BibleProject - Abundance or Scarcity - Generosity E1

Episode Date: August 5, 2019

In this series, Tim and Jon trace the theme of generosity and abundance through the Scriptures. In part 1 (0-7:45), the guys quickly introduce the conversation. Tim explains that generosity is both a theme and a concept that is found throughout the Scriptures. In part 2 (7:45-32:10), Tim shares from a famous passage in the gospel accounts. 
Luke 12:22-34
 "And He said to His disciples, 'For this reason I tell you, don’t be anxious about your life, what you will eat; and don’t be anxious about your body, what clothes you put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Ponder the ravens, for they don’t sow seed or reap a harvest; they have no storerooms or barns, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add an hour to his life’s span? And if you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? Ponder the lilies, how they grow: they don’t toil or spin clothes; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You who trust God so little! And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and don’t foster your anxiety. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be granted to you. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.'" Tim points out that freedom from anxiety is rooted in a conception of the universe, like a safe place where I’m welcomed by a generous host. The same overabundance we see in nature comes from a Creator who shows that same generosity towards us. This mindset frees us from a scarcity mentality, releasing us to freely give resources to others. Jesus observed this not primarily as a religious principle but as one written on the DNA of the universe. Jesus sees the birds and flowers and grass and notices God’s generosity and overabundant love. 
The words of Jesus sound almost irresponsible to Type A, hardworking people. Yet with these words, Jesus articulates a way of seeing the world rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures and their depiction of God’s generosity. Tim notes that often we’re the ones who need our eyes opened to see God’s generosity in creation. In part 3 (32:10-36:30), Tim points out Jesus’ view of creation, that God created a good world that always produces enough, as long as humans live in accordance with the image of God. In part 4 (36:30-53:20), Tim asks: What kind of tradition and culture did Jesus grown up in that allowed him to have this mindset? One passage Tim offers is Psalm 104:10-17 and 24-28: He sends forth springs in the valleys; They flow between the mountains; They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; They lift up their voices among the branches. He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth, And wine which makes man’s heart glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And food which sustains man’s heart. The trees of the Lord drink their fill, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted, Where the birds build their nests, And the stork, whose home is the fir trees. O Lord, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions. There is the sea, great and broad, In which are swarms without number, Animals both small and great. There the ships move along, And Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it. They all wait for You To give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good. 
Tim points out that this is a Psalm Jesus would have grown up hearing in synagogue. Jesus believed creation is an expression of the generous, creative love of God. Genesis 1-2 shows us that God brings order out of chaos (Gen. 1) and a garden out of a wasteland (Gen. 2). These God gives as a gift to humanity. One way of thinking of the biblical storyline, Tim points out, is as a story of giving and taking. Yahweh God creates a wonderful world, full of potential, and he gives it to humanity to rule with him through wisdom. Humanity then desires to rule on their own terms and takes creation for themselves. In part 5 (53:20-end), Tim points out the human problem, not only on a societal level, but on a heart level. By default, we act to benefit ourselves. In the midst of this, Tim notes, the Bible’s view on wealth is complex. Jesus talks about wealth and money more than most topics—a top-three subject of conversation. Scripture is suspicious about wealth, knowing how affluence and abundance can make humans indulgent and arrogant. Thank you to all our supporters! Find our resources at www.thebibleproject.com Show Produced by: Dan Gummel, Tim Mackie Show Music: • Defender Instrumental by Tents • Conquer by Beautiful Eulogy • Shot in the Back of the Head by Moby • Scream Pilots by Moby • Analogs by Moby Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Hey, this is Cooper at Bible Project. I produce the podcast in Classroom. We've been exploring a theme called the City, and it's a pretty big theme. So we decided to do two separate Q and R episodes about it. We're currently taking questions for the second Q and R and we'd love to hear from you. Just record your question by July 21st

and send it to us at infoatbiboproject.com. Let us know your name and where you're from, try to keep your question to about 20 seconds and please transcribe your question when you email it. That's a huge help to our team. We're excited to hear from you. Here's the episode. Hey everybody, I'm Tim McEy and welcome to the Bible Project Podcast. Today on

the podcast we are starting a new series that's connected to a brand new Bible Project theme video that we're working on and it's about a topic that is actually really important in the biblical story but it also is a vital part of our everyday lived experience. The theme is generosity, and it's connected to the experience that most of us know, which is that of scarcity and abundance. Scarcity causes a lot of anxiety in the human psyche, and Jesus knew a lot about anxiety through his own personal life experience, and he talked about it a lot too. He said famous lines like this from Luke 12.

Therefore, I tell you, don't be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes. Consider the Ravens. They don't sew, or reap. They don't have any store rooms, or barns. And yet, God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds? Who of you by worrying could add a single hour to your life? And since you can't do this very little thing, why do you worry about all the rest? Now, if you're like me, when you hear those words of Jesus,

your first reaction might be that this sounds like somebody who's a hippie or carefree. So what's happening here when we hear the words of Jesus, but actually want to resist or come up with objections to what he's saying? This isn't a unique experience to us. This is what happens to lots of people when they hear Jesus's teachings about anxiety and the freedom from being a slave to your possessions and your money. What's happening is a clash of world views. I simply don't hold the same view of the universe that Jesus does when it comes to thinking about money,

possessions, resources, scarcity and abundance. So in this episode, we're going to dig in to this teaching of Jesus. And what we're going to discover is Jesus is actually articulating a mindset, a whole view of the world that has been soaked and immersed in page one of Genesis. Jesus has a conception of the universe that it's a beautiful creation packed with an overabundance of resources and opportunities and

potential, and that it's a generous gift of the Creator to us. Jesus believes that we are all being hosted by this generous Creator, and if we can just tune in to that Creator's love and overwhelming generosity, it will change how you live and experience all of life. So, how did Jesus get this mindset? How did he hold this mindset of generosity with all the pain and suffering that he saw around him? How did Jesus believe all these ideas when he was suffering and being killed on the cross?

These are some of the questions that we're gonna ask today as we begin to trace the theme of generosity throughout the storyline of the Bible. You guys, thank you for joining us on the Bible Project Podcast. Here we go. We get to start a new video on the topic of generosity. Yes.

This is a video that we've talked about doing for a while. Yes. It wasn't on your original list of videos. Yep, that's correct. You brought like a master list five years ago. Yeah. And we've deviated from that list many times. Yeah.

