NewCity Orlando Sermons

Psalm 37 | Generosity

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In this message from NewCity Orlando’s Summer in the Psalms series, Pastor Benjamin Kandt reflects on Psalm 37:3–4, 16, 18–19, 21–22, 25–26, highlighting generosity as a key mark of the righteous life. In a world where the wicked often appear to prosper, God’s people are called to trust in the Lord, do good, and live with open hands. The psalm offers a picture of steady, faithful living rooted not in self-reliance but in the Lord’s sustaining provision.

Pastor Kandt shows how generosity is more than a financial posture—it flows from confidence in God's care and covenant faithfulness. Rather than being anxious about the future, the righteous give freely, knowing they are upheld by the Lord. This sermon invites listeners to embrace a life shaped by trust, gratitude, and the joy of giving as an expression of God’s grace.

Damien Schitter:

Hello everyone. This is Pastor Damian. You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City, orlando. At New City, we believe all of us need all of Jesus for all of life. For more resources, visit our website at newcityorlandocom. Thanks for listening.

Nadia Chong:

Church. Please join me. Give us understanding that we may keep your law and observe it with our whole hearts. Lead us in the path of your commandments, for we delight in it. Turn our eyes from looking at worthless things and give us life in your ways, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.

Nadia Chong:

Scripture today is from Psalm 37. Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked. The Lord knows the days of the blameless and their heritage will remain forever. They are not put to shame in evil times. In the days of famine they have abundance. The wicked borrows but does not pay back. But the righteous is generous and gives, for those blessed by the law by the Lord shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off. I have been young and now I'm old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously and his children become a blessing. This is God's word.

Benjamin Kandt:

I had a mentor who bought a brand new pickup truck and it was nice. It was like the high trim level, four by four leather seats, a little lift on it, not a Florida man lift, but like a classy lift. And because this dude was a follower of Jesus, he was generous in his stewardship of that truck. He would let people borrow it all the time to move. If you have a pickup truck, you know that's part of the blessing and the burden of owning a truck. And so one time somebody borrowed his truck, moved, something brought it back with a gigantic dent in the back bumper. They felt terrible and they said I'm so sorry. He said, hey, listen, it's okay. But it was not okay. You see, it was not okay. He was so upset and frustrated and angry, but he didn't want to take it out on them, they didn't really do it on purpose. And so what did he do? He kind of took it out on the Lord. He went and he prayed, and this was a version of his prayer, something like this Lord, why did you let them dent your truck?

Benjamin Kandt:

You see, because in that moment he was trying to live his theology, he was trying to practice what he preaches In that Psalm 24 says the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof all of the people that dwell therein. In other words, everything belongs to God. That's what he was living in light of when my children went through that phase, or when they go through the phase where they learn the word mine and everybody knows this phase, my wife and I would catechize them Whenever they would say it. We would say nothing is yours, everything belongs to God. And it worked until they worked it on us. And so we would be eating ice cream as a family. They would devour it and I'd still have a little bit left, and one of my kids would say daddy, can I have some of your ice cream? And I'd say no, dude, this is mine, you already ate yours. And they'd say but, dad, nothing is yours, everything belongs to God. Right, and that's true. It is true, and in fact, what happens is is that the sin in our hearts takes our time and our stuff and our money and claims it and clings to it as if it's ours.

Benjamin Kandt:

But the scriptures actually describe us as simply stewards, because everything belongs to God. And so we're going to look at that together. We're going to look at what does it mean that we are simply stewards, and I want to point out this is actually really important, because everything that you have, it's not yours that's an individualistic approach but it's also not the state's that's the socialistic approach. But it's also not the states that's the socialistic approach. But it's not even your families. That's the traditional approach. It's God's. It's God's and that's the biblical approach, that if everything belongs to God, then he has entrusted the things that we have to us as stewards.

