Bible Readings
Luke 12 (from verse 13)
Someone in the crowd said to him, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. Jesus replied, man who appointed me judge or an arbiter between you? I don't think he said it like that, but it just felt right. But then he said to them, watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Life does not consistence and abundance of possessions. And he told them this parable. The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. Then he said, this is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I'll say to myself, you will have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, you fool, this very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves, but is not rich towards God. Jesus. Then Jesus said to his disciples, therefore I tell you, do not worry. Sorry. Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or about your body. What you will wear for life is more than food and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens. They do not so or reap. They have no storeroom or barn. Yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds. Who have you by worrying can add a single hour to your life. Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon, and in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God closed the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you? You of little faith, and do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink. Do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, a little flock, for your father has has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out a treasure in heaven that will never fail. Where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
2 Corinthians 8:1–15
And our second reading comes from two Corinthians chapter eight, verses 1 to 15. And if you're following in the Red Bible, it's on page 1799. And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace of God that has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of this very 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 Lord's people. And they exceeded our expectations. They gave themselves, first of all, to the Lord, and then by the will of God, also to us. So we urge Titus then, just as he had earlier, made a beginning to bring also to the completion of this act of grace on your part. But since you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in love, we have kindled in you 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 by comparing it with the earnest of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you, through his poverty might become rich. And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give, but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched with your completion of it according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but there may be might be equality at the present time of your plenty. Your plenty will supply what they need so that in turn, their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality as it is written. The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.
Hear the word of the Lord.
Well. Thank you. Guy, I was going to apologize for how long the reading was. And then I'm like, no more. Bible is always a good thing. So, thank you for doing that very long reading.
my name is Rachel. If we haven't met before, please do come and introduce yourself after the service. I'd love to get to know you.
Introduction
as we begin today, starting this new series on spiritual living, I want us to consider who is the most successful person you know. Is there a name that comes to mind? What makes them successful?
Often our vision of success, and certainly what the world tells us success looks like, starts off with getting into a prestigious uni, then some Euro summer's financial independence, climbing the corporate ladder, a Pinterest worthy wedding, the investment portfolio, then retiring early to travel the country, interspersed with spoiling the grandkids and a few rounds of golf. This is the good life.
According to the world. Scripture offers us a radically different story, one where the good life is marked by taking up our cross self-sacrifice, serving, losing our lives for Jesus and for his sake.
So as we make our way through this new series, my hope is that we'll experience something of the flourishing that comes from living the good life as defined by Jesus. These life practices for disciples of Jesus aren't obligations to burden us or weigh us down. They're designed to be joyous and life giving rhythms that liberate us to live and to love like Jesus did.
But these rhythms don't just happen. We won't wake up one morning all of a sudden, more like Jesus. If we're not active in seeking to be formed by Jesus, then we will be being deformed into the image of the world around us. We're constantly being formed, molded, influenced, changed.
There's no neutral territory here. Becoming more like Jesus requires us to make an intentional choice every day. To be molded by Jesus, not to be deformed by the world. We do this not so that we can secure our salvation or to unlock some super holy status. Rather, we do it because this way is the life to the full that Jesus came to offer us.
As he says in John 1010, this way is the good life, and it involves generosity. As I was preparing for this sermon, I found myself procrastinating a bit. Shock. Horror, I know right? There's some very clean storage cupboards and we are super prepared for Christmas. I think I was putting it off because I do find generosity really hard.
It's so easy to look the other way. To put it off. To fear not having enough. So I want to make it very clear. Right from the start. I'm not up here because I've got this sorted, right? Because I'm an expert at generosity. No, I'm here because I'm convinced that scripture is clear. Christians are to be people marked by their generosity.
And I know that living according to God's design, living lives molded by Jesus, is what will actually lead to our greatest flourishing. So I'm committed to living and growing in Christ likeness by practicing, giving and generosity. This morning I'm asking if you are willing to do the same.
Will you listen to what God has to say about the good life? Do you trust him enough to leave? According to what he says is best for you. Will you offer your whole selves, your heart, your mind, your soul, your possessions, your time, your bank account to God?
I know I'm not the only one who finds giving hard. Our reading today from Luke chapter 12 gives us two common barriers to generosity. Firstly, greed and secondly, fear.
