Stewardship: What A Way To Live!
Scripture Reference: 2 Corinthians 9:6 – 14
Introduction
I guess by now you understand that during this sermon series we have been discovering the way God intended for us to live. We have found that He wants us to live as disciples, to live as worshippers, and to live for fellowship.
I have sought to encourage you not to slow your pace or your energy, but to redirect your pace and energy towards the kind of living that pleases God, encourages other believers and models a life worth seeing by those who don’t know God.
I have wanted to challenge you to see how exciting it is to live a life going where Jesus would go, doing what Jesus would do, and saying what Jesus would say; to see how exciting it is to worship God daily using our spirit, intellect, and emotions; to rejoice in the opportunity to share our lives with others in the glory of God.
In Acts 2:42-47 five facets of church health are mentioned: They fellowshipped, edified each other, worshipped, ministered, and evangelized. As a result, verse 47 says, “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
According to Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Community Church in California…
1. Churches grow warmer through fellowship.
2. Churches grow deeper through discipleship.
3. Churches grow stronger through worship.
4. Churches grow broader through ministry.
5. Churches grow larger through evangelism.
Transition
Often churches offer one or another…for instance
The Church That Just Emphasizes Soul Winning
If the pastor sees his primary role as an evangelist, then the church becomes a soul-winning church. This church is always reaching out to the lost - to the neglect of the other four purposes. The only goal is to save souls.
The Church That Just Emphasizes Experiencing God
If the pastor’s passion and gifts lie in the area of worship, he will instinctively lead the church to become what is called an experiencing God church. The focus is on sensing the presence and power of God in worship.
The Church That Just Emphasizes Family Reunion
A church that focuses primarily on fellowship is what is called the family reunion church. This church is shaped by the pastoral gift. In the family reunion church, the gathering is more important than the goals of the church.
The Church That Just Emphasizes The Classroom
This church occurs when the pastor sees his primary role as being a teacher. Because he’s gifted in teaching and enjoys it immensely, he will emphasize preaching and de-emphasize the other tasks of the church.
The Church That Just Emphasizes Social Conscience
This is the church that is out to change society. It is full of activists who are “doers of the Word.” It comes in both a liberal and conservative version. The liberal version tends to focus on the injustice in our society. The conservative version tends to focus on the moral decline in our society.
Many churches are stronger in one or more of those areas, but in the context of Scripture a church cannot be healthy accept it balances all five of the areas.
Every church needs to grow warmer through fellowship, deeper through discipleship, stronger through worship, broader through ministry, and larger through evangelism. Of those five purposes we now focus on becoming broader through ministry – by looking at our stewardship.
I have given definitions for discipleship, worship, and fellowship, now let me lead into the text by providing a definition for stewardship. Stewardship is defined as the servant of God looking at the things he has as not his own, but through the use of time, money, and abilities gives to God’s work and God’s glory. He is simply a manager.
To be honest, we are all givers in one way or another…we give to ourselves, our spouses, our children, our friends, our pets, our jobs, our retirements, our favorite charitable organizations, our church, and others that I am sure you are thinking of at this moment.
So the object is not to stop you from giving, but get you to reprioritize your giving according to God’s standards. For that is what God will bless, His giving standards and not our own.
It seems strange that we Christians need encouragements to give, when God has given so much to us. God had enriched the Corinthians in a wonderful way, and yet they were hesitant to share what they had with others.
So then the question to ask for the day is, “How do I become the steward that God desires?” How do I live a life as a manager rather than owner? What is and isn’t enough? Is there a formula for the giving of my time, my resources, and my abilities? 2 Corinthians 9 brings that out…
I. Your Giving Will Bless Others (8:1 – 3)
2CO 8:1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.
While Christians must not compete with each other in their service for Christ, they ought to “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” ( Heb. 10:24 ).
Between chapters 8 and 9, Paul was using the Macedonians to provoke the giving spirit of the Corinthians. A time ago the Corinthians gave in many ways and motivated many to give, but they themselves have to be motivated once again.
When we see what God is doing in and through the lives of others, we ought to strive to serve Him better ourselves. There is a fine line between fleshly imitation and spiritual emulation, and we must be careful in this regard.
But a zealous Christian can be the means of stirring up a church and motivating people to pray, work, witness, and give
We find that the Macedonians focused on others, not themselves. This is true humility: not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less. Paul said, Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. This is what it means to "lose your life"- forgetting yourself in service to others. When we stop focusing on our needs, we become aware of the needs around us.
Jesus "emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant." When was the last time you emptied yourself for someone else’s benefit? You can’t be a servant if you’re full of yourself. It’s only when we forget ourselves that we do the things that deserve to be remembered.
