MidTree Church
The sermon audio of MidTree Church in Harris County, Ga. BEHOLD // BELIEVE // BECOME
MidTree Church
God's Plan and Our Heartfelt Role | Pastor Will Hawk | November 17th, 2024
Discover the profound intersection of generosity and faith as we explore whether an all-powerful God truly needs our involvement in His plans. Join us as we navigate the teachings of Jesus, examining the themes He emphasized during His ministry, from marriage and money to the power of prayer. With the backdrop of Jesus's entry into Jerusalem and the symbolic act of fetching a colt, we challenge the conventional understanding of divine necessity and invite you to reflect on your own spiritual journey.
Through biblical narratives like Exodus 35 and the Israelites' transformation from receivers to givers, we highlight the vital role of human participation in God's divine story. Unpack the mystery of the phrase "the Lord has need" and consider why God, despite His omnipotence, calls upon us to contribute to His kingdom. As we reflect on the Israelites' journey from slavery to freedom, we emphasize the heart's intent in giving, urging a shift from materialistic measures to open-hearted generosity as an act of worship and faith.
Inspired by the timeless lesson of Jesus's humble ride into Jerusalem, we delve into the essence of Christian identity and purpose. The symbolism of Christ's entry, as foretold by Zechariah, serves as a profound reminder of peace, sacrifice, and humility. By embracing our roles within God's grand narrative, we cultivate a spirit of unity and selflessness. Reflect on Solomon's wisdom in Ecclesiastes as we call you to prioritize a life centered on Christ, embracing generosity as a reflection of divine love and a path to spiritual growth.
If you want to learn more about the MidTree story or connect with us, go to our website HERE or text us at 812-MID-TREE.
All right, guys, rob's going to come up and read our text. We're going to be in Luke, chapter 19. You can go ahead and start flipping there. Rob, do you know what page it's on in the Pew Bible? It's on page 878. All right, 878 if you're using a Pew Bible. Thanks, man.
Speaker 2:I'll give you a few seconds to get there. So I'm probably going to say something wrong here, but I asked about five different people how to say a certain city's name and once I got two confirmations I was going to go with that one. So we're going to go with that. And when he had said these things, he went on ahead going up to Jerusalem.
Speaker 2:When he drew near to Bethpage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples saying go into the village in front of you where, on entering, you will find a colt tied on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you why are you untying it, you shall say this the Lord has need of it. So those who were sent away and found it, just as he had told them, and as they were untying the colt, its owner said to them why are you untying the colt? And they said the Lord has need of it. And they brought it to Jesus and, throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
Speaker 2:As he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road as he was drawing near already, on the way down to the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him Teacher, rebuke your disciples. He answered. I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out. This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 1:Amen, thank you, rob. All right, guys, as we get ready to hop into the text, give me a moment to get settled here. One of my favorite things about preaching and being able to be up on the stage is talking with you guys afterward, and there are certain tropes, like. There are certain phraseologies that people use regularly, like post-service, and one of them is this, and most of you have probably said it I really needed to hear that. Okay, I hear it all the time, man, I really needed to hear that. So here's my question you don't have to answer out loud when John is sharing his testimony, would you have said to yourself, man, I really needed to hear that. Now let me tell you the reason. I want to begin with that question. What does it mean and I'm not trying to trick you when I say this yes or no? You can answer this one out loud yes or no? Do you believe that God wanted John to share his story today? Yeah, okay, all right, I'm not trying to trick. I know y'all are always waiting for me to be like gotcha. I'm not doing that today. I promise no tricks. Second question do you believe God needed John to share his story? Isn't that fascinating? Okay. Do you believe God wanted him to share his story? Yes, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Do you believe God needed John to share his story?
