How Thanks and Giving cultivate abundance

This past Sunday we wrapped-up our Good and Beautiful God series and began the transition into the season of Advent with a talk entitled How Thanks and Giving Cultivate Abundance. As always it is humbling to listen to a bit of the talk. I am quite thankful today for the opportunity to clarify a couple of things and also for the ability to edit the actual talk itself with sound editing software.


For some reason I began the talk with a plethora of “um’s, and uh’s.” So I cut the first two and a half minutes right out of the talk. Really, um, you will, uh, like not miss it, um, at all. I also cut about the last five minutes to shorten the talk, so that it will seem more concise than it actually was.


I’m also thankful for the opportunity to clarify something. Kristine pointed out that the talk could have been construed to have been saying that if you are suffering from depression it is probably because you are ungrateful. Let me be clear in writing. That is not at all what I meant to convey. I know that depression is an unwanted life - draining reality for many of us with many varied causes.


What I did mean to say is that Jesus came to bring us life, and one thing that he modeled and that the whole of scripture commends to us is giving thanks. Many studies in recent years have shown that Jesus was right. Giving thanks is indeed good for us. It boosts our feelings of happiness; we will be more likely to exercise; lowers blood pressure; makes us feel more socially connected etc.


Conversely the Bible warns against ingratitude. Not saying thanks has a way of shrinking our world. It narrows our focus to what we do not have, and the more intent our focus becomes on the thing we do not have the less happy we become. An interesting story that illustrates this in scripture is the story of Ahab who is the King of Israel. Being king is a pretty prime position, but he becomes focused on a Vineyard that he does not have. I suppose you could say the same of David as he becomes fixated on Bathsheba (he already has a quite a few wives at that point – incidentally just because something is recorded in the Bible doesn’t mean that God thinks it is a good idea - for example David’s multiples wives). You may have seen this illustrated at times in your own life when you become focused on the thing that you want, that you don’t have and it begins to rob your enjoyment of what you do have. I talked about how I sometimes see this in my children, (it is easier than talking about how I see in my children than to talk about how I see it in me – which I do).


In the Bible passage we looked at John 6. The disciples are approaching their situation from a position of scarcity, “There isn’t enough.” Jesus approaches the situation with a heart of thankfulness and abundance.I believe that saying thanks changes our perspective and opens our hearts and our hands.


After Jesus gives thanks he begins to distribute the bread. He isn’t hoarding what he has. Instead he is giving. The Bible frequently commends giving. Giving also boosts our levels of happiness. Giving it turns out is actually good for us. Paul says to the Corinthians that as they give they will be rich in every way. 


Sometimes I think we are tempted to think that the primary reward from giving will be that we will actually end up with more money. This may or may not be the case, but I think ultimately misses the point. If the money is our focus then we are still living from a narrative which points to money as the source of happiness, a narrative which points to money as a source of life. The Bible is clear that God is the source of life. I think that giving is an opportunity to focus our hearts on God and on others. This focus on loving God and loving others, leads to a life that is rich in every way. In other words we will really be living. We will be discovering that Jesus really did come to bring us life.

We are about to enter a season where many different voices will be saying you need more. You need to spend more you need this. I showed one of the ads that at least approaches the event of Black Friday with a sense of humor…

It is a funny commercial, but there is a reality that you had better be in pretty decent shape if you are planning on venturing out Friday morning. Because narratives about shortage and want do lead to grasping and pushing behavior.

I suggested a few soul training exercises, that may help us focus on God. Let me be perfectly clear. You won’t win God’s favor through these exercises. God won’t love you more if you do them, nor will God love you less if you don’t. But, they might be an opportunity to discover more of the life that Jesus points towards.

- Make a no complaint pledge from here to Thanksgiving

- Record at least 5 things you are thankful for at the end of the day

- Sleep in and buy nothing on Friday

- During the next week every time a commercial comes on get up and take inventory of what you have

- Give gifts that help change the world like ducks, or goats or jewelery from the WAR Chest

Why scenes of self-sacrifice move us

Finding Forrester
Acts of self-sacrifice move us deeply. In the movie Finding Forester, the two leads Jamal Wallace and William Forrester both act in self-sacrificial ways. Jamal goes first and then William in the climactic scene summons the courage to self-sacrificially come out of his apartment and appear before a group of people on behalf of Jamal.

Many films, novels, short-stories, songs, works of art etc. deal with similar themes. Some of the films that came to mind while I was thinking about this talk were: Chronicles of Narnia, Gran Torino, Brave Heart, Life is Beautiful, The Messenger, Man on Fire & Braveheart.  These came pretty immediately to my mind. I’m sure that you would have your own list.

What is it about these scenes that move us? I think that these scenes reflect a reality that is at the heart of the universe, and that truth is that God is self-sacrificing. How do we know that God is self-sacrificing? We look at the cross of Jesus.

In John 12, Jesus looks ahead to his impending death at the hands of the Romans on a cross.
I really love this passage. Jesus in this passage ties his glory to his act of self-sacrificial love. In other words God’s glory is revealed in Jesus as he lays down his life on the cross. This sermon series The Good and Beautiful God has been about replacing wrong narratives about God with the true narrative that we see in Jesus.

One false narrative is that God is primarily selfish. God is a sort of a cosmic boss or bully that simply bosses everyone else in the universe around. That is a part of the basic lie in the Garden of Eden. The undercurrent of the serpent’s conversation with Eve is, “God is just acting like an arbitrary bully. This fruit is really good. God is just trying to throw his weight around, by saying you can’t eat.”

Jesus shows that God is self-giving. God in Christ is going to “be lifted up” on a cross. This act of self-sacrifice will “drive out the prince of this world.” The prince is driven out as the lies, the false narratives “God is selfish, God is a cosmic bully” are exposed.

Not only is the prince driven out, people are drawn to God as they get a clear picture of God as they see Jesus on the cross. Jesus at the cross draws “all people to himself.” This is why Paul would say things like he preached “Jesus Christ and him crucified.” The cross of Jesus is the perfect antidote for the many false – narratives we have believed about God.

God is Holy/ Why this is good news/ and one thing I could have said a lot better

We really do not understand the word Holy too well as a culture. Holy, if you are Robin, can be an adjective put in front of almost any noun (or adjective or phrase): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nltVuSH-lQM

Holy obviously has lost something of its punch in culture at large.

The church uses Holy to describe God. When using Holy to describe God we are saying a couple of things. First, we are saying that God is completely other than creation. We are affirming that God, though the maker of all, has remained distinct from creation. Second, we are saying that God is morally perfect. In other words there is nothing evil about God. God is all good.

This second meaning can sound like bad news to us, because we recognize that we are not entirely good. I know that I have certainly had this attitude towards holiness at times. The Bible talks about all of us sinning, and because we have sinned, we fall short of God’s standard of Holiness. God’s Holiness can make God seem unapproachable.

In preparing for this talk, though, I really came to grips with the fact that God’s holiness is really good news. God being holy means that God is actively opposing all that is evil and counter to God’s good intentions for creation. A couple of key scriptures that we looked at were Luke 4 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%204:31-37&version=NIV and 1 John 3 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%203:7-8&version=NIV

God’s holiness means that God is working to defeat evil. So the answer to the question the demon asks: “have you come to destroy us?” is YES! This is crucial. God in Holiness works to undo the effects of evil, and is actively opposing evil. However, we can experience this as bad news. It is bad news for the evil in us, but it is ultimately really good news for us. Because as God drives out the evil in us, we find that we are actually more of who we were meant to be, not less.

Consider how this is illustrated in this passage from Isaiah: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%206:1-8&version=NIV First Isaiah experiences God’s Holiness as really bad news: “Woe is me…” But, God is actually moving towards Isaiah and cleansing him, “The angel took the tongs…” This not the end though. God then gives Isaiah a mission: “Who will go for us…” We see here that God’s Holiness is really good news. Isaiah is not less of himself because of his encounter with the Holy God. He is actually more of himself. God has given him a mission.

We see this principle in the Luke 4 passage as well. Because of his encounter with Jesus, the man in the Capernaum synagogue is also certainly more of himself. God’s Holiness makes us more ourselves. As Paul says we are God’s handiwork, and God is at work restoring His handiwork. As we encounter God in His Holiness we actually become more ourselves. Or in the word of John Ortberg, I become me-ier and you become youier.

