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Last updated on
Dec. 2, 2004
The Grace of Giving
Delivered October 31, 2004
by Pastor Werner De Jong
Text:
Main Idea: Generosity begins with God, who graciously provides us with incentives to follow his generous example. When we give, we glorify God.
Purpose: To encourage the listeners by telling them of God's great generosity. To challenge the listeners to excel in the grace of giving.
Introduction: Throughout the month of October we've been considering the theme of money. The first week we considered the basic truth that everything we have belongs to God, and as a consequence we are stewards of God's resources, not owners. We are to sail through life on the "stewardship," not the "ownership." For the following three weeks we primarily considered our relationship with money from the standpoint of the consumer. In contrast to our society whose overall spending habits can be characterized as greedy consumption, the Bible holds out three basic messages: be content with what you have, do not covet, and do not allow yourselves to accumulate an unnecessary debt–"owe no one anything except to love one another." I want to conclude this series by looking at the Christian not as a consumer but as an investor. It is not enough to consider how we shouldn't spend our money, although that is a vital message in an age of greed; we also need to consider how we should use our money.
Today's Text and its Context: Excel in the Grace of Giving: That is what our reading today from 2 Corinthians 9 is all about. It is part of a stirring call to generosity, which takes up two full chapters in this letter, chapters 8 and 9. The theme of the entire section is wonderfully summarized by Paul's words in 8:7: "see that you excel in the grace of giving." People strive for excellence in many things. Athletes strive for excellence in their respective sports (like the Boston Red Sox just demonstrated!); musicians strive for artistic excellence; workers strive to do the best job they can in their respective vocations. As Christians we are to strive for excellence in many areas–in faith, in speech, in love–but we are also to excel in generosity. I wonder how many people there are who set as one of their main goals the desire to excel in giving? But what a great challenge–and that is the very thing we are called to do. Rather than dream about what our next purchase may be, we are encouraged to dream about what our next gift may be. Rather than dream about what we can acquire, we are encouraged to dream about whom we can help.
When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he had a very specific group of people in mind whom he wanted them to help. He was seeking to raise money from among the Gentile churches in order to help the church in Jerusalem, which because of persecution was experiencing a period of poverty and destitution. Paul saw this collection as a practical expression of mutual Christian love, as an opportunity to demonstrate the truth of the gospel. He also saw it as a way to unite the church, to bring Jews and Gentiles together. Therefore Paul didn't hesitate to make his appeal. He had already collected money from the churches in Macedonia; now he was urging the Corinthians to follow their example.
God's Generosity: The most important thing to note in Paul's appeal is his reminder to the Corinthians that God is the great giver. He reminds them that generosity doesn't begin with us; it begins with God. Listen to his words: "I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Cor. 8:8-9). The grace which our Lord has shown to us is the great ground of our own generosity. We are called to be generous because God has been so generous with us. Paul in essence is saying to the Corinthians and to us: "Can you who have been treated so generously be anything but generous?"
Our Lord left the riches of heaven and became poor and died on the cross so that we might have life. We are who we are, the people of God, forgiven, holy and loved, full of the Holy Spirit, because of God's great generosity. For God so loved the world that he gave–he gave his only Son. We now have the great privilege of being able to join with Jesus in his ministry of generosity. What can be more challenging and exciting than to decide to follow Jesus and to excel in the gift of giving? Can there be a greater call than the call to give of ourselves to enrich others? We have been called into the service of the Great and Generous King. Before each of us stretches the opportunity to participate with our Lord in enriching the lives of others. Rather than live for our selves, which leads to poverty of spirit, we have the chance to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
Our text does not specifically lay out what people or projects we should invest our resources in. It did for the Corinthians, because it was addressed directly to them. But when it comes to investing, we can speak in general terms. Like our Lord we can help meet the physical needs of the poor and destitute. Through our generosity we can provide medicine for the sick and food for the hungry. God has a special heart for the poor, the dispossessed, and the powerless, and he calls us to invest ourselves in reaching out to them. Above all we are to look after those who belong to the family of God, even as Paul urged the Corinthians to care for the struggling Jerusalem church. But of course our generosity should extend to all people. Rather than pursue a meaningless life of living for ourselves, we have the wonderful privilege of being called to follow Jesus' example by dying to ourselves and excelling in the grace of giving.
