Word of Salvation – Vol.33 No.11 – March 1988

 

Cheerful Giving

 

Sermon by Rev. S. Bajema on 2Corinthians 9:6, 7.

Reading: 2Corinthians 8:1-14

Singing: BoW.H.10; BoW.Ps.1A; BoW.Ps.85; BoW.Ps.116:7,9; BoW.Ps.134:3

 

Brothers and Sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ,

God loves a cheerful giver!  God loves that person who loves Him in his or her giving.  That person who is generous towards His Kingdom.  You see, just giving, just placing your money in the offering bag as it passes you, is not enough.  What matters is the spirit in which that giving is done.  Is it a joy and honour for you to give to God?

Perhaps you’re a bit puzzled.  Maybe you’ve never thought of the money you put in the offering bag as being given to God.  Oh, you know it’s used by the Church to pay the minister, the buildings, the quota figure, and so on.  But, giving to God?  Yes, the giving we do during a worship service is to God.  It’s God’s Church that we seek to maintain and to build up.  And just as everything we do should be done with the Lord in mind, so also should our giving.

This is hard, though!  When it comes to talking about money we get a little sensitive.  Charles Spurgeon once said:
“A Christian’s purse is the devil’s last defence.”
Have a look at the giving figures in different churches and you’ll see just how true this is.  And this situation is not a recent phenomenon either.

Our text is found in a passage where the apostle Paul is telling the Corinthians off.  They had not given as they had promised.  Those Corinthians had agreed a year before to take up a love offering for the Christians in Jerusalem.  Paul points them to this commitment, to what they had pledged to do.  Paul had not yet received this money.  But to make sure they do contribute he writes a gentle but very direct reminder.  And this was no small reminder in fact, it’s two chapters long!  In showing how concerned he was, Paul points to the example of our Lord Jesus Christ.  As we read in our first Scripture reading:

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become rich.”

The Corinthians knew the grace of the Lord Jesus.  They knew that the Son of God became a man, leaving the glories of heaven to share our suffering.  Jesus became poor – he gave up everything, even his life, to save them from damnation and death, and to give them eternal life.  Yes they knew the grace of Christ.  Now!, says Paul, now that you are so rich, show it!  Paul challenges the Corinthian believers as to their walk with the Lord.  Are they living the way Jesus lived?  Are they giving the way He gave?

This underlying theme is continued in our text.  To support this underlying theme our text gives us a positive direction.  We find this positive thought in the last words of verse 7: “…for God loves a cheerful giver.”  Yes, with these words we began this sermon!

As we consider how God loves a cheerful giver, we’ll look at two aspects:
Firstly the negative.
This tells us what a cheerful giver is not.
And secondly – the positive.
This tells us, naturally enough, what a cheerful giver is.

This contrast between the positive and the negative has already occurred many times before in Scripture.  It’s not what you give, or how much you give.  Rather, it’s the spirit with which you give.  As Psalm 51 tells us:

You, O God, do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Realising this contrast, let’s turn then to our first point – that which a cheerful giver is not.

The first half of verse 6 tells us:
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly..!
So a cheerful giver is not a person who sows just a few seeds.  Sowing here does not refer to the actual sowing of seeds in a field.  Instead, it refers to a spiritual sowing.  What is meant here is the amount that we give to the Lord.  When we consider what we earn – are we returning a generous portion to the Lord?  For instance, is our support for the spreading of the Gospel as generous as our support of our own lifestyles?  Do you give your child $5 to take to the movie, yet give him only 20¢ for the offering bag?  And what about that which you yourself will place in the offering bag?  Is that as much as what you’ve spent on your little luxuries over this past week?  Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly…!

