Understanding Radical Generosity in Faith

Radical generosity is not just something we do. It's a response to who God is. As always, Travis, thank you so much for your help. We can thank Timmy and Travis for that. Man, lots going on in the life of our church in December. And you know what I feel about that? I am super excited. And hopefully you are as well. And just to reiterate. Today, if you are a family with elementary school kids or younger in the home, we have several thousand of these Advent devotionals. And you'll see inside of it, there's a little book that comes with it, some blocks. And we want to invest in your family. We want to help you know how to disciple your kids, how to walk through the narrative of Scripture leading up to Jesus coming. Because you know what Christmas is? We celebrate the fact that the King is here. That Jesus came to earth to rescue and forgive and restore. And we want to help put tools. in your hand to equip you to do that. So your campus pastor will tell you exactly how that will happen. We want to get these to you today. Start on December 1st. We'll teach you how to use them. Look at your neighbor and just say, super excited. Say it like you mean it. Super excited. excited. We're super excited today. We're in our final week of this conversation around the culture of God's kingdom. We've been walking through all the fall, this kingdom culture stuff. And crazy enough, next weekend we start our Christmas series all the way through to Christmas Eve. And I cannot believe it's Christmas already. But today we're talking about the last element of the culture of God's kingdom. And oftentimes the culture of God's kingdom feels upside down from the culture of the world we live in. It feels backwards and counter to it. And that's why we have to speak so directly to it because it feels upside down. It doesn't feel as natural in the world we live in. And today's conversation, the topic that I think God wants to speak to us about today, my heart as your pastor is that I want to help breathe life into us. I want to help bring hope to us. And I think the conversation today might actually speak to one of the biggest reasons our lives can feel hollow or they lack meaning. meaning, or purpose. This conversation might be one of the biggest reasons we might experience worry or fear. This conversation might be one of the biggest reasons that we tend to drift towards self-protection, even selfishness. This might be one of the biggest reasons our lives feel smaller than God invites us to live. Might be one of the biggest reasons we settle for less than God's kingdom way of living. And the conversation today, here's the culture element we're talking about. It's this radical generosity. Radical generosity. Radical generosity. The heart of God is radically generous towards us. His nature, his character, the way he engages with us, what he provides and gives to us. He's radically generous. And God invites us to live into the culture of the kingdom and be radically generous. Now, I just felt, not just in this room, across the campuses, online, I felt people just tighten up. Relax. It's not one of those talks today. Okay. We already received the offering is not going by again. That's not what I'm talking about. This is not a money conversation. It is so much bigger than that. So look at your neighbor and say, relax and enjoy. Tell them, relax and enjoy. Talking about radical generosity, a lifestyle of radical generosity. In fact, it might remind you of the words you probably heard from Jesus recorded in Acts 20. Remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Like you've heard that before. It looks real good on a Hobby Lobby piece of wood that's framed and costs $150. You put it on your wall. We're blessed to get. We agree with that statement. I've not met people that say, I disagree. I think it's better to be selfish. If you think that way, you probably don't have a lot of friends. It's not fun to hang out with selfish people, is it? We all agree with the statement, and yet, oftentimes we live less than Jesus'words. See, we give lip service, but don't live that way sometimes. I've been on this journey as well of, man, I tend to be, tighten things up, protect mine. And yet, the culture, the kingdom of God is radically generous. sinners, and he invites us to live in the same way, and in order to understand how and why God invites us to live this way, we have to understand how things started. We got to go back, all the way back, like Genesis 1, 1 all the way back, in the beginning all the way back. And we need to understand something. You might have never seen this, but from the beginning and at the end, God could have put humanity anywhere. And he chose to put Adam and Eve in a garden. And then in Revelation 22, at the end of days when God's like, all right, now you're with me in heaven. If you read Revelation 22, he recreates a new garden for us to live in. And if God, for some reason, decided that I wanted you in a garden, and when you're with me in eternity, it'll be a garden again, then we better understand what's important about a garden. You see, the answer is in the garden. Radical generosity comes from how we understand the garden and the backdrop and context of where God placed humanity reveals his purposes of how he wants us to live and how he wants us to interact with him. And God apparently is saying the ideal world that he wanted for all of us was a garden type world. And I want to unpack this with us today. Here's how it's recorded in scripture, Genesis 2. Now the Lord God had planted a garden. Everyone say garden. The Lord had planted a garden in the east in Eden. And there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground, trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. And so God planted a garden and he put Adam and Eve in it. And God's revealing to us, this is what I intended you to live like. So just allow me to unpack, like think about life in the garden for Adam and Eve. What would that look like? See, God created and gave Adam and Eve the whole garden. And then God provided the trees and the fruit on the trees for them to enjoy and to eat. God sent the rain and the sun that kept the trees growing and producing more fruit. God owned everything, but God generously gave Adam and Eve access to enjoy all of it. And it wasn't just they laid around all day and lounged. God said, now you got some work to do. And here's how he says this to Adam and Eve. He's saying this. The Lord took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. So, hey, tend the garden, my guy. I gave you the trees. I gave you the fruit. Eat and enjoy. You work. And here's the garden culture. It's work without worry. Think about how life would have looked back then. You get hungry in the garden, you walk by a tree and just go, pluck, thank you. If you're still hungry, get another one. Take a bite, eat till you're full. When you're done with that, enjoy, work the garden a little bit, take a nap. Get hungry again, go find some more fruit. Oh, look, there's a banana. Look, there's some grapes. Just enjoy, eat. You work the garden, but there's no worry in the garden because God provided. He intended this garden to be full of abundance. In fact, here's the garden world. God created a garden filled with abundance. God owns it all. There's more than enough to go around. And I steward what God has provided, but I look to God for my needs. So when I get hungry, I look to God. You're the provider of my needs. I don't have this scarcity mindset. I have this abundance mindset. God, you're the provider. You gave all of this garden. They didn't have to fear or worry about what they needed to survive. They did not listen. They didn't have to hoard or hide or protect the food. Think about this. If Adam wakes up early and he's still asleep and he's like, I got to make sure I get mine. So he goes and tries to take all the fruit off the tree and hide it in the corner of the garden. The silly, there's more fruit in the garden than they could eat all day, every day, the rest of their life. And inside the garden, when you pick an apple off the tree. guess what? Another apple grows back and grows back and grows back. There's this beautiful picture that God's intended design for humanity was actually work from the beginning. It's never lazy. It's never lay around. You work, but it's work without worry because God provided for all the needs. And this is a beautiful picture. God's intent was the garden. There's a freedom in the culture of the garden. And here's what God says in Genesis 2. He's like, here's the deal. The Lord commanded the man, you are free to eat from any tree. Bananas. Pineapple. I don't know if they grow in trees. Don't correct me. Pineapples, coconut, coconuts, our trees, coconuts, grapes, apples, oranges, pears. Enjoy. You're freed up, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For when you eat from it, you will certainly die. So God said, listen, anything you want to eat in here, knock yourself out. That one tree, don't touch it. No, no, that one tree, baby, don't, don't go pull that fruit off and take a bite. That's the one I say no to. And the garden from the beginning was set up perfect, God's provider we trust. Then the problem was sin entered the world and entered the garden. And here's how that plays out. Now the serpent, Satan, our enemy. was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord had made. He said to the woman, did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? See what Satan did there? That's what he always does. He took God's words and just twist them a little bit. Did God say he couldn't eat from any tree? See, he's trying to make Eve doubt God's generosity towards them. He's saying, listen, I know God built this awesome garden, but you're not allowed to eat anything. And Eve sort of corrected and said, now, listen, the woman said, we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden and you must not touch it or you will die. So she's in this conversation going, I know God said we could eat some stuff. And then Satan continues the lie. He says, you will not certainly die. The serpent said to the woman, for God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. The first lie was Satan trying to get Eve to believe that, listen, what God's provided for you is not enough. I know you got all the trees, but