Self-denial is the core of being a faithful steward. Thinking like a servant and a steward is difficult because it challenges the basic problem of my life: I am, by nature, selfish. I think most about me.
That’s why humility is a daily struggle, a lesson I must relearn over and over. The opportunity to be a servant confronts me dozens of times a day where I’m given the choice to decide between meeting my needs or the needs of others.
Our greatest encouragement for giving is that it pleases the Lord, but there is nothing wrong with practicing the kind of giving that provokes others to give.
II. Your Giving Will Bless You (9:6 – 11)
“Give, and it shall be given unto you,” was our Lord’s promise; and it still holds true (Luke 6:38). The “good measure” He gives back to us is not always money or material goods, but it is always worth far more than we gave.
Giving is not something we do, but something we are. Giving is a way of life for the Christian who understands the grace of God.
Real servants think like stewards, not owners. They remember God owns it all. In the Bible, a steward was a servant entrusted to manage an estate. Servanthood and stewardship go together since God expects us to be trustworthy in both.
The Bible says, The one thing required of such servants is that they be faithful to their master. How are you handling the resources God has entrusted to you?
To become a real servant, we’re going to have to settle the issue of money in our lives. Jesus said, "No servant can serve two masters... You cannot serve both God and Money." He didn’t say, "You shouldn’t serve both," but "You cannot." It is impossible.
Do we really understand that all of my time, all of my money, and all of my abilities belong to God? You and I cannot be a weekend soldier, Christian, believer, or child of God. Living with one hand on money and one hand on His Majesty won’t work.
Are you aware that God uses money and materials to test our faithfulness to Him? Please understand that money can become your god? Money has been known to buy material and meat, fashion, fantasy, and fiction, hope and dope; love and lust, but it can’t buy God.
It is foolish to believe that God will play second fiddle to money. When Jesus is your Master, money serves you, but if money is your master, you become its slave. Wealth is certainly not a sin, but failing to use it for God’s glory is. Real servants are more concerned about ministry than money.
If our giving is to bless us and build us up, we must be careful to follow the principles that Paul explained in this section.
The farmer who sows much seed will have a better chance for a bigger harvest. The investor who puts a large sum of money in the bank will certainly collect more dividends. The more we invest in the work of the Lord, the more “fruit” will abound to our account ( Phil. 4:10–20 ).
Whenever we are tempted to forget this principle, we need to remind ourselves that God was unsparing in His giving. “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32)
In both nature and grace, God is a generous Giver; and he who would be godly must follow the divine example.
A. The principle of intent: we reap as we sow with right motives (v. 7 ). Motive makes absolutely no difference to the farmer! If he sows good seed and has good weather, he will reap a harvest whether he is working for profit, pleasure, or pride.
It makes no difference how he plans to use the money that he earns; the harvest will probably come just the same.
But not so with the Christian: motive in giving (or in any other activity) is vitally important. Our giving must come from the heart, and the motive in the heart must please God.
We must not be “sad givers” who give grudgingly, or “mad givers” who give because we have to (“of necessity”); but we should be “glad givers” who cheerfully share what we have because we have experienced the grace of God. “He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed” ( Prov. 22:9 ).
B. The principle of immediacy: we reap even while we are sowing (vv. 8–11 ). The farmer has to wait for his harvest, but the believer who practices grace giving begins to reap the harvest immediately. To be sure, there are long-range benefits from our giving, but there are also immediate blessings.
To begin with, we start to share God’s abundant grace ( 2 Cor. 9:8 ). The “universals” in this verse are staggering: all grace; always ; all sufficiency; every good work.
This does not mean that God makes every Christian wealthy in material things; but it does mean that the Christian who practices grace giving will always have what he needs when he needs it.
Paul referred here to Isaiah 55:10–11, a passage that uses “seed” and “bread” to refer to both the Word of God and to the literal harvest in the field. There is no such thing as “secular” and “sacred” in the Christian life.
The giving of money is just as spiritual an act as the singing of a hymn or the handing out of a Gospel tract. Money is seed. If we give it according to the principles of grace, it will multiply to the glory of God and meet many needs. If we use it in ways other than God desires, the harvest will be poor.
But 2 Corinthians 9:11 teaches another truth: God enriches us so that we may give even more bountifully. One of the joys of grace giving is the joy of giving more and more.
Everything we have—not just our income—belongs to God, is given to God, and is used by God to accomplish His work. We are enriched in everything because we share everything with Him and with others.
Listen, you can prosper financially, but still be impoverished. If what you have only supports you, it will soon die. But if what you have supports ministry and the Kingdom of God, it will live all the way to eternity.
Grace giving means that we really believe that God is the great giver, and we use our material and spiritual resources accordingly. You simply cannot out give God!