But mainly by adding things. Yeah, I don't think we've taken anything off of a list. No, it was a big list of biblical theology videos and biblical book videos. But we've added some that we've come to call topics. Yeah. And some of these have taken the form of word studies. Like they're important topics, words or ideas in the Bible. They don't necessarily stretch from cover to cover and get a

full-scale development. But some do. This was a new paradigm for me of thinking of the difference between a theme and a topic. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. And so you had about two dozen themes. And a theme for you is an idea, a motif, that usually begins in the first couple pages of the Bible. Correct. Yeah, usually connected to a word, an image, or motif that's introduced in the first narrative, so chances.

So you see it at the beginning of the narrative, and then you can actually follow it like a melody throughout the entire storyline of the Bible. Correct. And it has its climax in the person of Jesus, in his life, death and resurrection, and then continues on to its final resolution in new creation. Correct.

So we've done a lot of those. Mm-hmm. And we've stayed away from more what you would call topic videos. Yeah, that's right. Or topics which the Bible might speak to. Yeah, that's right. It might even speak to a lot, but it doesn't necessarily get developed in this way.

Well, it doesn't mean it's a theme that just keeps popping up. Once you see a theme, the core of biblical themes that are weaving the whole narrative together, once you see a theme, core biblical themes that are weaving the whole narrative together, once you see the core ones, you just start to see them everywhere, there's everywhere. However, there are also important ideas in the Bible that are repeated in many places, though maybe not as prominent as themes. So it's about prominent.

It's not just about prominence, though. It's not just about prominence. You know, I should be honest and say it's also just, there's a matter of judgment call. Yeah, it seems like it. Because the themes that we've covered are also themes that I think are underrepresented in the Christian tradition,

but that are really important in the Hebrew Bible and in Jewish tradition, and it turns out in the New Testament, we just don't always have eyes to see them. Even though they're all over. Even though they're all over. Certain traditions of Christianity haven't equipped us to notice these things in the Bible. So those are the things I try and move towards.

So yeah, the theme of generosity, which is overlaps with the concept and theme and word of grace in the Bible, it's actually really big deal. It's a really big theme. Have you moved then from topic to theme on this topic? I don't know, let's see, you know, I've been pondering this for a while and- Our good friend, who's been a big part of the organization, is a massive champion of biblical generosity

is a term that he likes to use. That's right. He was influenced by a part of why the Bible project is free. Totally. The resources are free. He was at ground level on how we were going to develop resources for this and the model of being free, kind of a pay-it-forward. Yeah, nonprofit animation studio.

Crowdfunded. Crowdfunded, yeah. And so he's been just every year. Just like, hey, why don't you make in the video in generosity? Yeah, that's right. And it is a theme, right? And then you'd be like, well, it's a topic. It's a topic.

It's a theme. So let's just say it's important. It's talked about all over the Bible, and we're going to make a video about it. I trust it's important. It's talked about all over the Bible, and we're gonna make a video about it. I trust it's gonna be awesome. We usually start in Genesis. Of course, we will spend time talking about Genesis 1 and 2. But I thought we should first ponder a teaching of Jesus that where he puts a number of things together, namely the concepts of anxiety, freedom from

anxiety, watching and paying attention to flowers and birds, and generosity, especially towards the poor. For Jesus, those three things are closely bound together. Hahaha. Generosity for the poor, anxiety about life. Yes. And what was the other thing? How well? How well you pay attention to birds and flowers.

Ssss. Right. Okay. For Jesus' mind, these are three things that just go together really. Like how good of a bird watcher you are? Yeah. In botanist. Yeah. Luke chapter Luke chapter 12 so he said do his disciples for this reason I tell you don't be anxious about your life what you will eat don't be anxious about

your body what clothes you put on for life is more than food and the body more than clothing ponder the ravens they don't so seed or reap a harvest. They have no store rooms or barns, yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds? In which of you by worrying can add an hour to his lifespan? And if you can't do even a very little thing, why then do you worry about other matters? Ponder the lilies, how they grow.

They don't toil or spin clothes, like material, fabric. But I tell you, not even Solomon, and all his glory clothed himself like one of these. And if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow's thrown into the furnace, how much more will he close you, you who trust God so little? And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink. Don't foster your anxiety. For all of these things, the nations of the world eagerly seek, and your father knows that you need these things.

But seek his kingdom, and all these things will be granted to you. Don't be afraid, little flock, for your father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, give to the poor, make for yourselves moneybelts that don't wear out in unfailing treasure in heaven where no thief comes near and no moth destroys, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Classic Jesus. Totally. So good, man. Just like the ultimate sage, like weave together, things that you normally wouldn't put together into one place. Anxiety, Ravens, Flowers, Ancient Kings,

and Generosity to the poor. This is Luke's version of this teaching. Matthew has a package that a little bit differently in the sermon on the mount. I'm actually just curious. I have my own things that occur to me and challenges that I've had with this teaching over the years, but I'm curious, you know, I've been thinking about this in the context of our conversation, but what strikes you as either thoughts or potential objections that one might have to

Jesus? Sure. Feels very hippie. Which makes it feel like a little naive, perhaps. You're responsible. You're very responsible. Yeah. Like if you just went around never worrying or never concerning yourself with even making

sure you had clothes on your back. And you're like, yeah, well, the flowers don't worry about it. It's like you're not flower. Yeah, that's right. You're a human being. Yeah, that's right. You don't have feathers like a Raven right. Yep. Yeah, you don't look at a flower and go hey put some clothes on Maybe maybe Jesus is trying to be Provocative here. Mm-hmm. He seems to have had a habit of that

Doing that kind of thing But you want to take them seriously and you want to to say, okay, should I not ever worry? You probably did have to worry like, do I have a cloak this winter? Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's my cloak. That's right. And I guess in a different socioeconomic status,

you're gonna have to worry about that. I am a middle class westerner. And it's like, do I have a coat this year that I think's cool? Yeah, that's your question. That's my question. So obviously that's a different level of warring. Yeah, yeah.

It's a little easier to get there. Well, okay, so let's focus on that. So what you're saying is you live in a very different cultural setting than Jesus. So the way you can see of food availability and clothing is totally different. Totally different. Those are the things I worry about. Correct. I worry about other things. That's right.

