Today on Summit Life with J.D. Greer. Welcome back to Summit Life with Pastor J.D. Greer.
I'm your host, Molly Vidovich, and we're glad that you joined us. Today, Pastor J.D. looks at one of the most revolutionary principles in all of Jesus's teaching, the law of the harvest. It's as simple as it is profound. As you sow, you will then reap. Or to put it another way, as you give, it will be given to you.
Sounds wise enough and maybe even encouraging. Most of us, however, don't live that way. We don't believe in our heart of hearts that God is as generous as he says he is.
The result? We aren't generous either. But Jesus invites us to a richer life than any of us could imagine. One in which every good thing like generosity, forgiveness, and joy not only abounds, but it multiplies. So let's join Pastor J.D. in Luke Chapter 6 as he begins this new teaching titled, Whatever It Takes to Multiply.
Luke Chapter 6. I'm listening to a British podcast right now called Noiser. That's the name of the podcast. And they've got a series on dictators that I'm really, really enjoying. I'm not thinking of becoming one. I'm just fascinated by what circumstances coalesced to produce each of them.
I've done all the ones you'd probably expect. Stalin, Lenin, Mao Zedong, Napoleon, Pol Pot. A bunch of really nice fellows, the usual suspects. Adolf Hitler's is particularly fascinating, as you would guess. One of the things that allowed Hitler to rise to power in Germany was the absolute collapse of the German economy. Germany had been a prosperous, financially conservative nation. But after the Treaty of Versailles, which laid the fault for World War I almost entirely on Germany, Germany's economy went into a free fall. It was slow at first and then like an avalanche.
Consider this. On the eve of World War I, four Reichsmarks, their unit of currency back then, four Reichsmarks were equal to $1. By 1921, three years later, the value had dropped to 1,000 to one. Then it went to a million to one and ended up in the billions to one. In fact, jokes like this went around.
One historian will say it. A German man gets a letter from the bank that says, sir, your balance is so small that we can no longer afford the service on your account. Would you please come and collect your balance? So the man takes a wheelbarrow so that he can wheelbarrow home all of his paper money.
And on the way home, he's accosted by a robber who jumps out from the alley and steals the wheelbarrow, leaves him with the cash because it's worthless and takes the wheelbarrow. Sometimes in the minutes it took to travel from your home to the grocery store, they said the cost of a loaf of bread would quadruple. At the lowest point, a train ride in Germany cost 250 billion marks. Family fortunes, which had taken generations to accumulate, evaporated overnight. Eventually, people resorted to bartering because cash was completely worthless. It's hard for you and me to get our minds around that because dependence on money, dependence on what you got in your wallet with a credit card or cash is just such an ingrained part of our lives.
It's like the air that we breathe. We can't imagine being in a world that did not run on money. Jesus' teachings on money could be considered as revolutionary as the mindset that those Germans had to go through. Unlike what happened with the Germans, however, Jesus' revolutionary teachings on money lead not to tyranny, as theirs did, but to freedom. Now, let me just acknowledge, people get nervous when we talk about money in church, and that is understandable. Money is our livelihood. But the facts are, y'all, that Jesus talked about money more often than he did heaven and hell combined, more than he did any other single subject. And that is because money is the most reliable indicator, he says, of what we love and trust the most. Money is, for both religious and irreligious people alike, the greatest potential competitor in your heart for God. Now, I said this last week, so let me say it again.
Maybe just me talking about this brings up some bad experience for you. You were in an unhealthy church environment, and you can't help but think that this is nothing more than a manipulative attempt to get your money from your pocket and into mine. If that is you, let's just take off the table you giving to our church for a while, okay? It's much more important to me for you to learn to follow Jesus and that I see you in heaven than it is for you to give here.
So let's remove that obstacle. If you feel right now, you can just feel it in your heart, you feel all bowed up and you feel like, I'm going to walk out of here. Let me just ask that you not do that and that you apply what I'm going to say by giving somewhere else, okay?
That's what we'll say. All right, again, we're in the Gospel of Luke. This time in chapter 6, we're going to start in verse 20. This is from a section of Luke's Gospel called the Sermon on the Plain. You're like, I thought it was called the Sermon on the Mount. Yeah, that's a different teaching at a different location. That's according to Matthew.
This is same subject matter, but different time, different location. It's pretty early in Jesus' ministry. Jesus has just healed a bunch of people. Everybody's buzzing about Jesus. Crowds are flocking to Jesus.
