Intro/Outro: You're listening to the Garden Church podcast. We're in a series called Church on Fire, a journey through the book of Acts. This is a story of ordinary people filled with the spirit carrying the presence of Jesus into every corner of the world. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and in us today. Join us as we step into the call to be people set on fire for his mission.
Darren Rouanzoin: Alright, church. Hey. My name is Darren. I'm the lead pastor, and I got to baptize my boy last service. So pumped.
I had a lot of nerves though preaching. So I was filling out my how to preach this particular talk and it is going to be a one two three four five six punch and so I was very hesitant to preach it but now I have the courage to preach the word to the 11:00. So whether you like it or not I'm coming at you. I'm gonna preach the the scriptures today and then we're gonna baptize some folks. We got people that are getting baptized today?
Let's go. Testimony last week in the 09:00 service as I was preaching, someone in the 09:00 came up. I thought they were gonna attack me. Was like, security? No.
Knew who who it was, the house church pastor. Dropped some cash, spontaneously felt like the Lord was saying it's for a single dad. Brian was in the house. Brian just lost his wife a couple months ago from cancer, a single dad. They, Brian and Amy, Amy passed away.
Amy helped plant this church when there were 12 of us. She was one of the 12. And we were able over the course of the week to give over $25,000 to him. Moved back from South Africa where she was doing alternative treatment and he moved here without a job, living in the in laws and this was just a testament testimony of God's grace. But not just that, in the first service there was a word given from Joel who is part of our our volunteer team.
He had this prophetic sense that somebody needed to give some cars away and he had a specific picture of somebody broke down on the road in a Honda. Very specific. Would you agree? Yes. Yes pastor.
Very specific is what you say. Well done church. You're doing really good. Actually can I just see the overflow? I think they're probably more engaged than you all.
Hey overflow, I love you. Yes, so glad you're there. Yeah, I can tell. You said yes pastor. Shake your heads.
Yes you did overflow, is that right? Yep, see you there. Good job sheep. Anyways, I'm just kidding. I'm I'm here for it.
But we're a flock together. We're Jesus' flock. There's no Don't be offended. If you're offended by that, oh Lord. But in the second service someone came up saying I don't have a second car but I'm gonna buy a car for someone in need and right after that person said that a single mom who dedicated their child in our church at our last dedications was on her way to the 09:00 but broke down in her Honda on her way to nine and was is going to be gifted that new car.
Can I get a witness? $10,000 on top of the 25,000 were given to people's needs here plus four total cars. I also heard this week someone else is giving a car, very valuable, over $30,000 to another family and that's coming. Another friend told me in a small group this week that they felt compelled to cancel a loan they gave to a Christian friend that hasn't paid it back. They're like I just need to release it it's been two years.
Forgiveness of debts. Can we see? And I'm not done. Six people were confirmed healed of of conditions that were prayed for in the 06:00 or the 06:00 but not the 06:00. In the 09:00 service Lord Jesus no 06:00.
And two other testimonies. I mean the testimonies are just rippling. I heard of a house church that had somebody that couldn't afford rent. They gave over $4,000 to her. Like we're just seeing God do amazing things.
Can we testify? It points to Jesus. Now here's the thing. When when I talk about generosity what I know is and I shared this last week that in the church when we talk about money we all get upset. We get quiet.
We pull back. Look at you. It's just I named it. You're like Yeah. Why do I feel suspicious?
Why do I have Why do I get eager to give to someone's personal story but I hesitate to give to the local church that's been consistent with its finances for seventeen years transparent, faithful and in the black since it started. That's testimony of God's faithfulness in this church. 90 something percent of church plants fail within five years, we're seventeen years in the making, never gone into the hole yet. All from local generosity of the people of God. No outside denomination, no other, no giant donor, just the faithfulness of all of us sacrificing.
All of us being 20%. Because 20% tithe in our church. 20% give 80% of the budget. 17% of the church gives regularly. Do you know that?
Nationally. The national statistic, those that give it 17% of the attendance. This is at the end of the notes, I'm going to start here. In The United States, the average household that gives of the 17% that give, give 2.5% of their income. Less than the households that gave during the Great Depression.
Welcome to church y'all. Why? Because we have been indoctrinated I would like to say. We have been culturally deformed by the world. So we are suspicious.