he's holding that one tree back. He's holding out on you. The first lie was attacking the character of God and attacking his generosity towards people. Saying, listen, what he gave you, he's holding out on you. God didn't give you what you want, and he knows if you have that, you'll be like him, and he didn't want that. He's messing with her. And that's still the lie we sit in today, that God is not providing enough. God's holding out. And after sin, listen, we went from living in a garden of abundance to now living in a world that is more, go with me, more like a bakery with scarcity. Meaning in the garden, the trees are always producing. Whenever you're hungry, go get another fruit, knock yourself out. There's abundance and joy. And then sin entered the world and we lost the garden. And now we live in a world that's more like a bakery with scarcity. And it's like you go into a bakery and they sell pies and donuts and cookies and whatever. And here's the thing about a pie that's interesting. First of all, y'all excited to eat some pie this week for Thanksgiving? Praise the Lord. Come on, somebody. I'm smelling it right now. Y'all ready for Thanksgiving dinner? I'm going to fight through that turkey to get to that pie. So here's what's interesting about a bakery sort of culture. The metaphor of a bakery is like you got pie, but if it starts with eight slices and then seven, then five, then two, then one. When the pie is gone, it's gone. And so for me, when one slice of pie is cut out and you put it on a plate and I eat it, there's one less slice of pie left. It's a scarcity approach to seeing the world. And then equally, when you live in the garden, if someone was to walk by the garden and say, I'm hungry. You know what you do? Pluck. Here you go. How many you want? Five, 10. I could never eat all this. Knock yourself out. Enjoy. In a bakery, when someone comes by and this is the last slice of pie, they go, I'm hungry. You go, wait a second. If I give you this pie, we have a problem because then I don't have pie. And me not having pie is a bad day. And so you have this mindset in the bakery where I got to protect it. I got to hide it away. I know moms and dads, when there's a slicer to a pie left, you put it in like a Tupperware thing. You don't put it on the front ledge of the fridge. You tuck it in the back behind the green beans and Brussels sprouts so the kids won't get to it. And then you sneak out at like 10 o'clock when everyone's asleep. over the sink so there's no crumbs. Got too real for some of y'all. See, in a world that God wanted us in was a garden. And then now we lost the garden because of sin. We went from abundance to scarcity. And when you live in a world of scarcity, let me tell you what bakery sort of culture looks like. See, sin created a world like a bakery with scarcity that I own it all, but it feels like there's never enough to go around. I fight to get what's mine. I look to myself for my needs. I got to get. If I don't get mine, I ain't going to get mine. If you get something, I lost something. You ever been in line at Dunkin Donuts and you came for the chocolate glazed? And you're some, oh, someone just went to church. And you look and there's one chocolate glaze left and there's three people in front of you. You start sizing them up. That's not a chocolate glaze man right there. I'll be fine. And then someone goes, hey, I'll take that chocolate glaze. And you're like, I came here for the chocolate glaze. You leave with an apple fritter. No one goes there for an apple fritter. See, when a bakery, when it's gone, it's gone. There's a limited amount of pie and there never seems to be enough. People are my competitors. I have to fight to get mine. I can even get tempted to miss or doubt God's generosity toward us. See, in the garden, it was work without worry. In the bakery, it's work, and now we worry. And the world we live in today feels a lot more like a bakery than a garden, doesn't it? See, there's fear and there's worry and we have to protect and we have to hoard and we have to hide and we have to make sure we're looking out for number one. And I believe that you can look at marketing in a culture and it tells you more than you think it tells you. You notice how marketers who get paid lots of money to sell us stuff, you know how they most effectively market something? They say things like, hurry up, get it before it runs out. Limited supply. You know what they do? This is interesting. They say things like, limit two per customer. It's not because they have a supply issue. It's because they want you to believe that people want to buy 10 of these. So they say, limit. Two per customer. And you go, I better get two then. If everyone else wants more, I'll get two. What are they doing? They're playing towards our fear of scarcity. And in the bakery culture, we have to protect and fight for what's mine. And church, I'm here to encourage us today. God designed his people to live in a garden where he provides. We trust there's more than you need and we can just enjoy what God created and he provides. And the world around us is a world that feels more like a bakery. And it feels like I've got to get my slice of the pie before someone else gets it. And God's inviting us to live differently. And just in case we can't catch on to what this bakery world looks like and feels like, after you're done eating pie on Thursday, somewhere about 4 a.m. on Friday, there's a bunch of us are going to wake up. And go get in a fist fight over a flat screen TV, baby. It's called Black Friday. And it's the day after we're thankful for what we have. And we go, now that we got that out of our system, let me find something else to be thankful that I now have. And in order for you to experience it, I want you to see a scene from one of my favorite movies. Starring, this is so weird, starring the former governor of California. and one of my favorite comedians, Simbad. Enjoy this scene from Jingle All the Way. Enjoy. We have received a small quantity of the action figure known as Turbo Man. I am not going to ask you people to be quiet again. Do you hear me? Now, here's how things are going to work. You will form an orderly line so that an employee can hand you a numbered ball. These balls will then be drawn in a standard lottery fashion to see who gets a dollar. If you're not one of the lucky few, We have plenty of Turbo Man's fateful pet tiger booster in stock. We don't want it! We don't want it! And by the way, in accordance with the laws of supply and demand, the new list price on each figure just doubled. What? That's a gift from you all, buddy. Hey! It's the most wonderful time of the year We've been kissing and bearing it Everyone's telling you be on your chin It's the most wonderful time It's the most wonderful time And stop! It's all, it's all. Get the mailman. Anybody, listen, that's what a bakery looks like. There's only so much to go around, I gotta get mine. You ever notice something? If you got kids, notice that no one has to train a kid to be selfish. Notice that? I don't have to inform my kids. Let me tell you what it looks like to be selfish. Some of the first words they say are words like mine. And boy is it cute when they're like 18 months old it gets less cute when they're 18 years old mine you see this garden culture is no longer our default factory setting we've lost a default and our new default is this selfish self-protecting thing and I am not immune see this this conversation is is one that I've wrestled through as an adult for years with my wife that man what does it look like to live radically generous in a world that doesn't feel like that's how you should get ahead you Like if I'm generous and I give away that piece of pie, there ain't no pie left for me. And the question that God, I think, wants to help us answer today is this. How do we live like the garden in a bakery world? How do we live like we know that the same God that built the garden in Eden for Adam and Eve, that same God is the God who is our God today. He's not changed. We have. So how do we live like we know he is who he says he is in a world that does not live that way? I want to unpack it. And in order to get there, the first thing we have to do is we have to start with God. Because if the answer's in the garden, then let's go to the one who gave the garden. The answer's in garden living, then let's go to the one who built the garden. And God is a generous God. You might have heard this verse a million times and seen it at football games, but here it is. For God so loved the world that he gave. I'm going to try it again. When I say gave, we're saying it together. Let's all say gave. For God so loved the world that he gave. His one and only son, talk about scarcity, won Jesus. And he gave Jesus up to get you and I back to himself. So that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Let me talk to maybe some guests in the room or people who are seekers. You're trying to figure out what you believe about this Jesus thing. If you hear nothing else, I want you to hear this. You might have been taught or raised or assumed that God was a stifling, selfish, withholding, rule-giving God that's so far away. You know, the very nature of God is that he is generous. God is a giver, and his love for you drove him to give Jesus to get you back to himself. If you hear nothing else, you just need to hear that God loves you that much. And that's the nature of God. And the answer is in the garden, not physically. But spiritually, listen, when Jesus showed up for God so loved that he gave his one and only son, he came to earth. Merry Christmas. We're celebrating that in a couple weeks. But when he came to earth, God ushered in the kingdom of God. And what he's saying is this. I created you for a garden. Sin destroyed it. And now we live in a culture that feels like a bakery. And now because of Jesus, I'm bringing in a New Testament garden. That the world out there will not feel like a garden, but we can live in here like we understand we're built for the garden. And those who follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in you and says, listen, I want to rebuild the garden inside of God's people. Where we have the freedom of enjoying what God's entrusted to us and believing that he is our provider and being radically generous because he's been generous with us. And when that is established in our soul, we live different. We live like we're in the garden, even though the bakery is the world we exist in. And it actually gives context to the words that Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount. I want to read this section of scripture to you because oftentimes you've heard it and it feels more like an oratory message, a proclaimed thing, when really it's like Jesus going, guys, I want to invite you back to the garden. In Matthew 6, Jesus says these words and is painting a picture of what it looks like today. New Testament, after Jesus came, what does the garden living look like for us today? Jesus says in Matthew 6, starting in verse 25, therefore, I tell you, man, don't worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? And he's like, think about it this way. Like, look at the birds of the air. They don't sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Man, can any one of you add, by worrying, add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes so much? See how the flowers of the field, they just grow, and they don't labor, and they don't spin up clothing. And yet, I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like these flowers. