The Lie of “Enough”

This sermon was first given at Sherwood Community Friends Church on Sunday, January 25th during our Practicing The Way: Generosity Practice series and is part 4 in our series. Watch it here.

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For many years, I’ve had a close friend who works in finance. When he graduated from college, his stated life goal was simple and unfiltered: he wanted to be the richest person on earth.

And honestly, he was well on his way.

He immediately began making a significant amount of money. He was a nominal follower of Jesus—he gave a little here and there—but the center of his life was his career. Success. Momentum. The next rung on the ladder.

Everything changed when he was invited to a conference hosted by a small nonprofit that gathers high–net-worth followers of Jesus. Or, to say it plainly, rich followers of Jesus. The aim of the conference was not wealth accumulation, but what they called radical generosity.

Early in the gathering, a businessperson stood up and told their story. They practiced what they called a “reverse tithe.” Instead of giving ten percent and living on ninety, they lived on ten percent and gave away ninety.

Then another person shared how they ran a company worth hundreds of millions of dollars, yet intentionally set a modest personal salary and gave away all remaining profits.

For my friend, this wasn’t just inspiring—it was destabilizing.

He didn’t even have a category for this level of generosity. It didn’t fit anywhere in his existing framework for success, faith, or responsibility. It became a clear before-and-after moment. As he left that conference, his relationship to money fundamentally changed—and that shift quietly redirected the trajectory of his entire life.

Today, many years later, he and his family live on roughly twenty percent of their income and give away eighty percent. They give generously to their church community, and they started a foundation focused on what they call whole-person care for people on the margins. Through that work, their family has entered into real, mutual relationships with people from very different walks of life.

And I can say this without exaggeration: they are some of the most joyful people I know.

Now, for the vast majority of us, living on twenty percent of our income is not realistic. Most of us are just trying to pay rent or our mortgage, put food on the table, keep up with bills, and stay afloat. I get that.

I tell you that story not because it’s supposed to set a standard for everyone, but because it’s a powerful example of someone refusing to live a normal life—and daring to take Jesus’s teachings on money and generosity seriously.

Recap

We are coming to the end of our Generosity Practice.

There is no possible way to distill everything Jesus taught about money and generosity into just four themes over four weeks, but we’ve tried to name what feels most central, most repeated, and most formative in the span of his teachings.

Here’s how we could summarize what we believe Jesus is inviting us into:

There’s more joy in giving than in receiving.
Watch out for greed.
All we have belongs to God.

And now, for week four—our final theme—Jesus’ call is not simply to be generous in the abstract, but more specifically, to intentionally share our resources with the poor.

All throughout the library of Scripture—both before and after Jesus—we encounter what has often been described as a preferential concern for the poor.

There are roughly five hundred verses in the Bible about faith, and another five hundred about prayer. But there are more than two thousand verses that speak directly to God’s heart for the poor, the vulnerable, and those on the margins.

This concern is not peripheral to God’s story—it’s central. And nowhere is that more clearly revealed than in the teachings of Jesus himself.

Luke 12:13–34

Let’s look at Luke chapter 12 and see one example where Jesus brings all of this together.

Luke 12:13–14 CSB
“Someone from the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’
‘Friend,’ he said to him, ‘who appointed me a judge or arbitrator over you?’”

Two siblings are in conflict over a family inheritance. It’s a real dispute, with real money on the line. And yet Jesus refuses to get pulled into the role of referee.

Instead, he zooms out and exposes the deeper issue beneath the conflict.

Luke 12:15 CSB
“He then told them, ‘Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.’”

Once again, notice how Jesus’s vision of the good life is different from the one we’re usually handed.

Life, he says, does not consist of accumulation. It does not hinge on how much we have, store, or secure for ourselves.

Then, watch this, Jesus tells a story.

Luke 12:16–19 CSB
“‘A rich man’s land was very productive. He thought to himself, “What should I do, since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops?”
‘I will do this,’ he said. ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.”’”

That final line was a well-known slogan in the ancient world. It was the life philosophy of the Epicureans—the pagans—not the people of God.

It could just as easily be translated:
“Live it up. You’ve earned this. You’re secure now.”

But Jesus doesn’t let the story end there.

Luke 12:20–21 CSB
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’
That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

This is not a story about a man who did something illegal. It’s not even a story about someone who was outwardly immoral.

It’s a story about someone who built his entire sense of security around what he owned— and never asked what God might want him to do with it.

Explanation

At first glance, Jesus’ words in this passage can sound harsh to modern ears.

Calling someone a fool for planning responsibly, saving wisely, and securing their future doesn’t sit well with us. But a little historical backstory helps.

