A Legacy of Grace | J.D. Greear

3:56 Well, that's exciting. Amen. Amen. 2 Corinthians 8, if you've got your Bibles with you this morning, 2 Corinthians 8. We are in our final week of a series that we have called Lasting Legacy. Our key verse in this series has been Psalm 112, verses 5 and 6, which says, It is well with the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with biblical generous justice. For the righteous will never be moved. He will be remembered forever. Let me tell you something that you may not have heard talked about in church before, and that is that God put into you a desire to be remembered, a desire to have eternal significance, a desire for your life account for something beyond itself. Ecclesiastes says that God put eternity into our hearts, which means that that desire for a lasting legacy, that's from him. In this series, what I've tried to show you, what we've looked at together is how you can have that kind of eternal legacy, what you and I can do right now so that we can be remembered literally forever. Now, I realize that whenever we talk about generosity, people get nervous.

5:20 As nervous as my grandpa used to say as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, okay? I get that. And I know you might feel like this is gonna end with some big guilt trip and a pressure on you to give, but I want you to relax, okay? In this 2 Corinthians 8 passage, Paul goes out of his way to say that he's not commanding anybody to give. Literally, verse eight, he says, I say this not as a command. I'm not sure how he could have been any clearer about that. Then in chapter nine, he's gonna say, each one of us you see has gotta give as he or she has decided in his heart or her heart, not reluctantly or not under compulsion because God only loves a cheerful giver. So let's just all breathe a little sigh of relief, okay? Paul did not give his instructions here in the spirit of a command and so neither will I. So if you are worried about today ending with me pressuring you to give something or making you feel guilty about not giving something, let's just take that off the table, okay?

6:19 By the way, if you're a guest with us today, that is especially true for you. You walked in on a little bit of a family Sunday, but I am super glad that you're here because today you're gonna get to see what we're really all about. But for any of you, Paul says, if you feel reluctant or you feel hesitant, God is not interested in that kind of generosity and those feelings of compulsion, I can promise you they're not from him. Each one of us, he says, must give as he or she decided in his or her own heart. Not reluctantly, not under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver. By the way, the word Paul uses here for cheerful.

6:56 Cheerful is a Greek word hilaros, from which we get our word hilarious. God loves a hilaros giver. And by that, I don't think Paul means necessarily that we get the snorts and giggles every time the offering play goes by. you know, hilarious as you get. That's all he's talking about. But the word implies a lightness. It implies a joyful bubbliness in giving. You know, I think deep down, that's what we all want, right? I mean, haven't you ever been around somebody who just is just so selfless, so instinctively generous? Giving seems to bring them so much joy that you thought, I want to be like that. The opposite of a joyful giver is a begrudging giver, somebody who's always giving in the least ways possible. The old Paul Harvey used to tell the truth. By the way, how many of you remember who Paul Harvey is? How many of you don't know who Paul Harvey is? That's kind of sad to me. Think of him as like a happier, less atheistic version of Bill Maher, okay? Paul Harvey used to tell the true story of a lady who called, true story, she called the Butterball Turkey Company to ask if the turkey that she had discovered that had been in her freezer for 20 years that she'd forgotten about was still safe to eat.

8:12 Customer service told her that it was probably still fine. It would just be totally flavorless. To which she replied, oh, okay. Well, then in that case, I'll just give it to the church. Okay, that is a begrudging giver. I want to be a cheerful, no strings attached giver because those people honestly just seem so happy. It's a little bit self-interested on my part. This passage shows us how we can become like that. So let's just walk through 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. Here's the context, okay? The church in Jerusalem, which was the OG church, of course, the church that had planted all the other churches, was struggling mainly because of all the persecution taking place in Jerusalem. And so Paul was collecting an offering from all the Gentile churches that he had planted, an offering so that he could help the church in Jerusalem. And in 2 Corinthians, he's urging the Corinthians to take part in that offering. Now, actually, the Corinthians had already committed to give.

9:09 You can see that in 1 Corinthians. But after an initial flurry of giving and a happy response, they all just kind of stopped. And so Paul, in 2 Corinthians, is trying to re-motivate them to give. And this is what he does. 2 Corinthians 8.1. He says, we want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia. That was a whole bunch of churches in northern Greece that Paul had planted. By the way, books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians are written to these churches that Paul refers to here. Verse 2, he says, The grace that was in them for a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy, and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means. In fact, they gave beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. First, Paul says, these Macedonian churches were not wealthy. In fact, verse two, they themselves were in extreme poverty. By the way, the Greek word he used there for extreme means as deep as the ocean.

