The Transactional Trap: Redefining Generosity and Poverty of Spirit

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:00] We want to take a moment this morning and just continue in the series that L.J. started last week.
[00:00:07] We're talking about the generous family. Would you say that with me? The generous family. And what's in it for me? Look at somebody and say, what's in it for me? Some of you may or may not
[00:00:23] recognize these individuals, James L. Kraft, William Colgate, and Henry Hines, you might be familiar with some of the products of the companies that they started many years ago.
[00:00:40] How many of you have had Kraft macaroni and cheese? Okay. All right. Anybody never had Kraft macaroni and cheese? Anybody in the room? Okay. You are not serious. All right. I need Somebody run out right now to the grocery store
[00:00:53] and get some Kraft macaroni and cheese and bring it back to these people so they can experience Kraft macaroni and cheese.
[00:00:59] And then of course, whatever kind of toothpaste you might use, Colgate is a pretty popular brand, along with other things that Mr. Colgate founded and Mr. Kraft founded.
[00:01:09] And of course, Heinz ketchup.
[00:01:12] Everybody, now you're really gonna disappoint me if nobody has, anybody with no Heinz ketchup in their house.
[00:01:24] Somebody help her. Okay. She does great value. Okay. It's the same thing. Okay. It's just got a different name on it. Okay. That's what it is. All right. What you may not know about these three
[00:01:40] individuals is that they were all very, very strong believers, members of churches. When When Kraft began his business, he had like $65 in his pocket, and he's going from business to business selling cheese, and it wasn't working. And he says, I have to read the
[00:02:06] history of it. He said, I have to find a business partner. So he said, I'm going to make God my business partner. And this is what he said. He said, the only investment that I've ever made
[00:02:21] that is paid consistently increasing dividends is the money that I have given to the Lord.
[00:02:29] Colgate was a member of a church and gave significant amounts of money back into his church and back into Christian causes and missions here and around the world. And most of us understand the name of, and remember it, the name of Rockefeller. And of course, he would be the
[00:02:48] founder of Standard Oil, which would get eventually divided up into multiple oil companies that we see today. And regardless of how you feel about these individuals, the original foundation of them was Christian, and they were massive givers to God. And he said, I never... Now,
[00:03:08] he would become the first billionaire. Back in the 30s, he was a billionaire, right? Started with nothing. And he said, I would never have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made
[00:03:20] if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 a week. So let's go to the story of Jesus and see if we can't learn some things about how God actually looks at this, because this is an
[00:03:38] that affects your life and my life every day of our lives it's practical but it's also spiritual so the Bible says that one day Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and he watched the crowd putting in the
[00:04:00] money into the temple treasury and many people threw in large amounts but a poor widow, she came and put in two very small copper coins worth only a few cents. So he says to his
[00:04:13] disciples, he's over there, he's at church that day, and he says, guys, come here for a second.
[00:04:18] He called his disciples to him, and he said, truly, I tell you, let me tell you the truth.
[00:04:22] This poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth, but she, out of her poverty, put in everything, all that she had to live in. Now,
[00:04:36] let me put this in its context. Because in the first century temple, temple was a massive structure. It was an area of almost 40 acres. It took almost 40 years to build. And there were
[00:04:54] multiple areas it was divided off into. And this particular area that Jesus was talking about was the court of the woman and underneath those porticos or those pillars there there were 13 different giving receptacles that look something
[00:05:13] like this they were brass and they had a trumpet like opening at the top of them there were 13 of them and depending on what you were giving to it was almost like designated giving because there were multiple areas that the Jews would
[00:05:31] give to you would take your money and remember there was no paper money in Rome that day and there was also no standardized currency there was only coin so when you dropped money into the offering plate or the bucket so to speak
[00:05:49] the more coin you had the more noise it made. So if people really wanted to show somebody how much they were giving because there were people always gathered around the offering plates to give because the Jews had a habit and a culture of giving of generosity. If you wanted people to
[00:06:12] know what you were giving you just take a lot of coin and you throw it in there and it would make a lot of noise. Well, obviously, if you didn't have much, nobody would know that you had given
[00:06:24] much. Now, here's three simple things that I think the Lord is trying to teach us out of the text.