Speaker 1:And then what begins happening is you have this theological for many of you theological wrestling that goes on in your chest. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, let me invite you in. You are at a church that believes that God is sovereign in all things. You are coming to a church that, when we pick up the Bible, we see God as infinitely high and us as infinitely low. The value that we have we only have because God placed it in us by creating us in his own image. And then he doubles down on that value and he says let me show you how valuable you are to me. And yet, does God need anything from me? No, he is not dependent on me in any way. And so when we ask the question, does God need for John to share his story, we begin to have this wrestling. Well, we're supposed to be faithful, but God is not dependent on us. What are we supposed to do with that? I want you thinking about that because of what we're about to read. What does God, infinite in power, majesty, creator of all things, need from you, if anything. Here is where we begin in our text Luke 19, 28 through 48. And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem, now, immediately. If you guys weren't here last week, you probably have a question Well, what things? When he had said what things, did he start going up to Jerusalem, making his journey toward the cross. Well, let me show you what things.
Speaker 1:But before we do, I've got a little quiz for you here. All right, now you can talk amongst yourselves or you can just bet against your own self. One of these things Jesus talks about more than the other, and I'm going to give you sort of the order in which Jesus talks about these topics. The other, and I'm going to give you sort of the order in which Jesus talks about these topics. By the way, these are big church topics, all right, marriage, money, missions, evangelism, heaven, hell, prayer. Can we all agree? Those are churchy words. They're going to come up in a given Sunday if you hang around for about four or five, six weeks.
Speaker 1:Here's what I want you to do. I want you to look at the list, I want you to pick which one you think has the highest percentage of Jesus's teaching and I want you to pick the one that you think has the lowest percentage and Jesus's three years of ministry and teaching. He spent what percentage of his time talking about these things? I'm only gonna give you a minute, so don't take long. If you're a competitive person like me, share your answer with the person next to you so you can have a winner and somebody who has to buy dinner. I like winners, I like losers more. It makes it more fun. All right, here you go, if you and just so you know, I've got to go with approximations here, because it depends the amount of time, the amount of frequency. Oh, now you're getting into it. I told you to do it. All right, whatever, figure it out, you got 10 seconds. I want to keep preaching. All right, here we go. Lock them in.
Speaker 1:Across three years of ministry and teaching, jesus spent about 5% of his time talking about marriage. He spent 15% of his time talking about money. Talking about marriage. He spent 15% of his time talking about money. When it came to missions and evangelism, another 5%. How are you doing so far? Not great, okay, that's all right. That's why we're here. We're here to learn right. Heaven 10%. Hell 12%. Prayer 10%. Now, oh, you all lost it. Did anybody win? Did anybody win? A pastor, okay, and an elder figures All right, great, all right. Wait, did somebody else over here get a W? All right, free book from the camp store? In three years of ministry and teaching, jesus spent 15% of his time talking about money, which means as a church that preaches expositionally through books of the Bible.
Speaker 1:If this holds and if all we taught were the teachings of Jesus, you would get a money sermon one in six weeks. Anybody interested in that? Let me tell you why you're not interested in that and I'm not trying to be mean, I'm not trying to be cold. The reason that you're not interested in that is because, more than anything else on the planet, that is what will steer your heart outside of the Holy Spirit, and I'll prove it to you because Jesus says so. So is this going to be a money sermon? Yes, this is going to be a generosity sermon.
Speaker 1:And here's the deal. You may be tired of it. You may be saying Will, don't? You know? It's the fall. I've gotten every flyer. I've been invited to these banquets. I keep getting non-profits because it's time for end of the year giving. Please hear me on this. I am not concerned with that. I'm concerned with shepherding your soul. We are not about to pass the plate.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to say, and for us to respond faithfully Larry, go grab the offering bin. We're gonna put it right here. I'm not gonna do that. Burton Keller is not hiding behind the door with a financial update or a capital campaign. He's not. He would probably love that, but it's not where he is.
Speaker 1:I'm not gonna talk about those things. I want to talk about the thing that Jesus says most affects your heart, and so when I ask you this question, what things here are the things? Now, there's no way for you to read all of this, but this is portions of Luke 18 and 19. This is what we've looked at over the past month and I just want you to notice this. This is what we've looked at over the past month and I just want you to notice this.