Barrier 1: Greed
We live in a culture that is discipling us in greed. The advertisements we consume, the social norms, the way our economy itself is designed is all forming us into people of greed. So if we're not active in countering this force, we will become greedy people in the image of this world, rather than generous people in the image of our generous God.
Because greed is so prevalent, it gets really hard to spot. It's hiding subtly in socially accepted beliefs and behaviors. So Jesus says, watch out. Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. This is active language. To avoid greed requires us to do something, to be watchful.
So a man comes to Jesus and says, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. This man recognizes that Jesus is a teacher, someone who can provide judgments on these ethical issues. But Jesus, instead of addressing the brothers and their dispute over the inheritance, he sees the man's heart and he instead chooses to teach him about greed.
Through this parable. The imagery of harvesting and bonds and seed is fairly removed from daily life for most of us. But the heart posture of the sad and rich man from this parable does seem awfully familiar.
The harvest is so large that it creates a problem for the rich man. What to do with all this grain? Having more doesn't eliminate problems, it just creates different ones. The rich man's solution to this problem is not is to store up as much of his grain as he possibly can, then retire early. Sit back and enjoy life.
Sounds awfully familiar to that picture of success. The world is selling us. But as Jesus warned, the brother, life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.
Well, the sad and rich man from this parable could not be. He could not be saved by his possessions. He stored up things for himself, but failed to be rich towards God. I wonder if we're doing the same thing when we say to ourselves, I'll be generous once I've got X amount in savings, once I've paid off my hex or the mortgage or whatever other debt it is once I've gone on this holiday.
Once I've set my family up really well. Always wanting more. The end goal forever creeping further and further and further away so that we never actually reach it. The rich man is labelled a fool by Jesus for thinking that financial security could save him.
The one who stores up things for themselves but is not rich towards God may enjoy some degree of financial security. But it is only spiritual security that offers true safety. So Jesus says, watch out. Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.
Barrier 2: Fear
Fear also prevents us from being generous. In Luke 12 verse 22. Jesus instructs his disciples, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. I think Jesus gives this instruction because he knows what we're like. He knows humans are prone to worry, a prone to fear.
He knows that fear that we won't have enough is preventing us from being generous. Maybe for you, it's fear about being able to pay the bills or fear of support not being reciprocated when you need it. Fear of having to go without something. Essentially fear that God won't provide.
Jesus teaches life is more than food and the body more than clothes. He's reiterating this point from the parable before. That life doesn't consist in an abundance of possessions to worry about. Having enough is futile. According to Jesus, we can't add even one hour to our lives by worrying.
So why would we think that? By worrying, we can ensure our security and our safety? The rich Jesus contrasts the rich man. He stores his surplus grain, yet never enjoys the fruit of his labor with the ravens who don't. So they don't reap. They don't store up in barns, and yet God provides for them.
This isn't to say that material things don't matter. Jesus isn't rebuking the disciples for being human, for needing clothes and food and shelter. Rather he offends your father, knows that you need these things, and he points to God's provision for the ravens and for the fields to reassure the disciples how much more their good God will provide for them.
The problem here isn't our need. It's where our hearts are set. Jesus warns the disciples, do not set your hearts on what you will eat or drink. Do not worry about it. This warning is given because Jesus knows that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.
Focusing on our needs is to make these things our treasures right when our treasure is in something so fragile no matter where. No wonder we are afraid. But if instead our treasure is in heaven, a treasure that will never fail. When no thief comes to destroy. Sorry.
When no thief comes near and no moth destroys. Then we have no need to fear. For it's truly secure. Fear and greed make generosity difficult, but not impossible.
God’s Generosity to Us
God's generosity to us enables us to be generous. It's a model for our generosity. And it's also, if you like, what? What funds our generosity. We are called to be generous, not because God needs our stuff. He doesn't need anything, but because we're made in his image.
The image of a God who is generous to his core is evident right from, like, the first few pages of Scripture. We see God's generosity in the garden, providing abundant food for Adam and Eve. Right? And it's made manifest, embodied in Jesus.