[00:06:32] Number one, Jesus watches what I give. Here's what it says. Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and say it with me. Now, not in a suspicious kind of way, but just observing what people were doing because what they were doing externally
[00:06:57] was oftentimes an indication of what was going on internally. He watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. And if you look through the scriptures, you begin to understand that God actually does watch us. Proverbs chapter 15, the eyes of the Lord, everybody say the eyes
[00:07:20] of the Lord, okay, are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. Psalm 33, from heaven, the Lord looks down and he sees all mankind. Hebrews chapter 4, nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight, from God's eyes. And this scripture has been an encouragement
[00:07:45] to me for many years out of 2 Chronicles. The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen who? Those whose hearts are fully committed to him. That's very cool, folks.
[00:08:01] Would you say that with me right now, just so we can get it in our minds? The eyes of the Lord searched the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
[00:08:12] So Jesus watches what we're giving. Number two, Jesus expects everyone to give. Watch this.
[00:08:26] Many rich people put in large amounts, but a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins.
[00:08:31] Now, the name of those coins were the lepta.
[00:08:34] It was the smallest form of coin currency worth by itself less than a penny.
[00:08:43] And my first response to this as I'm reading this, I'm saying, Jesus, just kind of lay off here.
[00:08:50] Because Jesus has already taught in the verses prior to this that the Pharisees, those religious people, were oppressing the widows.
[00:08:59] and so so now she's giving and i'm like jesus just kind of lay off here okay she doesn't have a lot and yet when you go back and look at the culture that god established way back in the old testament
[00:09:13] about giving this is what he established from the book of leviticus chapter one and there were kind of three levels like this and here were the options if you were really wealthy you'd bring a
[00:09:24] bull. That was very costly. If you're kind of not that wealthy, you could bring a sheep or a goat.
[00:09:31] And then if you were considered poor, you could bring a bird. And this is really what Mary and Joseph, when you read it, brought when they dedicated Jesus in the temple. But God required everyone to give because giving was not about money, but an act of worship. And he wants every
[00:09:51] person to be a worshiper. This is why we have to separate the actual amount from our hearts because Jesus has an expectation that all of us are going to worship. Well, you know, I worship,
[00:10:08] pastor, I lift my hands. We're not talking about church. We're talking about a lifestyle. Let me ask you something. What is your relationship with Jesus costing you? Because giving is an act of worship and has nothing to do with money. And the expectation is that everyone is to worship
[00:10:41] God with the resources that God has given to us, because we've all been given something, whether it's a lot or a little. Jesus expects everyone to give. And here's something else.
[00:10:58] Jesus was not looking at the amount given, but the amount of sacrifice and what's left over.
[00:11:05] So he says this. Now, this doesn't make sense until you understand the heart issues. The poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others, and they all gave out of their wealth,
[00:11:16] but she, out of her poverty, put in everything all she had to live on. So it wasn't the amount that was important. It was the amount of sacrifice that was important. And number four, Jesus needs
[00:11:32] us to have an eternal perspective on giving. So when you turn the page, it almost looks like it's a different story, but it isn't. You go from Mark's gospel chapter 12, then you turn the page to Mark's
[00:11:42] gospel chapter 13. They're at the temple. Jesus was leaving the temple, right? So they've all hung out in church that day. They're all at church. And one of the disciples said to him, look, what massive stones. This is really a cool place, Jesus. What magnificent buildings. Do you see all
[00:11:57] these great buildings? Took many, many years to build. Lots of taxation, actually, to build it.
[00:12:04] And do you see all these great buildings? And not one stone here will be left on another, Jesus says. Everyone's going to be thrown down. Okay, but wait a minute. Then why am I giving to something
[00:12:14] that one day isn't going to exist because it's not about the building, but about the lives that will be changed within the building.