Speaker 1:Luke 18 began with a widow who had nothing crying out to a judge who was hoping for something. We go to a tax collector. I know that you can't read all of this, but we go to a tax collector who says I can give tithes of everything that I've got. We end up with a rich young ruler who walks away, sad because he would rather have the things of this world than the king who owns all of it. If we jump over to 19, in comes Zacchaeus, one of the richest men probably in the city at the time, hiking up a tree just to get eyes on Jesus.
Speaker 1:And then he tells us a story about how we spend money. This is what it's talking about when Jesus says and as he was teaching about these things, why? Because where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. This is why Jesus would talk about money one in six times. It is not because the church needed more money. It is not because Jesus needed more money, for goodness sakes. When somebody was like Jesus, don't forget to pay your taxes, getting a bit late in the year, he's like why don't we go fishing instead and you'll just pull out a fish? It'll have enough taxes for me and you. I want that spiritual gift. So bad, so bad, so, so bad. This is why Jesus would talk about it so much.
Speaker 1:And so let me give you this challenge. If I walked up here today and I said, hey, I want to talk about pride, there's a piece of you that would lean in If I said I want to talk about selfishness, I want to talk about lust, I want to talk about relationships, I want to talk about your marriage, I want to talk about your parenting. There would be this lateral move forward. But in most people I'm not going to say all in most people, christian and non the moment we start talking about money, I want you to watch your heart do this, because all it's doing is proving that and with that as our basis, I want us to take a look at what I think is a phenomenal text on the generosity of God and what that must mean for a people who are created in his own image. Rob, great job on the reading and on the names. And when he had said these things, I've explained what that is tons and tons of stuff about money.
Speaker 1:He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. I want you to pay attention to where we are. We're in Jerusalem. He's going to head through Beth. Want you to pay attention to where we are. We're in Jerusalem. He's gonna head through Bethphage, to Bethany, to a mount that is called Olivet. It has another name. Anybody wanna guess what? The mount called Olivet is also called the Mount of Olives. Yes, okay, I'm telling you this because I want you to know where you are. If you have an ESV study Bible, don't you dare cheat and look at your map right now, don't you do it. I know you want to Just hold tight with me for a moment.
Speaker 1:And as he is passing, and what you should be imagining is this you should sort of, if this represents the cross in time, you should imagine Jesus right on the other side of those doors. You should imagine Jesus grabbing coffee and a donut. He hasn't made it this far, but he is coming and you can hear a bit of a commotion as he does. But first he says to two of the disciples and I'd love for you to kind of keep an eye on this these two disciples to go into the village in front of you. And then Jesus pulls the Jesus stuff and he's like here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna go there. There's to be a colt tied. Just ask the owner. He's going to be cool with it. Tell him it's for the Lord. And Jesus gives them their forecasted future. Before it ever happens, untie it and bring it here.
Speaker 1:Verse 31. If anyone asks you why are you untying it, you shall say this the Lord, the Lord has need. Okay, now just hit pause. Now I want to go back to my first question. Did John need to share his testimony today? I'm not telling you that God needs you for him to be God. This is why Jesus referred to himself before they picked up stones to kill him. As I am, I am the self-existing one. I need nothing from you. My existence, my perfection, my majesty, glory and power is in no way contingent upon you. And yet the only time in Matthew, mark, luke or John we see this the Lord capital, l Lord speaking of Jesus, has need.
Speaker 1:Now you could make the argument. Well, maybe this is just referring to the humanity of Christ Jesus, saying that he needs something. Maybe it's not really the kind of need that we would talk about, because how could Jesus need anything from two unnamed disciples and from some owner of a donkey whose name doesn't even make it into the book? But when we keep reading verse 34, the Bible doubles down on it and for the first time in the gospels, we see this phraseology the Lord has need of it. God does not need me and he does not need you. That is true-ish, to quote my teenagers. It's true-ish. It's mostly true in most places, in most times, but this is God's language, this is God's word.
