Sunday Sermon: The Grace of Giving

Better late than never, right??

Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
What is Paul boasting about to the Macedonians? (2 Cor 9)
2 Kings 20:4-6 4 Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: 5 "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.'"

And here's the question of the day:
Psalm 66:5 “Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man’s behalf.” If you were to invite someone to “come and see what God has done,” what would you show him or her?

And here's Sunday's sermon. . .
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Let us pray: Gracious God, shine the light of your Spirit upon us as we hear these words of Scripture read and proclaimed. Reveal your saving presence in these words, and lead us further down the path of faith. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READING 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will.

6 So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But just as you excel in everything-- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us--see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 10 And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.

11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. 13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, 15 as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.

SERMON: INTRODUCTION
In 1987, 7 million children in the United States suddenly disappeared on April 15. 7 million children disappeared on April 15. No, it wasn’t a massive alien abduction and it wasn’t national skip school day. What else could it have been? Any guesses?

Well, before 1987 people were only required to put the names of their dependents on their tax forms. But beginning in 1987, both names AND social security numbers were required for each child listed. SO, overnight seven million kids, who never technically existed, simply vanished.[1]
You see, the risk of getting caught breaking the law outweighed the incentive of the tax break. Incentives can cause us to reach heights we never thought we’d be able to achieve; they can also cause us to stoop to lower levels than we ever thought possible.

People can reach all kinds of goals if the incentive is right. I don’t know about you, but I’ve done some pretty insane things and put in a ridiculous number of hours to reach a certain goal and to earn an incentive. But that’s how economics works, right? We want to acquire enough money and things to live comfortably and securely. And if all we have to do is work a little harder to reach a few more goals in order to be a little more comfortable, then it’s worth it, right?

So like Elmer Fudd teasing Bugs Bunny with a dangling carrot, the companies and bosses we work for dangle incentives in front of our noses, hoping that we will work a little bit harder to reach our goals because of the incentives they are offering.

#1
So, to continue this cartoon analogy, Paul is Elmer Fudd and the Corinthians are Bugs Bunny. Paul is writing to the Corinthians, to encourage them toward a goal, which is to be a part of taking up a collection for the poor and needy in Jerusalem. This is a project he started the year before, and he was blown away that first year by how generous the Corinthians were. In verse 10 he says, “Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.” Last year, the Corinthians actually exceeded their goal of participation—he even used the Corinthians as a positive example to the Macedonian churches, whose contribution to the collection for the poor was a little lacking.

But that was last year. This year is a different story. Suddenly, it’s the Macedonian churches whose overflowing joy has caused them to give “as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability,” as it says in verse 3. It’s the Macedonian churches who are being held up as a bright and shining example. And the Corinthians are lollygagging behind.

I don’t think they’re unwilling to give; they’ve had a little fight with Paul and they’re not in the giving mood. So Paul is trying to do two things here in this chapter of 2 Corinthians: first, he is trying to encourage them to give to the collection for the poor and needy; and second, he is trying to get back into their good graces. Paul knows he just needs to find the right incentive—just the right kind of carrot—to dangle in front of them as an incentive.

#2
Now, that Paul is one sneaky dude. Listen to what verse 7 says, “But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us. . . .” He’s laying it on kinda thick, don’t you think? Compliment after compliment. It sounds like a pastor trying to talk a parishioner into doing something he or she doesn’t really want to do, doesn’t it? It’s like he’s saying, “because you’re so wonderful and smart and faithful and generous, I’m SURE you’re going to contribute to this collection, right? Right?”

But he doesn’t stop there. Paul is going for the hard sell. He has the audacity to say to the Corinthians, “I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others,” meaning those Macedonian churches. He is not commanding them to give to the collection, but he is saying Macedonians have passed their “faith test” because of their zeal and “grace of giving.”

And now the Corinthians are facing a “faith test” of their own. “Paul wants the Corinthians to test their own love by comparison with the zeal of the Macedonians.”[2]

I have to tell you, I wrestled with this passage because Paul’s tactics seem a little shady. Isn’t he really pitting two parts of the church against each other? Isn’t this likely just to breed jealousy and envy between the two churches?

But I decided it comes down to this: sometimes peer pressure isn’t always a bad thing. There’s nothing like a little healthy competition to provide a little incentive and a little motivation in order to reach a goal.

#3
So, so that is the incentive—being the best givers out of all the churches—but what is the goal? At first, I thought it was to collect as much money as possible to give to the poor and needy in Jerusalem. That’s probably part of it, but I think there’s something else Paul has in mind . . . something bigger . . . something more life-changing.

I think Paul’s real goal is that the Corinthians would become more like Jesus, who as he says, “became poor, so that by poverty you might become rich.” “God has poured himself out for them in Jesus Christ—how can they not do the same for others?”[3]

The goal Paul is talking about is to know the “grace of giving,” which means developing an attitude that focuses on what one what has to give, rather than focusing on what one doesn’t have. Those who have the “grace of giving” know, as verse 12 says, “if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.”

Now hear me when I say this: the “grace of giving” is not so much concerned with the amount of money one may give as much as it is about attitude in which it is giving. . . the “grace of giving” happens with open hands and open hearts.

CONCLUSION
It feels a little awkward to be preaching about giving in the middle of the economy being what it is right now. I know that times are tough for a lot of us. But I think the times will become even worse if we do not learn the “grace of giving”—the grace of being a part of God’s work in the world.

Whether we like it or not, there is a connection between our faith and our giving. Paul tells the Corinthians that their giving is a test of their faith. If they wait until they have something extra to give, they may never give anything because they may never think they have enough to be able to give.

The fact is we are all rich simply because God has shared all things with us and has given us dominion over the earth. God has even given us his only begotten Son to be our Lord and Savior and the Holy Spirit to be our Guide. God has given us life abundant.

Our test, then, is whether our giving matches our faith. Does what we give—in terms of money and time and resources both to the church as well as our favorite charities and non-profit organizations—does all that match the sincerity of our faith? Do we know the “grace of giving” with open hands and open hearts?

The goal is to become more like Jesus Christ. If our giving doesn’t match our faith, then it’s not a money problem . . . it’s a heart problem. Until you think the goal is worthy enough, no carrot is big enough and no incentive is strong enough to motivate you to be more like Jesus.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

[1] http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93000147
[2] NIB, 2 Corinthians, Sampley, 8:8.
[3] http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93000147