Morning Service 22 February 2015 Rev Michael Anderson The Grace of Giving Intro: Currently I am trying my best to visit as many of you as possible in your own homes. If I haven t got round to you yet please be patient with me- Fisherwick is one of those churches which is a bit like painting the famous Fourth Bridge- you start at one end and by the time you finish you have to start all over again. I m really enjoying getting to know you all and as I do that, one of the things that has really encouraged me is that so many of you have told me that the reason you like this church is because many people you have met here have been so kind to you especially in the care and support they have shown you at times of grief or crisis or need. That s one reason I am really proud to be the minister of this church. I want to encourage you that God is working in your lives. He is forming the Christian attitudes of love and care in us to such an extent that it is making a real difference in the lives of many people. But this morning, I also want to encourage us to pray for God s help to excel in another Christian attitude that goes hand in hand with love and care. That is the grace of generosity. In the letter of Second Corinthians, St. Paul encourages the Christian congregation in Corinth to develop this attitude in their lives. As we look at this passage together this morning, it is my prayer that God will speak to us and will teach us how and why we should strive to develop the Christian grace of giving in our lives. Let me begin by setting the scene for this particular section of Paul s letter. It seems that a year before writing this letter that during his missionary travels Paul had discovered that the church in Jerusalem was under severe pressure. As a result of persecution and famine the Christians in Jerusalem were facing extreme poverty. Out of Christian compassion, Paul wanted to do what he could to help. So he began coordinating a collection from other churches. 1
Sensibly he started with some of the more wealthy churches. This included the church in Corinth. Paul wrote to the church there explaining the situation in Jerusalem and asked them to set up a weekly collection. He promised that sometime later he would come and give letters of recommendation to a few of the Corinthian congregation who would then carry their gift safely to the church in Jerusalem. That s why in Chapter 16 of the First letter to the Corinthians Paul writes, Now about the collection of God s people. Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. It seems that initially the Corinthian church had responded positively to Paul s Jerusalem Appeal by making an early donation and by promising to give more in future. But 11 months later, when it s coming close to the time for Paul to visit Corinth and finalise the distribution of the collection, it appears that the Corinthians fund- raising is flagging. That s why Paul writes in 2 Cor 8: 10, Here is my advice about what is best in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. As well as reminding them of their earlier promise, Paul also tries to motivate the wealthy congregation in Corinth to give generously by telling them of the generosity of the much poorer Macedonian churches in areas of Northern Greece like Philippi and Thessalonica. Church history records that many Christians in these areas were fined, made redundant or had property dispossessed because of their faith. Despite this persecution and their resultant poverty, the Christians in these Macedonian churches had made a joyful and sacrificial response to Paul s Jerusalem Appeal. It seems that because they knew what it was like to suffer, their hearts were stirred to help their Jerusalem brothers and sisters even though they could barely afford to do so. Paul uses this example of the sacrificial giving of the Macedonian church to 2
motivate the Corinthian church to fulfil what they had pledged to give to the Jerusalem Fund. That s why, in his letter to the Corinthians he writes, Brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and extreme poverty has welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God s will. In a nutshell, what Paul is saying here to the wealthy church in Corinth is, Come on now. You promised to give generously over the course of a year to the Jerusalem Appeal Fund. You started well, but you re letting things slip! Take a leaf out of your brothers and sisters up North! They can hardly afford to put bread on their tables yet they have given beyond their means to the fund. If God has motivated them to be so generous, then surely you can meet your target! You know there are many lessons here for us in the unfolding story described in this small section of Paul s letter. Let me leave you with just four this morning. 1 Christian generosity is motivated by the grace of God in our lives: The first lesson in this passage, is that generous giving is motivated by the grace of God in our lives. You see, ultimately Paul didn t want the Corinthians to be motivated by the fear of being outdone by another congregation. He didn t want them just to give because they felt they have to. Rather, Paul wants their giving to be the natural response of a loving heart which truly understands and appreciates the goodness of God. And so he writes, I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 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 through His poverty may become rich. 3