Speaker 1:Is God being selfish? No, did Jesus just say? You know what? I've been doing a lot for the past three years. I've got a really rough week coming up. I'm going to need you guys to go and cover some responsibilities for me. No, there's no selfishness in Christ. Is he being lazy? Is this the first time in the gospels Jesus got a me day? Is that what we're reading? No, is he being needy? No, if Jesus isn't selfish, lazy or needy, if God could do it all himself, why does God ask you to do anything? Here's what I'd like for you to do, since God can do and I'm leaving this blank because I think it matters for your particular life I want you to think about needs that you have in your life, wants that you have in your life.
Speaker 1:John, I'm thinking about your testimony, where you go to the Lord and you're like why won't you just take this from me? It's bad, I do not want it, it is destructive. Wouldn't it be of God for you to take this from me? I'm literally trying to empty my hands and then it turns into you cursing God because he doesn't take it Because he wasn't done doing the work, so that once it was taken, you wouldn't go back and start grabbing at it again. And may we as a congregation continue to pray that you would be sanctified along that path, since God can do.
Speaker 1:But let's not just be churchy and pews for a minute. Fill in your blank, take a moment. It shouldn't be hard, because I pray for you guys and as I look at your faces I can guess what some of you would write in. It's not hard. I can look at every section in this church and I can guess what would be written in. If God can do that himself, why does God ask you to do anything? It's fascinating.
Speaker 1:Now to answer that question. I want you to go back in time with me. I'll put it up on the screen. But if you're following along in your Bible, go to the second book of your Bible, the book of Exodus. The book of Exodus Genesis Exodus should be easy to find. You're always allowed to use the table of contents here. Book of Exodus, chapter 35 is where I want us to go. And as we get to Exodus 35, let me just tell you what's happening here. The tabernacle is about to be built.
Speaker 1:Here's what we read Moses said to all the congregation of the people, to every last one of them, of the people of Israel this is the thing that the Lord has commanded Take from among you a contribution to the Lord. No-transcript. Now I want you to notice this. This is a call to the entire congregation of God's people. And then God filters his speech. He says look, I want, I desire all of the congregation of the people of Israel, millions of people. I want them to do this thing that I am commanding. I want them to give a contribution to the Lord. I want them to do this thing that I am commanding. I want them to give a contribution to the Lord. I want them to be generous. And then he slides in this filter and he says I do want it to be all of them, but whoever is of a generous heart. So which is it? Is it all of them or is it those who have a generous heart? And this, going all the way back in time, is the exact same concept of God's need of his people and our treasure not being in the things of this world, but in getting to know the creator of the universe, in knowing that I can go to the one who loved me most with empty hands and no impressive things, and the greatest gift that I can receive is love and peace from God. Nothing else that I would fill into the blank. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord's contribution, and then he begins listing things for them to bring.
Speaker 1:Do you realize that up to this point, only God had done the giving? 400 years? God, we're in slavery, we're being abused, we're being mistreated. Our families are being ripped apart. I don't have autonomy to care for and protect my wife and my children, and we have been crying out to you for far longer than it seems should make sense, if this is your desire. And who was it that gave them freedom? God gave them freedom. They get their freedom and man, they're bebopping out. They've filled their pockets with gold from the Egyptians because God had promised that they would loot their oppressors, and so with stuff that they hadn't earned, they're just carrying somebody else's beautiful grandfather clock as they go out into the desert. They're like this is beautiful, I mean, doesn't make up for 400 years, but it's a great clock, right? They've got jewelry and they've got earrings All of these things that they had done nothing really to earn. The problem is you can't eat watches, you can't nibble on earrings. It's not a very satisfying food. So they get out into the wilderness and they say God, we're really thirsty and God gives them water. God, we're really hungry, so God gives them food. God, we like this food, but we would like other food more. So God upgrades their menu to premium.