That's right. So let's just place Jesus' new setting for Century Galley. This is a people group living on their ancestral land that is relight under military occupation by the Romans. Tax burdens are insanely heavy, which is why taxes feature so much in Jesus' parables. It says day-to-day life is how to-

What percentage of your income? Oh, I don't. No, I do. No off the top of my head, I'd have to do some homework. But the fact, if features a lot in Jesus' teachings and the way that the Romans profited from the subjugated people groups in the Empire was through taxation. And in that region it's just all agriculture. Think of all of his parables filled with day laborers, you know, or people who have to sell their land,

or dream of finding treasure. Mm-hmm. So, right, Jesus parables are filled. You can see with the stories and anxieties with the people that he's talking to. So, yeah, in that setting, worrying about food and clothing, many people live on subsistence wages

and that kind of thing. Which many people today still do? And many, many, many large percentage of the human rights still. So there, it's important to translate to imagine what in every different person's cultural setting is the equivalent of the kind of anxieties he's talking about. But even then, that doesn't relieve the tension

that you're placing your finger on. Right. Which is, is this a carefree Jesus? The carefree Jesus. Is this a careless Jesus? Yeah, yeah. Is he doing what he often does, which is say something hyperbolic on one extreme, to force you awake, and to really think about the heart of what he's getting at?

Yeah. My mind is often gone to another aspect of this, which is what about like the Ravens I typically see are either flying in trees or they're like squashed on the road. The road killed? Yeah, and actually ever since I started following Jesus and like I read the saying and I would see like a dead crow squashed over getting picked on by other crows and I'm just like, huh. So.

That one wasn't worrying. Yeah, yeah. And was God paying attention to that one? Oh, right. Like, you know, that's the whole thing is God cares about the birds. Yeah. You're more valuable than birds,

so God cares more about you. And I'm like, what about the dead crow and what about the, you know, the wildflower field that gets caught by a wild fire right? That's where my mind goes. It's all the instances where nature gives you the opposite of abundance, super abundance, it gives you devastation and death and what is God's role in that. You know I'm saying? Yeah. Neither of those liabilities. Well like what we typically go towards, what we just did was go towards the exceptions to what he's saying.

Yeah. Instead of focusing on the point that he is making, which is actually a good point. Does Matthew's version of this say Ravens? Just Ravens feels like a new detail to me. Oh, got it. And I'm more familiar with the Matthew saying, I just never pictured Ravens. Ravens are scavengers. They are.

So are crows. Yeah, but I think Matthew says birds of the air, or something like that. Oh, got it here. I'm not looking at it. And so I always pictured like blue birds. Like Robin, other birds. Yeah, I got it.

Oh, you're right. Yeah, in Matthew 6, it's just the birds of the, it's the generic word for birds. Like the, not a species word, but a higher level category word. Right, but it's... Whereas Luke gives us, yeah, the specific word for raven. Yeah. Or crow.

Crows are, they're fighters. Yeah, they're scrappy. They're scrappy. Yeah, scrappy animals. Yeah, that's right. are, they're fighters. Yeah, they're scrappy. They're scrappy. Yeah, scrappy animals. Yeah, that's right. Actually, that's fascinating. Yeah, I actually hadn't pondered that before this moment, but in Luke's version, he retains the word Crow and a Crow is non-cocher, precisely because it's a scavenger.

It's the birds of prey, the carnivorous birds that are the unclean ones. You don't eat them. The impure that Jews don't eat. So that's interesting. God provides for them. Like other animals. Carcassus of other animals. Getting run over. But also, I mean, to eat anything. Yeah, that's right. They'll eat berries or whatever. They just make it work. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Okay, so the exceptions, there's lots of exceptions. You could say to Jesus. And my hunch is that we would, but Jesus, what about the crows that die? Yeah. You know, in a famine, right? And so he might have a response to that. But I think it's point would be, but didn't you hear the point that I was making? Which is the Ravens

which is the Ravens and these flowers exist in a form of a form and the experience of a form of abundance. They're a sign of abundance. Just creatures out there, they don't spend their time investing in food prep and food storage, but they're beautiful. And they seem to always have enough food. Well, you know, I mean, I think of crows like had enough of like a prefrontal cortex. They might store food. Oh, that's a good point.

You know what I mean? Just don't think they know it too. Well, totally. And I think that's part of his point though, is like there are many creatures that exist in the world. They have enough or they're just blanderous, like flowers, and they are a witness to the overabundance that got its packed into creation.

Interesting. And he says, if you ponder the existence of a bird or a lily long enough, it will free you from anxiety. That's his point. That's his point. It's his point. Yeah, don't you be anxious. Ponder the Ravens, ponder the lilies.

Somehow the lilies are just beautiful. You think Jesus wants you to stop and just hang out and think about birds? What else does he mean, ponder the Raven? Well, he might just mean, for example, let me get, for a moment, for this moment, I don't want you to go home and spend the rest of the afternoon thinking about birds.

Oh, well, no, man, he's a wisdom sage. Yeah, he wants you to think about birds. He wants you to stop and think about the birds for an afternoon. Jesus wants you to be a bird watcher. Just like as we'll see a little bit later, he wants you to ponder a rainstorm and what that says about the character of God. Here, it's what a flower and a bird tells you about the character. I thought before that bird watching would be a good activity for him. Oh really? Yeah. Because it forces you to be very present. Yeah, yeah, because it forces you to be very present. Mm-hmm. And yeah, to pay attention to things you

normally ignore or overlook. Yeah, and just to be very kind of embodied in nature and be observing. Yeah, and then there's like a gamification aspect of it where you're like checking off birds. Yeah, that's right. Turns into like a yeah, you can make it an adventure. Yeah, make it. Yeah, that's right. Turns into like a... Yeah, you can make it an adventure. Yeah, make it an adventure. Yeah, that's right. So, as you ponder nature, birds, flowers, and the abundance that they kind of thrive within, it's like there's this ecosystem, and it spins off so much value that we could have these creatures and these flowers that just kind of spring to life and flourish. And they don't have anxiety the way that humans have anxiety.

Correct. What kind of creature seems to be free from anxiety yet experiences abundance. One's that aren't conscious of their own self. So yeah, that's right. There are- Do the crows self awareness or do you care self-consciousness? Well, or he thinks that there are certain advantages to not being that self-conscious. Yeah.

That's interesting. That is interesting to think about. The crows have won up on us. Because they're free from a whole, think of what, yeah, their brains just don't have to do all of this. But they are, they are very intelligent creatures. Yes, they are.

Yes, they are. They use tools. There's one by my house using a, pss, using, oh, oh, yes, there was one by my house dropping nuts from the telephone wires above. The break-up took, break-up open. Yeah.

I watched him do it. Crows can remember human faces. If you mess with the crow, it'll remember you. And you'll make an enemy. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Who's good? We're pondering crows right now. We're pondering crows.