In a nutshell what Paul is saying to the Corinthians is, Think about all that God has given you! Even though Jesus is the King of Heaven, even though all the riches of heaven and earth have been His before time began, He decided to give that all up. He did that so that He could take on your humanity completely. He did that ultimately so that He could go to the cross and die for your sins. That way God could forgive you and you could be brought back into a loving and intimate relationship with Him- a relationship that will last forever. If God has been this generous to you, how can you not put your hand in your pocket for your poor brothers and sisters in Jerusalem?! You know there is a really important lesson here for all of us. That lesson is simply this- If we want to become people who are more and more generous then we need to spend more time thinking about the cross! That s where we see God s love and generosity most clearly displayed! That s where our hearts will be warmed and melted and our hands opened to share with the needs of others. As you prayerfully consider our Grace of Giving Initiative and pledging to God s work in Fisherwick this year, let me encourage you to take time every day over the next 2 weeks to pray to God and to think about the Lord Jesus. I honestly believe that if we gaze at our Saviour long enough, then God will open our hearts and fill them with a Spirit of true Christian generosity. 2 Christian generosity is sacrificial, enthusiastic and truly spiritual: The second lesson I want to share with you this morning from this passage, is that Christian generosity is sacrificial, enthusiastic and truly spiritual. I don t know if you ve ever heard the story about the conversation between a pig and a cow in the local supermarket. Each was trying to prove that their breed was the most generous. The cow pointed to all the milk on the shelves and said, Look at all the milk we provide every day for people. There s no way you pigs can beat that! With a twinkle in his eye and admittedly a hint of sadness, the pig pointed to a shelf full of bacon. Take a look at that he replied. Your milk only represents a contribution. What I give equates to a real sacrifice! In setting before the Corinthians the example of the Macedonian Christians and the example of Jesus, Paul was reminding them and us that true Christian generosity is sacrificial. 4
John Wesley, the famous Methodist Preacher of a bygone era, realised as a young man that he could live on 28 a year. Later in his life when he was receiving a larger salary and royalties from his many books he still made it his policy to live on 28 a year. He gave away everything else he earned in order to help other people and to promote the spreading of the gospel. Let me ask you as I ve asked myself, Does our giving simply represent a small contribution of what we earn or is it sacrificial? Do we give according to our means, or beyond our means? True Christian generosity is by nature sacrificial. But as well as being sacrificial, Paul s example of the Macedonians and Jesus reminds us that true Christian giving is also enthusiastic. Paul says the Macedonians literally begged him to take what little money they had and give it to the Christians in Jerusalem. The gospel writers tell us that Jesus willingly endured death on the cross, despite knowing that the full anger of God the Father would be poured out on Him there for our sins. Let me ask you as I ve asked myself, When we give our time or our money to the service of others do we do so grudgingly or simply out of a sense of duty or do we do it out of love because we know that is how God has treated us? True Christian generosity is by nature willing and enthusiastic. In addition to being sacrificial and enthusiastic, in setting before the Corinthians the example of the Macedonian Christians and the example of Jesus, Paul was reminding them and us that real Christian generosity is also truly spiritual. Paul says the Macedonians gave themselves first to the Lord and then to the apostles Appeal. Both of these statements remind us of a very important principle. Christian giving is not an act of charity. It is an act of worship to Holy God. True Christian giving flows out as our response to God because of his goodness to us in all that He gives us every day. True Christian giving flows out as our response to the generosity of God in sending His only Son to be our Saviour. That s why Christian giving is an act of worship. That s why the offering is part of our Sunday services every week. That s why we have collections for different things throughout the course of the Year. So when we give, in essence we don t just give to provide a building to allow us to have services, to pay the gas bill or to provide for those in need. First and foremost we give to 5
say thank you to God for all that He does and has done for us. True Christian giving is an act of worship. The question for each of us is What does our giving say about our love for God? So far from St Paul s advice to the wealthy Corinthians we have learned that Christian giving is a natural response to the grace and generosity of God to us. As such our giving, should be a joyful, sacrificial and enthusiastic act of worship. But when it comes down to it, what does that look like? For many of us deciding how to balance the books and how to be generous to God is not as easy at it might first look. God expects us to care properly for ourselves, our families and our homes. That means buying good food, toiletries and cleaning agents, purchasing car seats, nappies and safe transport. Then there are gas, electricity, TV licences, Broadband and mortgage or rent bills to be paid. Add to that our responsibilities for government taxes and National Insurance, school fees, shoes and clothes, the odd luxury like going out to the cinema, a trip to the zoo, funding our favourite hobby or facilitating a holiday and for many of us it can be a struggle just to make ends meat. So how can we enjoy our lives and still be generous towards God without feeling guilty? Thankfully in his letter to the Corinthians St Paul gives us some good principles by which to help us decide how we should respond to God s gracious goodness to us. So he writes, Here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one doesn t have. 3 Christian Giving should be proportionate: In 1875 Karl Marx called for a society whose motto would be, From each according to his ability and to each according to his need. I m not quite sure where Marx got his inspiration from but interestingly his two phrases are almost identical to the advice St. Paul gives the Corinthians about 6