Speaker 1:God has been giving and giving and giving, and what you're looking at in Exodus, chapter 35, is the first time God asks anything of them, and I want you to see what happens here. Whoever is of a generous heart, let that person bring the Lord's contribution and notice what they bring. Some are going to bring gold, some will bring silver, some will bring bronze. That would be your upper class. Some have this at their disposal. Others have yarn. There's nothing wrong with yarn, especially if it's purple. That's the good stuff back in the day. But that's probably more of a middle class.
Speaker 1:And then you've got other folks who are walking around and they hear the pastor say God is calling us to be generous, and they're so happy when goat's hair comes up. They're like oh, thank goodness. I mean, if we were all going to have to give gold, I was going to have to go find another church Goat's hair. I can do goat's hair. This is an amazing thing. This is God saying that his concern is not the quantity of the gift but the quality of the giver. This is God saying the point is not that 100% give, so that would be my desire. The point is that 100% of your heart would be generous. This is not God saying, hey, I can't do this thing without you. I can't build a place of worship without you.
Speaker 1:God did not need their material possessions to build this tabernacle. He said let there be light. And there was light. Can I just tell you, when you pull that off, needs are not that big of a deal. He could have just said tabernacle Done, piles of gold, wham, a bunch of goat hair, ew, right, like that's what God could have done. So what's happening here? What are we learning here? If he was going to tabernacle with them, if he was going to be in the midst of them, he needed them. Listen to my vernacular. He needed them to have free and generous hearts, because in the divine providence of God, in the divine providence of God, selfishness does not fit with unity with your creator. A desire for self does not mesh with a desire to know and pursue and be loved by God, and so, instead, this is what he says. This is where the rich young ruler missed it. This is where you will be tempted to miss it as well.
Speaker 1:God calls us to give to his church, not primarily to increase the effectiveness of the church. We're not asking you to give so that we can add a wing. We're not asking you to give so that we can do a wing. We're not asking you to give so that we can do some particular ministry. Although I haven't seen Burton yet, burton would love to pay this building off in two or three years. So would I. For what it's worth, it allows us to be more generous and do more ministry.
Speaker 1:God calls you to give to the church to increase the effectiveness of your worship, not to increase the effectiveness of this place of worship primarily. This is one of the reasons God calls us to generosity. God has tethered himself in many ways to his church. He has called it his body, his hands, his feet, his mouth. And since the church is God's plan A and since God's plans always work, he has never needed a plan B. This is how you can accurately and theologically say that God does actually need you. Why Not? Because he is dependent on the church. Because God fulfilling his promises is dependent on the church. When God has said my church will be this thing, then the church must be that thing for God's word to be true, and his word is always true.
Speaker 1:So when we jump back to Luke 13, here is what we find. And they brought it to Jesus and throw. By the way. They're not bringing gold and silver. All that's made it so far in our story is a donkey. That's it. That's how generous somebody has been. Two nameless dudes decided to go for a walk before anybody else, and one unnamed owner has said no problem, you can have my donkey. And they brought it to Jesus, throwing their cloaks on the colt. They set Jesus on it and as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road, as he was drawing near already, on the way down the Mount of Olives. There you go. They've switched the words on us.
Speaker 1:The whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying blessed is the king who comes Now. All of a sudden you hear them in the foyer. Now, all of a sudden, it's getting a bit loud on the other side of the double doors, and here are the things that you would have heard Peace in heaven, glory in the highest. Okay, freeze for just a minute. What does glory in the highest make you think of Christmas? Right, this is putting Mariah Carey on defrost. That's what's happening in Luke 19. It's saying hey, we're getting there, guys, we're getting pretty close. Some of you guys already have some trees up. Some of you guys have boxes full of stuff that haven't been open. Here you go, I am inviting you into the beginning of Christmas season Peace in heaven, glory in the highest.