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, how much more for you and I? He says, listen, don't worry saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after these things, meaning the people who don't even follow Christ. That's what they worry about. If you know who your father is, you don't worry about the same things they do. Listen, the pagans run after that stuff, but your heavenly father knows that you need them. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. What's Jesus saying? He's creating a picture, an illusion of don't forget the garden. That's how God intended us to give. Don't you know who your provider is? And don't you know who your daddy is? Like how your heavenly father invited you to live in this world. And Jesus is saying, I want to call you back. You can still live like the garden in here. In a world that doesn't even understand how we could live that way. Jesus is inviting us back to garden living. To live working but without the worry. Without having to hoard and protect and be selfish. We can live generously when God's established as our provider. See, radical generosity is not just something we do. It's a response to who God is. And I saw this week probably the most current picture of what garden living looks like, and it happened to be at my son Lincoln's school parents Thanksgiving lunch. Any parents do? the Thanksgiving lunch with their kids this week. Anybody? All right. Eat like kings. Well, not kings. Eat like princes, maybe. It was not awesome. But so Irma and I, we sign up, we buy our two little meal tickets and we show up to the school and we go to the cafeteria. I sit at a kid's table and I forget how low those seats are. Had trouble getting back up after us, but I did. So we get there and Lincoln shows up to the cafeteria with the line of his class and Amber had already made him a lunch for the day. She didn't know what the lunch would look like there. So she made him a good lunch and he brings his lunchbox in, sits down and goes, mom and dad, can I get lunch, like the Thanksgiving meal with my friends as well? And we're like, well, you have a lunch, but sure. Let's go ahead and buy another ticket. It was like $2.20. four cents or something. Yeah, I can, I can spare that for you. So get him a ticket. We go through the line and we go through and they give us like what looks like some sort of a meat substance and mashed potatoes, I believe. Um, and then the role is the saving grace. You can't go wrong. We, we come and we sit our trays down and then at our table, it's me and Amber and Lincoln. And then some of Lincoln's friends sit down and their parents sit down and we, we talk and we. Eat enough to look like we're eating and we sit and go through it. And then when Lincoln finishes his tray, he then opens up his lunchbox and flips up what mom got him. And he starts looking through all the goodies that mom made for his lunch that day. And he opens up and he's got this thing of pepperonis and he opens it up. And I look down there and I see him start to toss pepperonis to his friends like, Thanks, bro. And they're eating pepperonis. And then he goes through and fruit snacks. Who wants a fruit snack? And my initial response was this. Son, do you know how much groceries cost today? You're slanging fruit snacks like they're free. That's $8 worth of pepperonis and fruit snacks. He's not even thinking about it. Just here you go, here you go, you enjoy. Bro, this is so good, try this. And they're eating all this food. I'm sitting there like, what's going on? Then it hit me. You can live radically generous. When you know that your dad's got lunch provided the next day and the next day and the next day. See, he didn't have to hold on to it because he knew, didn't even cross his mind. Because he trusts his dad's got lunch tomorrow. And when you believe that if I give this away, it's gone. Of course we live tightened up, selfish, because I got to protect me. Lincoln had no self-protection in his mind that day. Because he knew who his dad was. I don't want to show off, but I did spend $2.24. Didn't even think about it for lunch. Come on, somebody. You can't have money. See, when you know your dad's got lunch, you live different. And the way God created us was to live in a garden where we go, God, I know. I mean, I can eat this apple and know tomorrow there's another tree with more fruit on it. And if someone walks by and is hungry, I can toss them. Hey, enjoy. I don't have to protect. I can live carefree because God is careful with me. See, that's the culture, the garden God invites us into. And here's what I want to do. I want to turn practical, give us three thoughts, and I want to get you out of here. But my hope and my heart for us is that God would help us live different. I wonder if radical generosity is actually the most clear picture that you and I believe what we say about God. Because when you live generous, people go, why would you live that way? And the answer is because I know somebody and something you might not know yet. I tell you about my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I tell you about my dad in heaven. See, I wonder if generosity is potentially the most stark, obvious demonstration. that we believe what we say about God. Let's get practical. Here's the first one. Generous people live open-handed because their hope is in God's provision. You see, when you trust God as your provider, you don't have to hold on tight to everything. You can live open-handed and trust God. You'll feel the hand again when you're ready. You provide for me. See, I don't have to live close-handed. Generosity is rooted in our hoping God is our provider. Here's what 1 Timothy 6 says. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant. Pause. Most of us read that and go, whew, I'm off the hook. I ain't rich. Here's the reality study in 2022. In order to be in the top 1% of wage earners in America, you have to make $600,000 a year. And most of us go, cool, I'm still off the hook. Some of you go, I, okay, I am rich. Good for you. Here's a problem. We only compare ourselves in America. America is only 4% of the world's population. Same study. You know what it requires. Your wage, your income to be in the top 1% of wage earners in the world. $32,000. You go, oh, shoot, I am rich, rich. See, we're talking about that. We're all in this category. We love to compare ourselves to 4%, not the other 96. In this context, we are all ridiculously rich. Command those. Those who are rich. You and I. In this present world. Not to be arrogant. Nor to put their hope in wealth. Here's the thing. Having stuff is not bad. When stuff has you. That's bad. Where's your hope? Don't. Don't put your hope in wealth. It's so uncertain. Stock markets up and down. Things fall apart. But to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Where's your hope? Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. The warning is like, listen, you can live and miss life. Like you can exist and miss the life that's truly life. And if you choose to hold on to stuff, you cannot take hold of the life that is truly life. The life is truly life on the other side of generosity. And what Jesus wants to invite us into is like, listen, whether you have a lot in your hands or you believe you have very little in your hands. It's the disposition of are your hands closed or open? See, generosity. is more about are your hands closed or open and the belief that if I open my hands, God is my provider and will provide again. And here's the reality. If our hope is in God as provider, we can live open-handed like Lincoln, slanging pepperonis a lush. And when you close it down, you might keep what you have, but you cannot take hold of the life that is truly life. Second point, generous people don't wait to have enough. That's right. They begin with what God has placed, already placed in your hands. Like the idea, the lie that, man, I'll become generous when I have enough. False. You know what? Enough is not an amount. Enough is a mindset. I know people who have $100 and say, man, I don't have enough. I know people who have $1,000 and say, man, it's not enough. You won't believe it. I know people who have a million dollars and they would whisper, it's not enough. See, if you're waiting to get to enough, you'll never become a generous person. See, enough is not an amount. The ideas of saying things like, if I had more, I would be generous. If I had enough, I would be generous. If this happened, then I would be generous. Generosity doesn't begin when you have enough. Generosity begins when you realize he is enough. He's my provider. I can start now. Listen, it's never too early to start and never too late to begin. Generosity is not about having enough. Generosity is realizing I am building. Built for the garden. And God is supposed to be my provider. And my hope is supposed to be there. Practical things. Carry cash. And look for opportunities to be generous towards somebody. Put a $5 bill in your wallet. $50 bill in your wallet. $100 bill in your wallet. And say God that one is for generosity. Help me find somebody I can be generous towards. Just start looking. Pay for someone's