Benjamin Kandt:

And so what I want to do is I want to ask and answer the question how do we steward our life? What does it look like to be stewards? I want to look at Psalm 37 together and I want to point out kind of a theology of stewardship under three words simplicity, industry, generosity, simplicity, industry and generosity. Let's look at the text together. If you have a Bible or a device or your worship guide, go ahead and get Psalm 37 out in front of you, because we're gonna look at some of these scriptures together. I want you to see that simplicity is learning to steward your heart. It's stewarding your heart.

Benjamin Kandt:

Look at verse 16 with me. Psalm 37, verse 16 says this better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked. How can a little be better than a lot? How is that possible? That's what that verse is saying Only if you're free from wanting more.

Benjamin Kandt:

That's how Socrates, the ancient philosopher, believed that a wise man, a wise woman, would live a simple life. But he was also known for doing something. He would go down to the marketplace and he'd spend hours just looking around, wandering around what we would call window shopping today. And so one of his friends actually approached him and said hey, why is it that you go and look at all the things and you seem so intrigued by all the stuff? To which Socrates replied I love to go there to discover how many things I am perfectly happy without. That's simplicity. That's stewarding your heart properly. You see, simplicity is about stewarding your heart toward freedom. It's not necessarily about having less, it's about wanting less. That's what simplicity of heart is.

Benjamin Kandt:

Richard Foster defines it like this. He says simplicity is the quote joyful unconcern about possessions in order to seek his kingdom first. You see, in Matthew 6, jesus taught us that where your treasure is there, your heart will be. Also. Another way to say that is is your heart follows your treasure. Our culture likes to say follow your heart. The Bible likes to say, yeah, but what's your heart following? That's your treasure. That's what your heart follows after, and so it's important to understand that your treasure is whatever you will sacrifice for. If you want a little indicator of that, look at both your calendar and your bank account. That's how you find out where your treasure is. Where do you sacrifice your time, where do you sacrifice your money? That's your treasure.

Benjamin Kandt:

And so 10 days ago, I sat down and I journaled, I dated it that's how I know when it was and I just simply put at the top of the paper I said why do we love money? And I just started journaling. I have like 20 things. I'm gonna summarize them. These are the things that came up. We love money because it's a metric of success. It's a way of keeping score. You can tell if you're winning based on how much money you have, because it's an agreed upon status symbol in our culture. Again, I'm not saying these are good things, I'm just saying these are things.

Benjamin Kandt:

Also, money can't buy happiness kind of, because it can buy a measure of pleasure, that's for sure. Money can buy experiences and comfort. It can buy physical attractiveness so that you get more attention from people. It can buy a modicum of protection so you get a sense of security. It can buy some favor with other people. We call that ingratiation. Money can buy leverage over other people too.

Benjamin Kandt:

You see, let me just kind of summarize. Here's the thing. Money has this ability to actualize many different desires. If you want it, if you've got enough money, a lot of things you can actually get it. You can have it. This is why we love money.

Benjamin Kandt:

You're not crazy for loving money, but you are vulnerable. You're profoundly vulnerable. The reason why is because, if money is your treasure, you will never be free. You will always live in fear. Rainier Marie Rilke, the famous poet, said it like this our fears are like dragons guarding our deepest treasure. Where are you afraid? Where do you feel fear? Those are dragons guarding your deepest treasure. You want to know what you treasure. You want to know what really has captivated your heart. Right, if simplicity is stewarding your heart, where does your heart treasure? Pay attention to your fears. What are you afraid of? You see, simplicity is about freedom, setting you free from fear. How do we gain this? How do we get this simplicity?

Benjamin Kandt:

Look at verse four. Verse four says delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. The way you get set free, the way you steward your heart, the way you learn simplicity of heart, is by learning to treasure the one who treasures you. It's by learning to tell him all of your desires. If it's true that money actually is potent in our lives because it can pay for what we want, if that's true, one of the ways to deal with that is to just simply tell the Lord what your desires are.

