SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). Generous Sowing (vs 6)
(2). Cheerful Giving (vs 7)
(3). Abundant Blessing (vs 8-11)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• The Inuit people live in the northern part of Alaska,
• When missionaries first tried to translate the Bible into their language,
• They found they had a problem with certain words.
• Whenever you translate the Bible in any culture,
• There will always be difficulty in translating some words,
• Because cultures and languages don’t always share the same words.
• e.g., The phrase “White as snow” was a problem to people who had never seen snow.
• Translators use the alternative rendering, “White as cotton wool.”
• The word may be different, but the truth is not lost in translation.
• Now back to the Inuit people.
• There was no word in the Inuit language for the word, ‘joy’.
• So, the Bible translators had to seek out an alternative word.
• And as they watched the Inuit people,
• They saw that the happiest, the most joyful moments in those Inuit village,
• Was in the evening when they fed their sled dogs.
• The men would go out with the food,
• And the dogs would jump & yelp & wag their tails & get all excited.
• And so, out of that experience, they discovered their word for ‘joy.’
• e.g., the well-known Christmas verse, in Luke chapter 2 verse 10.
But the angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”
• Translates in the Inuit Bible as,
• "I bring you good news, all people will wag their tails.".
• TRANSLATION: I have been asked to speak on, ‘The joy of giving.’
• And those two words, ‘joy & giving.’ don’t usually go together.
• The last two weeks I have been in a Church,
• Were each week they pass around a collection/offering bag.
• When that bag went around from person to person,
• Not once did I see anyone’s tail wagging!
• Verse 7 tells us that, “God loves a cheerful giver.”
• “God loves a tail-wagging giver.”
• The word that is translated “cheerful” in our text is the Greek work, ‘hilaron’.
• It is the word from which we get our English word, ‘hilarious’.
• The apostle Paul declared that “God loves the hilarious giver.”
(1). Generous Sowing (vs 6)
“
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
Ill:
• Last week I was listening to the audiobook of Daniel Defoe's book, ‘Robinson Crusoe’,
• It was first published in 1719.
• But it has stood the test of time and it is still a great read,
• And it contains some great insights concerning, life & God.
• On one occasion Robinson Crusoe returns to a particular place on his island,
• To his amazement he finds corn and rice growing there.
• And he comments that this was a miracle of God,
• Because this corn & rice is in a climate which was so alien to the grains,
• These had been just a few seeds he brought onto the island,
• From the ships wreckage.
• They had fallen on the ground when he rummaged through sacks and boxes,
• As he searched for food, gunpowder,
• And anything else that might help him survive in the island.
• Crusoe sees this as a miraculous gift:
• He feels blessed that God has reached out to assist him in his time of need.
• And his thoughts turn towards God, and he says…
“But after I saw barley grow there, in a climate which I knew was not proper for corn, and especially that I knew not how it came there, it startled me strangely, and I began to suggest that God had miraculously caused His grain to grow without any help of seed sown, and that it was so directed purely for my sustenance on that wild, miserable place.”
• TRANSITION: Robinson Crusoe unconsciously discovered the law of reproduction.
• What you reap what you sow,
• But the principle of multiplication says you will also always reap more than you sow.
• When you put one kernel of corn in the ground, you don’t get one kernel of corn back.
• You get a cornstalk with multiple ears on it,
• And hundreds of kernels on each of those ears.
• This is the mathematical power that God has established the universe to handle.
• You always get more out of it than you put into it.
Note:
• The principle of sowing and reaping applies to every area of life,
• Not just your finances.
• Whatever you sow in life, you’re going to reap.
• Whatever you deposit is going to be returned to you.
• e.g., If you sow criticism in life, you are going to reap criticism from other people.
• e.g., If you sow kindness, you’re going to reap kindness.
• It’s the law of the harvest.
• e.g., If you plant apple seeds, you don’t get pears; you get apples.
