Speaker: Greg Sanders

Passage: Luke 6:27-38

LUKE 6:27-38

Come on back in if you have your Bibles, grab them. We’re going to be in Luke 6. I think I’ve shared this before, I grew up in church like all the time. My grandfather, on my mom’s side, was a pastor, church planter. Grandfather on my father’s side, pastor, church planner. Uncles, pastors, church planners. 

And so, I just was in church my whole life. And I just remember every offering– how many grew up in a church where they passed like a plate or a bucket or something like that? I just remember my grandfather, he would always stand up to take the offering, and he would always quote this verse we’re gonna look at. And he would talk about it for a while at offering every week, and it was about giving. 

“It should be given to you, pressed down, shaken together.” And so, my entire growing up, I just assumed this verse was just always about money and about finance, and I’ve taught it around those principles. And it’s not wrong, those principles are absolutely accurate for this. 

But in looking at this verse lately, I have realized that it’s actually about a lot more than that. It’s actually about our relationship with resource. It’s about our attitude towards resource. And Jesus will teach this to His disciples. 

And how many know when Jesus gives the words in red in the Scripture, you kind of push pause, you pay attention to those differently? When Jesus speaks, you need to pay attention directly to what He’s saying. 

And He teaches His disciples this principle, and He does it for a reason. Every time He teaches His disciples something, He’s not just doing it because He’s trying to give them knowledge. He’s doing it to adjust or correct something in their life. In other words, they had a misunderstanding of resource, they were approaching it wrong. And so, Jesus is working to teach them how to approach it correctly. 

So, simple answer is, if His disciples were being taught how to approach resource, and we are His disciples, then we need to know what He taught them so we can live it. Make sense? 

What He’s going to address in us with this teaching really gets to the heart of our sin nature. How many understand that you can live from a place of abundance or you can live from a place of lack? And the choice is really about your relationship and your attitude towards resource. 

Now, I love this teaching when it’s connected to finance. One of my passions is to teach finance from the perspective of, How does the Kingdom teach it? Because I think there’s an amazing ability to step into blessing when you learn how to manage your finances the way that Scriptures teach. 

LUKE 6:27-38

If you have your Bibles with you, let’s go to chapter 6, verse 27, and we’re going to read that, and you’re going to hear it. I want you to listen for all the different things He talks about because He’s not just talking about finance. 

He says this: “But if you are willing to listen–” say I’m willing. Okay, that’s a good place to start when you read the Bible. “If you’re willing to listen, I say love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer them the other cheek.” 

Can you imagine really living that out? He’s not joking. He says, Somebody walks up to you and slaps you, just turn it and go, Can I have another? I don’t know about you, is that your reaction? No. Most of us feel phenomenally justified in that moment to slap back. We instantly go into like Master Of Disguise, I slap you, you slap me. Like you know that moment? If you don’t know what that is, it’s a great old Dana Carvey film. It’s fun. 

“But I say to you who are willing to listen. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt. Also, give to anyone who asks, and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you. If you only love those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you only do good to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much. And if you lend money to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return. Love your enemies. do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid.” 

I want you to consider the scope of what Jesus is referencing. I’m going to change the language, I’m going to put a phrase in front of it. The phrase is, I want you to. I want you to hear Jesus saying this: I want you to. And then we’re going to read the list of things He touches. 

“I want you to love your enemies. I want you to do good to those who hate you. I want you to actively bless when you get cursed. I want you to get mistreated and let it go. I want you to be demanded of and then offer more than they asked for. I want you to be generous whenever and wherever you find a need that you can meet. I want you to not retaliate when you have the opportunity. I want you to live intentionally good towards others. You take the first step. I want you to love everyone, be extra intentional with the ones that treat you bad. I want you to live differently than your human nature. Don’t act like an unbeliever. And I want you to live as a resource for all people.” 

The magnitude of what He challenges in this is immense. It’s a holistic paradigm for living the King’s way. What He was confronting in His disciples was that the life that they naturally had was not the life that He wanted them to live. I would argue it wasn’t the life that He lived. He was trying to redirect the way they lived. 

What He’s really teaching about is the overflow– what comes out of us towards others. All the things He will address are things that come out of us that we release to other people. 

WHAT WE RELEASE TO OTHERS

How many have ever heard this phrase in common language, it’s out there right now a lot: what you put into the universe? I went on a retreat about a month ago for some health stuff, and part of that retreat was to take some classes and learn about managing stress and things like that. 