Benjamin Kandt:

Lord, I want security, significance and satisfaction. I want those things. Let me just let you in on a secret. You are made to want those things. You have creational desires that evil comes in and perverts and distorts and warps. But the desire to be secure and satisfied and significant is something God put in you and evil comes along and distorts it, misdirects it, and so we go to the Lord. We say Lord, I want security. Teach me what that looks like. To find security in you. What are you doing in that moment? You're delighting yourself in the Lord. Delight yourself. That's a reflexive action. It's something you do to you. That's the command there. Do this to yourself, delight yourself. So if you're right here now going, I don't really delight in the Lord. I'm saying yeah, and the Bible's commanding you to do this action, to learn the practice of reflexively delighting, cultivating a certain amount of delight in the Lord, and that's actually what will set you free the freedom of simplicity.

Benjamin Kandt:

Aw Tozer, in a phenomenal book called the Pursuit of God it's worth reading says it like this the man who has God for his treasure has all things in one. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or, if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. What if you could be set free such that having certain things were not necessary to your happiness? He, if you could be set free such that having certain things were not necessary to your happiness. He goes on, he says this or if he must see them go one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss for having the source of all things he has in one all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose, he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in one, and he has it purely legitimately and forever. That's the freedom of simplicity.

Benjamin Kandt:

Have you touched that Like? Have you touched that in your lived experience as a disciple of Jesus. I have, but then it fades away pretty quickly. I return back to finding my security, significance and satisfaction other places. But here's the thing the times when I've touched it, the times when I can truly honestly, sincerely, say to the Lord take what you want, just leave me yourself and I'll have enough.

Benjamin Kandt:

When I can say that prayer, it's usually in times of peak experiences, high points of joy or low points of pain. Why both of those? Well, because when you have peak experiences, high points of joy or low points of pain, why both of those? Well, because when you have peak experiences, you recognize that it's still not enough to satisfy your soul. Like if you could just have everything you ever wanted, you'd realize it's still not enough. So in those peak experiences, I recognize that those are simply beams coming down from the sun. Capital S, the one who is worthy of all of my desire. But in those moments of pain you realize, when everything's stripped away, what do I have? What do I have if I don't have the Lord? And so the Lord invites us, will walk with us through peaks and valleys in order to invite us into recognizing better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked. So not only do we steward our hearts through simplicity, we steward our hands through industry.

Benjamin Kandt:

Point two look at verse three with me. It says this trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Look down a little further at verse 27. It says this turn away from evil and do good, so shall you dwell forever. Two times in this psal Psalm it just simply says do good.

Benjamin Kandt:

Simple, clear Christians are doers. We are people who are active in the world. We are actually working things out. We believe we can contribute to the betterment of our society. And so we've been known for doing good throughout the history of humanity. And a lot of that is because in Ephesians 2.10, it says that we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Now I just want to be. We define a disciple as someone. A disciple is united to Jesus, in communion with God, community with one another, co-mission for the world. And we double click on co-mission. We say your mission with God and others in this world is your work and your witness.

Benjamin Kandt:

When we say work, we mean good works, like Ephesians 2.10, but we also mean your work, your occupation, your vocation. You see, the reason why is because I believe most of the good works God ordained for you are actually worked out through your daily work. That's where you most of the good works God ordained for you are actually worked out, through your daily work. That's where you're doing the good works that God intends for you to do in the world. You see, this has actually marked Protestantism in particular. This has been a truth that's been core to who we are, as children of the Reformation, if you will. Max Weber is the one who kind of popularized this phrase, the Protestant work ethic, and what he pointed out was that, essentially, we have a value attached to our work, that work really matters and it's a part of your calling. And the thing I'm just going to go real nerdy, real quick.

Benjamin Kandt:

Historically, what happened is in the Reformation. The Reformation recovered a lost doctrine called the priesthood of all believers. You see, the Catholic church had made it seem as if the highest order vocations are priests, monks, missionaries, the type people like me Some of you still believe that that's okay. Lord's still at work in your life. You see, the Protestant Reformation said actually no, the priesthood of all believers means that it doesn't matter what your particular work is. It's a calling from God to do the works that he prepared beforehand, that you should walk in them and by so doing, sanctified, made holy every type of work, every type of work that's according to his will, and so in doing that, actually it inspired and invigorated an industry that Protestants changed the face of the world through. By industry, I just mean a commitment to hard work.

