Be a Cheerful Giver – Sermon 26 June, 2015

Be a Cheerful Giver
2 Corinthians 8:1-8:15
We don’t want to talk much about giving. It does not mean that we don’t want to give or like to give. We can say that we have given enough to God. We have given our time and still do, trying the best we can in the support we provide for the mission of the church. We raise funds to support and help the needy, we allocate some of the profits we make for certain projects, we collect food, we give for a good cause, and we bring our offerings every Sunday. And because we do all this, we think we don’t need to hear more about giving, even one Sunday of the year when we hear a sermon on the joys and benefits of giving and how we can be cheerful givers.
Sometimes we think like the little girl, whose mother wanted to give her a lesson in stewardship.
The mother said to her: “Here is a dollar and a dime. When we get to church I want you to decide which one to put in the offering plate.” The mother could hardly wait until the service was over to ask the little girl which she had given. “Well,” the girl said, “I was already with the dollar in my hand to give it, but just before the offering came by, the man in the pulpit said we should be cheerful givers, so I knew I would be much more cheerful if I gave the dime, so I did.”
Today is not a special day to preach about stewardship, but we should be willing to hear about it because there is a need and we are invited to bring our share for the spread of the Good News.
Did you know that one out of every six verses in the four gospels is devoted to money? Do we realize that of the 39 parables Jesus told, 11 (some say 16) of them are related to money? What would happen if every sixth Sunday you came to church and I preached a sermon on money? It wouldn’t be very long before you would call a special Congregational meeting asking for something to be done.
But that is exactly what Jesus did in the gospels. In fact, Jesus spoke more about money than He did about heaven, or hell, or salvation, or repentance. Even when someone asked Him what shall I do to inherit the eternal life? His answer was simple and strait forward: “Sell all you have and give it to the poor”. Perhaps Jesus knew what He was talking about when He said, “Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also” (Matthew 6:21).
Giving and talking about money in church doesn’t have to be painful. We recognise its importance because Jesus recognised its importance, so I just want us to take a few moments to consider what Paul is saying to the church at Corinth and to us today.
In 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 Paul highlights three important principles that should guide our lives as we seek to glorify God in all that we do. He wrote to the church in Corinth as an encouragement for them to give to the offering that was being collected for the Christians at Jerusalem. It is evident that when Paul had last visited them there had been discussion about the possibility of a gift for the Jerusalem Christians. It is not clear if Paul doubted the Corinthian commitment to the cause, or if he just wanted to ensure that he had not laboured in vain in that field. Either way, Paul reminded the Corinthians that:
1. Giving should be guided by grace
According to Paul giving is the way to participate with God in his Kingdom. God provides us the means to give, so that in our giving we might share his blessings with others. The most amazing thing to me is to think that the God who created the universe, who holds the stars in place, and commands the waters of the oceans, expects from us to provide for the needs of the poor and those who suffer. It is the same as it was for Abraham. God told Abraham? “I am blessing you to be a blessing to others.”
Notice that Paul nowhere mentions tithing. Tithing is the biblical standard that we should seek to meet as we plan our giving. Tithing is explicit in the Old Testament, and it is implicit in the teaching of Jesus in the New Testament. To argue otherwise is to argue against the plain meaning of Scripture. The tithe literally means giving to God 10% of our income.
But you could say: “We live under grace not law”. Yes, we do, and that is why we look to Paul, who has been called the apostle of grace, to find some help. Living under grace is actually the foundation for giving. It is grace that led the Macedonians to give beyond their ability.
So, we give because we have experienced God’s grace in receiving.
You see, the hand that is open to give is also open to receive. The opposite is also true. The hand that is closed cannot receive the infinite treasure that God longs to give.
2. Giving should flow out of what we have, not what we don’t
That’s exactly what Paul told the Corinthians. God wants us to give what we have, not what we don’t have.” The simple truth is that if we don’t give with the little we have, we are not going to give if we have much. Our faithfulness is never measured by the size of the gift, but rather by the size of the sacrifice.
In our gospel reading we see Jesus and His disciples sitting outside the Temple watching the folks passing by to drop their gifts in the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two copper coins, a fraction of a penny. Jesus said to his disciples, “This poor woman has put in more than all the rest have given. They gave out of their abundance, but she has given everything she had.”
According to statistics, the poorest households give 5.5% of their income to charity. The wealthiest households give only 2.9%. Nearly half of all contributions to charity come from households with less than $30,000 annual income.
3. Giving should be an act of worship
Paul tells the Corinthians in verse 5 that the Macedonians “gave themselves first to the Lord.” Our giving will never be what it should be until we have first given ourselves completely to God. I am reminded of the words of the old hymn I Surrender Lord … I give you all.
Giving guided by grace, giving that flows out of what we have, not what we don’t, and giving as an act of worship will honour and glorify God.
Let us be cheerful givers.

Krikor Youmshajekian