So, there was a class schedule, and so I signed up for a bunch of the classes. And one of the classes was lessons in compassion. Now I’m like, not the most compassionate dude, and I know the Bible talks about being compassionate, so I’m like, I could learn, that would be good for me. I’ll go take a lesson in compassion. 

So, I show up, I walk over to the room, and I sit down, and it’s just me and this old lady. She’s like seventy-five, and I’m the only student. And I’m looking around, and I’m like, Is anybody else coming? She’s like, No, I think you’re the only student today. 

She’s like, So, what brings you here? And I give her my spiel: You know, compassion is not my like, native strength. I think I could learn. I thought I would try some nobility and be educated in compassion. 

She’s like, Oh, and it was that Oh that tells you what’s coming isn’t good. She’s like, I don’t think they advertised this right. I’m like, Really? How come? She’s like, Oh, no, this is learning how to pray the Buddhist compassion prayer. 

At that moment, I’m curious, so I’m like, Oh, really? She’s like, What do you do for a living? I’m like, Funny enough, I pastor a church. And then she’s like, Oh. She’s like, Are you gonna be okay? I’m like, Yeah, I don’t think you can infect me with what you have. 

And so, she’s like, So, do you want to try it? I’m like, Sure, lead on. So, she takes me through this Buddhist compassion prayer, and it’s all about putting things out into the universe. 

And so, we get to the end of it, she’s like, What did you learn? I’m like, I actually learned a few things. The Lord was showing me some stuff through it. He was showing me that one of the things that they do really well is, instead of just moving to forgiving somebody, one of the parts of that prayer is, I pray goodwill toward the people that have hurt me. 

And I’m like, Oh, we don’t teach forgiveness right at all because we need to set our hearts in good intention towards people before the Lord, not before Buddha because that’s just crazy, but it will help us move that direction. 

So, I shared that with her. She’s like, Oh, that’s really insightful. And I’m like, You know, when you talk to God, you get lots of insights. I said, I also learned compassion for Buddhists. She’s like, Why? I’m like, Because this is the dumbest prayer style in the world. And she’s like, I don’t really know what to say to that. 

I’m like, It’s okay. I’m not being mean. It’s just a really dumb prayer style. You’re not actually praying. You’re just putting it out into the world. I’m like, You could actually talk to God if you want. I could teach you. She’s like, No, no, I’m good. 

Jesus is not talking about what you put out into the world. That is not what He’s dealing with. He’s talking about what you intentionally allow to be released from you to others. And He’s making a really clear point: the way you handle others, in the tangible– in your heart attitudes, and in your perspectives– matters to Him. 

So, then He goes on– we didn’t read it yet. He drops a bomb in the next verse. And He said, it doesn’t just deal with earth, it actually deals with eternity. And He says that there’s eternal consequences to this lifestyle, to whether or not we choose it or not, whether or not we step into it or not. 

So, He says, “Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High. For he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.” Wow, He is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. And because of that, when we live that way, we’re looking like Him. 

And then He goes on, and He drops this verse. Say the word must with me. Must. Must means you have to do it. He says, “You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate, and here’s what that looks like: don’t judge others, and you’ll not be judged. Don’t condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you’ll be forgiven.” 

JESUS’ PARADIGM

All of a sudden, in studying this, I’m like, Woah, this is about way more than money. And there’s four things that jump out about what it looks like to live in this paradigm. Number one, there is eternal reality connected to this paradigm. It affects the other side. 

Secondly, this paradigm of our relationship to resource, our understanding of generosity, is the litmus test of authenticity in His family. It’s the line that shows whether you’re real or not. 

You see, we don’t love those lines. We’re like, No, it’s all grace. It’s all the cross. Jesus makes multiple statements throughout His life: “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross.” In other words, you don’t just get to go, Cool, I want to be saved, and it’s over. 

There is a lifestyle you are to adopt and appropriate to be authentic in the Kingdom. This is part of it. He says that this is the definition of carrying His nature. In other words, if you carry His nature, you’ll live in this generosity. You’ll live in relationship to resource like this.

And the fourth thing I see is it’s a command. And He kind of cuts to the chase, and I just want to give us a phrase: as His followers, because of our birth in the Kingdom, we are to be better to others than they deserve. 