grocery or gas. Leave a generous tip. Today. When you go out to eat. And help us reclaim. what the world thinks about church folks. You know, waiters and waitresses say, I don't want to take the 12 to 5 shift on Sundays because church people are cheap people. Let's not be those people. Be generous. Demonstrate that you know who God is. Listen, take the time. Be generous with your time. Take the time to actually listen to somebody when you say, how you doing? Don't make that an empty greeting. Take the time. Stop and pray for someone when they share a burden. Be generous with your energy. Mow someone's lawn. Offer to help someone on the side of the road. Be generous with your wisdom, your knowledge, your know-how. Pour into the next generation here at the church. Pour into people at work. Make them better. And you think, man, if I tell them all that I know, they'll be better than me and I won't have anything left. Or God's the one who helped teach you all that anyway. He'll give you new ideas. He's your provider. Be generous with your family. Take the chore that no one else wants. Kids. Husbands do the chore that no one else wants in my house. I hate folding clothes. I amen. I hate it. You want to know how you can tell if I ever won the lottery, I don't play, but if I ever won the lottery, I would only wear clothes one time and throw them away just because I hate folding clothes. Be generous with the chores. Take the one no one wants. Use the resources God has already given you to be generous. Do you have a house? How can I be generous to people with the house God's given me? already given. Apartment, a townhouse, your car, your couch, your food, your toys. How can you be generous? Listen, generous people don't wait to have enough. They begin with what God's already put in their hands. And I'm telling you, God's already put it in your hands. And if we understood the nature and character of God, we would live in a way that would look like the world is a bakery. Everyone's fighting over the last piece of pie and we live like we know there's fruit on the tree. trees. Now, I wanted to be done here and end the teaching. And I almost did. But I could not get to peace with God in the teaching. And you can ask the team. This is the latest I've ever turned my teaching notes in, like late last night, because I couldn't get to peace. That's because this next conversation is so taken out of context and misused and abused in so many churches you might have seen. It's used to manipulate people and make promises that God never made. I so don't want that to be what you think I'm saying, that I don't want to teach it and God won't let me not. And so I'm going to choose to take the risk and teach the supernatural side of this giving conversation. Because if all it is, is do good things and be nice and trust God and go from there. I'm actually not teaching you the whole Bible. And the whisper of God was, son. You're just telling them what I said. You're not making promises that you have to deliver on. You're telling them the invitation I've invited them into. So I'm going to choose to risk and teach all of God's word and his promises. And I don't want us to miss the supernatural piece of this. So against my will and for God's glory. Third point. Here it is. Generous people trust that God will not only provide, but also multiply. See, God can provide abundantly for all your needs. And yet in the kingdom of God, in the garden, in the nature of God, there's this multiplication thing that I don't know how to fully explain. But I want to read God's word. Corinthians 9, 10, and 11. Now he, God, who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will also supply, and notice the yellow, supply and increase your store of seed, and will enlarge the harvest of of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. And through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. I want you to see what is being said. Most people teach this. You'll increase and enlarge. You'll be enriched in every way, period, and go sow. Sow a seed. You've heard it if you've been around the church. If not, consider yourself lucky. Sow a seed. Give God a dollar, he'll give you a hundred. Praise the Lord, sow it. And we like to stop there. Problem is God didn't stop there. Increase, enlarge, enrich so that you can be generous. This verse is not about God making you rich. It's about God multiplying so you can stay generous. And God's going, listen, I give this to you so I can give through you. God's not saying health, wealth, wisdom, prosperity. That's the prosperity gospel. If you read the disciples'lives, they didn't end rich. They ended dead very badly. And yet God makes a promise that he will increase, enlarge and enrich. Listen, in the economy of the bakery, the world, when you give, when you live generous, you end up with less because there's only so much pie to go around. But in the culture of the garden, somehow you live generously. Take the apple, enjoy. I enjoy it myself. Somehow when I am generous, I end with more. And I don't feel the pressure to tell you how God does it. I can just tell you I've seen it done. And it's interesting, the way God created in the garden. See, when pies are gone, all that's left is a tin. But when you get done eating an apple, have you noticed something about what happens? You got an apple, you eat it on the inside. When you're done eating, you should stop when you get to the middle. That's not edible. But when you get done eating, what's at the center of an apple? A seed. And somehow. The economy of God's kingdom. I can consume. I can give away and be generous. And even once the apple's gone, there's a seed that you throw that on the ground. And that seed takes root and it doesn't grow another apple. It grows another apple tree. And here's a quote. It's one of my favorite quotes. Robert Shuler said this, any fool can count the number of seeds in an apple. Only God can count the number of apples in a seed. See the potential in the kingdom of God is this. I can be generous. You can clap for that. Praise the Lord. See, the culture of the kingdom of God is one that if you would be freed up, trust God, somehow he multiplies. And it doesn't mean you're going to get rich. doesn't mean your life's going to be awesome and perfect all the time. It just means that somehow when you put something in God's hands, he multiplies it. See, the nature of the gospel is that God somehow takes small things and makes them big things. If you notice this, mustard seeds in the gospel, they can move mountains. Five loaves and two fishes somehow feed thousands. All these religious people came to the temple and started giving all this money and Jesus is like phooey. Widow shows up with two like pennies and he's like that's what I'm talking about. Somehow Jesus comes to earth as this little baby that's helpless and he comes back as a king. I don't know how God does it all the time, but he does. Somehow God can do more with 90% of my money than 100%. That's why I tithe. God can do more with a generous person than a selfish one. That's why I want to live open-handed. God can do more with six. Six days of work that I can do with all seven. That's why I take a Sabbath. Because I trust that if I live as a person, a resident of the garden, where God's my provider, somehow when I get done, I don't end with less. I end with more. And that scripture and that truth is not a financial principle. It's a kingdom one. And here's what I truly realized this this week. I never connected the dots. One of the most frequent prayers that I pray for people, and I pray for you, 12 Stone, our church, you as people, is a prayer for God to multiply. And I never noticed this. I pray things like, I pray for our daymakers who generously give of their time and serve every week. And I say, God, somehow, would you multiply their time when they get home? Like they came and they served all morning. I mean, like production guys have been here since like two in the morning. And I go, God, when they get home, would you multiply their time with their spouse? Like somehow with half a day with their spouse, would it feel like they had a weekend away? Like God, when people come, when people come and serve Wednesdays in student ministry and they give up one night of the week, somehow when they get that 30 minutes before their kids go to bed, would it feel like they had a daddy-daughter date all day long? And somehow would you multiply it? Like God, people here at Twelve Stone, the two of you, people generously give up their resources to this church. God, would you multiply in their life? I pray that as you live generously, I pray that God will multiply your time, your efforts, your influence, your effectiveness, your energy, your resources, and somehow God multiplies. In a minute, pastors are gonna come up. We're gonna pray over you. I wanna do that. But before we get there, I want to remind us that Satan is still whispering this. Same lie today that he whispered in the garden. God's going, come to the garden. Trust me. Doesn't mean you're rich and famous. It means I will supply all your needs according to my riches in Christ Jesus. Come to the garden and Satan whispers, what God has provided you is not enough. God's holding out. You can't trust God. And if you want to get yours, you better go take it. And I'm telling you, that lie robs us from living a radically generous life. God's whispering to his church, would you just test me in this? Trust me. Live generously. Live, honor me. Live generously with people and watch what I do. So what I hope this week is, is you go do Thanksgiving. And you see that pie in the middle of the table. I hope you remember this conversation and you might just whisper under your breath like, that pie's gonna be gone soon. My grandkid took a pretty big piece. I bet they won't finish that. You might say something like this to yourself, man, that's how a pie works. But that's not how I work. The spirit of God might just whisper to your soul, man, that might be how the pie works. That's not how I work. I will abundantly provide for you. And as you have moments with family and friends, maybe God will give opportunity to be generous. And if we want to make a difference in this world, we've got to live differently. And we were built for the garden. So pastors, will you step up and will you pray this into and over our church?

