How to Overflow in Rich Generosity
-Discover the Grace of Giving-
II Corinthians 8:1-7
I want you to turn to the person sitting next to you and say one word, “Stewardship.” Ask each other what the first word is that comes to your mind. A steward is a “guardian,” “manager,” “provider,”
II Corinthians 8 – 9 teaches the importance of being good Stewards or Managers of God’s money.
Paul is involved in collecting money for the needy Christians in Jerusalem. This collection had been going on for at least a year, but had been interrupted in Corinth by the confusion and conflict among the Christians there. Christians in the church have worked out their differences and now Paul calls on them to complete what they had started earlier. To resume and complete this collection would deepen their Christian life. It would expand their horizons. It would help to bind Gentile and Jewish Christians together in a bond of fellowship. Perhaps overarching everything else, the Corinthians needed to learn the blessing that comes from giving.
To accomplish all this with the Corinthians, Paul tells them the story of some other Christians in Macedonia. Macedonia was an economically depressed area. These Christians were poor, very poor; as poor as the Christians in Jerusalem for whom the offering was being taken. Yet when Paul announces the need of the suffering Christians in Jerusalem, the Macedonians responded in an unbelievable way. The way they responded, Paul says, is the guide for the living and giving of all Christians. Paul’s instruction to the Christians in Corinth can be our guide to “Overflow in Rich Generosity.”
I. Give Voluntarily
Paul testified that the Christians in Macedonia were economically depressed but they out of their deep poverty they “Overflowed in rich generosity. For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford but far more. And they did it of their own free will.” (II Cor. 8:2-3 NLT)
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To experience an overflow of rich generosity we need to give voluntarily and not with threats or pressure. Paul emphasized the importance of giving voluntarily in II Cor. 9:7, “You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully.” NLT
Greed keeps us from giving cheerfully to charities and to the work of the Lord. The Lord promises to supply all our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19) Greed pushes us to focus on our “wants” rather than just having our needs satisfied.
A father reported that he saw his daughter with a string tied around one of her teeth and the other end tired to a door knob. He said to her, “Let me examine that tooth. Why it’s not even loose!” His daughter said, “Leave me alone Dad, I need the money!”
I was reading about how greed didn’t turn out so well for a thief. Every night, Mrs. Hollis Sharpe of southern California took her miniature poodle, Jonathan, out for a walk. She always took with her a plastic bag so that after her dog would make a mess in someone’s yard, she could clean up after Jonathan.
During their walk on a night in November, Jonathan finished doing his duty, and they were returning home when a mugger jumped from behind some bushes attacked her from behind, shoved Hollis Sharpe to the ground, grabbed her plastic bag, jumped into a car, and drove off with the spoils of his crime.
Although Mrs. Sharpe sustained a broken arm, she still maintained a sense of humor. She told the police, "I only wish that there would have been more for him in the bag!"
Jesus said, “Watch out! Be on guard against all kinds of greed.” You might ask, “Why?” Jesus answers “why” in the rest of the verse, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15
Having a spirit of generosity is a safeguard against greed. Greed makes you captive to envy. A greedy person is never satisfied.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever has wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.”
Larry Burkettt, a Christian financial adviser, often asks people he counsels what they think the solution is to their financial crisis. They usually answer: “More money.”
“I’m making $35,000 a year and all I need is $10,000 more to solve my financial problems.”
A person making $50,000 told him: “All I need is $20,000 more to solve my problems.”
Another person said, “I make $100,000 a year, and if I could get $25,000 more I could solve my problems.”
Greed results in undisciplined spending.
Larry Burkett said that 95% of the couples he counseled were in financial trouble because of the overspending of the ¬___________. How many say you think it’s because of the wife’s overspending? How many say the husband’s overspending? Larry Burkett said 95% of those counseled concerning their financial trouble said it is because of the husband’s overspending. Women tend to splurge on things like food or clothes while men splurge on things like new cars, boats and the latest computers and electronic gadgets.