Just want you to think about that for a second: as His followers, because of our birth into the Kingdom, we are called to be better to others than they deserve. Anyone else besides me struggle with that? Anyone besides me want to treat those who treat you poorly the same way they treated you, right? 

But “must be” and “do not,” those are really loaded phrases because they’re not optional. And Jesus attaches those phrases to compassion, to judgment, to condemnation, to forgiveness, the things that come out of us towards others; some of them were told to do, some of them were told not to do. 

COMPASSION, JUDGEMENT, FORGIVENESS

I want you to consider this truth: when you have the opportunity to become compassionate, according to Jesus, you are to do it. When you have the opportunity to be compassionate, not the emotion to be compassionate, not the feeling to be compassionate. 

He doesn’t say, When you’re moved, be compassionate. When you could judge someone, according to Jesus, you’re not supposed to. He says, Don’t do it. Go back to compassion. Yeah, but do You know what they did? 

Yes, that is the definition of judging someone, it’s assessing mentally what they did. And He says, Don’t do it. Go to compassion. When you could condemn their behavior, He says, Don’t do it. Look instead with compassion. 

This is the hardest one: when you have the option to forgive, do it without hesitation. And with just this simple set of verses, what Jesus does is He binds us and locks us into a lifestyle by commanding us to do it. He says, You must. 

But I want to bring our minds to something that’s also in this, which is an exchange principle that we often would miss. He says, You know, if you don’t judge, you won’t be judged. If you condemn, you’ll be condemned. If you forgive, you’ll be forgiven. What He’s teaching us is that how we handle others creates an ecosystem or an economy around us, and He has a Kingdom economy He wants us to live in. 

And what He’s landing in this is a principle or concept of generosity that I want us to look at. He says, “Give, and you’ll receive. Your gift will return to you in full, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap.” The amount you give will determine the amount you get back. 

THE KINGDOM ECONOMY

Now, this is what my grandfather quoted all the time at offering. And so, I was like, Oh, this must be about money. This is about so much more than money. I want to work us through this passage and to consider that this deals with our emotional resources, our spiritual resources, our fiscal resources, and our abilities. It is to be understood what Jesus was teaching them was a mentality to live with or to live from. 

The first one is give, and you’ll receive. Give, and you’ll receive; it’s a principle. And what He’s teaching with that principle is stepping into active generosity engages a Heavenly reality. When we give, it opens a portal for generosity to flow back into our lives. 

I want to make some observations about this portal: there is no end declared to it. In other words, it doesn’t time out. I want you to consider the legacy impact of that, that perhaps when you begin to live generously, it opens a portal for generosity to flow back into your children’s lives and your children’s children’s lives, and it goes generationally. 

This is one of my favorite things about the Kingdom is that the Lord loves to create principles that don’t have an end game. We’re always worried about the curses of the fathers, the sins of the fathers being passed on. 

Did you know Scripturally that the blessing of the righteous is two hundred and fifty times more powerful than the sins of the fathers? Scripture says the sins of the fathers go to four generations, but the blessing of the righteous goes to a thousand. 

God is so much more excited about releasing blessing, so He put a continuum on it that’s two hundred and fifty times different. Which means that if you are fourth generation from like some family sin issue, you’re like, You know what? I’m the last one. Good, praise God. I’m over it. 

But righteousness, good luck finding the end of that one. When you live righteous, you are setting one thousand generations forward. 

What Jesus is teaching here is a principle that’s intended to open a conduit of blessing into our lives. That’s what He’s after. So, if what He’s after is to pour blessing into our lives and open a conduit so resource flows into our lives, shouldn’t we reframe our perspective on resource, on finance, on generosity because of this? Stepping into this Kingdom economy requires trusting the one who teaches us to do it more than we trust our perspective on resource. 

It means I got to trust Him more than me. He says, Your gift, what you chose to give. Again, we’re not just talking about money. We’re talking about forgiveness. We’re talking about compassion. We’re talking about kindness. The thing you gave will return to you in full. 

So, the outflow of earthly generosity from our lives releases a reciprocal inflow of earthly generosity back to us. It’s a wild principle. If I give it away, it comes back to me. He said so. But it isn’t just God who gives in this continuum. He says He’ll cause those around us to give back to us. What He’s teaching is that this lifestyle, this conduit, this generosity, brings favor into your life. 

