SELFLESS
week 3 Extravagant In Generousty
Pastor Timothy Porter
Text: Proverbs 26:21 (ESV)
INTRODUCTION:
I wanna talk about overcoming our selfish attitudes and becoming extravagant in generosity, extravagant in generosity.
I researched the idea of selfishness just so I would understand it more so for our message series, and I came across an article entitled:
"Science Shows Us We Are Selfish."
I thought that was funny because I don't need science to tell me that people are selfish.
Just go to Wal-Mart, sit in traffic, or better yet! Carry on a conversation with a child! By nature, you can just look around and see that people are inherently selfish.
According to this article, the bad news for men is this. Men are generally more selfish than women. Sorry guys.
There's a study that shows that the male neural reward system is more stimulated by self-centeredness.
Women, on the other hand, they're likely to get a dopamine rush whenever they do something good for other people.
Why is this?
Well people argue because men are wired to survive.
"I'm gonna leave my cave, go out and kill something, "drag it back so we can survive." We're stimulated by that.
Women, on the other hand, they're nurturers and they get excited about helping everybody else survive.
So typically women are more generous.
Men, If you're in good shape, big muscles, the news gets worse for you. Just thought I'd tell you, the article says that bigger muscles lead to a smaller heart.
Ladies, if you're feeling pretty good about yourself, men aren't the only ones that are selfish. When it comes to chocolate, it is every woman for herself.
Studies are clear that if a woman is with her best friend and has a choice between a bigger piece of chocolate cake and a smaller piece of chocolate cake, she's gonna hose her buddy almost every single time, she's taking the bigger piece of cake and the ladies all said, "Amen."
Our culture is all about selfishness. What does culture tell us? Gratify yourself, indulge yourself, get whatever you can get, get what is yours, it's all about you. Jesus though, on the other hand, says, "If you want to be His disciple, "you don't indulge yourself, "but you start by denying yourself. "If you want to follow me," Jesus said, "It's not about you getting more of what you want, "it starts with self-denial, "you deny yourself, you take up your cross, "and then you follow Jesus." Rather than being selfish in all we do, I believe that God calls us to extravagant generosity!
Our key verse for us today, I want to look at Proverbs 21, verse 26,
? READ / PRAY
I love that imagery. Even though in our culture today, it's natural to be selfish, to crave and crave and crave and crave and want more.
There is another type of person who is righteous, a follower of Christ, and this person gives and doesn't hold back.
Abby and I like to say it this way, "That as a follower of Jesus will lead the way with irrational generosity because we truly believe it's more blessed to give than it is to receive."
When we give we want to give as God gave. We want to give without holding back.
For those of you that are going, "Shoot, I can't believe I came on a generosity week, "I should've just stayed home."
I want to talk directly to you because that was me years ago, and I want to show you three different mindsets about generosity.
? Three different mindsets about generosity.
3.) THE BAG
The first one if you're taking notes is what we call the bag mindset, the bag mindset.
The person with the bag mindset believes there is never enough, there's never enough, and honestly, this is how I many of you grew up. With a real poverty mindset, a lack, a scarcity mindset.
In fact, Haggai 1:6 , let me give you the context. God's people during this time were not putting God first. They were taking care of themselves or at least trying to, but they were not rebuilding the Temple of God, they did not put God first and because of it Haggai 1:6 says, Haggai 1:6 (NKJV) 6 "You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes."
This is The bag mindset. Most Americans, tend to live this way. We don't put God first and we believe there's never enough.
When it comes in but it just goes out, there's holes in the bag.
We say trhings like I'd love to give more, I'd really love to be more generous, but there's not enough in the bag. I'd love to make a difference, I wish I didn't always worry about money, but there's just not enough in the bag.
Words we speak reveal the bag mindset.
Don’t have enough
Money doesn’t grow on trees.
We will have go w/o.
She gets all the breaks.
I work just as hard.
Rich get richer. My chocolate.
My seat. My time. My money. This is my bag!
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Judas—had a bag.
? Woman gives valuable perfume—Didn’t hold back. A year’s wage—Most valuable possession—
Judas sees it as a Tool for business. Judas has a bag mindset Waste—Money poor!
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? Betrayed Jesus—sold Jesus for 30 coins—Gotta put more in my bag
4.) THE BASKET
There's the bag mindset. There's another mindset that we call the basket mindset, the basket mindset. In the bag there's never enough, but the basket there actually is enough. Let me show you the blessings of the basket.