Incentive to Generosity: In order to encourage the Corinthians to be as generous as possible with their offering, Paul not only reminds them of the example of Jesus. He also provides a further incentive to stimulate their kindness. Most of our text today consists of this combination of plea and incentive for open-hearted giving.
Paul's main point in our text is to insist that no one is ever the loser because they are generous. Some people hesitate or are reluctant to give because they are thinking in terms of themselves and the loss they will incur. I cannot afford to be generous, they say. If I give this money, I will be the poorer because of it. But Paul's reply is that if you invest in God's kingdom you are investing in a sure thing. Your investment cannot lose value but will only gain value over time. Therefore, if you are wise, you will invest as generously as you can.
Paul illustrates his point with a farming analogy. Today when people want investment advice they often go to a banker or a financial consultant. Of course there is a place for that. But they are not the only experts. Paul recognizes that farmers can teach us a lot about investing. "Remember this," writes Paul. "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously" (9:6). This is the foundational principle for investing in God's kingdom. The more you invest, the more you reap; the less you invest, the less you reap. Just like a farmer who sows seed in the spring. If the farmer is stingy and scatters only a few seeds, or if the farmer is afraid of risk and scatters only a few seeds, the harvest will be poor; but if the farmer is generous and scatters an abundance of seeds, the harvest will likely be plentiful. Farmers have always understood this, which is why for thousands of years they have diligently plowed their land to prepare it for sowing, and have done everything possible to scrape together enough seeds to plant. For they not only know that they must sow in order to reap, they also know that barring a disaster they will reap more than they sow. So the idea is to sow as much as possible. That is the basic principle of investment. Paul's point to the Corinthians is that the same thing holds true as they consider how much to give to the poor in Jerusalem. The more they give, the more blessings they will reap. The bottom line is this–no one will ever be the poorer for being generous towards God.
A very important question arises from this teaching: what kind of harvest can we expect when we are generous? Specifically, is Paul saying that when we give money, God will give us back even more money in return? Those who preach a prosperity gospel proclaim this as a rule as certain as the law of gravity. If you jump up, you will come down. If you give money to God, they say, God will give you more money back in return, for God wants all of us to be rich. Is that what Paul is teaching here? No, not at all. As we look closer at what Paul wrote, we see that the abundant harvest God promises is not personal wealth. First of all, look at verse 8: "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." The promise here is that God will meet our generosity first and foremost with his grace. In his grace God will meet our needs, but there is nothing there about God making us rich. What is taught is that God will look after generous people, God will meet their needs, and God will continue to give generous people everything necessary to enable them to continue with the wonderful privilege of doing good works. God gives those who are faithful in being generous even more opportunities to serve. Verse 10 puts it this way: it says that God will "increase our store of seed." The seed, of course, is not for hoarding, but for further sowing. The seed can represent many things, including financial wealth. God certainly blesses some people with financial wealth–but it is always to be seen as a seed, as something to be scattered. But this teaching can equally well mean that God will bless the generous person with other kinds of gifts, gifts of love, and friends, and other spiritual blessings that are necessary to do good works. And that is the reason for God's blessing here, so that having all we need, says Paul, we may continue to abound in every good work. The ability to do good works is our great reward, for then we can follow in the footsteps of our Lord.
A wonderful upward spiral is described here. Generosity begins with God, which motivates us to be generous in return. And then God blesses our generosity with even more generosity. In the gospel of Luke Jesus himself speaks of God's marvellous generosity to those who are generous: "Give," said Jesus, "and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Luke 6:38). This is a beautiful illustration of God's openhandedness. The picture comes from the marketplace, where people would go to buy grain or corn. Sellers would sell these commodities by the measure. Dishonest sellers would use bad measures, which didn't have as much volume as they claimed. But when we are generous towards God, Jesus teaches, God responds by using a good measure to measure out even more kindness to us. And not only that, but God is like a good merchant who not only places corn in the measure, but presses it down to get as much in there as possible. But it doesn't stop there, for the measure is then shaken to enable the corn to settle so even more can fit in. And as if that were not enough, God then fills the measure to the point of overflowing, where it runs over and spills out, and this abundance is then poured into our laps. That, says Jesus, is how God blesses those who are generous toward others. Once again we can unequivocally state that we will never be the poorer for being generous toward God. If we invest in God's kingdom, we will reap an abundance of blessings that is far greater than what we sow.
