Generous & Grateful!

Life-Changing Generosity Is A Blessing

8.21.22 [2 Corinthians 9:6-15] River of Life (11th Sunday after Pentecost)

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His mercy endures forever.

Few fruits are more synonymous with summer than the watermelon. A juicy, ripe, red watermelon is really quite a treat. God makes so many beautiful things, but a summertime watermelon is something really special. The kid in each of us just wants to take a big slice and start mowing down, but we know from experience that we're just going to stain our shirts. So adults have to eat watermelon in chunks.

A juicy, ripe, red watermelon is designed by God for a summertime treat for kids—with little speed bumps embedded in it. The seeds. You can’t just inhale a slice of watermelon, even if you’re a kid. Because if you eat one of them, some adult is contractually obligated to come up to you and tell you that a watermelon is going to grow in your belly.

Watermelon seeds aren’t great for eating. But they are great for something else. Seed spitting contests. Watermelon contests are the pride of papas and the shame of their mamas from Memorial Day to Labor Day. As a kid, there's something thrilling about spitting watermelon seeds as far as you possibly can. It’s hard to imagine a seed better designed for a spitting contest than a watermelon.

We spit out watermelon seeds because they don’t taste good. They’re inedible. If they did—like in that sherbet dessert roll where they’re chocolate chips—people would eat them, not spit them out.

Watermelon seeds are pretty worthless to most of us. I have never seen anyone sweeping up all the watermelon seeds kids spit out so they can go plant them later in their gardens. You could. But most of us don’t.

A lot of fruit seeds are like that. Inedible. Something we don’t have much use or need for, so we get rid of them. If someone wants them, great!

But that’s not true of all seeds. Grain seeds are totally different from fruit seeds. Grain seeds—things like corn, wheat, and oats—the part you eat and the part you plant overlap. Grains rely on the surrounding kernel for nutrition during germination. With grain you either plant or eat the kernel.

Why bring up the difference between watermelon seeds and grain kernels? 2 Corinthians talks about sowing seeds sparingly & generously as an illustration of how Christians are to approach giving and generosity. It’s a rich and beautiful illustration, but we don’t relate to it as well as they did because most of us buy most of our food, rather than growing it.

That’s not a problem. What is a problem is if our approach towards giving resembles our attitude toward watermelon seeds. It’s easy for us, as people who have been blessed with a lot, to give only when it’s fun and when it’s something we don’t think we need—like watermelon seeds. God wants us to give like the grain sower, recognizing that we could very well use what we have been given for our present desires, but it needs to be planted somewhere else for a future time and another individual.

We all need to hear this. Because it is very easy for us to misunderstand & misapply (2 Cor. 9:7) Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. It is easy for us to hear that and tell ourselves it is our job to evaluate what we have, figure out what we need and what we don’t and give a portion of what we don’t need. Or to think God is telling us to only give when and where it sparks joy. Very often, a portion of what we don’t need is a substantial sum. It moves the needle. It makes a difference. And it makes us feel good, too. Very often giving to spark joy appears generous.

But that approach falls short of God’s standard and we know it. We have little idea of what we really need versus what we just really want. When people travel abroad and see how other people in impoverished places live they often gain a new perspective on their own needs versus wants.

But you don’t have to travel far to realize you don’t really know what you need. Think about the last time you packed for a long trip. How many times have you packed something, dragged it for miles, and never used it once? On the flip side, how many times have you gotten somewhere and found out you didn’t have something you needed? And what happened? You found it in the new location. Or you found out you didn’t really need it that badly,

Trying to subtract "what we need" from what we have to determine what we should think about giving is always going to be a flawed process, because we never really know what we really need. But the Lord does. And his process is much different. (Dt. 8:18) The Lord gives us the ability to produce wealth. So we must ask ourselves this question: How does God want me to use this blessing? Or how can I glorify God through this gift he has given me? Our God (2 Cor. 9:10) supplies seed to the sower AND bread for food. Not one or the other. Both. He uses his blessings to provide for needs now and in the future, here in this place and in far-flung locations.

Determining that everything we have, all our time, all our talents, all our treasures, and all our abilities come from the Lord and are to be used to the glory of God is a frightening thing.

It’s easy to sing Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee. It’s easy to say: (1 Cor. 10:31) Whatever we do, whether we eat or drink we should do it all to the glory of God. But it’s a frightening thing to do!

Can you imagine being that rich young ruler who comes to Jesus asking how to inherit eternal life and Jesus says to you: (Lk 18:22) Sell everything you own. Give it to the poor and follow me! That’s a terrifying level of commitment and sacrifice!

You and I know, that even if we could muster up the courage to do that, we would still not be a cheerful giver. But God has not demanded we do that, although he could. Instead he has done so for us. Remember (2 Cor. 8:9) the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, for your sake and mine, he became poor. Jesus did more than liquidated everything valuable when he left heaven and came to earth as a baby. Jesus grew up in poverty. When Joseph and Mary brought him to the Temple for his presentation, they offered a pair of doves or two young pigeons—an offering in keeping with their meager income. During his ministry, Jesus relied on the gifts of others to make ends meet—and he had a treasurer, Judas, who was stealing from him, too.

Yet, despite his meager financial means, Jesus rejoiced to meet the needs of people as the Lord gifted him. He fed the hungry. He healed the sick. He comforted the grieving. He gave of his time, his talents, and his abilities because he knew that the Lord is good. Jesus wanted others to receive God’s goodness so that they too might (2 Cor. 9:12) overflow with many expressions of thanks to God.

But this is not the only way he became poor for our sakes. If Jesus had surveyed his life and only gave us a portion of what he didn’t need, we would be eternally lost. But God is life-changingly generous.

Jesus had an impeccably righteous reputation—something he had earned through self-discipline & sacrifice, something of great value. He gave that up, when he humbled himself to death on a cross. He donated his priceless perfection to impoverished sinners like us.

Without Christ, we have no righteousness. But God is a cheerful giver, and merciful too. (Jn. 12:24) Jesus is the kernel of wheat that was planted and produces many seeds. Because of Jesus life-giving and life-changing generosity we are blessed with Christ’s righteousness. Because God is a cheerful giver, we are blessed with the opportunity and the ability to (2 Cor. 9:10) enlarge the harvest of our righteousness. That is precisely what God was doing for the Corinthians, here.

Agabus, a lesser known prophet of the Lord, (Acts 11:28) through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine was going to strike the entire Roman empire. That famine hit Judea & Jerusalem especially hard. Paul reminded the Corinthians of their desire to help. He assured them that their gifts were acceptable (2 Cor. 8:12) according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. (2 Cor. 8:13) Paul did not want to see the Corinthians be hard-pressed while others were relieved. But their generous sowing would not only alleviate the suffering in Judea and Jerusalem but also prompt others to praise God for their sacrificial faithfulness. The ability and the opportunity to offer life-changing generosity is a blessing.

And that is a blessing God has given you in your time, your talents, your treasures, and your abilities. Generosity is tangible, never content with mere lip-service or promises about what you will do in the future. We can’t keep giving watermelon seeds when God has given us his very best in his Son. We can't keep giving watermelon seeds when God has given us grain to sow and share. We can’t cling to the grain kernels we have been given to plant. And what a marvelous thing it is when something you have worked at, a field you have worked and toiled in, begins to bear fruit! What a joy!

Everything you have ever had is from the Lord. Everything you have now and everything hope to have is from the Lord. Your time and your loved ones. Your job and your skills. Your income and your material goods.

Martin Luther had a fabulous view on this: He said I have had many things in my hands that I lost. The things I placed in the hands of God I still possess.

The question is not, what is the right percentage to put in the plate? It’s not even which of these gifts will I give to God? The right question to ask is how can I use all these things to his glory? How can I use my very best gifts for the most important work? How can I invest my prime time and energy in enlarging God’s kingdom right here and now? What amount can I give that will show I trust that the Lord will make better use of this than I ever could? Sowing generously is about money, but it is far more than just a financial matter, too.

You do that, parents, when you invest your gifts wisely. God has already enriched you. So do what is necessary to provide for your family’s needs but also set aside sufficient time and energy to feed your family spiritually.

You do that, empty-nesters, when you leverage your blessings shrewdly. God has enriched you, too. Provide for your own needs, but also invest yourself in nurturing and mentoring those who are on the paths you once walked. With your kids moved out of the house, you have more time and energy and money to share with so many in need.

Don’t be content to cut a check, when your time and energy would be much more valuable. Rejoice as the Lord leads those in spiritual need into your life. Do not treat them as a burden, but rather look at them with the joy one might have for an investment property. The Lord is working through you to do something life-changing.

God has also enriched you, older retirees. God has taught you the secret of contentment. Share it generously. God has blessed you with the wisdom that only comes from making mistakes. Distribute it freely. God has blessed you with the powerful tool of prayer. Pray for those who think they are too busy to pray. And tell them you’re praying for them. When we do that, we are freely scattering all God’s gifts and his righteousness endures forever. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. Amen.