We are, we have, we have experienced church communities that have abused the finances, leaders living large while the congregants suffer. We have seen some of us carry church hurt wounds that we have seen spiritual authority misuse. But in general we are suspicious because we love control. But more importantly it's because we worship the wrong God. You know I said this last week we live in the wealthiest region, the wealthiest state, in the wealthiest country in the world right now.
How does that shape your world view? Because you don't feel rich. You feel like you don't have enough most of the time and that's not for everyone obviously. But we it's because we compare ourselves to one another. We're keeping up with the Joneses.
Yeah? And all the while we've been discipled by this world view called consumerism. This world view is a simple belief statement. It's this, you aren't enough. Therefore buy this thing and you will be enough.
That is the lie we swim in. So that's why when that Amazon Prime truck shows up and you get warm fuzzy feelings. Yes. There is a neural release of dopamine. There is this feeling of Christmas as they drop off toothpaste and mouthwash and toilet paper.
And you're like, yes, I am enough. Let's do it again tomorrow. Click. It's true. Am I not?
It's true. I know it's true because I feel it every time it comes. I don't know what the package is. It's like little cupcake holder things for cupcakes. But it still feels like Christmas morning to me.
Anyone want to admit this? That we're we live in a constant state of discontentment. And even as we talk about the testimony of what God did, we recognize that we have this strange distrust in the Church as an organization. It's because we've been discipled to question institutions, deconstruct authority and trust personal stories over organizational systems. So it's strange, you'll trust the church with your spiritual life, you'll trust the church with your marriage, you'll trust the church with your kids, but you won't trust the church with your financial resources.
What do we do? Jesus understands this tension better than anyone else which is why he talked in the scriptures when he taught more about money than anything else other than the Kingdom of God. So if you open up Jesus' teachings you'll see he speaks to this condition we have. That he recognizes that when you talk about faith, it's somehow tied to your resources. I would like to suggest in this teaching today that your spirituality is connected to your stuff.
There's a strange connection between the things you possess in money, your resources and your spiritual life with God because money reveals your loyalty. Money reveals your allegiance to a God. Money reveals what you treasure most. And how many of you know it's not the amount of money that you have but it's your heart posture towards it that matters most. Yeah?
So like I said it's not gonna feel good today so open your Bibles to Acts chapter four. You guys alright with that? I don't care. I don't care. I'm preaching to myself.
This is not for you this is for me. I'm gonna read Acts chapter four. We we we read this last week. Can you all stand with me as we read this verse 32? After I read this I'm gonna say the word of the Lord and you say thanks be to God as a as a liturgical process of the scriptures being read to fill your imagination with truth.
You scroll all day long some of you on devices that fill you with information. We are going to read together the Word of God. Right. The Word of God is being read to you right now in the house of God. This is enough for you to remain faithful to Jesus.
Let's read this together verse 32. All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Are you reading this out loud with me?
Oh great. You know let's keep going. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there was no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who own land or houses sold them brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet and it was distributed to anyone who had need. The word of the Lord.
Lord. Thanks be to God. Alright go ahead and grab a seat. I knew I like 11AM. I didn't know why.
Isn't it interesting when the Holy Spirit comes it changes the relationship the people had with money and stuff. The Holy Spirit fills the church and the economy of the church reflects that of heaven. In a simple sense, what God does to those who believe is it changes your perspective of the things that you have. What I have is not mine, it's ours, it's His. But this is what happens only when God's grace is at work.
When God's grace grips your life. When you've been forgiven of everything you can't hold, you can't keep holding on to anything. This is a worldview that you need to understand because what I want to explain today as we talk about stuff, we talk about these hard things. What you just read and what we'll read in second Corinthians in a moment is that this thing of generosity. This thing of recognizing your resources are now reflection of your spiritual life can only happen by grace.
It can only happen by God doing something inside of you that changes the thing that you've been formed in since you were born in Southern California, wherever you're from, in this moment of time. That grace is the key word that activates, that empowers, that releases the church to be generous. What happened last week is an act of grace. This word is so common in the church but so unfamiliar in our life. Is it not?
Because we want to earn everything. Talking to a friend who's yet to be baptized she's telling me well I just got to get my life in order. You don't understand the gospel. You can't possibly get your life in order. No amount of housecleaning is going to be adequate for the kind of total renovation that comes when you say thank you.
I believe. The rest of your life it No. The rest of eternity is you saying thank you for what I couldn't do on my own strength. I've received grace. It's grace that energizes the church.