10:14 They weren't just poor, they were poor. You know, they couldn't even afford the last OR. And yet Paul says, verse two, they responded out of their extreme poverty with a wealth of generosity, which means, verse three, that they gave according to their means and even beyond their means. Literally, verse four, they begged for the favor of taking part in helping the poor believers in the church in Jerusalem. And in doing this, he said they experienced joy. Verse two, an abundance of joy, which by the way, right there, shatters two myths that people believe about money. First, that only rich people can be generous. And second, that only rich people can be happy. I mean, here you got a church that is itself in extreme poverty, and yet they're very wealthy in their generosity and wealthy in their joy. It is possible for you to be financially rich and yet poor in generosity and joy. You can also be financially poor and yet rich in generosity and joy, which by the way, should be an encouragement to you college students, because I know you hear a series like this one and you're like, well, this doesn't apply to me because right now I ain't got no money. All I got is debt and homework. But if you will let me give you a little life insight from Uncle JD, okay? Being rich in generosity has nothing to do with how much money you have.

11:32 In fact, I found it easier to be generous back in college when I had no money. I know that sounds ironic, but it's true. I mean, when you're in college, you are content with a folding chair and a couple of posters on your wall. That is your furniture. But one day, I promise you, one day you're gonna think, you know what would be a really nice addition to those posters? Frames. And you're gonna wanna buy frames. And then one day, guys, if you get married, your wife is gonna tell you that some frames go out of style. And you're gonna have to get rid of those frames and you're gonna have to buy new frames. In our attic, we got a pile of perfectly good, just out of style frames. Who knew? I used to ask, what's wrong with these frames? but now I just accept it, okay? The point is, as you get older, you get more responsibilities and more bills. Trust me, I've seen this y'all more times than I can count. If you do not establish generous habits now, it'll be much harder to start them later.

12:26 Being rich in generosity has nothing to do with how much money you have. These churches in Northern Greece were in extreme poverty and yet they overflowed with a wealth of generosity. And Paul, verse five, is so emotionally moved by this that he spews out some of the greatest reflections on gospel-based giving found anywhere in the Bible. By the way, I've always thought that Paul's greatest teachings occurred, not when he was trying to teach us something, but when he's just emotionally moved by something in one of his letters and he starts randomly reflecting on it. This is gonna be one of those cases. So Paul says, verse eight, I say this not as a command. What I'm trying to do is prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. Paul's like, my concern here is not your giving. That's not what this is about. My concern is your love. I wanna see you become the kind of people that are just rich in generosity, no matter how much money you have, where you don't have to be compelled and commanded to give.

13:30 You just kind of do it on your own naturally. Here's an illustration that I've used over the years to help you picture this. When my daughter Karis was a little girl, Her favorite thing in the world was a balloon. It was like her favorite toy. So her favorite restaurant was Red Robin because they gave out free balloons. And so for her third birthday, I thought I would be super awesome dad. And I covered the entire kitchen floor with balloons. It took me like four hours to blow up these balloons. It was honestly the most loving thing I think I've ever done for anybody in my life. You're like, well, I didn't use one of those little pumps to blow them up. I don't remember. Maybe it just felt more meaningful. I don't know. But either way, I had the entire kitchen floor covered like three feet deep in balloons. And so I'm hiding over in the corner, you know, and Karis comes in and sees all the balloons and her eyes get really wide and I jump out and I'm like, surprise! And then she picks up one of the balloons off the ground and she kind of drops it. And she's like, dad, these balloons are broken.

14:28 I'm like, what do you mean? I'm like, they're not broken. She said, they don't float. She said, I like the Red Robin balloons because they float. And I'm like, yeah, but these balloons are better. than Red Robin Williams, because we get to play games with these balloons, like, so you can keep the balloon up, you know, the longest by hitting it up. It's called keepy-uppy. That's right. That's right, Bluey fans. I invented that game, okay? I invented that game, but she wasn't buying it. She wasn't buying it. Here's the point. There are two ways for you to keep a balloon afloat. If it's filled with your own breath, like this one is, in order to keep it off the ground, then you gotta keep what? You gotta keep smacking it if you wanna keep it up off the ground. That's how many of you are when it comes to your generosity. What you need once or twice a year is for somebody like me to smack you, right? And so you come in here and my job, what you literally pay me for is to smack you. I'm like, you want to be good Christians?

15:23 You must give. And I smack you. You know, you're like, you go floating in the air for a few moments and you're, you know, giving out your money. You're throwing your lunch money in the bucket. You tip big at lunch. You might even text 33933 and experiment with tithing for a month. But very quickly, very quickly, you sag back down. And so this time next year, I smack you again, up you go again and back down. And that's our relationship. That's why when you see me at the mall, the grocery store, you don't make eye contact with me because you don't want to have a conversation with that guy. I see you, by the way. Okay. There's another way. There's another way, of course, for you to keep a balloon afloat in there. and that is you fill the balloon with helium and then it just kinda floats on its own. No smacking required. Paul says, what I want for you, Corinthians, is for your love to be so genuine that you don't need my commands or anybody else's commands to give.

