Cultivating A Generous Heart

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Cultivating a Generous Heart

“God loves a cheerful giver,” writes Paul to the Church in Corinth.

What a concept…

…that giving will make us happy, put us in a good mood, and is connected to cheerfulness.

But it’s the truth.

Anyone who’s ever dug down deep enough to give a gift that really does cost something in money, time or effort, and then has watched the smile of gratitude in the faces of those who receive—know what it means to be a cheerful giver.

When I was pastoring a church in East Ridge, Tennessee we started ministering to the hundreds of children living in a nearby extended stay hotel.

One way we did this was by having an afterschool program.

We would drive the church vans to the hotel as soon as the children got off the school bus, and then would take them back to the church for snacks, tutoring and fun.

We also purchased all of their school supplies, winter coats, hats and mittens, and even took meals over to the hotel every day during the summer when the kids were out of school.

Many of the parents of these children suffered from substance misuse and addictions.

Some were nearly children themselves.

One mother would meet her child Devonte, at the school bus and then watch him get on the church van.

She was a single mother who worked double shifts at Burger King to pay to stay in the hotel and take care of her child as best she could.

We had this ministry about 15 years ago.

And that mother stays in contact with me to this day.

She sent me pictures of Devonte when he enlisted in the military.

Sent me messages about Devonte going into the police academy and sent me pictures of him in his police uniform.

Another parent wrote me a letter several years ago saying that she never came out to meet us, but she watched closely what we were doing.

She appreciated that we loved on the people living in that place when most of the city looked down on them and were trying to get rid of them.

And she told me that she had become a Christian in the years since and was now involved in a similar ministry herself, and that her children are all headed in the right direction.

She was so very, very thankful for the ministry of the people of that little church in East Ridge.

That brings me joy and thanksgiving.

When Paul, in our Epistle Lesson for this morning, describes a “cheerful giver,” the Greek word he uses—hilaron—is related to our English word “hilarious.”

In some ways, I like “hilarious” better, because cheerful seems low-key and ordinary.

But the Gospel of Jesus Christ is anything but low-key and ordinary.

It is radical to the core, and when we become involved in what God is calling us to do in this world, when we give of ourselves for the sake of others, that is when it becomes time to strap ourselves in, put on the seat belt and get ready for the greatest ride imaginable.

“God loves a hilarious giver!”

“Hilarious” is a great big belly laugh that swells and expands until our whole body is shaking.

“Hilarious” is not a chuckle; it’s rolling in the aisles!

And God is looking for people who will give, as Paul writes, “not reluctantly or under compulsion,” but “cheerfully” even “hilariously!”

That’s how I want to live, how about you?

One day in 1888, a Norwegian businessman reached for his morning newspaper.

Flipping through the pages he came upon the shock of his life: he saw his own obituary.

It was all a terrible mistake.

His brother had died, and the paper had messed up, and confusing the two of them, had written an obituary for the wrong man.

What got him was that there was nothing in the obituary about his high principles, his beliefs, his values, the things he held most dear.

Instead, the obituary focused on his inventions, his factories, his patents, and his great wealth.

This Norwegian Businessman was the world-renowned Alfred Nobel.

Saddened by his obituary, Nobel decided that this experience had given him a second chance, an opportunity for resurrection and redemption and he decided to take it.

So, he started giving his money away.

And he made a provision in his will for the Nobel Prizes, rewarding those who made the greatest contributions to humanity and peace.

Today, he is best remembered for his generosity and his work for humanity: for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Alfred Nobel was given a second chance, a second chance to use his money to make this world a better place and to do it cheerfully, hilariously, even.

How about you and me?