A Cheerful
Giver
2 Corinthians 9:1-15
November
12, 2006
1-15
Now it is not necessary for me
to write you about the ministry to the saints, for I know your eagerness,
which is the subject of my boasting about you to the people of Macedonia,
saying that Achaia has been ready since last year; and your zeal has
stirred up most of them. But I am sending the brothers in order that our
boasting about you may not prove to have been empty in this case, so that
you may be ready, as I said you would be; otherwise, if some Macedonians
come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to
say nothing of you—in this undertaking. So I thought it necessary to urge
the brothers to go on ahead to you, and arrange in advance for this
bountiful gift that you have promised, so that it may be ready as a
voluntary gift and not as an extortion.
The point is this: the one who sows sparingly
will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap
bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not
reluctantly or under compulsion, for God
loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to
provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having
enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. As it
is written,
“He scatters abroad, he gives to the
poor; his righteousness endures forever.”
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. You will be enriched in every way for your great
generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God
through us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs
of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to
God. Through the testing of this ministry you
glorify God by your obedience to the
confession of the gospel of Christ and by the
generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, while they long
for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of
God that he has given you. Thanks be to
God for his indescribable gift!
What a marvelous letter sent to the early Church. Paul wanted them to know
that he had been boasting about them to other Christians. He wanted them
to understand that they were the flagship Church in their response to
God’s love as revealed through
Christ. He also wanted to encourage them to
stay the course.
That is the message that still rings true for the church today. The letter
encouraged the early church and it encourages the Church today to stay the
course in its response to God’s love and
grace. Staying the course means to continually stay focused upon the
Master. Staying the course means responding to the Master’s love with our
very beings.
Paul goes to the heart of the matter. He informed the early church that he
had been boasting about their generosity. He also informed them that he
was sending some brothers in the faith to them. The purpose for their
visit was to encourage the church to continue its generosity of giving to
God’s mission and ministry. He let them know
that he did not want them to fall down and be embarrassed by a lack of
giving to God’s mission and ministry. Paul’s
letter was a letter of thanksgiving and a letter of challenge to the early
Church. He gave thanks to them for all that they had done for the ministry
but he challenged them to not let up and to go further in their giving to
God’s mission.
What is God’s
mission? Jesus said it best in Mark 16:15:
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and
proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is
baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be
condemned.
The mission is to go forth from where
we are comfortable and go into the world and share the gospel of
Jesus Christ
with others. In order for the church to live out the commission, the body
of Christ – that is you and me and all who
have professed a faith in Christ – is called
upon to give of its financial resources so that others will know of
God’s love.
A friend sent me the
following. I do not know who put it together but it does speak to the
church today. It states:
I'M GLAD MY CHURCH NEEDS MONEY! If it didn't it would
mean it wasn't supporting missionaries and preaching the Gospel in other
places and has no missionary zeal.
I'M GLAD MY CHURCH NEEDS MONEY! If it didn't, it
would mean it wasn't doing anything to support the homeless and needy and
had no compassion.
I'M GLAD MY CHURCH NEEDS MONEY! If it didn't, it
would mean it wasn't interested in providing wholesome activities for our
teenagers and had no concern.
I'M GLAD MY CHURCH NEEDS MONEY! If it didn't, it
would mean it wasn't interested in teaching children in those
impressionable years and had no future.
Jesus Of Nazareth has
commissioned the church to a mission. That mission is to tell the gospel
story all over the world. In order for the Church to live out that
mission, we are invited to give to the glory of God
and in response to God’s love.
A friend told me this story years ago. Evidently, he
had preached a sermon on giving. One of the members walked up to him later
and said: “Preacher, you stick to preaching the gospel and let us worry
about the money.” My friend shared with the person that he was indeed
preaching the gospel. He then pointed out to him that
Jesus spoke more often about money and giving
than most other matters.
Jesus understood that one
must be willing to part from what means so much to one in order for one to
truly walk the walk of faith. He knew that the things of this world had a
way of controlling God’s created children.
Thus he taught to all who would listen that it was better to give than to
receive.
Paul in this letter was taking time to teach the
members of the early Church the same lesson. He wanted them to understand
that giving of their financial resource was indeed a vital part of their
ministry. That lesson holds true today for all who have accepted
Christ into their hearts.
One person put it this way:
1. It blesses the heart by making it receptive
to God's will. 2. It blesses the life
by lifting it to a higher plane of grace. 3. It blesses the hands
by making them willing to do God's work. 4.
It blesses the mind by giving it the satisfaction of doing the right
thing. 5. It blesses the nine-tenths that remains because
God has been honored. 6. It blesses
the individual by giving him a part in God's
worldwide program of work. 7. It blesses the church by enabling it
to carry out a greater ministry.
Paul talks about the blessings that a “cheerful
giver” receives from God. He wrote to those
in that early Church: “The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will
also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap
bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not
reluctantly or under compulsion, for God
loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to
provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having
enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.”
Today, we are making our financial commitment to
God. It is a commitment that is not being
forced upon us. It is a commitment that is being asked of us so that
others may know an intimate relationship with Jesus
Christ. It is a commitment of giving in
response to God’s giving to us.
As we respond to this invitation, let us respond as
cheerful givers. Giving thanks to God for
what God has done in our lives and then
joyfully giving to Him who gave the greatest gift this world has ever
received. That gift was and is Jesus of
Nazareth who went to the cross and to the grave. It was
Jesus of Nazareth through
God who defeated death and brought the
opportunity to all to live in a right relationship with
God the Creator.
Richard J. Foster wrote: “Giving with glad and
generous hearts has a way of routing out the tough old miser within us.
Even the poor need to know that they can give. Just the very act of
letting go of money, or some other treasure, does something within us. It
destroys the demon greed.”
Paul encouraged the early church to stay the course as
cheerful givers to the ministry of Jesus
Christ. His words hold true for
Christ's Church today. We are encouraged; we
are challenged to stay the course and to give cheerfully to
God’s Kingdom and its many ministries.
God has called each one of us to be his
missionaries in this world. He has called us to shape the life of a small
child, a young boy or girl. He has called us to positively influence a
teenager or a young adult as they discover their way in life. He has
called us to share a smile and words of hope and promise to an adult as he
or she moves forward in life. God calls us to
feed those who are hungry, care for those who are naked, build homes for
those who do not have homes and heal those who are sick.
God calls us to reach out with all of our
resources so that His redeeming hand may touch others.
On this celebration Sunday, may we first make the
pledge to stay the course as faithful disciples of Jesus
Christ! Now, I am going to invite all of us
to bow our heads for a few moments and pray this prayer silently. “Lord,
here I am your servant. I am about to make a decision that is going to
affect your Church. Help me Lord, empower me Lord to make the right
decision as I surrender my all to you and I (we) make this financial
pledge to your Church.” Amen
In the name of the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit.
Amen
