11.03.2019 Cheerful Giving
Immeasurably More - Cheerful Giving • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 16:16
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When you were following the readings, did you catch the context of 2 Corinthians 8? Knowing the circumstances of these Macedonian Christians makes this a narrative even more inspiring. This remarkable text is full of seeming contradictions or opposites.
In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy
their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.
First note, Nothing can shake the joy of the generous! Hard times cannot shake the joy of the generous. Extreme poverty doesn’t stop them.
Generosity flows from a heart of self-sacrifice not self-preservation.
A generosity that begins with the grace of God.
We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia,
When the grace of God is received, hearts are moved them in extraordinary ways. Verse 5,
And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.
Their giving went beyond what was reasonable.
Giving (that pleases God) always begins with the source - God. And understands that all of life is a gift from the Giver, God.
Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.
Our lives begin because of God. All that we are and all that have comes from the hand of God. The universe, the world in which we live, all find their source in God.
For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.
When you were a young child you gave little or no thought at all to where stuff came from. You were simply provided for. Right? Food, shelter, clothes, and all this stuff of life, came from others. If you were taught from the very beginnings of your life that everything came from God that is what you believed. But there is a tendency, that the older we get, and the more of the stuff of life we manage in life, the less we believe that everything comes from the hand God. Here is Paul’s reminder to every life:
For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.
The stuff of this life is temporary. And at some point everything that is placed in our hands to manage will be given to others, WHICH Jesus reminds in a parable:
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
The motivation of giving (that pleases God) is not to give to get, but giving that begins with God, flows from His joy, as we trust in Him.
“God loves a cheerful giver.” The Greek and Latin words are “hilarious” – a “hilarious” giver – not a word we usually associate with the offering, although those who have visited churches in other cultures have seen people in an offertory procession joyfully dancing to the altar with their gifts of money or food for the poor. Our culture might be more inclined towards the bumper sticker that says, “God loves a cheerful giver … but He will also accept gifts from a grouch!”
What was important for Paul, however, in the offering he was taking for the saints in Jerusalem, was that he didn’t want gifts from a grouch. The gifts he sought were not under compulsion, but from cheerful givers. The reason for such cheerfulness was the “grace” that God had given to them, God’s free gift of life, hope, forgiveness of sins, and salvation in Jesus Christ their Lord.
The word “cheerful” has always had an association with a person’s countenance or “face.” We usually identify a cheerful person – or a grouch – by the look on their face. What is important to understand is that a cheerful face is driven by a grateful heart. Only people who are truly thankful on the inside will show true joy on the outside. Likewise, cheerful, generous giving can only happen when it is motivated by the heart. “Each one,” writes Paul, “should give what they have decided IN THEIR HEART, not reluctantly or under compulsion.”
Giving that pleases God comes from Grace, not the law
Paul lifts up the example of the Macedonians as people who were filled with eagerness, generosity and joy – people who were cheerful givers. The motivation for that cheerful giving, he says, comes from the grace of God.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
Paul is not talking about money here. It is pretty clear that the Macedonians did not have much money. What they did have was life, joy, hope, salvation, meaning, purpose and a direction in life. And in gratitude for that, they were willing, yes, even eager, to give everything they had for the sake of the gospel.
We at Faith Lutheran Church and School celebrate a vibrant ministry and the potential for expansion of that ministry during this “ONE Mission…Forward in Faith” campaign.
In May of 2018 we set goals to expand our church and school. At the time we realized that our efforts to connecting more people to Jesus requires our time, talents and treasures. It requires our time to share our faith with people. It requires our talents to serve others in need drawing them to Christ and His church. And it requires our treasures to resource our work together.
One Mission…Forward in Faith will enable us to connect more people to Jesus. Now, none of our ministries happen because somebody demanded participation in them. It doesn’t work simply to say “be grateful”. You cannot make up gratitude. Either you are thankful or you are not. Our ministries are all developed and sustained by people who have grateful hearts. In response to the message of the cross, ordinary people who give incredible amounts of time, energy and resources to do extraordinary things. The budget to sustain our ministry every year is well over $2.2 million dollars. The coming year will require our generous support because is still God calling us to expand our ministry.
What gets in the way of cheerful and generous giving? Fear. Perhaps it is the time we live in which has hardened many hearts. Worried about our present and even more about our future, frustrated by people in the public eye misusing our trust, fearful about terrorists who want to kill us, and an environment that we are destroying, many individuals have closed their hearts. They don’t want to hear about giving because they are afraid they won’t have enough for themselves. Even if they want to “let go,” their mind screams “hold on.” Logic and reason carefully shield the heart, but the result is a general hollowness inside.
But the good news of God’s generosity that alone can open our heart, the astounding news that in Jesus Christ, we are both accepted and valued in the eyes of God. God’s generosity to us in Jesus gives us the chance to live a life filled with confidence now and hope for eternity that changes everything.
Likewise the ministry of Faith Lutheran will continue to be a living breathing witness to Christ’s love as long as we allow our hearts to be filled with gratitude. Each time we realize that the gospel has something to say to both our living and dying, it becomes personal. Each time we sense that “Christ died for me,” our heart is open a little more and as our heart is opened so also our life. We live as did the Macedonians with confidence, joy, humor and grace, giving generously of all that we are and have.
AS we make our decisions regarding our commitment to One Mission…Forward in Faith campaign we need to bear in our minds and hearts these words of Paul from 2 Corinthians 8 & 9.
Let’s pray: God our Father, the giver of life and of every good and perfect gift. Give us the same measure of grace you poured upon the Macedonians that, like them, we may know, believe and act as people who have received and believe in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose poverty has made us rich in faith and heirs of Christ’s kingdom. Inspire and direct our hearts as we prayerfully consider our part in One Mission…Forward in Faith that we who have become rich, may be generous for the sake of the Gospel, for Jesus sake. Amen.