16:19 You don't give reluctantly or hesitantly, but you give cheerfully and freely without any compulsion because an abundance of love just overflows in your heart and makes you sore, no smacking required. And so that's what Paul focuses on in the next two chapters, giving that just overflows from the heart. And what produces that, Paul says, is understanding grace. Understanding the extravagant grace of God towards you is what produces generosity in you. Y'all get this, in the next two chapters, Paul uses the word grace more than he does in all of his other New Testament writings combined. Now let me say that again because you did not know that. Paul uses the word grace more in these two chapters than in all of his other New Testament writings combined. The focus of these chapters is not money. The focus is grace and the kind of instinctive generosity that grace creates in the hearts of all who experience it.

17:23 So let me give you seven essentials of grace-based giving. They're pretty punchy. They'll move very quickly, I promise. Essential number one, it's never about the amount. It's never about the amount. Look at verse nine. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. The gospel is not about a God who approached you because he had needs. The gospel is about a God who comes to you, not because he wants your money. Make no mistake, he's the giver, we're the receiver. We were unimaginably poor. he was indescribably rich. So you need to forever banish out of your mind the idea that God needs anything from you. Remember the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was unbelievably rich for your sake, he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich. It doesn't flow this way, it flows this way.

18:19 What that means is that it's never about the amount that you give. As if God only cares about money, all he cares about is the heart. Notice verse 12, Paul says it directly, for the readiness to give is there. Your attitude before God is acceptable. It's not about the amount. We give according to what we have. He says never according to what we don't have. What God cares about is readiness. He cares about the eagerness to give. I love that phrase. We give according to what we have, not according to what we do not have. A lot of people feel guilty that they don't have much to give. Maybe you hear people tell these stories about giving and you're like, well, I can't give like that. I can't even dream about giving like that. I'm so poor that even my dreams are on a budget. I'm so poor that the first item on my bucket list is to save enough money to buy a bucket. God could care less about that because it is never about the amount. God doesn't approach you with needs.

19:13 He comes to you wanting to reform your heart. That's why we say generosity is not something he wants from you. Generosity is something he wants for you to produce something in you. essential number two. You give to the point that you share in somebody else's suffering. Paul says, I don't mean, verse 13, that others should be eased and you burdened, but that is a matter of fairness. Your abundance at the present time should supply their need so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. You're sharing in each other's experiences. Paul's saying, I'm not asking you to take on the responsibility for somebody else's needs. I'm saying, watch this, listen. I'm saying that when you love somebody, you wanna share in their needs because that's what love is. Think of it like emotionally ministering to somebody that you love who's hurting. What happens? Do you love them?

20:05 You enter into their pain with them. You hurt with them. When I'm in emotional pain, I don't just need somebody who shows up and can give me the right answers. Honestly, I can get all that from books anyway. I need people around me when I'm hurting who hurt when I hurt because they love me. That's literally what the word compassion means. Come, and Latin means with, passion, with, suffer. So compassion means to suffer with somebody. Love-based giving is when you give to the point that you share in that person's hurt. You share in the pain of their need. Love feels the pain and wants to share in it, which is what inspired what C.S. Lewis called the only safe rule of giving. The only safe rule in giving, Paul says, if you want to rule, the only safe rule is to give more than you think you can spare. Why is that the only safe rule? Because see, only then are you sharing in somebody's pain.

21:00 When you're just giving out of excess because you got enough and you can meet that need, that's not sharing in their pain. The essence of love is taking some of the pain of the need into yourself. So you give to the point that you share in the need. It's essential number three in grace-based giving. you stop thinking like an atheist. Verse 15, as it is written, whoever gathered much had nothing left over. Whoever gathered little had no lack at all. That is a quote from Exodus 16, which recounts the story of how God provided manna for the children of Israel in the wilderness. Let me give you the cliff notes version of that story in case you were unfamiliar with it. The children of Israel were in a place in the wilderness where they could not procure food for themselves. And so every night, God miraculously rained down from heaven this stuff called manna. And every morning when the children of Israel woke up, the ground was covered in manna. Manna in Hebrew literally is manhu. What it literally means is, what the heck is it?

22:02 Nobody really knew what it was. Even today, it gives us a description. Based on the description Exodus gives, it seems like a mix between a Twinkie and a protein bar. It's the best I can do, Okay. That manna was provided daily, but of course people back then were just like they are today. And so they wanted a little extra stockpile of it just in case one morning it didn't show up. Isn't that how we think? God says, that's not how I want you to think. I want you to trust that the same God that provided for you today will provide for you tomorrow. And here's the key. Listen, you will express that faith by gathering only enough what you needed for that day and by sharing any excess that you had today with those who don't have enough today. And then to drive home the point, God caused whatever excess they stockpiled to rot, to breed worms, and to stink. So there was no use holding onto it anyway.

