Sermon Cloud

Give More: 2Corithians 8:1-15; 9:6-15. The Historical Context. Need in Jerusalem. Paul’s instruction in 1 Corinthians 16:1-4. Communal responsibility to the Church in all places. No place for radical individualism. Rejoice with those who rejoice…The delay in the Corinthians response – professed a desire but did not follow up on it; financial amnesia (8:10-11). Paul motivates them.
The Response of the Macedonian Churches. Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea. Far away. Undergoing severe persecution for their faith and as a result also suffering extreme poverty (depth of poverty – rock-bottom poverty; barely enough for the basic necessities of life). But, they gave with great joy, overflowing generosity (v. 2); beyond what seemed feasible or possible, of their own free will without any pressure from the Apostles (v. 3); begging to participate (v. 4) – imagine the Apostles saying “you can’t possibly give this much; what about your needs…and they beg in response, “please let us give this; don’t take this opportunity from us.” Illustration: Edmund from Haiti (Piper, Nations…107). All of this was an expression of the total surrender of their lives to Christ (v.5). This is the great gage of the reality of our faith and the depth of our commitment to Christ – are we willing to gladly depart from our resource in a sacrificial and risky way for His sake and the sake of those He loves. This is a key litmus test of our love and devotion to Christ. Paul is sharing this about the Macedonian Church to give a loving rebuke to the Corinthians: they are poor and have given; you are well off and have not. They did not need to be admonished – they begged to give; you have to be exhorted and prodded.
What Has Brought this about in Macedonia? Grace was the source of their generosity (8:1). In other words, it was not the result of anything inherent in them. It was not their work for God; it was God’s work in them. The Grace of God was moving deeper and deeper into their hearts so as to make the Macedonian Christians gladly and willingly give generously even in the face of persecution and poverty. (Philanthropy today is motivated by different things).
What is meant by Grace? Paul defines this grace that creates extreme generosity in people’s hearts. The grace of God is seen in the Gospel (8:9). Grace is the free and self-determined love of God generously overflowing to sinful, undeserving people. It is seen most fully in the giving of the Son for our salvation. Though he was rich: His pre-incarnate state, in eternal glory and communion with the Father. Became poor: in the incarnation he took on flesh, being born as a human being. Poor: JI Packer, “It meant a laying aside of his glory; a voluntary restraint of power; an acceptance of hardship, isolation, ill-treatment, malice and misunderstanding; finally, an agonizing and shameful death…” reserved for the worst of criminals. The incarnation was the voluntary humiliation of God the Son. He left the glories of heaven for the cruelties of earth. He was born in a barn, laid in a feeding trough, had an assassination attempt on his life at age 2. He grew up in obscurity learning the common trade of a carpenter, a blue collar worker. He began his ministry at age 30 and was not intent on being served, but on serving. He ministered to the marginalized and once told a would be disciple, “Foxes have holes…” He became poor. He was falsely accused, and the Judge of the cosmos was condemned by a human court; sentenced to die on a cross. He who was God allowed a minimum wage Roman soldier to drive a spike through his wrist. The boundless one was bound to a cross. Although he was rich, he become poor. His voluntary poverty is not seen merely in the mode of his death, but in the meaning of his death. He was dying in the place of sinners – for our sake. He was taking our sin upon himself. He was bearing our guilt – he had none of his own. The sinless one being made sin for us and was condemned in the place of all who would believe in him. So that we might become rich. He took on flesh and died for sinners so that we who are poor might become rich. We who are guilty clothed in the rags of sin might be justified, having the robe of his righteousness placed upon us. We who were condemned criminals awaiting a terrible sentence might be made heirs awaiting an incredible inheritance; we who were enemies of God, might become friends of God reconciled to him through the death of his Son; we who were alienated from God might be adopted as children of God. In him we are made rich: Having Christ we are freed from condemnation, granted friendship with God, indwelt by his Spirit and assured with the promise – If the Father did not spare his son for us, but freely gave him up for us all, will he not with him freely give us all things. This Generous overflow of God’s love seen in the giving of His son for undeserving sinners is GRACE: God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. This is Grace and it is Grace that moved the Macedonian Christians to give in a way that pleased God.

