Are You Ready for Some Fun in the Son!
1 Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, 2 for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year.
2 Corinthians 9:1-2
This is the time of year when Michigan people start dreaming about the sandy beaches of Florida, the warmth of a cabana in Cancun, or the fun of the surf in California. It’s superfluous to ask you if you are ready for some fun in the sun!
I love that word superfluous. It means overflowing or over the top. It’s so obvious it doesn’t need to be said.
Well, the question I’m asking you today is the same one Paul asked the people in Corinth 2000 years ago. Are you ready for some fun in the Son? (That’s spelled S – O – N.) Let me explain.
Corinth was the ancient America of today. It was a city of commerce and wealth. It was a society that created a culture celebrating the artistic and hedonistic pursuits of humanity.
And the church in Corinth reflected that culture. In the 1 Letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians he challenge the believers to be different than the culture they lived in.
Chapter 1-3 Commitment to Jesus and unity of the body
Chapter 4 Commitment to the Apostles and their willingness to follow their leaders
Chapter 5 was about sexual immorality in the church
Chapter 6 was about lawsuits and disagreements in the body
Chapter 7 was about marriage, divorce, and Godly families
Chapter 8 talked about being in the world but not participating in worldly things.
Chapter 9 talked about the importance of ministry and supporting those who were called into full time service.
Chapter 10 contains a warning against idolatry including covetousness
Chapter 11 dealt with authority and submission to those in leadership including Jesus
Chapter 12 – Spiritual Gifts
Chapter 13 – Faith hope and Love
Chapter 14 – Worship and Preaching
Chapter 15 – Resurrection of Jesus – and us
Chapter 16 – The work of the Kingdom of God
The message of 1 Corinthians was that they needed to grow up. They were a mess and full of sin. But the message of 2 Corinthians is “Now you are ready…” They had heard the message of the first letter and had been transformed by the power of God in their lives. They weren’t perfect but they were going and growing.
I believe that this is a description of Meridian Christian Church. Not that we have it all down or all figured out. We are, in fact, still learning to be a people worthy of wearing his name. But a mature church moves to the next level in many different core values. It’s a matter of raising the bar and hitting the next level of intensity.
And, this is the cool part; It is when you get to that level of intensity and performance that you discover the fun in following after Jesus. The spiritual word is joy. Joy is that indescribable, bubbling up from the inside, intense and incredible sense of… well-being.
Here is my prediction for 2012… This next year is going to be a lot of fun. The spiritual word is joy and it’s going to come from Giving It Away – individually and together.
That’s where Corinth was at and that’s why 2 Corinthians 9 speaks of readiness, zeal, and preparation. Paul speaks here of five characteristics of a culture of Generosity – Fun Filled Giving
Fun is Proportionate to the Giving
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
2 Corinthians 9:6
Sowing and Reaping is permanently and proportionately connected.
It’s true in farming and it’s true in giving. BTW: It’s not the gift. It’s the consistent, even habitual, culture of generosity. It is the action of giving more than the gift itself. We’re talking about an attitude of generosity here.
Folks, I think it’s important to be generous in life especially in all your dealings in business and in giving. This is not easy for me – because I’m cheap.
Almost 20 years ago Donna and I traveled to Venezuela. The last night we were there we walked on the Sabana Grande which was a kind of outdoor flea market in downtown Caracas. In Caracas you bargain for everything you buy on the street and I think it’s fun. I love to get a deal – because I’m cheap!
We saw a vendor selling plates with jungle scenes painted on them. I gave him 20 Bolivars (about $10) for his last three plates. He would have sold them to me for less but I was going back home the next day and I didn’t need Bolivars in Ohio.
Now, I know it wasn’t really a gift – after all I got three plates that now hang in my office, but that young man acted like he had won the lottery. I know I overpaid and I was glad to do it. It was fun to be generous and I know that his family ate very well that night.
Think about what that means for us here at Meridian Christian Church.
In the last three years we had Kids Kamp and parents had to pay $125 a week for a kid. This summer, through your generosity next week we’re going to help working and single parents and provide a high quality program for their children. If you’d like to help, stop by and talk to Tom Hampton at the Kids Kamp table this morning.
And this summer we’re going to do something really crazy generous. Because of the offering we’re givn away next Sunday we’re going to build a house in our parking lot on Saturday, August 11. On Sunday, August 12 we’ll bless that house and ask God to make it a home for the people we give it to.
We’re also going to help GLCC build a new learning center to train up new ministers and missionaries – servant leaders for others who need to hear the good news all over this country and the world. Your generosity will help build the tools needed to develop young men and women into servant leaders for God and his kingdom.
Finally, Your generosity in giving of tithes and offerings support the work of the ministry here. Because you give – sacrificially, consistently, and proportionately we have a place to gather, opportunity to fellowship, ministries for teaching our children and serving our community.
Last weekend 37 kids traveled to Spring Hill with our Youth Minister and Youth Leaders. Because of your generosity they learned important lessons about living for Jesus. Today a young lady is going to be baptized into Christ because you have given to her through the ministries of this church.
Your children are taught every week about the love of God because of your generosity in time, in life, and in tithes and offerings.
The more generous we are the more fun it is because we get to see a rich harvest of souls over the course of the years. This is the real fun part of generosity.