In Jesus’ day, most people were poor tenant farmers. A very small minority were wealthy landowners. There was a merchant class—some of Jesus’ own disciples were fishermen—but the middle class was tiny by comparison.

It was also an agrarian economy.

That matters, because wealth in an agrarian society is fundamentally different from wealth in our modern economy. Today, wealth is largely abstract—numbers on a screen, investments, assets, valuations. It’s less of a zero-sum game.

But in an agrarian world, wealth was tied to physical commodities—land, grain, livestock. There was only so much to go around. When one person accumulated excess, it often meant others went without.

So in Jesus’ parable, this man isn’t just successful—he’s a wealthy landowner surrounded by poor neighbors.

And instead of sharing his surplus, he builds bigger barns for his things.

That’s why Jesus calls him a fool.

Here’s the irony: this man is living what we would call the American dream—literally.

Two Harvard Business School graduates once rewrote this parable for the modern world. In their version, a manager’s stock options vest after a major run-up in share price. He thinks to himself, “I already have enough saved to send my kids to college, my house is paid off, and I max out my retirement every year. What should I do?”

So he opens an investment account. Builds a passive income portfolio. Exercises his options. And then says to his soul, “You’re financially independent now. Retire early. Travel. Play golf. Enjoy yourself.”

For many people, that is the goal.

The villain in Jesus’ story is our culture’s hero.

Yet Jesus calls him a fool.

Look down at verse 32. Jesus says this:

Luke 12:32 CSB
“Don’t be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom.”

This is crucial.

We often assume that the motivation behind wealth accumulation is greed. And sometimes it is. But for many people—especially those who grew up with scarcity—the deeper motivation is fear.

Fear of not having enough.
Fear of becoming like our parents.
Fear of financial disaster.
Fear of losing control.

And Jesus speaks directly to that fear.

God is not a distant landlord.
He is a close Father-provider.
His heart is not to take from us—but to give.

So we don’t have to be afraid.

Instead, Jesus invites us into a radically different way of living.

Luke 12:33 CSB
“Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make purses for yourselves that won’t wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.”

Notice how tightly Jesus connects generosity to the poor with his vision of the age to come.

His teaching on money only makes sense when our horizon stretches beyond a single lifetime.

In light of eternity, giving is not loss—it’s gain.
It’s not spending—it’s investing.

As Randy Alcorn puts it, we store up eternal treasure in the coming age by giving away temporary treasure in the present age.

Think about how investing works. There’s often a moment of discomfort—money you could have spent elsewhere. But you’re not losing it. You’re placing it somewhere it can grow over time, aligned with a longer-term vision.

Jesus says generosity works the same way.

Giving is an investment in the Kingdom of God—the one place where what you invest can last forever.

In the upside-down kingdom of Jesus, what we give away, we actually keep. And what we cling to, we lose.

So Jesus ends this section with a line we’ve already named as sacred law:

Luke 12:34 CSB
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

I said this in week one: our hearts follow our money.

When our money is tied to things that don’t last, our hearts become captive to fear and greed.

But Jesus offers a way out.

Give your money away to the poor— and this isn’t a one-off comment.

Just one chapter earlier, Jesus chastises the Pharisees:

Luke 11:39–41 CSB
“Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and evil. Fools! Didn’t he who made the outside make the inside too? But give from what is within to the poor, and then everything will be clean for you.”

It’s a striking claim.

It seems the pattern is clear… if there’s a practice that confronts greed at the root—
if there is a way to clean our heart from the inside out and set us free—
Jesus says it’s this: Be generous to the poor.

It comes as no surprise that Jesus’ first apprentices took him at his word.

The Early Church

In Acts chapter 2, the very first snapshot we get of the early church, Luke writes these now-famous words:

Acts 2:44–45 CSB
“Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need.”

Luke and Acts were written by the same author—two volumes of a seamless story.

Did you catch what Luke is doing?

Jesus said:

Luke 12:33 CSB
“Sell your possessions and give to the poor.”

And then Luke tells us:

Acts 2:45 CSB
“They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need.”

They didn’t spiritualize it.
They didn’t reinterpret it.
They didn’t explain it away.

They just did it.

And then Luke doubles down. Two chapters later, he writes:

Acts 4:32–35 CSB
“Now the entire group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but instead they held everything in common. With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on all of them. For there was not a needy person among them, because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of what was sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet. This was then distributed to each person as any had need.”

Did you notice the stewardship language?

No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own.

The early church was wildly generous to the poor.

Tim Keller once called it financial promiscuity. He wrote:

“The early church was strikingly different from the culture around it in this way—the pagan society was stingy with its money and promiscuous with its body. A pagan gave nobody their money and practically gave everybody their body. And the Christians came along and gave nobody their body, but they gave practically everybody their money.”