Benjamin Kandt:

Now, here's the thing. There's other historians and scholars, social scientists, who will point out that we've actually lived in the last 300 years in the United States of America. We've lived in a secularized version of the Protestant work ethic, and really what's being pointed out there is that no longer do we work because we believe it's a calling from god. Now we work in order to find our worth, and so work still has religious significance, but now it's a salvation scheme. You see, in in this world there's there's a problem because, um, ephesians 2.10 follows right after Ephesians 2.8 and 9, because that's how numbers work Eight, then nine, then 10.

Benjamin Kandt:

And so this is what Ephesians 2.8 says. It says this for, by grace, you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of work, so that no one may boast. So the hard, full court press against thinking your works contribute anything to your salvation or your standing before God Ephesians 2, 8, 9, and then seamlessly shift to and yet God's prepared good works for you to walk in, be industrious, and so only when we hold that tension we realize that Protestants didn't just recover the priesthood of all believers, but also justification by faith alone. In other words, you work from acceptance with God, not for acceptance with God. You work from status, worth, dignity, identity, not for those things. When you secularize the Protestant work ethic, you find, actually, our work is where we find all of our worth, and when that's the case, what ends up happening is that you, you find yourself living in such a way where busyness is a status symbol.

Benjamin Kandt:

Um, I heard a man recently say it like this. He said hey, there's, there's two things that I really like but need to repent of. First, I really like being exhausted because of how busy I am. Second, I really like telling you about it. What is that? That's a cultural status symbol, isn't it? How are you? You know, I'm just really busy and exhausted. That should be like oh wow, you're failing at life. You don't know how to manage your time well. You don't know how to actually give your best time, energy and attention to the things that matter most. That's what that should sound like, but we all know it doesn't. That's why you're laughing right now. And so here's the thing Simultaneously, the Christian gospel removes the need to prove yourself from work by your work, through your work, and also makes your work profoundly meaningful.

Benjamin Kandt:

It does both of those together, but only when the Christian gospel sets you free from having to earn favor, earn status, earn worth, justify your existence through your work, because if you live like that, time management becomes time enslavement. But actually God is inviting you out of the idolatry of industry to work and to rest with him. So here's something that maybe a tool, maybe a metric how well do you keep the Sabbath day? How many times, how many 24-hour blocks in seven days? Do you do nothing that you know to be work? It's an indicator. It's an indicator of how well you really believe that your status and value and worth is received, not achieved.

Benjamin Kandt:

But listen, some of you in the room today, you need to hear that when God created the world, he created it in six days and rested on the seventh, and then he commanded humanity to do the same. He said this work six, rest one. Some of you in here actually need to hear work six, like stop being lazy, get after it. Have some holy ambition to bring goodness, beauty and truth into the world. Some of you need to hear that, but I think a lot of you need to hear rest one, rest. Let yourself be refreshed as a human being, not a human doing. For once. Don't live under Pharaoh's regime anymore. You think Pharaoh died in ancient Egypt. Pharaoh's alive and well, ruling over you, saying more bricks, less straw. It just happens through your email inbox now, and so one of the ways we can be set free from industry idolatry is by resting, keeping the Sabbath day holy. But here's another way we can recognize that, in the end, all that we will receive will be simply an inheritance.

Benjamin Kandt:

Look with me back at the text. Six times Psalm 37 talks about land, the land, and five of those times it uses the word inherit. Look at verse nine. It says this those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. Verse 11,. The meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. Verse 22,. Those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land. Verse 29,. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever. Verse 34, wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land.

Benjamin Kandt:

What's the big deal? Why keep talking about this over and over and over again? Why the land? Deuteronomy 8, which we just read recently in the McShane Bible reading plan, says this this is the most beautiful description of the land I know in the scriptures. It says this the Lord, your God, is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs flowing out in the valleys and hills. A land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates. A land of olive trees and honey. A land in which you will eat bread without scarcity what a beautiful word without scarcity. Eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing. A land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper and you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord, your God, for the good land he has given you. That's why the land is such a big deal. That's why I can say unequivocally that security, significance and satisfaction were God's idea because he provides for it for his people in the land. But here's the thing the land was a gift from God but simultaneously always belonged to God. His people were simply stewards. That's why they got kicked out of the land. They refused to steward the land that God intended.