Before we move on let's stop and apply this teaching. It is intended to encourage us to greater generosity. Specifically, it is intended to address our fears about being generous. There are many people who hold back their resources for fear it will hurt their own interests. There are many people who say, for example, "I cannot tithe," for it will cut too deep into my ability to meet my own needs. But the teaching of the Bible and of our Lord himself is that God will meet the needs of those who are generous, and enable them to be generous in even more ways. Through the prophet Malachi God accused the people of Israel of robbing him by not fully tithing. And then God says these words: "‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it'" (Malachi 3:10).
Ultimately what this teaching requires on our part is a step of faith. Do we believe God? Even if we cannot see how our own needs may be met, do we trust that God will look after us even when we sacrificially give to others? In his appeal to the Corinthians, Paul draws their attention to the sacrificial giving of the churches in neighbouring Macedonia. Listen to his words: "We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints" (2 Cor. 8:1-4). And then he adds the words we started with: "See that you also excel in this grace of giving." The grace of God in our lives is demonstrated not when we ask, "how much can I hold back for myself," but "how much can I give?" It is a sure sign of the Holy Spirit's work in a Christian when, like the Macedonians, a Christian yearns and even begs for an opportunity to give sacrificially. For it is then that we follow most closely in the footsteps of our Lord. That is our great privilege as his followers, to be able to join in his ministry of sacrificial giving. The person who dares to take God at his word and obey in this way will never be the loser because of it.
The Spirit of Giving: In addition to teaching about the principle of sowing and reaping, Paul also teaches something about the spirit of giving in our text. In essence he teaches that we can have one of two mind-sets when we invest in God's kingdom: we can do so with glad hearts, or we can grin and bear it: "Each of you must give as you have made up your mind," he writes, "not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (9:7). This verse presents both a challenge and an encouragement at the same time. First of all, it's a challenge because it asks us not to give grudgingly, not because we feel compelled by Paul or the pastor to do so, but because we have carefully thought the matter over ourselves, and we have prayerfully determined before God the kind of investment we are comfortable with. When Paul encouraged the Corinthians to give as each made up their own minds, it was a call to thoughtfulness in giving. In the end each of us must carefully consider the question of how to invest the money God has given us. No two people will answer the question the same way. What is important is that we sincerely present ourselves to God, remember the teaching of his word and his promises, and say to God, "Here I am. How would you have me invest the finances you have given me for the sake of your kingdom?" And however it is that we determine God asks us to give, the most important thing is that we do so cheerfully. For cheerfulness in giving is a sign of love, a sign of gratitude, and a sign of faith. When we give cheerfully we say to God, "We love you, we are thankful for all you have done for us, and in faith we choose to step out and to align ourselves with your kingdom."
Paul not only challenges us to give cheerfully, he also supplies us with the encouragement we need to do so. For, as he writes, God loves a cheerful giver. God loves the cheerful giver because God himself is the Great Giver. It has been well said that if you had to describe God in only one word, the best word to use would be "generous." God simply loves to give, and God loves it when we give cheerfully. It brings delight to God's heart, and it reflects God's goodness. God loves the cheerful giver because God delights to see a spirit of love and good cheer within us. It cheers his own heart. And God knows how such a spirit can also lift the spirits of others. Cheerful giving not only helps to relieve the needs of others but, as Paul writes, it can stimulate them in turn to offer thanksgiving to God. When we give out of a full heart and out of love for God, on one level we may be giving food or medicine or shelter or clothing, but the truest gift we are giving is the gift of God's love. We are God's hands and God's feet. God loves the cheerful giver because God delights to demonstrate love through the cheerful giver. Ultimately we can say this: when God finds a cheerful giver, God finds a kindred spirit.
Conclusion: Giving Glorifies God: It is time now to close. As we close this series on money, it is fitting to do so by saying one last thing. I have the saved the most important truth for the last, just like Jesus produced the best wine near the end of the wedding party at Cana of Galilee. The most important thing to be said about our relationship with money is this: good stewards who are thoughtful and generous in giving glorify God. We have no higher calling than that. The great, overarching purpose of your life and of mine is to bring glory to God–the God who made us, the God who loves us and gave his life for us, the God who reigns in holiness and supreme power over all. Sometimes when we hear about glorifying our great God we are not quite sure how to do it, but now we know one excellent, very practical way. Excel in the grace of giving, and you will bring glory to God. To God be the glory, forever and ever, Amen.