“The church that God uses…loves to give”
2 Corinthians 8:1-15
I fail or succeed in my stewardship of life in proportion to how convinced I am that my life belongs to God.
-Pearl Bartel
-Ever wish you were more concerned about the things of God? Put your money there– the interest will naturally follow.
-M. P. Horban
***Ask almost any pastor what they DON’T want to preach about and MONEY is at the top of their list. We are concerned about giving people (visitors especially) the impression that the church exists to “get people’s money”.
***And let’s be honest...a LOT of the failures and excesses that the world has seen in the church has had to do with MONEY and GREED...churches building elaborate, multi-million dollar facilities when our brothers and sisters in Christ in many parts of the world live in cardboard and tin “shacks” and don’t have enough food or medicine to be healthy.
No wonder they are skeptical...BUT does that make what GOD says about giving to His church and to US as Christians “null and void”??? Of course not!
Getting a handle on GIVING and learning to be GOOD STEWARDS of all our resources (our TIME, our TALENTS and our TREASURES) is a HUGE part of what spiritual maturity for the Christian is all about.
Having wrong attitudes about money is MESSING UP our life-priorities.
Having wrong attitudes about money is RUINING our marriages.
Having wrong attitudes about money is making our CHILDREN greedy and materialistic.
Having wrong attitudes about money is hindering the FULFILLMENT of the church’s mission.
Having wrong attitudes about money is robbing us of one of the great JOYS of our Christian life.
(Did you notice I said “JOYS”?? I really mean that! You will know that you have the stewardship of your finances figured out when giving is a joyful experience...and you don’t give because…
-You SHOULD
-Or you’re AFRAID of what someone would think of you if you didn’t
-Or because you want to look GOOD in someone’s eyes
-Or because giving gives you some “control” in the church
BUT YOU GIVE BECAUSE IT IS LIBERATING and FAITH-BUILDING and FUN (I’m not kidding!)
Go to the Text...2 Corinthians 8
The BACKGROUND for 2 Corinthians 8 is 1 Corinthians 16…
Paul has been telling the churches that he wants to take an offering for the poor and needy to the church in Jerusalem. The churches in Galatia want to participate and it seems that the church in Corinth also promised to participate in this offering. Their response must have been enthusiastic and their promised offering a blessing because Paul went and used the promise of the Corinth church to encourage the churches in Macedonia.
But now in 2 Corinthians 8...the Macedonian church has given their gift, and the church in Corinth has not fulfilled its “Faith Promise”…
1.) God doesn’t NEED your money, He wants your LIFE. (v. 1-5)
God isn’t “broke”. He isn’t poor. And He isn’t playing games with you...seeing if you will “give enough” to prove your spiritual sincerity.
WE NEED A REALITY CHECK...because we KNOW that the good, proper, evangelical thing to say is “every good thing in my life is a GIFT from God” and it’s really HIS, not MINE...but we won’t ADMIT to each other how hard it is to really LIVE that way. It takes COPIUS amounts of GRACE to live this out...the Macedonian believers HAD THIS GRACE…
The example of the believers in Macedonia begins with their receiving GOD’S GRACE: (verse 1: “...we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.”) 2 specific evidences of God’s grace are given...
-The grace of JOY in the face of trials.
-The grace of GENEROSITY in the face of poverty.
(v. 2-4 “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.”
In his commentary on 2 Corinthians, Philip Hughes wrote about this so well, so I share his thoughts (paraphrasing slightly): The example of the Macedonians is a practical proof that true generosity is not the exclusive territory of those who enjoy financial prosperity. The most genuine generosity is often displayed by those who have the least to give. Christian giving is not measured in terms of QUANTITY but SACRIFICE. It was in that way that Jesus could say that the widow who threw her two copper coins into the temple treasury gave more than all the others. In the case of the Macedonian Christians, they trials and poverty had uncovered and refined the precious metal of joy and generosity.
***Illustration: Chad and I went on a short term mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico and one of the days on the work site the trip leader said, “We are going to ask you to eat a minimal lunch...a woman that we built a home (12 foot by 16 foot shed actually) for last year asked if she could bring tamales to us today and we are not sure when she will arrive. Later that afternoon, a woman walked up to the church with a beautiful smile on her face and had a basket of corn tamales that we enjoyed. Later, the leader told us that she had spent 4 hours riding the buses and then walked over 2 miles to bring these to us as a “love gift” for the work of a previous team and a home that changed her life.
FIRST things FIRST: They gave themselves!
