Do you know the ad for
the TV licence? It goes something like
this: ‘I love the way you remind me ever year.
I love the way you send me a letter on our anniversary.’ Then it says, ‘You don’t have to love it, but
you do have to pay it. It’s the law.’ It is a bit like your taxes. You don’t have to like paying your taxes, but
you have to pay them.
Now listen to me
carefully! Christian giving is totally
different than that. Christian giving is
not about law, it’s about the heart. You
can give in a way that is of no spiritual benefit. In this morning’s reading the apostle Paul is
teaching the Corinthians about joyful giving.
How can we give in a way that pleases God?
Joyful
giving is an evidence of God’s favour in our lives (1-5)
The Corinthians had been
told that their Christian brothers and sisters in Jerusalem were struggling
with poverty—in part due to famine. They
had agreed to give, and started to give, but their enthusiasm had worn off and
they had stopped giving. Indeed, they
may have stopped giving at a time when they weren’t getting on with the
apostle. Now they have repented of their
hostility towards the apostle, and they need to repent of having held back
their giving.
Paul points them to the
example of the churches in Macedonia—which included those in Philippi and
Thessalonica. Those churches much poorer
than the Corinthians—in fact they were extremely poor and their circumstances
were difficult—but they delighted to give.
They actually gave beyond what was reasonable. And they didn’t just give their money to the
collection for the Christians in Jerusalem, they gave themselves to serve the
apostle and his companions.
The key to the
Macedonians’ giving is the Greek word ‘charis’, which we regularly translate
‘grace’. It is found twice in these
opening verses. ‘… we want you to know
the grace God has given the Macedonian churches’ (1). ‘They urgently pleaded with us for the
privilege [lit. ‘the grace’] of sharing in the service of the saints’ (4).
Do we plead for the
privilege to give? Do we realise that
when we want to give it is an evidence that the Holy Spirit is working in our
heart? Giving ourselves, our
hospitality, our time and our money is not just a way of earning God’s favour,
it is a sign that we have been favoured by God.
We want to ask God to work in us in such a way that we might get joy and
satisfaction in being allowed serve others in this way! Even when that serving is difficult and
costly!
Joyful
giving shows we understand the gospel (6-11)
The Corinthian Christians
excelled in many in many things—in faith, in knowledge, in all earnestness, but
their lack of generosity was leaving them spiritually stunted. How
can we get a generous heart? Our hearts
become generous when we when we contemplate the generous heart of Christ! ‘For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, so that
through his poverty we might become rich’ (9).
Look at what Jesus has
done for us! Think of who He was and is!
He was exalted in heaven. Surrounded by angels. Perfectly enjoying the love of the Father and
the Holy Spirit. He had not felt want or
endured temptation. He did not know what
it was like to thirst or hunger. Then the
creator stepped into His creation. He
was born to a poor carpenter. Was
misunderstood by His own family. He
surrounded Himself with the most imperfect of friends. He was opposed. He went homeless. He was hated.
He was pinned to a Roman cross, where in agony of soul He cried out, ‘my
God, my God why have you forsaken me?’ He
did this in love. He did this for the
joy that was set before Him. He did this
for you!
Think of who we
were! The New Testament uses terms like
lost, enslaved, condemned, hopeless, dead and enemies of God to describe people
without Jesus. That once was us! That’s you if you have not let Him swallow
you up in His love. Jesus became poor
that we can become rich. He has taken
the punishment on Himself that our guilt deserves. He has freed us from slavery and adopted us
into His family. He has brought us out
of prison and to His banqueting table.
He has given us hope, joy and a future.
Through His poverty we have become rich!
If we love Jesus, then we
will want to become like Him. If Jesus
treated us not as our sins deserved but according to His kindness then we will
not demand that people have to earn our kindness. If we are allowing Him shape our hearts then
we will be those who are becoming joyfully generous.
Joyful
giving remembers that every good gift is from above (12-15)
A single mother became a
Christian. She had five children and
took the bus to and from church each week.
She struggled to pay bills. But then
someone gave her a car. Others did house
repairs. Women in the church went to her
town and took her for coffee. They
gladly gave out of their riches.
Christians seek to meet each other’s needs.
‘For if the willingness
is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to
what one does not have’ (12). The gift
of the rich person might be greater in quantity than the gift of the poor, but
the gift of the poor might be greater in God’s eyes. Remember Jesus words of the widow who gave
out of her poverty. ‘Truly I tell you,
this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have
contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all
she had to live on’ (Luke 21:1-4).
‘At the present time your
plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply
what you need. The goal is equality, as
it is written: the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who
gathered little did not have too little’ (14-15). ‘By this we know what love is, that he laid
down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees
his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love
abide in him? Little children, let us
not love in word or talk but in deed and truth’ (1 John 3:16-18).
Like the manna in the
wilderness we must remember that every good and perfect gift is from above
(James 1:17). King David acknowledged ‘…
all things come from you, and of your own we have given to you’ (1 Chronicles
29:14). The ability to make money can be
a gift from God. The opportunity to earn
a living can be a gift from God. The
family from which you inherit is a gift from God. So, we only give out of what has been given
to us!
Conclusion
In one of the first
churches I worked with, a list was published every year of people’s giving. This list had names beside the amount they
gave. I suggested to someone that this
was wrong. It would be much better to
keep our giving secret. I was told that
if we kept the giving anonymous, people would give less. That simply revealed that their hearts were
not in their gifts. It actually
suggested that keeping the church going was more important than honouring
Christ.
God doesn’t need your
gifts. He is well capable of growing His
church and looking after His people without us.
If you don’t yet know Christ, it might be better not to give Him money
to the church. He doesn’t need it, and
you might actually end up thinking He owes you something. If you are a Christian ask Him to work in
your heart in such a way that giving is a source of joy more than an act of
duty.
Remember too that we care
for each other not just with money, but with time and listening, opening our
homes and welcoming each other.
How can you give to God’s
people in need? How can we see giving as
a joyous privilege? Preach the gospel to
yourself. ‘For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he become poor,
so that you by his poverty might become rich’ (2 Corinthians 8:9).
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