Giving & Reward - Matthew 6:2 Series

2 Corinthians 9:6-11 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 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. 9 As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." 10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Introduction: God loves a cheerful giver

God loves a cheerful giver. God loves all His children so when you see a statement like that you know the point is that God especially loves it when we are cheerful givers. Why? What is it about giving that makes it so important that we be cheerful when we do it? Cheerfulness is a good thing in general, but God singles out giving as a time when it is especially important to be cheerful – why? When I pay my taxes or my electric bill they really don’t care what mood I am in when I write the check. The bottom line is just whether I give the money and how much I give. And most people think the bottom line in giving is how much you give. But nowhere in the New Testament do you find any laws regarding specific amounts. The amount is almost incidental; what matters to God is the cheerfulness – why is that?

Review

We have been working our way verse-by-verse through the Sermon on the Mount and last Sunday we began the section that begins in Matthew 6:1. In that sermon we studied the issue of living for reward. What is the right way to do that and what is the wrong way, and why is reward emphasized so heavily in Scripture? And I think I can say that I have had more positive response from that sermon than from any sermon I have ever preached. I am not really sure what it is that everyone liked so much about it, but I can say it is an important study and I would urge you to listen or read through it if you missed it because it is foundational to this whole chapter. And I would especially urge you to make sure you listen to the Q&A after the sermon. Probably the most important thing I said the whole time last Sunday came in answer to a question.

Reward and faith

This morning I would like to build on last week’s foundation, so let me refresh your memory with a brief summary: We found that living for reward is hugely important in the Christian life because of the connection to faith. Failing to be motivated by what God promises is an act of unbelief. And being motivated by human praise is also an act of unbelief.

John 5:44 How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?

When we do that we show we do not really believe that praise from God is what matters.

Reward and relationship

We also found that the key to understanding reward is to remember the relational aspect. It is a bad thing to use someone for selfish gain but it is not a bad thing to desire the natural benefits that come from nearness to a wonderful person. And the significance of God’s reward – the reason why it is so important – is that it is an indication of His pleasure. He rewards us when He is pleased with something we have done, and we live for His smile.

How to increase your desire for God’s rewards

God is responsive to our deeds – like a father rewarding his beloved child. And one of the keys to success in the Christian life is to get to the point where you are motivated by His promises of reward. The question that came up in the Q&A last week was, “How do I cause my heart to get more excited about God’s rewards?” How do you increase your desire for these invisible, unseen, unimaginable rewards? If my heart is not motivated by them, how do I make it so it is motivated by them?

Increase your knowledge of God’s goodness

I gave a fairly detailed answer to that last week, so I will not repeat it all now – but I do want to add to it a little. The answer to the question is two-fold. First, you become more excited about a reward based on your conception of the goodness of the Giver. If your favorite uncle just seems to surprise you every Christmas with the coolest gift – some really great thing you never even thought to ask for – then you get excited when he shows up with a gift even before you see what it is. You have never seen it, you cannot imagine what it might be, but still you are excited about it because you know a thing or two about what a great gift-giver your uncle is. The way to get excited about a promised gift that you have not seen and cannot imagine is to increase your faith in the goodness of the giver through knowledge and experience. We increase our delight in God’s promises of reward by spending more time with our attention fixed on His attributes. The more we learn about His goodness, and the more experiences we have of that goodness, the more excited we will tend to get when He promises us something and says, “Trust Me – you’ll love it.”