It's an act of grace that led to cash being up here me walking and dancing on cash. Imagine if I tried to make it a liturgy. Now let's come forward and pass out your cash. Okay. It it would just be lifeless.
God did something. God is doing something. It's for those that have eyes to see and ears to hear. God is looking for containers to fill. You become a container to fill when you recognize you can't fill the container.
When you recognize actually your job is to empty the container as worship. Gordon Fee says this and I want you to hear these quotes cause they're so good. The sum total of God's activity towards his human creatures is found in the word grace. The sum total is grace. God has given himself to his people bountifully and mercifully in Christ.
Nothing is deserved. Nothing can be achieved. Think about that. Do you actually believe this? Because this is where faith isn't real for you.
Faith is the is the standing, the walking, the relaxing, relaxing, the the disposition that actually takes the words of truth and experiences it on a a physiological level. Your anxiety goes away because you know you don't climb a ladder to heaven. He emptied himself to get to you. He brings heaven on earth. And grace is that power.
That animating power that now enables you to live the way of Jesus. You can't possibly earn it. Do you do anyone have do I an amen anywhere? Another great scholar says, That which causes joy, pleasure, gratification, favor and acceptance. A favor done without any expectation of return.
The absolutely free expression of the love of God finding its only motive in the bounty and benevolence of the giver unearned and unmerited favor. You can't earn this walk with Jesus. You can't possibly practice the way. It is impossible. You can't have the life of Jesus.
The life of Jesus is given by the power of the Holy Spirit which is grace. He's not opposed to effort which is practice. He's opposed to earning. You don't get to earn your way into the door. So brothers and sisters what you have to hear the rest of the sermon is a response to grace in view of if this is possibly true.
If it's true about Jesus then he reorganizes our resources. If it's true that it's all grace then he reconstructs our house. If it's true about Jesus, he reorders our desires. He rewires our brain activity so we resist the Amazon Prime. I got the ad today.
Apparently, Good Friday starts this Thursday. Whatever Black Friday. You're up Rameen I'm out. Cue the music. Good Friday.
So where we are at is we need to get a handle on grace. There's a story I'm not gonna read it. Acts 11 I shared this before in the prophetic, this talk on prophecy. There's a guy named Agabus that comes down to Jerusalem and he says, Hey, he predicts there's a famine coming. And then in parenthesis this was during the reign of Claudius meaning Luke a historian says this happened.
The church says what do we do? Every disciple in the church of Antioch decided to collect money to give based on what they were able to give So they could take that money to Judea where the church started in Jerusalem. So hundreds of miles away because of a prophetic word in a local church they take on this offering which becomes called the service to the Lord's people. In Galatians when Paul meets with the apostles and they say, You don't need to change your message, only remember the poor. He says, That is the very thing I was eager to do.
In other words, take up a collection. So Paul goes around the Roman Empire planting churches all over the world and as a as a as a spontaneous moment for one church it becomes a practice for all churches later. That they would take this word and be generous towards the people that started this faith journey for them in Jerusalem. So we see that. And we read about that in second Corinthians and I just want to hit grace one more time.
Because I need you to see and then we are gonna talk about money. Second Corinthians chapter eight it says this, Paul writes to this church. Context, he is writing to the church of Orange County. He's writing to the churches in on the beach of Orange County. Let's just go right where we are to Garden Church because we are a very wealthy church.
Why are we wealthy? Because we live in the wealthiest region and the wealthiest state and the wealthiest country in the world. Are you with me church? But then he's gonna come visit and he knows he has faith in us. He knows how we live.
He knows we got a a $4,400,000 budget we're trying to hit. We're we're a church that says hey we need 500,000 before December 31. It's mid November. That's a true statement. We need that above and beyond giving.
When we started our church brothers and sisters we needed a $100,000 for the year. That was a stretch. Now we give $40,000 away in a weekend to a single dad. I mean that's what's in the people in need. That's the grace at work in us.
So he writes to this church. Let's call it Barstow. You know where Barstow Okay that Is that Can I You're laughing so hard? Are you from Barstow Heather? Okay.
Okay. West Virginia? Kentucky anyone East Kentucky okay you got it? Cost of living is way down compared to SoCal. Yeah?
Yeah. Kind of jobs that you have here like very different in different parts of the world. You guys okay? I'm not trying to dismiss. I'm trying to give you context.