I used this clip from Lord of the Rings as an illustration. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tlkrR_hasU Because Theoden has encountered goodness (represented by Gandalf) he is more himself than he was before the encounter.

Now for something I wish I would have said a whole lot better. (For you football fans this is sort of like the pass the Quaterback wishes he would not have thrown - Kirk Cousins could relate)

As we were wrapping up I said something like this: “I was taught to preach the Bible not my experience.” Then I went on to say something like this: “But, I want a God I can experience.” Both these things are true, but not the most helpful things I have ever said, and certainly not the best way to say it. One, it makes it sound like I might not value the Bible that much. Two, it makes it sound like things are more about me than they are about God. Sort of like, “God needs to be this way for me.” So as part of my Monday morning quarterbacking, let me take another shot at it.

I think I should teach the Bible. But, here is the deal with the Bible. The Bible is all about people’s experiences with the Living God. God is alive. This is one of the most basic messages from the Bible. God is alive and interacting with people. So, from the Bible we can expect that we will actually experience God. I think if I don’t have actual experiences with God, the Bible will begin to seem just like a book of fantasy. Because I value the Bible, my expectation is that God will actually interact with us. As I talk about God’s Holiness, as we look at God’s Holiness in the Bible, my hope and expectation is that we as a people will actually experience God’s Holiness and find ourselves changed and growing from the experience.

This is a little bit more like what I was trying to say, thought it is still inadequate. So maybe you can help me.

How could we say this better? Do you think it is important to experience God? How have you experienced God in the past couple of weeks? How have you felt about God’s Holiness? Do you think God’s Holiness is good news? Have you had an experience of God’s Holiness and found that you were actually more of yourself after the encounter?

Thanks for exploring these things with me.

God is Love

Sunday I practiced Pastoral piling on, as I said the same thing over and over in slightly different ways.
Sometimes the best outline for a talk looks like this:


Introduction – Tell everyone what you are going to tell them


Body – Tell them


Conclusion – Tell them what you told them
I followed this basic outline this past Sunday.


Transition Song: Rich Mullins the love of God “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy I can’t find in my own…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhKZn8gdN-E


Interview: Al and hear how he experienced God’s love in the midst of cancer


Introduction: Tell everyone that you are going to tell them that God loves them, and that they can not change the love God has for them


Body: Tell them that God loves them and that there is nothing they can do to make God love them more, and nothing they can do to make God love them less...


Conclusion: God loves you and there is nothing you can do to change that fact. Let Brennan Manning make the same point http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQi_IDV2bgM


Sing: The Love of God, Indescribable, Your Grace is enough, Amazing Grace and How He Loves


This is such a crucial message and really does bear repeating in as many different ways as possible. This message is central to understanding and following Jesus. Jesus (who perfectly represents God – see John 14) loves sinners (imperfect people like you and me), not on the basis of what we have done, just because he does. He looks for imperfect people. He strikes up conversations with them, eats with them, invites himself to their house, accepts their gifts, said he came looking for them, says he will welcome them to paradise (he says this while hanging on a cross), asks his Father to forgive them….


The verse that we used as a starting point was John 3:16. A verse that is probably familiar to a bunch of people simply from it frequently being displayed at baseball games. The verse says God loved the world and gave his son for the world.


The world includes all sorts of messed-up, sinful people like you and  me. So we asked the question in the talk: Is it true that God actually loves messed up people? Does he love porn addicts and pornographers? Porn stars? Coke addicts and coke pushers? Tax cheats and IRS agents? Republicans? Democrats? Libertarians? Anarchists and communists? Religious fanatics and atheists? Evolutionists and young earth creationists? Gossips and bigots? Liars, gambles and swindlers? Animal rights activists and hunters? Saints? Sinners?


It appears to me from looking closely at Jesus that the indisputable answer is:YES! 


This is so counter-cultural to the basic message of the world, which is that we are loved for our performance for our accomplishments, looks, talent, smarts, money.... Jesus says you are loved no matter what. You are stuck with Jesus loving you. If we get this it will change everything. And by get it, I mean something more that accept this as a fact in my head – I mean feel it in my gut and let Christ’s love consume me. http://www.biblica.com/bible/verse/index.php?q=ephesians3:14-20&tniv=yes