And you know what I feel about that? I am super excited. And hopefully you are as well. And just to reiterate.

Today, if you are a family with elementary school kids or younger in the home, we have several thousand of these Advent devotionals. And you'll see inside of it, there's a little book that comes with it, some blocks. And we want to invest in your family. We want to help you know how to disciple your kids, how to walk through the narrative of Scripture leading up to Jesus coming. Because you know what Christmas is?

We celebrate the fact that the King is here. That Jesus came to earth to rescue and forgive and restore. And we want to help put tools. in your hand to equip you to do that. So your campus pastor will tell you exactly how that will happen.

We want to get these to you today. Start on December 1st. We'll teach you how to use them. Look at your neighbor and just say, super excited. Say it like you mean it.

Super excited. excited. We're super excited today. We're in our final week of this conversation around the culture of God's kingdom. We've been walking through all the fall, this kingdom culture stuff.

And crazy enough, next weekend we start our Christmas series all the way through to Christmas Eve. And I cannot believe it's Christmas already. But today we're talking about the last element of the culture of God's kingdom. And oftentimes the culture of God's kingdom feels upside down from the culture of the world we live in.

It feels backwards and counter to it. And that's why we have to speak so directly to it because it feels upside down. It doesn't feel as natural in the world we live in.

And today's conversation, the topic that I think God wants to speak to us about today, my heart as your pastor is that I want to help breathe life into us. I want to help bring hope to us. And I think the conversation today might actually speak to one of the biggest reasons our lives can feel hollow or they lack meaning.

meaning, or purpose. This conversation might be one of the biggest reasons we might experience worry or fear. This conversation might be one of the biggest reasons that we tend to drift towards self-protection, even selfishness.

This might be one of the biggest reasons our lives feel smaller than God invites us to live. Might be one of the biggest reasons we settle for less than God's kingdom way of living. And the conversation today, here's the culture element we're talking about. It's this radical generosity. Radical generosity.

Radical generosity. The heart of God is radically generous towards us. His nature, his character, the way he engages with us, what he provides and gives to us.

He's radically generous. And God invites us to live into the culture of the kingdom and be radically generous. Now, I just felt, not just in this room, across the campuses, online, I felt people just tighten up. Relax.

It's not one of those talks today. Okay. We already received the offering is not going by again.

That's not what I'm talking about. This is not a money conversation. It is so much bigger than that. So look at your neighbor and say, relax and enjoy. Tell them, relax and enjoy.

Talking about radical generosity, a lifestyle of radical generosity. In fact, it might remind you of the words you probably heard from Jesus recorded in Acts 20. Remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Like you've heard that before.

It looks real good on a Hobby Lobby piece of wood that's framed and costs $150. You put it on your wall. We're blessed to get.

We agree with that statement. I've not met people that say, I disagree. I think it's better to be selfish.

If you think that way, you probably don't have a lot of friends. It's not fun to hang out with selfish people, is it? We all agree with the statement, and yet, oftentimes we live less than Jesus'words. See, we give lip service, but don't live that way sometimes.

I've been on this journey as well of, man, I tend to be, tighten things up, protect mine. And yet, the culture, the kingdom of God is radically generous. sinners, and he invites us to live in the same way, and in order to understand how and why God invites us to live this way, we have to understand how things started. We got to go back, all the way back, like Genesis 1, 1 all the way back, in the beginning all the way back. And we need to understand something.

You might have never seen this, but from the beginning and at the end, God could have put humanity anywhere. And he chose to put Adam and Eve in a garden. And then in Revelation 22, at the end of days when God's like, all right, now you're with me in heaven. If you read Revelation 22, he recreates a new garden for us to live in. And if God, for some reason, decided that I wanted you in a garden, and when you're with me in eternity, it'll be a garden again, then we better understand what's important about a garden.

You see, the answer is in the garden. Radical generosity comes from how we understand the garden and the backdrop and context of where God placed humanity reveals his purposes of how he wants us to live and how he wants us to interact with him. And God apparently is saying the ideal world that he wanted for all of us was a garden type world.

And I want to unpack this with us today. Here's how it's recorded in scripture, Genesis 2. Now the Lord God had planted a garden. Everyone say garden. The Lord had planted a garden in the east in Eden.

And there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground, trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. And so God planted a garden and he put Adam and Eve in it. And God's revealing to us, this is what I intended you to live like. So just allow me to unpack, like think about life in the garden for Adam and Eve.

What would that look like? See, God created and gave Adam and Eve the whole garden. And then God provided the trees and the fruit on the trees for them to enjoy and to eat. God sent the rain and the sun that kept the trees growing and producing more fruit.

God owned everything, but God generously gave Adam and Eve access to enjoy all of it. And it wasn't just they laid around all day and lounged. God said, now you got some work to do. And here's how he says this to Adam and Eve.

He's saying this. The Lord took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. So, hey, tend the garden, my guy. I gave you the trees.

I gave you the fruit. Eat and enjoy. You work.

And here's the garden culture. It's work without worry. Think about how life would have looked back then. You get hungry in the garden, you walk by a tree and just go, pluck, thank you.

If you're still hungry, get another one. Take a bite, eat till you're full. When you're done with that, enjoy, work the garden a little bit, take a nap.

Get hungry again, go find some more fruit. Oh, look, there's a banana. Look, there's some grapes.

Just enjoy, eat. You work the garden, but there's no worry in the garden because God provided. He intended this garden to be full of abundance. In fact, here's the garden world. God created a garden filled with abundance.

God owns it all. There's more than enough to go around. And I steward what God has provided, but I look to God for my needs. So when I get hungry, I look to God.

You're the provider of my needs. I don't have this scarcity mindset. I have this abundance mindset.

God, you're the provider. You gave all of this garden. They didn't have to fear or worry about what they needed to survive.

They did not listen. They didn't have to hoard or hide or protect the food. Think about this.

If Adam wakes up early and he's still asleep and he's like, I got to make sure I get mine. So he goes and tries to take all the fruit off the tree and hide it in the corner of the garden. The silly, there's more fruit in the garden than they could eat all day, every day, the rest of their life. And inside the garden, when you pick an apple off the tree. guess what?

Another apple grows back and grows back and grows back. There's this beautiful picture that God's intended design for humanity was actually work from the beginning. It's never lazy. It's never lay around.

You work, but it's work without worry because God provided for all the needs. And this is a beautiful picture. God's intent was the garden. There's a freedom in the culture of the garden.

And here's what God says in Genesis 2. He's like, here's the deal. The Lord commanded the man, you are free to eat from any tree. Bananas.

Pineapple. I don't know if they grow in trees. Don't correct me.

Pineapples, coconut, coconuts, our trees, coconuts, grapes, apples, oranges, pears. Enjoy. You're freed up, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For when you eat from it, you will certainly die. So God said, listen, anything you want to eat in here, knock yourself out.

That one tree, don't touch it. No, no, that one tree, baby, don't, don't go pull that fruit off and take a bite. That's the one I say no to. And the garden from the beginning was set up perfect, God's provider we trust. Then the problem was sin entered the world and entered the garden.

And here's how that plays out. Now the serpent, Satan, our enemy. was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord had made. He said to the woman, did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? See what Satan did there?

That's what he always does. He took God's words and just twist them a little bit. Did God say he couldn't eat from any tree?

See, he's trying to make Eve doubt God's generosity towards them. He's saying, listen, I know God built this awesome garden, but you're not allowed to eat anything. And Eve sort of corrected and said, now, listen, the woman said, we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden and you must not touch it or you will die.

So she's in this conversation going, I know God said we could eat some stuff. And then Satan continues the lie. He says, you will not certainly die. The serpent said to the woman, for God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. The first lie was Satan trying to get Eve to believe that, listen, what God's provided for you is not enough.

I know you got all the trees, but he's holding that one tree back. He's holding out on you. The first lie was attacking the character of God and attacking his generosity towards people.

Saying, listen, what he gave you, he's holding out on you. God didn't give you what you want, and he knows if you have that, you'll be like him, and he didn't want that. He's messing with her. And that's still the lie we sit in today, that God is not providing enough.

God's holding out. And after sin, listen, we went from living in a garden of abundance to now living in a world that is more, go with me, more like a bakery with scarcity. Meaning in the garden, the trees are always producing. Whenever you're hungry, go get another fruit, knock yourself out. There's abundance and joy.

