Sacrifice

Today on Summit Life with J.D.

Greer. It is when we see how gracious God is. It is when we see how He is inviting us to be a part of His plan and to leverage our stuff in grateful response to Him. That's what creates joyful, sustained, lifelong generosity. God does not need your money.

What God wants is your heart, and when God has your heart, everything else falls in suit. Welcome back to Summit Life with Pastor J.D. Greer. As always, I'm your host, Molly Vidovitch. Have you ever turned on late night TV and noticed that there are a lot of pastors out there who are using the Bible to manipulate their listeners into giving? They're promising financial blessing from God as a result, but that's not what we believe here because it's just not the heart behind true biblical generosity. Today, Pastor J.D.

sets the record straight on our finances. He's describing what the Bible actually says about giving to God's mission. Pastor J.D. titled this message, Sacrifice. Exodus chapter 35. This is the story of when the Israelites built the tabernacle. The tabernacle was just a tent where the presence of God dwell. It was the precursor to the temple, which was the precursor to Jesus.

I'll give you the context. Israel has just been delivered from political slavery in Egypt. God sent the plagues, delivered them from their slavery. He leads them through the Red Sea where he destroys all of the Egyptian army that's trying to kill them. He leads them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He gives them manna in the wilderness. He gives them gushing water from a rock.

He has destroyed all their enemies. He has given them safety and now he is preparing to take them into the promised land. Chapter 35 verse 4. Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, this is the thing now that the Lord has commanded. Take from among you a contribution to the Lord.

Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord's contribution. Gold and silver and bronze and blue and purple and scarlet yons and bontwine linen and goat's hair. And don't forget the goat's hair because he says it twice.

So if you've got goat's hair, we want that. Verse 20, then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses and they came. Everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him and brought the Lord's contribution. So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought broaches and earrings and signet rings and armlets and all sorts of gold objects. Every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord.

Now let me give you several observations from those verses. Number one, they gave in response to the initiative of God. They gave in response to the initiative of God. Clearly God was leading them, right? I mean the whole exodus was not their idea, it was his idea. God was doing something through them and now he was giving them an invitation to be a part of that. And listen, it's not like he needed their stuff to do what he wanted to do.

I mean, because think about it, the hardest parts of this whole process, he did all by himself. The plagues, guess what? Israel was not involved in that, God did that. Destroying the Egyptian army, God did it. Giving them manna when they're in the middle of the desert, there are no plants, God did that.

So it's not like he's in a need now, it's different. He is giving them an invitation to be a part of what he's doing. I've explained to you, Summit Church, that in the clearest ways we see the evidence of God moving in our church. And we believe that God does not need us, but he has invited us to be a part of extending what he is doing in and through us.

We are giving in response to the initiative of God, number two. Number two, God used their stuff to build his tabernacle. God used their stuff to build his tabernacle. Now again, God didn't need their stuff, but he chose to use their stuff in the building of his kingdom. Saying that he chooses to use it and gives us an invitation to participate is different than saying that God needs it. You see, the work that God does on earth is always facilitated through the gifts of his people. So God is choosing to use their stuff in the building of his tabernacle.

Number three, everyone had something to contribute. Sometimes people who don't have a lot will say to me, like, well, why do I gotta be involved? I mean, I can barely make ends meet, you know? And I see what that guy right there drives to church. That guy's tithe is probably more than my whole annual salary.

When somebody says something like that to me, I know they haven't quite grasped gospel center generosity yet. God is not after you to be involved because he needs your money, because he doesn't need your money or the rich person's money. God's after your heart.

That's why you should be involved. We are not usually in charge of what God gives to us, but we are in charge with what we do with what God gives to us, which leads me to number four. You cannot give what you do not have. You cannot give what you do not have. Notice verse 24. Everyone who can make a contribution of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord's contribution, and everyone who possessed acacia wood of any use in the world brought it. That implies to me that there were some people with silver that didn't have acacia wood, and some people with acacia wood who didn't have silver. So you should not feel guilty about not being able to give what you don't have.

I say this because I know some of you who were at one point in your life where you could give a lot of money, but things have changed now, and you can't. You shouldn't feel bad about that. God determines the seasons of your life. You are only responsible to be faithful in the season that he has you in. You're not trying to live up to anybody's standard. You're not trying to please anybody.

You're not trying to meet a standard you set for yourself. You can't give what you don't have. All you're responsible for is to be faithful in the season that God has put you in, right? Number five, they gave in response to grace. They gave in response to grace. What grace had they seen? Well, first of all, God delivered them from political slavery in Egypt, but perhaps even fresher on their mind, if possible.