Grace Giving is giving that flows from our personal encounter with the Gospel: Jesus being rich, becoming poor so that those who are poor could become rich. Remember Advent is two things: Invitation – receive this Christ. Receive this one who became poor for you so that you might become rich; he is your only hope. But it is also Imitation: The Gospel story becomes the story that shapes and informs and defines our lives. It is the pattern that directs the decisions and direction of our own lives. Our lives are being shaped by a story – some narrative that is the predominate resource for the plotline of our own lives. To be a Christian is to have the story of the Gospel be the sole resource for the plotline of your life. So that Advent and Gospel are a call to imitation. That we would become poor, give sacrificially of our lives, to enrich the lives of others. Just as our Savior was poured out to fill our lives, so we would pour out our lives to fill up the lives of others – not just friends and family, but even those who are removed from us or even functional enemies. This is what we mean by Grace Giving. In fact, Paul says that the Corinthians giving will be a confession of the Gospel of Christ (9:13). In other words the depth of the generosity will be in direct proportion to the depth of their understanding of the Gospel of Christ. When the Gospel of God’s grace goes deeper and deeper into your life and begins to become more and more the story that shapes the plotline of your own life, your heart is renewed and freed from pride and self-preservation and greed and grace awakens and empowers generosity in your life that puts the Gospel of visible display for people to see so that God is glorified and people are made glad by your generosity. Only Grace can do this. There are other reasons people give. There are generous people who do not know this Gospel of Grace. There is common grace – God’s general kindness to humanity – that often produces in people generosity. However, many other motives move people to give: Good Mood Giving (holidays); Guilt giving (feel better about oneself); Glory Giving (Economist Illustration – reputation enhancement); Gain Giving (gaining a right standing with God – this is offensive to God because it assumes we can make him our debtor). None of these can free the heart from pride and self-preservation and greed enough to empower giving in the face of poverty and persecution. When you see the extreme situation of the Macedonian Christians, there must be a supernatural explanation – and there is: Grace. It was going deeper and deeper into their hearts and bearing the fruit of generosity even in the worst of environments; renewing their hearts and overriding every obstacle to giving. So, if you are not giving, even if you are in financial struggles or physical suffering, the problem is not that you are lacking resources, but that you are lacking an encounter with the Gospel of Grace. Grace giving is reflexive; just as thunder follows lightning, giving follows grace.

Giving at Apostles: We should give systematically. 10% is a great place to start. But you should grow in this grace of giving (8:7) We also give at strategic times: Easter and Year End Giving – Deaconate Fund. We want this giving to be a celebration and confession of the Gospel. To give in a way that would testify that the costly sacrifice of Jesus has shaped us into people who willingly pay a cost to meet the needs of others. As we give in response to grace there are a few things we need to keep in mind.

Grace giving is proportional and sacrificial. Proportional 8:12 – Give according to what you have: if you have a lot, give a lot; if you have a little, give a little. The intent is not to excessively burden you, but to provide for someone else’s lack.  Sacrificial 9:8-10. Be willing to live on a smaller proportion. God increases your means not to increase your standard of living, but your standard of giving – multiply your seed for sowing. You must determine how much you need to live on and how much you can give away (9:7). Feel the loss. Illustration: CS Lewis Mere Christianity page 86. We have to watch ourselves because the tendency of the human heart is to cling to our possessions; we find it hard to depart with them. Illustration: Vodka in the airport. Our sinful hearts want to keep, but we have to go to the Gospel and see the depth of sacrifice and the joy of Christ in it and let it move us toward sacrificial generosity.

Grace giving is joyful. 9:7 not reluctantly. grudgingly. Not regretfully; not thinking remorsefully about all the things you could have bought with the money. But joyfully – hilariously. God did not give his Son grudgingly or reluctantly, but joyfully. If you cannot give joyfully, don’t give – you will only offend God for misrepresenting him. He loves a cheerful giver because he or she is a reflection of God in their giving. He does not love stingy or remorseful givers because they are a carnival mirror distorted reflection of God that does not honor him.

Grace giving comes with Divine Rewards (9:6). Sparingly and Bountifully. God’s rewards: Material blessing – 9:8 having all sufficiency, 9:10 increase your seed for sowing; Life Transformation – 9:10-11 increases the harvest of your righteousness and enriches your life; Grace motivated generosity unleashes other virtues in your life. Where your treasure is – generosity moves your heart toward the things God loves: compassion, mercy, integrity, faithfulness…You can ask anyone who begins to give faithfully and sacrificially, other areas of their life begin to change.  POINT: God promises materially and spiritually blessings on generous people – I would rather live on a portion of my income with God’s blessings than on all of my income without God’s blessings.

I believe this for our lives, but also our church. Illustration: Giving a gift to Grace Church. Giving $10 bills for our congregation to use to bless the city.