The Apostle Paul reported that the Christians in Macedonia gave liberally and from generous hearts. “For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford but far more. And they did it on their own free will. They begged us again and again for the gracious privilege of sharing in the gift for the Christians in Jerusalem.” II Cor. 8:3-4
I wonder how many of us wake up early on Sunday morning and say in our heart, “I am up early because I can’t wait to go to church and give my offering to help meet needs at home and around the world.”
We overflow in rich generosity by giving voluntarily to charity and to the work of the Lord.
II. Give as God has blessed you.
The scripture teaches that we are to so budget our spending that we give as the Lord has blessed. We are to give because God has provided all we do have. The Christians in Macedonia gave out of their poverty. They gave sacrificially.
II Corinthians 8:12 “If you are eager to give, it isn’t important how much you are able to give. God wants you to give what you have, not what you don’t have.”
Mark 14:1-9 Jesus was having supper with Simon. A woman came into the house during the supper, took an expensive bottle of perfume, broke the seal, and poured the perfume over the head of Jesus. Those at the table criticized the woman for wasting the perfume. It could have been sold for a year’s wages.
Jesus told the supper guests that what the woman did was a good deed. She had anointed him for his burial ahead of time.
This woman gave what she had. She could have kept the expensive perfume and sold it for her own lavish living. She gave out of love and Jesus blessed her gift.
Mark 12:41-44 Jesus was in the Temple watching the congregation as the people gave their offering. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two pennies. Jesus reported what he saw to his disciples, “I assure you, this poor widow has given more than all the others have given. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”
The Biblical standard of giving in the Old Testament was the tithe or 10 percent of a person’s income. The Old Testament standard of giving was the tithe. “The tithe is the Lords.” Lev. 27:30
Malachi 3:10 is the classic O.T. verse: “Bring all of the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do, says the Lord Almighty, I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing; so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you!”
Jesus taught that the tithe is the beginning point and we should give as God blesses. When we tithe we are saying that all we have belongs to God. We are stewards and managers of all God gives us. We are to seek God’s counsel on how He wants us to spend and invest what He provides.
Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it…”
We overflow in rich generosity when we first, give voluntarily, second, give sacrificially of our possessions, and third, when we give ourselves first to the Lord.
III. Give Yourself First to the Lord
The Apostle Paul gives his commentary on why the churches in Macedonia overflowed in rich generosity: “Best of all , they went beyond our highest hopes, for their first action was to dedicate themselves to the Lord and to us for whatever directions God might give them.” II Cor. 8:5
When we become followers of Jesus and then begin to give our tithe and offerings for God’s work it proves our love. All we have belongs to the Lord and when we give to help the work of God go forward we are demonstrating our priorities in life. Our giving backs up our belief that this earth is just our temporary home, and we are just passing through. Our final home is in heaven.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will be also.”
In the first century wealth was not accumulated in bank accounts, but in a cache of precious metals or in a clothing wardrobe. Jesus spoke about the value of metals and clothing. “Don’t store treasures where moths and rust can corrode..”
Solomon spoke from experience when he said, “Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings, and fly off to the sky like an eagle.” Proverbs 23:5
Listen to what some of the past lottery winners have to say about their winning. Evelyn Adams who won the New Jersey lottery twice in 1985 and 1986 to the tune of 5.4 million dollars said: “Winning the lottery isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.” Today the money is gone and she lives in a small trailer. She lost most of her money playing slot machines in Atlantic City.
William “Bud” Post won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988 but now lives on Social Security. Within a year he was a million dollars in debt. He now lives on $450.00 a month and food stamps.
There is story after story of people who come into large sums of money and money wrecks their lives. People think that if they only had more money their troubles would be over. Money does not solve all problems. In fact money can cause as many problems as it solves.
Money is not in and of itself evil, but it’s our attitude toward money that can become evil. That’s why it is crucial that we first of all give ourselves to the Lord and ask the Lord how He wants us to use our financial resources.
