Joyful Giving
Good morning! I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to share with you all this morning. It’s always a good sign when the senior pastor invites you back up to preach…either my first sermon went well or he couldn’t find anyone else to take this Sunday! I’m hoping for the 1st scenario but whatever the reasons I am truly thankful to be here with you all. So I have to ask how many of you have started your Christmas shopping? I tend to be more last minute so take heart, be encouraged you are NOT alone if you haven’t started yet. Or you could be like my mom who is close to being done with ALL of her shopping. I’m pretty sure she starts shopping for Christmas gifts the day after Christmas. But my mom is one of the best gift givers I have ever met. She puts a lot of thought into her gifts and she thinks through carefully what each person on her list would really enjoy. She thinks that “gift cards” are a bad word and because of her thoughtfulness her gifts are always the best. She is also very generous, she gives freely of her resources, her time, and quite often her money. She loves to give.
November 20, 2011
2 Corinthians 9:6-12, Joyful Giving
Amy Staples, Brewster Baptist Church
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Maybe you know somebody like this…someone who is more excited to give a good gift than to receive one. This is the type of person that Paul in 2 Corinthians is calling you and I to be….here now our Word for today…
“The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. 9As it is written,
‘He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
his righteousness* endures for ever.’
10He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. *11You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; 12for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.”
Paul is using the metaphor of a farmer to speak to the people of Corinth about their giving. He explains that if a farmer were to scatter a few seeds around then he can expect to only reap a small harvest. The seeds cannot multiply themselves and will only supply him with a limited amount. On the flip side of the coin if that same farmer were to generously throw down seed on his fields then the likelihood is that he would have a large crop. Paul is saying that the same is true with us. When we give little of ourselves/our time/our money/our resources, less than what we are capable of then what we will receive is little in return. Some may think that in order to find gain they must tighten up the reigns on their resources but Paul is saying just the opposite. The more we give away the more we will be in a place to be blessed. In the book of 1 Kings we learn of a widowed woman who is visited by the prophet Elijah. She and her son have only a handful of flour and a small amount of cooking oil to survive on. Elijah asks for a drink of water and a piece of bread and the woman is hesitant for she knows her resources are about to run out. Elijah assures her that God will replenish her stores if she will give from her very limited supply. The woman does as Elijah said and God made sure that she always had enough flour and olive oil! This woman gave to Elijah and it was an act of faith that God responded to. He not only replenished her food supplies but he multiplied them! In the same way when you and I give of our resources we are trusting that God will meet our needs. Our giving is an act of faith and God always responds when we step out in faith.
If we stop to think about it, all that we have is a gift from God. The breath in our lungs, the families and friends we are surrounded by, our personalities which include our passions, talents, and giftings, our resources, our jobs, our homes, these are all given to us by the Ultimate Giver, God. He supplies our needs but these things were never intended to be kept to ourselves. Communities work best when we share things with one another. I remember talking with a fellow seminary student who was from Kenya and we were discussing the differences between our two cultures. He thought it was strange how we live such isolated lives in America because in Kenya and many other African countries communities share all that they have. They supply the needs of their people, in contrast to American society where we function more so like isolated islands floating around one another but rarely reaching out. This isn’t how God intends for us to live at all, but especially as Christians we are called to freely give.
