Acceptable Worship - Philippians 4:15-18 Series

Philippians 4:10 I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength. 14 Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. 15 Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16 for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. 17 Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. 18 I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

Introduction

Ancient Joy vs Modern Grudging

Have you ever experienced anything like this:

2 Corinthians 8:2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.

Can you relate to that? You’re in abject poverty – you can’t even begin to pay your bills, you’re not even sure where your next meal will come from, you might lose your house, and this joy wells up inside you that drives you to give way beyond what you can afford? Way beyond just a tithe? In the book of Acts, baby Christians wanted to give money to the church so badly, but they didn’t have any money, so they were joyfully selling property and bringing the money to the Apostles. That’s how it was back in the time of Solomon, when he was going to build the Temple. First David gave huge amounts of his own wealth, and that inspired everyone else.

1 Chronicles 29:6 Then the leaders of families, the officers …, the commanders … and the officials … gave willingly.

Then it goes on to describe the massive amounts that were given. And when it’s all counted up David says:

13 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.14 "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this?

They were overjoyed that God enabled them to give so much to such a monumentally important work, even though none of them were worthy of that honor. So when we look at those examples of people being so happy and joyful about giving such large sums of money – even out of extreme poverty in the case of the Philippians, and then you compare that to the giving in the church in the United States, where we live in one of the wealthiest, most comfortable cultures to ever exist, and we don’t even tithe. We don’t even give the baseline minimum floor that God required of the poorest ancient Jew – 10%. In the average evangelical church, we give an average of between 1 and 2% of our income. Half of the people in evangelical churches in the United States give nothing – not even 1%. And if we subtract from that the money that was grudgingly given or reluctantly given or given without joy, then the numbers are even smaller.

God says, “I have richly prospered you. So now, worship me and express your love for me with whatever amount is in your heart to give!” and we say, “Oh, ok – here’s 2%.” You can imagine the angels in shock at that response. Once in a while a pastor comes along and pries a few dollars out of our clenched fists by keeping a bunch of guilt and shame on us, but what good is that? God doesn’t want any money that is grudgingly or reluctantly given. If I end up making you feel guilty tonight so that you start tithing – or if we put this recording on You Tube and it went viral so that every single Christian in the United States heard it and felt so guilty that they started giving a full tithe every week for the rest of their lives – if that’s all that happened, I would have fallen well short of my goal tonight. What does 2 Corinthians 8:2 say? Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing guilt welled up in rich generosity. No, that’s not what it says.