He's trending on Twitter and he's got thousands of new TikTok followers. So Jesus takes this newfound fame to let everybody know what kind of movement that he is building, and he starts by rewriting all the rules on money. Chapter 6, verse 20, he says, blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. But woe to you, verse 24, who are rich, for you've already received your consolation. The first revolutionary thing that Jesus taught his followers about money is that riches and God's blessing are not necessarily the same. Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Y'all, that would have blown their minds. Like I said last week, these people were steeped in the book of Proverbs, which taught that. Generally speaking, wisdom, blessing, and wealth go together. And that is biblical, y'all. That is biblical to a point. But see, it's easy for us to corrupt that teaching to mean that money is the greatest, the main blessing of God, and to start treating God like he has some kind of means to an end. There are two heresies regarding money for you to avoid. They're both at work a lot in the Christian circles you and I are in. Two heresies, one is called the poverty gospel, and the other is called the prosperity gospel. And different ones of you will be more susceptible to one or the other.
Listen as I describe each of these and see which one that you are more prone to. Okay, the poverty gospel is the belief that it is virtuous to be poor and essentially, essentially it's a sin to be rich. You might give lip service to the idea that riches are not inherently sinful, but if you automatically look at rich people with suspicion, this is you. After all, the book of Proverbs does indeed teach that wisdom often leads to wealth and that an abundance of material things is part of how God at times blesses us.
We're gonna see that today. The prosperity gospel, on the other hand, teaches that an abundance of possessions is the essence of and the proof of God's blessing. The prosperity gospel promises that if you do things right, God will reward your faith with financial success.
A great career, lots of kids, a great marriage, et cetera. And if that's not happening to you right now, well then something's wrong. God's trying to discipline you. He's trying to get your attention.
You're clearly doing something wrong. People who buy into this heresy will say things like, well, you know, God promises to give me the desires of my heart, Psalm 37 four. And what I desired was this car, this house, this raise. And because I believed and because I was consistent, God gave it to me. The prosperity gospel cannot conceive of serving God faithfully and going through suffering and poverty. There are two major problems with the prosperity gospel. First, there are plenty of examples in the Bible of people doing things exactly God's way and ending up in poverty. Job for a while, Joseph for a while, David for many, many, many years, not to mention Jesus who served God perfectly and yet had nowhere to lay his head and ended up on a cross.
And then he told us his followers to expect to experience what he experienced. And of course you got all the apostles whom Paul said were the poorest and most despised people on earth. So the first problem with the prosperity gospel is that there are tons of biblical examples of people who serve God and suffer great loss. The bigger problem with the prosperity gospel, however, listen, is that it grows out of idolatry and it feeds idolatry, which is what Jesus focuses on here in Luke. The prosperity gospel treats God like a means to an end because it says, if you serve me, I will give you what you really want, the real prize, which is material blessings. But y'all, God should not be a means to anything else. The greatest blessing of God is God and anything else you are seeking God for as a means of ultimate happiness, that is idolatrous. James, who was Jesus' half brother, had a really, really gripping analogy on this. In James chapter four, he tells us that our prayers are sometimes not answered because we pray as idolaters, which he then compares to spiritual adultery. James chapter four, verse three, you ask, he says. You ask, you pray, and you don't receive because you don't have enough faith?
No. Because you asked who spend it on your passions, you adulterous people. Think about that for a minute.
Like I said, this is a really disturbing analogy. Say you got a man who gets married and for several months, I mean, he's just killing it as a husband. He lives as a perfect model husband. I mean, he's always thoughtful. He always brings her gifts. He treats her like a queen.
I mean, he is the man that every woman dreams of marrying. After about a year, he comes to her and says, hey, when we got married, you promised to meet my romantic and sexual needs. Therefore, I would like to ask for you to arrange a liaison with your friend so-and-so because she's who I really think I need to be romantically and sexually fulfilled. And I think I deserve that because of how good of a husband I've been over the last year. Is there any woman anywhere who would say, yeah, that sounds like a really reasonable request that I would be delighted to honor? No, because that's not what she signed up for in marriage.
She promised to meet those romantic desires in herself, not to serve as a pimp to set him up with others. When you and I serve God so that we can get material blessings, we've essentially turned God into a divine pimp. That's stark language, I know, but that's the point James makes. The prosperity gospel makes us adulterers who seek to use God, not worship it.
Honestly, that's why I rail against it. It's not just that these famous preachers you'll dial into on the radio and TV have a different way of talking about things. It's that they twist verses to create movements full of idolaters who treat God like a useful tool rather than a beautiful person to worship. The primary blessings that God gives us are not material ones. The primary blessing God gives us is more of himself. And often, as we saw last week, riches can get in the way of that. We get so full of riches that we lose any sense of need for God. So Jesus says, bless and are the poor because the fact they're poor makes them more likely to yearn for God. It's better to be materially empty if that's what it takes to put you in a place where you will seek God with all your heart.