Now giving comes in many different forms. For some they are blessed with money and are able to help the needs of others financially. For others they are blessed with the ability to fix things and are able to give of themselves in handy ways. And yet for others God may have given them the ability to listen and sit with those who may be hurting or grieving. We all have something to give. And the manner in which we are to give is with a cheerful heart. “For God loves a cheerful giver!” Much of this has to do with perspective. John D. Rockefeller Jr was quoted saying, “Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege.” If you and I are in a place to give of ourselves, our time, or our resources then we have been blessed with much. For what we have is a gift. Paul tells us that we should not look at giving as something we are bound to. It shouldn’t be a burden, a means of gaining the attention of others, or something we should be doing. But how often do we view our acts of service in these ways? How can we have a change of heart and how do we become cheerful givers? I think the first step in the right direction is to recognize that all we have comes from God. He has entrusted us with the things that we have and He joyfully gives to us. All that He has, He shares with you and I! When we fully recognize this and when we love God we are able to give from a place of gratitude and generosity. Our service to others is an extension of our thankfulness and love to God. It is always easier to give cheerfully when we are seeing the things we do have, rather than focusing on the things we don’t. There are always going to be unmet wants in our lives but a life of gratitude starts by looking around and thanking God for what it is that we do have. And what better time to start putting this into practice than Thanksgiving! When our service to others comes from a place of gratitude to God we will be able to give from an overflow. We will want to share our resources with others because we realize all that we have is really not ours but God’s who has entrusted these things to us.
And when you really think about it…isn’t it more enjoyable when we share our time, resources, and ourselves with others? We could have the largest house with all the luxuries that the world could offer us but if we have no one to share them with, what’s the point?
Our joyful giving has a two fold effect which Paul lays out for us in vs 12. The New Living Translation says it like this, “The needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God.” And Paul is speaking more specifically to the peoples tithing but we can broaden the scope to include all facets of giving. Giving can be thought of as meeting another person’s unmet needs. If someone within our community has no food, we can provide them with food. If another person is without clothes we can clothe them. Our giving meets the needs of those who are without. We hear this discourse between Jesus and his disciples in Matthew 25:34-40, Listen to what Jesus has to say, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me. Then these righteous ones will reply, “Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”
When we are providing for the needs of those around us it is as if we are doing these good deeds to God. God identifies with the poor, the stranger, the widow, and the outcast. We as the body of Christ are called to generously give and the Bible says that this is how people will know that we are Christians. And this leads us to the second aspect of our giving…the people we serve and the people we are giving to will give thanks to God. Our giving will draw others to God because they will see us as His hands and feet. How could you not be drawn to someone who is generous, cheerful, merciful, and loving? Wouldn’t you want to know why they are the way they are? And this is where God receives the praise and glory. Those in a place of giving are doing so because they realize all they have is a gift from God. They share freely and generously with others because they have faith that God will continue to provide for them. God continues to get the glory!
It is therefore our privilege to share with others the things God has blessed us with, and to be excited about it! Whether this be our time to donate to charities, our money, our food, our talents, we all have something to give. This is a good time of the year to be aware of all that we have but I want to challenge you to let this become a lifestyle. Now I’m aware that life can be very difficult and challenging at times and you may be in a place where you are having a hard time seeing the good around you. I encourage you to start small and look for the gifts that you do have in life, maybe it’s a car even though its wearing down, you are still able to make it from point A to point B. Or maybe it’s that you just made your last student loan payment and are debt free, or maybe it’s as simple as hitting all green lights on your way to an appointment, the list goes on and on. A sign in the Mayflower Coffee Shop in Chicago says this, “As you wander on through life, sister/brother, whatever be your goal, keep your eye upon the donut, and not upon the hole” How true! It’s all about our perspective and what we choose to focus on!
So I encourage you be aware of all the things God has blessed you with, to share your resources, time, and talents with those in need, and to be an excited and cheerful giver in all that you do! And in all these things may God be given the glory!
Let us pray,
Most generous Father, we thank you for all that we have, for the blessings that we are aware of and for the many others that we fail to see on a daily basis. Bring us to a place where we are cheerfully giving, and where we are stepping out in faith because we trust that you are able to multiply our giving. May you find us to be as faithful as the woman who gave her last bit of food to Elijah and as cheerful a giver as a mother who loves to give good gifts. And for your greatest gift of all, Jesus…we thank you, AMEN.
Blessing:
And now I encourage you to…
Rejoice always and everywhere.
Pray unceasingly and care compassionately.
Serve graciously and live faithfully.
And may God enable you to do so.