Abundance

God is Generous And So Are His People!

8.1.21 [2 Corinthians 9:6-15] River of Life (10th Sunday after Pentecost)

Desperate times they say call for desperate measures. Amerigo Bonasera came to appreciate why they say that. His daughter had been badly beaten by two young men whose advances she had spurned. She was hospitalized and her father, Bonasera, was furious. He went to the police. They arrested both of the young men. They were convicted. Sentenced to three years, even. But then the judge suspended their sentences. These young men were connected. Their parents were powerful people. Bonasera was desperate.

So he went to the Don. Don Vito Corleone. Bonasera came seeking “justice” he said. Name your price, Bonasera offered. But the Don could not be bought. So he told Bonasera, You come to me seeking justice. “But you don’t ask with respect. You don’t offer friendship. You don’t even think to call me ‘Godfather’. You come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married and you ask me to do murder—for money.”

Eventually, the humbled Bonasera begs Don Corleone to be his friend. The Don agrees, with one chilling caveat: “Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, consider this justice a gift on my daughter's wedding day.”

In this opening scene of the classic film, The Godfather, we see a desperate man seeking out something that money can’t buy. But the powerful figure, the Godfather, grants his request, a measure of justice for his daughter, with a condition. “Someday, I will call upon you to do a service for me.” When that day or what that service would be, Bonasera could have had no idea. But when that day came, and when that service was demanded, there was no room for negotiations. Bonasera was indebted to the Godfather.

Perhaps that’s how we feel when it comes to our relationship with God our Father. We know what he has done for us. We know how he sacrificed his one and only Son for our sins. We know he has spared us the eternal punishment that our sins deserve. We know he paid our debt. And now we’re just bracing ourselves for that call.

If that kind of thinking is rattling around anywhere in your mind or even you subconscious, it will skew everything God has to say to us in 2 Corinthians 9, where God calls us to be generous givers. In fact, if we view our God as even a little like Don Vito Corleone, we are robbing ourselves of an incredibly rich and rewarding opportunity. And we’re missing the point. Because Paul is painstaking in his explanation of why we are to be generous people. Christians are generous givers, not because they owe God, but because they are of God. And the Lord our God is generous God.

Paul knew the congregation at Corinth well. He had served in their midst for a year and a half—quite a long time for a man who typically traveled from city to city starting new churches. This was the fourth letter he had written to this group of believers. He knew their strengths and he knew their struggles. He loved them enough to encourage them in some areas and correct and rebuke them in others.

But he also knew of (2 Cor. 9:2) their eagerness to help the people of Judea and Jerusalem. The people of Jerusalem were struggling. The Corinthians were eager to help. Paul was so impressed by their eagerness that he used them as an example for the Macedonians. The eagerness of the Corinthians moved the Macedonians to be generous, too. So Paul wanted to encourage their eagerness as final arrangements were being made for their generous gift.

Why did the Holy Spirit inspire Paul to address this matter? God knows our human nature. As the time approached to pull the trigger on generosity, Paul recognized how the devil, the world, and the sinful flesh would work in harmony to prevent this from happening. Good intentions don’t always get acted upon—as we all well-know. So Paul points out how the goals of the sower guide his actions. (2 Cor. 9:6) The one who sows sparingly will reap sparingly. The one who sows generously will also reap generously. The sower knows that the goal isn’t to leave the field with a pocket-full of extra seeds. He wants a bountiful harvest. But in order to reap a bountiful harvest, he’s got to let the seed fly. He has to release control of what he has. In fact, the seed even has to disappear from his view to accomplish its purpose and his goal.

No one thinks an empty handed sower is foolish. The sower who understands what he’s got in this seed—this is a blessing that can blossom into even greater blessings—that one sows generously and cheerfully waits for the harvest. God’s point is obvious, even if you don’t have a green thumb. Be as generous in your giving as a sower is when he plants seed in his field. Easier said than done, right?

And God knows this about us. He knows it is our inclination—despite its utter foolishness—to sow sparingly. The way that the Holy Spirit inspired this simple truism is rich and rewarding for us. Notice, Paul does not say The one who sows a little gets a little. He says (2 Cor. 9:6) sparingly. That’s our first indication that what God is concerned with is more about our attitudes than our visible actions. That’s also why he says (2 Cor. 9:7) God loves a cheerful giver.