We're doing what Jesus told us to do. Yeah. So, I look at the birds and these lilies. I see living things that don't stress out about their subsistence, their needs, and they're always seem to be provided for, and in the case of flowers, they're just drop dead, gorgeous, just beautiful, mind-blowing. And Jesus draws from that a conclusion about God's generosity and care

that humans would do well to pay attention to. Because look what he goes on to say. Look, he goes on to say, why do you freak out about clothes and food? You trust God so little. He equates their inability to worry to worry With as is like this model of trust So fascinating. So then he in verse 29 he goes on to say listen also. This is what?

The non-Jews this is how the non-Jews see the world all they think life's meaning is about food and drink and clothing and security Your father knows these things here's what I tell you to seek the kingdom I think life's meaning is about food and drink and clothing and security. Your father knows these things. Here's what I tell you to seek the kingdom, which is a phrase that's been almost Christianized out of having any meaning. Yeah, hasn't it? Yeah. You have to imagine yourself into what Jesus meant when he said the kingdom of God is

here, so follow me. Yeah. I, right. I don't know if I appreciate it. It's almost you have to upload how many other hours of conversation we've had over the last five years. Yeah, well, if you prioritize loving your neighbors yourself, well, you're using kingdom here as the, in a non literal sense, where a first century Jewish person would have heard that and

be like, yeah, when Israel gets its own freedom from any other empire. That's right. And we have a kingdom. That's how some people might have heard him on day one when he's going around announcing. But if you follow in Jesus' round hills of Galilee and you've been listening to him teach, you know that living under God's reign means God's kingdom as defined by Jesus. Jesus is restarting the Genesis 1 Eden project of humans living in partnership with the reign of God. It's about a different way to conceive a human relationship, a different

way of conceiving of power and status relationships, all that sermon on the mount, all that stuff. Transformation of the heart, Jeremiah 31, Torah written on the heart, new humans. So if you seek to live by the sermon on the mount, essentially, what you'll find is that your needs will be provided for. All these things will be granted to you. It's sort of like your needs are provided for precisely when you stop stressing out about them as your goal. Yeah. That's what G.S. is point is here. And then look at what he says, the final line is, so sell your stuff. Sell stuff. Give it away. And give it away. And here's what you'll paradoxically find. Your money belts won't wear out because you're participating in the new creation, what he calls unfailing treasure

in heaven, where no thief can come near or moth destroy. Is this, you know, the very cushionized version of this is like jewels in your crown. I'd have them. Yeah, yeah, totally. Yeah, like bonus points, bigger mansion in new creation. Yeah. It doesn't seem, but I got to imagine that's not what he's thinking about.

No, uh, yeah, I think you can make it way more practical and realistic. What he's talking about in his day is, think, in the day before you have digital currency, or virtual currency, you know? Yeah. Like, what is the savings that I, me and my wife save up?

They're just like numbers on a computer. Oh right, yeah. In a bank, like what is that? In a time when all your currency? Yeah, it's an actual coin Isn't is an actual like hard materials, right? How you create structures for Saving an investment and long-term security, right? It's very different setup So Jesus whole point is if you make your own personal security, the main focus of your

life goals, what you'll paradoxically find, this is a cleasiestes. This paragraph has a cleasiestes all over it. It'll actually ruin you, destroy you through anxiety, and more than likely the structures, the system's going to break, and it won't be there when you need it. Yeah, or you'll die and you'll give it to someone else. Yeah, totally. And then no wasted, not that whole deal. Yeah, totally. So his whole point is, if you're living by the sermon on the mount, what you're doing is you are investing

in a new creation. You're living in the present as if you're living in the new creation. And when you live in that way, you are creating realities that last on into the future. The reason why we like money is because you can exchange it for stuff that you need and want. So it's about value.

But there's something about a way of living, which is the way of the kingdom. Where there's a different type of currency, a different type of value. Yeah, that's right. It doesn't wear out. It doesn't wear out. It doesn't wear out. That's right. Yeah, we can spend a lot of money on a great meal and in 24 hours. It's past.

Past. Literally, it's past. Past. Literally and metaphorically past. But the way, if I love my neighbor as myself and I, you know, I choose to use some of those resources to help out somebody I know who's going to a really hard time. The love and the generosity and now the bond, the relational bond, there's something there that's an investment according to Jesus in something that lasts on into the new creation. In the Sermon amount, healthy whole relationships

is one of the greatest values of the kingdom of God according to Jesus. And generosity creates those types of bonds between people that apparently are more enduring than a good meal or the stock market. Yeah. Yeah. And you can get there pretty easy.

Yeah. You know, like it doesn't take too much imagination to realize, yeah, I'll find more joy and abundance out of a network of people who experience, like this kind of radical level of generosity towards each other, then I will in whatever new Tesla model is coming out. But in the day to day experience, that's not usually where my psyche is. That's right. So to me, it's significant that this thing about the birds and the flowers and anxiety is placed next to this teaching.

It's actually all part of one teaching about your priorities, what you really value and valuing the kingdom such that you begin to treat other people according to Jesus' value set. And for Jesus, those just go together. Yeah. So you could put it this way. He began with the whole thing, begin with don't be anxious, freedom from anxiety. So Jesus apparently conceives of the universe that he's living in as a place that should

free us from anxiety. Yeah, has he been around? Yeah, I just, right. Okay, so it's a place where... It does, you know, in the city, it feels like birds are kinda just scrapping it out. Oh, sure, yeah. But an agricultural society?

Yeah, or in rural outdoors. The birds have a wide, and they're just... Yeah, I mean, they gotta work hard. a wide. I mean, they're just. Yeah, I mean, they got to work hard. Yeah, but I mean, yeah. He's flying around and enjoying life while you're digging. Totally. Trenches. Yeah, yeah. No, that's exactly. Yeah. So, yeah, nature. And again, we're going to see this paragraph from Jesus is rooted entirely in the Hebrew scriptures. Every bit of this is leaking from the Psalms and the Proverbs. Jesus views the world as a stable place where we're being hosted by a very generous person. That's cool. And they couldn't be different than atheistic.

Sure, yeah, modern materialists. Materialists, it's like the world is a cruel place. That's right. And we're banging out our niche as best we can. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, nature is red and tooth and claw, as some poet said. Yeah, that's a good line. Yeah.

Which is easy to adopt that mentality. Yes. It feels very counter-intuitive to sit back and go, no, the world is a stable place. That is saturated in God's generosity. Yes, yes. Yes, and the same overabundance that Jesus saw at a field of wildflowers is the same overabundance

that the creator wants to show towards me. And if I foster that mindset, it can free me from a scarcity mindset. Maybe that's the core difference here. Jesus looks at the world and sees abundance. He sees that abundance as pointing to someone who loves us. Who loves us and has provided this environment for us to flourish. As opposed to a scarcity mindset that sets from the beginning, there's not enough for everyone.