Speaker 1:And the Pharisees are so excited, oh, they're so pumped that this is what they say Teacher, rebuke your disciples. We will have no Christmas here, we will have no peace, we will have no glory in the highest. The Pharisees get really upset because now, all of a sudden, jesus is being called the king. They're throwing their coats down in homage to him. That's what this would have been a symbol of Jericho, known as the city of palms, for the palm trees that spring up in it, making it look like an oasis in the desert, have been chopped out of trees and people are waving them to elevate Christ coming in on a donkey. And some of the disciples said Jesus, rebuke your disciples.
Speaker 1:But Jesus does something very, very different. He says I tell you, if these guys were silent, the stones would begin to cry out. Now I know you can't see this really, really well, but this is the journey that we have been on through the text so far. You've got Bethany that Rob talked about. I wonder where I left that. There's Bethpage. You can see them walking. Now, depending on where you decided to sit today, you may have a little trouble, but right south of Bethpage it says Mount of Olives. So that's where they would have gone. And then, as Jesus begins to come toward the city, he starts going down a hill. And as he's going down a hill, there's probably no way anybody here without aviation-worthy vision can see this, but it says in the valley that Kidron Valley, next to the V, the word tombs. Now, my whole life growing up in the church, I'd heard Jesus say hey, if they don't praise, even the rocks are going to cry out.
Speaker 1:And some of you may be doing the Bible reading plan with Tara Lee Cobble Anybody doing that. We've recommended it. Let me just see who's been listening. Anybody Great. Nobody's reading their Bible. All right, well, pay attention. All right.
Speaker 1:One of the things that she says is when you look at the layout of what was happening in this text, jesus could be saying if my disciples don't say peace in heaven and glory in the highest, here comes the king. Even the stones would begin to say it. But it may not be granite that he's talking about, or sandstone, or limestone or quartz. What likely is happening is he's walking by the tombs and Jesus is saying if the living won't recognize this, then the dead, who know what you don't know, are going to start screaming out. And then I found something even cooler. I've never seen this. In all of my study in the book of Luke, I had never noticed. This, by the way, is the prophecy from 500 years before what we're reading in Luke. Zechariah would say Rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion, shout aloud, o daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation is he. He's humbled and he's mounted on everybody. Say it with me he's mounted on a.
Speaker 1:Jesus needed two disciples to go and get a donkey. Jesus needed an owner to let go of a donkey. Why? Because Jesus couldn't fabricate it. No, because God promised this was going to happen. God has so intrinsically, like, intimately, woven God's people, the church, in his plan that in some very particular ways we actually can say God needs his people Only in so much as he has said my people will do these things. Because if we do not, then that makes God a liar and therefore God will never be a liar. There is no plan B, there is only plan A, which is why God says the gates of hell will not prevail against my church. If Jesus comes tomorrow, or if he comes in 10,000 years, midtree may not be here, flowers may not be here, but there will be a church because God has promised it and if he promises it it will be. So. Your king's coming righteous, having salvation, cut the palm trees, take off your jackets, begin to celebrate. But he's not coming on a war horse, he is humble. He's mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Speaker 1:Do you know who we think was buried in the Kidron Valley? Zechariah? Do you realize that when Jesus says these stones would cry out? He could be saying the creator will make this known. He could be saying the dead who have gone before and know what you can't fully picture, are going to tell you if you don't believe it in faith. And he could also be saying the man who, 500 years before, believed this if you do not proclaim this, will proclaim it from his grave as we walk by. This is how perfectly precise the plan of God is, and you, christian, are a part of it.
Speaker 1:But peace comes with a cost. Blessed be the king who comes in the name of the Lord. And they begin screaming for this Peace. Only in the book of Luke do we have these next few sentences. Luke is known as the author who gives us most of the humanity of Christ. What was it like to be him, to feel like him, to see what he sees?