That kind of generosity didn’t go unnoticed.

In fact, one of the strongest criticisms from pagan Romans was that the church’s generosity put the empire to shame.

In the fourth century, Emperor Julian—known to history as Julian the Apostate—wrote this complaint:

“It is disgraceful that … the impious Galileans support not only their own poor, but ours as well. All men see our people lack aid from us.”

It’s hard for us to imagine now—because of how deeply Jesus’ teachings have shaped the world—but in the Roman Empire there was no moral expectation for the rich to share with the poor.

None.

There were no social services.
No government safety nets.
No tax-funded redistribution.

Almost all of that work was done by the church.

This is not optional.
This is not secondary.
This is not extra credit.

Generosity to the poor is central to the way of Jesus.

Now, at this point, a very honest question starts to rise in the room: Pastor Robert, that sounds beautiful—but how does that actually work in real life?

How do we practice this today?

From Vision to Practice

Truthfully, generosity rarely just happens.

The early church didn’t stumble into generosity; they structured their lives around it.
If we don’t plan for generosity, the pressures of life will plan against it.

In our click-driven, algorithm-shaped economy of “more,” money has a way of disappearing. A purchase here, a subscription there—and suddenly there’s nothing left to give.

Which means if we want to live generously, it won’t be accidental. It will require intention.

Generosity needs a plan.

Not because God loves spreadsheets—but because mammon loves chaos.

If you want to be a generous person, and you should, you need to practice generosity.

Show up and be faithful. That’s all you have to do. The outcomes are not up to you. Don’t try to control them.

If you want to be generous, practice generosity.

Here are four simple principles that help.

First: Start now

The time to give is always now, even if it’s small.

Scripture reminds us that wealth is uncertain:

Proverbs 23:4–5 CSB
“Don’t wear yourself out to get rich; because you know better, stop! As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.”

Waiting until “someday” is how generosity never begins.

And interestingly, sociologists have found that as people make more money, they often give less—by percentage, not amount. Meaning if generosity doesn’t form us early, more money won’t magically make us generous later.

Start now. Start small. Start being consistent. Start shaping your heart.

Second: Give toward what matters most

In the New Testament, generosity consistently flows in three primary directions:

The Poor: this is Jesus’ clearest emphasis
The Church: the community that nourishes and sends us
The Gospel: expanding the Kingdom into new places and people

Apostle Paul summarizes this priority simply:

Galatians 2:10 CSB
“They asked only that we would remember the poor, which I had made every effort to do.”

As followers of Jesus, our giving may support many good causes, but it should give special attention to the poor, the church, and the work of the gospel.

Third: Let generosity be guided, not forced

The New Testament never gives us a universal number.

Instead, it calls us to discernment.

2 Corinthians 9:7 CSB
“Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.”

Which means generosity isn’t about pressure.
It’s about listening.

Listening to God.
Listening to where trust is being stretched.

Over time, many followers of Jesus have found practices that help—like giving first rather than leftovers, setting aside a small “blessing fund,” tithing as a baseline, or increasing generosity as income grows.

Not as rules—but as training.

Fourth: Don’t do this alone

One of the quiet dangers of our age is what some have called the money taboo—we talk about everything except how we actually use money.

But money shapes our fears, our hopes, and our trust in God.
Silence leaves us isolated right where we’re most vulnerable.

Generosity was always meant to be practiced in community—with shared wisdom, mutual encouragement, and accountability.

The early church didn’t just give generously.
They were generous together.

One of the central practices of early followers of Jesus was almsgiving—intentional generosity to the poor. And it wasn’t limited to money. It included time, presence, and relationship.

An early Christian document outside the New Testament, The Didache, put it this way:

“Let your alms sweat in your hands, until you know to whom you should give.”

In the early church, people regularly brought money and extra food to the weekly communal meal so those in need could take something home.

The Lord’s Supper itself functioned as an act of social justice.

But because much of this responsibility has since shifted to governments and institutions, it’s easy for us to forget:

As Christ followers, this is not optional.
As Christ followers, this is not secondary.
As Christ followers, this is not extra credit.

Generosity to the poor is central to the way of Jesus.

Practicing Generosity to the Poor

The poor are often invisible not because we’re cruel, but because of the hurry of life, lifestyle enclaves, and the simple reality that most of us live in zip codes filled with people in the same tax bracket.

Add to that the complexity of the modern nation-state, the rising cost of living in our cities, and the way care for the poor is often tied to taxation—and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.

But don’t let paralysis stop your heart.

Surely, you can do something generously.

