The Grace of Giving

The Grace of Giving Selected Scriptures February 28, 2010 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction This morning I want to talk about money and giving. It’s appropriate that I do for a number of reasons. First, Jesus did a lot of talking about money and giving. Of His 38 parables in the new Testament, 16 of them dealt with personal finances and stewardship. That’s 42%. Some in church get a little edgy of the pastor teaches on stewardship in one out of every ten sermons. Imagine if it was four out of ten! Biblical teaching at large includes some 500 verses on faith, about 500 verses on prayer, and over 2,000 verses on our stewardship of money. Some folks complain that “all the church ever talks about is money!” Probably because that person has attended worship only four times that year and just happened to show up every time giving was the subject. There are three individuals who are extremely interested in your money: You, God and the Devil. One of those three knows you should give more faithfully, One knows you could give more faithfully and urges you to do so, and one is doing everything he can to keep you from it. Why? Because he doesn’t mind you serving God, as long as that god is money, and he knows the worst thing you can do to remain miserable is to give generously. (‘Ever notice how miser and miserable are from the same root?) The other reason I’m talking about money this morning is we were supposed to have a guest speak this morning—Tony Jenkins, who is a “Timothy” of this ministry. Let me report to those who know and love Tony, he is doing well, as are his wife Cassia, and their beautiful new baby girl, Katie Mae. He is between ministries right now and needed to follow up on an opportunity today, so he asked to be excused. That happened on Thursday and I had to choose between just going ahead with our Philippians series or doing something else. That leads to my third reason for preaching on money and giving: we need it! For decades it has been my sincere desire to never have to preach a stewardship sermon in a time of financial need for the church, but rather to bring instruction on giving during times when there was no pressure. For the first time in 37 years I am bringing a Word on stewardship to a church family who this month is not able to stay ahead of its bills. But truth is truth, whether you’re prosperous or penniless, and here we go: four key principles concerning the Grace of Giving. 1. The Christian’s giving demonstrates his love & gratitude In his second letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul writes concerning a special offering that is being raised to help the less fortunate Christians back in Jerusalem. In that context, at 8:9, he says, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. It’s a bit like the offering we recently took for those in Haiti. Then, early in the next chapter, he moves from the particular offering to the broader principle of giving. Remember this: 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. It is not properly the job of the Christian teacher to cajole or engage in anything even approaching coercion when talking with fellow believers about giving sacrificially. There’s a lot of garbage that goes on in that realm, and you will not find it here, as long as I can help it. If cheerful generosity and voluntary giving does not rise from the Christians’ inner spiritual motivation, I don’t want to replace it with external guilt tactics and manipulation. Never let what is pure be ruined by impure motives. At the same time, I cannot shrink from either of the two responsibilities I have as pastor-teacher among you. One is to teach and preach the whole counsel of God, including financial stewardship. If the Word of God calls believers to give 25% of their income, before taxes, and they must give it in cash, then I’m going to encourage you to give 25% of your pre-tax income in cash. It doesn’t say that—and so neither do I. But the Word does admonish the Christian to give generously, regularly, sacrificially and cheerfully. Not only that, the Word admonishes me to teach you to do that. The second responsibility I have as pastor, along with the elders and those whos responsibly is to handle the finances of this church, is to let you know when there is a problem or decisions to be made, and to faithfully and prayerfully move to fix the problems. When it involves the giving of the body of Christ, you will hear about it. As a Christ-follower, my generous, regular, sacrificial and cheerful giving should rise out of my deep love and gratitude for Christ and what He has done for me in His grace. If it comes from any lesser motive it is not worthy of Him. Consider just one more passage from this letter, at 5:14-15 – For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefor all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again. Kurt Warner started a family tradition with his wife and seven children: the Restaurant Game. Each night before he would leave for a road game they would go out for dinner. One of the children would have the job of scanning the restaurant and picking one table. Then Kurt would ask the waiter to add that table’s dinner check to his own—all anonymously. The idea came to him when he was reflecting on how Kurt used to work on the night shift as a grocery store and they only had food stamps to feed their family. Giving is now a joyful family tradition, remembering how God has blessed them through football. Where would you be without Christ? Remember, give. 2. The Christian’s giving is his