July 7, 2012

Excel in the Grace of Giving!

6th Sunday after Pentecost, 7/8/12
2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 13-14


Excel in the Grace of Giving!


If I would have told you a few days ago that this Sunday we’re going to talk about money and giving, would you have been more or less likely to attend church this morning? Most people would admit they would be less likely. It’s a touchy subject. Even speaking about it once a year can give the person in the pew the impression that all the church wants is my money. That’s unfortunate.

Be that as it may, that’s what we’re going to talk about this morning.

Now before you head for the doors, realize that the reason we’re speaking about money and giving this morning is because that’s what our God shares with us this morning.

It’s what he shared with me in 56 AD when I wrote these words to the Corinthian Christians. I had established this congregation on my second missionary journey, about 5 years earlier. I knew these people well, having spent considerable time there. But after I left, the congregation faced a number of serious problems. Some of the members were openly living immoral lives. Some of the members were engaged in lawsuits against each other. There were abuses of the Lord’s Supper and misuses of spiritual gifts. They were misinformed about the resurrection of Jesus and their own resurrection on the Last Day. Some new preachers had come into town and maligned me as one of the Lord’s apostles. And they had trouble with their giving to the Lord.

So that’s why I wrote these words before you this morning. I wanted them to excel in the grace of giving. That’s something the Lord wants for all of us as well. Would you mind if I tell you the story of how I encouraged that very thing among the Corinthians?

The reason the subject of giving arose was that I had announced to all the churches I had founded that I was taking up a collection for the poor Christians in Jerusalem. You see, they were suffering from a famine and I figured that the Christian thing to do was to help them. Collecting food and sending it that far wasn’t an option, but collecting money so they could buy food was. So I encouraged all the congregations in Asia and Europe to give what they could. In fact, in my first letter to the Corinthians I even instructed them on how to gather this offering in their congregation.

Some people feel that a Christian’s giving is just between them and God. I can understand that opinion. On the other hand, the Bible contains numerous examples of what believers gave to the Lord. Just off the top of my head I can think of Noah, Abraham, David, a widow that Jesus noticed in the temple, a man named Zacchaeus and the women who followed Jesus. Their giving was an example for all of us.

I used an example when speaking to the Corinthians about their giving. I told them, “We want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonians churches.” Corinth was in the province of Achaia. Macedonia was the province just north of Achaia. The congregations in Macedonia are familiar to you, I’m sure: Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea. These congregations had given generous support to the offering for the poor in Jerusalem.

That they had given anything at all is amazing, considering their situation. I referred to it here. “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.” The Christians in these areas were suffering terrible persecutions for their faith. They may have lost property, houses or employment simply because they refused to renounce their Christian faith and return to worshipping idols. And when they heard about this offering I was collecting, they didn’t respond with, “Well, Paul, you know things are really rough around here. We just can’t do it.” No, they pleaded with us to participate.

And when I stated that they did so in extreme poverty, I wasn’t exaggerating. Humanly speaking, these people had almost nothing left. They were dirt poor. Most people would consider them to be recipients of an offering for the poor, not participants in one.

So how did this happen? It was all God’s grace. They realized what the Lord had done for them. He had sacrificed his very Son on the cross for them. And so they responded. And they just didn’t give their money to the Lord. They gave themselves to the Lord. They offered their lives in service to him.

I wanted the Corinthians to do the same. So I sent Titus to them. Do you recall Titus? He was a young man that I was training to lead these congregations after I was no longer alive. I sent Titus to Corinth to encourage the Corinthians to apply themselves once again to collecting this offering. I did so with the intent of leading them to see that the opportunity and the ability to give is really a gift of God’s grace. Obviously, the greatest gift of God’s grace is our salvation. But giving is another one.

Do you know people who are stingy and selfish? Those aren’t admirable characteristics. You and I would never want to be characterized that way. Instead, we want to be known as warm and giving people. That’s something our God does to us. He fills us with love for him and love for others. He gives us a compassionate heart, a heart that wants to help. Instead of us focusing constantly on what we don’t have, our God leads us to see all that we do have.

And then he gives us ample opportunities to show it. I was God’s instrument in leading the Corinthians to see a very specific opportunity— helping to feed their hungry fellow Christians in Jerusalem. I hoped they would also see the opportunity to use their offerings to spread the gospel in their own area, to support those who were preaching the gospel. These are the opportunities the Lord presents to us to participate in the most important work of all—the salvation of souls.

But I wanted to be clear on one point. That’s why I wrote, “I am not commanding you.” God-pleasing Christian giving is never done under compulsion. The Lord can get his work done without our offerings. It’s also not an obligation or a duty or a requirement. But it is something that God wants us to do cheerfully. And our motivation is always our love for our Lord Jesus Christ. I didn’t want the Corinthians to participate because that was the amount they had budgeted or because the Jerusalem Christians needed it. I wanted them to recall what Jesus had done for them. And so I reminded them, “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.” Jesus as the Son of God owns all things. But when he came to this earth to be our Savior, he gave it all up. He didn’t even make full use of the fact that he was true God. He was despised and rejected and murdered—crucified for the sins of the world.

God’s love for us in sacrificing his Son for us leads us to offer ourselves and our money to him.

Finally, I reminded the Corinthians of the fact that they had received support from the Jerusalem Christians. I put it this way, “At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality.” Ultimately, th reason that the good news about Jesus was shared with the people in Corinth was due to the outreach efforts of the Christians in Jerusalem. They had done their part years earlier in spreading the gospel. They had shared spiritual riches with the Corinthians. Was it asking too much for the Corinthians to share some material riches with them?

I hope you didn’t miss the point of my story today. Did you notice that I never told them what amount they should give? That’s because God doesn’t either.

There’s a part of us that wishes God would simply tell each of us how much he wants from us. Then we could give him that and be done with it. But that’s precisely why he doesn’t. Every day he wants us to consider his tremendous love for us and respond to him out of love for him.

I realize that’s not easy. I’m sure some of you wish you could give, but your situation is similar to the Macedonians. You just don’t have much. For others, the problem is thoughtless giving. You just give what you have left or you give an amount that seemed good to you years ago and haven’t thought about it since. At other times, your giving is motivated by the church budget. “The church needs it.”

Today’s Scripture readings remind us that we have an eternal hope in hopeless times. That hope is none other than our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He has won our forgiveness and eternal life by his death on Calvary’s cross. That forgiveness covers our less than God-pleasing giving. In fact, our giving will never be perfect. There was and always will be only One who gives perfectly, and that’s our God. What a loving, giving God we have!

Let his love fill your heart and then consider what you will give to him. And then excel! Excel in the grace of giving! Amen.