And then sin entered the world and we lost the garden. And now we live in a world that's more like a bakery with scarcity. And it's like you go into a bakery and they sell pies and donuts and cookies and whatever.

And here's the thing about a pie that's interesting. First of all, y'all excited to eat some pie this week for Thanksgiving? Praise the Lord.

Come on, somebody. I'm smelling it right now. Y'all ready for Thanksgiving dinner?

I'm going to fight through that turkey to get to that pie. So here's what's interesting about a bakery sort of culture. The metaphor of a bakery is like you got pie, but if it starts with eight slices and then seven, then five, then two, then one.

When the pie is gone, it's gone. And so for me, when one slice of pie is cut out and you put it on a plate and I eat it, there's one less slice of pie left. It's a scarcity approach to seeing the world. And then equally, when you live in the garden, if someone was to walk by the garden and say, I'm hungry. You know what you do?

Pluck. Here you go. How many you want? Five, 10. I could never eat all this. Knock yourself out.

Enjoy. In a bakery, when someone comes by and this is the last slice of pie, they go, I'm hungry. You go, wait a second.

If I give you this pie, we have a problem because then I don't have pie. And me not having pie is a bad day. And so you have this mindset in the bakery where I got to protect it.

I got to hide it away. I know moms and dads, when there's a slicer to a pie left, you put it in like a Tupperware thing. You don't put it on the front ledge of the fridge.

You tuck it in the back behind the green beans and Brussels sprouts so the kids won't get to it. And then you sneak out at like 10 o'clock when everyone's asleep. over the sink so there's no crumbs. Got too real for some of y'all. See, in a world that God wanted us in was a garden.

And then now we lost the garden because of sin. We went from abundance to scarcity. And when you live in a world of scarcity, let me tell you what bakery sort of culture looks like. See, sin created a world like a bakery with scarcity that I own it all, but it feels like there's never enough to go around. I fight to get what's mine.

I look to myself for my needs. I got to get. If I don't get mine, I ain't going to get mine.

If you get something, I lost something. You ever been in line at Dunkin Donuts and you came for the chocolate glazed? And you're some, oh, someone just went to church.

And you look and there's one chocolate glaze left and there's three people in front of you. You start sizing them up. That's not a chocolate glaze man right there.

I'll be fine. And then someone goes, hey, I'll take that chocolate glaze. And you're like, I came here for the chocolate glaze.

You leave with an apple fritter. No one goes there for an apple fritter. See, when a bakery, when it's gone, it's gone.

There's a limited amount of pie and there never seems to be enough. People are my competitors. I have to fight to get mine. I can even get tempted to miss or doubt God's generosity toward us.

See, in the garden, it was work without worry. In the bakery, it's work, and now we worry. And the world we live in today feels a lot more like a bakery than a garden, doesn't it?

See, there's fear and there's worry and we have to protect and we have to hoard and we have to hide and we have to make sure we're looking out for number one. And I believe that you can look at marketing in a culture and it tells you more than you think it tells you. You notice how marketers who get paid lots of money to sell us stuff, you know how they most effectively market something? They say things like, hurry up, get it before it runs out.

Limited supply. You know what they do? This is interesting. They say things like, limit two per customer. It's not because they have a supply issue.

It's because they want you to believe that people want to buy 10 of these. So they say, limit. Two per customer. And you go, I better get two then. If everyone else wants more, I'll get two.

What are they doing? They're playing towards our fear of scarcity. And in the bakery culture, we have to protect and fight for what's mine. And church, I'm here to encourage us today.

God designed his people to live in a garden where he provides. We trust there's more than you need and we can just enjoy what God created and he provides. And the world around us is a world that feels more like a bakery.

And it feels like I've got to get my slice of the pie before someone else gets it. And God's inviting us to live differently. And just in case we can't catch on to what this bakery world looks like and feels like, after you're done eating pie on Thursday, somewhere about 4 a.m.

on Friday, there's a bunch of us are going to wake up. And go get in a fist fight over a flat screen TV, baby. It's called Black Friday.

And it's the day after we're thankful for what we have. And we go, now that we got that out of our system, let me find something else to be thankful that I now have. And in order for you to experience it, I want you to see a scene from one of my favorite movies. Starring, this is so weird, starring the former governor of California.

and one of my favorite comedians, Simbad. Enjoy this scene from Jingle All the Way. Enjoy.

We have received a small quantity of the action figure known as Turbo Man. I am not going to ask you people to be quiet again. Do you hear me?

Now, here's how things are going to work. You will form an orderly line so that an employee can hand you a numbered ball. These balls will then be drawn in a standard lottery fashion to see who gets a dollar. If you're not one of the lucky few, We have plenty of Turbo Man's fateful pet tiger booster in stock.

We don't want it! We don't want it! And by the way, in accordance with the laws of supply and demand, the new list price on each figure just doubled. What? That's a gift from you all, buddy.

Hey! It's the most wonderful time of the year We've been kissing and bearing it Everyone's telling you be on your chin It's the most wonderful time It's the most wonderful time And stop! It's all, it's all. Get the mailman.

Anybody, listen, that's what a bakery looks like. There's only so much to go around, I gotta get mine. You ever notice something?

If you got kids, notice that no one has to train a kid to be selfish. Notice that? I don't have to inform my kids. Let me tell you what it looks like to be selfish. Some of the first words they say are words like mine.

And boy is it cute when they're like 18 months old it gets less cute when they're 18 years old mine you see this garden culture is no longer our default factory setting we've lost a default and our new default is this selfish self-protecting thing and I am not immune see this this conversation is is one that I've wrestled through as an adult for years with my wife that man what does it look like to live radically generous in a world that doesn't feel like that's how you should get ahead you Like if I'm generous and I give away that piece of pie, there ain't no pie left for me. And the question that God, I think, wants to help us answer today is this. How do we live like the garden in a bakery world?

How do we live like we know that the same God that built the garden in Eden for Adam and Eve, that same God is the God who is our God today. He's not changed. We have.

So how do we live like we know he is who he says he is in a world that does not live that way? I want to unpack it. And in order to get there, the first thing we have to do is we have to start with God.

Because if the answer's in the garden, then let's go to the one who gave the garden. The answer's in garden living, then let's go to the one who built the garden. And God is a generous God.

You might have heard this verse a million times and seen it at football games, but here it is. For God so loved the world that he gave. I'm going to try it again.

When I say gave, we're saying it together. Let's all say gave. For God so loved the world that he gave. His one and only son, talk about scarcity, won Jesus.

And he gave Jesus up to get you and I back to himself. So that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Let me talk to maybe some guests in the room or people who are seekers.

You're trying to figure out what you believe about this Jesus thing. If you hear nothing else, I want you to hear this. You might have been taught or raised or assumed that God was a stifling, selfish, withholding, rule-giving God that's so far away. You know, the very nature of God is that he is generous.

God is a giver, and his love for you drove him to give Jesus to get you back to himself. If you hear nothing else, you just need to hear that God loves you that much. And that's the nature of God.

And the answer is in the garden, not physically. But spiritually, listen, when Jesus showed up for God so loved that he gave his one and only son, he came to earth. Merry Christmas.

We're celebrating that in a couple weeks. But when he came to earth, God ushered in the kingdom of God. And what he's saying is this. I created you for a garden.

Sin destroyed it. And now we live in a culture that feels like a bakery. And now because of Jesus, I'm bringing in a New Testament garden. That the world out there will not feel like a garden, but we can live in here like we understand we're built for the garden. And those who follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in you and says, listen, I want to rebuild the garden inside of God's people.

Where we have the freedom of enjoying what God's entrusted to us and believing that he is our provider and being radically generous because he's been generous with us. And when that is established in our soul, we live different. We live like we're in the garden, even though the bakery is the world we exist in. And it actually gives context to the words that Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount. I want to read this section of scripture to you because oftentimes you've heard it and it feels more like an oratory message, a proclaimed thing, when really it's like Jesus going, guys, I want to invite you back to the garden.

