How God Responds To Our Generosity

SCARED TO BE GENEROUS: “I would be more generous, but I’m barely making it now.”

- We all know that generosity is admirable. We know that it’s embarrassing to be identified as being stingy.

- But we struggle to be generous. One of the reasons that we don’t end up being as generous as we would like to be is that often we’re barely making it right now. We’ve got bills to pay and it’s tough to make ends meet most months.

- Now, it would certainly be worth our time to stop at this point and ponder whether we actually need everything we’re buying. It would be worthwhile to discuss how much of the tightness in our budgets comes from living above our means. But we’re not going to do that today. Let’s just accept the statement as a given – I’m barely making it but I would like to be more generous. “I’m scared to do that, though,” we think. This passage has some helpful truths for us.

TWO GENEROSITY EQUATIONS:

- Let’s start with some math. The first equation shows the way we usually think and the second the way that this passage encourages us to think.

1. Generosity + real-life needs = struggle.

- This is a good summary of the way that many of us feel about being generous.

- Yes, being generous would be a good thing, but I’ve got all these bills.

- So if I was generous and added that to my real-life needs, the end result would be struggle. Would I be able to pay the bills? Would I be able to make ends meet?

- And so, when we think like this, we know that we can’t be generous.

2. Generosity + real-life needs + God = enough.

- Fortunately, for those of you here this morning who are Christians, there is another piece to the equation. That piece is God and that changes the math.

- We still have real-life needs. There are groceries to buy and lights to keep burning. Unless we are going to move to a cardboard box, we are going to have bills.

- Now let’s say that as a Christian I feel the call of God to be generous with my money. How can I do that without automatically ending up with the struggle that the other equation had?

- It’s because we’ve introduce something else to the equation. Actually, not something, but Someone. We’ve got to include the God factor in the equation.

- As Christians we believe that God is active in the world, moving and working. And that’s especially true in the lives of Christians as we seek to obey Him. There are multiple promises Jesus made about the eagerness of the Father to answer prayer on behalf of His children.

- When we add God into the equation, we get the sum of “enough.” We end up in a place where God is meeting our needs.

- The sad reality is that many Christians don’t invite God into their financial ways. That’s true on both sides of their finances.

- When it comes to the income side, they presume that they’re on their own. They are responsible for making sure they have enough income. They put no thought into asking God for help with that provision.

- When it comes to the expenses side, they give almost nothing to God’s work. They might drop a single bill in the offering plate to keep from looking bad, but there is no plan to give sacrificially. There is no thought of tithing.

- God wants invited into every part of our lives. Indeed, God expects that the Christian will give Him Lordship over every part of their lives. Including money.

SHOW YOUR MATH:

- Now, let’s acknowledge that many of you think my math is wrong. You’re thinking, “That sounds pretty, but that’s not the way that real life works.”

- Let’s look now at our passage for this morning and see if we can find truths that help us to understand why the math works.

- Now, it’s important to note that the passage as a whole is about abundant generosity. Verses 6-7 speak of sowing and reaping generously as well as being a cheerful giver.

1. “Enough” is true because the generous Christian’s goal is Kingdom expansion.

- 2 Corinthians 9:8c – “you will abound in every good work.”

- Let’s start with a phrase that directly speaks to the point why the above equation is true.

- At the end of verse 8 Paul writes that “you will abound in every good work.” What does he mean by “every good work.” To put it simply, he means Kingdom work.

- As we grow in our walk with Christ, one of the things that changes is that we shift from wanting to spend our money on shallow worldly purchases and start having a heart and passion for putting our money where it will point people to Christ.