From our reading today, two Corinthians chapter eight, verse nine, for you know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
Christ, who made the whole world, who is God himself, humbled himself. He gave up his heavenly throne to come to earth as a human. He gave it all up, even to the point of giving up his life so that you could enjoy the blessing of life with God.
This is what Paul reminds the Corinthian church of when he's calling on them to give. Remember what Jesus has done. Remember what he willingly and joyfully gave up for your sake. Jesus is the pattern of true generosity.
God's generosity towards us not only motivates our generosity, but it enables it. All that we have is from God. It all belongs to him. Not just 10%. Not whatever's left over. Not what we don't need. All of it is his.
The earth is the Lord's and everything in it. The world and all who live in it. He created and sustains the whole earth. Including you, with your particular gifts and skills and passions. If you have a job, then that's a gift from God. If you have the capacity to work, that's a gift from God.
Your body is a gift from God. Your brain and the particular way that it works is a gift from God. Your very breath is a gift from God. So that means my money is not mine. It's God's. My time is not mine. It's God's. My resources are not mine.
They're God's. Not to be used for my own benefit, but they belong to God for him to use and to distribute how he sees fit for his Kingdom purposes. We have been entrusted with all that we have by God in times of plenty. God has entrusted us with plenty from verse 14, so that our plenty will supply what they need.
And when we are in need. God has entrusted others with plenty so that they can supply what we are lacking. There is reciprocity here. All people giving and receiving at different times in different ways so that everyone has enough. As it is written, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little does not have too little.
Paul here is quoting from Exodus 16, where God provides manna for the Israelites to eat in the wilderness. Paul links God's generous provision, as evident in this manner, to his call for the Corinthian church to be generous with all that they have.
The plenty that they are experiencing comes from God, just as the manna came from God. And there are plenty is for the purpose of blessing others. It's not to be stockpiled for themselves. We see this in the manner that was kept till the next day. It went off.
Generosity Across Scripture
Scripture undeniably calls for Christians to be generous, but there is great freedom in how we do this. We see all sorts of different examples. This is just a tiny, tiny start.
The law includes the provision that every 50 years all debts were to be cancelled the year of jubilee. Leviticus and Deuteronomy commands gleaning, right? But those who owned fields were not to harvest right to the edge, and they weren't to go back and pick up anything they missed. Rather, what was left was to be for those who were in need. This is what Ruth does in Boaz field.
Moses calls for the people to bring offerings to fund the building of the tabernacle, and they actually bring so much that he has to tell them to stop because they have too much. Israel is instructed to provide for the temple and priests through regular offerings.
Luke eight records women, including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna, who provided for Jesus and his 12 disciples and of their own means. The New Testament letters are filled with accounts of the church giving and being called to give to the poor, to their local church, and to the advance of the gospel. In different contexts.
Different people are called to express generosity in different ways, but what is consistent is that they are called to be generous. This generosity is directed towards the poor, the church, and to the advance of the gospel or to mission.
I think these categories can be helpful for us to use as we reflect on our own practices of generosity. How are you helping to provide for the poor? What does generosity look like for you in your local church community?
How are you investing in the gospel? Going out to all nations? How are you investing in mission?
What Might This Look Like For Us?
If you were someone here today who loves Jesus, then you are called to be generous. But how that is expressed will look different for each of us according to our gifts, according to the needs of those around us, according to our capacity and the particular burdens that God has placed on our hearts.
Maybe you can be generous by cooking a meal for someone who's struggling. Perhaps you could invest in making disciples of all nations by supporting a cross-cultural missionary. It might be about putting off buying a new car, or cutting back on going out for coffee so that you can give away what you would have otherwise spent.
These aren't prescriptive. Quite deliberately right. It will be different for each of us. And I'm very aware that as a congregation, there is great diversity here, that there will be people here living paycheck to paycheck and people who would love a paycheck right about now.
There are those in our community with investment properties and those who know what it's like to be without secure housing. All of us are called to be generous, but it's going to look radically different according to the needs of the people around us, according to our capacity, according to our gifts and the particular burdens that God has placed on each of our hearts.
If you're here this morning and you're someone who's still exploring who Jesus is, then my prayer is that the generosity of Christians that you encounter here and elsewhere would help you to experience something of the generosity of God in inviting you into relationship with him.