• e.g., If you sow with generosity, you will reap generosity.
This is the principle of the harvest: Whenever you have a need, plant a seed.
Ill:
• When a farmer looks at his barren fields, he doesn’t gripe about it.
• He just goes out and starts planting some seed.
• If he only has a little bit of seed, he has a choice.
• He can either hoard it or give it away.
• If he holds on to it, that’s all he’s got.
• If he gives it away, God will multiply it.
• The amazing thing is this:
• You don’t just reap what you sow.
• You always reap more than you sow!
Note:
• The NIV & KJB: “sparingly”
• The TLB: “give little.”
• The GNB: “few seeds.”
• J.B. Phillips: “poor sowing means a poor harvest,”
• There is a law in life that says if you sow sparingly, you will reap just enough.
• If you sow generously, you will reap generously.
• Whether you are farming or dealing with relationships this principle is true.
• It is true in life materially and spiritually.
Quote:
“The harvest that the giver reaps makes him:
Rich in love. Rich in friends. Rich in God.
That is why we should give!”
(2). Cheerful Giving (vs 7)
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Ill:
• Writer Mary Ann O'Roark tells a story of when she was a little girl.
• "As a little girl I heard grownups repeat a bible verse that I was certain said,
• "God loveth a cheerful liver."
• I asked my grandma what a liver was.
• She told me, "It's a part inside you, like your stomach or your heart."
• I puzzled over how to get my insides to be more cheerful.
• One day in Sunday school an older kid set me straight: "It's giver, not liver."
• Mary writes, “But I don't think I got it all that wrong. God does love a cheerful liver."
• TRANSITION: Generous giving starts in the heart and not the wallet or purse!
• Notice how the apostle Paul takes the general principle of verse 6,
• And makes it personal in verse 7. “Each one.”
ill:
• A man being baptized by immersion,
• And as he was descending down the steps into the water,
• He realised that his wallet was in his back pocket and so he stopped to take it out.
• The preacher then said, “Stop! Either I baptise your wallet and all or not at all!”
• Now the preacher was not interested in making the man’s money wet,
• But wanted to make the point that following Jesus affects everything!
• And it is a nonsense to say I love Jesus but that does not affect my finances.
• Every Christian (no exceptions), every Christian is called to give!
Note: The wording in verse 7:
• NIV: “give what you have DECIDED in your heart.”
• NASB: “just as he has PURPOSED in his heart.”
• TLB: “make up his own MIND.”
• The idea is we choose before hand how we will give,
• Giving is not normally a spur of the moment impulse decision (room for that),
• Rather the normal way to give is to decide ahead of time.
• The reason being God is not so much interested in our money,
• But he is interested in the state of our hearts.
Note: This verse is often misapplied.
• The apostle Paul is not talking about how much we should give.
• But rather how we give.
• He has already told them earlier in the previous chapter,
• How much they should give (chapter 8 verses 12-15).
“For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, 15 as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.””
• Verses 13-15 help us to be realistic regarding giving
• God is not out to make us financial paupers.
• God gave us a brain and he expects us to use it!
• There is no point giving away money so that we are in debt!
• So, the apostle Paul says, “Think!”
• Look at your income and give accordingly.
(3). Abundant Blessing (vs 8-11)
“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:
“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor.
their righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
Ill:
A simple way to look at these verses is,
• Look around (vs 6).
• Look within (vs 7).
• Look up (vs 8-11).
• Look around – see the need and seize the opportunity (vs 6).
• Look within - see the motive behind the act (vs 7).
• Look up – see the example and generosity of God (vs 8-11).
Ill:
• A famous golfer from the United States,
• Received an invitation from a Sheik in Saudi Arabia,
• Inviting him to come to his country and play some exhibition golf matches.
• The Sheik sent his plane to the United States to pick up the golfer,
• And when he arrived at The International Airport of Saudi Arabia,
• He was met by a chauffeur driven limousine.