22:57 It was just going to go bad. I want you to think for a minute about being in this situation. Say you're a dad, you're a mom. You go out early, get up 5.30 in the morning, go out and collect a bunch of manna for that day. But by lunch, it's clear that you got more than enough for your family. You've made everything you can make with manna. Manna, Cottey, right? Peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Banana bread, okay? I'll be here all week, folks, okay? But still, but still you got some left over. And then you notice there's some other family over there that for whatever reason did not gather enough for the day. Maybe the dad was sick that morning or maybe there was some emergency. Maybe they just overslept. Well, you might as well go ahead and share the extra manna you got with them because A, tomorrow is gonna again supply whatever you need for that day. There's gonna be a whole new crop of manna on the ground. And B, whatever you gathered today is just gonna go bad tonight anyway if you try to keep it. When you trust that the God who provided for you today is gonna be there to provide for you tomorrow, that's how you think.

23:54 But when you don't think that way, when you hoard and refuse to share because you're afraid tomorrow, there may not be a God to provide for you tomorrow like he did today. Well, functionally, you're thinking like an atheist. So Paul says, don't think like an atheist. The God who provided for you today is gonna be there tomorrow. And so God wants you to use, listen, whatever excess he's given to you today to meet needs around you today. One more quick illustration on this to drive the point home. parents. Suppose you learn that in your third graders class at school, there's a kid who is so poor that he never brings his lunch because he can't afford lunch. Parents don't pack him lunch. So one morning as you're packing your little Johnny's lunch, you put two sandwiches into his bag, but you forget to tell your little Johnny why you did that. And so later at the lunch hour, he discovers that instead of one sandwich, he's got two sandwiches. And let's just say that somehow you're able to observe what little Johnny does when he discovers that he's got two sandwiches.

25:01 And you see that the moment he discovers he's got two sandwiches, he looks over and sitting near him is this hungry kid who's got no sandwich. Are you disappointed if he just instinctively shares that extra sandwich? Are you disappointed that he doesn't go shove it into his locker in case you forget to pack him his lunch tomorrow. Or you can be like, well, all right, there it goes. Kid's giving away stuff. Better know how to save for a rainy day. Better make him listen to some Dave Ramsey. No, you would feel proud that he instinctively knew that he could use any excess you gave him today to share with needs around him today because he is confident that you were gonna faithfully, again, supply his needs for tomorrow. Paul is saying that God is no different. When he gives us more today, it's so we can meet the needs around us today because we are confident that an ever faithful God is gonna be present today, tomorrow, and forever, and he will supply our needs when we need them.

26:04 Now, let me be super clear. The Bible's not against wise savings. The book of Proverbs commends savings in at least six places that I counted. And people like Joseph in the Bible illustrate the wisdom of saving. It is certainly wise for you to save for retirement. so that as much as it's in your control, you're not a burden on others. But the Bible also says you should respond to the needs and kingdom opportunities in front of you today. So let me just say it straight, okay? For many of you, saving has become a replacement for your trust in God. And that is evidenced by how you ignore the needs and opportunities that God puts in front of you today. You will not give generously today because you are afraid that you might be in a situation tomorrow where God won't provide. And you're only comfortable when you got enough money in the bank that you can say, I don't even need God in the future because I got all I need right here.

27:02 See, functionally, you're an atheist. And as with the manna, that has a rotting effect on your soul. You say, well, what are you saying, pastor? I'm so confused. Should we save or should we not save? Yes, you should save, but not in a way that keeps you from meeting the needs and opportunities God puts in front of you today. Opportunities and needs like the ones in front of this church that I presented to you in our legacy lanes. The fourth essential of grace-based giving is when you understand that giving is the gateway to greater graces. Let's jump now to chapter nine. Paul says, to he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. Whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. The God who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness as you give.

27:58 As you give, you're gonna be enriched in every way. Obedience in giving, Paul says, obedience in giving is the means by which God grows and multiplies the richness of grace in our lives. Giving is like a seed, he says. A seed you put into the ground and it multiplies into all kinds of enrichment. It comes back much greater than what you put in. You say, well, what kind of enrichment are you talking about exactly, Paul? Well, look at what Paul says. Verse 11, you will be enriched in every way. What does in every way mean? Would every way include financial enrichment? As in when you give and trust God that God will increase you financially? Yes, that is certainly included in the word every. Every is a big old expansive word, isn't it?

28:50 In Greek, it's the word panti, a really interesting Greek word that means every. This is a promise repeated throughout scripture. We saw it in Malachi 3.10, test me in this God's, test me, put me first, give me the first 10% of what I give to you. Test me and see if I won't make you overflow of blessing. It's what we call God math here. God math is that 90% of God's blessing goes further than 100% without it. God says literally test me in this. You don't think it's true? Test me and see if I won't multiply your provision when you put me first. Y'all appreciate what Pastor Brian said last week. If he had a list of short explanations why he believed in God, God's faithfulness to that promise would be in that list, how God multiplied and blessed him when he put God first in his giving. I've heard that from so many people in so many ways, I would invite you today to test him. I'm not saying it all happens immediately.

29:44 I'm just saying that this is what God promises and you will find that he is true. So does Paul mean financial enrichment? Yes, that's in the word every. But does he mean only financial enrichment? No, in every way implies that there are other ways that God blesses you through your generosity. If Paul had just meant financially, he would have said financially. He said in every way. In fact, I love the image that he uses of a seed here. The fruit of many seeds looks wildly different from the seed itself, right? For example, have you ever seen a peach seed? It's this hard, ugly, ugly looking thing that you would never wanna eat that. It looks like a little rat brain.

30:19 But from those ugly little rat brains comes these luscious fruits over here, right? And that's more what I'm talking about. Money is like a seed that you plant. I don't want more of that coming back or just more of that coming back. I want the better stuff that comes along with it. Paul says our generosity harvest in fruits much better than itself. So what are some of those other things? How about greater contentment? Would every way include greater contentment? Yes. Many have said that the secret to a happy life is not having all you want, it's wanting what you have. One of the things that God does in your life is you give, is he works contentment in your heart. That's part of being enriched in every way. My family has certainly seen that. I will tell you firsthand, when my wife and I give, we find that we grow really content with what we have left. On the contrary, it's when we don't give generously, we always find ourselves wanting more.

31:13 Giving is what has broken that stranglehold of always wanting more in our lives. Now listen, every study ever done on this, secular or Christian, shows that the happiest people in the world are generous people. It's why I said you can be poor and yet rich or financially rich and still poor. Hey, you ever think that maybe the reason you're unhappy right now is not that you don't have enough? I know that's what you think. Oh, happiness and contentment, they're just around the corner, right? Man, if I could just get to that income, if I could just get six figures of income in my house, we would be so happy if we could just have enough to go on that vacation, if we could finally ever get that lake house, that beach house. But that is not why you're not happy. It is possible to be in extreme depth of the ocean poverty and still be rich in joy and generosity because it's all gonna do with the heart.

32:11 I mean, come on now, you've seen the Grinch. The answer's right there, isn't it? Grinch is up there in the mountain hoarding all his stuff, fabulously wealthy, but he's still unhappy. And Dr. Seuss explains, it could be his head wasn't screwed on just right. It could be perhaps his shoes were too tight. but I think the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes, too small. You think the reason you're unhappy is because you need new shoes or a new job, but what you really need is an enlarged heart, a God-like heart, and God uses generosity to produce that heart in you. How about this? Would every way include spiritual anointing? Yes. If you are a connoisseur of the biographies of great Christian leaders as I am, you will know that some of the most anointed people in the world in Christian history became that way through extravagant generosity. I think of John Calvin, for example, one of the fathers of the Protestant Reformation. When John Calvin died, Pope Pius IV groused in disgust about John Calvin. The strength of that heretic was his utter disregard for money. Would every way include power in prayer? Yes, yes, yes. In every way is a big old word. God uses generosity to enrich you in every way. And when you realize that, Paul says, you will go from what do I have to give to what do I get to give? Because now you'll start asking, where do I want to experience the blessing of God? Let me predict what heaven is going to be like for some of you, okay?

33:46 I heard this great little story about Alexander the Great. I do not know if it's true or not, But here's how it goes. Alexander the Great was riding back into Athens after one of his big victories. And as part of the celebration, he was giving out baskets of rice. Well, there was a poor, crippled Athenian man on the side of the road. And when he was given his basket of rice, Alexander the Great saw him, felt compassion for him and said to this man who'd just gotten this basket of rice, give me that basket back. Well, the poor man looked alarmed. I mean, this basket was gonna feed him for a month. So not wanting to disobey Alexander's orders, he reached in the basket and he gave back two little kernels. At which point, Alexander the Great waved his hand and the treasurer gave that poor man two silver coins in response to the two grains of rice. At which point, of course, the poor man tried to give the whole bowl back. But at that point, it was too late.