Do you go back a couple chapters? You find this horrible thing they did where, remember when Moses went up to the mountain to get the 10 commandments? How did Israel show their steadfast love and devotion to God?

They got drunk, threw a party, got naked, made a golden calf, and danced around it and said, you're our God, right? So Moses comes down, opens up a can of wolf trash on him. God is about to break open on them, and Moses, playing the part of Jesus, stands between God and the people and says, no, don't do that.

Don't do that. Don't destroy them. And God relents, and these people have a very real sense in chapter 35 that they really ought to be destroyed. They knew that God should have wiped them out. They have a very aware sense of how much grace God has shown to them because they know they probably should not be there. They're overwhelmed with God's grace in their lives. Number six, giving was both free and spirit-prompted. Giving was both free and spirit-prompted. Verse five, whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord's contribution. Verse 21, they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, everyone whose spirit moved him, they came both men and women, all who were of a willing heart brought an offering to God. Verse 29, all the men and women whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work of the Lord came and brought a freewill offering to the Lord. Now what do you hear in those verses?

What do you hear? Freedom, right? No compulsion at all. Whoever's heart moves him. Moses is not up there telling, I want you to give this and you give that. Whoever's heart moved him, it was free. No compulsion, no reluctance.

But it also, watch this, says this. Look at verse 30, chapter 35. Then Moses said to the people of Israel, now listen very closely, see the Lord has called by name Bezalel and he's filled him with the spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, knowledge, and all craftsmanship. He has inspired him to teach. So chapter 36, Moses called Bezalel and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come do the work.

Now what do you see there? The spirit of God had put these things in people's hearts that they then responded out of their hearts with. You see, the spirit of God, watch this, fuses with our spirit so that he shows us individually what we are supposed to give. To be a Christian means that the spirit of God has taken over possession of you and the Holy Spirit moves in you to show you specifically the role that you are to play in the mission of God, right? So all my role is for you, because I'm not the Holy Spirit, is simply to ask you as a believer, have you asked the Holy Spirit what your role is in this process? I can't tell you that. Moses couldn't tell him that.

I can't give you a command on it. But I can say if you're a believer, the Holy Spirit is in you and you ought to at least ask God, all of it belongs to you. Holy Spirit, how am I supposed to be involved in this? And then you give from your heart. Now let me clarify, I am not saying that you only give when you have a tingly moment in church and the hair in the back of your neck stands up and you throw your lunch money in a plate. Because another place in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 16, 2, Paul says that our giving ought to be disciplined and systematic. He says that the first of every week you should set aside what you want to use for generosity. What I'm saying is that what you should do is seek the spirit's counsel on how much that should be.

That's what Veronica and I have done in this season is we do this frequently. Like, okay, God, here it is. What percentage do you want us to set aside to use for generosity? It's all yours.

Spirit of God, I need you to put this on my heart. Number seven. Okay, like how long is this list? We're almost done. We got two more. Number seven, they gave publicly.

They gave publicly. The word translated in the ESV in verse five is the word as contribution. In Hebrew is the word taruma, which means literally to raise up. In the old King James version, they called this the, I love this, the heave offering.

If you got your good old King Jimmy right there in front of you, you'll see it says that. It says the heave offering, which means that what they did with this is they would bring it and the last thing they would do is they would heave it up and they gave it publicly. Because it was a way of identifying with the people of God that we're a part of this and we believe in it and their faith would encourage somebody else.

That leads me to number eight, my favorite point. They had to hold a congregational meeting to tell them to stop giving. Chapter 36 verse five, they said to Moses, the people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do. So Moses gave the command and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.

So the people were restrained from bringing all they wanted to bring, but Moses was like, nope, command of God, cut it out. Verse seven, for the material they have was sufficient to do all the work and more. All of this incredible giving was motivated, listen, not by the perception of a need. It was motivated by the overflow of grateful hearts. Can I tell you a very important lesson I have learned as a pastor?

I didn't know it when I started pastoring, but I know it now. The most generous offerings are not motivated by guilt. The most generous offerings are always motivated by grace. Presenting God as a poor little God who needs our help, and he is depending on us, waiting on us, help, I need them to save the world, might create a little flurry of guilt giving, but I promise you it doesn't last. It is when we see how gracious God is. It is when we see how he is inviting us to be a part of his plan and to leverage our stuff in grateful response to him. That's what creates joyful, sustained, lifelong generosity. God does not need your money.

What God wants is your heart, and when God has your heart, everything else falls in suit. Luke chapter 21, the disciples are standing around in the temple, and they're watching people giving the offering, and evidently there were some pretty rich people who were dropping in some pretty big coin, and they're pretty impressed, you could tell. And Jesus responds to them, Luke 21, and he basically says this, and I'll paraphrase, guys, you don't get it, do you? You don't get it.

