WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.959 So by the time I was 12 years old, I was cutting five lawns a week at$20 a pop. 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:12.640 So making$100 a week during springtime and summertime. 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:14.080 And I loved it. 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:16.800 The work was okay, but I loved the money. 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:30.879 And I would get all my money and I would put it in an envelope, and then I would put that envelope inside of a box, and then I would get that box and I would push it to the very back underneath my really sweet 1980s waterbed. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:33.039 And that's where it would stay. 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:39.200 Sometimes I would loan money out to my mom when she didn't have any cash, and she would say, Hey, Russ, can I borrow$40? 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:52.320 And I would reach way back in there and I'd pull it out and I would take out the$40 and I would loan it to her, and I would write on the envelope the date and the loan out, like a little like a little ledger, a little businessman. 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:59.280 And now what I love to do is I love to get that little box out and count all the money. 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:00.880 I love doing that. 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:06.239 Which was interesting because I always knew how much money was in there to start, but I still love to do it. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:08.480 And I would just do it randomly all the time. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:10.719 So the question is, is why? 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:14.319 Why did I love counting that money so much? 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:20.239 I already knew how much money was in there, and I would count it again and I would count it again. 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:23.280 Well, because that money was mine. 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:29.120 And that money was going to get me something that I wanted. 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:31.680 This is the good of capitalism, right? 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:41.040 Like working to earn, to be able to provide for yourself and buy something, to have a society of producers and not drainers, that's a good thing. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:56.319 But there was also part of it for me, the same part that still loves to count my money, where it shifts, money shifts from being a tool for you in this world and actually becomes a world of its own. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:58.319 And this is a very dark world. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:06.959 This is a dark world of toil, of accumulating and consuming and collecting as to feel worthy. 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:16.719 And the problem with that is the moment you don't have it or you begin to lose it, then who are you? 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:25.759 And so that's where we get this story in Acts chapter 4 that Jill read for us, Acts chapter 4, 32 through 37. 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:30.800 This group of people that says in verse 32 who believed and were of one heart and soul. 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:38.960 So this incredible unity, and then we read how they're selling their stuff and they're providing for anybody who has need. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:55.680 So just to review, this group of people, this is a group of people that before this they were sort of huddled up in fear, and then all of a sudden, post-resurrection of Jesus, this shift happens, and this very fearful group of people becomes really fearless. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:03.280 And then they become very united because it's very clear what happened and what their lives are going to be about from then on. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:08.719 And they become very fearless, they become united and they become generous. 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:12.240 So, how are these people so free? 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:14.319 How are they so generous? 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:18.800 And what can we learn from this passage about the money in our lives? 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:20.000 So, a few points. 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:26.159 Point number one, you will always give generously toward that which is your God. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:31.120 You will always give generously and freely toward that which is your God. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:41.840 If your worth and your wholeness is in your status and your looks, then you'll spend more and more on materials, more to cover yourself and surround yourself to give that image off to the world. 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:52.000 If your worth and wholeness comes from feeling in control and safe, then you'll overly pour money into investments while your family and your community suffers. 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:53.120 Right? 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:55.039 It's easy to know your functional God. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:56.479 All you have to do is track your money. 00:03:57.919 --> 00:03:59.919 And listen, this isn't about giving money to our church. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:01.680 I'm gonna go ahead and clear the deck right now. 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:03.919 This isn't about giving money to our church, right? 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:05.520 There's no dues to come here. 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:07.360 Nobody's tracking your giving. 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:09.039 I'm not showing up at your house. 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:12.080 You're not getting an email from me to remind you of something. 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:13.840 Like, that's not what this is. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:15.680 This is about your freedom. 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:26.560 This is about your freedom to become a steward of money, where money is not your wholeness, your salvation, your worth, your importance. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:29.680 But rather, you're just a steward of it. 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:36.240 So, what did these people know to do something like this, where they're just so generous? 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:40.720 Well, first we have to understand this isn't about us reproducing their economic structure. 