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In a minute we are going to read from 2 Corinthians 8. By way of background, the church in Jerusalem and Judea was suffering from a famine. Paul appealed to other churches, in Europe and Asia, to contribute to an offering to alleviate the suffering of their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem.
In this passage he is encouraging the Corinthian church, who, a year earlier, had offered to give, to actually do it and to be generous. He refers to the example of the churches in Macedonia.
READ 2 Cor 8:1-15
That’s a slightly colloquial way of saying it but I am sure you will see what I mean.
2 Cor 8:7 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.
Paul, here is very positive about the faith of the Corinthians. He says they excel. They are top-notch Christians. They excel in all sorts of areas – their trust in God, the way they speak (which may include that they are out there talking about Jesus), their understanding, their knowledge of God, their sincerity, their genuine love for Paul and his companions. Their relationship with God, their relationships with each other, their dedication are exemplary.
And then Paul says, “Alongside of all of that, make sure that you also excel in the grace of giving.” In other words, “Make sure your discipleship includes your money. And make sure that, on your report card, against “giving” it says “Excellent! Excellent giver”.
Some people would like to keep all questions about their money completely separate from their expression of Christianity. They are the people who refuse to come back to church if the pastor mentions money. But, in fact, our use of our resources is part of our discipleship and part of our maturity – part of growing up as Christians.
In that verse Paul says, “excel in this grace of giving”. Also, in v.1 he said,
1 Cor 8:1 Now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.
A “grace” is a gift from God. The Macedonians received the gift of being generous and Paul wants the Corinthians to also receive the gift of being generous. Generosity is a gift from God.
By nature we look after ourselves first. That is an incredibly powerful drive. By nature we look after ourselves first. We want to be secure and giving away doesn’t come so easily to us.
Especially in the West, materialism has a hold on us. We don’t recognise it but materialism is a demonic force. We want things. Things give us pleasure and security. It is part of our humanity but our culture feeds it and it becomes a major force in our lives. Materialism is one of the biggest blockages to our spiritual maturity.
You will remember that when Jesus told the parable of the sower he talked about seeds that fell among thorns. They grew but they were then choked by the thorns and failed to bear any grain. Jesus explained that those thorns were “the worried of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things”. Some people’s spiritual growth is stopped dead by “the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things”. They produce nothing as Christians because they are prisoners to things.
Jesus talked more about money than He did any other topic. Why would that be? Because money is a powerful bondage. Some people will chose money ahead of Jesus. The rich young ruler did. He came asking, “What must I do to be saved?” but when he was told to sell his possessions and give to the poor, he couldn’t do it. The grip of money was too strong. Paul wrote to Timothy
1 Tim 6:10 Some people, eager for money, have wondered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Jesus said we cannot serve both God and money. Money is massively attractive to us – sometimes more attractive than God. It will take us prisoner.
So, how can we be generous? Only by the grace of God. This is a God-thing. Something needs to happen to break that power of money over us. Something needs to happen to set us free to be generous.
The Macedonian Christians were set free by the grace of God and then, for them, giving was a privilege. Look at v.4: they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. That language is almost incomprehensible. Another translation says, “They begged us and pleaded for the privilege of having a part in helping God’s people in Judea”.
Do you ever hide and not answer the door when you see someone collecting for a charity? For the Macedonians, giving to help God’s people was a privilege and they wanted to be part of it. Giving was a privilege. Giving was a joy. Being free is a joy – free to give. It’s a God-thing.
1 Cor 8:9 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, though his poverty might become rich.
Jesus is our example. If we want to know if generosity is a God-thing, then simply remember the generosity of God. For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son. How generous was that? Go and see the film, The Passion of the Christ”. See the generosity of God. Jesus left the glittering splendour of heaven and the place of honour and the worship that He received there, to be born to a peasant couple and to have nowhere to lay His head and to be nailed to a Cross, outside the city walls – rejected.
Paul says to the Corinthians, “Remember that! You are rich. You have God as your Father; you are forgiven; you can look forward to heaven, because of that." As the song says, “Freely, freely, you have received. Freely, freely, give.”
Look in v.2 at the Macedonians situation. They were experiencing severe trials and extreme poverty but also overflowing joy. I think this was the joy of their salvation, and that welled up in rich generosity. Their natural circumstances were not good and suggested they were not in a position to give, but they had an overflowing joy and that led them to give. Are we grateful enough to give?
The need Paul saw and the Macedonians saw was the effects of the famine in Jerusalem. Brothers and sisters were suffering. Compassion will lead to giving because people need our help.
To what extent is a church building a need? It is easy to say, “Why put money into a building when there are so many needs?”
There are lots of needs. We wouldn’t, for a minute, say that we shouldn’t respond to those needs but there is also a need in this community: people living and dying without knowing Jesus. We have a big vision of a church that is in mission in this community – where more and more people want to worship God; where people feel that they are part of a family; where people are growing in their faith and putting that faith into practice; where people go out into the community and meet practical needs and where people move out into the community telling others about Jesus. We’ve looked at 1000 options, including using public buildings and we have come back to the conclusion that the church needs a base from which to work, and what we have now simply isn’t adequate. I can’t get excited about church buildings but I can get excited about the mission possibilities that the building facilitates.