Proper stewardship ALWAYS begins with God getting YOU and as you learn to love Him with all your HEART and SOUL and MIND and STRENGTH...you find that putting your finances where your heart is comes quite naturally. (Jesus said...“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21)
2.) Giving is a part of our spiritual MATURITY. (v. 6-9)
“So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But just as you excel in
everything– in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us– see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
***The church in Corinth was a PROUD church...in many ways they believed they had the best of everything: “You believe you have incredible FAITH, and the ability to clearly ARTICULATE the Gospel. You have deep KNOWLEDGE of God and believe you are totally SINCERE and staunch SUPPORTERS of our ministry...but you have not tested the waters of GIVING GRACE like you need to! They believed they were MATURE but there is something very important missing from their RESUME: generosity!
It’s a commitment we need to FOLLOW THROUGH on.
“You made a beginning...now bring to completion this act of grace.”
The beginning of this “faith promise” was that THEY felt God leading them to give and they had told Paul they would. Paul wants to make it very clear...this is not something he COMMANDED them to do THEN and he is not COMMANDING it now, but sees it as important that they follow through.
***I’m convinced that YOU don’t need a pastor to “tell you” what to give...to set a goal or guideline. What we all need is to be REMINDED of the value of giving, and then URGED to listen to and obey the Lord’s leading. He CAN and HAS and WILL speak to you about your stewardship...my job is to encourage you to “follow through”.
It demonstrates our SINCERITY. We “say” a lot of things, but the proof is in what we DO...not just what we SAY.
It shows we understand the SELF-GIVING example of Jesus.
Paul doesn’t go to a personal example of sacrificial giving...doesn’t point to HIMSELF or another CHURCH, he goes right to the source of “giving grace” and reminds them that the example of being willing to sacrifice for the sake of others came from JESUS himself.
What did Jesus HAVE? Everything!
What did Jesus NEED? Nothing!
What did Jesus GIVE UP? He gave it all...became a man (lowly)...walked around without a home or even a bed (humility) and ultimately laid down His own life so that WE could be forgiven of our sins and inherit HEAVEN as our home.
3.) Giving is PRACTICAL (not mechanical). (v. 10-12)
“And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first, not only to give, but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.”
It is OBEDIENCE to God-given desires.
I had mentioned this earlier...they had felt led to give. They were the first ones to express the desire to participate in this offering. Paul’s practical advice is simply: Make sure you DO what you believed God wanted you to do.
-Giving is not about “formulas”, although I think a standard like a 10% tithe can be very helpful in deciding where to start.
-Giving is not a matter of putting “something” in every time an offering plate or basket goes by.
-It is LEARNING and LISTENING and then OBEYING. It is between you and God!!!
It focuses on what you HAVE, not what you LACK.
Verse 12 is POWERFUL and INSIGHTFUL...don’t run past it:
“For if the willingness is there (what willingness??? The willingness to ACCEPT from God the grace of giving!!!), the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.”
***Listen to this: Every time you give what God tells you to give...whether it’s TEN THOUSAND dollars, or 25 CENTS...that is an ACCEPTABLE GIFT.
***It is apparent from the text, that one of the “explanations” coming from the church in Corinth about WHY they hadn’t given their gift yet, is because they weren’t able to give a gift as “SIGNIFICANT” as they wanted to.
Friends...that’s a complete misunderstanding of GRACE to begin with. Grace is about what God has done for you. And the “grace of giving” begins by seeing what God has already provided...not what you wish you had but don’t.
What God will REQUIRE of you, He will first GIVE to you.
4.) Giving acknowledges God’s FAITHFULNESS. (v. 13-15)
“Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time, your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn, their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: “He that gathered much did not have too much, and he that gathered little did not have too little.”
That He has made us a part of a connected BODY.
God’s faithfulness is demonstrated in a very practical way...that he puts into relationships with other believers and other churches, and that there is mutual concern (or should be mutual concern) for what each other is going through. The New Testament is full of “one another” passages that show us HOW and WHY we need each other.
He blesses through our STEWARDSHIP.
When we give, there is a spiritual blessing that “RIPPLES” through the whole body of Christ.
-Those who have Bibles give...and those who need translators get.
-Those with preachers give...and those who need missionaries get.
-Those with buildings give...and those without churches get.
-Those with abundance of food give...and the hungry are fed.
Does God’s economy work beautifully!! It really does...that’s why NO governmental agency can do things as powerfully or efficiently as the Body of Christ can...when it is being “the church that God uses…”
Two tests of our stewardship: CHECKBOOK
CALENDAR