Okay. Here he goes. Now brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Barstow church. Okay. In the midst of a severe trial their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
For I testify they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability entirely on their own. They urgently pleaded with us in the privilege of sharing in the service to the Lord's people. They weren't gonna be told about the offering because they were in poverty. They hear about it from somewhere else and they plead with Paul. Can we give to the church in Jerusalem?
You with me? And they exceeded our expectations. They gave themselves first of all to the Lord and then by the will of God also to us. So we urge Sidas just as he had earlier made a beginning to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. Okay.
There's a gift that's been given it doesn't make sense. Barstow shouldn't have given that kind of gift. And now I'm coming to Newport Huntington Beach, Orange County and some guys are coming with me from that church. And I want you to be ready for the grace on your part. But since you excel in everything in faith and speech and knowledge and complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you.
See that you also excel in the grace of giving. I'm not commanding you but I want to test your sincerity and your love comparing it to the earnestness of others. I want to compare it to the 9AM and 1PM brothers and sisters 11:00. For though, for you know that, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sake he became poor. So that you through his poverty might become rich.
Paul takes a word from, Antioch and spreads it around the church and Paul saying something happened. It was an act of grace. Now, this act of grace is coming your way. Be ready church. Prepare yourself.
And he gives Corinthians specific instructions in chapter eight and nine on how to give to this cause. How to be generous. He'll call it the grace of giving. And he gives instructions. Everyone should do it based on their ability.
Everyone should participate with a cheerful heart because God loves a cheerful giver. He talks about sowing and reaping. He talks about recognizing that it's God that enables you to have the harvest. So, all this comes back to the church becomes viral for generosity. It was known for its radically different characteristic around money.
But brothers and sisters, that's not true of the church today. So my question is, how does it become true of the church today? How do I become generous? How do we excel in the grace of generosity? Look I get it.
Some of you are like you have this alternative motive. Fine. Release it. Give somewhere else. Here's what I want to say.
Don't give to the guard. Give to some other organization that you feel is more trustworthy. Work that out theologically, but you should become a person in the way of Jesus that lives with generosity in the heart. How do we get there? I'm gonna give you three quick practical things from the Gospel of Luke that shaped the early church.
So I wanna teach you about the connection. I wanna just give you a new framework to see the things that you possess. Just go into your imagination for a moment to your closet, to your garage if you have one, to that drawer, to the drawers with all this stuff. And I want you to think about this, that there is a direct correlation between your stuff and your spiritual life. And I wanna see if God connects the dots in your heart today and your wallets.
Amen? Alright. So did I pray in the service? I'm a pray right now. Jesus, give us more grace to steward what you're speaking right now.
To release in us freedom more than anything else. To live as part of your kingdom with such joy that the idols of our age are frustrated with us in Jesus name. Amen. Okay. First teaching from Jesus.
There's so many because he talks about money more than anything else. Luke chapter 12. Can you say Luke real quick? Luke. Can you say Luke?
You guys did it wrong. My discipleship is failing here. I didn't have to ask the nine. They knew. Well, let's get the worship team up.
We say Luke differently here. Luke chapter 12 it says this, someone from the crowd, I'm gonna read this, this is so great. I wanna create some personality around the person asking the question. Okay, this is how I hear it. Luke chapter 12 says, someone in the crowd said to him, teacher, tell my brother to defy the inheritance with me.
I have two boys. And this is a common conversation with anybody I think at the end of the day. Just make it fair. Right? And then Jesus' response is, Who appointed me as judge?
Then he said, Look look, this is Jesus' teaching. Ready? Watch out. Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Apparently stay here.
There are lots of different kinds of greed. So I just want to say Jesus' teachings are they true for you today? Yes. Do you believe hold on. Do you believe as a disciple of Jesus his words are for you today?
Yes. Okay. Watch out. Be on guard against all kinds of greed. Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.
Just sit there for a moment. Keep that scripture up there. It's just the Bible. Don't preach so hard. Give me some context.
Make it feel a little better pastor. Apparently, life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. How are those dressers, drawers and closets doing right now in your heart? I got a couple old iPhones in my closet. I got too many pairs of shoes that I have and I don't have that many to be honest.
I purse I presume minimalism. My wife has way more than she needs. Don't judge. I get it. Jesus saying don't judge.
I'm not judging but seriously. I don't think shoes are part of the five love languages. Oh gifts gift giving of course they are. Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. Don't say this to your spouse.
I'm not creating more conflict. Let it go into your heart. But what is the first teaching that I wanna share? Beware of greed. Here's what we do and and I get it you wanna run out of here let's get to brunch.