deciding how much to pledge to the Jerusalem Appeal. To put it simply Paul encourages the Corinthians to give according to their ability. There is an important principle here that can guide us in how much we should give to God and his work in this church and the wider world. That biblical principle is simply this- our Christian generosity should be proportionate to what our household income is. But what sort of portion of our household income should we be aiming for? Well, in his letter, St. Paul steers clear of stipulating an exact figure. However, when we place Paul s letter alongside the rest of the scriptures some guiding principles begin to emerge. In Matthew s gospel in his rebuke of the religious Pharisees it seems clear that Jesus endorses the Old Testament practice of Tithing. In Chapter 23, verse 23 He says, 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. So it seems that the Old Testament principle of giving a tenth of one s disposable income (that is our income after tax) seems to be a good initial guide as to how much we should aim to give. So if we have twenty thousand pounds to live on after we have paid our tax we should be aiming to give as close to 2,000 to the work of God as we can afford. However, this should not be the only consideration when we are giving. That s because a person who is on a low wage and who gives 10% of their income will be giving sacrificially. If you give 2,000 and only have 18,000 left to pay your yearly bills with 4 children then you may well be struggling just to make ends- meat! However, people who have a much larger disposable income- say 60,000 a year after tax, would be giving 6,000 a year to God if they tithed. This would leave them with 54,000 left to live on which is 3 times what the person on a low income has left. Therefore the person with a much larger disposable income may well need to think about giving more than 10% of their income to God and His work if their giving is in any way to be considered a sacrificial, generous, self- giving act of worship. 7
It certainly took great faith for the poor widow in Mark Chapter 12 to put her only two remaining coins in the temple collection, but much less faith for the rich to throw in large amounts and still have plenty left over. So, whilst not wanting to be dogmatic about this or to make it a rule, I would say that the bible encourages us to give as close to a tenth of our disposable income to the work of God as we can afford. If that amount is easy for us to afford, then we should seriously and prayerfully consider being even more generous. Ultimately St Paul says we should give according to what we have, not according to what we don t have. If you live within your means and barely have anything left to spare then I honestly don t believe God puts an extra burden on you- He doesn t expect you to give a tenth if you really can t afford it. If your combined income is above average then perhaps a figure of 10% is a good starting point to contribute to the Lord s work in the world. If your combined income or assets are considerably more than you will ever need to live comfortably, then it may be that the Lord would encourage you to consider contributing more than 10% to His work in the world. Ultimately, what we give is between us and the Lord, but in light of how generous He has been towards us we should aim to be generous towards His work in our world. In light of His mercy and grace, He will not put demands upon us that make life impossible. 4 Generous Giving will be blessed by God: Like a wise coach sending his team out for the second half, Paul concludes his advice to the Corinthians by giving them a positive vision of the victory that will accompany their obedience. He writes Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should give what they have decided in their heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for the Lord loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; His 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 made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us our generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 8
Here Paul motivates the Corinthians by reminding them of the law of harvest We reap what we sow. If we are generous in what we give to others God will reward that generosity with spiritual blessing. If we are generous in what we give to others God will also be able to trust us in various ways with more because we have proved our faithfulness. How exactly God will bless us when we are generous we cannot be certain. Just because we give more doesn t mean that God will necessarily make us more wealthy, or heal us of chronic illness. But one thing is certain- to neglect generous giving to God s work is not only to rob God of what is rightly His but also to rob ourselves of God s blessing. When the OT prophet Malachi rebuked the neglect of God s people in these matters he also brought this promise from the Lord, Bring this whole tithe into the storehouse test me in this says the Lord Almighty and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I want to encourage you this morning to give generously to the work of God in this church and around the world. Because if you do, God will fling open the windows of heaven and pour out his blessing upon us. How exactly that will happen I can t tell you. It may be the blessing of seeing our prayers answered or seeing more people coming to faith in Christ. But what I can assure you is that if we are obedient to God in this, He will bless us and above all, glory and thanksgiving will be brought to his name by the people who have been touched by our Christian generosity. Conclusion: When each of us considers our won giving- to our families and friends in need, to charities, to local clubs and societies, to charities, to our church and other Christian Organisations- How do we decide what to give? In what spirit do we give? Paul s letter to the Christians in Corinth provides us with some valuable insights into these and other questions we have about our generosity. In his correspondence with them about his Relief Fund for the Christians in Jerusalem Paul reminds them and us of 4 important principles for Christian giving- 9
1 Christian generosity is motivated by the grace of God in our lives: Let me encourage you to think often of the cross of Christ. His love for us will be the greatest motivator of all in helping us to be generous to others. 2 Christian generosity is sacrificial, enthusiastic and truly spiritual: Let me encourage you to give as much as you can, as willingly as you can because ultimately when you give to others you are giving to God and showing Him your appreciation for all that He has given you. 3 Christian Giving should be proportionate to our income: Aim for 10% of our disposable income if possible and more if we can afford it. If we really can t afford that God understands. 4 Generous Giving will be blessed by God: Let me encourage you to give generously to God and His work because God has promised that He will pour out His blessing in response. 10