34:40 Alexander had already moved on. See, I fear that's gonna be some of us in heaven. you're going to get there and you're going to say look at what god could have done in and through my life but at that point it's going to be too late and you will have forfeited all the spiritual blessing that could have been yours had you simply trusted number five fifth essential is you understand why god prospered you second corinthians 9 verse 11 again, you will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way. That's why God did it. Why did God enrich you? Why did he bless you? So that you could be even more generous. He blessed you to be a blessing. Ponds that just collect water and have no outlets become stagnant and dead. Think of the Dead Sea or the Great Salt Lake out in Utah. Beautiful and huge, but dead.

35:37 I would say that's not a terrible picture of some of you, which is why you're not happy. You got so many streams of blessing coming into your life but you're like the Dead Sea. God did not create you to be a stagnant pond that simply receives blessing. When that happens, the blessings become a curse. He didn't create you to be a pond. He created you to be a river and that's when you'll be happy. You are enriched in every way to be generous in every way which is why we say greater financial capacity shouldn't just lead to an increase in your standard of living. It ought to lead to an increase in your standard of giving primarily. You are blessed to be a blessing. He's your enriched to be generous, which is essential number six. You love seeing God's work in people more than you do collecting stuff.

36:28 Paul says your generosity, Corinthians has produced thanksgiving to God. Just a few weeks ago, I got a letter from one of our, a guy in one of our local prison ministries where we have a ministry. He was writing me as a prisoner to thank me on behalf of you for our church's involvement in his life. He said, first, I want you to know, I do not miss a single episode of Summit Life on 105.5 FM. I have read all of your books and I send my tithes to Summit Church. Not to mention the rate at which you quote Tim Keller in your sermons is the same rate I quote you in my weekly sermons in the prison chapel. Summit has a big name, he says, here in the prison. I love that. A big, Summit's name, he says, carries a lot of weight as it has touched the lives of many men here in this federal prison. Hey, you wanna be famous somewhere, Summit?

37:20 You wanna be famous? Let's be famous in the prisons for the message of salvation and the power of the gospel there. He then describes. it then describes in the most heartbreaking ways how he found God in his isolation cell. He recounts these crimes that he committed and how ashamed he was of them. And he says, but there I was on the floor of my solitary confinement cell. I confessed hours worth of sins to God. I cried out begging God to change me and change me. He did change me. He did everything about me changed. I began calling and writing those I'd wronged to apologize for my past and to share Jesus with them. I've been reconciled now to my wife, my father, my children. I began to have peace, love, patience, compassion, instead of the hate and lust and rage that had driven me for my entire life. Now he is one of the leaders there in our prison ministry there in that prison. He said, I want to thank you for the vital roles that the members of Summit Church have played in that transformation. He then mentions two volunteers in particular, Scott Jablowski, who's on our staff, and Brian Galloway. And he says, they treated us here at the prison like real people, and they showed us the love of Christ. They are living, breathing examples of Christ's command, not to forget those of us who are in prison. Your generosity produced that.

38:38 Right before our first service on Thursday, I met with a college girl who just got saved here a few weeks ago. She'd grown up in the home of two addicts, two drug addicts. Somebody invited her in here a few months ago and God saved her. And now she's feeling called the ministry and she's doing city project this summer. She was telling me the story. She's just overflowing with thankfulness to God. She's got tears. I've got tears. And I think when I'm looking at her, that's what I want to invest in right there. That's what I want to invest in. Amen. Grace-based giving is when you give because there's more joy for you in seeing people's lives changed than there is in collecting stuff. And what happens is it just means to make you sore, which by the way, was the secret of Jesus's generosity. The writer of Hebrews urging the Hebrew Christians to keep pressing forward in their journey of faith said this. He said, you need to keep looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising, forgetting about the shame. What drove Jesus to pour out his life on the cross?

39:43 Was it duty? Oh, I better do this or the father's gonna curse me. No. What drove Jesus down that long road to Calvary? What was it? It was joy. Joy over what? What was Jesus thinking about as he went to the cross that brought him heleros, that brought him joy?

40:09 You. the joy set before him was the thought of you saved and me saved and you and I with him forever in heaven thought of you giving thanksgiving to God the joyful thought that joyful thought is what moved Jesus to make that sacrifice on the cross now Paul says you go and you do likewise the secret to soaring balloon no smacking required generosity is when the joy of seeing lives changed exceeds any superficial tingle that you get from some shiny new toy or a new purse or a new pair of clothes. That brings joy. And that brings us to the last, the most important essential, number seven. You just can't get over what Jesus did for you. You just can't get over what Jesus did for you. You know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich yet for your sake, he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich.