• And taken to stay in a penthouse suit in one of their finest hotels.
• The golfer and the Sheik played all week in exhibition golf matches,
• And during his stay the golfer was treated like royalty.
When the week was finished, the Sheik said to the golfer
“You have been very kind to come to my country and spend the week playing golf with me.
I want to give you something as a gift to thank you.”
• The golfer knew he would be well paid and told the Sheik that this was enough.
• The Sheik insisted on giving the golfer something as a token of his appreciation.
• The Sheik said to him,
“Please tell me something that I could give you. Do you collect something? Or is there anything I could give you that you don’t have?”
• The golfer replied, “well I do collect golf clubs.”
• “Excellent” said the Sheik, “We will see what we can do!”
• When the golfer returned home,
• He couldn’t help but think about what kind of a golf club the Sheik would send him.
• Maybe a solid gold putter or a diamond studded driver?
• Each day he anticipated the package that was heading his way.
• After a few weeks a special delivery letter was delivered to the golfer’s home,
• It had the Sheik’s crest on it,
• And although not a parcel he was keen to read what it said.
• The golfer opened the letter,
• Inside he found a deed to an 18-hole elaborate golf club.
• TRANSITION: The moral of the story:
• Sometimes Sheik & kings think differently than we do.
• We have a KING, a God who thinks differently than we do.
• A God of generosity who gives us more than we deserve or can imagine!
Note: The “all’s” in verse 8.
“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work”
• And in the KJB you get an extra one in its translation,
• NIV: “And God is able to bless you abundantly”
• KJB: “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you;”
• In the Greek text the word (form of the word pas) is used five times!
• The idea here is God’s giving has no limits it is off the scale.
• “All grace”
• “All things”
• “All times”
• “All you need”
Ill:
• Humanly speaking the person who gives should be the person who loses,
• e.g., If I have £20 and give away £10, I am £10 financially poorer.
• TRANSITION: But God turns that idea around,
• That is why Jesus said, “It is more blest to give than to receive”
• (Acts chapter 20 verse 35).
• Our harvest that we reap is not always material goods,
• But it will be far more than we gave.
Note:
• The gardener or the farmer who sows seed has to wait.
• e.g., Corn takes 60 to 100 days, barley two to three months.
• But verse 8 tells us that when we sow with the right motive,
• The reaping starts even while we are sowing!
• “All grace”
• “All things”
• “All times”
• “All you need”
The principle is simple.
• You don’t give to get back,
• God is not as some TV preachers want us to believe a heavenly slot machine.
• The principle is that if we are willing to give with the right motives,
• Then God will make it possible for us to give.
• He will provide us with all we need to be able to give and bless others.
Ill:
• There are two famous seas in the land if Israel.
• The Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea.
• Both of these seas have the same source – the River Jordan.
• Galilee, on the one hand, is a lake full of life.
• The people around it are well taken care of and the vegetation along its banks flourishes.
• This is because it takes in water but also gives it out.
• In contrast, there is no life in the Dead Sea.
• There’s no seaweed, fish or any other creatures found in or around its turquoise waters.
• It is completely dead.
• It is the lowest point on earth
• One of the saltiest bodies of water on Earth,
• With almost 10 times more salt than ordinary seawater.
• It is dead because it has no outflow, it only receives,
• The water evaporates in the heat leaving behind the salt, minerals and impurities,
• These minerals have built up over time and killed all lifeforms in the water.
• TRANSITION:
• People can be compared to these two seas to.
• We need an inlet but also an outlet.
• We receive God’s blessing in order to pass those blessings on to others.
• Do you want to be the Sea of Galilee,
• Who not only receives but is willing to share one’s talents and resources with others?
• Remember being blessed happens more when giving than when receiving.
• Or do you want be like the Dead Sea?
MP3 AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=vcbuKAVBNLiJvqFPWkwP3oGTlCODjXDT
