A Rich Poverty

We are continuing our study of giving this morning.

Last week, Matt showed us that God’s design for his people throughout history is that we would give our first and our best to him, knowing that he has given his first and best to us by sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins and allowing us to know and follow him.

We are called to be generous people because God has been such a generous God to us.

Matt also reminded us that everything we have comes from God and is actually his. We are called to join him in what he is doing and steward what he is letting us watch over, whether that is our time, our talent, or our treasures.

If you didn’t catch that sermon, please go back and listen to it so you have even more context for what we are talking about.

This morning, we want to jump into a New Testament passage that gives us a picture of what that kind of radical generosity can look like.

Go ahead and turn over to 2 Corinthians 8:1-5.

As you’re turning there, let’s set the stage for what is happening.

Paul is writing to the church in a city called Corinth. If you have been with us over the last year or so, you are probably familiar with Corinth since we spent about a year talking about Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

There have been some exchanges back and forth with the Corinthian church since we left them at the end of 1 Corinthians.

When Paul last spoke with them, they agreed to take part in an offering he was collecting. This was an offering that was going to support impoverished believers in Jerusalem. They had been persecuted and were really going through a rough time.

He had been taking this offering up for a while, and the Corinthians said they were interested in participating. Now, he is sending this letter and asking them to make good on their previous pledge.

To encourage their obedience, Paul talks about the faithful giving of Christians in Macedonia.

For those interested, that would likely have been the churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea.

The Macedonian churches were doing great spiritually, but kinda like the Christians in Jerusalem, they had been persecuted and pushed to the outskirts of society. As we will see, they were impoverished themselves.

And yet, in the midst of their difficulty, they were unbelievably generous.

Paul isn’t trying to play the two churches off each other. Instead, he is giving the Corinthians a great example to follow.

In fact, they are a great example for us to follow as well.

They demonstrate how generous people respond in light of the generous God we serve.

As we look at these 5 verses, we are going to see four different ways to describe what our giving should look like.

Let’s read the passage together...

Now, the offering that Paul is collecting here is not the same as tithing, which is something Matt brought up last week and said we would cover more in-depth this week.

Matt mentioned that God called the Israelites to give their first and best ten percent to the religious leaders so they could continue doing the work God had called them to do.

When you put together the various tithes God called the Israelites to give, though, they were actually giving about 23% of their income away every year.

It is true that there is no direct command in the New Testament that says Christians are to tithe.

However, Jesus affirmed to the Jewish religious leaders that tithing was a good thing to do:

Matthew 23:23 CSB

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, and yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.

They were so caught up in giving a tenth of their herbs and spices and yet they neglected to treat others in a God-honoring way.

Jesus said they should have been doing both, so he doesn’t say it is wrong to tithe.

In reality, the pictures in the New Testament are of Christians giving generously, well beyond a tithe:

Acts 4:34–35 CSB

For there was not a needy person among them because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of what was sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet. This was then distributed to each person as any had need.

They understand what Paul points out in 2 Cor 8:9, which is a theme that will run through the message this morning:

2 Corinthians 8:9 CSB

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

Jesus left heaven, walked on earth, died on the cross, and rose from the dead to pay the penalty for our sin and to give us his life so we could enjoy life with him now and be with him forever.

His generosity is the model that we pattern our generosity with.

In fact, here’s the big idea for today’s message:

My generosity reflects my joy in God’s generosity to me.

The Macedonian churches understood what Christ had done, and that’s the kind of giving we see from the Macedonians in this passage.

Let’s answer the question, then: If I should be generous like Jesus has been generous to me, what should my giving look like?

Some of these are going to sound redundant, but let’s take a few moments to dig into them a little more.

The first way we should be able to describe our giving is that it should be:

1) Joyful.

Look back at verse 2.

I love the paradox in this verse.

The Macedonian believers were in a tough spot, but that didn’t stop them from being joyful!

In fact, it wasn’t that they were just a little joyful; they were abundantly joyful!

I am always convicted by statements like this, because so often, I think things have to be going well for me to be joyful.

When life is good, I have joy, but when it gets hard, I lose it.

That isn’t the picture of the Christian life at all, is it?

Here’s how one commentator put it:

The New American Commentary: 2 Corinthians (1) Example: God’s Grace Given to the Macedonians (8:1–5)

Poverty overflowing into wealth also may seem paradoxical, but it fits the crazy-quilt logic of the gospel: joy + severe affliction + poverty = wealth. Here, wealth relates to a wealth of generosity and joy multiplied.

They didn’t need things to make them joyful because Jesus had already given them a deep, rich joy that nothing could take away.

We should be happy people. but Christian joy isn’t simply happiness. Instead, the joy that motivates us to give out of our poverty is the reality that we serve a God who loves us deeply and has given us everything we need in Christ and will give us everything we ever need.

Listen again to how their joy showed itself through their generosity (v 3-4).

It seems like Paul and his companions didn’t really feel comfortable asking for the Macedonian churches to participate in the collection because they were in such a bad place financially.

Yet, out of an abundance of joy, the Macedonian churches begged for an opportunity to give because they were so aware of all Christ had done for them.

The God who calls us to give calls us to give with joy.

Because we are giving joyfully, that also means our hearts will be...

2) Generous.

I know we keep using this word, but it is crystal clear in this text.

Look back at verse 2.

When these folks gave, it wasn’t that they just scrounged together what they could find between the couch cushions.

Isn’t that an awesome phrase, “in a wealth of generosity?”