III. Your Giving Will Meet Needs (9:12)
2CO 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 emphasis in 2 Corinthians 9:12 is on the fact that their offering would meet the needs of poor saints in Judea. “For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God” ( 2 Cor. 9:12 ).
The Gentile believers could have given a number of excuses for not giving. “It’s not our fault that they had a famine and are poor!” might have been one of them. Or, “The churches closer to Judea ought to give them help.” Or, “We believe in giving, but we think we should first take care of our own.”
When a Christian starts to think of excuses for not giving, he automatically moves out of the sphere of grace giving. Grace never looks for a reason; it only looks for an opportunity. If there is a need to be met, the grace-controlled Christian will do what he can to meet it.
Many people will give thanksgiving to God because of our sharing in the meeting of their needs. We may not hear that thanksgiving on earth today, but we will hear it in heaven when the church is gathered together.
Our giving ought to provide for necessities, not subsidize luxuries. There are needs to be met and our limited resources must not be squandered.
IV. Your Giving Will Glorify God (9:13)
13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men 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.
Did you see how giving will glorify God in verse 13? First, when we give ourselves to the obedience to the Word God will be glorified. People will actually praise God when they see our obedience to God.
Matthew 5:16 reminds us to let our light so shine, that men will see our good works and praise our Father in heaven.
13The way in which you have proved yourselves by this service will bring honor and praise to God. You believed the message about Christ, and you obeyed it by sharing generously with God’s people and with everyone else. 14Now they are praying for you and want to see you, because God used you to bless them so very much. 15Thank God for his gift that is too wonderful for words! (CEV)
(Illustration…Dr. Bill Bright – 1 Million Dollar Templeton Award)
Not only will God glorified by our obedience, but He will also be glorified in our generosity. We will bring honor and praise to God by our blessing God’s people and everybody else in need.
Let that sit for just a moment…In order to be a disciple I must give myself to Christ. In order to be worshipper I must give my praise to God. In order to fellowship I must give myself to others.
But when I live the life of steward I am giving so that others in God’s kingdom can become what I already am. I become a tool in the hands of God bringing others to Him.
My time for a teen-ager or a new Christian; my money for Bibles, tracts, outreach; my abilities for growth, encouragement, and bearing burdens.
My time for a hungry family, the sick and shut-in, a new member, my money for a new building, a new ministry, a new staff person; my abilities for teaching computers, organizing a game night, singing a song.
My time for volunteering at VBS, folding a bulletin, or sending out cards; my money for a Christian school, a daycare, or a counseling ministry; my abilities for a fitness ministry, a cooking class, a sewing workshop.
My time for prayer, mentoring, small groups; my money for van ministry, education in finances, the word of God to reach other areas; my abilities for dance, human resources, worship team.
When you release it comes back to, good measure, press down, shaken together, and running over. Don’t allow what God has given you stop only at your house, only with your family, only with your heart, your head, your hands.
When I give as a steward I sow seeds so that others may become disciples, so that others may worship, and so that others may fellowship. He gave so I can give. He gives so that I can give. He will give so that my life will that of a giver.
Conclusion
We you practice giving as a way of life, then you are not just giving money, but your time and the use of your abilities to bless others, bless yourself, meet needs, unite the body of Christ, and glorify God.
But before you were a giver, God was and still is the greatest giver. You and I are blessed today because God gave …
He gives us love – John 15:12
He gives us mercy – Lamentations 3:22
He gives us salvation – John 3:16
He gives us His Son – Romans 8:32
He gives us wisdom – James 1:5
He gives us benefits – Psalm 68:19; 103:2; 116:12
He gives us protection – Deuteronomy 33:27
He gives us joy – Psalm 30:5
He gives us peace – John 14:27
He gives us rest – Matthew 11:28
He gives us comfort – 2 Corinthians 1:4
He gives us authority – Matthew 16:19
He gives us strength – Psalm 18:1
He gives us the Holy Spirit – Luke 11:13
He gives us life – John 3:15
He give us grace – Ephesians 2:8
He gives good things – Matthew 7:11
He gives us His presence – John 14:23
He gives us guidance – John 16:13
He gives us power, love, and a sound mind – 2 Timothy 1:7
He gives us every spiritual blessing – Ephesians 1:3
He gave us one Friday, a Savior and a sacrifice on a cross;
He gave us a one Saturday, a borrowed tomb, and a death;
He gave us a one Sunday, an empty grave, left behind grave clothes, and a risen Savior.
He gives so that we can give…He would never ask us to do what he hasn’t already done himself. With all of that giving how can we not reflect the heart of God in our giving to Him by giving to His people?
