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Give!

Sermon Series: I’m Supposed to do WHAT?!?!

Have any of you ever dated someone when you had no money?  That was me when I started dating Amy in college.  When we first started dating I was a cheerleader and didn’t have time to go to class, go to practice, go to games, and hold down a job.  The only money I had was what I made over the summer and what I received as Christmas or birthday gifts.  So I had to do some pretty strategic things to make that money stretch as far as possible.  The first thing I had to do was work hard during the summer.  For me that meant not only doing my normal life guarding hours, but it also meant teaching group swim lessons before the pool opened, private swim lessons after I got off, and picking up any private parties I could throughout the summer.  I worked really hard during the summer to both save money and to keep me from being in situations with my friends where I would want to go out and spend money.  Once the school year began I would also do my best to eat at the dining hall whenever possible.  Most kids did the opposite – they would only eat at the dining hall when they had to.  But because my meals were part of my college expenses I figured I better make the most of it and eat as often as I could at the dining hall.  Those were things I would do to save money because I had something else that I really wanted to do – take Amy out on dates.  Even on our dates I would have to be a little stingy (especially with myself).  If I took her out to dinner I was going to get the least expensive item on the menu, regardless of whether I liked it or not.  When we went to the movies it was the $2.00 movie theatre and I would sneak in M&Ms.  But I did that because I loved Amy and I wanted to be able to give as generously to her as I could.  I wanted to be able to occasionally do things like take her to the circus.  I wanted to be able to get her a nice birthday and Christmas gift.  I wanted to be able to impress her on Valentine ’s Day.  Why?  Because generous and joyful giving is one way that we can express our love for someone.

The Bible tells us that giving is one of the ways that we can express our love towards God.  In fact, as believers in Christ the Bible says we should regularly practice giving, not only as an expression of love, but also as an act of worship.  That’s right, as believers in Christ you and I are supposed to give!  This week we are going to try to answer the question, “What does giving as an act of worship look like?”  And to help answer that question we are going to be spending most of our time in 2 Corinthians 8-9.

As Paul begins this portion of his letter to the Corinthian church he begins by sharing with them what is taking place in another church in Macedonia.  Paul takes an opportunity in the first five verses of chapter 8 to brag on that church and to use the church in Macedonia as an example of what Paul would like to see take place in the church at Corinth.  Paul says that the church at Macedonia has given very generously to help supply the needs of other believers who are currently in distress.  That’s very encouraging!  But what makes their giving so incredible is an understanding of the conditions that the individuals of the Macedonian church were living in when they were giving of their finances and resources.  Paul says that they were in the midst of “a severe test of affliction” (8:2) and that they were living in “extreme poverty.”  Yet even in the midst of such conditions they were earnestly begging Paul to allow them to give, because they had given themselves to God and were now wanting to be used by God to bring aid to others.

Having used the church at Macedonia as an example, Paul begins to lay out a challenge to the church at Corinth.  According to verse 7 the church at Corinth was excelling in many things.  Paul said that they were a church that excelled in faith, in speech, in knowledge, and in all earnestness.  But Paul also wanted the church at Corinth to excel in their giving – not because he was commanding them to do so, but as proof of their genuine love for God and for others.  Then Paul reminds the church at Corinth about a certain individual who modeled this type of genuine love and giving better than any other person or church ever had – Jesus.  Paul says in verse 9, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.”  Paul walks the individuals of the Corinthian church through Jesus’ unbelievable act of generosity towards us in making salvation available to us.  Jesus, prior to taking on flesh and coming to the earth, had been living for all of eternity past in the very presence of God.  He was reigning with God the Father in heaven with all power and all dominion and with every resource at His disposal.  But while Jesus was reigning in heaven, we were here on earth attempting to trade places with God and become like Him.  We started sinning and that sin separated us from God.  Because God is just He was unable to simply pardon the sin and act as though it never happened.  Our sin required a consequence and because God hates sin we became His enemies and objects of His divine wrath.  Most troubling though was the fact that the glory of God that was to be on display in His creation had become greatly marred by the sin of humanity.  And so God set forth a plan of reconciliation – a plan to pay the consequences of humanity’s sin and to once again put His glory on display in His creation.  God’s Son would have to play an enormous role in this plan.  It would begin with the Son leaving heaven, coming to earth, and taking humanity upon Himself.  The gospel accounts tell us that God’s Son became a man.  The One who was omnipresent limited Himself to a physical body that could only be in one place at one time.  The One was omniscient limited Himself in His knowledge of all things.  The One who was unable to experience any kind of physical death now had a human body capable of dying.  The One who lived in perfection where there was no hint of sin confined Himself to a fallen creation where there was an abundance of sin and where temptation was a real enemy.  God’s plan was to send His Son, Jesus, into His creation where He would live in complete righteousness.  Then, in order to redeem God’s creation and reconcile humanity with God He would take their sin upon Himself and suffer both the wrath of God and the death that their sin deserved.  He would become a perfect substitute for humanity.  And once He had overcome sin and death, once He had died and rose again, He would exchange His perfect righteousness for the sin of individuals who would come to Him in faith.  He had atoned for their sins by His death and now He would place His perfect righteousness on them so that their sins would be no more and they could once again come into the presence of the Father.  That’s what Paul wants us to consider when he uses the example of Jesus.  Though He once was rich in the presence of the Father, for our sake He became poor, taking humanity and ultimately sin upon Himself, so that we might be reconciled to God and become co-heirs with Jesus.  Is there any better example of extraordinary generosity?