Talking to one of my worship pastors not gonna name, name Faith. I'm not saying she's greedy, she's the most generous person. Your heart just went negative. Thinking about how God's shaping her heart in this season towards generosity. What is this, what is our generation shape us for right now?
What is this consumer holiday consist of? You know the holiday where the peasant teenage parents that are pregnant outside of wedlock forced by an empire to move hundreds of miles during the last trimester of a pregnancy to give birth in a barn. That King of Kings, Lord and Lord born in a stable. Right? Born outside in a barn, put in a feeding trough.
You know, what does this consumer holiday teach us to do? Buy more stuff. I was just hearing from Asher's dad this last week that we spend more money on our pets Halloween clothes than we do on missions in the church. Beware of greed but my cat needs a Halloween costume. Now you know it's a spirit of the age.
I got a cat. No I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Beware of greed. Alright.
You guys okay with this? Can we just let that simmer for a second? How many of us actually believe that life consists in abundance of stuff? Because we are discipled into a culture that says once you have, buy more. Once you have the more secure it.
And then the parable that Jesus tells next is that this guy has all he needs so he builds a bigger barn. And then God says, Your life is now required. You are done. Who is going to take your stuff? And then Jesus says in verse 12 chapter 12 verse 21, This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich towards God.
You can be financially secure but spiritually bankrupt. There is a weird, mysterious connection that we have with our stuff in spiritual life. You with me? Alright. In the kingdom of God, greed is not measured by what you have but by how tightly you hold it.
Okay. Point number two. Luke chapter three. Let's go there real quick. I got two more things and then we'll pray.
Luke, let me hear those Bibles. Luke chapter three. Well done church. Luke chapter three verse seven. Okay.
Quick context and then I'm gonna read this part. You guys good? Luke three verse seven. Here under my subtitle it says John the Baptist? Yeah?
You guys there? So who's John the Baptist? Now, to answer the question, who's John the Baptist? You go back to the Old Testament. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years.
Where there were prophecies in the Old Testament from these prophets that said, hey God's gonna do this new Exodus thing. Like in Exodus where God brought Moses except he's gonna be, it's gonna be bigger than ever. He's gonna send this this this Messiah, this servant, the savior that's gonna usher in a new era, new age to come. It'll be marked by resurrection of the dead and the Holy Spirit and a new covenant and the law being written on your hearts and the knowledge of God going out by the sea. We know that that person is Jesus.
But the prophet said there would be somebody eventually that would come and he will prepare the way for the Messiah. This Messiah figure will have a forerunner who will prepare the way and that person is John the Baptist. So after that Malachi ends saying, you look for one that will prepare the way. John the Baptist. There's four hundred years of silence between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
And then John the Baptist is here. He's finally here. Israel has the prophesied person that's going to prepare the way for God's chosen servant. And they're like, let's go. He's out in the wilderness and he's got a message.
And Luke wants you to know what the message is. And the message is everything everyone should know about preparing for the coming of the Messiah. And he says in verse seven, you brood of vipers. It's not a pleasant thing to say. Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Here's his message. Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Don't just say we're part of Abraham's covenant. We're good. No no no.
God can tell these stones to be children of God. He's gonna cut down the tree unless you produce good fruit. People are cut to the heart. What are we gonna do? This is John's message of preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ.
Are you with me? Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who doesn't. Anyone who has food should do the same. How do you prepare for the Messiah? If you got two cloaks and someone doesn't share one of them.
If you got enough food and someone near you doesn't have enough share what you have. Wait, I thought you said we are preparing for the Messiah? Repent means to get my spiritual life in order. I need to come to the revival meeting that you posted. Right?
I need to get to all the gatherings. No. If you have something, share with the one that doesn't have enough. It doesn't end there. Tax collectors, the really despised folks who are really They're the big sinners.
Right? They're the really cultural sinners. They're the the people you don't want in the church. They don't want you want them near you. They are also convicted.
What should we do? Don't collect any more than you are required to. What is Hey, be honest. How do we prepare for the Messiah? Share your stuff.
Be honest. And then the soldiers come. Right? This is an another category that doesn't make sense. They shouldn't be repenting.
Right? He says don't extort money. Don't accuse people falsely. Be content with your pay. Church when John the Baptist's message is recorded for what we do to prepare for the coming of the Messiah he says share what you have.
Be content. Be honest. Apparently, repentance involves your resources. No, Darren. Keep it.