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:41.040 Right? 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:43.600 It's not like, oh, well, this is what the church is supposed to be. 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:46.480 We're all supposed to sell everything we have, and that's what another. 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:51.680 This is a spontaneous structure that popped up in their community at this time. 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:55.279 Now, what the question is is what is the heart behind this? 00:04:55.519 --> 00:05:00.480 Like, what's going on in these people that they would be so free as to be able to do this? 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:02.160 What is that heart? 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:05.040 That is that free from money. 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:07.360 Point number two. 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:12.480 You will be entrapped by money or you will be free to use money. 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:13.920 You're gonna be one or the other. 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:15.360 I will be one or the other. 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:17.199 And sometimes it's day to day, right? 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:20.480 It's not like all of a sudden we reach the pinnacle of having this figured out. 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:33.920 But we will at any moment, we will either be entrapped by money, consumed by it, the anxiety of it, the fear of it, too much, too little, how to spend it, how to save it, not having enough, or we'll be free to use money. 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:37.360 See, it's possible that you'll have more than you need. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:44.800 And you can live in great anxiety of how to spend it, where to invest it, who to give it to. 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:46.800 There's a lot of anxiety there. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:50.720 And to that, most of us say, give me that problem. 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:52.240 I would love that problem. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:53.600 That's a great problem. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:55.600 But that's a real problem. 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:57.120 Some people have that problem. 00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:00.319 There's a lot of anxiety there, that's a real thing. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:14.959 But also, if you think you have too little, you can live in just incredible constant anxiety, thinking if you just get a little more, like all the research says, that all of us, all of us would say, just 20% more. 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:16.959 And then I'll be okay. 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:23.279 Then my anxiety, my stress level, then it will lessen, just 20% more. 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:26.639 That would be the breathing room I need. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:36.240 See, either way, too much, too little, either way, if you think you have too much, you think you have too little, money has you by the throat. 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:40.959 Every week my girls do their chores, they get a$5 allowance. 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:44.639 That's a good deal because they're just little and they ain't doing a lot. 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:46.000 So it's a good deal for them. 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:48.560 But it gives us a lot of leverage over them. 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:54.240 At any point, I can leverage that allowance to get them to do pretty much anything around the house. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:55.439 It's fantastic. 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:58.399 And it gives us a chance to teach them a little bit about money. 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:12.879 And so we come into the kitchen Sunday evening, and I get a whole bunch of$1 bills, and I count out four$1 bills onto the counter, and then I count out four quarters, five dollars. 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:16.480 And they look at it and they love all of it. 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:18.399 They love all five dollars of it. 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:20.800 Of course they love all of it. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:25.519 But if you hold on to all of it, it truly has a hold of you. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:31.839 And how do you know it doesn't have a hold on you unless you are releasing some of it in generosity? 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:34.639 So then I say to them, what do you do first? 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:37.439 And they say, we give first. 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:40.879 And they take 50 cents and they set it aside. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:44.160 And then I say, What do you do second? 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:46.560 And they say, Wait, save. 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:57.120 And they take the other 50 cents and they put it in a jar, and then I, like a corny dad, I say, and when you save money, you make money. 00:07:57.279 --> 00:08:02.319 And I take another 50 cents and I put it in that jar to match their 50 cents. 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:04.560 And I always make sure I say the little corny. 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:07.279 Right? 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:08.639 Amen savers? 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:09.519 Anybody savers? 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:10.959 Dave Ramsey fans? 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:12.240 Clark Howard? 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:13.360 Yellow amen. 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:13.920 Okay. 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:17.600 And then I say, there's four dollars still on the counter. 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:21.920 And then I say, and now what do you do with the rest of the money? 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:25.279 And they say, I get to spend it. 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:26.879 Amen spenders? 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:29.519 Everybody, that was the that was the part you're you're waiting for it. 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:31.920 You're just worried about how far it was going to go, right? 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:32.480 Like$2? 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:33.840 It'll be$2 left. 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:34.159 No. 