Speaker 1:And when he drew near to the city, he began to weep over it, saying Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace? Yeah, you're calling for it, but do you realize what it's going to cost? You'd rather me have a crown on my head than thorns. It's going to cost. You'd rather me have a crown on my head than thorns. You would rather me have a scepter in my hand than one against my back. But if you are going to have any hope. Hope over your brokenness, hope over your addiction, hope over a jacked up marriage, hope over the things that own your heart. You're going to need my arms to spread. You're going to need my hands to be pierced. You're going to need my arms to spread. You're going to need my hands to be pierced. You're going to need my blood to flow.
Speaker 1:This is the true meaning of Christmas and generosity when God sends his own son, not on a war horse first though he will come that way second but to come on a donkey, humble, because he is a generous God who is actively creating a generous people. And this is awesome. It's awesome because it doesn't matter what you've got or how much you know, it doesn't matter how long you've been a believer or whether you're an elder or not. It doesn't matter that some areas in your life remain unsanctified. And maybe you cuss a little bit in your car and the fact that I just said that offended half of you. Well, maybe some of you are cussing in your head and it just hasn't come out of your mouth yet. God knows that stuff too. You are unfinished. You are still very much in process, selfish, constantly telling yourself how much me time you need. It doesn't matter how gifted you are. It doesn't matter how you compare to others. If you are a Christian, you are God's plan A, how you compare to others. If you are a Christian, you are God's plan A, always have been, always will, and that should explode our hearts in warmth. If you are a Christian, you are still God's plan A Believer. I'm telling you this is what God's word says, and you do not have to be impressive or fancy, so long as you are in the hand of the master.
Speaker 1:When I was in high school this will probably surprise none of you I was the guy who never had pencils and pens when he showed up to class. I never had paper. I was the guy who would sit down and while people were coming in, the people in front of me, behind me and beside me knew I literally Chelsea Hill, like as I would sit down, would say do you need something? And I'd be like I do. Thank you, chelsea. Yeah, and she would give me a pencil, and occasionally I would borrow a pencil from an art student.
Speaker 1:And I hated borrowing pencils from art students for two reasons. Number one I chew on everything that I have, and art people are very particular about that. If it was a mechanical pencil, nobody wanted their mechanical pencil back after I chewed about that. If it was a mechanical pencil, nobody wanted their mechanical pencil back after I chewed it up. If it was a number two, I got to keep it. Okay, because nobody really cared. But art people they had funny looking weird pencils and it was missing something very important. What was the art pencil missing? An eraser, okay, which made it really smooth on the back for you to chew on. Nobody wants to chew on an eraser and so I would get these art pencils and I would know there's no way they're getting this back, but I'm going to give it my absolute best.
Speaker 1:Here is what I love about the reality of God using people like us. God is an incredible artist, but he shows his skill in artistry by using number two pencils with well-worn erasers. God has no problem using broken, not impressive tools to do such impressive things. That is what two unnamed disciples are. They're just worn out number two pencils. What two unnamed disciples are? They're just worn out number two pencils.
Speaker 1:That's when an unnamed owner of a donkey is in this text You're going to get to heaven and he's going to walk around with his chest out because he made the book and none of you are going to know him. It's going to take a millennia for half of us to figure out that that was. Oh, you're the donkey guy. Awesome, that's great, and he's not going to be cocky about it because he's gonna be in heaven anyway. But that's all he is. He's a number two pencil, ground down too small, chewed up on the end with an eraser that is often used because our lives are full of eraser marks. None of us are good enough in writing the course of our own life to be trusted with a pencil without an eraser, because we're constantly going forward and then having to go back to the mistakes that we have made.