In Matthew 6, Jesus says these words and is painting a picture of what it looks like today. New Testament, after Jesus came, what does the garden living look like for us today? Jesus says in Matthew 6, starting in verse 25, therefore, I tell you, man, don't worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? And he's like, think about it this way. Like, look at the birds of the air.

They don't sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Man, can any one of you add, by worrying, add a single hour to your life?

And why do you worry about clothes so much? See how the flowers of the field, they just grow, and they don't labor, and they don't spin up clothing. And yet, I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like these flowers.

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, how much more for you and I? He says, listen, don't worry saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after these things, meaning the people who don't even follow Christ. That's what they worry about. If you know who your father is, you don't worry about the same things they do.

Listen, the pagans run after that stuff, but your heavenly father knows that you need them. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. What's Jesus saying? He's creating a picture, an illusion of don't forget the garden. That's how God intended us to give.

Don't you know who your provider is? And don't you know who your daddy is? Like how your heavenly father invited you to live in this world. And Jesus is saying, I want to call you back.

You can still live like the garden in here. In a world that doesn't even understand how we could live that way. Jesus is inviting us back to garden living. To live working but without the worry.

Without having to hoard and protect and be selfish. We can live generously when God's established as our provider. See, radical generosity is not just something we do.

It's a response to who God is. And I saw this week probably the most current picture of what garden living looks like, and it happened to be at my son Lincoln's school parents Thanksgiving lunch. Any parents do? the Thanksgiving lunch with their kids this week.

Anybody? All right. Eat like kings. Well, not kings.

Eat like princes, maybe. It was not awesome. But so Irma and I, we sign up, we buy our two little meal tickets and we show up to the school and we go to the cafeteria.

I sit at a kid's table and I forget how low those seats are. Had trouble getting back up after us, but I did. So we get there and Lincoln shows up to the cafeteria with the line of his class and Amber had already made him a lunch for the day.

She didn't know what the lunch would look like there. So she made him a good lunch and he brings his lunchbox in, sits down and goes, mom and dad, can I get lunch, like the Thanksgiving meal with my friends as well? And we're like, well, you have a lunch, but sure.

Let's go ahead and buy another ticket. It was like $2.20. four cents or something. Yeah, I can, I can spare that for you. So get him a ticket.

We go through the line and we go through and they give us like what looks like some sort of a meat substance and mashed potatoes, I believe. Um, and then the role is the saving grace. You can't go wrong.

We, we come and we sit our trays down and then at our table, it's me and Amber and Lincoln. And then some of Lincoln's friends sit down and their parents sit down and we, we talk and we. Eat enough to look like we're eating and we sit and go through it.

And then when Lincoln finishes his tray, he then opens up his lunchbox and flips up what mom got him. And he starts looking through all the goodies that mom made for his lunch that day. And he opens up and he's got this thing of pepperonis and he opens it up.

And I look down there and I see him start to toss pepperonis to his friends like, Thanks, bro. And they're eating pepperonis. And then he goes through and fruit snacks. Who wants a fruit snack? And my initial response was this.

Son, do you know how much groceries cost today? You're slanging fruit snacks like they're free. That's $8 worth of pepperonis and fruit snacks. He's not even thinking about it.

Just here you go, here you go, you enjoy. Bro, this is so good, try this. And they're eating all this food.

I'm sitting there like, what's going on? Then it hit me. You can live radically generous.

When you know that your dad's got lunch provided the next day and the next day and the next day. See, he didn't have to hold on to it because he knew, didn't even cross his mind. Because he trusts his dad's got lunch tomorrow. And when you believe that if I give this away, it's gone. Of course we live tightened up, selfish, because I got to protect me.

Lincoln had no self-protection in his mind that day. Because he knew who his dad was. I don't want to show off, but I did spend $2.24.

Didn't even think about it for lunch. Come on, somebody. You can't have money.

See, when you know your dad's got lunch, you live different. And the way God created us was to live in a garden where we go, God, I know. I mean, I can eat this apple and know tomorrow there's another tree with more fruit on it. And if someone walks by and is hungry, I can toss them.

Hey, enjoy. I don't have to protect. I can live carefree because God is careful with me.

See, that's the culture, the garden God invites us into. And here's what I want to do. I want to turn practical, give us three thoughts, and I want to get you out of here. But my hope and my heart for us is that God would help us live different.

I wonder if radical generosity is actually the most clear picture that you and I believe what we say about God. Because when you live generous, people go, why would you live that way? And the answer is because I know somebody and something you might not know yet. I tell you about my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I tell you about my dad in heaven. See, I wonder if generosity is potentially the most stark, obvious demonstration. that we believe what we say about God. Let's get practical. Here's the first one.

Generous people live open-handed because their hope is in God's provision. You see, when you trust God as your provider, you don't have to hold on tight to everything. You can live open-handed and trust God. You'll feel the hand again when you're ready. You provide for me.

See, I don't have to live close-handed. Generosity is rooted in our hoping God is our provider. Here's what 1 Timothy 6 says. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant. Pause.

Most of us read that and go, whew, I'm off the hook. I ain't rich. Here's the reality study in 2022. In order to be in the top 1% of wage earners in America, you have to make $600,000 a year. And most of us go, cool, I'm still off the hook. Some of you go, I, okay, I am rich.

Good for you. Here's a problem. We only compare ourselves in America.

America is only 4% of the world's population. Same study. You know what it requires. Your wage, your income to be in the top 1% of wage earners in the world.

$32,000. You go, oh, shoot, I am rich, rich. See, we're talking about that.

We're all in this category. We love to compare ourselves to 4%, not the other 96. In this context, we are all ridiculously rich. Command those.

Those who are rich. You and I. In this present world.

Not to be arrogant. Nor to put their hope in wealth. Here's the thing. Having stuff is not bad. When stuff has you.

That's bad. Where's your hope? Don't.

Don't put your hope in wealth. It's so uncertain. Stock markets up and down.

Things fall apart. But to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Where's your hope? Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

The warning is like, listen, you can live and miss life. Like you can exist and miss the life that's truly life. And if you choose to hold on to stuff, you cannot take hold of the life that is truly life.

The life is truly life on the other side of generosity. And what Jesus wants to invite us into is like, listen, whether you have a lot in your hands or you believe you have very little in your hands. It's the disposition of are your hands closed or open?

See, generosity. is more about are your hands closed or open and the belief that if I open my hands, God is my provider and will provide again. And here's the reality.

If our hope is in God as provider, we can live open-handed like Lincoln, slanging pepperonis a lush. And when you close it down, you might keep what you have, but you cannot take hold of the life that is truly life. Second point, generous people don't wait to have enough.

That's right. They begin with what God has placed, already placed in your hands. Like the idea, the lie that, man, I'll become generous when I have enough.

False. You know what? Enough is not an amount. Enough is a mindset.

I know people who have $100 and say, man, I don't have enough. I know people who have $1,000 and say, man, it's not enough. You won't believe it. I know people who have a million dollars and they would whisper, it's not enough.

See, if you're waiting to get to enough, you'll never become a generous person. See, enough is not an amount. The ideas of saying things like, if I had more, I would be generous. If I had enough, I would be generous.

If this happened, then I would be generous. Generosity doesn't begin when you have enough. Generosity begins when you realize he is enough.

He's my provider. I can start now. Listen, it's never too early to start and never too late to begin.

Generosity is not about having enough. Generosity is realizing I am building. Built for the garden.

And God is supposed to be my provider. And my hope is supposed to be there. Practical things.

Carry cash. And look for opportunities to be generous towards somebody. Put a $5 bill in your wallet.

$50 bill in your wallet. $100 bill in your wallet. And say God that one is for generosity. Help me find somebody I can be generous towards. Just start looking.

Pay for someone's grocery or gas. Leave a generous tip. Today. When you go out to eat. And help us reclaim.

what the world thinks about church folks. You know, waiters and waitresses say, I don't want to take the 12 to 5 shift on Sundays because church people are cheap people. Let's not be those people.