Benjamin Kandt:

Now let me just do a little excursus here on what's called hermeneutics, the study of how you read scripture. Okay, in reading the Bible, any promise or prophecy always has an immediate, intermediate and ultimate fulfillment. Promises and prophecies, like the land promises here, have immediate, intermediate and ultimate fulfillment. Okay, so the land in scripture, the immediate fulfillment is the geography in the Middle East. That's the immediate fulfillment. God's giving them actual land, real boundaries. Okay, that's the immediate fulfillment in Psalm 37. That's important. But here's the thing even in the Hebrew Bible, where those promises are made five times, the dimensions of the land are given and they're different every time. So what's the boundaries of this land? You see, what I think is happening is the Lord is sowing, even into the Hebrew Bible. He's sowing some idea that there's something bigger happening here than simply a chunk of land the size of New Jersey, and that's the intermediate fulfillment.

Benjamin Kandt:

The intermediate fulfillment of the land is the Lord Jesus himself. It's Jesus himself, and this is what I mean by this. All of the promises of God find their yes in Jesus Christ. That's what 2 Corinthians 1.20 says. And so when the New Testament says that we who believe in Jesus are, that's what 2 Corinthians 1.20 says.

Benjamin Kandt:

And so when the New Testament says that we who believe in Jesus are in Christ, that is a locative meaning of that word. This is what that means. It means that you, if you belong to Jesus, simultaneously are a you're a resident of Orlando and a resident of Jesus. That's what that means. Some of you are like I live in Oviedo, it still counts, oviedo, okay. It means that you are both simultaneously right here, right now, a Floridian and a Christian, because you live in Jesus Christ.

Benjamin Kandt:

He is the location, he is the land, he is the ultimate or he is this intermediate fulfillment of what it means to inherit the land from God. The Lord has given him to you and so, listen, the geographical locus of God's blessing is no longer a place in the Middle East, but a person in heaven, the man, christ Jesus. This is essential to know. Ephesians 1.11 says this in him, that is Jesus. In him, we have obtained an inheritance.

Benjamin Kandt:

Do you see that All of the promises in Psalm 37, five times, you will inherit the land, inherit the land, inherit the land. It's found in Jesus, but that's not the ultimate fulfillment of this promise. Look at verse 11, it says this but the meek shall inherit the land. Does that sound familiar? Jesus quotes this in Matthew 5 in his great sermon on the Mount, and awkwardly, jesus gets it wrong because he says blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. It's like oops, jesus, you should have read your Bible, or maybe not? Maybe Jesus knew that the immediate and intermediate and ultimate fulfillment of the promise of the land was that the meek shall inherit the earth.

Benjamin Kandt:

We preached on meekness last year and simply put the meek. Meekness is love-constrained power. It's people who have power, but it's constrained by love, the love of God and the love of neighbor. So why is it that the meek inherit the earth? They're the only ones God can entrust it to. They're the only ones who would be trustworthy stewards of the entire earth. That's why the meek inherit the earth, and so the whole, entire cosmos is the fulfillment of this promise for the land.

Benjamin Kandt:

You see, the land promises from Genesis to Revelation, the land promises are always multi-layered and in their prophetic fulfillment, what does this all mean for you and me? So what is another way to ask that question? Well, there's a place called Mount Morgan in Queensland, australia, and the people who lived on this mountain owned this mountain. They toiled arduously for years on its barren slopes, just trying to eke out some sort of an existence. What they didn't know until the late 1800s was that under their feet was one of the richest sources of gold the world has ever known. They produced over 225 tons of gold, along with copper and silver. It was now, mind you, it was technically theirs, and yet not experienced, not accessed and not enjoyed.

