Cultivating a Heart of Generosity

Scripture Passage: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written,

“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”

10 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. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

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(I like to tell my other friends from the Methodist Church that we may not be as rich as you guys are, but my Finance Chairperson will beat your finance chairperson in a fight. But thank Justin for his behind the scenes work with the finance committee. Alot of what they do goes unseen, but he’s here almost every week looking through the Church’s finance and signing stuff.)

Introduction

Pre-pledge weekend.

Significance of pledging in Church. Pledging is first and foremost between you and God, shared with the Church, for the purpose of being faithful, generous and intentional with our finances.

It is disciplining ourselves to commit to give to God of our first fruits in the coming year. Of course, if circumstances change, we can change our pledge - whether increase or decrease it.

But importantly, at this very moment, we are committing to give God of our first fruits as both an act of worship and as an act of faith.

Justin’s presentation earlier is not a sales pitch for you to determine if you want to give to this or not, or how much you want to give. This isn’t spiritual shark tank. Rather what Justin is doing is presenting to you, on behalf of the Church, how we are stewarding your giving for the kingdom of God this coming year, because we want to be transparent and accountable in this, and because we honour and treasure your giving. And on a more logistical end, it also allows us as a Church to have a gauge on where we are financially in the coming year, and how much of our reserves we have to either draw from, or give into.

I want to also tell us that the act and discipline of Giving is very biblical. The Old Testament speaks about giving in the form of giving the first fruits of our harvest to God as an offering. Jesus speaks about Giving in the Gospels in Matthew. And Paul clearly instructs this in his letters to the various Churches.

But there is one common thread that runs through it all:

When we give and steward our finances, it is never about the Church’s need to receive money. It is ALWAYS about the giver’s need to give.

It is never about how much we lack and how much the Church needs to operate. It is always about the Giver and their heart to give.

And today, we want to dive into the book of Corinthians to study this a little more.

Context:

Paul is writing to prepare the Corinth Church to give them a heads up about a group that was coming their way from Macedonia. This was a new church and young to the faith.

And the Corinthian Church were to collect a blessing for them, which will go to support the poor and needy Churches in Jerusalem.

Now, Paul here is giving his pre-pledge weekend presentation here. But, instead of trying to present a figure like we just did earlier, Paul presents to them a principle instead:

6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Paul’s point is this:

In the Old Testament, the principle of Giving is tied to a portion and percentage of your salary/income - 10%. But in the New Testament, the principle of Giving is no longer a portion of your income, but a POSTURE of your hearts.

It’s not about HOW MUCH should we give, but rather HOW should we give.

But at the same time, Paul also tells us, “Be careful, because HOW you give will reveal something about you and your faith.”

And today, I want to give us 3 things that we learn in this letter about what Generosity reveals deeper within us.

Generosity reveals the purposes of our Hearts. (v6 - 7)

7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Paul begins by connecting giving directly to our hearts.

He tells us that our generosity reveals something within us - the state of our hearts.

The word he uses actually is this:

Greek word “Proaireo”, which better translates to “purposed” in our hearts. It gives this idea of a sense of resolve and a conviction. An intentional decision and choice we make.

In other words, what Paul is trying to say here is that Giving actually shows where your heart is purposed towards/pursuing after - after our own desires or after God’s desires?

The way we give to God’s kingdom and the way we spend our finances actually reveals what our heart truly finds valuable.

Think about this. If our finances are first spent on our wants and our luxuries, and our giving to God is from what is left over, it really does show what is the priority in your life. Or if I’m quick to spend $400 on a Taylor Swift ticket, but struggle or am hesitant to give $40 to God, then you need to question who my heart really loves.

Jesus in Matthew 6:21 echoes this by saying, “For where your treasure is, there your heart is also.” Where you lay and how you direct your treasures, there your heart can be found.

This can be applied both individually, but also to the Church. If we are spending more money on ourselves and trying to build a nice and comfortable venue as compared to spending on ministry, missions and on others, then we need to carefully ask ourselves if we have missed the plot. If we are spending more money on trying to beautify the church than spending on revealing the beauty of God through outreach and service, then maybe we have missed the point.

Generosity reveals what our hearts are purposed towards and what is the real treasure of our hearts.

Paul gives us some indicators we can use to check our hearts against as we give.

Negative

Reluctance (lypes in Greek) has the connotation of emotional pain. Is giving painful and burdensome to you?