Yeah, finder niche. Find my niche, prioritize me and my own. And survive. And survive. Two very different approaches to the universe. Yeah. And it's clear what Jesus is advocating. You know, I think I'm realizing I live out of a mix of those two.

Hmm, I think I do too. Jesus is articulating a mindset. He's a mouse piece for the whole biblical approach, whole biblical story. The ethnics does begin on page one and two. It's a conception of the universe as a beautiful creation that is packed with opportunity and resources and potential. And if I can cultivate the mindset that I'm being hosted by a generous creator. Yeah. Yeah. I have. In my day to day life, that will free me into whole new levels of life experience that I haven't. You know, we got to experience that. We got to go hang out at a like a ranch. That we're hosted. Yes. And okay. Yes. There ranch that we're hosted. Yes.

And there's just all this abundance. Yes. You know, like. That's a good point. Here's like, choose one of these six vehicles. Okay, so this is a good story. This is a generous supporter of the Bio Project. Yeah.

Invited John and I out to like a ranch in Eastern Oregon with our families. Yeah, he's got this beautiful piece of property. Yeah. Most of it's, I mean, there's some he's got this beautiful piece of property. Yeah. Most of it's, I mean, there's some alpha fields and a lot of cattle. Yeah. But it's just, it's a ton of just wild property.

Yeah. And just deer and elk. Yeah. And mountain lions, lakes and. Yep. And it's a place of abundance. It is. And you go there and you don't,

you don't feel like. Yeah. Yeah. He gave us a chef. So it's like you're not thinking about what you're gonna eat. Yeah. Yes. And it's like so not my day to day reality.

It was my wild. It was, yeah, that's right. Pick your four wheel drive vehicle for the weekend. Yeah, the keys are in all of them, just grab one. Here's the building where all the bottled water is and the candy for the kids. And yeah, couple and a couple like heavens. It's just like what?

Yeah, rare, very rare. So yeah, that's to me, that's the challenge of what this team is. Am I supposed to always feel that way? I'm supposed to always feel like. Well, what do you look at his words and you tell me? He wants us to live and really believe, and he calls it an act of faith, because he says, look at the flowers and the ravens,

you who trust God so little. If there's anything getting in the way of me experiencing abundance, it's probably a human problem, human-caused problem. It's not God's problem. God's just packed, creationful of potential. And if I can grasp that, I can not only be freed from anxiety, I can. It can begin to become second nature that I release my stuff out to other people who don't have as much as I do.

Yeah, there was something about being on that property that made me. I felt like cool and hang out with my kids. Yeah. I'm gonna hang out with, you know, just felt like I didn't, I could be more generous in my time. Yeah, totally. Whatever. Yes.

Cause there's something about feeling like you live within scarcity that makes you wanna pile things up. And when you live within abundance, you would think, that's another opportunity to pile things up. Yeah, totally. Yeah, that's right. Look at all this abundance. Let's just grab as much as I can.

Correct. Which might be an initial instinct with abundance. Sure. But eventually you kind of realize you're like, Yes. Why am I spending all this time piling all this stuff up? It's just always there. Yeah, that's right.

When I need it, it's there. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. I'm wasting all this time and energy. Totally, yeah. Yeah, G.S. is advocating. A mindset that says, there's right when I need it. It's there. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I'm wasting all this time and energy Yeah, yeah, Jesus is advocating a mindset that says there's enough. Yeah, there's enough So I can share of course I can share it's not mine to begin with and there's always enough Is there always enough at this point? It's always enough Or they're in theory there should be. There should be. The earth has the ability to produce enough.

The earth has enough. If humans are creative enough and love their neighbor as themselves enough, there is enough. Yeah, there is enough. I think that's his point. Yeah. 1 ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ � So I've got a question. We've already proposed a lot. What kind of tradition forms a person who talks

and thinks like this? Like in what kind of culture and story, do you have to grow up? Right. To actually believe these words and say them to other people. And you can't just say, oh, he's Jesus. Like he can say stuff like that. Not easy.

Yeah, he was brought up within a culture and a perspective. Yeah. Somebody who draws conclusions about God's character, thinking about both the text of scripture, but also looking at birds and flowers, and we'll see later rainstorms. And someone who truly believes there's a beautiful, generous mind behind the universe.

Mm-hmm. What? It seems like what you're digging at is if you read the Hebrew scriptures and you look at the stories of creation and the stories of God, you will have the mindset of an abundant world. The reason you and I had come up with all these objections or like, think of all the exceptions to what he's saying here is because we have been raised in a culture that has a fundamentally different view of the universe Yeah, then how Jesus saw the world. Yeah, and what kind of way of seeing the world

produces a person who can say a paragraph like that and everybody looks and just was just like yeah good point Yeah, yeah, that's right. And Jesus is here a mouthpiece for the view of God and God's generosity and creation that you find in the storyline of the scriptures, the Hebrew scriptures. So to me, if there's like a light bulb or some moment, we haven't even talked about what language we want to use for it yet in this video, but there's a foreign way of seeing the world. There's enough an abundance mindset that's foreign to how most of us think about the world. What can we do in a five-minute video

experience that can just open up a different way of seeing the world to somebody, including ourselves. Yeah. To me, that would be the win for this video. That's why I love this paragraph of Jesus teaching some at. It's a great teaching. I would propose that the first place we ought to look to think of what would form a person to talk like this about the universe is explicitly stated as Jesus' cultural tradition, which is the Jewish scriptural heritage.

Jesus was raised on the Torah, the prophets, and the Psalms. It's amazing to think about how some of his first memories would be hearing his mom or dad sing the poetry of the Psalms. What you find, for example, in the book of Psalms is all these poems are often called the creation poems in the book of Psalms and what you find in them is exactly the world view that Jesus is expressing right here. The abundant world view. Yes, this abundance mindset, creation, as these people experience it, is just an experience of God's generous abundance everywhere they look. So Psalm 104, for example. Psalm 104. Psalm 104. This is epic. Psalm. It's an entire meditation on page one of the Bible. It's a poetic

meditation on page one. It's a poetic meditation on the creation story. On the creation story. Which is the first one. Yep. a poetic meditation on the creation story. On the creation story. Which is page one. Yep. And what this poet does is he systematically works through the three tiers of the universe, the heavens, and then the land, and then the sea. And then he ponders the objects or the inhabitants, the thing of Genesis 1, the environments of order and the inhabitants. Then it's creatures.