Benjamin Kandt:

Brothers and sisters, those of you who belong to Jesus, you toil anxiously, day and night. You work so hard, not realizing that you already have an inheritance in Jesus Christ, a greater treasure than you could ever earn or work for on your own, and it's been given to you. And so we cling to scraps of security and we think that we can kind of have this man-made existence. But if you belong to Jesus, then what Paul calls the unsearchable riches of Christ are already yours. You just get to inherit it by faith and patience. And so, if you believe this, you can begin to steward your heart through simplicity. You can steward your hands through industry and then, finally, you can steward the results through generosity.

Benjamin Kandt:

Look with me at verse 21. Verse 21 says this the wicked borrows but does not pay back. But the righteous is generous and gives, for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off. It just says really simply here the righteous is generous and gives. Why? One of my favorite Old Testament scholars is a guy named Bruce Walkie, and Walkie says this famous quote. He says the unrighteous disadvantage others to advantage themselves. The righteous disadvantage themselves to advantage others. That's what it means when it says the righteous is generous and gives.

Benjamin Kandt:

It's been said that obedience to God in this area, in this area of your life, obedience to God requires you to use your money, to quote, procure, preserve and further the wealth of others as well as your own. So obedience to God, your own wealth and other people. Wait, what? Like? Which social justice warrior said that the Westminster Assembly in 1643, when they wrote our catechism, the larger catechism? They were talking about what it means not to steal Positively. What it means is to pursue the wealth of the other people around you as you do your own. That's our own denomination. I actually believe a lot of our social justice issues that I talked about last week would be solved if we would just take our confessional documents and live into them properly.

Benjamin Kandt:

The larger catechism teaches us what justice looks like when it comes to our money, and some of you are like, okay, fine, fine, fine, I'll give some money, but only to kind-hearted, upright people whose poverty came upon them through no foolishness or contribution of their own and who will respond to my aid with gratitude and joy. Well, that's something right. I've moved you a little bit to start, but problem is is that almost no one exists? Who qualifies, then? And in fact, what if that was Jesus's stance toward you, where would you be?

Benjamin Kandt:

Your generosity in the scriptures, especially to the poor and the undeserving, is a good test of your grasp of the gospel. Why is that? Well, in 2 Corinthians 8, 9, it says this for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ Pause. Do you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ? That's the question, because if you know it, you would know this. He goes on to say this that though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor so that by his poverty you may become rich. You see, paul makes your generosity with your money a test case of your grasp of grace.

Benjamin Kandt:

If you're materialistic and ungenerous, if the affections of your heart are clinging to material things, you may have a superficial intellectual grasp of your own undeservedness before Jesus, but in the end you're really just middle class in spirit. But Jesus says that for those who are poor in spirit, those who are willing to have open and empty hands to receive the wealth that only he can give, those are the people who then responsively give generously. So what's the answer? How do you become a more generous person? Is this where I crank the screws down a little bit more and like burden you with a little bit more guilt so that you'll pinch out a penny or two? No, because 2 Corinthians 9, 7 says this each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. That's what it says and what's going on here. You see, I think what it really means is that God loves a cheerful giver, because God himself is a cheerful giver. Like I wish I had way more time to just go into the intraterritorial life of God, how God doesn't give, because that's something he does. God gives because God is self-giving love, father, son, holy Spirit. I mean it's amazing, but suffice it for this.

Benjamin Kandt:

The most famous verse in all the Bible, john 3, 16, says for God so loved the world that he gave Core to the heart of who God is is he's a cheerful giver. Core to the heart of who God is is he's a cheerful giver. He just enjoys. But we don't believe that. We don't believe that in the very heart of God there is an irresistible urge to bestow blessing on his people. We don't trust that, we don't have confidence in that kind of a God, the kind of God whose very goodness brings him pleasure. When he gets to bring pleasure to his people, that he actually enjoys it.

