Give All You Can

Introduction

Giving is the Point of Wealth

Luke 12:13–21 “Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.””

The Rich man Gained all he Could

“The land of a rich man produced plentifully

He saved all he could

“‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.”

He did not Give

Generosity is a Sign of Regeneration

Luke 18:18–30 ESV

And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Jesus here says that it is impossible for the wealthy to enter into the Kingdom

That is, a miracle needs to take place for wealthy people to be saved? Why? Because they are so in love with their possessions.

Luke 19:1–10 ESV

He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Zaccheus was very wealthy. He was a scumbag, a thief, a traitor, an extortioner.

But then he was generous, he gave away all he had, he sought restitution for the wrongs he had done.

A miracle happened, he was regenerated by the Spirit of God.

Give to Your Neighbor

Give to God

Give Sacrificially

Generosity means foregoing something in order to give

The Example of Christ’s Generosity

2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”

What Would you Sacrifice?

Saying no to the new car or the gym membership or the daily coffee run

Turning your thermostat up a few degrees in the summer, eating rice and beans a couple of time per week, decreasing your monthly 401k investment

Just because you’re giving 10% does not mean you’re being generous. If you make a $1M per year and you tithe $100,000, yes, that’s a lot of money, but what have you actually sacrificed? How have you given of yourself?

Make a Good Investment