And it's creatures. And it just works through. And he, like Jesus, just draws conclusions or forms these meditations based on observing and pondering everything in every realm. It's a pondering tradition. Yeah, it's a tallest Jewish meditation literature. Yeah. So notice how Psalm 104 works.

It begins with an opening call to praise. Bless Yahweh. Oh my. Neffesh. Oh my neffesh. My being. My life. We get a soul in most English translations.

Yahweh, my God, you are very great. You're closed with splendor and majesty. That's Psalm, similar to Psalm 8. Psalm 8, yeah, and that's, that's this whole idea of the heavenly bodies being a different kind of. Yeah, that's right. Having a different kind of clothing. Yes. Yeah, you cover yourself with light. Yeah. So, yeah, the heavens are formed their language for the spiritual realm. Yeah, a different kinds of beings and bodies. And here what their their body is closed with is splendor and light. Closed with splendor and majesty. Yeah, covering yourself with light.

So good. That's good. That's good outfit. Yeah. So he starts he's pondering up in the heavens. He's envisioning the dome, the beams of the upper dome, the clouds, there's chariot, wings of the wind, and he makes the winds his angels, his messengers. It's the word angel, and Hebrew, Malachim. He makes the winds his messengers. So he's not talking about spiritual beings there. He's talking about creation being like a way that he's just like a spiritual beings that are his messengers.

The winds and lightning are also his servants and messengers. Yeah. Then he moves on, poet moves on to talk about the land. It's foundations. He established it, the pillars, so the land sits on pillars so that it won't sink into the avispoil. He covers the deep as with a garment. And that's the earth. Yeah, he established the land on the water he depths. You've covered it, that is the land with the deep as with a garment.

So he's imagining, actually here, the pre-creation state, with the waters over the land. The waters were standing above the mountains. Oh, the water adapts for a garment. But at your rebuke, the waters fled. This is when God says, let the waters draw back in the dry land of marriage. He imagines this is God rebuking the waters. This is the phrase the gospel authors use. When they depict Jesus calming the waters and the gospels, they use the same word, rebuk. He rebukes. Oh.

It's from Psalm 104. Yep, that's a cool little nugget. Then he thinks about how the dry land is watered. God tamed the chaotic waters so that dry land can emerge. And then verse 10, he releases the waters back from the deeps into the land, but it comes forth. It comes up in the form of springs in the valleys.

This is actually, we'll talk about this one when we get into the Genesis 1 and 2 series. But the idea is that the chaotic waters that began with he stilled them by a spirit and, you know, rebuked them so that they draw back, so dry land can emerge. And then now God's master of the waters. And so anytime those waters pop up from the great deep below in a spring or a well,

that scene as a gift of God showing his mastery over the chaotic waters. Oh, so that's connected then did Moses bringing water from rocks and all the waters and wells and the wilderness become little Eden little gifts of Eden That's cool in the midst totally. It's yeah, it's all connected. Hey, by the way in verse 7 we says at the sound of your thunder They took flight. Yes, that's the word. It's also voice right thunder voice. Oh, oh yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, uh You reboot the waters they fled from your debut the sand of your voice. You're thinking of our conversation about. Yeah, what Psalm was it? Psalm 29.

Yeah, the thunder and voice. The voice of your thunder. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, exactly right. Then he moves on to talk, start talking about the creatures. Okay, so here's where we're going to pick up. I think this is where we get into a text that's forming the mindset of Jesus.

Oh, cool. So he causes grass to grow for the cattle and vegetation for the mindset of Jesus. Oh, cool. So he causes grass to grow for the cattle and vegetation for the labor of humans so that he may bring forth food from the land. What, are you reading a translation? Or are you just reading Hebrew? I'm reading from the New American. And they ask, okay.

They ask, yeah. Verse 14, he causes the grass to grow for the cattle and vegetation for the labor of man so that he, the man, may bring forth three from the earth. Yeah, yeah. The word for food is actually the word bread in Hebrew. Lechum. Lechum.

Which can be a generic word for food, any kind. So this is reflecting on that line in Genesis 1, where I give to you the Ace of Haasadeh. You get to eat all the stuff growing out of the... Yeah, the vegetation and the beast, they get the wild vegetation out there. Yeah. And so... And it never can either turn into the beast, the wild vegetation.

Yeah, totally, yeah, that's the whole thing. But in Genesis 1, it's God giving. It's the word give. To you I give, into the animals I give. And now it's a poetic meditation on that, on that version of Genesis 1. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle. This is, again, back to Luke 12,

Jesus thinks of a raven, picking berries or whatever, off a bush and he says God is giving that creature food. That's how he would view that situation. Yeah, or he would see a cow grazing or... That's right, yeah. A deer grazing. A deer grazing. A deer grass, yeah. And he would have things like that. He would say God's providing food for that creature. Yeah.

And it's not because they're ignorant that grass grows up out of the ground from seed. They actually are way more familiar with those things than most of us also. They know how it works. Yeah, because that's their life farming and so on. But it's their view of the universe. That the universe, we are being hosted by a generous host. And so there's no distinction between the grass growing by itself, more God giving it to the creature.

It's the same thing. Yeah. Verse 15, the grass and vegetation as a gift, verse 15, and wine that makes the human heart glad so that he may make his face glisten with oil and food that sustains man's heart. This too is a gift from God. Verse 16, the trees of Yahweh, the trees of Yahweh, drink their fill. They're so they're rooted in the ground and they can access that deep water below. But we don't sink into because of the pillars that Yahweh put there. But the

trees, you know, go down. Verse 17, the birds build their nest in these trees of Yahweh. Trees of Yahweh. Like the poet looks out and any tree. He's like, that's Yahweh's tree. He's the host. Yeah, he's the host, so he put on this event. Yeah.

The high, verse 18, the high mountains are for wild goats. The cliffs are the refuge for some kind of rock, badger like creature. So look, you can just see what he's doing. He just sees all of what we call nature. He sees it as the expression of a generous being. It was just given the right provision and homes for all of these different kinds of creatures.

Working together as a harmonious system. Verse 21, the young lions roar after their prey and they seek their food from God. So even the lions are being provided by their prey? Yeah, it's like they're roaring is their, their, um, their Oh, their like tradition? The prayers of petition. Yeah. They're praying. Yeah. Prayer for a roar.