Benjamin Kandt:

Like if let me just quote Jesus here If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give good things to those who ask him If we can do that? How much more the father, who is himself a cheerful giver? And so we struggle to believe Psalm 37, 19, where it says that we are not put to shame in evil times, in the days of famine, we will have abundance, and Paul knows this. That's why, in Romans 8, he says he who did not spare his own son but gave him up hear the word gave him up for us all. Will he not also, with him, graciously give us all things? Will he not provide for us? You see, god knows that the gospel has gotten into your heart when it comes through your wallet, because that's when he realizes that you've been wooed and won over to a God who is a cheerful giver. And so, listen, how do we learn this, not just intellectually but experientially, when we begin to give as an act of worship?

Benjamin Kandt:

Now, you may or may not know this, but we have this big, fat blue book that nobody likes. Some people like it, I'm suspect, called the Book of church order, and it defines a lot of things about who we are and how we function, all those things. In the book of church order there's a section about how we're supposed to worship, and in that section on how we're supposed to worship, it explicitly says that giving an offering is a core part of what it means to worship the triune God. And so we're bringing it back. We're bringing it back into our liturgy? Why Because we're short on cash? No, that's not why.

Benjamin Kandt:

Because what you do with your money is it's a thermometer to your heart and a thermostat to your heart. What do I mean? A thermometer tells you what the temperature is right. Similarly, where your money goes. It tells the temperature of your heart. It tells what you love, what you treasure. Like when you get a raise, do you raise your standard of living or your standard of giving? That's a helpful way to diagnose the condition of your heart. It's a thermometer in that sense. But it's also a thermostat Because remember I told you earlier what you treasure is what you sacrifice for. And so when you give, because you believe that God, in his cheerful generosity, gave Jesus Christ to you and that moves you from the inside out to be a cheerful giver, when that's you, that's a thermostat. It begins to trend your heart in the direction, stirs the affections of your heart for Jesus, makes your hands cling a little bit less to your possessions and your time and your money and your stuff and actually open them in open-handed worship and devotion to the Lord and generosity towards your neighbor.

Benjamin Kandt:

And so my hope is that the outcome of this sermon is not that anybody would feel a hint of guilt, not a hint or pressure, because, remember, reluctance and compulsion mean nothing before the Lord, Only a cheerfulness of heart that responds in adoration to all that God is for you, all that he's done for you. And so my hope for the outcome of this sermon is that we will hear stories, testimonies of people just they'd had some cash hanging out that they were waiting to do something with. They're like. Oh well, in that sermon I realized I want to give it to somebody lavishly as a gift and I want to hear dozens of those stories. That's my hope. My hope is that verse 25 will come true here in our midst. Look at it with me. It says I have been young and now I'm old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously and his children become a blessing. What a testimony, what a story. Let me close with a quick story.

Benjamin Kandt:

In 1684, there was a guy named Robert Bailey who was sentenced to death in Scotland for his convictions, his strong faith, in other words, he lived in a time when it was not cool to be a Presbyterian. Some of you are like it's still not cool dude, I know I understand. Bear with me, I'm trying here, okay. The night before he was executed he told his young boy, george. He looked to him and he spoke Psalm 37, 25 to him. He said, son, listen, I have been young and now I'm old, and yet I've not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. And before he was hanged he began a speech and he says my love for the Christian religion has brought me to this, but the officials ordered that drums be beat so loud that he could not be heard.

Benjamin Kandt:

Before his death he had some time with his wife and kids and he spoke these words. He said that I am entrusting you quote to the compassionate and merciful heart of my God. Think about that. You're about to die and you're entrusting your children and your wife to your God. His son grew up to be a significant leader after the revolution and the Bailey family became known as having being one of the most respected families in the nation. In other words, bailey died with nothing and yet God came through as a living testimony that the righteous will not be forsaken because they trust their God.

Benjamin Kandt:

Let's pray, father, we do. We look to you now, the God who so loved that he gave Jesus. We look to you. You were the one who gave your very life poured out for us. Holy Spirit, you are the one who's been given poured out into our very hearts that we might be stirred up to become cheerful givers like our God, the cheerful giver. Jesus, would you move? Would you move us? Would we, as you said, not serve mammon but serve you? It's a work of your grace. We pray for it now in Jesus' name. Amen.