Crazy things Jesus said #4 Give and you will receive May 20, 2018 RUMC

Crazy things Jesus said #4

Give and you will receive

May 20, 2018 RUMC

How much would it cost me to get you to eat a worm?  Would you eat it for $1?  NO?  how about $100?  $1000?  In a recent survey, 26% of people said they wouldn’t consider eating a worm for less than $1000. 21%, however, said they would wolf down a worm for $300.

How much would it cost me to get you to shave your head? 59% said it would take $10,000.  What surprised me is the 41% who wouldn’t do it for $10,000.  Maybe I’m weird, but it wouldn’t cost anywhere near $10,000 to shave my head. 1 in 8 would commit murder for a  $million, 15% would shoplift for $1000, and 20% would flash a stranger for $10,000?  

Is there anything Americans won’t do for money? Your approach to money probably says more about you than anything else you do. Jesus knew that. He said, “where your treasure is there will your heart be also. Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth but treasures in heaven.” (Matt 5:24)

We live in a culture obsessed with money, the higher the salary the more important the job is perceived to be. The more expensive the car the better. Big houses, big 401k’s.  And those who don’t have those things should want them. The message of the culture is if you can’t afford a fancy vacation you are less of a person. If you can’t’ afford a fancy new car you are less important. If you get paid less than I do, we know who is more important. The chorus in our culture is   “Get, get, get,--grab, grab, grab-- more, more, more-- I want --I need --I have to have.”

But maybe it isn’t just us. I suspect every culture in history at some level experienced this same phenomenon. Greed and pride are part of human nature.  The bible is pretty clear about that, most famously in saying that “the love of money is the root of all evil.”  And Jesus taught about money a lot. 1 out of every 6 verses in Matthew, Mark, and Luke deals with money in one way or another. Of the 29 parables, Christ told 16 (just over ½) deal with a person’s relationship with their money.

Jesus knew money was important, but more importantly, our use of money is a pretty good thermometer to whether we are fundamentally greedy or generous people. And   Generosity, or the lack of generosity in all areas of life are good indicators of our spiritual health.       

 I think it is important to understand that generosity is bigger than money. In this passage, Jesus is talking about all of life, including money, but not limited to money. The best way I can explain this is to read Eugene Peterson’s version of the Bible called THE MESSAGE verse 31-38

 31-34 “Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.

 35-36 “I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.

 37-38 “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier.

 Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.”

 Generosity begets generosity. That is the crazy economics of the kingdom of God.

•            The world says hang on to it or you’ll lose it. Jesus says give it away or you’ll lose it.

•            The world says to treat others the way they treat you, Jesus treats them the way you WANT THEM TO TREAT YOU if you expect to receive love and forgiveness.

•            The world says the righteous judge the unrighteous, Jesus says Give away your right to judge or you will be judged.

It sounds crazy, ludicrous, impossible. But which is upside down? Are we being more godlike when we are shouting “mine, mine, mine,” or when we are generously sharing whatever we have, money, time, forgiveness, grace, joy hope, or love?  The more you give the more you will receive and the more you receive the more you can give, and the more you give the more you can receive, and pretty soon there is this a crazy generous, gracious, kingdom experience of being filled so full and so fast that we can’t give ourselves away fast enough to keep from overflowing.

This is one of those crazy teachings of Jesus that doesn’t make sense until you do it. 

 Let me introduce a term I heard this week. Cheap giving.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer talked about cheap grace as the “preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance.”  Cheap giving is giving without any sacrifice. Cheap giving is giving from the leftovers… or giving IF there are any leftovers: Leftover money at the end of the month, leftover time at the end of the week, leftover love given to those whom it is easy to love, leftover energy if we have anything left at the end of the day.

God will not be satisfied with cheap giving.  God will not be satisfied with leftovers.  Jesus is teaching that God expects nothing less than God gives…crazy, unbelievable, incomprehensible extravagant generosity That includes money, yes, but it also includes, time, energy, and love. Our whole lives are to be characterized by extravagant generosity rather than easy giving.

