Extravagant Outflow
Luke 6:37-38
Have you in recent years done anything that you would say was “Extravagant?” I had three tennis racquets given to my by family and friends, yet I spent over a hundred dollars on a new fourth tennis racquet that I don’t use because I have an older Prince racquet that’s better. My son, Wendel, did an extravagant thing for me for Father’s Day two years ago. He sent me a case of tennis balls and I still have ten new cans of tennis balls on hand.
Turn to someone sitting close to you and tell the person something you did that was extravagant.
The word “Extravagant” is a relative term. Extravagance is one thing to an average income person and quite another thing to a multi-millionaire or billionaire.
Three years ago a magazine article told about fifty of the dumbest rock-star extravagances.
Britney Spears will not get a haircut with ordinary solon scissors; she has to have special handmade scissors imported from Japan that cost $3,000.00
Will Smith shells out $2,500 a month to provide canine counseling to his four Rottwielers.
While unpacking for a charity show in Italy U2’s Bono realized he forgot his favorite hat. To keep it safe and net get wrinkled he had it flown in a first class seat from London to Italy via British Airways.
John Lennon paid $13,000 to rent the entire first-class cabin of a jetliner so he and his son Sean could set up their model train during a flight.
Elvis Presley was talking to his friends about a sandwich he had eaten while on tour in Denver. The sandwich had been made from a hollowed-out, buttered loaf of bread, filled with peanut butter, jelly and a full pound of fried bacon. Just talking about the sandwich go him so excited he rounded up a group of friends, boarded his private jet, and flew from Graceland to Denver. Once there Elvis drove his buddies to the restaurant and ordered 22 of those massive peanut butter, jelly, and greasy bacon sandwiches, paying exactly $3,387.28 for them.
Luke 6:37-38 Jesus talks about living a lifestyle of extravagance. Jesus calls us to be extravagant in your surrender, extravagant in your compassion and extravagant in your giving.
I. Extravagant Surrender
In Luke 6:27-36, Jesus calls for His followers to live an extra-ordinary lifestyle. Jesus challenges them to have attitudes and actions contrary to human nature. Jesus instructed his followers to love their enemies and to do good to all who hated them. Christ followers are to pray for those who curse and hurt them. They were to be generous to anyone they met who had material needs.
Jesus emphasized living according to the golden rule, “Do for others as you would like them to do for you.” Luke 6:31
Extravagant surrender goes against the natural desires of human nature. Jesus calls us to surrender our rights to Him. We in America grow up believing we are entitled to have a good life. We are entitled to a good education, a good job, and all the amenities of life should be given to us because we are American citizens.
Personal success in life begins when we make our surrender to going God’s way rather than our way. We take the first step toward success when we make the commitment to be a giver rather than a taker.
When we make an extravagant surrender to Jesus we step on the path of personal success and significance. To have a life that flows outward starts when we surrender to Jesus.
II Corinthians 8:5 The Apostle Paul is reporting to the church in Corinth how the churches in Macedonia became so generous in their giving to help the mother church in Jerusalem. The Macedonian churches were going through challenging times; the economy was bad, yet in their poverty they overflowed in rich generosity to others. Paul testified: “Best of all, they went beyond our highest hopes, for their first action was to dedicated themselves to the Lord, and to us for whatever direction God might give them.” NLT
In both the Old and New Testaments God’s message is clear, the Lord wants us to seek first His Kingdom. God’s main interest is not in what we can give; it is putting Him first in our life.
Hosea 6:6 –- The prophet Hosea called the leaders of Israel to repent and return to the Lord. “I want you to be merciful, I don’t want your sacrifices. I want you to know God; that’s more important than burnt offerings.”
Micah 6:8 -- The prophet Micah declared that the Lord didn’t want thousands of rams and lambs for sacrifices. “No, O people, the Lord has already told you what is good, and this is what he requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
In the New Testament Jesus proclaimed, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 All these things included food, water, clothes, and basic things needed to live.
To have an out flowing life, first surrender totally to the Lord.
II. Extravagant Compassion
Luke 6:36 – Jesus said, “You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” To have a life that is flowing out we need “Extravagant Compassion.”
In the next verse Jesus describes how to be merciful and compassionate. Luke 6:37, “Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back to you. If you forgive others, you will be forgiven.”
Jesus gives two don’ts and one do. “Don’t judge, don’t criticize or condemn, but do forgive. Jesus admonishes us to not condemn or criticize someone for the speck we see in their eye, lest me knock them in the head with the plank sticking out of our eye. Jesus stated emphatically in the Sermon on the Mount, “Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye.’ When you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.” Matthew 7:1-5
I find that the people who are quick to condemn and criticize others are usually people who lack self-confidence. Some how they feel if they can knock you down a few pegs they’ll bring you down to their level.
A good policy in the life of the church community is this: In essentials – Unity, in non-essentials, liberty and in all things, charity.
Extravagant compassion does not judge or criticize, but does forgive.
Jesus in the parable of the prodigal sons points out the paramount importance of forgiving one another. In the prodigal story, which son, the elder or the younger needed to ask for forgiveness. The younger son needed to ask his father for his forgiveness for his outright rebellion and sinful living. The older son needed to ask his father’s forgiveness for his smoldering resentment. The older son had to live on less money now and more work now. The elder son had deep resentment for his younger brother.
