2 Corinthians 8:1-12
This morning you will have received a letter informing you about the state of our finances at CPAC. Probably, like me, you got a bit of a shock at just where we are, however, it is the responsibility of council to keep everyone informed about our financial status in order that we can decide just how we will proceed.
In the past, I have been loath to give a sermon about giving as I have always felt a bit uncomfortable about doing so. If I’m truthful, I suspect it might have had something to do with the fact that I was afraid God would nudge me about my own giving and the fact that there have been times in the past when I have given grudgingly. Why? Because there were bills to pay, school uniforms to buy and mouths to feed. However, as I dug into God’s word, something really struck me. God expects us to give before we receive! Let me say that again. God expects us to give before we receive! In every instance God blessed his people after they had given what first belonged to him. When I realised this truth, and went about doing this, that is, giving to God first, He blessed me out of my socks!!
The first Christmas I was on my own with my three girls, I wondered how on earth we were going to manage. It would have been so easy to claw back my giving, and I felt I could really justify doing so. However, I had made a promise so I decided I had to keep it. Do you know, a week before Christmas, I got a knock on the door and a friend arrived unexpectedly with an enormous hamper. Inside was everything and more, we could possibly need for Christmas!! And that same week an envelope containing $200 in cash was put in our letterbox with a note that said, a love gift from God!! I truly learnt about God’s blessings. In fact what I learnt through all of this is that I can’t afford not to give!
So, despite the uncertain times many of us are presently going through, and despite the fact it may not be the best time to talk about giving, I am certainly not going to apologise for talking about it because, whether you realise it or not, giving is at the very heart of the Gospel.
Paul certainly didn’t apologise for talking about giving and he was appealing to people who had far less in the way of material possessions than we have today. Listen to his words from 2nd Corinthians. “Now, as you excel in everything; in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you; so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking. I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. For you know the generous act of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”
Paul certainly didn’t apologise for talking about giving to Christ’s work. Instead he told the Corinthian church that they needed to excel in giving! Talk about upping the ante! Let’s see what he is really saying and what this means for us today.
I think what he is really saying is that many of us are a bit slap happy in our giving. In other words we don’t give it enough, or at times, any thought at all. What we have left in our wallets at the end of the week, if we indeed have anything at all, is what many of us give to God. A few stray left over coins if we’re lucky. Sadly, we often give God only what’s left over.
I’m reminded of a story I once heard about a twelve year old boy on the island of Guadalcanal, an island in the South Pacific who understood all about excellence in giving. One day he came to his minister with an extremely large fish he had caught, big enough to feed his whole family. He explained to the minister that it was his tithe for the week and asked for instructions as to how to give it to God.
The minister explained that he could sell it at the market and then bring the proceeds and give them to God. He then remarked that it obviously had been an excellent day for fishing since the boy must have caught ten fish and was now giving this one to God.
“Oh, no,” said the boy. “this is the first one. The rest are still in the ocean waiting for me to catch.” Now there’s a young man who knows how to excel in giving! He gave his tithe first. That, I believe, is what real faith is about!
Some people are slap happy in their giving because they only give God what is left over. Sadly, I believe many of us are in that category today. We are loathe to pledge or tithe to the church because we wait to see if we are going to have any money left over after we pay for our new car, and petrol for our boat or a new high-definition television or a trip overseas and so on and so on.
However, Paul would have none of that. Instead he encourages us to excel in giving.
Paul goes on to say, I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with what we give compared with what others have given us. It’s true we haven’t got a church building but the fact we have church here in Churton Park is entirely due to the sacrifices others made before us. We wouldn’t be a church here if many of you had just given the left-overs of your time and money. We are blessed as a church because many of you sacrificed, did without, and gave of your very best to make this happen. In fact throughout history, there have been many people who have given their all, including their very lives, so that the Gospel might be preached in this land. Paul calls us to excel in our giving and he reminds us what others have given on our behalf.
Then finally, Paul adds the ultimate comparison. He reminds us of what Christ gave on our behalf. He writes, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich…”
Christ has made us rich. I wonder, do you truly realize that? He’s given us the greatest gift that we can ever receive, the gift of eternal life. But he paid an awful price in order for us to have that gift. That is what the cross is all about and when it comes right down to it, I believe this is the most important motivation for giving. It isn’t what we might feel about the vicar, or the church council or the economy, or even about how life is treating us right now. We give because he has first given to us.
Some of you who studied history may remember a Frenchman called the Marquis de Lafayette. He was an extremely rich French General and politician who assisted George Washington in the American Revolution. Afterwards, he returned to France and resumed his life as the master of several large estates.
In 1783, the harvest in France was a poor one, but the workers on Lafayette’s farms still somehow managed to fill his barns with wheat. “the bad harvest has raised the price of wheat,” said one of his foremen, ‘and this is the time to sell.”
Lafayette thought about all the hungry peasants in the surrounding villages. Then he said, “No. This is the time to give.” And that is what he did. He shared his wheat with those who had none. You see, Lafayette understood excellence in giving. He was undoubtedly conscious of all that had been given to him and he opened his hands and his heart to others.
I pray that each one of you will take your situation to God and prayerfully consider your own response. I can only speak from my own experience and what is biblical truth. Ever since I have given with a grateful heart, God has blessed me and I can testify I have learnt that I can’t afford not to, if I want the blessings!