So what does it mean to sow or give sparingly? Proverbs 13:24 is helpful. Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them. Consider why a parent might want to spare the rod. In the moment, it pains a parent to punish their child, even if we aren’t talking corporal punishment. It’s hard to to tell your kids “No!” sometimes. It’s hard to follow through on discipline. It’s far easier to give in. To defer or dismiss grounding your rebellious teenager because it’s prom this weekend. Throw a tablet under a fussy first-grader’s nose so they stop throwing a hissy fit in the backseat.

Why do parents do this? In the moment it feels like love, right? They aren’t consciously saying I don’t care about my kid. But their short-sighted view of love is clouding their understanding of the future. To instruct your kid is to invest in your kid. Discipline is a costly and generous gift. Because you are telling someone you love them enough to make you and them unhappy for a little while so that they can reap a greater reward later. Don’t you see the parallels between planting seeds and parenting?

Parents spare the rod because they overvalue happiness, right now. Christians sow sparingly because they overvalue what current material goods can do for them, right now—and in the future, too.

When we are called to give generously to meet the needs of others, it is amazing how quickly each of us can come up with excuses and fine-sounding reasons not to do so. I would love to, but then I won’t have enough for my own needs. I would love to, but won’t people take advantage of my generosity? I would love to, but wouldn’t I run the risk of encouraging some bad behavior? I would love to, but how do I know it will be used correctly?

And that’s just what we say out-loud. Sometimes, we are stingy because of our pettiness, our vindictiveness, or our arrogance. People should just work harder, then they wouldn’t be in need we tell ourselves. There are lots of other people who could be doing a lot more. Why do they keep bothering me with these problems? So and so organization spends too much on pointless projects and inessential items. Why should I enable them? They didn’t seem to appreciate the last time I did something for them, so they’re on their own now!

It’s not that there isn’t any truth to any of these statements. But it’s posturing. Here’s how we can recognize the deceptiveness of our own hearts. When opportunities for generosity present themselves, do we find ourselves—almost instinctively—nitpicking and finding fault? Instead of casting stones, we should be casting a wider net. Maybe some of our criticism have merit. What are we doing to address them? Maybe those in need have created these problems for themselves. Have we offered to help them address their root issues? Or are we content to walk away having identified the speck in their eyes?

What would this world look like if God were as stingy and tight-fisted as we can be? How much different would our own lives be if God simply told us we needed to work harder, to make less bad choices, or that our priorities don’t align perfectly with his so he’s going to refuse to help us? How many blessings in our lives don’t we respond like (Lk. 17:17) the other nine lepers whom Jesus healed? Time and again, we are either too busy, too forgetful, or too conceited to return thanking and praising God for all he has done for us. (1 Cor. 4:7) What do we have that we did not receive as a gift? Everything we have, (James 1:17) every good and perfect gift, has come from above, from the Father of the heavenly lights, who is merciful and gracious. He loves to give good gifts to his children.

God is nothing like Don Corleone. He does not do what we ask and then demand some yet-to-be-determined service later. The Lord our God is generous and open-handed. He never makes Godfather offers. Rather God our heavenly Father offered up his one and only Son, and everything we need for body and life too.

That’s the beauty of this section of Scripture. It’s not that God says I love cheerful givers so…if you want to be loved by me, be a cheerful giver. Rather God loves cheerful givers because that is his nature—to be a cheerful giver. Remember what he gave us. (Jn. 3:16) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. At Jesus’ baptism and his transfiguration, God, our heavenly Father, broadcasts his feelings. (Mt. 3:17; 17:5) This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased. God the Father has given you his very best, his most precious Prince, so that you might be purchased and won from all your sins, from death, and from the power of the devil.

You know the extravagant love of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 8:9) Though he was rich in righteousness—he never sinned at any time or in any situation; even Pontius Pilate acknowledged he was a good and upright man--for our sake he became impoverished. He was treated as a scoundrel, a wicked man. Shamefully stripped and whipped. Painfully executed in public. Gawkers and mockers had a field day as he shed his holy, priceless blood so that we all might be his own.

Our redemption was (Ps. 49:8) costly. Gold and silver could not even sniff its price tag. Only God could ransom our lives. And he did! Gladly! Because he is generous. Gracious. God’s was overjoyed to make this sacrifice. (Heb. 12:2) The Father generously cast his own Son into the grave because he was eager to reap the bountiful harvest of redeemed sinners.(Jn. 12:23-24) This is God’s greatest glory.

(2 Cor. 9:9) He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, those who (Mt. 5:6) hunger and thirst for his righteousness, and now (2 Cor. 9:9) his righteousness endures forever. Christ’s righteousness creates and motivates our life of righteousness. Christ’s righteousness creates in us a new heart, an upright spirit, and a radically regenerated attitude towards and practice of generosity.

Because God did not spare his one and only Son—because Christ has graciously given us his very life—we need not be paralyzed by fear, worry, or anxiety when we are given opportunities to be generous. Every single thing we have that is worth anything was first, a gift from the Lord our God. He takes no joy in strong-arming us into being generous. God is after (2 Cor. 9:7) your heart. That’s why he sent his Son. To win your heart. And that is why he has given you his Holy Spirit, to conform your heart to reflect him more and more. God is generous, so God’s people are too. God is jazzed about being big-hearted and open-handed, so God’s people rejoice in moments when they can put God’s big-hearted, open-handed nature into action.

And look at how God encourages us along the way. Our struggles are not new. The Corinthians likely had all kinds of fears and concerns about pulling the trigger on generosity.

If we give generously, how do we know it will accomplish what we’re hoping it will? God will see to it. God will (2 Cor. 9:10) enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. (2 Cor. 9:12) This service that you perform is supplying the needs of God’s people.

If we give generously, won’t others expect us to do the same for them? No. In fact, when other people hear about it, it will (2 Cor. 9:12) overflow in expressions of thanks to God. Your fellow Christians will recognize this as a fruit of faith. (2 Cor. 9:13) Men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the Gospel of Christ. They will know this is a result of (2 Cor. 9:14) the surpassing grace that God has given you. (2 Cor. 9:2) Your enthusiasm will stir them to action.

If we give generously, who will take care of us? God will. (2 Cor. 9:8) God is able to make all his grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Do you really think the same God who gave you his one and only Son is going to leave you twisting in the wind? No. (2 Cor. 9:11) Rather you will be made rich in every way, so that you can be generous on every occasion. The same Lord who has blessed you with everything you needed to be generous now, will keep you in his tender care.

The Lord our God has done that in our own midst. We don’t have to look to Corinth to see God’s generosity at work. Look at what he has done for your souls. Look at what he had done for your congregation. These past many months have been very hard on many people—including God’s people. But, by God’s grace, we have been carried through a pandemic that surpasses anything any of us would have thought or imagined. More than that, you have been moved to be generous. Offerings that could not be placed in the plate found their way to our P.O. Box.

In fact, God has cheerfully blessed us with more than just survival through these difficult times. Back in January of this year, people from this congregation cheerfully considered what our congregation could be and do to the glory of God. We decided it was important for our work to have a facility that could support God’s ministry. We hoped to buy land and build a church and maybe even an early childhood education facility. We recognized that a plan like this would come at a hefty price-tag. Buying land, building a church and preschool is likely a 2 or 3 million dollar capital project.

How can a group our size manage that? We have a God made his grace abound to us. Children of our heavenly Father cheerfully made generous gifts in an effort to enlarge the harvest of righteousness here in the West Valley. In the past few months, property has been donated to our congregation so that it could be sold and the proceeds would flow into our expansion fund.

There, alongside other cheerful gifts, God has blessed us with over $400,000. Thanks be to God for these gifts! Praise God for the generosity of his children.

And that generosity has stirred more of God’s people to action. As a mission congregation, we exist because our WELS brothers and sisters love and support us as the Corinthian Christians did for those in Jerusalem. We are a beneficiary of so much of God’s love. And God has also seen fit to bless us more. Our synod’s has an organization called the Church Extension Fund that offers matching exceedingly generous grants for land and construction costs. As it stands right now, we could receive grants, gracious gifts we would not have to repay, of another half-a-million dollars. Why? Because God is generous and so are God’s people. Christians are generous givers, not because they owe God, but because they are of God. And the Lord our God is generous God. Thanks be to God for all these gifts and the indescribable gift he has given us in his Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.