When the younger son came to his senses and returned home, the resentment of his older brother flowed out like poison. The Father rejoiced in the homecoming of his son and threw a great party celebrating his safe return. Luke 15:28-32
Have you felt resentment for the way someone has treated you? It took me a long time to get over the resentment I had for my father. I believed my mother’s life was cut short because of the way my father treated her. I resented him for not being a loving father to me. Only when I confessed my deep resentment and began to tell my dad I loved him and prayed with him only then was I set free from the poison of resentment. Only Jesus can bring us to a place of helping us rid ourselves of the internal poison that threatens to choke out all that God wants to do in our lives. Only when we take the hand of Jesus can we walk up to the house and join in the party.
Only in Jesus can we love our parents and other family members in spite of their flaws and failures. “Anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” I John 4:20 - God’s love knows no boundariess.
In prayer we share our feelings, we take action, forgive and press on.
Extravagant outflow happens when we embrace extravagant surrender, and extravagant compassion.
III. Extravagant Giving
Jesus presses us on to experience a life that outflows by practicing extravagant giving. Luke 7:38 -- “If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over. Whatever measure you use in giving – large or small – it will be used to measure what is given back to you.”
Whatever you give to God you get much more in return. The Lord gives you love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, pressed down and running over. With Jesus living in your life you overflow in extravagant giving to others.
Stewardship involves much more than giving money. Stewardship involves how we manage our time, our talents and our treasure. Stewardship involves using our God-given resources for the accomplishment of God-given goals. God owns everything and asks us to manage all that He gives us to bring honor and glory to His name.
Three boys were in recess at school and bragging about their fathers. The first boy said, “My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, they give him $50.00.
The second boy said, “That’s nothing, My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a song, they give him $100.
The third boy said, “I got you both beat. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a sermon, and it takes six people to collect all the money.
Some people believe we make a living by what we do. Others believe we make a life by what we give.
Nowhere do the scriptures teach prosperity theology. When I was pastor of a church in Kansas City, Kansas I heard a motivational speaker say that he determined his income by the tithe he gave. He gave his tithe at the first of the year and that determined how much God blessed him the following year. If he gave $10,000 he’d make $100,000 that year.
Have you ever received a letter in the mail from an evangelistic organization asking you to give seed money. If you give $100.00 to the organization God will bless you and give you $1,000 back. I know what they would say if I wrote a note back saying. “Just send me $100 and you’ll get $1,000 back.
The scriptures teach a basic principle. It is more blessed to give than to receive. We tend to find money for what we think is important.
Rick Clayton attended West Virginia University. He had his answering machine set in a unique way: “Hi this is Rick. If you are some one from the phone company, I’ve already sent the money. If this is one of my parents, please send money. If it’s my financial institution, you didn’t lend me enough money. If you’re a friend, you owe me money. If you are a female…I have plenty of money.”
Whatever ever your level of income you are to take responsibility to honor God in your giving. Daniel Webster, one of America’s top statesmen. Twice he served as Secretary of State, and for 14 years served as Senator from Massachusetts. He spoke at a banquet given in his honor. Heads of State from around the world were present to honor Daniel Webster. In his talk Daniel Webster said, “The most important thought I ever had was that of my individual responsibility to God.” For thirty minutes he talked about the responsibility he felt of managing the resources that God had given to him.”
The scriptures teach that as we give we receive spiritual blessings from the Lord and he provides for our needs. 2 Corinthians 9:6, “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
There is a story of a king who once invited his subjects to come to his place for a feast. But the invitation was of a different sort. The mote around the palace had dried up. Since there was no water, and no promise of rain, the king asked each one he invited to bring a vessel filled with water for the moat. Some of the guests brought buckets full.
Others brought cups full. Still others brought small containers filled with just a few ounces of water. When they had finished eating, dancing and singing, the king said, “Now your majesty has a surprise for you.” He threw upon the door to his personal storehouse, and there was the king’s treasury, stocked up, overflowing with money, jewels, precious perfume and every sort of treasure.
The king said, “Help yourself to my riches, but you can only take home the amount of treasure you can carry in the vessel in which you brought water.”
Jesus gives this promise, “Give, and it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put in your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
Extravagant giving goes counter to our American culture. The authors of the book, Affluenza, describe the American culture as a rich consumer culture that has an endless hunger for more and more stuff. Affluenza is the disease of greed.
The authors of Affluenza note that in 1986 there were more high schools than shopping centers in our country. Just 20 years later. 2006, there were twice as many shopping centers as high schools. We spend more on shoes, jewelry and watches than we do on higher education.
To get more stuff we buy on credit way beyond our capacity to pay. Americans have a billion credit cards. We currently have a national debt of over 9 trillion and personal debts in credit cards of nearly 3 trillion.
We need to just say “no” to Affluenza and manage our finances and lives according to God’s Word. We can live successfully by first, surrendering to the Lord, second, reaching out in compassion and third give extravagantly.
This coming week I’m asking all of us to have an extravagant outflow to others. In your worship folder you have a card. Put down the name of someone you want to give something to this week. I’m not talking about giving money, you could give time, a phone call, write a card, baby sit for a couple who seldom get out on a date, bake chocolate chip cookies and take them to a neighbor or shut in. Be creative and this week, do an act of kindness with no strings attached. Bring the card back next Sunday or send us an e-mail of what you did and the response of the person you reached out to.
Prayer of commitment