Keep it a category I'm comfortable with. See in consumer Christianity, we're comfortable with categories of I wanna give Jesus my life. What we mean is, I'm gonna say a prayer and then I'm live my life like I'm supposed to however I want and then once in a while go to church on Sundays pass if the bucket comes or someone drops cash. I might spontaneously give but most of the time giving Jesus my life is simply giving him a percentage, a portion. But what we see in the Gospel of Luke is you can't give Jesus your life unless it includes your resources.
Because it's all his. Yeah are you alright? Yes. I got it's quiet. You want me to tell a funny joke?
Insert joke here. Laugh. Let's keep going. So repentance touches your bank account before it touches your emotions. Right?
There's a saying, mood follows action. Right? You don't feel like working out in the mornings, you do it because you know it's best. You don't feel like eating healthy food, eating clean. You feel like eating Chick fil A on Sundays for some reason even though it's closed on Sundays.
But how many times have I tried? Too many. It's embarrassing actually. It's very embarrassing to tell you how many times I got in a drive thru at chick fil a only to discover it was closed on a Sunday. Because you want comfort food when you're feeling emotionally drained.
Am I right? Yeah. This is the process of research. Can you put that that quote back up? Is that mood follows action.
There's one more thing I want to read. Before Jesus ever teaches on giving, John the Baptist says, if you wanna prepare for the Messiah, you have change how you handle your money. Can I give you one more story in Luke before I seal it? Yes. Yes.
Because part of this sermon is simply repent. What are you repenting from? From the cultural idol that has your heart. I don't want your money. Jesus doesn't want your money.
He wants your freedom. And what you've done is continue to be enslaved to the cultural norms of our day. Remember in Acts 19, to be Ephesian was to worship Artemis and they said, we can no longer worship Artemis. We are denying our national identity and we're giving up those idols to follow Jesus. That's true today only we've somehow reduced following Jesus to a prayer and then you just live your way.
That's no longer acceptable in the way of Jesus. That's the kind of faith that gets spit out of Jesus's mouth in the end of age. I already preached the revelation. So you go back to listen to those. Don't do it again.
How you doing? Tender? Serious? Ready for brunch? Okay.
Luke chapter 19. This one's even worse. Just progressive right in your meal today you're just getting progressive. Here comes the main course. Alright.
This story we could sing. So Zacchaeus was a wee little man. A wee little man was he. Climbed up a sycamore tree. The Lord he wanted to see.
He so I love that you had it Natalie. Zacchaeus is a chief tax collector in context he is Jeffrey Epstein. Yeah you feel gross? Yeah. Perfect.
I want you to feel that. Disgust is an appropriate response to that name. You good? No. You shouldn't be good because what happens next should offend the heck out of you.
Yeah. And it does. Zacchaeus doesn't go to anyone else's house in Jericho which was like the, second house location for those that lived in Jerusalem large. They lived in Jericho 17 miles away to Jerusalem. So the wealthy elite class lived in Jericho.
That's where Zacchaeus is. How? By extorting and manipulating and partnering with the Roman soldiers to force taxation on his own people. He's excommunicated from being an Israelite. He is no longer a son of Abraham.
He can't eat meals with people that are Israelites because to eat a meal with someone like Him meant you are in on it. So Jesus says I am going to your house. Your island. I know I you to feel it. There's no other category I can create that makes you feel as frustrated as this.
And people say what is he doing? He's going to be a guest of a sinner. Yes. Because table fellowship symbolically represents equality and acceptance. You're in good standing with this kind of person.
It doesn't make sense. Go to verse eight of chapter 19. So Jesus is eating with this despicable person and this despicable person, this wee little man which has a bad rap stands up and he says, Look Lord. We don't hear that Jesus is teaching. He is having a meal.
Jesus doesn't say cue the music, bring out the offering plate. We're gonna do this liturgy of giving. No. He says, here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor and if I've cheated anybody out of anything I will pay back four times the amount. So something happens in this meal where he encounters Jesus and something about the presence of Jesus immediately changes Zacchaeus' approach relationship to his stuff.
Any new parents in the house? They're probably in the other room. And do have any young new parents? Yeah. You got a little bit.
Anyone here been a parent before? Raise your hand. Raise your Okay. Former parent? You you they're now in college.
But in the early days, become a parent and your life radically changes. You don't realize it because before you become a new parent, you celebrated eight hours of sleep. When you become a new parent to little ones you celebrate three. This is true. It sucks.
