The Grace of Giving
2 Cor 8:1-6
We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 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. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own free will, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.
ESV
The Grace of Giving
(2 Cor. 8:1-7)
Intro:
A. You were given a lottery ticket and won a million dollar jackpot, what are the top 3 things you would do with that money? A generous relative gives you $10,000 as a present, what would you do with that money? You find $20 on the ground while walking, what would you do with that money? For many people the answers are different for each question. People are much more willing to share the unearned money when they won a million dollars than when they found $20. Why is that? Could it be that giving is not as deeply a part of our nature as we might profess?
B. Giving is a topic most preachers dislike preaching about. The reason is simple. I am a paid employee of this congregation. A large portion of our church budget is set aside for paying me. I appreciate the kindness given to me by this church financially. So preaching about giving can sound very self-serving.
C. Another reason why preachers dislike preaching about giving is that people who listen dislike the emotional manipulation that is often done to get them to give more to the local congregation. As a society we have become hardened by the emotional pleas used by law enforcement, veterans, children’s charities and such. We see the pictures of people in wheel chairs or of starving children with bodies that have flies all around them, and we are no longer are moved by such images to give.
D. Martin Luther, “There are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, the mind and the purse. Of these three, it may well be that we moderns find the conversion of the purse the most difficult.” Luther went on to say, “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing is worth nothing.”
E. So why talk about giving? Because God talks about giving. Because what we choose to give to (self, God, society) and how much we choose to give speaks about us.
I. The Grace of God
A. Some might say that Paul was manipulating or using guilt to get the Corinthians to do what other congregations were doing. I want to start with two passages. READ 2 Cor. 8:1, 8:9. God is a work in the topic of giving. In fact, it starts with God as the giver of grace to us. Because of the grace of God at work in the churches of Macedonia, because the grace of Jesus we found riches in his poverty, the direction that Paul is going is what will YOU do about receiving that much grace? Will it affect you willingness to give so that God (not you) will be glorified?
B. I am impressed with the ministries of this congregation. But the teaching needs to be that God is at work, and we are simply supplying the needs of others with the gifts God have supplied us. Or as Paul puts it in 2 Cor. 9:10-15. What an incredible ministry collective giving can have.
C. One reason collective giving is important is it takes you and me out of the picture. The focus is not on the individual or the amount that individual gives. It is on the collective church family and how the church behaves as part of God greater family. Do you see the shift from you to God?
II. My Heart
A. The only way it works is to have the right attitude about money. Let’s learn from the churches in Macedonia. Here is how Paul shared their story (READ 2 Cor. 8:1-5). Throughout chapters 8-9 we read how giving is an “act of grace.” Giving is a godly action. Satan is not a giver, at least not of anything you spiritually need. So I need to learn to FIRST give myself to the Lord, then to others. The worldly point of view of “what am I going to get by giving money to this group, activity or social need?” is a mindset I need to change. The grace of giving point of view is “How is God being glorified and how do I glorify Him?”
B. For Paul, collective giving was a teaching that churches needed to understand as well as individuals. It was not manipulation, but seeking to get them to think bigger than themselves. That lesson still needs to be taught.
C. Paul would teach in 2 Cor. 9:7-8 that God wants people who love to give, not are forced to give. For those people God is able to make grace abound in all aspects of ministry.
Conclusion:
A. I ask you look at yourself and decided if you have first given yourself to God? If you have, then ask yourself if you give with joy in your heart? If those two things have not taken place then you are simply doing an action that has little personal spiritual benefit for you. But if you have given yourself to God and have joy in the collective giving then grace has come to you.
B. I need to realize how blessed I am. This poem really helps me keep my perspective (READ Drinking From The Saucer).
C. My prayer is that all of us understand the grace of giving. We have all been given so much by God that sharing is the attribute that often defines our love for others. The greatest gift you can give is yourself to God. Start there. Not just in the waters of baptism when you unite with Christ, but give you to God every day. If we can encourage your walk with the Lord, then come forward as we stand and sing.
Because of Jesus,
Jeffrey Dillinger, minister