Generous Giving

2 Corinthians 9:6–11 NASB95

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; as it is written, “He scattered abroad, he gave to the poor, His righteousness endures forever.” Now He 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; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.

a. Giving takes work (9:6) 나누는 것에는 노력이 필요합니다.

b. Giving is decided (9:7) 나눔은 결정입니다.

c. Giving blesses the giver (9-8-11) 나눔은 나눠주는 이를 축복합니다.

1. INTRODUCTION

a. Giving is one of the topics that I believe the church needs to hear more than ever in today’s climate. It’s not simply for the church’s benefit. But it’s because it’s for the edification of the saints. The Bible teaches us to be kind because of the greatest gift we have received, through the person of Jesus Christ. God made a way for sinners to be righteous, to be able to stand before Him because of the finished work of Jesus Christ.

b. Through God’s generosity, we see through the pages of Scripture, how God has been generous to us by sending His Son to die on the cross for our sins, which in turn, teaches us, that we are to be generous like our Father in Heaven.

c. So everything sounds great and wonderful if we stop it here. But then, Monday comes around, life happens and we see our bills and we see how much money we need and we see how hard life is. Life makes it so that people become selfish. Life brings out the worst in all of us.

d. All over our culture, it’s harder and harder to give because it keeps teaching us how we are to use all our resources for ourselves, our families. Afterall, we went through the hard work of earning this money and we should be able to enjoy it on ourselves. We come to see things in life that we want, and we buy and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with earning your money and working hard to purchase things you want.

e. But where can it become bad? Where can it even become wrong? It becomes wrong when we think that all of this is money that I have made. It becomes wrong when I trust in my ability and think that I can do whatever I want with my money.

f. Why do I say this? Because when we think this way, we become selfish. We become self centered. We become less generous. So then it raises the question, what makes a person generous? We usually tend to see ourselves as a 'good person.' We take care of our family, pay our bills, invite our friends to dinner and pick up the tab. We give to the church and even drop a dollar or two in the bucket in front of Wal-Mart during the Christmas season. So how does a person become generous? Is it a dollar amount? Reaching so many volunteer hours? Serving at church?

g. When we define generous this way, we can say that many people in our church are generous. It can even be defined as writing out a generous big check to the church. We sometimes fantasize and think, that we want to make a lot of money so we can help out the church. And while that is great and wonderful and we want you to be rich and successful, generosity is totally different. Generosity is about doing something with what you have in your hand today. Generosity is not about something that you do, it’s something that you are. It’s not an event in your life, but a lifestyle. It is a decision. It is a choice to see life differently, to see it that it’s not what you’ve done, but what’s been given to you. This is exactly what Paul teaches us in our text for today. Paul teaches us the blessings of giving.

2. BODY

a. Giving takes work (9:6) 나누는 것에는 노력이 필요합니다.

i. Paul starts in verse 6. Verse 6 begins the principle of giving. Paul uses agrarian language to help us understand. Paul talks of a farmer who sows seed. This illustration is important to help us understand what he is talking about.

ii. The first concept I would like everyone to understand and see is that life of a farmer. If we know anything about farming, we know that it is hard work. You have to wake up early and work long days to make sure that your plants will be ready to grow when the season allows. The first concept Paul is teaching us is, giving takes work. Giving is not easy to do. All of us would love to give, but we struggle to give because we don’t recognize that giving takes work.

iii. What do I mean by this? Giving takes work because it’s hard to give up what we have worked hard for. I remember when I first started working at Mcdonald’s and for the first time in life, I learned how hard it was to earn money but I learned how hard it was to give to others. I remember the first time, my friend said he didn’t have money and I had to buy him his food. I remembered how many hours I had to work to buy him his food.

iv. Not only does giving take work, but here in verse 6, Paul is teaching us that we must give generously. It isn’t simply about giving but you must give generously. Paul uses this picture of a farmer here by explaining, no farmer considers sowing as a loss of seed because the harvest will provide the seed for the next season. Consequently, no sower begrudges the seed he casts upon the ground or tries to scrimp by with sowing as little as possible. He willingly sows all that he can and trusts that God will bless the sowing with a bountiful harvest. If the farmer, for some reason, stints on the sowing, he will cheat himself of that harvest. The more he sows, the greater the harvest he will reap and the more he will have for sowing for the next harvest.

v. This concept has been hijacked by the wealth and health prosperity Gospel where it appeals to people to invest in the harvest so that God will bless them with a bountiful harvest. But this misses the point of what Paul is speaking about here.