41:05 Again, the gospel is not about a God who approaches us with needs. God is the giver. We are the receiver. We were unimaginably poor. He was indescribably rich, and he lavished such incredible grace upon us. He poured himself out so completely for us that we can scarcely get our minds around it. That is the secret of the heart of a Christian who soars in generosity. You just can't get over what Jesus has done for you. You can't get over it. Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf is a man you likely never heard of, but he pretty radically changed your life. Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf was born into a noble family of privilege in Dresden, Germany in the early 1700s. His life was destined to be one of leisure, pleasure, prestige. Shortly after his 20th birthday, though, he was visiting a famous art museum in Dusseldorf where he was gripped by a painting called Ece Homo that depicted Jesus just moments before the crucifixion.

42:05 He's beaten, he's bloodied. He's wearing a crown of thorns. The painter, a guy named Domenico Fetti had inscribed these words below the painting. All this I've done for you. What have you done for me? Those words gripped Zinzendorf, he said, in ways he was never really fully able to articulate. All this I've done for you. What have you done for me? He knew the answer to the first question or the first statement, all this I've done for you. He knew that without what Jesus had done for him, he would be lost forever.

42:39 So Count Zinzendorf began to leverage his great fortune and his life to bring the gospel to others. He started what is now referred to as the Moravian Missionary Movement, the first Protestant missionary movement in the world long before William Carey and Hudson Taylor and Adam Judson, Count Zinzendorf was doing this. One of the churches that the Moravians planted was in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the place that I grew up. I know because every field trip we ever took when I was in elementary school was to Old Salem. I hated the place. Now I have an appreciation for it. The Moravians started a gospel movement in America that affected me. Part of Count Zinzendorf's joy, the joy that compelled his sacrifice, I don't know what he could see. I'm sure he couldn't imagine this right here, but part of it was the joy of thinking about people like you and me that would grow up in North Carolina that would one day be able to know and worship Jesus because he gave what God had given to him. His whole sacrifice changed your life. And I bet you never heard of him. I doubt none of you've even considered naming one of your kids after him for multiple reasons. Zin Zindorf, right? Zinzi, Zin, that's got a nice ring to it, right? You should consider that. But Zinzendorf's life motto was this, preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten. And yet, here we are, his lasting legacy. To the one who is generous and lends, he will be remembered forever. And it all began with that question, all this I've done for you, what have you done for me? Being in love with Jesus, being overwhelmed by what Jesus has done for you. That's the secret to cheerful giving. And I know some of you are like, well, JD, that's the problem. I'm a Christian. I am. I just don't love Jesus like you do. I don't feel it. You tell us fall in love with Jesus. And that kind of frustrates me when you say that, because I would love to be as in love with Jesus as you are, but I just can't work up those emotions. Don't you remember though? Don't you remember? The way God produces that love in you is through giving.

44:49 giving is the gateway to greater graces through giving God makes all grace abound to you so that you through giving are enriched in every way which includes being enriched in your love for Jesus through giving God enriches you even in that that's what Jesus said in Matthew 6 21 right where your treasure is there your heart will be also what he means is wherever you put your time your talent your treasure your heart's going to follow so where do you want your heart to be Where do you want it to be? Put your time and treasure there and your heart will follow. If you don't love missions and you want to, go on a short-term trip and you will learn to love it. If you wanna love heaven more, if you wanna love Jesus's mission more, give sacrificially and watch how he enriches you in every way and transforms your heart. The Holy Spirit uses your obedience and giving as a means of pouring grace out in your heart so that you are enriched in every way.

45:47 which brings me to this card that we've talked about now for several weeks. All right, we've talked about it several weeks and it is time to turn it in. Now, I told you, don't think of this like a contract. All right, take it out. If you got it, you should have it when you get it. Don't think of it like a contract. You are not promising anything to us, to me. This is a discipleship tool. It's written right there, faith commitment, okay? It's not contract. He says, J.D., I don't really understand why we do this. Well, see, we've learned long ago that tools like this help you think this out. Most of us just don't think about life. We just kind of go through life and respond. We want to think about it. Helps you think it out and commit to it. It also helps us honestly at the church. It helps us in our budget projections for the coming year. It's really simple. Simple little thing there. It says to leave a lasting legacy. The Lord is leading me.

46:39 Then you got one of three options there. Maybe multiple ones will apply to you. For some of you, it's box number one. You want to start giving. By the way, that is a huge, maybe the biggest step of all of them. Do not feel ashamed that you have not given before. Maybe for you, everything's just starting to make sense. And you're about to make a life-changing step that's gonna reshape literally your whole eternity. You may not be wealthy, but literally everybody who has experienced the grace of God ought to say, I wanna respond in some way.

47:11 Second option there, tithe. That is first 10% of your income that goes back to God. Maybe you've been giving, but you aren't giving 10% yet. This moment could be when you commit to that number or you ask God to help you get there. I challenge you. Malachi 3.10, it's not mine. It's God's challenge. Test him in this. Learn firsthand how God's math works. His blessing on the 90% is greater than the 100% without his blessing. That is true every single time. Number three, give beyond the tithe. That's an option. that is consider how you might begin to invest in eternity. You start going beyond the tithe, right? That can, whether you're a person with the widow with the two mites or whether you're a person of great assets, so to speak. It might happen through an increased percentage. That's how it is for my family and me.