Compulsion (anagke in Greek) has a forceful connotation to it. Do we feel like we are being forced to give; maybe not that the church is forcing you to give, but maybe you feel forced in the way that we think God will punish me if I don’t give? Are we giving because we have to, and not because we want to?

If the answer is yes to any of the above, then maybe we need to pray for God to transform our hearts.

Positive

The Greek word here is Hilaron, which is where we get the english word hilarious. This means joy. Does giving make you joyful? Does being generous to God bring joy to the heart? Do we feel like “Yes! God has given me much and I get to give back to God?”

If your answer is yes, then your heart is in a good place to be in.

Tithin is not taxation. We are not paying a tax to God in exchange for His blessings in our life. There is a difference between taxation and tithing.

Taxation is an obligation; Tithing is a joy.

Taxation is motivated by fear; Tithing is motivated by love.

Taxation produces sorrow and pain; but Tithing produce in us even greater joy.

Tithing to God is not an obligation we have to fulfill, like a reluctant tax for God’s blessings. Tithing to God is a willing gift, given out of a cheerful heart turned towards God.

Generosity reveals what our hearts is purposed towards. Generosity reveals what our hearts truly treasure.

Generosity reveals our understanding and trust in the Gospel. (v8 - 11)

V8. God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

Paul then begins to connect our Giving to our understanding of the Gospel, and subsequently, how much you trust in that Gospel. Let me explain this further for us.

Paul highlights a promise and a truth about the Gospel.

All Grace. All Sufficiency. All Things. All Times. All Good Work.

Paul is highlighting that the grace of God is all encompassing, including in the area of our finances. God’s grace covers and flows even into the way we steward our finances.

The word sufficiency here is autarkeia, which translates to Contentment.

So what Paul is saying here is that knowing that God’s grace is abounding even in the area of your finances, you can be contented in all things and at all times, and abound in every good work.

So here’s the question we need to ask ourselves today: Do we trust that God’s grace covers even in the area of our finances and our needs? And are we able to be contented in all season and at all times, because we have all we need in Jesus?

Our generosity reveals both our understanding of the Gospel but also our trust in this truth. - That Jesus Christ is sufficient in every season and in every circumstances.

This is what Paul echoes again in Philippians 4 (the famous verse) - “12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

When we learn to be generous in our giving towards God, it is reflective of a heart that is learning to be content in Christ in every circumstance. And we are expressing our trust in God to be all sufficient in every season.

The immeasurable grace of God in our lives must overflow into radical generosity towards God. It is a tangible way for us to express our understanding of the Gospel in our lives and our trust in that Gospel.

By giving generously, we are learning to anchor our hope and our faith in the truth that is in Phillipians 4:19 - “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

V10. Increase the harvest of your righteousness.

Paul even links the act of giving and our posture of generosity as a sign of our righteousness and our salvation.

Not to be mistaken as a contribution to our righteousness, but a signpost and a fruit of it.

When we show generosity and we show care for the poor among us, it is tangible expression of our salvation and our righteousness at work within us.

Generosity reveals the Giver and gives Him glory. (v11 - 15)

11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

At the end of the day, Paul reminds us that our generosity has a higher goal - it reveals the glory of God.

That is what Paul is trying to say here: We are enriched in every way, to be generous in every way, that ultimately THROUGH US, it will produce thanksgiving to God.

That when we are generous in our giving towards God, we are living in God’s original intention and design for us. We are aligning ourselves to this cycle that God has designed.

He will bless you. You will bless others. Others will end up blessing Him.

We are blessed to be channels of blessings, not reservoirs of blessing. You are not meant to store up the blessings in you, but to let it flow through you.

12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

As if this is not enough, Paul emphasizes this over the next few verses.

Our generosity reveals the glory of the Giver to the world around us. It will lead others to glorify God and to give thanks to God.

There is something so counter-cultural about generosity. It is simply not human nature to give stuff away generously. We like to accumulate to impress and accumulate for insurance.

Generosity catches the world’s attention. We love a good story of generosity. The Church must catch the world’s attention with our radical generosity, because when we do, the Gospel is put on display in tangible and abnormal ways.