Prayerful lions. When the sun rises, they withdraw, because you know, they hunt at night, I guess. They lie down in their dens, and that's when the humans go out to work, and they labor until the evening. So you got the humans to go out in the day, they work the land, and then the lions come out, and humans, you know, they pray for rain and good weather. You have our own roar. That's right. And then the lions do the night shift. Yeah, and everyone, and there's enough for everyone. That's right. That's right. So going towards

the final movement, oh, Yahweh. How many are your works in wisdom? What it's the all expression of God's wisdom. Not only is there an abundance, but because it came out of a Well-divised. Yeah. Yeah, schema. It works like it all works together. Yeah The earth is full of your some translations have creations others have possessions the sea great and broad Swarms without number animals. Oh, this is good animals small and great. They're the ships move along The section of the poem opened up with oh Yahweh how many are your works? Yeah in wisdom you made them all There's the sea and then there's 26 and there's the ships Hmm even the ships are his work. there's 26 and there's the ships.

Even the ships are his work. That's right. Even the ships are human made. In this world view, they're ultimately always work, because we're co-creators. And also don't forget, the ships move around in that great deep with Leviathan, who you form to play in it. Just cause. Totally. They all wait for you to give them their food in due time. Who you form to play in it? Just cuz yeah They all wait for you to give them their food in dude. That's the sea monster do season. Yes, low-high things for your can of that neighbors

Yeah, it's like these are deified chaos monsters. Yeah, and in the biblical world view they are monsters But they're under y' you always control. Yeah, so already. They got a big playground. Yeah, huge. The huge is actually the huge is playground. Yeah, they wait for you to give them food and do season. You give it to them, they gather it up, you open your hand and they're satisfied with with good. So you get the idea here. This is just one we could go to other poems, but this is biblical, that is Jewish creation theology. It's wisdom, creation, theology. The superabundance of creation is an expression of God's own generosity. And if you grew up on that kind of poetry,

of God's own generosity. And if you grew up on that kind of poetry from your earliest memories, you can see why Jesus could say what he says in Luke 12 and everybody would be like, oh yeah, that's right. I forgot that. Or when the Romans are right, crushing us through taxation and taking all of our farmland,

it's easy to forget that this is what's actually true about the world. Yeah. Now, someone in that context, even though they have these stories, if they're suffering, I mean, that's got to create some sort of conflict for them. Yes. Right? I believe in the generosity of an abundance of God

what he gave, he's hosting us. But I'm suffering. Yeah, within, it's not like everything's gonna be great. No, that's right. Within a world you shape by the biblical story, that's God's wise design and purpose for the ideal of how the world operates.

It's all given as a gift to humanity and its creatures, the creatures of the world. But of course, there's a conflict in this story. And that conflict is actually one way to think about the storyline of the Bible is its people abusing Yahweh's generosity. And instead of seeing Yahweh give and give and give generously in creation and then imitating that, what the humans do in Genesis 3 is desire. Mm, intake.

What is not rightly theirs, and then take. Yeah. So taking versus giving, it's a simple way to think about the storyline of the Bible is Yahweh gives and what humans do's desire and take. You know, there was one conversation we were having. Maybe it was Day of the Lord or something, but one takeaway I had was Oh, you can frame the whole story of the Bible in terms of what do humans do with power? Oh, yes, yes.

And what I'm hearing from this conversation is you can frame the whole story of the Bible of What do humans do with abundance? Yeah, yeah, right. Yes. Because you can thrive in abundance. But then paradoxically, you can create chaos within abundance. Yeah, you can reuse, seize it and try to control it. Yeah. Yes, that's right. It is. It's the paradox of wealth and abundance that has explored in every part of the biblical story. And collection, because it's a truly a paradox, that to be given these gifts of rich abundance, that's what's going on in the Eden story. That's what the Eden

story is. Yahweh plants a super abundant garden. Yeah. And then just the human. When I love the details of the story where it's like, he gives them food, but he also gives them trees that are just good to look at. Yeah, that's right. Some are just beautiful.

Yeah. It's just what they're there for. So you got like food trees, and then you just got like cool trees. Yeah, humans wake up in their existence into a world that's just flooded with resources. And what does that opportunity do to them? And it's actually not great. That's a great way to frame the human condition as we experience it right now in this kind of

history. It's not knowing what to do with abundance. With abundance, yes. Yeah. Yeah, and abundance that both is just there, like latent or potential. And then with the abundance that's like created from the stuff that we make off the earlier abundance, then we make new stuff that creates a new hybrid abundance.

That's both from creation and then whatever it is, like a fork or something, or a car, a Tesla. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's a great, that's exactly it. So for someone sitting there listening to Jesus speak in Luke 12, they also have a category for why is it that I don't experience that carefree existence of a raven or a lily. It's because I'm screwed up and my neighbors just screwed up and the Romans, oh man, they're really screwed up. And that's why I don't experience the world as someone of four. But there's no like, the world as a 104. But there's no like, there's no like faction of Ravens that have like all teamed up and built some sort of power

structure that's gonna oppress the other Ravens. Yeah, it's just kind of one on one with the Ravens, isn't it? Yeah, they might they might fight it out over some roadkill, but like other than that. Yeah, that's right. They're all getting along. Yeah, for the most part, they work in packs.

Yeah, no humans, we use both our potential and opportunity and then we devise, we create all kinds of horrific ways to deprive each other of abundance or hoard it for certain groups, right? Again, within the biblical story, this was the explanation for why the world is the way it is. It's not God's fault. It's humans participating in something horrendously evil

to turn the world into an anti-Eden, where it's an Eden for some, like the King of Babylon, he gets to live in Eden. I got to imagine that most secular philanthropists would agree with this. I think so. Sure. They wouldn't go like, oh, that's such a weird ancient,

like strange religious way to think with the world. They'd be like, oh yeah, that's a really kind of stut, anthropology that you've got there. Yeah. Of like, yeah. Why? Why? Because I think there's a sense amongst those who are leaders in philanthropic efforts that there isn't, there is enough. Mm-hmm. If we can work out the details. Yeah. If we're like smarter, and not as mean to each other, of course, they aren't king into that other thing you say that which is connected to this evil, if you're doing it from a completely secular point of view.

That's right. But, yeah. Well, essentially what that world you're describing is doing is just taking any sense of another parallel Spiritual realm out of it. Right. So both the abundance and goodness doesn't need to have come from yeah another being Right. It just happened. It's just here. We are. Yep. And and therefore the all of the Horrible ways that you, problem with dealing with the bunch. Problem, yeah, and all of the lack of abundance because of human power structures. We also don't need to...

Spiritualize. ...pond that off onto some other being. Some weird mystical evil. It's just stupid humans who need to get better education. Yeah. And... Which is... Or learn how to be nice to each other. Yeah.

