Gift of Generosity (2)
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· 5 viewsGenerosity is both a gift to others and to yourself. Christians demonstrate the love of Christ through generosity and also support the ongoing ministry.
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Nature’s Lesson
Nature’s Lesson
It is Springtime so many of us begin to think about planting. I remember that my mother used to get planting trays and little bags of Burpee seeds. Where I grew up, snow was likely still on the ground, but we could get a jump on planting if we managed to get those seeds to sprout and be ready for planting when the ground was warm enough.
Did you know that there are an average of 800 kernels on an ear of corn? That is 800 to 1. Of course, the oak trees on my property produce thousands of acorns each year from each tree. The wheat plant will have 5 heads of wheat with 22 seeds each. That is 110 seeds or potential new plants. It is just one generation away from having 12,100 seeds produced from one plant.
The principle of sowing and reaping is a powerful reality, and we see examples of it all around us. It is also one of the powerful truths that the Bible teaches us about life and the power of generosity.
Sowing and Reaping
Sowing and Reaping
As the NT church grew, the apostles knew that they needed to create a culture of giving. The network of churches helped one another support the ministry and support other churches in areas of famine and crisis. With a culture of generosity in mind, Paul taught…
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
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.
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.
As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.”
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.
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.
This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.
Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others 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.
And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
This passage is loaded with powerful stuff! I’ve heard it said that someone shouldn’t give if they can’t give cheerfully (vs 7). The passage says that God loves a cheerful giver which is what we should be. But he also makes an intellectual argument that points out the ability of God to bless us. He expresses the practical value of giving as well as the reflection that giving has on the good news of Christianity.
God is Generous
God is Generous
Generosity is Inspired by Grace
Generosity is Inspired by Grace
The final exclamation point to our passage is the inspiration for generosity…
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
John Newton’s response to God’s indescribable grace was the writing of a poem titled “Amazing Grace”. It has become the most popular Christian hymn of all time. Amazing Grace tells the story of Newton’s personal conversion and in the 6 verses he recognizes some great things about grace. First of all, grace saved him. Grace taught him to fear God but not worry about other fears. Grace has safely guided him. Grace has promised good to him. Grace promises Heaven. And, finally, Grace offers eternity with Jesus! We can say the same, and it is this that inspires our surrender, our worship, our commitment, and our sacrifices (which are truly meaningless in the light of grace).
God’s grace reproduces his graciousness within us. It seems natural to Paul that Christians should cheerfully give to support the church, missions, and special needs.
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.
As Christians we are inspired by the grace of God. We have been given grace. God has some amazing promises for those who are generous but we have to be sure that our motivation is not ‘giving to get’. Warren Buffet may be a great investor but he doesn’t understand his Bible.
Warren Buffet, the world’s second-richest man, announced in June 2006 that he would donate 85 percent of his $44 billion fortune to five charitable foundations.
Commenting on this extreme level of generosity, Buffet said: “There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this is a great way.”—Associated Press, “How Do You Spend $1.5 Billion a Year?” CBSNews.com(June 27, 2006)[1]
Paul Barnett asks some powerful questions.
“What are my motives for donating money for Christian purposes? Am I seeking to relieve my guilt? Is it a ‘pay-off’ to avoid some avenues of Christian service which I am unwilling to fulfil? Is it to be thought super-spiritual by those who notice how much I contribute? Various faulty motives may inspire us to give generously, but only a real appreciation of God’s grace to us can prompt us to give ‘cheerfully’.”[2]
I trust that each one of us has realized, like John Newton, that we were completely lost without Jesus. As we approach Easter, we are reminded of how God’s grace touches ever part of our lives and holds eternity for us. Generosity is inspired by God’s grace.
Giving is Sowing
Giving is Sowing
I’m reminded of a story about a man wandering in a desert:
He conserves his water careful until it is all gone and then he begins to get thirsty. That thirst gets deeper and deeper until he sees a pump and runs to it. He lifts the handle and pulls it down but all he hears is the sound of metal on metal. He starts to panic. Then he sees a can at the bottom of the pump and in the tin can is a message. “Dear traveler, do not despair there is enough water here, just follow the instructions. Lift the handle of the pump, bring it down and when you hear metal on metal discouraging you here’s what you do. Under the pump in front of you there is buried under the sand a bottle of water. Do not despair. Pick up the bottle of water pour it into the cylinder and start priming the pump. The moisture will get the system to work. A rush of water will start gushing out of the pump. You can drink all the water you want, fill all your bottles but do not forget to fill up the bottle again and leave it for the next passerby. Warning: you’re going to be tempted, when you see this one bottle of water, to drink it. But you’ll be so thirsty again and so will everyone else who goes by. Empty it out as instructed and you will have all the water you want and so will everybody else going by”….
What a powerful example of the principle of sowing and reaping. Remember the ear of corn? God is a God of multiplication, not simple addition. The Bible is filled with promises like the one in the tin can.
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.
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.
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.
Let me make a statement about the practice of tithing. Tithing is giving 1/10 of your income to the Lord. We see the principle all the way back to the family of Adam and Eve. Abraham tithed to the priest Melchizedek. Some mistakenly say that the tithe stopped at the NT, but I believe it is still the plan of God.
