.7%
and if
the American
Christians
alone
just America
forget about
us guys
just lump
their
responsibility
on them
if the
American
Christians
alone
actually
obeyed
this passage
and gave
10% of
their income
every year
they'd be able
to wipe
out world
hunger
just the
American
Christians
alone
our own
stats here
at St Paul's
is that
30%
of
St Paul's
members
give
over
80%
of our
budget
just
30%
give
80%
of our
budget
and for
time to
build
we put
it to
vote
97%
of our
church
said
let's
proceed
with
this
building
project
and
the
establishment
of the
international
Chinese
school
but to
date
around
45%
have
actually
partnered
with that
project
financially
we all
agree
it's a
good
idea
but only
50%
of us
have
actually
well less
than 50%
of us
have actually
given
something
to it
and so
in line
with
1 Corinthians
16
and the
call
throughout
this
whole
series
of
1 Corinthians
about
living
the
cross
shaped
life
I
call
you
to
give
according
to
your
ability
equal
sacrifice
unequal
giving
is the
principle
what that
means is
that some
of you are
better off
than others
and it
turns out
that spider
man agrees
with the
bible
when he
said
with great
power
comes great
responsibility
that's what
the bible
says
some of you
have been
gifted many
talents
not for
your sake
but
but as
God's
investment
manages
to use
it
for
his
sake
for
his
glory
for
his
kingdom
but there
might be
those
amongst
us
and I
suspect
in this
room
here
thinking
that
you know
dude
I got
just
small
little
bits
coming
and going
here
and there
you know
my parents
feed me
pocket money
whatever
it is
and you
think
a small
contribution
won't make
much
difference
I want
to say
that
everything
that we
hope to
do
here
as a
church
would
not happen
without
the
partnership
across
the board
of this
whole
church
it is
profoundly
unhelpful
for us
and unhealthy
for us
to have
a few
big
givers
and
very few
contributors
across the
church
that's not
healthy
I want
to suggest
broad
regular
modest
and
sacrificial
giving
all adds
up to
enormous
impact
now I'm
going to
tell you
I'm
going to
get
personal
right
here
this is
a personal
note
I'm
not
asking
you
to
do
anything
that
Natalie
and I
aren't
doing
she's
sitting
here
in the
room
tonight
we are
committed
to this
church
family
we're
committed
to the
vision
the direction
we're
heading
as a
church
we want
to see
lives
transformed
through
the
ministry
of this
church
by the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
for all
of
eternity
and that
means
sacrifice
the
time to
build
project
that's
currently
going
on
right
now
is
the
biggest
single
amount
that we
and as
I said
on a
video
which
some
of you
saw
a few
weeks
ago
our
giving
has
doubled
in the
past
year
a year
ago
we put
down
what we
thought
we'd
give
and we
went
and we're
giving more
than that
now
and our
giving has
gone
five times
as much
as it
was when
we started
here five
and a half
years ago
I want
to encourage
you to
apply a
principle
that
Natalie
and I
have
we've
never
really
named
it
I've
named
it
as of
the
last
few
days
it's
a
principle
that
we've
worked
with
when
it
comes
to
giving
it's
called
the
big
gulp
principle
that
is
you
write
a
figure
on
a
piece
of
paper
and
you
go
if
it
doesn't
make
you
go
then
maybe
you
should
write
another
figure
on
piece
of
paper
and
I
say
that
because
of
Malachi
chapter
3
Malachi
chapter
3
God
says
bring
in
all
the
tithes
and
offerings
in
the
storehouse
test
me
on
it
test
me
he
says
I
dare
you
to
test
me
with
your
money
see
that
I
will
not
bless
you
we
he
had a
great
testimony
and
God's
blessed
them
I
stand
here
saying
that
it
has
pushed
that
nine
the
last
12
months
and
I
suspect
will
continue
to
push
us
but
we
do
it
with
delight
and
God
continues
to
bless
us
our
kids
are
fed
probably
over
fed
but
our
kids
are
fed
we
got
no
complaints
sit
down
with
the
cross
and
make
a
decision
to
take
all
I'm
suggesting
is
you
take
one
step
forward
one
step
forward
in
showing
gratitude
for what
Christ
has
given
you
our
grasp
of
the
great
eternal
truth
the
great
treasure
that we
have
in
Jesus
will
be
reflected
in
a
life
of
radical
generosity
is
a
cross
shaped
life
so
the
one
step
forward
is
if
you're
that
20%
you've
not
given
anything
start
giving
if
you're
an
irregular
giver
spasmodic
giver
start
giving
regularly
that's
your
step
forward
if
you're
a
regular
giver
but
you're
only
giving
in
a
small
proportion
you know
like
you'd
be
lucky
to
do
the
2.7%
take
steps
to
move
towards
the
ballpark
that God
says
that we
should be
playing in
10%
and if
you are
a regular
and proportional
giver
that is
you're already
sitting there
at the
10%
take a
step
towards
extravagant
giving
don't be
like the
Pharisee and
go
I'm doing
my bit
90%
mine
10%
God
experience
the joy
of radical
generosity
a phrase
that we've
used a
number of
times in
this series
in 1
Corinthians
is
living a
cross
shaped
life
that's
what this
passage
is about
the death
and resurrection
of Jesus
changes
everything
the cross
of Christ
is not
just a
place of
past
substitution
for sin
it is
the place
of our
present
execution
for the
Christian
as we
like Jesus
take up
our
cross
we die
to self
interest
and we
follow
Jesus
and that
happens
every
moment
of every
day
when you're
in the
chase
when you're
in Westfield
whatever you're
doing
you die
to self
interest
and so
brothers and
sisters
as the
apostle Paul
encouraged
this church
of Corinth
so I
encourage you
to excel
in the
grace
of giving
I'm not
commanding
you
but I
want to
test the
sincerity
of your
love for
the Lord
Jesus
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
I dare you
to trust
God
with a life
of radical
generosity
there's two
more things
I want to
say
in fact
there's really
one thing
with two
parts
the bulletin
for the
last month
this last
month
as it does
with every
month
has ways
that you
can support
electronic
giving
there's
normally
two ways
that people
give
you
we either
do it
via the
computer
electronically
or we
put money
in the
plate
here's the
third option
for you
as of this
last week
we put together
a card
with a credit
card slip
on it
this might be
an option
for you
if you've
never given
this might be
a way to
start giving
there's slips
here at the
back
take it away
either fill
it out now
stick it in the
plate as it
comes around
if you've got
your credit
card if you
want to
or alternatively
stamp
self-addressed
envelope
take an
envelope with
you
take a
card with
you
take it
home
think about
it and post
it back
to us
there's another
option in terms
of giving
so I dare you
according to
Malachi 3
I dare you to
trust God
with a life
of radical
generosity
anxiety
I'm
I am
I
I am
I iz
I am
I are