vi. Paul does not pass this principle off as a shrewd investment strategy on how to reap greater material blessings by keeping it for myself. Rather, it is the opposite. Paul’s teaching is that we must give to bless others. When we do this, Paul is teaching that God is able to provide for you if you give generously.

vii. The principle we learn from verse 6 is that if the farmer sows bountifully, he will also reap bountifully because of the willingness to invest in his harvest. Although it cost him money to sow sparingly, because of his willingness to be generous in his sowing, he will also reap bountifully.

b. Giving is decided (9:7) 나눔은 결정입니다.

i. Verse 7 gives us the attitude of how we are to sow. Paul writes, each one must do what he has purposed in his heart. Literally translated, “each man just as he has determined in his heart.” What is Paul saying here? The text means that the giver must give what he has decided, to choose deliberately. Paul is teaching here that we must have resolve in giving. It must be decided by conviction. We must not scrimp in our giving. We must make a decision to be generous. This is the attitude of the Christian.

ii. What is interesting here is that Paul doesn’t actually come out and say you must give. In verse 7, Paul omits the verb. The verb to give is omitted which is why in most of our bibles, it is translated “must do” or “must give (ESV) or should give (NIV).” Paul omits the command here so that he does not force this project upon them. But what Paul is commanding here is clear. They are called to give with their own minds. This means, if they comply, if they obey to his teaching, then they are giving out of obedience to their Lord and not their obedience to Paul.

iii. This attitude must not be done grudgingly or under compulsion echoes that of Moses teaching in Deuteronomy 15:10. This verse is massive to our understanding because God tells Moses to teach Israel about how to deal with their finances. God speaks of the Sabbatic Year and every 7 years, you shall grant remission of debts (15:1). Then He goes on to tell them, every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor, that he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother because the Lord’s remission has been proclaimed (15:2). Look at the motivation for why Israel shall release all debts owned. It’s because of the fact that God has forgiven them of their debt. God then goes on to tell them, that He will bless you as He has promised you (15:6) and if there is any poor man, a brother, a fellow Jewish person, then you shall not harden your heart or close your hand from your poor brother (15:7) and you shall generously lend him sufficient for his need.

1. The key here is generous. It’s not just give him exactly what he needs, but generously meet his need. What does generously mean? God explains this concept of generosity. He says be careful that you don’t think this way. The 7th year is near, therefore I will give him nothing. What God is saying is, since you know that every 7 years, your debt will be canceled, don’t think to yourself, well this guy won’t be able to pay me back so I will only give him what I know he can repay me by that time. Don’t calculate and be cheap. Give to meet the needs of the person.

2. God’s emphasis to us is teaching us how our hearts and attitudes must be to each other. It must be one of softness and openness, true compassion that works. It must not be calculated and cold, but rather, meeting the need for whatever our brother lacks.

iv. Then God says in verse 10, God finishes this idea of generosity by stating you shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him.

1. Why will the one’s heart be grieved? This is the same idea in 2 Corinthians 9:7. What is this idea of being grieved? Well it’s from the context of Deuteronomy 15:7-10. The idea of grieving here is that this person is giving to meet the needs of a poor man who he knows will and can’t pay him back, but you should still be willing to take loss to help the other person out. You shall not calculate to make sure that you can receive what is owed, but rather give to meet the other person’s need. In that way, God says your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because you know you are taking a loss. You know that this person won’t be able to pay you back but because you care about them, you are willing to take that loss.

2. Then God says, when you do this, the Lord your God will bless you and in all your work and in all your undertakings. God’s promise here is that when you show compassion and you do this out of true charity, God will show compassion to you for your giving. God will repay you back for your kindness.

v. This is why in 2 Corinthians 9:7, Paul writes, don’t give reluctantly, or better, grieving. Don’t be sad when you give, because you think that you will never receive that back. When you give, you should give knowing that you won’t be repaid back for that money. You should give knowing that you are giving to meet the needs of others.

vi. But Paul doesn’t end there. Paul writes don’t give out of compulsion. Don’t give because you are being forced. Paul’s teaching here is that you must give out of free will. This is important and consistent with Paul’s teaching because remember at the beginning of verse 7, Paul doesn’t give the verb. Paul says, you must do, or you must give just as he has purposed in his heart. Paul doesn’t command people to give, no. Rather, Paul lets the listener decide how much and how he wants to give.

