The Collection Series

Several years ago, Millard Fuller of Habitat for Humanity addressed the National Press Club on public radio. He recalled a workshop at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with 200 pastors in attendance. The assembled pastors quickly pointed toward greed and selfishness as the reason the church never had enough money to assist others creatively.

Millard then asked this seemingly innocent question: “Is it possible for a person to build a house so large that it's sinful in the eyes of God? Raise your hand if you think so.”

All 200 pastors raised their hands.

"Okay," said Millard, “then can you tell me at exactly what size, the precise square footage, a certain house becomes sinful to occupy?”

Silence from the pastors. You could have heard a pin drop.

Finally, a small, quiet voice spoke up from the back of the room: “When it is bigger than mine” (Frank G. Honeycutt, Preaching to Skeptics and Seekers, www.PreachingToday.com).

There are a lot of funny ideas when it comes to financial stewardship and giving, not the least of which it is sinful to have too much. It’s a tactic some preachers use to guilt people into giving more, but guilt is a poor motivator.

Besides, the Bible uses grace to motivate people, not guilt. In other words, give because God has already blessed you, not because He’ll punish you if you keep too much.

It’s what we see in 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 15 is one of those mountain top passages in the Bible, describing the glorious future of every believer. Then you turn the page to 1 Corinthians 16, and Paul talks about taking up a collection for the poor believers in Jerusalem. It seems disjointed, but heavenly realities always inform earthly matters. In this case, the believer’s future, glorious, resurrection body motivates helping believers who are suffering today.

If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 16, 1 Corinthians 16, where the Bible addresses the mundane issue of giving after addressing the glorious future of every believer.

1 Corinthians 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do (ESV).

There was a famine in Judea (Acts 11:27-30), so Paul was collecting money from the Gentile churches he started to take care of the Jewish believers in Jerusalem (Romans 15:25-27; Galatians 2:10). And evidently, Paul gave all his churches the same instructions for this collection, including the churches in Galatia, which is now Turkey.

They’re prudent instructions not only for this particular collection, but for all collections for any need at any time. Take a look.

1 Corinthians 16:2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come (ESV).

Wow! There’s a lot just in this verse. 1st, they were to set aside something on the first day of every week. That’s Sunday, the Lord’ Day. It’s the day believers began to meet every week for worship, because God raised Jesus from the dead on the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). God also sent His Holy Spirit at Pentecost on the first day of the week (Leviticus 23:15-16; Acts 2:1-4). As a result, believers in the First Century changed their day of worship from Saturday to Sunday, the last day of the week to the first day of the week.

So here, giving becomes a part of their regular, corporate worship every week. Now, this is as it should be, because worship is not real worship unless it costs you something. So, when you give…

GIVE AS AN ACT OF WORSHIP TO GOD.

Offer your money in response to all that God has done for you. Donate your offerings out of gratitude to a gracious God.

Gordon MacDonald talks about the time he and his wife, Gail, made a missions trip to West Africa. On the first Sunday of their visit, they joined a large crowd of desperately poor Christians for worship. As they neared the church, he noticed that almost every person was carrying something. Some hoisted cages of noisy chickens, others carried baskets of yams, and still others toted bags of eggs or bowls of cassava paste.

“Why are they bringing all that stuff?” Gordon asked one of their hosts.

“Watch!” she said.

Almost every person in that African congregation brought something: a chicken, a basket of yams, a bowl of cassava paste. Then, soon after the worship began, everyone stood and poured into the aisles, singing, clapping, even shouting. The people began moving forward, each in turn bringing whatever he or she had brought to a space in the front.