If we were worried only about ourselves, we would save ourselves the effort and the money, because we fit in now. We’re OK. But what about those who aren’t here? The effort and the money are an investment in the people who do not yet know Jesus and are not yet part of our family.
This is a chance to say, “More important than my holiday; more important than a new car; more important than my security, comes mission to the lost people of Gore. Seeing people, in Gore, living and dying without Jesus, I want to give.”
In v.8 Paul says “I am not commanding you.” Giving to special projects, like famine relief or like a new church building, is your choice.
Likewise, we have no rules about giving. We are not asking for a certain amount or a certain percentage or a certain anything. All we are asking is if you will spend the next 3½ weeks talking to God about it and then respond to Him. Rather than say, “What can I afford”, we are asking you to pray, “Lord, what do you want me to give to this project?”
There are lots of different options. You don’t have to give at all. No one is commanding you. Or you might want to give some to the building and increase your giving for the ongoing ministry of the church. Or God might lead you to give to some other cause. Or He might call you to make a significant sacrifice so as to give to this project. Or… who knows? We are just saying, “Please ask God, willing to respond to whatever he says.”
As Paul says, “There are no rules, but our giving is a test of our love."
It’s your decision, but please don’t make your decision now. Please don’t assume you know what God will say. Please spend time talking to Him about it. He might say something different.
Some people will immediately say, “But I don’t have this and I don’t have that.” That is poverty thinking. God is not interested in what we don’t have. He says, “Think about what you do have.”
How much would we give if we thought about what we do have?
This principle also means that God doesn’t expect the same from each person. Some have very little and may be able to give only very little. That’s fine. Some have a lot, and God says, “Give according to what you have.”
What makes the gift acceptable is the willingness to give. A person with very little might be much more willing to give than the person with a lot, and so the first person’s gift will be much more acceptable to God even though the gift itself might be smaller. When Jesus saw a poor widow put two small copper coins in the temple treasury, He said,
Luke 21:3-4 I tell you the truth. This poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on
The much smaller gift was actually much bigger.
The Macedonian Christians had been experiencing “extreme poverty” yet gave generously. They didn’t talk about what they didn’t have and why they couldn’t give. They thought about what they did have and gave as much as they were able. Indeed, they gave more than they were able.
How could they give more than they were able to give? That’s impossible isn’t it? You now, sometimes it’s possible to do the impossible? I think that means they saw miracles. They gave sacrificially – more than they were able to give, and God enabled them to do the impossible.
God might challenge us to give more than we believe we can give. We might say, “I can’t do it. That is impossible. That is more than I am able to give.” And God might say, “Do it anyway and just watch what I do.”
Do you want to experience a miracle? Is it possible that God might challenge you beyond what you believe is possible but He says, “Do it anyway and just watch what I do.” I am not saying, “Go berserk and test God.” I am saying, “If God says do it, even though you believe it is impossible, will you do it?”
In v.5, Paul says that the Macedonian Christians gave themselves first to the Lord and then to him “in keeping with God’s will”.
God is not so much interested in your money as He is in your heart. It is His will that we first respond to His generosity to us, in giving His Son, by giving ourselves to Him. We owe Him our lives so let’s give Him our lives – say that we will live for Him; we will do what He wants; we will make His Kingdom our top priority; we will dedicate all that we own. That is the first step. If we have done that, then what we do with our money is just one expression of that dedication of ourselves to Him.
For some of us, talking about our possession will be very challenging. Over the next few weeks, probably all of us are going to be challenged. Will we let God lead us when it comes to our possessions?
We can expect to see miracles. As we take steps to break the spiritual bondage of possessions, we will see miracles happen. Miracles in our own lives. Miracles in our own attitudes. A new freedom. A new joy in giving. We will see God providing in miraculous ways. If we agree to give more than we think is possible we will see God provide to make it possible. Some people may receive a new job or some sort of windfall. Some people may discover ways they can prevent wastage and the saved money is available to give. We can expect to see miracles.
We can expect to see growth. As we talk to God about our giving; as we hear His voice; when we agree to do what He says, we’ll see growth. This whole topic will challenge you and stretch you spiritually. If you don’t want to grow spiritually, I think I’d stay away for the next few weeks.
I’m far more interested in your growth than I am in your money, but I know that the issue of money is a critical one and facing it will catalyse growth.
We can expect opposition and all sorts of hassles. Because there is the potential for something very good to come out of this, Satan will attack, and attack and attack. People may get sick. People may have accidents. Suddenly and inexplicably, relationships may be tested. You might hear a voice in your head justifying why you don’t have to give. Be warned. Be ready to respond boldly. Refuse to be intimidated. Do all that you can to protect relationships and unity in the church because it will come under attack. Recognise the voice of the enemy and refuse to listen.
We can expect joy. This will end in celebration. Celebration of what God has done through His people, weak and feeble though we are. Celebration of what God has done in our lives.
In the first instance, we are on about a building extension. But really, what are we on about? We are on about reaching more people for Jesus and we are on about our own growth.