So that is one way of explaining the human condition. Who knows how we got here, but we're here for no particular reason with all this abundance. And let's learn how to be nicer to each other. And I don't know what could you say, except does that really honor the complexity of the human condition that education doesn't? Education doesn't seem to solve the problem of the selfish human heart. It just doesn't, it can improve things. It can improve things. A lot, but it doesn't seem to get to the core of the problem.

And certainly not according to Jesus, he would say the problem is much deeper and complex. The problem that prevents us from living generously within abundance. You correct. Yeah, Jesus would locate it where David and Moses located in the problem of the human heart, which remembers the center of will and volition, choice and emotion.

And their diagnosis is that our hearts are hijacked by an animal-like form of selfishness and chaos that we don't fully understand. And sometimes it's called, in Genesis 4 it's just called sin. Yeah. And in Genesis 3 it's depicted as some kind of other being. And that's where moderns get hung up, but anyhow. We digress, perhaps. But this is the worldview.

I like that idea of the problem of power that we talked about with the day of the Lord is in this frame, the problem of power that we talked about with the day of the Lord is in this frame the problem of abundance. Yeah, yeah, because power can be good. Yes, yeah, that's right. And abundance is awesome. It's awesome, and it can be good. It's a lot easier to see how power can be misused. But it's an interesting thing to think about how abundance is misused.

Correct, yeah, yeah. This is why the Bible's view of wealth and abundance is actually, aside from these kind of bigger picture creation perspectives, what wealth and abundance does to people in the Bible is almost always negative. Yeah. Actually, the Bible has an extremely negative, very suspicious, well, well, and abundance.

Actually, it's really off-putting to modern people who live in capitalist societies. Yeah. I have found that to be true in many contexts. Just reading the Bible allowed in settings where there's lots of different kinds of people. Yeah. I find that the view of wealth doesn't resonate with people who are really invested in certain

economic systems. Yeah. It's fascinating. I mean, look at Jesus. What? We just read in Luke 12. Just like sell your stuff and get to the poor. Yeah.

Because it's going to, money's going to corrupt you. I've heard that Jesus talked about money more than any other topic. Is that in the gospel? Oh, in terms of, yeah, if you just count up, how much, how many verses or sentences are given to what topics? Yeah, money and wealth is like in the top three. In the top three? I've just amount of times he talks about this totally.

Especially in the gospel of Luke, which is where we started. The biblical story gives you this abundance mentality. It's beautiful. That doesn't necessitate then that the story of the Bible and the scripture should also have this suspicion of wealth. It almost seems like the opposite would be true. That if there is an abundance mentality,

the Bible wouldn't be suspicious of wealth. It would be celebrating it. Yeah, that's right. And it often does. Actually, you know what? As I think about it, maybe a better way to say it is, the Bible is suspicious of what wealth does to humans. Yeah.

Especially humans who aren't following the way of Jesus. Or connect, excuse me, who are connected to Jesus and how he renewed the human story. Yes, that's a better way to say it. Humans in our current condition. Yeah. It's a toxic cocktail.

Because Psalm 104, I mean, he's celebrating well. It's celebrating the wealth that God has loaded in with creation. And that's a great point. And the scene. Well, I end up also very specifically, he's celebrating the wealth of food. Correct. And drink. Total. That's exactly right.

And if you look at all the depictions of the new creation in the profit. Wine's flowing. We're in the revelation. You have wine flowing from the hills. That's abundant. Yeah, exactly. Oh, all this stuff, you know,

the gold and the jewels of the new Jerusalem and the abundance. Totally. So you're right. It's more in the present age with the broken human condition, the Bible suspicious of wealth and the hands of those kinds of people. And that's where I find maybe the corollary of your two power. Yeah. In that, it's the same thing. It's like power to rule. That was a good thing. Yes. But then if you actually just pull out all the places where people have power, it's probably all these warnings of people that don't let it mess you up.

So think about Psalm 104, which is itself just reflecting on Genesis 1. Genesis 1 and 2, same portrait, just order, brought to chaos, and then all this potential packed into creation. Genesis 2, it's in the image of God planting a garden in the midst of a wilderness, puts the humans in there. Garden from wilderness. Garden from wilderness. It's a generous act. And from any tree you can eat, except this one that will kill you yeah Yeah, and the one that will kill you is the one that represents you taking hmm your own

Taking moral discernment to define good and evil yeah by your own wisdom instead of trusting that I will teach you how to To eat for many tree, but the one that will prevent you from being a generous person. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, because the moment you define good evil by your own wisdom, you're going to start defining as good so that you have a little bit more in that person. Totally. Because I can make perfect sense. It feels very good to have enough, even if... And maybe not just for me, maybe for me and my family for me and my family

Or me and my tribe. Yeah, and surely that's a good thing that I provide for my tribe. Yeah Oh, but what if it's at the expense of that tribe? Well, they got to take care of themselves You got to take care of themselves. There should be enough for them maybe or okay, so here You got you almost kind of have to live that way when you're limited by your own yes understanding Yeah, correct. How can you know like you're kind of just stuck live that way when you're limited by your own understanding. Yeah, correct. Because how can you know like you're kind of just stuck. It's a great transition for what we can talk about next. If the biblical story can be framed as God's gift of abundance to humans, the plot conflict

is how they distort abundance, which is to desire according to their own wisdom and then to take. Thank you for listening to this own wisdom and then to take. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Bible Project Podcast. Next week we're going to keep diving into the theme of generosity in the storyline of the Bible. We're going to look at the Garden of Eden stories and explore how they demonstrate God's generosity, his generous overbundic character, it's gonna be awesome. Today's show was produced by Dan Gummel.

Theme music was by the band Tense. We are a crowdfunded animation studio in Portland, Oregon, and you can find all of our resources at thebibelproject.com. Everything we make is because of your generous support, so thanks for being part of this with us. Hi, my name is Oliver, and I'm from C. Low Washington. My favorite part is watching the videos before I go to bed. And what's your favorite video?

The Satan and demons. We believe the Bible is a very fine story that leads to Jesus. We're a crowd-funded project by people like me. Find free videos, study notes, podcasts, and more of the BibleProject.com. My name is Oliver. I live in C en la Washington. Nosotros creamos que la Bibliá es un... Es una historia unificada.

Es una historia unificada. Que lleva a Jesús. Que lleva a Jesús. Somos un proyecto... Patrocinado por mucha gente. ...patrocinado por mucha gente. ¿Cómo yo? ¿Cómo yo? Encuentra videos gratis.

Encuentras videos gratis. Muchos estudios porcas y más en el proyecto.com you you