[00:12:25] And this is why giving has to take on something that's not about today, but is about eternity.
[00:12:35] I know we don't like to talk about it, but every one of us in the room, I'm gonna give you an encouraging word right now, and I'm gonna give you a prophetic word to give to the person beside you.
[00:12:46] Everybody ready?
[00:12:48] This is gonna be really encouraging.
[00:12:49] you're going to turn to the person and say this. Look at them and say, one day you're going to die.
[00:12:55] Doesn't that make everybody feel great today? Well, sorry, it's true. Listen, the only thing we get to take to heaven with us is what we have already sent there before we get there.
[00:13:23] Paul's talking to a church he founded. He planted it. He established it. It was in Corinth. We had the privilege last fall to go to Corinth actually in Greece. It's an amazing place. Here's what he
[00:13:34] would tell this church in the first century. Remember this. Everybody say, remember this.
[00:13:39] Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. Whoever sows generously, that's what Jesus is after with us, will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver, but he will take
[00:14:00] from a grouch. God is able to bless you abundantly. He's able to do this. God can do this. This is why you need God's finger on your money, not just your own hand. You don't have the ability to bless
[00:14:19] yourself, but God has the ability to bless you if you'll give it into his hands. And so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Now he who
[00:14:32] supplies seed to the sower is what God gives to us where the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase. God said, we'll increase your store of seed and we'll enlarge the harvest
[00:14:44] of your righteousness. How does that happen? It's a supernatural grace on our giving. If you don't have supernatural blessing, you can't get to where God wants you to go. And we also can't get to give
[00:14:55] into the kingdom that's going to matter in somebody's life 100 years from now. Your store of seed and we'll enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be, I didn't say this, this is the Bible. You can be generous on every occasion
[00:15:12] and through your, yeah, there's one amen over here. Thank you. You're very encouraging. The rest of them are making me depressed, but you're good. You're making me encouraging here. You can be generous on every occasion and through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
[00:15:31] Why? Because other people will thank God for what you have done. When my wife and I really heard from the Lord on, and God talked to us through a prayer and a dream about coming to plant this church. I tell people, this is, some of you may not know this. It's not
[00:15:55] a church plant anymore, but it was a church plant when we came here in 2001. And we didn't know anybody here. And this is why I tell people this was not a church split because we weren't offended
[00:16:08] at anybody because we didn't know anybody to be offended at. Okay. And so we were on the road prior, 15 years prior to that. And at the time we were working for an international ministry.
[00:16:22] We had a salary every month that dropped into my account. All of our expenses were paid for.
[00:16:30] all the the diapers and area was born on the road well when we were on the road and she was about four months three or four months old when we started with this ministry then Ashton was born on the road when I found out that they paid
[00:16:44] for diapers I was thrilled baby food diapers everything and and all of our expenses when we're on the road we didn't have to worry about anything and then every year they would do team meetings once a year to pull everybody
[00:17:01] together and make sure we're all on the same page. And they paid for us to go to Fort Wilderness, which was the RV park at Disney. And every year we were there together. It was amazing.
[00:17:12] And then the Lord spoke to us and he said, you're going to make a transition. And that happened in like the spring of 2000. And at the end of 2000, all of the financial security went away as we
[00:17:29] began the process of planting the church. Now, listen, when you start something, you don't have what you have on the front end until years later. What's here today wasn't here in 2001.
[00:17:44] And we had raised some support as best we could, but those were the days when there weren't as many resources available for people that were planning churches. And so we just said, God, you want us to do this? We raised some support. So we took a flying leap of faith and left all
[00:18:08] of our financial security. Now, we owned a home in Charlotte at the time. And two or three months before we actually left the road, a friend of mine, and I want to give him thanks today,
[00:18:21] uh pastors up in new jersey uh blackwood new jersey and um he's he's not watching today how do you know that because he's preaching today because he pastors a church and uh that church i went through to preach and they gave us a check this is really the first offering we ever got for
[00:18:38] this church because they believed in us they had they had no guarantee that anything was going to work and they handed us a check for ten thousand dollars and i just want to say thank you um kurt
[00:18:50] Kinney and your church in Blackwood, New Jersey for believing in us. Look at me for a second.
