Practical Generosity
Living Generously • Sermon • Submitted
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Where will you invest?
Where will you invest?
Bit coin craze, stock market, mutual funds, 401K accounts.
The idea of investing is all around us, and it is wise to invest in order to prepare for later in life, provide for you family, and your needs.
But we have been talking about investing in a greater purpose and I want to talk practically today about giving.
19 “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
That is a great passage to preach, but what does it look like practically for us to live generously in regards to the Kingdom of God?
Lets look at 2 Corinthians 9 for direction.
2 Corinthians 9 (CSB)
1 Now concerning the ministry to the saints, it is unnecessary for me to write to you. 2 For I know your eagerness, and I boast about you to the Macedonians, “Achaia has been ready since last year,” and your zeal has stirred up most of them.
3 But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you in this matter would not prove empty, and so that you would be ready just as I said. 4 Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to mention you, would be put to shame in that situation.
5 Therefore I considered it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance the generous gift you promised, so that it will be ready as a gift and not as an extortion. 6 The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.
7 Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.
9 As it is written: He distributed freely; he gave to the poor; his righteousness endures forever. 10 Now the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
11 You will be enriched in every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.
13 Because of the proof provided by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone. 14 And as they pray on your behalf, they will have deep affection for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
1) GOSPEL-MOTIVATED
1) GOSPEL-MOTIVATED
1 Now concerning the ministry to the saints, it is unnecessary for me to write to you. 2 For I know your eagerness, and I boast about you to the Macedonians, “Achaia has been ready since last year,” and your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you in this matter would not prove empty, and so that you would be ready just as I said. 4 Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to mention you, would be put to shame in that situation. 5 Therefore I considered it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance the generous gift you promised, so that it will be ready as a gift and not as an extortion.
Paul here is referring back to what he said in the previous chapter about the zeal of the church in Macedonia for giving to the church in Jerusalem.
They were in severe poverty and yet they desired to give out of the overflow of their faith in Jesus.
Paul was encouraging the Corinthians to follow their example out of a response to Jesus:
9 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 grounding the motivation for generosity not on a command or obligation, but on the Gospel.
Genuine generosity flows from a heart that is shaped by the wonder and beauty of the cross.
On the cross we see God pour Himself out on our behalf, acquiring for us a salvation that we could never earn and sealing for us an inheritance that do not deserve.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Practically speaking, if we have experienced the generosity of God in Christ, how can we not be generous with all that He has blessed us with?
There is a transformation of our souls when the grace and mercy of God is freely lavished upon us in Jesus Christ.
As we experience the generosity of God, we become FREE to be generous ourselves.
2) INTENTIONALLY BOUNTIFUL
2) INTENTIONALLY BOUNTIFUL
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Now Paul uses a farming analogy to explain how we ought to think about giving.
I am not much of a farmer, but I do know that a farmer to is hesitant about sowing seed on a field likely shouldn’t expect a bumper crop at harvest.
A farmer will sow bountifully or generously knowing that he is giving the chance for a much greater harvest.
The word “sparingly” is an important word to focus on. We hear is used in different contexts:
“Spare my life.” means don’t take it from me, let me keep it.
“Spare no expense” means to not hold back anything, give everything you can.
“Spare me the details” means get to the point, spare all the extra parts of the story.
This is not a promise that God will give you riches if you give a lot of money. It is a calling to not hold back from God.
Sow Bountifully!
Invest bountifully in the God who gives bountifully, who love bountifully.
And expect that that investment will reap a great harvest.
Consider the things that cause you to hold back, to give sparingly.
Fear, greed, the desire for better and bigger stuff, misplaced hope, misplaced priorities.
Romans 8:32 (ESV)
32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
God did not hold back His own son.
3) THOUGHTFULLY DECIDED
3) THOUGHTFULLY DECIDED
2 Corinthians 9:7 (ESV)
7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart,
You won’t find a specific dollar value or percentage in the New Testament of how much we are to give.
10% comes from the OT as the people were told to give 10% of their first fruits to God as their offering.
There is wisdom in putting a value on the amount we are to give and 10% is a very good number for us to use (it is easy to calculate and often represents a number that pushes us out of our comfort zone).
But Paul’s direction here is to decide in your heart what to give.
It might sound somewhat simplistic “Crunch the numbers and figure out how much you want to give.”
But that isn’t what Paul is saying.
The decision of how much to give in church, or to an organization, or a cause you care about isn’t something to take lightly, but something to intentionally, thoughtfully, and, most importantly, prayerfully decide.
There is an implication here that we are deciding where all our money goes with intentional, thoughtful, and prayerful focus.
Making a budget and being organized with our spending is essential if we desire to live generous lives.
If our money is directed at credit card bills, car payment, and TV subscriptions, we aren’t going to be free to give and serve the needs of others.
Plus we will be salves to our toys and our appetites.
Practically speaking, Paul is teaching us to be thoughtful and prayerful with our money, especially in our generosity.
4) CHEERFULLY LIBERATING
4) CHEERFULLY LIBERATING
7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
The decision to give just that, a decision not an obligation.
That is dangerous as a pastor because it sounds like I just said we do not have to give and in a sense I did.
but what Paul is saying here is Cheerfulness is the posture of a God-honoring giver.
Giving should not come from a heart that feels obligated to give out of guilt or in and effort to appease God or others.
Likewise, giving should not come from a heart that is reluctant or begrudging.
“God loves a cheerful giver” means that God desires us to give from liberated hearts that find joy in sacrificially serving and satisfying the needs of others at our own expense.
Practically speaking, don’t stop giving or not start giving because you might not do it cheerfully.
Instead pray and ask God to reveal why you are struggling to give freely and be cheerful in it.
5) EARNESTLY EXPECTANT
5) EARNESTLY EXPECTANT
Our motivation to give is not to get, meaning we should not give with the expectation that God will grant us all our earthly desires and make our path straight and easy.
But we are to give expectantly.
Expecting that God will supply us with plenty for our needs.
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.
The word that is translated “having all you need” also means contentment.
He is saying that God will provide you with all you NEED to find contentment in what you have in order that you continue to remain free to give.
We are to give expecting knowing that the one who gave us all we have will continue to provide for us more to give.
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.
Giving connects us to the ministry of the Kingdom of God.
We are investing in the things that are close to the heart of God.
We are joining Him in the mission of making disciples.
We are a part of life change, salvation, and transformation.
We are a part of bring His Kingdom to earth.
13 As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. 14 And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you. 15 Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!
The fruit of our faithful giving is the three we baptized this morning.
It is the 30 or so students that gather here on Wednesday nights
The kids across the street and upstairs
The marriages we are able to speak into and the families we are able to reach.
The churches we are able to help plant and the people groups we are able to send missionaries into.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
May we be a people to sow bountifully so that we might experience the goodness of our God and the joy that comes in seeing His kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven.