2 Corinthians 8 - “The Grace of Giving” - 8/14/16
Let me give you a question this morning to get you thinking: What do the following all have in common? a kitchen timer, a post it note, and a string wrapped around a finger. The answer is probably obvious to most of you - they are all “reminders” - we use them to remember to do the things that we know we want to do. And we use them to notify us when it is time to do those things. Reminders can be very helpful for us.
The accountant who does my taxes sends out a little postcard two weeks before my taxes are due. It says “Don’t forget to send in your tax payment.” My dentist sends out a postcard as a reminder: It’s time to come in to have your teeth cleaned. We may not always like going through what we are reminded about - after all, who like getting their teeth cleaned - but reminders are good for us.
We are going to have a “reminder” sermon today. It probably won’t be any great new truth you haven’t heard before, but it is a truth that is a good reminder for us. But I’ll try to present it in a fresh way that helps you look at things a little differently. Turn with me this morning to 2 Corinthians 8. M, M, L, J, A, R, 1&2 C.
There are many things in scripture that we need to remember. We take communion every month as a way of remembering our great salvation and what Christ has done for us. Paul writes in Philippians 3:1 - It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. So taking time to remember is good for us, it is a safeguard for us. It’s just like guardrails on the highway or the little rumble strips in the road - when we go over them they remind us, get back into the center of the road!
So our reminder this morning is going to be about giving. Yes, the pastor is talking about MONEY! For some of you, that’s what you’ll come away with. But the truth is, this morning I don’t want to talk about money, but about God’s grace. When we focus on money, it shows we have the wrong perspective. Because when it came time to talk about money, Paul’s focus was on God and the grace He gives. So let’s see the reminders that Paul gives us in this chapter.
Read 1 Corinthians 8:1-7 - Pray
This is a great week to talk about giving, because we had a really good offering last week. So in no way is this message motivated to get you to “give more” - but rather it is a reminder for all of us about WHY we give. On a merely human level it makes no sense - why would anyone “give away” a large portion of what they have made for themselves. Our sinful, selfish nature wants to stubbornly hold on to everything we have. And often before we take the offering each week in the worship service we talk about how we give back as a way of honoring God and renewing our trust that He will continue to take care of us. But Paul presents another aspect to the idea of giving here in this chapter, and that is the issue of God’s grace.
To set some background to what Paul is dealing with, we look at the book of Acts. In Acts 11:27-30 we find this recorded for us: During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
So here in the epistles of Paul, we find various references to this offering. Paul tells the Christians in the newly started churches about the need back in Jerusalem, and they want to help. Down in verse 11, we see that the Christians in Corinth were the first ones to say, You can count on us! But now they needed to follow through and actually give the gift that they had promised. And here in chapter 8 & 9, Paul is encouraging them regarding their giving. That’s the background of these chapters. But let’s look how Paul starts out in verse 1:
And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. So Paul is writing to the Corinthians - they lived in the southern region of Greece called Achaia - and he is telling them about those in the northern region called Macedonia. And his focus is on God’s grace. So let’s stop there and ask the question - What is Grace? Because we often read through a passage of scripture and we read words without thinking about what those words mean. So what is Grace? A simple definition - write it down somewhere - is “unmerited favor” - or to put it in more common words “undeserved blessing.” It’s when God blesses us, not for anything we have done, but in spite of what we have done. Even though we don’t deserve it, God chooses to shower His blessings upon us. That’s grace.
So many times we pray “God, bless me today.” And what our desire really is in that prayer is for God to “give me” something. We often think that God’s blessing involves “getting” something. But often God’s blessing on our lives means we get to “give” something. Now that’s a totally foreign way for many of us to think about God’s blessing. God blesses us by giving us the ability to give.
And then we need to pause one more time in verse 1 - And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. So WHO are these Macedonian churches? They are the churches in Macedonia - right to the north of Corinth - but how do we know them. Let me mention some names: Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. We just went through the book of 2 Thessalonians a couple weeks ago. That’s who he’s talking about. So let’s review - what do we know about the Thessalonian church? This was a city where Paul came and started a church, but the opposition from extremist Jews was so strong that Paul had to leave town. It was a place where these new believers were being persecuted and enduring great trials. It was a group that didn’t have much in the way of material wealth. And THAT’S who Paul says received the grace of giving.
Far too often we “write off” people we don’t think have much to give. But very often those who have little have the biggest heart to give. Often those with “plenty” are tight fisted and won’t help. Ronda spent a summer doing a mission trip to Romania before we got married. Often families would open up their homes and provide a meal for the team members. And the local team leader told them, for many of these families, the meat they were putting out on the table was the only meat they had for a month. But their heart was one that wanted to give. In spite of poverty, when God blesses you with His grace, you can give abundantly. Look at verse 2 - Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
What is generosity? Often we think of the idea of giving a lot - a huge sum. But rather the idea - instead of the amount - has to do with the motive. The word used here literally refers to having an open hand - not holding on tightly to what they had. The Phillips version translates the verse this way: Somehow, in most difficult circumstances, their overflowing joy and the fact of being down to their last penny themselves, produced a magnificent concern for other people. Generosity is the idea that instead of thinking about yourself, you think about how you can help others. It is putting others first. And notice where that giving started: out of extreme poverty. The word here means poverty that is so severe that it would make one a beggar. Paul says the Thessalonians had nothing - they were beggars - but they opened their hearts and thought about the need of the Christians in Jerusalem, and so they gave a very generous gift.
And that’s often the way God loves to meet needs. He takes those who have nothing and uses them to provide for the need. Think about Elijah, 1 Kings 17 - he meets a widow who only has enough flour and oil to make a tortilla for her and her son before they die - but when she is willing to give it to Elijah, the flour and oil never get used up. Or think about Elisha, 2 Kings 4 - he meets a widow whose sons are going to be sold. All she has is a little oil, but God let’s the oil fill all the jars she can borrow. Think about Jesus - thousands gather to hear him preach - and he takes a few loaves of bread and a couple fish and feeds the thousands, with several baskets left over.
The Thessalonians had nothing - but what changed their circumstances to be able to give so generously? JOY! Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. Their joy overflowed! What is the difference between “joy” and “overflowing joy”? An overflowing joy can be held in. Think about the husband who tells his wife, “I love you so much it’s hard not to tell you!” Well that wife wants her husband to love her so much that he DOES tell her! Many Christians have joy - yes, I know I’m going to heaven when I die - but far fewer Christians have an overflowing joy, a joy that evidences itself in every area of their life. Think about the difference. Today, do you have JOY or do you have “overflowing joy”.
So, back to looking at the example of the Macedonian believers, the Thessalonicans and the Philippians - they had extreme poverty, but their joy overflowed so much that they focused on the needs of others. And the result Paul tells us in verse 3 - For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Now on the human level, that sounds ridiculous: How can someone give more than they are able? But when we look through spiritual insight, we understand that God is able to provide a gift for us to give when we have a generous heart, a heart that cares about the needs of others. Psalm 123:2 - As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy. In the same way, we look to the Lord to provide something to give when we have an open heart.
Many churches support the work of missions through a plan called “faith promise.” The concept is simple - at the beginning of the year each person thinks about the amount that they would like to have “faith” to trust God to provide for them to give. It is not a question of what they have, but a question of what they have faith that God can provide for them - and then they “promise” that if God provides it, they will give it. Maybe God will send you a larger tax return; maybe he gives you a raise or unexpected overtime; sometimes it is a gift from Uncle Fred and Aunt Mary. But when we have a heart that wants to give, God is able to help us to give MORE than we are humanly able to give from our own finances. He provides extra for us to give generously. That’s what happened to the Thessalonians. Paul says, I don’t know where they came up with the money - they certainly didn’t have it themselves - but they gave beyond their ability!
That’s the grace of God - God blessing them so they can give abundantly. Then look at verse 4 - Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. Notice WHY they gave - it was entirely their own decision. Far too often we give in response to manipulation, coercion, emotional appeals, pleading, or intimidation. We hear someone share a need, and we may not feel led to give to the need, but we have a hard time saying “no” so we give a token gift. Instead the Thessalonians were moved by God and said, Paul, PLEASE let us give something too!
And notice a key were here in verse 4 - they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. Let’s remember that when God gives us his grace, this underserved blessing of having a heart that wants to give, we will not view giving as a chore but as a cheer; it’s not a duty but a delight; it’s never a heavy burden but rather it’s always a hilarious blessing.
Think about that word hilarious. What makes you laugh? This week I saw a video that pulled together clips of different televangelists and I laughed and laughed! Maybe it’s the three stooges or Jerry Lewis. Maybe it’s youtube videos of kittens or talking doggies. But there’s something else that should make us laugh with joy - and that is being able to GIVE! Over in chapter 9, verse 7, it says, Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. The literal rendering is “God loves a hilarious giver.” Does it cause your heart to overflow with rejoicing when you get the chance to give?
Far too often we give grudgingly, out of a sense of obligation. We know God wants us to give and so we feel we “have to” give. But we lose the blessing. Because remember our key idea today, giving is a blessing, giving is to be done in the grace God gives. God gives us a gift - to be able to give towards others - and we should do that with a cheerful heart.
When Moses was leading the Jews out of Egypt, God gave instructions for a tabernacle to be built, a big tent where God would dwell and be worshiped in the center of their camp. And to build it, Moses asked the people to give. But in Exodus 36, he had to tell the people to STOP giving. Because they gave so generously that they had all they needed.
So Paul is collecting an offering for the Christians in Jerusalem - the Corinthians said they would give, but lacked on the followthrough. They needed to be reminded to give. Paul didn’t even ask the Thessalonians to give, because they were in such a tight situation, but they pleaded for the chance to give, and God let them give far beyond their ability.
Today, maybe you need a reminder to give. Yes, you know you want to give, and you know you should give, and you even thought about giving, or maybe you gave a “token” gift - but deep down in your heart, when you think about all that God has done for you, when your heart wells up with overflowing joy - how do you want to give? We all need reminders to give not out of our ability, but out of God’s ability. We all need reminders to give not out of obligation, but our of gratitude. We give generously because God has given us a gift of grace, His special blessing to give abundantly.
There is so much more in these two chapters that we could look at, but I want us to jump down to 9:12. Paul says here This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. What is he saying? When you give, not only does it meet a need, but it is also a reason for others to praise God. Remember what Jesus says in Matthew 5:16 - In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. When we “do the right thing” - when we live out our faith before others, God is the one who will be praised. In the same way, we apply that to giving. When we give with a right attitude and a right heart, others we see that and will praise God.
Paul does something interesting in the passage here. He has been bragging to the Corinthians about the Thessalonian believers and how generously they gave. But he also says in 9:2 that he has been bragging to the Thessalonian believers about how eager the Corinthians were to give. Is he doing that to manipulate those two groups? Not at all. But rather he is using each group to encourage the other. And the truth is that as believers we sharpen one another, we spur one another on, our faithfulness is an encouragement to other Christians to be faithful as well.
Then another interesting thing to notice here in 9:12 - This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. The word “service” is really a word that has to do with a “priestly service”. Giving is really an act of worship. It reminds me of what Paul writes in Romans 12:1-2 - Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Paul says we live as a sacrifice, this is the way we worship God. And to do that, we don’t just make external changes, but we need to be inwardly changed - a metamorphosis, just like a caterpillar becomes a butterfly - and we do it by changing the way we think.
That same pattern applies to giving: our giving is done not to make us feel good or impress other, but we give out of a heart that worships, a heart that responds to the grace of God. And we don’t want to just make an outward change - don’t just “increase the amount you give” - but we need to inwardly change, we need to have hearts that WANT to give - and that will happen as we change the way we think about giving. When we view giving as a privilege, as a blessing, as God’s gift to us, it will help us to give generously.
One last thought in closing - verse 15 of chapter 9 - Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! If I had asked you what that verse referred to, probably ever one of us would say “Jesus” - Jesus is God’s indescribable gift. But I would differ with you - yes, Jesus is an indescribable gift - but in the CONTEXT - in light of what Paul is teaching here, the indescribable gift God gives is the gift of His grace - His undeserved blessing - to be able to give from open, generous hearts. Because when we give not from our own ability, but from God’s supernatural blessing, there is no limit to the blessings that will be received.
Let’s renew our commitment today - not to give a token gift or a legalistic percentage - but to open our hearts to the need and to give our of overflowing joy because of all that God has done for us. Let’s pray!