48:04 We're increasing that percentage so that we can invest more in eternity. For others of you, you've got assets, things like property, savings accounts. You've been holding onto those things, which you realize that God put needs and opportunities in front of you today and he multiplies you so you can invest those into his kingdom today. Because maybe in the series you're like, I realize I can't take it with me, but I can send it on ahead.

48:26 Y'all, can I tell you something mind boggling real quick? Many rich Christians don't even tithe. Studies show, and this is so discouraging to me, that the greater your wealth, the lower the percentages that you give. It's like many rich people still don't believe they have enough. But see, God enriches you in every way to be generous in every way. That's the key to having. The reason you're not happy is not because there's some other thing you gotta get to. It's because you've never used it for the purposes God gave it to you for.

48:57 You become a stagnant pond and God created you to be a life-giving river. And that's why you are unhappy is because you've never actually become that life-giving river that God wants you to become. So that's your option. You need to check this little box right here, this last one, and you just say, I wanna commit to becoming a river. Now, a few quick notes before I have you fill this out, okay? First note is only one card per household. If you're single, you get your own card, but if you're married, just share one. Second, all of our staff, all of our leaders, we're all making this commitment. We are not calling you to do anything we have not already done ourselves. I've already turned mine in. Third, the number that you're putting in there on that line is for one year. You're not saying you're gonna give this all immediately. If you got a monthly amount in mind, then that's fine, just multiply it by 12 and then put that right there in the blank. By the way, for right now, don't worry about splitting out legacy lanes or other giving like that.

49:53 We'll give you more instructions on that in December. And of course, everything in December is gonna go to legacy lanes. But for right now, just put the total number that the Lord is leading you to give through the Summit Church. Finally, if you're a guest with us today, I know you're sitting there thinking, I picked the worst weekend in the world to visit this church for the first time. Yeah, I get that, okay? I really do. But I wanna say this again. I'm actually really glad you're here. Not because we want anything from you because God's about what God wants to give you. And if you're new here, we don't want anything from you, but I'm glad you get to see what we're all about. And maybe one day you will join us in this mission. But for right now, like I said, no compulsion. Jesus has an indescribable gift to give to you. And if you've never received it, It's the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. And I wanna invite you to do that today, okay? I'm gonna, at all of our campuses, the band's gonna play here for the next two or three minutes.

50:46 And we're gonna give you a few moments just to think and to pray and to write. Y'all, this is a moment for you to hear from God, to repent where you need to repent and just to respond. Paul said, I'm not giving you a command and neither am I, but I do want you to be obedient to what God's spirit is saying. That's all that's gonna happen in the next two or three minutes. You're just gonna listen to God, as the worship team plays and you're gonna do what God says. I'm just gonna stand up here and stare awkwardly at those of you who are not doing it. No, I'm just kidding. I'm not gonna do that, okay? Seriously, I want you to take these moments to listen to God and to obey him. And then in two or three minutes, I'm gonna come back up here and I'm gonna tell you how we're gonna turn these in. We're gonna do it like they did in the Old Testament, one of these big worship offerings where we just give ourselves in joy to the God that's given to us, okay? All right, worship teams, all of our campuses, you guys come and play some card filling out music. and in two or three minutes, I'll come back up and lead you in how we're gonna give these, okay?

51:42 I want all of us, why don't you stand to your feet if you got that card, keep it in your hand, but I want you to stand out. Our worship teams are about to come. In fact, they're getting in place now at all the campuses. If you fill that out, what I want you to do is, when I pray, we start singing, I want you to step out. And at your campus, there's gonna be like a bin of some kind. There's multiple ones throughout the room. Might be right beside you, could be in front of you, could be behind you, right? Y'all, this is an act of worship. We are going to sing and experience the joy. We're gonna share in the joy that Jesus had when he saved us.

52:39 It's now we get to respond to him in joy. If that's not the emotion in your heart, this is not for you, okay? But otherwise, as an act of offering like they did in the Old Testament, we're gonna joyfully give ourselves to Jesus, the Jesus that has given himself to us in the expression of this, okay? Father, we thank you in Jesus' name for the fact that you enriched us and enabled us with grace. Just the fact that we know your name, the fact that we know Jesus, the fact that you've given us resources. We give every bit of this to you with joy and we say thank you, Jesus, for the joy of being saved and the joy of being involved in other salvation. We give you that in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name, amen. Or as your dreams are coming now, you step out, you put it to the beach.