[00:18:55] When you're following the Lord, you need somebody to believe in you.
[00:19:01] But we're now living in Charlotte and there's not a lot of resources. It wasn't because we weren't working. We were, we were planning a church. But on the front end, there just wasn't a lot of stuff. And so I remember one night I was looking at our money and stuff and I was thinking,
[00:19:22] we cannot pay the mortgage. Not because we were being lazy, but because we were following Jesus.
[00:19:31] Now listen to me. So I went upstairs. I was downstairs. Tiffany was upstairs. And I said, honey, we're not going to be able to pay the mortgage. Now keep in mind, just to give perspective,
[00:19:47] the interest rates then were about the same as they are now, just to let you know. And our mortgage wasn't horribly high, but I said, we're not going to be able to pay the mortgage. She
[00:19:58] looked at me and said, that's God's problem. That irritated me. Thank you, dear. I wanted her to feel what I was feeling, right? I wanted some validation. She gave me none. So guys, if you feel like you're
[00:20:20] not getting validated, buck up. It's okay. All right. So I'm praying about this and you can't make this up because we never poor mouthed anything. We never said to our kids that we don't have the money or whatever. You said, we're not going to be able to do it. Because you don't
[00:20:40] want to create a spirit of poverty in your home. There's a lot of Christians that have created a spirit of poverty and can't believe God for anything within their homes. Remember, a spirit of poverty is not what you don't have. Sometimes there's people that have a lot of resources,
[00:20:56] but they have a spirit of poverty. How do you define it? It's not by what you have. It's by what you think you don't have. And when you're fearful that you're not going to have something,
[00:21:04] even if you do have it, and you get fearful, you create a spirit of poverty. Spirit of poverty is not what you don't have. It's a spirit of poverty is when you can't believe God. So I'm down. So
[00:21:19] it's about 10.30 at night, and the phone rings. It's Kurt Kinney from Blackwood, New Jersey.
[00:21:34] He says, hey, Mark. I hadn't talked to him. Been months since I talked to him. He said, our board met tonight. We're picking up your mortgage for the next eight months.
[00:21:43] better listen we had always been faithful to tithe and to give money to missions always and then we decided to obey god god was not going to leave us in a lurch and god is not going to leave you if you will trust him the disciples one day were with jesus
[00:22:24] and there's a story of this guy whom the Bible calls the rich young ruler.
[00:22:33] And he comes to Jesus, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
[00:22:38] And Jesus says, well, you've obeyed all the commandments, et cetera, et cetera.
[00:22:42] And Jesus says, you lack one thing.
[00:22:46] And he says, what is it?
[00:22:48] He said, go and sell all that you have.
[00:22:50] Now Jesus, read through the Gospels.
[00:22:52] Jesus did not ask everybody to give everything they had.
[00:22:56] Why did he ask this guy?
[00:22:57] Because that's the one thing that he was hanging on to that he couldn't let go.
[00:23:02] You see, a relationship with Jesus is about full surrender of whatever it is that you're hanging on to that you can't let go of. And so the Bible says that the rich young ruler walked away sad.
