Sunday message · Who Wins? series
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Message Summary
Pastor Phillip Santillan closes the Who Wins? series by turning to our stuff and to Matthew 6. This week’s question is who wins when we mistake acts of generosity for signs of a generous life. Most Americans know how to respond to a need, but generosity is more than random acts of giving.
As one pastor puts it, generosity is not something you do but something you are. People who treat it as something they do can be persuaded, inspired or guilted into giving, but generous people have already reoriented their rhythms around a plan to give. People who are not generous often think more money would solve their problems, but Phil says the real issue is usually contentment, self-control or discipline: wanting more than we can afford, spending more than we make, or having no plan to be generous. For followers of Christ, he suggests, a lack of generosity may be a spiritual problem rather than a money problem.
In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us to store up treasures in heaven rather than on earth, because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Then he says no one can serve two masters: you cannot serve both God and money. We might expect the opposite of God to be the devil, Phil notes, but Jesus names money as the chief competitor for our devotion. Most of us have done something foolish with money because we wanted something, and a desire can become a devotion that enslaves us. Jesus goes on to say we should not worry about what we will eat or wear, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
Prioritizing God’s kingdom takes a plan. In 1 Corinthians 16:2, Paul tells the church to set something aside on the first day of each week, in keeping with how they are prospering, so no collection will be needed when he arrives. “Generosity is driven by a plan, not an impulse,” Phil says. Most people spend first and give from what is left, but those who live generously give first.
Phil offers two baby steps: plan to give consistently, setting something aside at the start of each week and living on the rest, and plan to give proportionally, a practice he says Jesus affirmed. He was taught as a child to give ten cents of every dollar to God through the local church, save ten and spend the rest. That has not brought him everything he wanted, but it has brought the joy of generosity and freedom from dependence on stuff.
So who wins when we plan a generous life? Organizations like Every Meal, which fights child food insecurity in the Twin Cities and receives a portion of everything the church receives, win. Families hit hard during nine months of COVID have received help with groceries and gas. Generosity has made livestreaming possible and allows Phil to serve as pastor. Ultimately, he says, the kingdom of God wins when followers of Jesus seek first his kingdom and let God change their desires.