How many have ever said this phrase: I cannot hang out with that person, they’re way too kind. I need people that complain a lot more and are way more critical and negative. Those are the people I want to be with. 

We understand this principle that we natively, just desire, we favor the people that are good to be around. How many have that one friend where like, They’re the person I need to call when I just need to be criticized and judged? No, that’s not how it works. Instead, you’ll reach out to the person who you know is an encouragement, who knows how to give compassion because there’s favor in it. 

He says that your gift will return to you in full. And then He adds a qualifier. The next phrase is “Pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap.” There’s a measurement, an external measurement, happening on the return of our generosity. 

Now, in the Greek, the measurement is good, which means it’s beneficial, it’s of value. Who measures it? Why is it pressed down? The implication in what Jesus teaches is that God, and God alone, is in control of the measurement. Which brings us to a fundamental aspect we must consider: our view of God now has a direct effect on our willingness to step into generosity. 

If I believe He’s good, I’m going to step into this principle. If I don’t trust His goodness, I’m going to have a hard time doing this. And the language in this reveals Heaven’s perspective: “Pressed down, shaken together, running over.” They’re all terms of increase and abundance. They’re terms of excess. 

In other words, no one in Heaven is measuring with detail. What they’re told from a Heavenly perspective, Make sure there’s more than enough. And if you’re concerned, make sure there’s more than more than enough. 

LIVING GENEROUSLY

What it reveals is the actual heart of God for us is abundance, not lack. His heart for you is abundance, not lack. So, if He’s trying to fit as much blessing as possible into our lives, does that possibly explain why both our sin tendency and our enemy are so aligned against generosity?

Let me say it this way: living in this generosity paradigm is now a choice to align with our King’s economy. It’s a way we say to Him, I trust You more than I trust myself. And He says the amount you give will determine the amount you get back. 

Now, the word here in the Greek is to measure, to apportion. How many have ever made pizza dough at home? Like homemade pizza dough, where you actually make the dough? You get all the flour together, and there’s a step after you’ve brought the dough together, and it’s rested. You bring it out on the counter, and then you have to apportion it. You’re cutting it into chunks. Those chunks determine the size of the pizza. 

Now you’re getting hungry, like, He’s talking about pizza. You’ve got your Ooni fired up. It’s outside, it’s ready to go. And you’re deciding, Am I making an eight-inch pie? Am I making a twelve-inch pie? Am I making a sixteen-inch pie? The size of the dough that you apportion or measure is what determines that. 

It’s the same principle here. In other words, you and I are in control of this equation. We get to decide what kind of generosity comes back into our life because we’re going to decide how generous we want to be. 

Now, I love this part of it because your generosity is measured against your means, which means He’s not going to hold one of us responsible for somebody else’s means. How do we know this? Think about the widow’s mite. 

There’s a story in the Scripture where there’s a widow, she has very little resource, and she comes, and she drops a couple mites into the offering box, and Jesus’s disciples mistakenly look at it, go, That doesn’t really do anything. Nobody can do anything with that amount of money. Why waste your time and give it? 

And Jesus pushes pause and says, What you don’t understand is based on her means, that was a really high percentage of what she had to give, and that gift matters a lot before God. He applauds her relationship with her means. What do I mean? She wasn’t held captive by her lack.

That is to be our perspective on resource. We are to be generous, not because we think we have enough to give, but because Jesus teaches us to. 

LIMITLESS GENEROSITY

I want you to consider this resource continuum for a moment. You and I all have unlimited kindness to give. We all have unlimited kindness to give. There is no depository in your body that says, Oh, this is the kindness tank. There’s only so much, when you run out, don’t want to be around me. You can give as much kindness as you want to give. You’re like, Clearly, you don’t know me. 

We all have unlimited compassion to give. See, because kindness and compassion are a choice, they’re not actually something we’ve been entrusted with in measurement. We’ve just been told to do it. 

This one’s hard. Grab your neighbor’s hand, brace for impact. We all have unlimited forgiveness to give. It’s a choice. 

The only aspect in our lives that we have an actual measurement on is finance. So, to that end, what Jesus is teaching His disciples is this simple principle: we are called to live openly, generous in every area of life, and called to live as generous as our means allow in finance. In other words, our understanding of this generosity principle directly affects the effect this principle has in our lives. 