You can give financially—through our church and other nonprofits actively serving the poor.
You can volunteer your time.
You can show up faithfully.

Our church community, for example, serves and donates every month at Willowbrook Food Pantry, hosts community Pizza and Game days, and provides through our huge annual garage sale. You can do that. You can show up faithfully for those and other things we do.

Did you notice the language in Acts? A synonym for “the poor” is simply “anyone who had need.”

Often, when we think of the poor, we picture extreme poverty in another country, or people living on the streets—which raises complex questions about addiction, mental illness, and systemic injustice.

But who do you know who has a need— any sort of need?

The need might be housing.
Or medical bills.
Or sending a kid to youth camp.
Or reliable transportation.
Or quality food on their table.

Who is already in your life?
In our church?
In your neighborhood?

And what do you have to give?

Even if it’s small.
Even if it’s twenty dollars.
Even if it’s an extra plate for dinner or some groceries.
Even if it’s a ride to an appointment.

A truth of the Kingdom is that God can do a lot with a little.

Our meager loaves and fishes go further than we ever imagined.

And remember—those in need are not the objects of our pity, but our brothers and sisters, our kin in Jesus.

Our goal is not simply to give resources to those in need, but to form a new kind of family— to blur the line between giver and receiver.

The vision of God’s Kingdom is a community where it could honestly be said:

Acts 4:34 CSB
“For there was not a needy person among them.”

Follow the leading of God’s Spirit in your heart.

Don’t build bigger barns. Be generous to the poor.

Of course… honest questions arise.

How much do we give?
To whom?
What is the wisest way to do it?

And the answers will look very different for a single parent working two jobs than for someone stewarding generational wealth.

That’s okay.

The invitation is not comparison—it’s faithfulness.

For now, just do the next right thing.

Generosity is one of the first steps into Kingdom living.

Start small and be faithfully consistent.

Changing our relationship to money is one of the first and most important steps into Kingdom living.

So what’s the next right step for you?

Pray about it. Don’t think too hard or for too long. Take the step in faith.
And watch your heart grow by what God’s Spirit does to make you a joyful, generous person.

Closing

Martin Luther once said that every disciple of Jesus must go through three conversions:

A conversion of the heart
A conversion of the mind
And a conversion of the purse

My prayer is that this Generosity Practice becomes that third conversion for us.

God is not so much interested in our 10%. This is not what he wants. He wants us to give him everything. A 10% tithe is not even a starting point for what we ought to be giving God. Why would we want to give him a meager 10%? Our starting point should be thinking about giving God 100% and how we live our life in our workplace, our family, our neighborhood, our church community being an all-in follower of Christ.

Remember—this is about experiencing true joy.

Acts 20:35 CSB
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

It is all motivated by love.

We give our money away because Jesus gave his life for us.
We give our wealth to the poor because Jesus gave up the wealth of heaven and entered the poverty of the human condition.

And we do all of this joyfully—because our true happiness is not found in a practice, but in a person:

Ephesians 5:2 CSB
Paul wrote, “…Christ loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”

If this has resonated with you to want to, today, surrender your heart, your life, and your wallet to God for him to transform you from the inside out into a new creation, a new person, who says “yes” to following Jesus, pray together with me to invite him to start walking with you today.

And we’re not walking alone. The greatest path to destruction is through isolation. We’re called to walk together to be set free to live in Christ’s Kingdom by practicing his Kingdom ways together with one another as the church.

If you want that, and you’re ready for a change, let’s take the next right step and pray together now.

It’s a simple prayer and it goes like this: I’m sorry. Thank you. Please.

Father God,

I’m sorry for my sins. I recognize I am a sinner and I need a Savior. I’m sorry for trying to fill my soul with other things than you. Help me not do that anymore.
Thank you for dying for me on the cross and sacrificing yourself for me. I believe you resurrected from the dead. I choose today to make you Lord and Master of my life.
Please rescue me, forgive me, transform me, save me, and bring me into your Kingdom family of God. Shape me into a generous person.

In Jesus Name. Amen.

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Footnotes

Pope Francis. (2020, August 19). General Audience. The Holy See.
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2020/documents/papa-
francesco_20200819_udienza-generale.html
Baumer, G., & Cortines, J. (2016). God and Money: How We Discovered True Riches at
Harvard Business School by Gregory Baumer and John Cortines. Rose Publishing.
Alcorn, R. (2019). Giving is the Good Life: The Unexpected Path to Purpose and Joy. TyndaleHouse Publishers.
Keller, T. (2015, August 10). Treasure vs. Money [Sermon] [Video]. Youtube. https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=YEvuXAucbd8
Didache 1v6