Story

When circuit breaker first hit, some of us began to catch wind of a need in some of the under privileged families in our radar. There was a need for groceries for families, especially for some families that were practically living hand to mouth. Many of them didn’t have stable incomes, and they just didn’t have the financial capability to purchase a month’s worth of groceries in advance to tide them for the circuit breaker. Moreover, we also began to hear of kids who did not have the right equipment to do home-based learning - computers, laptops, iPads, not even internet at home.

So in the span of the circuit breaker being announced (3rd April) to it being implemented (7th April), we put a call out for help in our own personal channels of communication. People responded generously; they gave old laptops and iPads, some donated desktops and screens; we even collated mobile routers for the families with no internet at home, and someone donated a whole bunch of pre-paid SIM cards.

I even remember going to NTUC to buy groceries with a friend, and feeling so embarrassed. Because this was the season where everyone hoarding food and toilet rolls, and here I was with an entire trolley full of food and I looked like a hoarder.

But I remember going to flats to drop the items off as well as help the kids set up for home based learning. And at one of the homes, one of the mothers who I’ve never met was just so confused by this whole situation. Who are these guys and why are they doing this? They’re not even from the government; just the Church. And this opened an opportunity to just share a simple Gospel to her.

And this was the big takeaway from this: We needed to love/serve/give with such radical generosity, that the only way they can make sense of it is by hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

You see, the standard of giving in the New Testament is no longer a mandated tithe or a percentage of our income. The standard of giving is the picture of love in the face and the cross of Jesus Christ. We are now called to “know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sake became poor” (2 Corinthians 8:9), and then give in accordance with the Gospel of a Saviour who emptied Himself completely. (Dave Zuleger).

Ultimately, our generosity in giving points people and reveals to them a Greater Giver - the ultimate Giver. God is a cheerful Giver. He is the gracious Giver. He is the Giver of good gifts. And God desires to see this characteristic restored and reflected in those of us who are created in His image.

Closing

Let me end with this.

Generosity does more than just revealing our hearts; it also changes our hearts.

One of the greatest danges of our modern day Christianity is the rise of prosperity theology. In a society that puts a value on prosperity, we have allowed this to seep into the Church. And unfortunately, we have created a man-centred theology that is created out of greed, and essentially created a god that works like a vending machine. Prosperity theology tells us that God will bless us with health and wealth to those who give generously.

We must understand this: The Kingdom of God is not an investment arm or an ETF to grow your own wealth.

If you give in hopes of attaining greater material blessings, then you will only harvest spiritual poverty.

The bible is clear on the topic of money: You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and money. Either we control our money, or our money controls us. And the last thing God wants is for us to walk away thinking we can somehow juggle and balance both at the same time. That is the illusion of prosperity theology.

What Paul is clear about though is that God rewards generosity with spiritual abundance and with a transformed heart.

Generosity has a way of loosening the stronghold that greed may try to claim in our hearts, and directing our hearts away from it. When we learn to be generous with every aspect of our lives, we are loosening the hold that money may have in our hearts, and giving it to God instead. Our hearts are being transformed in the process. It is difficult to be greedy/self-consumed, and generous at the same time.

And Paul tells us that Giving helps us to understand joy and contentment. When we give, we are investing in our joy and in our contentment. We are investing into our faith that believes God is both the Giver of everything we have and the Supplier of all our needs.

Joy, contentment and faith: That is true prosperity of the Gospel.

This pre-pledge weekend is not a plea for more money. It is an invitation to explore what our hearts truly treasure. It is an invitation to measure whether our contentment is found in God and God alone. It is an invitation to partner with the Church to reveal the glory of God to the world. But most importantly, it is an invitation to disciple our hearts in the right way, that we may be transformed into the likeness of our God. That our hearts will prosper in our generous giving.

To the youth, learning to be generous when you are young with little, will set a principle and a posture for life. Generosity must be cultivated in us; and we cultivate it by learning to be generous with little first, so that when we have more, our hearts will become principled and postured to be generous. So even in this season, consider making a pledge to God with whatever allowances you may receive. Remember what I said at the beginning: it is not the percentage or the how much, but the posture and the how you give that matters.

To the adults, generosity is contagious. I’ve learnt that growing up, I learnt to be generous because it was modelled to me by others, and I was many times the recipient of generosity. We have an opportunity to model to the next generation an important spiritual principle in the area of our Giving. Don’t just be generous towards the Church; be generous towards the next generation - with not just finances, but your time, love, care, words and actions.