Now I want to stop there and reject what is called the prosperity gospel.  I am not saying that if you give an extra $1000 to the church, God will bless you with a new car or miraculous deposits of money into your bank account. Do those things happen, occasionally, but that is selfishly bribing God for our own benefit, which is definitely not extravagant generosity.

The rewards Jesus is talking about may include material stuff, but may also include less tangible things like joy, peace, hope, love, and grace. We live our lives modeled after God’s own extravagantly generous character, and that is enough.

So, what are some examples of extravagant generosity you have seen around here? <<<<<     >>>>>>

There are some remarkable examples… but I have to admit It is a little harder to identify growth in extravagant generosity around here than it is to identify how we have grown in love or mountain moving faith.

Let me say, this message was planned two months ago but it turned out to be very timely. The ongoing financial struggle in this church has one and only one cause. Fear. Fear of generosity. While some of us give generously, there are way too many folks to hold back out of fear and only give begrudgingly when the situation becomes critical as it has this month.  That is cheap giving… it requires no sacrifice. We need t become extravagant givers whatever that means for your situation.

A personal testimony. My salary is public information.  You can all look it up.  When we came we started tithing for the first time in our lives and it has changed the way I look at what I have, it has changed my relationship with money, and it has taught me that generosity really is a spiritual issue. Try it out by tithing or giving proportionally on a regular basis.  You will grow spiritually and if enough folks do that, I guarantee the church will never have to go begging to meet expenses again. When there is an appeal we see extravagant generosity… but we need to make it a habit or a lifestyle, rather than the exception.

But there is something more important than money. Making up a deficit in the cash flow is easy compared to sustaining ministry.   I have been preaching “every member in ministry” for over two years now, the leadership team has been trying to model it and encourage it, but I just don’t know if it has caught on.  There are some isolated people who have taken up the challenge and run with it. Thank you! But most have not. Too many of us give out of the extra or leftover time… I am thankful for what they do, but it is cheap giving… it requires no sacrifice.  Way too often, I hear “I’ve done my part.” Sorry, but that’s crazy and not in a good way. There is no such thing as even coming close to having “done your part” for the kingdom of God as long as we are breathing. That’s not even easy giving. It’s just cheap.

I’m not going o belabor this because you know what I am talking about. But let me tell you a couple of stories.

We started Family Food and Fun this year. A new program, new excitement and a great opportunity to minister to families. We had a great new director.  The director notified me several months ago that they will never be director again because they are tired of begging people to help and being turned down with a flat “no.” We are losing a great volunteer and the ministry suffers because of cheap giving.

How many years have you had porkburgers in the park? A lot. This year we will only have a stand at the church. Why? Well, we can point to competition, and we can point to age, but really it comes down to there are only a handful of folks who end up doing it.  The vast majority could, but simply will not take a couple of hours out of a whole holiday to be part of the one thing the church has consistently done year after year that reminds the community that we are here. Sure, the money is handy but the visibility is the important part of the porkburger stand and that will be decreased this year.

That’s enough examples but you know what I mean and can probably think of your own examples. I leave that as a challenge to all of you.

 The kingdom of God is a kingdom of extravagant generosity. God’s generosity to us… our generosity to God and neighbor… which encourages others to be generous to us …which feeds into God’s generosity… which calls for our generosity and round and round we go.

I chose to stick with the series rather than preach Pentecost this year… but as I studied I realized that this IS a Pentecost sermon. Listen to this description of the early church after the holy spirit was manifest on Pentecost.

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

43 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

They did it with glad and generous hearts… why… because the holy spirit empowered it. Luke could not be clearer that extravagant generosity is the work of the Holy Spirit. 

So, my friends, we are a work in progress.  We have a ways to go but that is OK… that is  OK because God has already generously poured upon us the gift of extravagant generosity on Pentecost and by the Holy Spirit in our midst.

Acts reads:                        ‘In the last days it will be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,

    and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

    and your old men shall dream dreams.

Go, chase your visions, and dream your dreams of being a holy spirit powered extravagantly generous church. You can do it… or rather the Holy Spirit can do it .. or rather the holy spirit has already done it… and we just have to live into that extravagant and sometimes crazy generosity that comes with being part of the kingdom of God.