Be generous. Demonstrate that you know who God is. Listen, take the time.

Be generous with your time. Take the time to actually listen to somebody when you say, how you doing? Don't make that an empty greeting.

Take the time. Stop and pray for someone when they share a burden. Be generous with your energy.

Mow someone's lawn. Offer to help someone on the side of the road. Be generous with your wisdom, your knowledge, your know-how.

Pour into the next generation here at the church. Pour into people at work. Make them better.

And you think, man, if I tell them all that I know, they'll be better than me and I won't have anything left. Or God's the one who helped teach you all that anyway. He'll give you new ideas.

He's your provider. Be generous with your family. Take the chore that no one else wants.

Kids. Husbands do the chore that no one else wants in my house. I hate folding clothes.

I amen. I hate it. You want to know how you can tell if I ever won the lottery, I don't play, but if I ever won the lottery, I would only wear clothes one time and throw them away just because I hate folding clothes. Be generous with the chores.

Take the one no one wants. Use the resources God has already given you to be generous. Do you have a house?

How can I be generous to people with the house God's given me? already given. Apartment, a townhouse, your car, your couch, your food, your toys.

How can you be generous? Listen, generous people don't wait to have enough. They begin with what God's already put in their hands. And I'm telling you, God's already put it in your hands. And if we understood the nature and character of God, we would live in a way that would look like the world is a bakery.

Everyone's fighting over the last piece of pie and we live like we know there's fruit on the tree. trees. Now, I wanted to be done here and end the teaching.

And I almost did. But I could not get to peace with God in the teaching. And you can ask the team. This is the latest I've ever turned my teaching notes in, like late last night, because I couldn't get to peace. That's because this next conversation is so taken out of context and misused and abused in so many churches you might have seen.

It's used to manipulate people and make promises that God never made. I so don't want that to be what you think I'm saying, that I don't want to teach it and God won't let me not. And so I'm going to choose to take the risk and teach the supernatural side of this giving conversation.

Because if all it is, is do good things and be nice and trust God and go from there. I'm actually not teaching you the whole Bible. And the whisper of God was, son.

You're just telling them what I said. You're not making promises that you have to deliver on. You're telling them the invitation I've invited them into.

So I'm going to choose to risk and teach all of God's word and his promises. And I don't want us to miss the supernatural piece of this. So against my will and for God's glory. Third point. Here it is.

Generous people trust that God will not only provide, but also multiply. See, God can provide abundantly for all your needs. And yet in the kingdom of God, in the garden, in the nature of God, there's this multiplication thing that I don't know how to fully explain. But I want to read God's word. Corinthians 9, 10, and 11. Now he, God, who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will also supply, and notice the yellow, supply and increase your store of seed, and will enlarge the harvest of of your righteousness.

You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. And through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. I want you to see what is being said.

Most people teach this. You'll increase and enlarge. You'll be enriched in every way, period, and go sow.

Sow a seed. You've heard it if you've been around the church. If not, consider yourself lucky. Sow a seed. Give God a dollar, he'll give you a hundred.

Praise the Lord, sow it. And we like to stop there. Problem is God didn't stop there. Increase, enlarge, enrich so that you can be generous.

This verse is not about God making you rich. It's about God multiplying so you can stay generous. And God's going, listen, I give this to you so I can give through you. God's not saying health, wealth, wisdom, prosperity. That's the prosperity gospel.

If you read the disciples'lives, they didn't end rich. They ended dead very badly. And yet God makes a promise that he will increase, enlarge and enrich.

Listen, in the economy of the bakery, the world, when you give, when you live generous, you end up with less because there's only so much pie to go around. But in the culture of the garden, somehow you live generously. Take the apple, enjoy. I enjoy it myself. Somehow when I am generous, I end with more.

And I don't feel the pressure to tell you how God does it. I can just tell you I've seen it done. And it's interesting, the way God created in the garden.

See, when pies are gone, all that's left is a tin. But when you get done eating an apple, have you noticed something about what happens? You got an apple, you eat it on the inside. When you're done eating, you should stop when you get to the middle. That's not edible.

But when you get done eating, what's at the center of an apple? A seed. And somehow. The economy of God's kingdom.

I can consume. I can give away and be generous. And even once the apple's gone, there's a seed that you throw that on the ground.

And that seed takes root and it doesn't grow another apple. It grows another apple tree. And here's a quote. It's one of my favorite quotes.

Robert Shuler said this, any fool can count the number of seeds in an apple. Only God can count the number of apples in a seed. See the potential in the kingdom of God is this. I can be generous. You can clap for that.

Praise the Lord. See, the culture of the kingdom of God is one that if you would be freed up, trust God, somehow he multiplies. And it doesn't mean you're going to get rich.

doesn't mean your life's going to be awesome and perfect all the time. It just means that somehow when you put something in God's hands, he multiplies it. See, the nature of the gospel is that God somehow takes small things and makes them big things. If you notice this, mustard seeds in the gospel, they can move mountains.

Five loaves and two fishes somehow feed thousands. All these religious people came to the temple and started giving all this money and Jesus is like phooey. Widow shows up with two like pennies and he's like that's what I'm talking about.

Somehow Jesus comes to earth as this little baby that's helpless and he comes back as a king. I don't know how God does it all the time, but he does. Somehow God can do more with 90% of my money than 100%.

That's why I tithe. God can do more with a generous person than a selfish one. That's why I want to live open-handed.

God can do more with six. Six days of work that I can do with all seven. That's why I take a Sabbath.

Because I trust that if I live as a person, a resident of the garden, where God's my provider, somehow when I get done, I don't end with less. I end with more. And that scripture and that truth is not a financial principle. It's a kingdom one. And here's what I truly realized this this week.

I never connected the dots. One of the most frequent prayers that I pray for people, and I pray for you, 12 Stone, our church, you as people, is a prayer for God to multiply. And I never noticed this. I pray things like, I pray for our daymakers who generously give of their time and serve every week. And I say, God, somehow, would you multiply their time when they get home?

Like they came and they served all morning. I mean, like production guys have been here since like two in the morning. And I go, God, when they get home, would you multiply their time with their spouse?

Like somehow with half a day with their spouse, would it feel like they had a weekend away? Like God, when people come, when people come and serve Wednesdays in student ministry and they give up one night of the week, somehow when they get that 30 minutes before their kids go to bed, would it feel like they had a daddy-daughter date all day long? And somehow would you multiply it? Like God, people here at Twelve Stone, the two of you, people generously give up their resources to this church. God, would you multiply in their life?

I pray that as you live generously, I pray that God will multiply your time, your efforts, your influence, your effectiveness, your energy, your resources, and somehow God multiplies. In a minute, pastors are gonna come up. We're gonna pray over you. I wanna do that.

But before we get there, I want to remind us that Satan is still whispering this. Same lie today that he whispered in the garden. God's going, come to the garden.

Trust me. Doesn't mean you're rich and famous. It means I will supply all your needs according to my riches in Christ Jesus. Come to the garden and Satan whispers, what God has provided you is not enough. God's holding out.

You can't trust God. And if you want to get yours, you better go take it. And I'm telling you, that lie robs us from living a radically generous life. God's whispering to his church, would you just test me in this? Trust me.

Live generously. Live, honor me. Live generously with people and watch what I do.

So what I hope this week is, is you go do Thanksgiving. And you see that pie in the middle of the table. I hope you remember this conversation and you might just whisper under your breath like, that pie's gonna be gone soon.

My grandkid took a pretty big piece. I bet they won't finish that. You might say something like this to yourself, man, that's how a pie works. But that's not how I work. The spirit of God might just whisper to your soul, man, that might be how the pie works.

That's not how I work. I will abundantly provide for you. And as you have moments with family and friends, maybe God will give opportunity to be generous.

And if we want to make a difference in this world, we've got to live differently. And we were built for the garden. So pastors, will you step up and will you pray this into and over our church?

Transcript for:Understanding Radical Generosity in Faith

Transcript for:
Understanding Radical Generosity in Faith