I want you to catch this truth: our opportunity for return in generosity is limitless. You can have as much back in your life as you want as long as you step into the principle. And this is what Jesus is teaching them. When you live this way, you open a conduit of resource into your life. Do you want kindness? Then be kind. It’ll flow back to you. 

You see, isn’t that so contrary to our nature? Because our nature says, If they’re kind to me, I’ll be kind. And Jesus says, If you want kindness, be kind. Our nature says, You know, if they forgive me, I’ll forgive them. And Jesus says, You want forgiveness? Forgive first. You know, if they stop condemning me, I’ll stop condemning them. Jesus says, You don’t condemn them, or it’ll come back to you.  

He’s flipping the continuum and saying, In my Kingdom, we live different. We live proactive, we live intentional. Do you want fiscal blessing? Then give generously, and it’ll come back to you. You want grace from others? Be gracious. 

I think it goes without saying, if He taught His disciples that we’re standing in front of Him to live this way, and we’re disciples, then He’s teaching us to live this way. That He wants kind, compassionate, gracious, generous people. He wants them so much that He puts a supernatural law into effect. The law is this: give it, and it comes back to you.

Now, I think my grandpa was right. I think there’s a healthy aspect of this that’s about finance. Pastor Gary used to say this growing up all the time: more often than not, the last place we allow the Lord to have any control in our life is our life is our pocketbook. 

If you’re not letting Jesus control your finance, what you’re doing is stifling your own discipleship. It’s just that simple. But I would offer that this teaching is about a whole lot more than that. It’s a holistic life He’s calling for. In His Kingdom, generosity is the way of life, it’s not just something we put on once in a while. 

ASKING THE LORD TO ASSESS OUR GENEROSITY

So, how do we put this to work? Four simple things: make the decision you’re going to align with His perspective on your resources, and when I say that, I mean your emotions, your attitudes, your abilities, your finances– all of it. Your compassion, your forgiveness, everything you have that you can give. 

Take some time to give the Holy Spirit space to assess your generosity. Have the guts to sit with the Lord and say, Why don’t you tell me what you think of my generosity? With my emotions? Am I generous with my forgiveness? Am I generous with my compassion? Am I generous with my finances? Where am I at in this, Lord? You’re like, I don’t want to know. That’s a problem. 

Thirdly, do what the Scriptures teach about giving. Just do it. Be generous. I will offer this thought: there’s a lot of conversation right now in the culture about finances and giving in the church. You cannot consider yourself obedient in finance without stepping into the tithe and the offering. That’s what the Scriptures teach.

My advice is stop arguing about it and just do it. We love to justify the reasons we don’t want to obey because it makes us feel smart. If the Bible teaches it, just do it. Just way simpler. It’s the reason we get baptized because Jesus said, Be baptized. 

The fourth step is just be obedient and watch blessing flow. Because that’s what Jesus is after for His church, is that we understand how to become conduits of blessing. We give it away, and it comes back to us. 

What would it look like if what was said about you in the workplace is, You know what? That’s the most compassionate, most forgiving, kindest person I’ve ever met in my life. It’s just like it’s never-ending. They just always have kindness. 

What would it be like if, in the marketplace, we were just known as the most generous people fiscally? You know, we’re not just giving money away, we’re giving it to the King, and He gives it back. In fact, what He said is, I dare you to out-give me. See if you can. 

I will tell you this about the tithe, here’s why Belinda and I have been faithful tithers our whole marriage. Here’s why: because the Lord says, I dare you. In Malachi, He says, Test Me, test Me and see what happens. He’s so confident in His blessing index He says, I want you to see what happens. Try it. I dare you to try it. Promise you it will revolutionize your life. It will change your finances. 

But this is about more than that. I think we could say the same thing: I double dog dare you, try to be forgiving. See what happens. Just be super forgiving. Just be super gracious. Be super compassionate. Watch what happens. 

Stand with me, please. Make some space today, take five, ten minutes, go sit with the Lord, and just ask Him, I want your perspective, and maybe you get a green light. He’s like, You’re super compassionate, you’re super forgiving, you’re super gracious, you’re doing awesome. Go back and watch golf. Maybe that’s what He’ll say. 

Or maybe He’ll assess some areas that need some work. Maybe He’ll assess some areas that need work, and you can just sit and go, All right, Lord, will You teach me how to do that? He’s for us, not against us. He wants this blessing index in our lives.