Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

“As the offering plates were being passed during worship, a little boy seated with his father whispered loudly: “Don’t pay for me, daddy.

I’m under five.”[1]

And with that, we enter into the last of Paul’s awkward conversations in this letter to the Corinthians.

This morning we take a look at financial giving within the church.

Purpose Statement.

Motivated by Christ’s giving of himself, let us regularly, generously, proportionally, and joyfully give as part of our worship.

Context of the offering.

In , Paul tells us of an interaction he had with the church leadership in Jerusalem (probably corresponding to the events in ).

At that time, Paul and Barnabas agreed with the Jerusalem leadership to remember the poor.

“Only they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.” Paul followed through on this promise and collected money from many of the Gentile churches during his missionary journeys.

These included churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Galatia.

In Paul writes to the Corinthian church and tells them about the giving of the Macedonian church, “for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part” ( ESV).

As well, in Romans, Paul writes the following:

At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints.

26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.

27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them.

For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.

28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you.

( ESV).

In this passage we realize that the churches were pleased to give for the physical needs of the poor saints in Jerusalem because they considered the church in Jerusalem their founding church.

They felt spiritually indebted to them.

The third passage in which this offering for the poor in Jerusalem is mentioned is in our passage for this morning, .

It comes, chronologically before the other two I just mentioned.

Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 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.

3 And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem.

4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.

( ESV).

Therefore, this offering, that provided for the many needy in Jerusalem, also united the Gentiles and Jews in this fledgling new entity – the church.

Paul was evidencing that there really was no distinction between Jew or Greek.

for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

( ESV).

While these few passages involve an offering made by multiple churches for the need of other needy saints, we find within these passages some helpful guidelines or principles that ought to be taken into consideration as one thinks through how to give financially to the church.

Principles of Giving

We are to give motivated by Christ’s example.

We will primarily be looking at the passage in , but let’s start by establishing a foundational truth in this area of giving.

Our giving should always be motivated by our appreciation for Christ’s incarnation and redemptive work.

Paul writes two chapters in 2 Corinthians (chapters 8 and 9) that deal with giving generously.

In chapter 8, verse 9, he writes, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” ( ESV).

Christ was willing to give himself so that we may greatly benefit.

This reality ought to result in two things.

(1) We ought to be motivated to give out of gratitude for Christ’s sacrifice.

(2) We can see his willingness to sacrifice himself for others as a model for us to follow.

In other words, “Christ sacrificed himself for me.

I want to sacrifice myself for others.

Christ gave himself for me.

I want to give myself to others.”

This must be the foundational principle guiding our discussion on giving, otherwise this discussion can easily become a legalistic discussion about how often, how much, where, to whom, etc.

All of our giving should be done out of appreciation for what Christ has done for us.

We are to give regularly.

Now that our foundational principle is established, let’s go back to .

Here we find a few key phrases that offer some direction in how to best give.

“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).

There are a number of potentially really fun rabbit trails we could run down in this verse.

Two of them can be found in the first phrase, “on the first day of every week.”

We could run down “rabbit trail A” and discuss whether or not this is referring to Sunday or not.

We could as well run down “rabbit trail B” and discuss whether or not we should give every week.

Instead of running down “rabbit trail A” let’s just acknowledge it for a moment.

Nearly every version acknowledges that the best translation in this verse is “the first day of the week.”

This would be referring to Sunday.

The problem is that the word for week is sabbatou and is often translated as sabbath but can as well be translated week.

With that said, it appears to always be translated as “first day of the week” when it is accompanied by the number one (or first) preceding it.

For instance, in , the two Mary’s went to see the tomb following Christ’s death.

Matthew writes, “Now after the Sabbath [σαββάτων], toward the dawn of the first day of the week [μίαν σαββάτων], Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb” ( ESV).[2] It seems most likely that Paul is instructing them to set something aside so that they could give it as an offering when they gathered on Sunday for their time of corporate worship.

It is possible that this direction by Paul is a little pragmatic.

After all, they couldn’t get online or give through their phone app at their convenience throughout the week.

But it’s also just as possible that Paul saw this offering as part of their worship and not simply an administrative detail or obligation.

Rabbit trail B would lead us into a discussion on whether or not this offering was to be done each or every Sunday.[3]

While some translations don’t include either of these words, there is enough evidence within the verse[4] to draw a safe conclusion that Paul’s intent was that this offering would occur every Sunday when the church came together.

Simply put, an offering was taken on a regular basis, that basis being each and every Sunday.

The principle of consistency and priority.

"On the first day of the week" not only provides evidence that first-century Christians worshipped on the first day of the week as a celebration of the resurrection of the Lord, it further indicates that giving was a critical aspect of their worship experience.

Our giving should flow from theological convictions that enable us to give as an act of worship.

Consistency requires thought, planning, and preparation that allow us to have a greater sense of worship as we give.[5]

I don’t want to take this point too far, but I would like to leave you with something to consider.

Consider whether there is value in consistently giving each week as part of your worship.

I understand that this might not be as convenient for you, and it may even require wiping the dust from your checkbook – after all who uses checks anymore?

Maybe it would require purposefully setting aside some cash throughout the week for Sunday morning.

But if we see giving as part of our worship, is their value in allowing it to be part of worship each time we come together.

We are all to give generously yet proportionally.

Paul continues in verse two and writes, “each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper” ( ESV).

There are three elements in this particular principle.

First, every individual was to be part of the offering.

This offering was not confined to the rich.

It was not confined to the old and not the young or the men and not the women.

Each individual was given the privilege and the responsibility to participate.

The poor, alongside the rich, were expected to contribute, but that does not mean that everyone gave the same amount or even the same percentage.

The verse tells us that they gave as they “may prosper.”

So secondly, everyone is to give, but they are to give proportionally.

It’s notable that Paul doesn’t allude to the Old Testament manner of tithing 10%.

Instead he tells them to give proportionally.

In essence they are to follow a new principle.

Instead of someone sensing their obligation is fulfilled once they give 10%, Paul calls them to give in proportion to what they have.

This would likely be challenging for many of us.

It would require that we set down a simple math formula and instead rely on the work of the Holy Spirit to lead us as we consider what we possess and what we can give out of that.

We are to give in light of what we have.