In 8:10-15 and 9:1-5 Paul encourages the Corinthian church in their desire to give, but also admonishes them to follow through on those intentions.  All of us at times have had intentions of doing something great but failed to follow through.  Paul understands that good intentions don’t automatically turn into practical reality.  So he encourages those individuals who make up the church at Corinth to follow through and in their time of abundance to give both generously and willingly. 

In the final verses in chapter 9 Paul encourages the Corinthian church to give because giving is like sowing seeds for God.  He uses the imagery of a farmer sowing seeds to help paint a picture for them.  A farmer who only sows a little seed will only have a little harvest.  On the other hand, a farmer who sows a lot of seed will have a large harvest.  Paul says the Corinthian church should take great joy in this sowing process because the reality is that God has richly blessed them with seed so that they can in turn richly sow the seed, and as a result grow in their righteousness (vs. 10), meet the needs of the saints (vs. 12), and ultimately grow the kingdom of God (vs. 12-13).

Having spent some time quickly familiarizing ourselves with the content of these two chapters, it’s important that we pay close attention to two CHARACTERISTICS that should define our giving if our giving is going to be an acceptable act of worship.  The first is that we must give GENEROUSLY (8:2; 9:6).  Paul sets forth the church at Macedonia as our example for this.  Listen again to what he says about them in 8:2, “for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.”  This wasn’t a church that was giving just a little out of their abundance.  This was a church that was first and foremost in the midst of some very hard times of their own.  They were suffering affliction and they were extremely poor.  Yet even in the midst of their own difficulties when they realized that their brothers and sisters in Christ were in distress they began to give generously.  So as Paul begins to challenge the Corinthian church in their giving, he puts before them the challenge to follow the example of the Macedonian church.  He says in 9:6, “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” 

Who wants to reap sparingly?  The answer is, ‘no one.’  So if we want to be a church that reaps bountifully we have to be generous in our sowing.  But that raises another question, “If we are going to be a people who give generously, what are we to give generously for?”  The text of chapters 8 and 9 set forth two primary areas: the support of the saints and the work of the gospel.  In 8:4 Paul says the church at Macedonia was, “begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.”  Then later in 9:12 while addressing the church at Corinth he says, “for the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints.”  One of the reasons that we are to give generously is for the support of the saints.  When there are other believers in Christ who are facing great distress it is our responsibility to help them through that time of distress and we can help do that by giving.  Paul also gives us another reason for generous giving in these chapters and that’s for the work of the Gospel.  As Paul concludes chapter 9 he says, “for the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.  By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others.”  When non-believers see our genuine love for others demonstrated by our great generosity they will catch a glimpse of what Christ has done for each of us.  It’s a tangible picture of God’s grace and generosity on our behalf. 

Another question worth asking is, “Are these the only two things that our generous giving is to go towards to support?”  I would answer ‘no.’ The OT lays out a principle of giving a tithe to the temple to support the work of the temple and those who are employed in its service.  We need money today to fund our churches and support what they are trying to do.  We also as individuals and churches need to be generous in our giving to and serving non-believers.  If we aren’t helping provide for the physical needs of non-believers who are in distress it will be hard for them to accept the message of a loving God and the salvation He offers when there is not context for that love.