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:35.919 There was$4 left. 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:38.960 Now in Mark chapter 10, there's a man who runs up to Jesus. 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:43.679 He runs up to Jesus and he says, Hey, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:46.799 What makes me good with you? 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:50.480 And Jesus answers, hey, you know the rules. 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:53.919 Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie, don't defraud. 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:55.120 Honor your father and mother. 00:08:55.200 --> 00:08:57.679 And the guy replies, hey, I've done all that. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:00.080 I have done all of that. 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:06.240 Which, right away, this is a wealthy guy, but we know he's not really self-aware, right? 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:13.039 He has no idea that he would need grace because right away his response is like, I'm really great. 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:14.399 I'm really good at this stuff. 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:15.759 Like, I've got my act together. 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:16.559 There's just no way. 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:22.159 There's no possible way the guy grew up and never dishonored his parents or lied or stole. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:23.919 So like he's way off base. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:30.240 And then the text says in Mark 10, verse 21, and Jesus looking at him, loved him. 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:38.399 And this is very important because the love is given before the test. 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:42.080 The love was there from the beginning. 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:44.000 Jesus loved the guy from the beginning. 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:47.440 It had nothing to do with his reaction to what Jesus is about to say. 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:50.320 And then Jesus says to him, Hey, you lack one thing. 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:57.200 Go sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. 00:09:57.519 --> 00:09:59.039 He'd come follow me. 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:04.240 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:07.840 And I would add, perhaps, the possessions had him. 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:13.679 Now this story is not about earning Jesus' love, because the love was there from the beginning. 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:14.480 The text says that. 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:16.240 So that's not what this is, it's already there. 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:19.840 And this is not about selling everything you have. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:21.600 That's not the lesson here. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:30.799 And probably Jesus in this lesson, who knows how he would have responded, but it's possible if the guy said, Hey, sure, I'll sell it all. 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:31.759 I get it. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:33.440 Like, like you are my wealth. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:34.080 I get it. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:35.120 You are my worth. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:36.639 You are my eternal life. 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:38.320 You make me right with God. 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:39.360 I get it. 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:40.240 I'm selling it all. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:42.320 It's very possible Jesus said, hey, never mind. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:43.120 You're good. 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:44.799 Just do good with your money. 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:45.759 You can keep it. 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:47.679 I was just checking out. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:49.679 That's possible. 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:58.559 What is clear here is that Jesus is saying, beloved child, you have everything. 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:04.240 And because you grip it so tightly, you have nothing. 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:11.440 Point number three, grace changes our relationship with money. 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:15.759 God's grace to us is that we are already accepted. 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:18.559 We already have everything we need in Jesus. 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:28.320 All the worth we're looking for out of money, we already have it in God's grace to us if we begin to go there for it. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:42.799 All of the redemption, all the movement out of shame, all the acceptance, all the absolution, all that we're really craving for, looking for money to do for us, all of that we really already have in Jesus. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:44.080 That's what the cross is about. 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.960 This is why these people were preaching Christ is salvation. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:51.600 A few weeks ago we talked about that means Christ is your wholeness. 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:58.159 Your rightness with God, that your sin was put upon the cross, his righteousness is put upon you. 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:06.399 You are securely the beloved of God now and forevermore, and that was given to you as an identity. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:08.639 And money can never do that. 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:10.000 It never has. 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:18.000 Point number four, sort of a subpoint of point number three. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:28.000 Grace transforms our generosity from guilty last-minute giving to joyful, intentional generosity. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:30.000 And here's what I mean by this. 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:43.120 As you become free from money, you begin to ask yourself at the beginning of the paycheck, how and where do we get the privilege to give? 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:49.440 And then you save some, and then you spend some. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:51.120 You live on the leftover. 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:54.480 Now maybe you would ask, well, what where should I give? 