So y'all, that's revolutionary truth. Number one, seek blessing in God more than you seek it from him. You're listening to Summit Life with Pastor J.D.
Greer. Remember, you can always find out more about this ministry by visiting jdgreer.com. You know, this time of year is really critical for organizations like Summit Life, and that might be a bit surprising to you if you don't know what it takes to fund a ministry like this. You see, when you give to Summit Life, you're making sure that cost doesn't get in the way for anyone who wants to learn and grow in their faith through this teaching. You see, we don't operate like normal commercial radio shows.
We don't sell ads to fund the program. We rely on the generosity of God's people who have a heart to reach the lost world around them. So your generous gift ultimately helps people all over the world dive into the message of the gospel. We would love for you to consider joining with us today in that mission. We'll also send you our ever-popular Summit Life 2025 Daily Planner as our gift to you.
So give us a call at 866-335-5220 or check it out at jdgreer.com. Now let's get back to our teaching on Summit Life. Once again, here's Pastor JD. For that small group of Jews sitting there, y'all, at Jesus' feet when he first said this, they thought they weren't blessed. They said, we're not blessed by God right now because we're under Rome's oppressive thumb. But Jesus says, yeah, but if you know the Father, you are blessed, unspeakably blessed. To those of you who still can't find a job but you know that you're a son or daughter of God, you're blessed. To the mom who still can't get pregnant, to the teenager who feels unpopular and overlooked but is still seeking to follow God and love others, you're blessed. To the homeless who know they have a home in Jesus, to the unjustly accused who know that one day they will be vindicated by him, to the poor and to the outcasts, those forsaken by society but accepted by God and seated with him in the heavenly places, you are blessed.
Blessed is what you find in God, not what you get from God. Let's keep reading because Jesus now turns to revolutionary truth number two, verse 27. But I say to you who hear, love your enemies and do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
To the one who strikes you in the cheek, offer the other also. And to the one who takes away your cloak, don't withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you and from one who takes away your goods, do not demand them back, verse 31. And as you wish that others would do unto you, do so to them. Verse 31 is the infamous, what do we call it? The golden rule, that's right. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
The golden rule has to be one of the top three most well-known teachings of Jesus. Y'all, even the pagan Microsoft Word auto-populated that phrase as I was trying to type it. And Microsoft Word almost never recognizes anything Christian, have you noticed that? It still tries to auto-correct the word complementarian when I type it. And it does not recognize disciple as a verb when I use it. It always puts a little squiggly line under it and that irritates me because it makes me feel like my transcript is unfinished and has a mistake in it. So I always stop and pray when I see it, Lord, please let somebody at Microsoft Word get saved so they can correct this. You say, well, what's so revolutionary about that?
Well, here's what's revolutionary. It's in contrast to what we would call the natural rule, or maybe we can call it the flesh rule. It's this, do unto others as they have done unto you. In most relationships, we think I'll treat you like you've treated me. Or, or a variation on that is, I'll treat you in the way I hope you'll treat me back. You might treat somebody else really nice, but there is a calculating motif in our goodness.
We are doing it because we have been treated nicely or because we want to be treated nicely. We practice this rule with our spouses. We practice it with our friends. We practice it with our coworkers. We practice it with the person who is trying to cut us off in traffic.
We practice it with total strangers. Jesus said, get rid of that mentality and love other people like you love yourself, regardless of how they treated you or whether they'll ever be able to be nice to you in the future. He explains why, verse 32, he says, because if you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you?
In other words, what's remarkable about that? Nothing, even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.
That's just smart business, everybody gets that. But Jesus said, I say to you, love your enemies. Do good and lend, expecting nothing in return, and then your reward will be great in heaven and you will be sons of the most high. For, note this, note this, God, your father is kind to the ungrateful and to the evil, so be merciful even as your father in heaven is merciful. Jesus says, treat other people like your heavenly father has treated you because then you'll be like sons of the most high. In other words, you'll be acting like God.
If I could be so bold, I would call this the platinum rule. Do unto others as Jesus has done unto you. The reason I clarify this is because sometimes we treat the golden rule like it's some kind of karma pay it forward system. Do unto others as you want them to do unto you, and if you do that, that's how you'll be treated.
The world would all be a better place if we do that. But y'all, Jesus means much more than that. He's saying, act like your father in heaven acts, and your father in heaven is good to people who will never be kind back to him.
Every day he makes his glorious son shine on people who blaspheme him, and he lets his life-giving reign fall on those who will never acknowledge him, even his enemies. You should be like that too, Jesus says. By the way, we do that with unbelievers and enemies, not so we can convert them. That'd be great if that happens, but that's not the main reason that we do it.