Scripture warns us about not being generous in our giving.  Consider two texts in particular.  In Malachi 3:6-12 God speaks with great anger towards His people who aren’t giving.  He accuses those who do not give of ‘robbing’ Him and admonishes them to bring their full tithe.  We see another example in 2 Samuel 24:18-25.  There we see an account in which King David is instructed to build an alter to God at a very specific site – the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.  When David approaches Araunah and explains why he has come, Araunah tells David to take the threshing floor, as well as his oxen and his wood for the sacrifice, at no cost.  But David insists on paying for it all stating, “I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.”  David could have done what God called him to do without it having any cost on him.  But David didn’t want to offer cheap worship to God.

God has richly blessed us with seed to sow.  Every dollar we have in our bank accounts and every material thing we possess is ultimately God’s and is on loan to us.  So why wouldn’t we sow bountifully?  Most often it’s because we have forgotten to whom our money and possessions belong and we would rather keep it for ourselves.  How does that end up fleshing itself out?  What does it look like at Christmas time?  Are we buying our own kids ‘Crayola’ crayons and then filling our ‘Operation Christmas Child’ boxes with some dollar store crayons?  Are we buying thousand dollar TVs for our spouses but only giving $20 dollars to support international missions?  What about throughout the rest of the year?  What will we do when we find out a family in our congregation isn’t able to pay their bills?  How will we respond?  Do we have a comfortable giving limit that we won’t go beyond in our regular tithes and offerings?  Have we said, “This is all we’re giving God, and no more!”  I’m not suggesting that every week you skip meals and turn off your AC and sell all your possessions so that every week is this extraordinary example of sacrificially giving until you have nothing left.  But I am suggesting that we don’t ‘rob’ God as it is put in Malachi.  I am suggesting that our budgets ought to reflect regular and consistent ‘generous giving’ and that if and when the time comes when God does call us to sacrificial giving that even in the midst of our own affliction and poverty we would be willing to do so.  If giving is a part of our worship towards God we can’t believe that half-hearted giving will delight His heart.

The second characteristic that should define our giving if our giving is going to be an acceptable act of worship is that we must give joyfully (9:7).  Our worship of God should never be reluctant – it should be an expression of our gratitude for who He is and what He has done.  With this in mind listen to what Paul says in 9:7, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Scripture is clear that giving that takes place solely out of routine and giving that takes place out of a sense of requirement doesn’t delight God’s heart.  God longs for us to give out of our sense of gratitude.  That’s why the most significant example and reminder for Paul to the church at Corinth is the example of Christ that he mentions in 8:9.  We need to remember the gift of God in Christ Jesus – nothing will motivate us to give joyfully more than the reminder of what God has done for us through Jesus’ death and resurrection.  When we remember our indebtedness to God and His generosity towards us in Jesus we will be able to give “a willing gift” (9:5), not “reluctantly or under compulsion” (9:7). 

Our giving should also be joyful because it should serve as evidence of our genuine love for others.  Paul says in 8:8 that his exhortation for the Corinthian church to give is not a command.  In other words he’s not demanding that they give.  But he is strongly encouraging them to give because their giving will prove that their love for others in genuine.  How many of you have ever given extravagant gifts to someone you don’t like?  That’s not what we do is it?  We give great and costly gifts to those we love.  As believers in Christ we ought to love everyone (especially those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ).  And Paul says that one of the ways we can prove our genuine love for others is by giving to them.  Now let me ask this, when we give gifts at Christmas time to those we love or when we give gifts for birthdays do we sit down on the couch with a frown on our face and our arms crossed in anger while we give the gifts to our loved ones?  No, when we give the ones we love gifts we do it with a smile on our face and joy in our hearts because we know that our gift is an expression of our love towards them.  So when we give as a church or when we give as individuals we ought to be giving with a joyful heart.

Please understand that it is not the simple act of giving that delights God’s heart.  Our giving must be joyful giving that expresses our gratitude to God.  Consider some of these texts: 1 Samuel 15:22 says, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”  Hosea 6:6 says, “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”  Giving simply out of routine or giving because you feel compelled isn’t what God is asking from you.  God’s desire is that He (not money or material possessions) would be our heart’s greatest treasure and out of the joy that He brings to us, we would give joyfully to the work of the gospel.

Would you characterize your giving lately as ‘joyful?’  Is there a sense of gratitude in your heart for what God had done for you and how He has provided for you when you give?  If there were others in this room that were going to be direct recipients of the gifts we have given as a church, would they sense that our gifts are an expression of our genuine love for them?  Our giving is an act of worship.  When we give we are taking that which God has blessed us with and investing it into others.  When we give we are taking that which God has blessed us with and investing it into the gospel.  Giving back to Him what is already His, for His glory and for His kingdom, is one of the ways that we make much of God.  So we ought to be giving generously and we ought to be giving joyfully.

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