[00:23:23] And here's what Peter says to Jesus in Mark's gospel chapter 10. Then Peter spoke up. He says, we've given it all up. What's in it for us? And Jesus responds like this. Truly, I tell you,
[00:23:45] I'm going to tell you the truth. No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me in the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in
[00:24:00] this present age, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields. And this is the part we forget about, along with persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life. Then he says this, but many who are first will be last, and the last first. I'm reading this the other day,
[00:24:22] and it so grabbed a hold of my heart. But what is Jesus really saying here? Is it just about more stuff? Is that what Jesus is teaching? No. Stuff is fine. Three things Jesus is teaching here. Number
[00:24:37] one, God will be in debt to no one. I'm sitting there. We're sitting there. I don't know how we're going to do this, Lord. And God says, I do. I'll pick this up for you until you can get back to
[00:24:56] where you're able to pay your mortgage. God will be in debt to nobody, folks. That's where you can trust him. Number two, a life that costs nothing produces. What's it costing you? And number three,
[00:25:19] he said, there's a reward. Here's where everybody's at right now. Some are struggling, and some are in stability. Some have surrendered. Some are in sacrificial giving. Some are in surplus to generosity. God wants to get every one of us from the place of struggling to the place
[00:25:41] of surplus, but he needs us to cooperate. What I need, what you need, is the finger of God's blessing to multiply something that I don't have the ability to do. And there is such a thing
[00:26:01] as supernatural financial blessing there is.
[00:26:05] If that upsets you, okay, you live without God in that area of your life.
[00:26:12] Have at it.
[00:26:13] How's that working for you?
[00:26:17] I'm gonna pray over you.
[00:26:19] Here's what we're gonna do.
[00:26:21] I'm gonna pray over your businesses, your jobs, your resources, because there's somebody outside the doors of this place that needs the generosity of someone to reach them.
[00:26:41] I know that we don't like to talk about this in church, but did you know that it costs money to reach people for Christ?
[00:26:49] We're headed back to Pakistan the end of April.
[00:26:53] And we'll do a large event there, but those don't thrill me as much as the churches that get planted out of it and the ability to connect with those churches and those leaders that are there.
[00:27:05] We'll free people out of slavery.
[00:27:09] Well, how are you able to do that?
[00:27:10] It's because the generosity of some in this church, the ones who give on a regular basis are the ones that make that happen but what what takes place a lot of times is that the many allow the few to carry the weight that's not how God intended this
[00:27:31] God intended this for whoever we are to spread it across the entire body of Christ so that someone there or somebody up the street every every week when we're in the schools up here with a good news
[00:27:45] club, sharing Jesus with kids, allowing kids to come to Christ. All of this costs money and things like that. And what God wants to see happen is that every person makes an investment in something
[00:28:01] that's eternal. That's why this matters, folks. Bow your heads with me right now. If you're with a family member, just grab their hand. Father, in Jesus' name, I pray over all of the resources that are represented in this room,
[00:28:24] those who are watching, the resources represented.
[00:28:28] Lord, first of all, we offer ourselves to you.
[00:28:38] And God, I'm asking for your blessing upon jobs, upon businesses.
[00:28:51] Lord, upon the resources that you have placed within our hands.
[00:28:57] Lord, for those that might be struggling today, give them a grace right now to believe you, to trust you.
[00:29:11] Lord, for those in the room looking for jobs, provided. God, multiply the resources in this room for the sake of your kingdom, Lord. I ask, God, our marriages and our families, God, we know that one of the biggest challenges in marriage
[00:29:36] and families is financial discussions and money. God, speak peace over that. I speak peace over that and those homes represented here today. Lord, I pray for somebody today that needs to surrender to you and just say, yes, Jesus, I want to give my life to you. Holy Spirit, right now,
[00:30:01] reveal yourself to them. Pray for somebody in this room today that needs a supernatural touch in their body. I speak healing over you. I speak the miraculous over you. I speak the power of God
[00:30:20] over you for your body to be healed for the honor and the glory of Jesus. Lord, I ask you that in days to come, that as your church comes together and gives, that together we will be able to give
[00:30:44] and give and give and give and see literally millions of people come to know you because of what your people have done. We speak grace upon our lives today, Father, in Jesus' name.
[00:31:09] Amen.
[00:31:11] Ushers are coming right now.
[00:31:14] I want you to understand that every week that we do this, that giving is an act of worship and how awesome it is to be able to give back to Jesus for what he has given to us.
[00:31:39] Would you thank God for the grace of giving today?
[00:31:42] Come on, come on, come on.