It’s helpful to start early practicing stewardship. If we can’t afford to give a tenth of our first $100.00 we’ll have a very hard time giving a tithe of our first $10,000 or $30,000 or $60,000.
Most of us when we eat out give a minimum of 10% as a tip and we usually give 15% of the total as a tip. But too often we give God what is left of our spending and all that is left are a few dollars.
When we give our lives to Christ and become His follower we will want to hold on loosely to the things of this world.
Back in 1987 on a commuter flight from Portland, Maine, to Boston the pilot, Henry Dempsey, heard an unusual noise near the rear of the plane. Dempsey turned the controls over to the co-pilot and went back to check it out. As he reached the tail section, the plane hit an air pocket, and Dempsey was tossed against the rear door.
He soon discovered that the original noise was caused because the rear door had been improperly latched prior to takeoff. Now the impact of his weight caused it to open. Dempsey was instantly sucked out of the tiny jet.
The co-pilot saw the red light, which indicated an open door. He immediately radioed the nearest airport requesting permission for an emergency landing. He reported that the pilot had fallen out of the plane and wanted a helicopter to search the area.
After the plane landed the ground crew found Dempsey holding on to the outdoor ladder of the aircraft. Somehow he had caught the ladder and held on for ten minutes as the plane flew two hundred mph at an altitude of 4000 feet, and then when landing he kept his head from hitting the runway, which was only twelve inches away.
According to the news reports, it took airport personnel several minutes to pry Dempsey’s fingers off of the ladder.
I’ve known some people who have held onto certain things in this world with the same white-knuckle intensity. What are you holding on to? Hold on loosely to the things in this world. You might have money and influence and that’s fine. It’s fine provided that you find your value and significance in Christ and not in the things of this world. Wealth and possessions can steal your heart away if you’re not careful.
Hold tightly to the things of God and loosely to the things of this world.
In the teachings of II Corinthians chapters 8-9 we each can find God’s promises for the future. You can
IV. Give Your Financial Future to the Lord
II Corinthians 9:8 “And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.”
There is nothing magical about tithing and giving to the Lord’s work. If you tithe there is no guarantee that God will prosper you financially, but God does promise to bless you spiritually.
God wants us to use wisdom in our money management. The Lord gives us the choice to say “No” to overspending on wants and focus on our needs. There is nothing wrong with looking for ways to be creative and add to our income by paying off credit cards and having extra money from not having to pay interest.
Learn to be selective in giving to all who come knocking on your door.
It had been a long hard winter in the Rockies. The snow piled deeper and deeper. The temperature dropped below zero and stayed there. The rivers froze over. People were suffering. The Red Cross used helicopters to fly in supplies.
After a long hard day, as they were returning to their base, the rescue team in a helicopter saw a cabin nearly submerged in the snow. A thin wisp of smoke came from the chimney. The men figured those people in that cabin were probably critically short of food, fuel, and medicine. Because of the trees they had to set down about a mile from the cabin. They put their heavy equipment on their backs, trudged through waist deep snow, and reached the cabin exhausted, panting, and perspiring. They pounded on the door and a thin, gaunt mountain woman finally answered the door.
The lead man panted, “Ma’am, we’re from the Red Cross.” She was silent for a moment, and then she said, “It’s been a hard long winter, sonny. I just don’t think we can give anything this year!”
God’s Word gives the promise that as we honor Jesus in our life He will guide and provide for us in many different ways. In Luke 6:38 Jesus says that when you give generously you will receive abundantly: “If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving—large or small – it will be used to measure what is given back to you.”
As you give to help others you yourself will be blessed. Proverbs 11:25, “The generous prosper and are satisfied; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.”
All of us can experience a time of refreshing and overflow of rich generosity.
Give voluntarily – God loves a cheerful giver
Give according to God’s blessing – Unto whom much is given much is required
Give yourselves to the Lord – Where your heart is there also will be your treasure
Give your financial future to the Lord – Where God guides He will provide.