Marks of Christian Generosity
Christian generosity. From our passage in two Corinthians is giving freely and joyfully. It's to be sacrificial. It's giving according to your means. It's an action, not just an intention. And it is characteristic.
Firstly, freely and joyfully. Paul records that the Macedonian Church had overflowing joy in Christ despite their poverty, so much so that they urgently pleaded with Paul for the privilege in sharing in their service to the Lord's people. These believers gave not reluctantly or under compulsion, but they viewed it as a privilege. And Paul urges the Corinthian church to do the same.
If our giving is to be a spiritual discipline or a spiritual practice, and not just good works, then it needs to be matched and accompanied by a heart that is generous. A heart that is joyful and eager to share with others what we have first received from God.
Christian giving is to be sacrificial. The Macedonian church gave as much as they were able, even beyond their ability. This radical giving is modeled by Jesus himself. Jesus didn't sit down with his budget one month and go, hmm, I wonder if I can afford to save Rachel or not? Oh, probably. If I cut out this, I could make it work, right?
No. He saw our need and moved by great compassion. He acted even though it cost him his life. Are you willing to give in ways that actually cost you something? Maybe sacrificing a holiday or using an older model phone? If you can set up an automatic direct debit and then forget that you're giving, then it's probably not being sacrificial.
However, this isn't about being financially reckless or denying our own genuine needs. Paul makes it clear he isn't asking the Corinthian church to suffer unnecessarily. The gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
So it's okay if you don't have much to give. Or rather, maybe what you have to give isn't large sums of money, but is your time or your skills whatever it is that you have to offer. Jesus calls you to bring it to him with radical trust, like the woman who put her last two coins in the temple offering, she's commended by Jesus as having given more than everyone else.
Or like the boy who, faced with a crowd of 5000 hungry people, essentially said to Jesus, here's my lunch. He didn't have enough to feed the 5000. But he gave what he did have, and he trusted that Jesus would do with it whatever was best.
Christians are to offer whatever we have, whether it's a little or a lot to God. And Christians are to give not just to have the intention of giving. The Corinthian church had the desire to give in the year before. Paul writes this letter to them, but now he urges them, finish the work so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it according to your means.
Generosity is an action. Maybe for you, it's less fear or greed that's holding you back from generosity, and simply that you forget to do it. You might think about it occasionally, fully have the intention of giving to a certain cause, and then life gets busy, right? And all of a sudden it's been a year.
And now you're getting this letter from Paul saying, finish the work so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it. Christian generosity is an action, not just an intention, and it is to characterize us.
This isn't the first time Paul wrote to the Corinthians about giving in his first letter. In chapter 16, he instructs them on how to take up the collection for the Lord's people in Jerusalem. He's repeatedly writing about generosity because it's not something that we can tick off our list and be done with. It is to be who we are, not just something we do from time to time.
Generosity characterizes the early church in acts. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. They broke bread in their homes and ate together. About 300 years later, Julian the Apostate, the Roman Emperor at the time, is recorded as saying it is disgraceful that the impious Galileans, which is what he calls Christians, support our poor in addition to their own poor. Everyone is able to see that our co-religionists are in want of aid from us.
They were being so generous that they put the. They were putting the Roman Emperor to shame. Is our church characterized by that sort of radical generosity? Are you characterized by that sort of radical generosity?
Conclusion
I'm in a season of life at the moment where it feels like at least once a month I'm going to a wedding, and usually in the vows, the couples say something along the lines of, with all that I ham em and all that I have, I honor you. It's a pretty huge commitment to make all that I am, all that I have.
The church, as the Bride of Christ, is called to make the same commitment. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. So command from Deuteronomy chapter six, and Jesus identifies this as the first and greatest command. It's essentially a command to honor God with all that you are and all that you have.
This is the good life. To honor God with all that you are and all that you have. This is what it means to follow Jesus to be his disciple. So is there any part of you that you need to commit or recommit to using to honor God?
Is there anything that you have that you need to surrender to God for him to use for his Kingdom purposes? My prayer is that we will be a community whose generosity stems from the overflow of God's grace to us, and that this would point the world to our generous God, the one who gave everything so that we might live. Amen.