It's so painful. Your vocabulary changes overnight. Something happens where your entire life and schedule are now changed. What used to be your desires are now scheduled around somebody's nap. Right?
Somebody's feeding schedule and you learn a whole new set of language. You start using as a grown human being phrases like pack and play, boppy, bumbo seat, burp cloth, spit up, sleep sack, swaddles, onesie blowout, ergo, baby Bjorn, Doc O Talk, tummy time, dream feed, cluster feeding, butt paste. All of a sudden, you're asking your spouse whether or not they had a poop. If it if you're freaking out in the car and blaming the other person because you don't have sleep because they forgot the passe. You'll fight over.
Where is the passe? You turn. In the middle of the night, you will purchase 12 different passies because the one that works is no longer working. You do absolutely insane things. Your schedule, your life, your resources, your language all change around this new relationship.
Same with Jesus. Zacchaeus is confronted by this being and he gets up and he becomes the expression that was prophesied in Luke chapter four when Jesus says the spirit of God is upon me not to hand out stuff to good to the poor but to preach the good news to the poor. To announce the year of the Lord's favor which is the year of Jubilee and in this moment Jubilee is lived through Zacchaeus Jeffrey Epstein. And then Jesus does the unthinkable. I mean could you imagine that moment right Zacchaeus goes out he's like I got a second toaster you can have it.
Here's my old iPhone you can have it. All these extra cars giving it to the poor. Everyone's like what's going on with this guy? They're collecting it's like Oprah Winfrey show right? Like you get a car, you get a car which is our service last week.
Jesus stands up and he says hold on Jesus sees this act and he says, today salvation has come to this house. The only time we know for certainty salvation occurred in the Gospel of Luke is with Zacchaeus. And he says, because this man too is a son of Abraham. He restores his identity. Salvation reorders your possessions.
Beware of greed. Repentance requires your resources and salvation reorders your possessions because generosity didn't earn salvation. It simply proved it in Zacchaeus' life. Something about encountering Jesus loosens the grip. His grip on money.
When God's way of life comes crashing into Zacchaeus' life, he rearranges the furniture. He cuts his closet in half and he shares his stuff because Jesus changes our relationship with money and possession. Salvation has come to this house. Imagine if Jesus announced that in your life. Right now.
What would have to change? What have you accommodated the message? What have you compromised his message with? Because of the culture you're swimming in. Because of the fear.
Because of the insecurity. Because of the addiction. Because of the comfort that has gripped your heart. That chokes out the Word of God. He says it's the deceitfulness of wealth and the worries of life that chokes God's seed growing into a hundredfold ministry when this, Word of God is sown.
The whole point of the story is that when we learn to give our money and possessions away we learn to give more and more of ourselves to God. So, here's a quick question. If Jesus audited your finances, what would he see? Disciples of Jesus Christ, those that believe Jesus is the way, the truth and life, those that have come to believe he's risen from the dead and have patterned their life after him. If you looked at your finances right now, I don't I don't want you to change.
If you were to pull out your bank statements right now, if you were to pull out your Venmo, if you go through line by line of all the lattes, of all the eggnog, of all the of all the hobby spending, all the resources that went out, would he see faithfulness? Would he see generosity or would he see a percentage? Would he see a godly expression of finances or would he see devotion to the wrong gods? Yeah. If we say here that the Kingdom of God is what life looks like when God's in charge.
What would change if Jesus was in charge of your finances? The answer is Acts two and four. A kind of community, a kind of expression of community where there are no needs among us. You with me church? Yeah.
Okay. I put this up last week. I want us to build an ecosystem of generosity in our lives. So here's here's a bunch of information. Just take a picture.
I wanna hit on one. I said this last week. How did anyone tip 30% this week? Raise your hand if you did. You just lost your reward.
No, I'm just kidding. Gotcha. Try it again. I did 50 I did 20% not 50. I did I was like, oh it was coffee and they didn't really do anything.
And I was like, I did 20 and I immediately felt the conviction of the Lord. I immediately felt conviction and I almost like hid it from my son because I know he was in here and we talked about 30%. So I now I'm like alright 30% the rest of the season. Alright. The invitation then is to live out of freedom.
Amen? Is to learn the way of freedom which requires a response in worship with all of your things being submitted to Lord Jesus. Can we all stand together?
Intro/Outro: For more information, visit us at garden.church.