vii. Why? Because God loves a cheerful giver. God doesn’t love a giver who is crying and weeping and grieving as he gives. No, God loves a person who gives out of his own decision and a person who is determined to give. It’s also important to know that it is not that God does not love the one who gives grudgingly or not at all but that God loves, or better yet, God approves the one who delights to give to others. It is the person who desires to help others. God loves a cheerful giver, because that is precisely who God is, a cheerful giver.

c. Giving blesses the giver (9-8-11) 나눔은 나눠주는 이를 축복합니다.

i. But that leads us to our last point. Paul states here in verse 8 that God is generous and abundantly supplies us with everything necessary to have enough for our own needs and to be generous with others. The phrase “all grace” is quite broad in scope, covering the material blessings and the spiritual motivation to share them. Most people become miserly in their giving because they worry that they will not have enough for themselves. Paul assures them that God will supply them with plenty for their needs at all times. Reluctance to sow generously, then, reflects a refusal to trust that God is all sufficient and all gracious. It also assumes that we can only give when we are prospering and have something extra that we will not need for ourselves. Paul says that at all times God provides us with all that we need so there is never any time when we cannot be generous.

ii. For Paul, having all you need means having enough for every good work. Paul’s point is that “God will provide the means to be generous, that one can sow liberally(which also means freely and cheerfully, v. 7a) in the confidence that God will bestow a liberal harvest.” The more we give, the more we will be given by God to share with others. We may not have all the money that we want, but we will have all the money we need to be abundant in our giving to others.

iii. When God gives us our resources, God gives us more than we need, not so that we can have more, but so that we can give more to others. God does not bestow material blessings so that one can hoard them for oneself or withdraw from others but so that they might be shared with others.

iv. I hear a lot of “I want to give but I don’t have the resources right now, but when I make more, I will definitely give.” I understand the expression in this. It makes a lot of sense. At the same time, are we striving to be generous in our giving or be generous people? Generous people make a decision on how to give. We cut corners so that we can give rather than give when we are able. Again, the lifestyle of a generous person is someone who is determined to give and will find a way to give. Being generous is not about what I will do, but what I can do now. What can I do now to give and help?

v. Paul continues on this idea by going back to the idea of sowing. As Paul wrote in verse 6, he now quotes from Psalm 112:9 and talks about how God has given freely to the poor and how His righteousness endures forever. This is critical in our understanding. Remember, God’s blessing isn’t simply material, but spiritual as well. This verse in Psalm 112:9 helps us to grasp what that means. In the context of Psalm 112, if you read it, you will see that it talks about the man who is blessed is the man who fears the Lord and delights in His commandments (112:2) Then in verse 3, wealth and riches are in his house and his righteousness endures forever.

vi. Righteousness here is understood as the generosity that this person gives, those who receive his generosity will remember, but his acts of generosity which could be so different than others, that generosity will continue from age to age. It isn’t simply the generous giving that stands out, but the fact that this person is willing to give.

vii. This idea is carried over to 2 Corinthians 9:10 where Paul then writes, He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed. If we take what we read in Psalm 112 and inject it here, the one who gives generously to the poor, his righteousness will endure forever, well, he is able to give generously to the poor because of the God who provided those blessings to give. Paul is staking the reality here that we can only give and share because of God. Because of God’s provision in giving us what we can share, we are able to share with others. Ultimately, it is God who gives, and God who takes away.

viii. Isaiah 55:10-11 is a great reminder of who does what in the sowing process. Just as rain and snow bridge the gap between heaven and earth, saturating the earth, causing plants to spring up and blossom, providing seed for sowing and bread for food, so also God’s Word bridges the gap between heaven and earth, revealing God’s ways and thoughts and accomplishing his will. The apostle’s allusion to the passage in the prophet seizes specifically on God as the source, the provider.

ix. Paul concludes with verse 11, You will be enriched in every way, resulting in every kind of generosity, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.” This is an immense blessing, that through our acts, we are causing others to give thanks to God. This is the whole purpose for why God gives us our wealth. It is not so that we can hoard our riches, but that through our riches, we can bless others.

x. When we were young, we learned a phrase, “It is better to give than to receive.” Did you know that Jesus is the one who said this phrase? Acts 20:35 reminds us that Jesus Himself said this. There is so much truth in this phrase that even the world understands this. I pray that we might provide an example of what generous giving looks like in a self centered world, that we would not just be generous in our giving, but that we would be generous people.

3. CONCLUSION