expression of worship to God So, the Christian’s giving is a demonstration of his love and gratitude for God and what God has done for us in Christ. But it is also the expression of our worship to God. I hope you under- stand, the way you think, speak and act in every aspect of life is your worship. It is you offering your life as an ongoing spiritual sacrifice and your reasonable worship, according to Romans 12:1. Paul wrote to the Philippian church to thank them for sending their offerings to him, which were actually their support for him. He said of those gifts in Philippians 4:18, They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. Then he added, And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. There’s a promise I can live with! And regularly God makes such promises of security and prosperity to those who give proper gifts to the kingdom work with proper motives. It isn’t just “an offering,” it’s worship. As much as any sermon you listen to, any song you sing on Sunday morning, as much as your sincere prayers to Him early in the morning, as much as your pious, devotional moments at the Lord’s Table, giving is worship. Do you want to know what most convinces me that giving is worship? Back in 2 Corinthians 8:5, Paul was commending the very poor, lower-class believers in Macedonia, as those who gave “out of severe trial, yet their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.” He said of these paramount examples of Christian giving: And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will. You can’t masquerade that kind of worship as anything less. They gave themselves first to the Lord. Brothers and sisters, before you enter this auditorium, or any other church building for a worship service, give yourself first to the Lord, and you will make that act worship. Before you sing the first note of a solemn hymn, give yourself first to the Lord, and that song will be worship. Before you bring bread and cup to your lips, give yourself first to the Lord, and that communion will be worship. nd before you give your offerings to the Lord, give yourself first to Him, and it will be worship. 3. The Christian’s giving testifies of God’s grace in his life Our financial stewardship is a demonstration of our love and gratitude before God; it is even an expression of our worship to God; but it is also our testimony to others of God’s grace in our lives. When Christian people get serious about honoring God instead of being greedy, selfish and carnal, the wicked, watching world takes notice. It is never our goal to show off or become proud and ostentatious about our generosity, but I guarantee you that if you will give faithfully, generously, sacrificially and cheerfully, others will find out about it. And when they do, because the rest of the world is so tight and egomaniacal and self-serving, you will stand out like a giraffe among snakes. And the Word of God says, they will see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. God will brag! That’s why I know that God will make sure they know. Did you know that God sees you as His trophy and the church as His trophy case? Ephesians 2:10 says exactly that. And when you do the good works He ordained you to do (like faithful, generous, sacrificial and cheerful giving), He will brag on you, His child in Christ, and He will be glorified among men. The earliest Christians, in First Community Church of Jerusalem, were that way (and it didn’t take them 20 years to become good stewards—they were all new converts!). Acts 4 tells us the new Christians shared everything they had. And the result was: There were no needy persons among them. They brought their offerings and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. Listen, every need was met! When pagan historians recorded notes about the Christians, all they could say was, “Behold, how they love!” When Paul wrote to the Corinthians about giving, he said, “Your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” (2 Cor. 9:12-13) He went on: This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else." I want to be a Christian of that kind of character! One whose faith has been proven through faithful giving. I want to honor Christ by accompanying my confession of faith with obedience, and generosity in sharing. And, I want to live among a people like that—godly servants of Christ whose giving is dependably faithful, generous, sacrificial and cheerful. 4. The Christian’s giving proclaims the radical truth that everything is the Lord’s. Our Christian giving: •  Demonstrates our love and gratitude as disciples of Jesus, •  It becomes the expression of our worship to God •  It testifies to others of God’s grace in our lives to His glory, •  It proclaims the radical truth that everything is the Lord’s I call this a “radical truth,” because it is the one core belief of the Christian steward that is so pivotal, so crucial, that when it is not believed tenaciously, believers become easy prey for the enemy of our souls. Eat this fundamental truth, and make it part of you, and you will stop falling victim to the allure of materialism and the sensate satisfactions of this world. It is beautifully captured in simple terms in Psalm 24:1 – The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it… Do you understand how counter-cultural that is? It means nothing is mine! What a terrifying statement! It tears at everything in me that longs to earn and own and keep. But it is also a wonderfully healing and freeing statement! Can you imagine living free of the meaningless attachments of this world?       [ Back to Top]