2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God… 5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. Deut 28:2, 5
The people of Haggai, in his time, did not put God first, they didn't rebuild the Temple, they didn't obey God, but when
God's people did, Scripture says in verse five, "Your basket," everybody say, "Your basket, "and your kneading trough will be blessed." There will be enough. Let's take it to the New Testament, Luke six, verse 38 , Jesus says this,
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.” Luke 6:38
Notice He did not say keep and it would be given to you, He did not say hoard and it will be given to you, He says, "Give and it will be given to you. "A good measure pressed down, "shaken together and running over, "will it be poured into your lap." Why did Jesus say, "Give and it will be given to you?"
Jesus understood that you can keep what you have or you can give it. He knew that when you keep what you have, that's all you have, but when you give, God can multiply what you give.
What you keep is all you have, but what you give, God multiplies. Give and it will be given to you, good measure pressed down shaken together and running over.
You may say what is that imagery about good measure pressed down shaken together and running over?
The crowd that was listening to Jesus teach on this would've had a good contextual understanding because they knew that a rich farmers would often be very generous to those who were poor. And the rich farmers would say to his workers at the end of the week leave some grain at the edge of the field, and that way those who are struggling and those who are hungry can come and take that as a gift as God has blessed us with so much, we want to be a blessing to others.
So think about the type of basket you would carry if you're a minimum-wage worker working for this farmer and your job is to carry the grain from the field aaaaall the way over to the barn, how full do you think you'll make your basket as you're lugging it over back and forth all day?
I can't speak for you, but I'm probably going to fill mine comfortably full. Maybe three-quarters of the way full, maybe 80% of the way full.
I don't want to spill any and I don't want it to be too heavy. I'm not in a big rush, I'm getting paid by the hour, so I'm just gonna carry this over kind of comfortably to the barn
Now on the other hand- - if my family is very very hungry and I'm receiving a generous gift from a wealthy farmer and I carry my basket to the edge of the field and I know that this is what I'm going to be able to feed my family this week, how full do you think I will fill my basket then?
I will fill it good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will I fill my basket receiving the gift from a generous farmer.
When you give, God gives to you good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over because what you keep is all you have, but what when you give, God multiplies it.
? If you don't understand the imagery, imagine you going to the QT to get an Icee, a Slurpee... What do you call it, what do you call those things, an Icee, how do you fill up your cup? You put the Icee in there and then if you're wise you pack it down and then you fill it back up a little more.....
Basket—Widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17) Don’t have any bread—Olive oil and a Little flour in basket Gathered a few sticks to cook our last meal—then die. Elijah—Give some to me—First (trust God) Always flour left in the basket.
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3) THE BARN
THERE IS WAY MORE THAN ENOUGH. There's another mindset and this is where I want to live. My word for this year is the word "abundance." Because I grew up with such a scarcity mindset and I'm trying to retrain my mind and build my faith that we always serve an abundant God. The third mindset is this. I call it the barn. When you recognize in God's kingdom there is way more than enough.
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing…. Proverbs 3:9-10
God wants to be first in our lives! Seek 1st!
Tithe
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2 “Dedicate to me every firstborn among the Israelites. The first offspring to be born, of both humans and animals, belongs to me.” Exodus 13:2
When your sheep has a lamb—Give me 1st. Not wait until 10. 13 Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Exodus 13:13
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2 types of animals—Clean & Unclean (Lamb clean, Donkey—Unclean) Sacrifice the 1st born lamb—Redeem the unclean donkey with a lamb. If you don’t redeem the donkey—Break neck. When you were born—Clean or Unclean? Who is Jesus—1st born of God—Lamb of God. God gave Jesus to redeem us of our sins—Gave 1st. The tithe isn’t just 10%—Returning first 10%
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Tithing teaches us to trust God—Not what’s in the bag! Takes faith to give first—Believe that 90% with God’s blessings. Test me—See if I will not open up the flood gates of Heaven.
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Thought it was just about tithing.
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing…. Prov 3:9-10
1st of year gift TBC giving!
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? Car given to us — I wanted to sale it and make money off it. / give it to a family who needed it instead.
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All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back. Prov 21:26 ESV (Lazy/Selfish) Because we don’t have a bag mindset—we don’t have a barrel heart.
We believe in a barn-blessing, big hearted, open handed good and grace filled God. Didn’t hold back.