When it comes to giving… don’t be cheap!
No One Can Make You Have Fun
7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
The root word for cheerful is hilaros. It is from this word that we get the English word “hilarious.” Think about that God loves a hilarious giver.
There is just no other way to say this. God doesn’t want your gift if you are going to be grumpy about it. Who wants a gift from someone who says, “Here, take it” and then scowls?
The secret to hilarious giving is to let go of the gift before you give it. It’s easy and fun to give a gift to someone when it’s not yours.
You want to really have some fun giving this morning? Stand up reach forward and grab the wallet out of the pocket of the person in front of you and then give like you have always wanted. Now that’s fun!
The reason it’s fun is that you are focusing on the recipient and their need instead of yourself and your loss. To become a cheerful (hilarious) giver you’ve got to let go of the money first.
Make the decision to become a giver and determine what proportion you are going to give to the work of God’s Kingdom and to the Generosity offering.
One tenth (the tithe) is a good place to start. If you have bills and debts then start with less… then start somewhere by letting go of a portion and giving it to God.
If debt or budgeting is a challenge for you then I really want to encourage you to get into the Good Samaritan Financial Growth Group that’s starting in a couple of weeks. Make the decision to become a better steward of God’s possessions and start working toward becoming a hilarious giver.
You can’t make someone have fun. I wish I could give you joy. You just have to determine to try it. At first it won’t be hilarious… it will probably be a little giggle. But laughing is contagious. The more you laugh the more you want to laugh.
Life is about an abundance of joy – and that comes from giving. You already have enough to get started!
You Already Have Enough to Have Fun
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”
God Showed Us Joyful Generosity. Look what God has done. He has made all grace abound… that’s undeserved favor; so that you will have all sufficiency… that’s everything you need; in all things at all times… and what exactly does that leave out?
So what does this mean? It’s very simple. God has already given you everything you need to be generous.
You see, in this verse we are the poor. God has already given to us. Right now at this very moment – no matter what has gone on in or is going on in your life – he has and he is pouring into your life His life. You’re not poor any more. You are RICH.
Giving is not about “someday” when you get more. It’s about today and now. It’s about giving a portion of what you have.
Have you heard that preacher on TV that wants you to give to his ministry so you God will bless you? You know, the guy that says if you will send him 10 or 100 dollars that God will multiply it 40, 60, or 100 times and send it back. Whenever I hear that guy I want to call him and tell him to send me the money and let God bless him!
Well that guy has it backwards… You don’t give a dollar to get ten or a hundred back from God. That’s demeaning and manipulative.
Here Paul says, you already have ten… give the one! You already have $100… give the ten. You already have the $1000… give the $100 and God has already poured out on you his righteous gifts. You already have what you need to give joyfully! But that’s not the end of it.
God Wants to Multiply Your Fun
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
Here’s where the multiplication comes in. Your heavenly father does not want you to simply endure life. He wants you to enjoy it. The more you give the more you’ll get so you can enjoy it.
When our kids were young and we lived in Marquette we would occasionally travel to Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was only 4 hours away. On one vacation we stopped there and went to a little, city owned amusement park called Bay Beach. The had all kinds of carnival style rides. The big slide, dodge cars, the egg beater whirly thing, and a Ferris Wheel. There were lot’s of neat stuff and every ride was 10 cents. I gave each kid $2 and told them to go have fun. I felt like a big spender and the kids were awestruck. Not only did they have enough for 20 rides there were only about 15 kids in the whole park.
After an hour or so they came back for more money and I gave them more. I wanted them to have fun. I enjoyed watching them have fun with my money.
But imagine If they had sat there and not spent their money. If they had stuck the dollar bill in their pocket and refused to buy a ticket for the ride… and then have come back for more.
They wouldn’t have gotten any! If that money is going to sit in anyone’s pocket it will be mine or I’ll give it to someone else who will use it the way it was intended to have fun.
BTW The goal of your fun in generosity is to increase the harvest of your righteousness. Giving changes you! It makes you more like God. It is the greatest and the most important step of spiritual growth because it is the foundation of love. We all need to learn the art of giving!
God wants you to learn to love and the heart of love is the gift of life. That leads us to one final characteristic of generosity.
Fun Filled Giving Enriches You
11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.
It changes you – the giver – because enriches you in every way! In every way! You are enriched spiritually, physically, financially, intellectually, healthily, and socially. It’s like moving from a world of black and white to a world dripping with color.
Generous Giving does two things…
First, It supplies the needs of others. Remember that last week we saw that possessions are a burden. When you give your possessions to meet the needs of others the burden becomes a blessing and it changes lives.
Second, it produces – in giver and in the receiver; a deep sense of thanksgiving. Generosity teaches that God is the source of all good things. There is nothing in this life as much fun as helping others to discover that God is the source life and to give him the thanksgiving. There is nothing like it.
Generous living becomes thankful praise – and that’s real worship.
Fun in the Son
So let me go back to the original question. Are you ready for some Fun in the SON? Here are some things you can do to become that generous follower of Jesus that is described here in 2 Corinthians 9
I want to be baptized into Jesus
Tell me how I can help this summer with Kids Kamp
I will give a generous offering on January 29
I will return 10% of my income to God at MCC
I will give a portion of my income to God at MCC