1. First, it was practiced before the time of Moses and the laws about sacrifice.
1. First, it was practiced before the time of Moses and the laws about sacrifice.
2. Second, Jesus confirms it in Matthew 23:23
2. Second, Jesus confirms it in Matthew 23:23
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
This is a negative statement, but if we make it a positive statement it would say, “You should show justice, mercy, and faithfulness in addition to your tithes of spices…”
3. Tithing
3. Tithing
a. Reminds us of God’s ownership
a. Reminds us of God’s ownership
b. Is praise and worship
b. Is praise and worship
c. Is spiritual warfare
c. Is spiritual warfare
Many household budgets are not prepared to tithe but I encourage you to begin somewhere. Give in faith. C.S. Lewis remarked:
If our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., [is equal to] those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us … they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.
Giving is an act that demonstrates our hearts – and it responds to the promise of God.
The Produce of Sowing
The Produce of Sowing
A Healthy Harvest
A Healthy Harvest
In the last chapter of Job, God gave the faithful sufferer twice the prosperity he enjoyed before the onset of his troubles. In the New Testament, however, this enrichment is reinterpreted as spiritual fruitfulness45and caring support in the family of Christians. What Paul promises to the generous giver is not wealth-in-return but all that you need and also sufficient for every good work (verse 8).[3]
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Secondly, their giving mediated through Paul will result in thanksgiving to God(verse 11). As the hungry saints receive food, they will raise their hearts and voices in many expressions of thanks to God (verse 12). Through the givers and through the organizer many will praise God (verse 13). When we opt out of giving, we opt out of the privilege of meeting human needs and also deny ourselves the honor of promoting God’s glory.[4]
Fellowship
Fellowship
Thirdly, such practical kindness will establish a bond of affection and prayer between giver and receiver. Though separated by distance and culture, they now enjoy a fellowship whose visible expression is the money given and received (verse 14). The receivers perceive that in the graciousness of the giver may be discerned the outworking of the grace of God in them (verse 14). Both giver and receiver will know that God’s grace, embodied in Christ, has started a chain reaction of generosity, thanksgiving and fellowship. Hence Paul thanks … God for his indescribable gift (verse 15), Jesus Christ his Son, which has begun it all.[5]
You Reflect God’s Generosity
You Reflect God’s Generosity
Today we go to the store or farmer’s market to get our grains and fruits. But during the days of the Bible, most people were involved in sowing and reaping. They saw it happening all around them. People also saw the results of their use of the seeds.
Everyone would have known of a foolish neighbor who had used too much of his grain instead of saving it as seed for his fields. …Keeping more seeds in storage might appear to be wise, a way to ensure against future disasters. But the farmer who scattered his seed meagerly inevitably would have a small harvest. A farmer who refused to risk his grain on the next year’s harvest would lose.[6]
One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.
A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
People curse the one who hoards grain, but they pray God’s blessing on the one who is willing to sell.
Americans are a generous people. According to a 2006 study, the vast majority of Americans make some contribution to the Red Cross, Salvation Army, American Cancer Society, local church, or other charitable organization every year. More Americans contribute to charities than bother to vote. U.S. donations rose from $1.7 billion in 1921 to more than $200 billion a year in 2006. There has been an 88 percent increase in the last decade alone.[7]
Sadly, church giving is not seeing the same increase. It’s alarming that Christians now give less per capita than during the Great Depression. When we finally look at those in church, at best 25% of the congregation give. That’s at best. If you have that level of participation, you’re not in the norm, according to other research, which says only about 3-5% actually tithe in most cases. And, it’s not the wealthy who always tithe. The statistics suggest that if you make less than $20k, you’re eight times more likely to give than someone who makes more than $75k.[8]
Fortunately, those numbers don’t reflect Grace Chapel but we live in a culture that doesn’t understand the principle of sowing and reaping and we need to teach it so they can enjoy the powerful benefits that are promised.
Generosity Gives Gifts Back to the Giver!
Generosity Gives Gifts Back to the Giver!
The title of my message today had a double meaning. The obvious one is that the message was about generosity. The 2ndmeaning was that generosity offers us a gift. Those who are generous have learned that a harvest returns to you when you plant seed abundantly.
The biggest obstacle that people have to overcome in order to give is worry. What if I will not have enough money next year for my retirement? What if some emergency comes up? What if I lose my job? These verses reassure the Corinthians that God is able to meet alltheir needs. He is the Almighty. He owns all of the world; moreover, he blesses those who give back to him.
Remember that generosity is not giving to get. Generosity is a response to the grace of God – but because we have a good Heavenly Father, He wants to shower spiritual, physical, and financial blessings on His children.
The purpose of God’s overwhelming blessing is always to equip his people to do every good work. This text doesn’t imply that Christian giving is a contract with God, where the one who gives gets. Instead, it says that God will provide whatever a Christian needs to do good. Thus, in the end, a Christian’s good works will bring praise and glory to God.[9]
[1]Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elshof, 1001 Illustrations That Connect (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008), 98.
[2] Paul Barnett, The Message of 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 152–153.
[3] Paul Barnett, The Message of 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 154.
[4] Paul Barnett, The Message of 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 154.
[5] Paul Barnett, The Message of 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 155.
[6]Bruce B. Barton and Grant R. Osborne, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1999), 404.
[7]Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elshof, 1001 Illustrations That Connect (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008), 97–98.
[8] https://www.sharefaith.com/blog/2015/12/facts-christians-tithing/
[9]Bruce B. Barton and Grant R. Osborne, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1999), 406.