We do it because it makes us like our father in heaven, whom we love, and we wanna be like. Dan Cathy, who is the former CEO of Chick-fil-A, was here recently talking to our staff, our pastor team. And one of the things that Dan Cathy talked about was Chick-fil-A's legendary second mile service. That's what they call it, second mile service. And he told us it comes from this teaching of Jesus, where Jesus says, when somebody takes away your cloak, also give them your tunic. In Matthew's accounts of all this, Jesus adds there, when somebody compels you to go a mile with them, go a second mile.
The context was this. In those days, Roman soldiers, by the law, were allowed to force a subject to carry their packs for a mile. They could ask anybody, anytime.
But legally, that's all they were allowed to do, one mile. Or they could compel you to give them your cloak. Not your tunic, just your cloak. Well, obviously, when they would require a Jew to do one of those things, it would take the Jew off and just remind them of what jerks the Romans were. But Jesus said, yeah, not only go with them that mile they require, not only go with a smile, you should volunteer to go a second mile.
Not only give them your cloak, offer to give your tunic also. Dan Cathy said that at Chick-fil-A, they have turned that into a customer service value. Not only do they attempt to give you what you are owed, good food, quickly, correctly, with a smile, that's what they feel like you are owed for your money.
They also offer to refill your drink or carry your bags out to the car or chase down a pickpocket if necessary, if you've seen that story. Dan Cathy said that what is most remarkable is not the change that this second mile service makes in the customer. He said what's most remarkable is what it does to the employee when they show that kind of generosity. He said there's very little joy in just giving somebody what they're obligated to give.
In fact, it almost leaves you a little bitter. But when you do the extra thing, when you go that second mile that they were not asking for, it produces joy in you because it turns obligation into generosity. And that makes you like God, which brings joy to your heart because you have been made in his image. Do you get that? If you've ever had the privilege, for example, of walking with a family who has adopted a child, especially a special needs child, you've seen the joy that it brings them, haven't you? On one level, it doesn't make sense.
That child is not bringing a lot of value, so to speak, to the family, but there's something about showing that kind of love that brings a joy like nothing else, and that's because you are acting like your Father in heaven. So, y'all, here's revolutionary truth number two. Upgrade from the flesh rule and even the golden rule, upgrade to the platinum rule and start doing unto others as Jesus has done to you. For revolutionary truth number three, and this might be the biggest one of all, I want you to jump down to verse 37. Jesus says, forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you.
Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. Revolutionary truth number three, learn the law of the harvest. Now, I've known verse 38 since I was a kid, and the first part always made complete sense to me. It's pretty straightforward. Give and it'll be given to you. But totally honest with you, the last part always confused me, and I was always way too embarrassed to ask. I have no idea what this means.
Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. It sounded like a dance or something. As far as I know, this was not a Jewish wedding dance. Jesus was using a farming analogy, which most of the people would have been familiar with.
It was actually supposed to be a little humorous. You see, in those days, harvesters got paid at the end of the week with a basket full of wheat. Harvesters carried around these big baskets full of harvested grain. They would carry it from the field where they harvested it to the barn, where the owner was. But the last basket of the week, they got to keep. Now, normally, because the wheat was so heavy, you'd only load it up half or two thirds full before bringing it back to the barn. But for that last basket, the one you got to keep, guess what they did? There was no half and two thirds about it. They would press it down, shake it so it settled, then do that again and again, and fill it up to the brim so that it was running over.
So when Jesus says this, everybody would probably have chuckled because it was a known dirt bag technique. This is Summit Life with Pastor J.D. Greer. At this time of year, your financial support is more important than ever. So Pastor J.D., when someone donates to Summit Life, what exactly does their gift do?
Yeah, I appreciate you asking that, Molly. You know, the truth is, it takes significant resources to purchase radio time and to keep these messages on the air, reaching listeners in new places across the country. Additionally, you know, just to produce, to distribute the gospel-centered content that we do, that requires financial support to ensure the quality and the consistency. And when you're giving to Summit Life, what you're doing is you're covering these expenses, which is why I say you're not really giving to us as much as you're giving through us to the mission and to the people in the world that need to hear the good news about Jesus. And we look forward to another year of partnering with you as God uses us to tell the nations about the good news of what Jesus has done to save us.
So whether you want to give monthly through our Gospel Partner Program or simply give a year-end gift, every dollar helps us reach more individuals with the gospel. So I would urge you to give today at jdgrier.com slash donate. Ask for a copy of the 2025 Summit Life Planner when you give a one-time donation today of $45 or more. Call 866-335-5220. That's 866-335-5220 or give online at jdgrier.com. I'm Molly Vidovitch inviting you to join us tomorrow as we continue today's teaching called Whatever It Takes to Multiply. See you Thursday on Summit Life with J.D. Greer. Today's program was produced and sponsored by JD Greer Ministries.
