Good Morning and thanks for being with us at Lakeside today... Maybe you caught the drift based on where we're at in the series that today's message was about Exodus 20:15... which is pretty straight forward... "You shall not steal." (Exodus 20:15, ESV) I understand a number of us at Lakeside are going to have a guilty conscience on this one because well we kind of have a stealing epidemic at Lakeside... Who's even stolen on of these? (holds up Lakeside Pen)
I'm actually getting ready to move out of my apartment, so just to make you feel better...here's a look at the stock I dug up at my place... (Picture of accumulated lakeside pens) To be clear, we hope that you'll take the pens with you and use them and give them to people in the community, but if you didn't know that it's easy to harbor guilt about little stuff that may or may not matter.
I was thinking about theft and I was wondering if anyone else maybe felt guilt about this one too. I think someone needs to hear today that God isn't stingy. We treat God a lot like a stingy gas station clerk... stealing our sips and checking to see if He cares... waiting to see how much we can get away with... And the whole time God's like... Take a drink and quit looking over your shoulder. I think the reason why theft is so against the character of God... is because God is incredibly generous in the first place.
Listen to how Jesus describes how we should relate to God in the Sermon on the Mount... He says 25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" (Matthew 6:25, ESV) The Message paraphrase of the Bible goes on to say this... What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. (Matthew 6:30-33, MSG)
God is incredibly Generous.
A lot of us think the solution to theft is putting a monitor device on the soda fountain...like a new video camera in the back of the Gas station so we can keep an eye out for the thief... the real solution is to theft is to keep our eyes open to God's generosity... and to become generous like God.
But there are a lot of excuses that get in the way of us becoming generous like God. Today we're going to talk about how we can become more generous like God, and acknowledge the excuses that get in the way... I believe that when we lean into generosity... it will change our hearts, and the hearts of those around us. (Let's pray before we move forward)
I want to suggest that the way to solving theft isn't doubling down on security systems and jail time for felony theft. Of course there is a place for the justice system, I'm not suggesting otherwise. But what I am saying is that if you follow Jesus, the way you solve theft is not by being stingier... the way you solve the issue of theft is by doubling down on Generosity.
Think about it this way... God is generous to everyone. That even includes thieves. Jesus said God... "makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:45, ESV) So how can we tap into that kind of goodness and generosity?
I said earlier that we make a lot of excuses for NOT being generous. Another way to say that is that there are a lot of believable lies about generosity. We're going to look at a few of those today.
The first believable lie about Generosity... Is that "I am generous enough."
Anyone here ever wait tables? This is a lot like the person who lays down a crisp clean George Washington for the tip... when the total bill was over $100! That person can think they're generous all day long, but I'm not buying it!
In the early Church generosity became the key marker for what the community of God looked like. In Acts 4 we read this ...the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. (Acts 4:32-35)
Understanding what God had done, led to abundant generosity in the early Church.
So here's the litmus test... does our celebration of who God is manifest itself in absurd levels of generosity? If we're for God, we ought to be for generosity.
Just a moment later though, there's a sharp contrasting example of what generosity doesn't look like. Check this out from Acts 5:1 and following... But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. (Acts 5:1-2, ESV) Some of you might be sitting here thinking... "Well if I sold my property and gave a portion of it away, and kept a portion for myself... I'd say I was a pretty decent person."
That's not the point... the point is that in a community where absurd generosity was the plumbline... Ananias and Sapphira actively withheld a portion of their gift... AND they actively lied about it....
If you read on in the story, you'll come to find that the apostle Peter had some harsh words for Ananias and Sapphira... as it turns out, both Ananias and Sapphira die on the spot when they lie about how much they are giving... Which is a bit frightening obviously...
The issue was Ananias and Sapphira thought they were generous enough, so they kept back part of the money when they sold their land.
I've been looking at our parking lot quite a bit lately. We all can see the progress that is being made. You may know that we've raised $65,000 of the $110,000 needed to fund our parking expansion project debt free. And it's pleasing to be a part of something like that. But at the end of the day... if you're looking at the surface level of a parking lot...all that you can see is asphalt.
But when I look at the parking lot what I envision are people. I see single mothers finding a place to root their children in a positive social network. I see broken families being built up into homes of godly refuge. I see widows and widowers who find hope in the midst of despair. I see single people finding meaning in the abyss of their 20s. I see people who don't know Jesus, finding eternal life. I see the potential for about 100 additional people to find community and new life in Christ at Lakeside when I look at our developing parking lot.
Am I generous enough is the wrong question. Can I become more generous? Can I trust God even more than I do now? I think those questions make more sense. And think the answers to both of those questions are yes... If it's possible to become more good like God, then it's possible to become more generous.
Today during offering we all have an incredible opportunity to give above and beyond our normal contribution. I'm talking to a generous people. You have proven that time and time again. What I'm asking is, is it possible to lean into generosity one more time? And for many of us the better question is, can you look at this great cloud of witnesses and lean into generosity for the first time? Today when you're writing out your gifts, all checks with the word VISION written in the memo line will go directly to paying off our parking expansion debt free. We are $45,000 away from our goal. We're $45,000 away from serving an additional 100 people every Sunday at Lakeside DEBT FREE.
I'm getting married in 2 weeks... I'm still working on my master's degree... but can I be more generous? I think the gut-check answer is Yes. I trust that God will provide for all of our needs as a Church, as He stirs our hearts to generosity.
The first believable lie about generosity is that "I'm generous enough." But the reality is that "we all can become more Generous like God."
Believable lie #2 is really similar, and it goes like this: "Someone else can be generous."