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:56.559 Like, should I give it all to the church? 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:58.320 Are we talking like pre-tax? 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:00.399 Are we talking post-tax? 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:02.559 I don't know. 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:06.159 That's for you to work out with the Lord. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:10.639 That's for you to discover in your prayer life. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:14.000 I think you should support the church you go to. 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:16.000 I mean, you're going to that church. 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:21.600 I believe a 10% tithe is a good guide, a good principle, but it's not the goal. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:23.279 The goal is generosity. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:30.720 Like these people had a heart of generosity, joyful, spirit-led giving. 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:35.200 We attended my friend Kim's funeral yesterday. 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:42.720 She died 13 days ago at the age of 39 in a paragliding accident in the Western Valley of Kenya. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:45.919 She had lived in Kenya for the past 14 years. 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:47.200 She ran a camp there. 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:48.879 She helped nonprofits there. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:51.120 She became very influential there. 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:53.440 She always had an adventure. 00:13:53.679 --> 00:14:00.480 She lived more, truly lived more and saw more in 39 years than most of us will in 80. 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:06.879 And they talked about her adventures and they talked about her love and they talked about her generosity. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:14.799 And they never once talked about what she owned, and they never once talked about her net worth. 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:20.000 As a pastor, it's my job to remind you you're gonna die. 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:23.919 That's one of my jobs, to keep death in front of you. 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:26.639 Because that's where we're all headed. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:33.440 And in the light of death, some of the stuff we think is so important to get. 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:35.600 It just doesn't matter. 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:44.879 What will matter is the adventures you have, the love you receive and give, and the generosity you share. 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:54.240 Maybe you're here, you've been frustrated the past 20 minutes because you haven't been to church in five years or 20 years, and this guy gets up and he talks about money. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:59.039 Of course, of course, he gets up and talks about money because that's what they talk about at church. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:02.720 And I want to be really, really clear for all of us. 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:05.840 We will always talk about money. 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:10.000 It's just too important to not talk about. 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:11.600 We won't talk about it every week. 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:14.080 We'll just talk about it when we need to talk about it. 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:19.919 But it's too important, it's too big a part of your life to not talk about. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:23.200 And this can be a touchy subject. 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:36.559 And the reason why it's touchy to us, and it's touchy to me, is because it is a threat to the thing that we use to feel worthy and important and secure. 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:40.639 But do you see the power money can have over you? 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:50.720 That you need it more, and then you need more and more and more and more, unless you become free of that system. 00:15:52.879 --> 00:16:00.720 And do you see that Jesus comes to this greedy, rich man and loves him from the beginning? 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:06.480 And that was news I needed to hear this week because I am a very greedy person. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:15.120 And I love control, and that's why I love to get my money out, and I love to count it because it makes me feel in control. 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:43.519 But that love that's unconditioned upon my greedy, stingy heart, that love that gives me worth before my reactions or actions or behaviors, that love that is absolving and redeeming, that takes stingy, greedy hearts, and it gives us peace because our relationship with God is not based upon anything we do, but based upon what Christ has done for us on the cross. 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:54.960 And that reminds us of our beauty and our worth and forms in us repentant, giving, gracious, grateful, generous hearts. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:17:10.079 So, my brothers and sisters, you are a beloved steward of not just money, you are a beloved steward of a great wealth of grace that never stops giving to you. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:11.759 Let's pray together. 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:27.519 God, thank you for your grace and mercy to us as we so often use money for the thing that you are supposed to be, and that is the treasure of our lives, our self-worth, redemption from our shame, redemption from our sin. 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:35.359 Forgive us for the way that we use it to feel a sense of control in a world that we never really have control. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:41.759 Forgive us for the way that we use it to flaunt and try to feel important in front of other people. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:44.559 And for all of this, we are repentant. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:47.039 We say that's not right thinking. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:56.240 And we thank you that you love us before and in and after all of this ridiculous, ridiculous thinking and living. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:01.359 We thank you that your grace is much deeper than any of it that we have done and we will do. 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:08.720 And we thank you that you simply love us with a wealth that never ends. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:11.599 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:12.480 Amen.