Speaker 1:But God has chosen to make his people essential, and this takes nothing from his glory. God, making you, if you're a Christian, essential takes nothing from his glory. Rather, his glory is elevated in using so weak a tool for so great a purpose. It's why those spray paint artists with trash bags and bowls are so cool when you're walking through DC or New York or whatever, because it's the 99 cent spray paint that you've seen in Walmart. It's your mom's Tupperware that you cracked or that you broke and it's a Walmart bag and this dude is making pictures of the universe. It is more impressive because he doesn't have any. He doesn't have an easel, he doesn't have a canvas, he doesn't have a palette of paints. No, he is using these broken little tools to make incredible things. This is what God does.
Speaker 1:John, in your testimony you said this God showed up in the form of this church and completely changed the trajectory of our story. You did that and God needed you to do it. Can God do what he wants? Absolutely, he can do what he wants. He wanted to do it through you. He wanted his church to be a part of it. And then our text comes to a close.
Speaker 1:Jesus enters the temple, and probably not what you would imagine in a sermon on generosity and your heart being loosened. Some of you may have been disappointed when you watched the Tyson fight. Y'all might have thought you were signing up for fireworks and instead you got this sort of sad expression of masculinity and whatnot. I mean they made their money. Whatever. You're not gonna miss out as we close out the text today, because Jesus is about to start flipping tables, one of the reasons I wanted to be very careful with my words today is because I have to stand before God with everything that I say. But if Jesus is about to start flipping tables when it comes to money at church, I don't want to get it wrong. Okay, I'm not. I don't think it's past the Holy Spirit for him to just launch Will off the stage. I don't think that's going to happen, because I think we're being faithful to his word.
Speaker 1:He entered the temple and he began to drive out those who sold. There were a lot of people in leadership at the church and they were all about money. And Jesus has one line for him. He says it's written my house shall be a house of prayer. You've made it a den of robbers. This is supposed to be a place where we come and we tell God that we have need, but you have made it a place where your own needs are being met. You're showing up to church trying to move the decimals in your bank account, telling other people that you are being holy, pious and righteous and worthy of leadership, and I want to be very cautious on this.
Speaker 1:He was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy life, but they did not find anything they could do. Why? Because all the people were hanging on his words. That's why John shared his testimony with you today, because last week he found himself hanging on the words of Christ, hanging on the story of Zacchaeus. But what we have in this text as though you need it, is one more reminder. God calls us to be generous Because the more we attempt to fill ourselves, the emptier we will become. It's not just my story and it's not just John's story. It's not just Zacchaeus' story, it is yours.
Speaker 1:If you want to save yourself a lot of time, just read Ecclesiastes. Solomon's like I got all the money, I've got all the options, I've got all the freedom. I'm going to go to everything the world has to offer to try to fill this thing up. And at the end of the day, he ends up with this word that starts with a V and he says it is all vanity fleeting gone. We have a generous God who calls us to be a generous people, not because midtree needs to get bigger, but because the hearts of the people of Midtree will constantly be called to grow, because he is a generous God, this kind of generous who is actively creating a generous people, because he knows and wants to protect you from this great reality, that you can show up to church, you can look the part and you can still be trying to fill yourself with the things of this world.
Speaker 1:No, where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. And instead this is what I would plead, beg and encourage Hang on the words of Christ, hang on them. Give this all of your heart, give it all of your mind, give it every bit of your emotion and affection. Dig deep and say where is my treasure? What is generosity? Can I trust that Will is not trying to line his pockets but instead wants my soul to be open, that I would worship God with more freedom? This is what I want for you, because ultimately it's what I want for me. I wanna worship God with all of my heart and with all of my soul and with all of my mind and with all of my strength.
Speaker 1:What does it mean for you to worship him fully? It means for you to worship him with the apex of generosity, because he has loved you, with the apex of his. If you need to respond to that, because you have never received the greatest gift that God has given. Don't walk out those two doors until Jesus is king in your life. I'll talk to you. John will talk to you. Any of the elders will talk to you. I'll go and stand over there if we could have Greg, if you'll stand over there to pray with you guys. If you want to remain seated, stay seated. If you want to stand and sing, stand and sing. But let's give God the generosity of our hearts today.