Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Rich generosity
2 Corinthians 8:2 (NIV 1984)
Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
Our key verse today could be considered a nonsense statement. After all, it combines severe trial with overflowing joy, and extreme poverty with rich generosity. Joy in trial and generosity in poverty, this is the real tapestry of Christian giving.
Current data shows that the United States of America, the largest economy in the world, is growing at a staggering rate of 4.1%. Current data also shows that only 10% of American churchgoers give 10% or more of their income to Christian ministry, that is staggering too.
Many of the American Christians who are actually giving are giving with a motive, not motivation. More recent research shows that about a third of Christians give because they were promised that God would bless them financially if they give money. That same study shows that two-thirds of Christians now believe that God wants them to prosper and a quarter believe that they have to do something for God in order to receive material blessing in return.
This piece today is not an attack on American Christians, but it’s the only group for which the data is readily available. Here where I live there are some favourite songs that capture our beliefs about this. Hers’s one “Giving brings a release / giving brings a release / a release for a miracle / giving brings a release.” It doesn’t end there, “If your hand tight you can’t get nothing / If your hand tight you can’t get nothing / If your hand tight you can’t get nothing at all / giving brings a release.”
It is not that God doesn’t bless givers, but God is not a financial institution to which you make deposits with a direct expectation of interest. God is not running insurance policies that mature at a specific point in time, and God is not a stock exchange where your investments pay dividends. God is not obligated to bless anyone financially because they made a monetary contribution.
The largest collection of money recorded in the New Testament was the collection for the church in Jerusalem which had been struck by tough times. This is one of the enduring themes in the Epistles that gets very little attention today.
The apostle Paul had started this collection early on and had addressed it in the first letter to the Corinthians. “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.” 1 Corinthians 16:1,2
Tucked in there is a little gem, that as we prosper we set aside an offering for the work of the Lord. Paul had admonished the believers to develop this practice of setting aside money for those who are facing difficulties.
We have been so overtaken by the culture around us that we no longer distinguish ourselves from it. One such aspect of contemporary culture is self-centeredness. We are so obsessed with our needs and wants that we have no time for the needs of others.
Rich generosity requires a capacity to focus on the needs of others. The needs of others, especially when others are in a worse position than we are, causes us to respond in generosity despite how little we might have at the time.
For the Macedonian Christians, while they were facing severe trials, being already extremely poor, the situation in the Jerusalem church was worse. This differential produced in them rich generosity.
Paul records that they, “according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.” 2 Corinthians 8:3,4. The deduction here is that there was a desire to give and they, despite their circumstances at the time, insisted upon it.
One of the Biblical memories here is Moses taking an offering for the construction of the tabernacle. “Take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the Lord:” Exodus 35:5. Note the emphasis was on those of willing heart.
In the end, Moses had to issue a cease order because the workmen were being overwhelmed by the offering. “So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” And the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done—indeed too much.” Exodus 36:6,7.
Rich generosity springs from a willing heart that is grateful to God for what He has already done, not to try to manipulate Him into doing. Paul used Jesus as an example for them to follow. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9.
Paul does add that “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” 2 Corinthians 9:6. However, he quickly points out what the gift really does, “the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God,” 2 Corinthians 9:12.
We have to pay more attention to meeting the needs of the saints through our rich generosity, and less on trying to get God to bless us with money and things.
Think on these things:
- Do you tithe and give in order to receive?
- Do you believe that financial prosperity is guaranteed to everyone who gives at church?
- Does your church provide opportunities to support other ministries and Christians in difficult parts of the world?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would get to the place where we overflow with rich generosity.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex