It’s easy to live out of a scarcity mindset, hording and protecting precious resources. But the kingdom of God is marked by abundance (wine, bread, fish, flour, oil), so we will operate out of God’s overflowing abundance and limitless supply of everything we need.  

INTRO

Welcome back to our RiverLife 2034 Values series. We’ve been exploring new values that’ll drive our new mission, experiencing God together. Values are important because they provide us direction and purpose to live out our mission. In the past 2 weeks, we’ve looked at the first two values, apprenticing under God and we are ministers of restoration. I highly encourage you to go back and listen to them if you’ve missed out. This morning, we’re going to look at our third value, we have an abundance mindset. We have an abundance mindset. To best understand what an abundance mindset is, let’s contrast it with its opposite, a scarcity mindset.

Scarcity Mindset vs Abundance Mindset

A scarcity mindset is belief that a person has limited resources causing to be fearful. They can’t give too much away or there won’t be enough left for themselves. They fear that there will never be enough to meet their needs. Resources include physical items things like clothes, food, and money, as well as non-physical items like time and affection. A person with a scarcity mindset might hoard whatever resource they’re scared to lose. Some might have an unhealthy collection of things. Others might cram as many experiences as possible and overschedule their calendar because they’re worried that they don’t have enough time. Others might become clingy, jealous, or settle for less fulfilling relationships fearing that they might not find anyone else who cares about them. Self-preservation becomes the primary goal because they are concerned about themselves. This mindset often stems from past experiences of not having enough so it causes the individual to focus on something lack even when you have plenty of it. And while it can stem from a means for survival, it can become unhealthy when we operate from a false belief that we need more when we have enough.

Scarcity Mindset In the Church

The scarcity mentality isn’t just an issue that pertains to people, but it’s also an issue that can plague the church. Similarly, it can lead churches to operate out of fear that there’s not enough to go around so they develop similar tendencies of self-preservation. A church operating out of a scarcity mindset might be hesitant to launch new ministries or efforts to impact others because there’s not enough financial resources, volunteer, or time. They might not take any risks to grow the church’s mission because resources are limited and stay comfortable focusing on themselves.

I don’t ever want RiverLife to ever be stuck in this mindset. I hope that RiverLife will be a church that does whatever it takes to positively impact others with the good news of Jesus because Jesus continually reminds us in scripture that God will provide us with everything we need. This is an abundance mindset.

Abundance Mindset

An abundance mindset is rooted in the belief that there are plenty of opportunity, resources, and possibilities for everyone. Anyone can succeed with faith, effort, and creativity and we can all grow and be successful. Key characteristics of an abundance mindset include trust in provision, generosity, and collaboration instead of competition. In the Bible, God is a person of abundance. God created an entire garden for Adam and Eve and invited them to eat from every tree except one. God provided a sacrificial system for the Israelites so they cleanse themselves from their sins allowing God to dwell with them.

If we turn to the New Testament, we find that the early church lived with an abundance mindset. When things got extremely difficult, believers didn’t turn to self-preservation. Instead, they sacrificed and sold their possessions and gave the money to others who needed it. The Apostle Paul was completely rooted in God’s sufficiency and providence through all the hard situations he experienced in his ministry. Paul was imprisoned, shipwrecked, and persecuted, but he always focused on the abundant opportunities he was blessed with. No situation was ever too difficult for Paul. He expressed his life motto in Philippians 1:21, which says,

“To live is Christ and to is gain”

Paul saw every situation as a win-win opportunity. He could live and make Christ known or die from persecution and be with Christ. In a situation where most of would give up and look for ways to take care of our wellbeing, Paul saw the obstacles as opportunities. If the church couldn’t financially support him, he found a job. If he was locked up, it was an opportunity to share Jesus to his prison mates. If he was executed for doing ministry, he would get to be with Jesus. Paul’s abundance mindset helped him do ministry no matter the situation because he saw that Jesus was all that he needed. And if Paul saw that he could depend on Jesus for everything, it meant that Jesus operated from an abundance mindset.

Jesus’ Abundance Mindset

If we flip through the gospel, many of the narratives illustrate this.

• Jesus fed at least 9,000 men

• He brought life to the fullest so we can experience what God intended for us

• He invited people to seek the kingdom first and everything else would be provided to them.

In fact, Jesus’ very first miraculous sign that he performed set the tone to indicate his abundance mindset. When we understand the significance of his first miraculous sign, we will see his abundance mindset in everything. So, let’s dive into Matthew 2:1-12 to see what this is all about. We heard it during scripture reading but let me quickly summarize it.

Jesus and his disciples are in Cana attending a wedding. The wine runs out and Jesus ends up turning 6 jars of water that each hold 20-30 gallons of water into fine wine. Now it might seem like an amazing stand-alone miracle that Jesus performed, but in context it was an extremely significant moment with deep meanings.

In the Jewish culture, weddings were one of, if not, the most significant life celebrations. Weddings highlighted things like the unity and companionship of two individuals. Wedding feasts would last 7 days where friends and families gathered to celebrate with food and drink. Wine was an essential part of these feasts and everyday life. It was a simple and essential beverage often diluted with water that sustained life because it was less likely to be contaminated by bacteria unlike our modern understanding of wine, which is usually reserved for more luxurious celebrations.

• Wine was significant because it symbolized blessing and joy. When the Israelites obeyed God, they were blessed with ingredients like grains, oil, and grapes to thrive, but in their disobedience, they would experience famines as a form of God’s punishment.

• Wine was offered as a sacrifice to God in the Old Testament, which emphasizes the importance of maintaining a faithful relationship with him. Sacrifices demonstrated a level of obedience to God, which resulted in blessings from him.

• Wine also served as symbols of Israel’s hope in the Messiah. Old Testament passages like Amos 9:13-14 depict wine as a sign of the Messiah who will come rescue them from their troubles. Let me read the passage,

13 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills, 14 and I will bring my people Israel back from exile. “They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.”

Wine was very significant part of Jewish culture so when it ran out at the wedding, it was a big issue.

It’s kind of like when you go to a wedding, and you look forward to a particular wedding dish served for the reception. When I’m at a wedding, I look forward to items like roast pork, chicken wings, eggrolls, and the eggs in nqaij qab zib. But, if those items are out by the time I get to eat, I feel like I missed out on something special that makes the wedding a wedding. And it’s an unspoken rule at weddings, but when you run out of food, it can bring tremendous shame to a family. The same thing was true about the wedding that Jesus attended. Running out of wine at a wedding was a no-no because it meant you were cheap or a thoughtless host.

In a moment of where a newlywed couple ran out of wine and almost faced public disgrace and shame, Jesus performed his first miraculous sign by filling 6 20-30 gallon jars to the brim with water. That’s about 150 gallons of water and Jesus turned every jar of water into wine. Based on today’s average bottle of wine, that’s roughly 700 bottles. Not only was it a lot of wine, but it was a high-quality wine. In Jesus’ time it was normal to serve the best wine first because people were able to appreciate it more at the beginning of the feast. Cheaper wine would be served later because guests were full from eating or intoxicated, but when host tasted the wine he immediately commented how it was the best. Now let me make some connections and tie it back to why this is significant.

There are a lot of symbolism in John 2:1-12 that depicts God’s abundance mindset. A wedding is a celebration of 2 individuals joined together. Jesus performed this miraculous sign at a wedding, which symbolized him coming to earth to be joined with humanity. Throughout the Bible, Jesus is often referred to as the groom while the church, the body of believers, is the bride.

The sign of turning water into wine pulls all the Old Testament references of life, blessing, joy, communion with God, and messianic reign to illustrate Jesus’ purpose on earth. Jesus, the Messiah, was finally here on earth, and at a wedding, he symbolically ushered his rule and reign of his kingdom full of abundance in an earth of scarcity.