Let’s go on a little.  In verse 7 it says that a person should not give reluctantly.  Here Paul speaks of a person who gives quite well.  But he’s not happy about giving so much.  The original Greek says that he grieves over what he has lost.  His heart was not in it.  He really feels his loss.  There was much he himself could have done with it.  To give it to the Church seems such a waste!  And then there is the one who gave “under compulsion”.  That person is under the pressure of circumstances to give.  Perhaps his parents tell him that he has to do it.  Or, the pressure of others looking over his shoulder makes him do it.  Otherwise, he’s looked down upon.  But this reluctance also spoils the gift.  It’s not given with a joyful spirit.  It has lost all the beautiful fragrance of the incense of a free and joyful spirit.  This giving is done with the wrong spirit.

This happened so many times with the Old Testament covenant people, and their worship became bitter for God.  Such an attitude is a poor reflection upon all that our God has done for us.  And what these three negative attitudes show us is our own selfishness.  The one who sows sparingly, the one who gives reluctantly, and the one who gives under compulsion, are being very selfish.  The focus is not on God, as it should be!  Rather we’ve turned the spotlight on ourselves.  I say “ourselves” because each one of us has sinned in one of these ways.  We have wanted for ourselves, instead of giving to God.  The amount of money doesn’t matter – it’s the attitude that counts.

But having recognised that, yes, each one of us has sinned, let’s turn again to God for His guidance.  Come, brothers and sisters, let’s see what a cheerful giver is.

The first positive thing that we see is that…
…whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

This is a wonderful promise!  Yet it’s a promise only if the condition is fulfilled.  You see, it’s only as you give, that you receive.  This may seem strange but it reinforces the teaching of the Lord Jesus Himself.  As He said: It is more blessed to give than to receive.  Christian experience supports this teaching.  You’ll find that those who systematically give in a generous way are blessed.  Perhaps it may not be in a material way as some Christians would have us believe.  Yet, the reward will always be at least spiritual.  Our faith will grow and be strengthened through the right giving.  That word “generously” can also be translated, “with blessings”.  As we give with the blessings we have, so we will, in return, be further enriched with blessings.  Paul pointed at the beginning of chapter 8 to the example set by the Macedonian Christians.  As he says there:

“…brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.  Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.”

This giving that we do is an essential part of our Christian living.  The Lord has seen fit to include it in our worship of Him.  How then, can we give so little, when we’ve been given so much?

The letter to the Galatians tells us:

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

In giving we receive a blessing.  The question may arise in our minds: How much should we give?  It would be nice and easy for me just to give you a figure.  There’s one figure that we all know very well.  But I’m not going to do that.  Instead, I’m going to point you to the words of verse 7.  There we read:

“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give…!”

Each one of us should give what we have decided to give.  “Decided” means that we have planned ahead as to what we’re going to give.  It means that I give as I have been given, systematically and sacrificially.  Jesus did not falter in His work for us.  He gave and gave of Himself to the uttermost degree!  And so we’re not to resent our giving to the Lord.  In fact, we’re happy that we have the privilege and the opportunity to give Him something in return for all that He has done!

There are many people who would love to give the Lord great riches, but they cannot.  Just think here of that poor widow whom Jesus saw placing two small copper coins in the temple treasury.  Calling His disciples to Him, Jesus said:

“I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.”

This is real Christian giving.  This is a sacrifice of thankfulness.  When we looked at what a cheerful giver is not, we saw that all those negative aspects pointed to our own selfishness.  Yet, what the two positive aspects point to, is completely different.  Instead of ourselves, we think of God.  When we give “generously”, and when we decide in our hearts what to give, we are saying ‘no’ to our sinful natures.  We see that it’s God who deserves all the praise and glory.  After all, doesn’t He deserve it for giving us the greatest gift of all!  And Paul points us also to that, at the end of chapter 9.  He says there:

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

When we consider all that our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us, how can we ever say ‘no’ to God?

Brothers, sisters, young people, we’re quite rightly proud of our Reformed heritage.  The way that we see Scripture and the world around us, is very special.  And sometimes we like to be quite precise – to dot our “i’s” and to cross our “t’s”.  But let’s also be precise in our giving.  As Paul says to those Corinthians:

“….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.”

The challenge is there, brethren!  God loves a cheerful giver!  God appreciates and rewards cheerful, generous giving.

AMEN.