I don't need their money. I'm not impressed with their money because these gifts, even though they're big, they don't represent the hearts of those people that are putting them in. But that woman over there, see that woman, the one who gave two mites, which is about half of a penny, what she gave represents her heart. And you guys should know by now that I can do more with her half a penny than all these religious people could do with all their gifts over 10 lifetimes. John chapter 12, a woman comes in to anoint Jesus' feet with a very expensive alabaster flask of perfume. She's been a prostitute, but Jesus has reconciled her to God, and she is overwhelmed with gratefulness to God's grace, and to Jesus as her Savior, that she just begins to weep. She weeps on his feet, she dries her tears with her hair, she takes this expensive bottle of alabaster perfume, and she busts it and pours it out at Jesus' feet, and all the religious people start shaking their heads going, oh my goodness, what a waste.

What a waste. Do you realize what could have been done for the poor if you took the value of that and gave it to them? Jesus kind of shakes his head.

Again, I'll paraphrase, but he says, guys, you don't get it, do you? Religious people never get gospel-based generosity, because religious people give for one of two reasons. Watch, they give because they think their giving will make God love them more, or number two, they think they give because God needs it.

And Jesus said, neither one of those things is true. Number one, your giving does not make me love you more because salvation is a gift I gave to you because I purchased something for you. You could never purchase for yourself.

It's all grace. It's a gift I give, not because you earn it. And I don't need your money. Gospel-fueled generosity is when you give for neither of those two reasons. You give because your heart now belongs to God, and you are overwhelmed at what he has done for you, and that the invitation he's given you to be a part of his plan, and your heart rises up in you and says, God, I love you, and I want to give this to you because you have my heart, you're my God, you're my treasure. Money is the way that we declare what we most love. It's the way we declare what we treasure, what we most trust. And what God does is he gives us an invitation to declare that he is our treasure, we are grateful to him, and he is our trust, which is, again, why I've told you generosity is not something he needs from you, it's something he wants for you.

God's primary purpose in generosity, listen, is not to get the money out of our pockets, it's to get the idols out of our hearts, which is why I've given you three questions that you ought to consider during this season, all right, three questions that you ought to ask. What does what you do with your money show that you most love? What is how you spend your money?

What does it show that you most love? Because, you know, I've told you this, you can talk all day long about how much you love Jesus, but your pocketbook tells the truth about you. Second question, what does what you do with your money show that you most trust in?

And obviously they're referring to savings. What does what you do with your money show that you most love and trust in? You know what, those are not questions about what God needs, those are questions about what your heart most loves and trusts, those are questions about whether or not God is your God or money is your God.

That's the question God has for many of us. What does the trail of your money say about who your real God is? Is it money or is it God?

Because your mouth can talk a game all day long, but your spending, your money tells the truth about your heart. Here's one more, what does what you do with your money reveal about what kingdom you're serving? What does what you do with your money reveal about what kingdom you're serving?

Because you can say I'm Jesus' disciple, but if the trail of your money shows that you're building a kingdom for yourself, then is it really convincing that you're one of Jesus' disciples when the trail of your money shows that you invest more in your kingdom than you do in God's? Here is one more, what statement does your giving to God make about God's value to you? The question that is being asked from Exodus 35 and 36 is this, if this is how they gave in response to what they had seen, how much more should we give in response to what we have seen?

Let me very quickly take you to a place in the New Testament where Paul takes the principles that we just learned and then he explains them. So here we go, Second Corinthians 9, the point is this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he had decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion because God loves a cheerful giver. Cheerful giver and God is able you see to make all grace amount to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times you may abound in all good works. He 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. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way. The first thing that Paul does in this passage, watch this, is identify and deal with what is in my experience the number one reason that keeps people from being generous, fear. I know a lot of people who want to be generous but the moments they start thinking about it they get dominated by these fears of well what if we can't make ends meet one day, well what if I lose my job, what if the president and the congress destroy our economy? And so you hang on to it because that is your security in the future. You panic and panic keeps you from being able to do what God is telling you to do with what he's giving you.

Why should you not panic? Because God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times you may abound in all good works. Yes, it is true that when you give away your money it is true that God gives you spiritual riches, he really does.

But you know what in every way also includes? It means he also uses that as a means to multiply your financial capacity to give which means enriching you financially even more. Now he is not talking about some dumb name it, claim it, sneeze it, seize it, God bless you strategy. That's not Paul. He's not talking about doing stupid things and giving away money you don't have. What he's talking about is God taking care of you when you honor him with your giving and when you give generously even when it scares you.

