The Rewards of Giving
2 Corinthians 9:6-11
David Yarborough tells the story of a church in the deep South where the preaching style was “talk back” as the congregation responded to and encouraged the pastor in their preaching. The pastor was excited about their prospective future and said, “This church is like a crippled man who needs to get up and walk under the power of Jesus.” The congregation replied, “let it walk preacher, let it walk.” Then the preacher said, “This church like Elijah on Mount Carmel and has got to run.” The congregation replied, “let it run preacher, let it run.” Then he said, “This church has got to mount up on wings like eagles and fly.” The congregation replied with great enthusiasm, “let it fly, preacher, let it fly.” Then the preacher added, “Now if this church is going to fly, it’s going to take MONEY.” With a lack of enthusiasm, the congregation responded, “Let it walk preacher, let it walk.” And then he writes, “Isn’t it amazing how one word can change the whole direction of a mood. Yes preacher, we want it! But not if it’s going to cost us, not if it’s going to take sacrifice.”
Many people wonder why Paul ever wrote “God loves a cheerful giver.” Is there really such a thing? You may have met plenty of cheerful spenders but ask, “Where are all of the cheerful givers?” When I was at Gretna, our Worship Planning team, which met weekly to plan each week’s services, began wrestling with the Offering in worship. Our ushers looked more like pallbearers than those assisting in the worship of the Savior of the world for whom we gathered to give thanks. We knew they were trying to be respectful and reverent but it came off more as a dead act of worship. So we decided to change the Offering. Instead of reflective or meditative music, we decided to have upbeat and praiseworthy music. Instead of a special solo or song being sung, we chose songs that the congregation could sing with great joy as they made their offering to God. And for the first time in my life I saw and experienced joyful giving and it changed the act of giving for us.
Today, we’re going to be looking at four rewards of giving from Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth. First is the principle of sowing. Leonard Sweet writes, “Gardening is not just a vocation reserved for those who work the dirt but instead is a universal vocation. God calls us to be gardeners, to tend the garden and grow things. When you kneel, you are gardening with your soul. When you serve God, you are gardening with your spiritual gifts. And when you give to God, you are gardening with your finances. Money is not a debt you owe but a seed you sow.” People who view money they give to God as another debt they owe or an obligation rarely ever find joy and cheerfulness in their giving. But in case you’re wondering, the Bible doesn’t teach that the tithe or the money you give back to God is a debt you owe but a seed you sow. And just that much of a change in perspective can make an enormous difference in your giving. Our Scripture today speaks of sowing seed, an image that brings to mind of a farmer with a satchel around his body, going out into the field and reaching in, grabbing a handful of seed and casting it out on the field. Now the sower has purchased his seed and doesn’t look at the cost of the seed as a burden or even a debt but as an investment in the future. And so Paul is saying that our giving is not a debt you owe but a seed you sow and that seed can change lives and eternities.
A little girl loved Jesus and longed to share the message of Christ to those on the mission field. She contributed a penny to a missionary to help in the work of evangelizing the people of Burma. The missionary was so touched by the little girl’s response that he decided to do the most he could with that little penny. After careful thought, he bought a gospel tract and personally gave it to a young chieftain. The chieftain would not admit that he couldn’t read, yet he burned with a desire to know the contents of the leaflet. He traveled 250 miles to find someone who would read it to him. After hearing the Gospel message, the young chief made a profession of faith in Christ. Returning to his people, he told them what the Lord had done for him. Later he invited missionaries to come and share Jesus with the village and his tribe accepted the good news and was converted. All this and more resulted from one dedicated penny given in Christ’s name by a little girl who gave from her heart and sowed a seed with a single penny.
The second is the Principle of Increase which says you will receive far more than you sow. Every farmer understands that he must sow to reap but he also knows that he will reap far more than he sows. This is what today’s Scripture says, “He who sows sparingly, reaps sparingly. He who sows bountifully, reaps bountifully.” That’s the principle of miraculous increase. The farmer knows that the seed when cast and planted multiplies and brings a return greater than itself. So you can see why the farmer rarely complains about the cost of the seed because he knows the return he’ll receive. Do you know if a farmer plants two bushels of wheat by harvest time, he can realize an average of 67 bushels of wheat? If he plants three bushels of wheat by harvest time, he can realize an average of 79 bushels of wheat? If a farmer plants 7 ½ pounds of corn by harvest time, he can realize an average of 129 bushels of corn? It’s an amazing thing, this principle of increase. You home gardeners know what I’m talking about. Spring comes and you plant 10 tomato plants and you wonder if you’ll have enough tomatoes for a salad. But when harvest time comes, you have so many that you’re giving them away and bringing them to church to throw at the pastor when he preaches three weeks in a row on money! You receive in return far more than you planted.
The third is the Principle of Patience says you will reap months or years later after you sow, and that requires patience and trust. Impatient farmers don’t farm very long. You have to trust that God will do His part over time. I met Dwight when I was at Rayne Memorial UMC. Dwight was an engineer making a very good living who I had the privilege to bring to Christ. One of the decisions Dwight wrestled with as we entered our stewardship campaign was his response to God’s call for the tithe, to give 10% of his income back to God. He came to me to talk over the issue. As we discussed the tithe, Dwight decided to give 10% of his income back to God. What a witness since he was such a new follower of Christ and was giving 3 times more than most Christians who have followed Jesus all of their life. Well, a year passed and Dwight was growing in his faith and he fulfilled his tithed. I asked him how it went. He said he had to rearrange some priorities in his life to be able to tithe but he did it. But then he said, “I haven’t noticed any difference in my life or any promises fulfilled.” It had only been 11 months and he was already getting impatient with God. And yet, today, Dwight will tell you those blessings did come in his life and the decision to tithe and wait was the best decision he ever made. When you plant seeds, it takes time to produce fruit. If you are impatient, know that God has never broken any promise he has made. His blessings will and do come.
When you commit to the tithe and sacrificial giving, you will reap those blessings one day. There will be a harvest. God will see to that. Almost every time God calls for the tithe, he follows it with a promise that he will reward you if you step out in faith. Listen to the promises of God:
“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” Proverbs 3:9-10
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house…and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. Malachi 3:10
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap." Luke 6:38
Now a word of caution: we’re not promoting a “give to get more” mentality. This is not the prosperity Gospel which says give money to God so you will obligate God to give more back to you. Evangelists pushing this theology sometimes quote a 10 or 20 fold return and even put a timeframe on it. But this is not what God is saying. God is saying, “Honor me with a portion of your income. Give in a spirit of trust and joy and I will give you a reward out of the goodness of my heart, in ways you never dreamed, which often means beyond financial blessings. God has so many creative ways of bringing an increase. Don’t limit him to finances. And certainly don’t underestimate him.
He wants you to know that every paycheck offers you an opportunity to sow more seeds in fields that God has prepared. And because of that, you should have a spirit of joy and trust as you give back to God. Bill Hybels tells the story of speaking at a church camp in Georgia. The man who picked him up from the airport began talking about how wonderful God is. He started saying there were great times and then there were difficult times but through them all, God had been faithful. This time in his life was one of those difficult times. He and his wife had given birth to a child with Down’s Syndrome. But that wasn’t all, he had a hole in his heart which was going to require surgery and on top of that, the child had just been diagnosed with leukemia. He said, “We don't make very much and the financial strain has been difficult. Yet, no matter how tight things have gotten, he and his wife had always tithed.” He went on to say that they were having difficulty with their car and didn't have money to fix it or even buy a new one. Then one day, some Christian brothers and sisters pooled their money together to purchase a van with a bed in the back so their child could lay down on the way to the hospital for treatments. “I would never be able to afford a vehicle like this and God provided it. I have been faithful in doing my part in honoring the Lord with what little I have and God has met a big need in my life. What a great God we have!”
When you commit to living within your means, avoiding debt, careful budgeting and planning, setting your priorities in line with God and faithfully honoring God with the first 10% of everything you earn, you will be amazed what God will do over time. But first, you have to sow to reap. You need to be patient and wait to see what God will do in your life. And you need to give both joyfully, trusting that God is always true to His word. Because you know that the tithe is not a debt you owe but a seed you sow and gift given in response to what you have received. Fourth is the principle of thanksgiving. Paul ends the 9th Chapter with these words, “This service (giving) that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”
Tony Campolo tells the story of a friend who was on a train travelling out of Victoria Station in London. Across from him in the compartment were two men in their early 30’s. Twenty minutes out of the station, one of them had an epileptic seizure. The man stiffened and fell heavily out of his seat. Immediately his friend took off his own jacket, rolled it up and put it behind his friend's head. He blotted the beads of perspiration from his friend’s brow with his handkerchief, talked to the stricken man in a quiet manner and calmed him. When the seizure was over, he lifted his friend gently back to his seat. Tony said he then turned to my friend and said, "Mister, please forgive us. Sometimes this happens 2 or 3 times a day. My buddy and I were in Vietnam together, and we were both wounded. I had bullets in both my legs and he had one in his shoulder. The helicopter that was supposed to come for us never came to pick us up. My friend picked me up and carried me for 3 1/2 days out of that jungle. The Viet Cong snipers were shooting at us the whole way. He was in more agony than I was. I begged him to drop me and save himself, but he wouldn't let me go. He got me out of that jungle. He saved my life. I don't know how he did it and I don't know why he did it. Four years ago, I found that he had this condition, so I sold my house in New York, took what money I had, and came here to take care of him." And then he said, "You see, mister, after what he did for me, there isn't anything I wouldn't do for him." Amen and Amen.