I was walking back to the parking garage the other night at the end of a Cardinals baseball game with Brad... Yes, Brad Owen the Cubs fan went to a Cardinals, Rockies game with ME. (Which the Cardinals won by the way) I didn't even mention this to Brad, but while we were walking back I saw a guy panhandling, and I saw a woman open her purse at get out some cash for the guy. But you know what I noticed more than the woman giving? What stuck out was how mad her husband got when she opened up her purse. He walked away, tipped his head back, and refused to come face to face with the panhandler.
We tend to think about panhandlers as swindlers and thieves right? They're working the system! They won't work for a living! They'll just use that money on cigarettes, booze, of drugs.
Here's the reality about theft and generosity...Theft and generosity are always relational.
It takes a person to steal from... and it takes a person to be generous too.
Simply stated... when we withhold generosity it affects everyone. When we withhold generosity we contribute to the theft problem.
Jesus offers an incredible solution when it comes to bringing Generosity into the world... From Matthew 6:1 this is what He said... "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:1-4, ESV)
So Jesus' mandate for generosity isn't just to be generous... His solution is to be generous in a way where you can't take the credit. The reward of generosity isn't that we would receive a lifetime achievement award, or giver of the month award. Our reward is pleasing God and becoming good like God.
Jon and I were talking about this this week: Generosity and Theft both have the potential to totally reshape the way we see all people. If I move into a neighborhood and I wake up the next morning with my mailbox smashed in anonymously... I'm going to walk out onto the street thinking... "these people are so terrible... This whole neighborhood is terrible." Because if you don't know who did the damage, you'll start to view all the people in your neighborhood through the lens of theft and crime.
But if you walk out to that same mailbox, and instead there is an anonymous note that says "welcome to the neighborhood!" with $500 cash in it... you may begin to think, "I moved to the right place... this neighborhood is awesome!" Because someone gave anonymously, you view of the whole neighborhood through a positive lens.
When we give in secret instead of sounding the bells, and blowing the trumpet, a couple of things happen. 1... people begin to have a restored faith in humanity. Which is a good thing obviously. But 2... and perhaps more importantly, they are drawn to wonder how such favor was bestowed upon them... and maybe perhaps, maybe... they begin to wonder if there is good and generous God looking out for them.
The last time I preached I gave an illustration about my Starbucks budget getting cut down when I get married... and I walked out to my car that afternoon and there was a $50 gift card to Starbucks on my windshield. No one took the credit... and instead of reinforcing my hope in the goodness of one family, I've been given an even greater lens for the generosity of Lakeside.
That's the difference between false humility and uncredited generosity.... False humility does good deeds before others, and then shabbily says... oh it was nothing... who me... oh well it was nothing. Uncredited generosity sows seeds of goodness and walks away without taking the credit.
God is drawing people to His goodness through unselfish, untainted, uncredited Generosity. That's worth being a part of. How can you give in a way where you won't receive the credit?
The first believable lie about generosity is that "I'm generous enough" but the reality is that "we all can become more Generous like God." The second lie is that "Someone else can be generous." And the solution is to "be generous in a way where you can't take the credit."
The last believable lie we're touching on today may be the hardest to topple. When it comes to generosity we can fall into the trap of believing that "They don't deserve my generosity."
"They" can be anyone... It can be a member of your family... it can be a panhandler like we talked about earlier. It could be a someone who has wronged you. It could be someone who has a track record of mismanaging their resources.
Regardless of the example, it boils down to us determining that someone else doesn't deserve our generosity. The problem is, we are really bad at understanding who does, and who doesn't deserve generosity.
Jesus illustrated what it looks like when we decide to judge who does and doesn't deserve generosity by telling a story about an unmerciful servant. In Matthew 18 this is what we read... 23 "Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.[g] 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.[h] 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant[i]fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.'27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt." (Matthew 18:23-27)
We're a lot like the man who is 10,000 talents in debt... which was an astronomical number in terms to the culture this story was told to originally. The point is, you can't pay back 10,000 talents. You just can't.
God's a lot like the King. He looks at people who can never pay him back and says, "your debt is forgiven." But God doesn't just forgive debts for no reason. God forgives debts, because when a person has truly grasped the generosity of God... it completely changes their heart.
The story continues this way... 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii,[j] and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.' 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. (Matthew 18:28-30, ESV)
"They don't deserve my generosity." The reason that's a lie is because it shows we have a complete lack of self-awareness. Have we or haven't we been forgiven an unpayable debt? If God lavishly bestows His generosity without qualification, then is there such a thing as a person who doesn't deserve generosity?
When we're tempted to think "they don't deserve my generosity..." the solution is remembering the generosity we have received.
When we come face to face with the Generosity of God... shown so clearly in the sacrificial death of Jesus... generosity is just a natural response.
A heart that has truly received generosity is a heart that freely gives. But if our response is withholding generosity... Jesus explains how in the case of the unmerciful servant... "his master delivered him to the jailers,[k] until he should pay all his debt." (Matthew 18:34, ESV)
God has been given me an incredible object lesson on theft and generosity this week... Have you ever been on the phone with AT&T or Comcast for way too long? As you know it takes quite some time to even talk to a human being... And by the time you get to the person at the call service station your frustration level about a 7/10... And so you say things that could maybe get you fired from the Church you work at...
The bottom line is that I feel like I've been swindled out of a good chunk of change by a couple of large companies... so what's new? But at some point, mid-yelling session at some poor call-center attendant you realize that nothing can be done.
Becoming generous like God begins and ends with knowing where our treasure is... Jesus said it this way in Matthew 6... (Slide 16) 19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[e] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21, ESV)
Generosity looks like giving away what we used to think was rightfully ours... so someone else can know the goodness and generosity of God. Where is your treasure?