That's what he's talking about. His analogy of a seed here is fantastic. Most seeds you can do one of two things with. You can either eat it or you can plant it. But if you plant it you forfeit the ability to eat it. So in times of drought a lot of farmers have to make a difficult decision because sometimes a farmer will have enough seed that they really ought to use it to feed their family if there's going to be a drought. But they know that if they don't plant this seed now then they're not going to be able to harvest anything for later. So sometimes a farmer has to step out on a limb and plant some seed that he would really like to hold on to because he would like to feed his family with it hoping that there will be a harvest that comes that will multiply what he's planted. This is the analogy Paul uses for giving. He says you are planting it in faith and God treats it like a seed that multiplies and comes back to you. Some in church, listen, that's God's analogy not mine. I mean the great thing is that with God there's never a drought.

But what it shows you is that biblical giving always involves a kind of fear. And for years I've thought of my Christian life somewhat like when I was in when I was a kid. And you ever have that experience where you're riding down the hill on your bike and you've got a cheap bike and you suddenly realize that the brakes don't work anymore? You know that feeling you have right at that moment? That's how you're supposed to feel all the time when you're walking with Jesus. You're like well I know I'm going the right direction but that's about all I know right now. I don't know how to stop.

I don't know, there could be some things, I don't have any idea. And when you release control like that that's when God begins to take control and use you for things you never thought possible. Nothing wrong with enjoying the fruit of your labor honestly. But you realize that one of the problems one of the primary reasons God multiplies your resources is to increase your capacity to be involved in his kingdom. For some of you that have really been blessed here's my question for you.

What would it look like for you to begin to think of your success and blessing that way? There's a story in Luke chapter 12 that honestly scares me to death sometimes. It talks about a man who was very wealthy. He had so much crop that his only problem was the barns he had to store it all in weren't big enough. He's like I gotta, what am I gonna do with all this extra? That's an easy question isn't that friend?

Let me just ask you right now. If you got so much that you can't, you got so much crop that you can't fit it all in the barns, what should you do with it? Give it away. What's this man do? Well, I'm gonna tear down these barns and build bigger barns. And God looks at him and says you fool. Tonight your soul is required of you because you thought that what I gave you was for you. And what you did with it showed that you were not a part of my kingdom at all. It was all about your kingdom. You understand that the reason God gave some of you excess.

Nothing wrong with big barns. Nothing wrong with enjoying that excess. But you realize the reason God gave it to you was to increase your ability to give it away. And what you do with it shows where your heart is. Why did God multiply and enrich you? He gave it, did that for you, not just so you could, there's something in human nature that loves to hoard.

I know it because I feel it. I'm like, oh, I gotta keep more of it. I gotta build a bigger barn. Because that's not why I'm giving it to you. I'll take care of you in the future.

I'm increasing it right now because I want you to invest it and give it away. Paul ends this passage, the way Paul always ends stuff, I love that. Verse 15, thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. He ends this passage by pointing back to the primary motive in giving. We're overwhelmed by grace. God has given us an inexpressible gift and in light of God's great gift to us, our heart should naturally just rise up to say, God, I love you. Inexpressible gift. Where would you be had Jesus not gone all in for you?

Where would you be? Is this not a Jesus worth leaving everything for? Is this not a Jesus to treasure? Is this not a Jesus you can trust?

Is this not a Jesus that you can trust with a seed of faith that you give to him? That's where lifelong generosity comes from, my friend. It doesn't come from guilt. It doesn't come from need. It comes when you are overwhelmed by the promises and the grace of God. That creates a new, joyful, sustained lifelong giving.

Sometimes God multiplies your resources not to increase your standard of living, but to increase your capacity for giving. Today's message is part of our teaching series called All In, and if you've missed any of the previous messages or if you'd like to share them with a friend, they're all available free of charge at jdgrier.com. It's a joy to be here with you on your station and on the web so you can dive deeper into the gospel with us. But while these messages come to you free of charge, they actually take a lot of financial support to produce and distribute.

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Ask for your copy of the new study when you get in touch today. Your gift of $35 or more helps us stay on your station and expand onto new stations so we can reach more people with the gospel. Join the team that makes Summit Life possible when you give today by calling 866-335-5220 or give online at jdgrier.com and remember to ask for your copy of the book titled Be the Movement. I'm Molly Vidovich inviting you to join us next week as we continue going all in with God's mission. We'll see you right back here Monday on Summit Life with J.D. Greer. Today's program was produced and sponsored by J.D. Greer Ministries.