Their generosity was above and beyond what Paul and his associates could have asked.

Perhaps they were able to empathize with the church in Jerusalem because they were enduring the same kind of persecution.

Regardless, their generosity demonstrated confidence that God would take care of them when they need it.

In fact, Paul points that out later in this chapter. Go down to verses 13-15.

Here is how Life Action Ministries puts that:

“I need to learn to give today out of my abundance (or supply) to meet the needs of others, believing that tomorrow, if I have a need, God will use the abundance of others to meet my need.”

The Macedonian Christians had that understanding, so they gave out of their supply, trusting that God would meet their needs when the time was right.

It is generous people trusting a generous God to meet their needs.

Is your giving that generous, or is your heart stingy when it comes to sacrificing for others?

Remember, though, that generosity isn’t defined by the dollar amount of what you put in the basket or give online.

We see clearly that our giving is also to be...

3) Proportional.

Look at verse 3.

Their giving was proportional to their ability.

Let me ask you a straightforward question this morning: When we take up the offering in a few minutes, if a person put $100 in the basket, and another put in $1000, who gave more?

The math on that one is pretty easy, right? $1000 is bigger than $100.

However, God’s math is different.

In Matt’s message last week, he reminded us that God owns everything.

We even looked at Psalm 50:10, where God reminds us that every animal in the world belongs to him, so he doesn’t need our offerings.

Matt reminded us that regardless of how much time, talent, or treasure God has given us to steward, we all have a “first and best” that we can give.

That’s what makes God’s math different than ours.

Yes, financially speaking, our church’s bank account increases more with the $1000 gift than the $100, but it may very well be that the $100 was a much greater sacrifice than the $1000, so it was the greater gift.

The smaller gift may have demonstrated greater faith and generosity than the larger gift.

Jesus highlighted that exact scenario with his disciples one day:

Mark 12:41–44 CSB

Sitting across from the temple treasury, he watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little. Summoning his disciples, he said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had—all she had to live on.”

In God’s eyes, the greatest gift is the one that most clearly demonstrates a generous heart that is surrendered to him.

The widow gave 100% of what she needed to live off, and even though it was of less economic value than what others gave, it was a genuine expression of generosity, love, and trust in the Lord.

Your gift matters, not because of the dollar amount, but because you gave it out of a heart of obedience to God’s leading, honoring him with a gift that matched your ability.

Paul addresses this principle again later in the chapter.

Look down at verse 12.

The gift is based off what you have, not what you don’t!

Be faithful to give what you can right now, even if you don’t feel like it is much.

By doing so, you have the blessing of obeying God and honoring him with an act of faith and trust that others with more resources may never experience.

God’s economy is so much different than ours!

When a gift of pennies is more than a gift of thousands, you know something has to be different than normal!

That speaks to the final aspect of giving we want to look at this morning. Our giving should be...

4) Ordered.

When I say, “ordered”, here, I am not simply meaning “commanded”.

God does definitely command us to give, but that isn’t what we are focusing on here.

Instead, I am using “ordered” in the sense of having the right priorities, or in the right order.

Notice the order that the Macedonian believers used when they gave (verse 5).

“They gave themselves first to the Lord.”

Here again is one of the main principles we talked about last week.

God wants your heart before he wants your gifts, but the way you use your money provides a window into what is going on in your heart.

At one point in the Old Testament, God’s people had gotten away from him, and they were going to be judged for it. God called to them through the prophet Joel and said,

Joel 2:12–13 CSB

Even now— this is the Lord’s declaration— turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and he relents from sending disaster.

God wants you before he wants anything else.

You see, by nature, all of our hearts are turned inward and focused on ourselves.

Our selfishness and pride causes us to be guilty before God and owe him a debt we could never repay.

Remember what Paul says in 2 Cor 8:9?

2 Corinthians 8:9 CSB

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

In spite of our selfishness and sin, Jesus left the glory of heaven, took on human flesh, walked among us, taught and performed miracles, and ultimately died on a cross to pay the penalty for my sin.

He rose from the grave three days later, and now he generously offers to give us his life in exchange for our brokenness and sin.

He wants you to turn from trying to make life work on your own to letting him lead, guide, and provide for you.

The only proper response for us, in light of his generosity, is to give ourselves completely to him.

That’s the first thing you must give this morning: yourself!

As you come to understand who this incredible God is who calls you to himself, you should grow in joy and generosity with your time, your talents, and your treasures.

Like the Macedonians, your joy should be abundant and you should overflow with generosity even if you find yourselves in extreme poverty.

Have you surrendered to him today? If not, that’s where you start.

If you know Jesus has saved you, though, are you being generous with your time, your talents, and your treasures in the same way God has been generous with you?

Why not ask God to remind you of his generosity and help you share that same generosity with others through the way you spend your time, your talents, and your treasures? Ask him to give you the same grace he gave the Macedonians that allows you to joyfully trust him with everything you have.

In just a minute, we are going to have an opportunity to respond in obedience, giving generously as God has given generously to us.

Our ushers will be coming forward to receive our regular tithes and offerings. You can also give in the Church Center app or online using the links on the screen behind me.

As you give, let it be from a heart that is demonstrating your devotion to Christ by returning to him what is rightfully his anyway.

As you hear about opportunities to be generous with your time, your talents, and your treasures, respond with a generosity that copies the generosity God has shown you.

Let’s pray, and then let’s respond as generous people who serve a generous God.