Wine was served during weddings to celebrate the covenant relationship between a husband and wife. If we look later into Jesus’ ministry, he uses wine to celebrate a new covenant relationship with his disciples. Earlier in service we ate communion together to remind us of Jesus’ death and what it means for us. Jesus served communion with bread and wine. The bread represents his body that was broken for us and the wine represents the blood that was shed for the forgiveness of sins. This is important because the wine or the blood symbolizes our forgiven sins so we joined to and be united with God.

Wine also has future implications too. After Jesus served the last supper, he said in Matthew 26:29,

“I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom."

This means that there is more to come when Jesus returns and we are in God’s Kingdom. Jesus will drink wine again with us in the Father’s kingdom when he restores the world back to how God created it. Towards the end of Revelation the Apostle John records this,

9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

As we live on earth in God’s abundance, we will get to experience the fullness of his abundance in heaven when we attend the wedding supper. Like wedding ceremonies that celebrate unity, love, and companionship, the wedding supper of the Lamb is the ultimate feast where we get to experience God’s glory and goodness for eternity. All the joy, peace, and happiness that we’ve ever desired on earth is in heaven. That’s the significance of Jesus turning water into wine. It’s his way of telling us that this is what heaven is going to be like. Endless opportunities to praise God. That’s what God’s abundance is all about.

APPLICATION

So what does this all mean for us? Jesus gives us everything we need to live out our lives for God. There is no shortage of resources necessary to establish God’s kingdom on earth. Every situation presents an opportunity to praise God and point others to his goodness. This provides us with two options to respond. We adopt an abundance mindset to share God’s love with others or stick with a scarcity mindset and focus on yourself. Let me say this again, We adopt an abundance mindset to share God’s love with others or stick with a scarcity mindset and focus on yourself.

I mentioned earlier, I don’t want RiverLife to be focused on RiverLife. I want RiverLife to be outward focused. Resources like finances and time can feel tight, but if we see the endless opportunities we have, it allows us to see obstacles as opportunities. If RiverLife operates out of a scarcity mentality, we will focus on self-preservation instead of making an impact in the Brooklyn Park area. Brooklyn Park needs to experience God’s love and an abundance mindset will get us there.

I’ve been in churches who were too inward focus and never made an impact in the community. Instead of being a light to the community we ended up being an annoyance. Neighbors didn’t know us as loving and caring, but annoying because we took up 3-4 blocks of street parking every Sunday morning. If the church closed down for whatever reason, I think the neighbors would’ve been happy that we were no longer parking in front of their houses because that was the only way we were impacting them.

I’ve been to churches where we have literal neighbors next to us, but we never interacted with them. While this church had an ample parking lot, if we were to close for whatever reason, I don’t think the neighbors would’ve noticed because we were so busy focused on ourselves.

I desire RiverLife to make an impact in the community with whatever we have. We can’t be too focused on ourselves because if we don’t share with the community what we have, we can’t impact them. What’s been amazing is that the community has come to us so we get a chance to make an impact, but we also have a responsibility to go too.

Here are a few things we can consider to help us live with an abundance mindset.

1. Reflect on how you view your resources. Where in your life do you operate from a scarcity mindset? Is it with your belongings? Time? Finances? Love? Identify one area that you hold selfishly because you don’t think there’s enough of and ask God to help you trust in his abundance.

2. Take a step of faith and be generous with that resource that you keep to yourself. Share with others in need and without fearing that you won’t have enough. Give without expecting in return trusting that God will always provide for you. You don’t have to share all of it, but are you willing to share some of it? God will always provide for us. His provisions will sustain us as we build his kingdom here.

God did not spare Jesus who was his beloved son. Instead, he sent Jesus to us so that if we believed in him, we would receive eternal life. Our entire faith is build upon God’s abundance mindset. So let us have an abundance mindset at RiverLife to help us experience God together. Let us share our resources with one another to experience his love and sacrifice. Let us not fear that our resources are limited because he will always provide. And let us share what God has blessed us with so that others may see his love through us. Let me pray for us.