Accounting for God’s Faithfulness

There are some funny rules about what you are allowed and not allowed to talk about in polite society. You can ask people how tall they are, reciting a basic fact about their body, but you can't ask what they weigh. We are ok talking about vertical dimensions but not horizontal dimensions. You can ask people what they do for a living, but you can't ask them how much of a living they are making.

This seems to apply doubly in the church and what we might here on Sunday. The idea of the pastor preaching on money, particularly the giving of said money, just seems distasteful at best and self-interested at worse. This isn't helped by jet-setting prosperity preachers often talking about the same thing. So it is easy to simply decide that there are other things to preach on, and just skip the passages and opportunities to talk about money. Or if we do talk about money, we try to make it as little as possible.

And this is a great shame, because that means the the Church either speaks wrongly or not at all about the real thing our culture is obsessed with, money. Our entire culture is built on acquiring stuff, and the prosperity preachers fit right in to that message. Theirs is, "Give to God so you can get the stuff you actually want: more stuff." That's what secular culture does, too, just with even less attention given to God. "Give to your company (your time, body, attention) so you can get the stuff you really want: more stuff."

Now, when the church does decide to speak on it, it can be framed in a couple different ways. It can say something to the effect of, "Well, you just gotta do it, and 10% is the number." Or it can say, "Well, God has been pretty gracious to you, and to show your gratitude you should give something, and maybe start at 10%." Both of these approaches miss the mark slightly.

What I am hoping to show you here out of 2 Corinthians 9 is a larger vision for your giving that gets at your heart. I'm hoping that after today you are not guilted into giving but awed into giving. Our main point today is: Your faith filled giving shows God's grace.

Your Faith Filled Giving Shows God's Grace

In our text, Paul is writing to the Corinthian church to discuss a collection that is going to be gathered up to be taken to another needy church. Paul has spent the previous chapter talking about another church that has been giving to the collection, and how three guys, one of them Titus, who will be coming to collect from their church. Paul wants the giving to take place then before he arrives so this way the gift is freely given. In other words, he doesn't want people to give just because he's there, and he'll think badly of them if they don't give.

That isn't the motivation that he (or God) wants, as we see in verse 7. "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." This is the point that we need to focus on. The giving that we as Christians are supposed to display is not one of guilt or duty, but delight. One commentator helpfully points out that, "It is not that God loves only the cheerful giver: this is not a warning. Rather, these are words of encouragement to those who give liberally." (Guthrie, 450) In other words, this is saying, "Thank you for cheerfully giving. The Lord loves that." It's not saying, "You better pay up and with a smile if you want God to love you." Not at all. In fact, as we will see in this passage, the reason why you are a cheerful rather than fearful giver is the fact that God already loves you, and He is so good.

So if you have a hard time pulling out that wallet, or if, as Luther put it, "your purse hasn't converted yet," let's get to the real point that motivates your giving, God's grace.

Let's take a fresh look at our God, the Giver, this morning. Right off the heels of verse 5 where Paul doesn't want giving to be forced, he points to a principle of sowing and reaping. It is basically saying that if you are a farmer and want lots of crops do you want to plant a lot of seeds or as few seeds as you can? You want to plant a lot! You don't get acres of corn with twenty seeds. But what instead happens if you plant a lot of seeds? You will actually get more seeds than you started with! Think of how many more pumpkin seeds you can get with just one pumpkin!

Paul applies the same thing to God in verses 8 and following. It turns out that God is a cheerful giver Himself. Listen to all the "alls" in verse 8. He is able to make all grace abound to you. He isn't giving just enough grace to skate by, He gives you the grace to have far more than you need ("all sufficiency in all things"). And this is able to be done at "all times." Does this apply spiritually? Yes. Does this apply materially? Yes. He is able and willing to give you all the grace all the time, under all the circumstance. God is a giver. Everything you have is from Him. Really.

Now notice that you have all of those things, "so that, having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may (here's the reason) abound in every good work." He isn't giving all of these things to hoard. He supplies seed to the sower so that you can sow more. And what do you get in return? Verse 11, You will be enriched in every way to be generous. Generosity leads you to greater generosity. There is the sowing and reaping in action!

Notice that all of these promises are in the present and future tense. As many scholars pointed out, you will notice a how Paul motivates the giving. He doesn't point back to the past. He doesn't say, "Since God has done so much for you, you have an opportunity to show God how grateful you are!" That sort of motivation puts the attention back on you. Yes, we should be thankful, of course (verse 13 points just that out), but what motivates our giving, as one scholar points out is our trust in God.

I know this seems like a subtle distinction, almost a knit pick, but it really does make a difference. If we view our giving just as a response of gratitude, then giving can become about us. It can become a calculated reaction to what has been done. It is as if we have this money, it's our money, but we are choosing to demonstrate our gratitude by giving a little of it back.

Contrast that to I want to give because God Himself is giving and none of this is mine anyway. I know that God is the supplier of all my needs, not me. At any time I could become radically unable to go to work, and yet I still trust that God would take care of me. He has taken care of me, He is taking care of me, and I know that He will take care of me, so out of that trust, I want to give His money to His purposes. There is no sense of transaction here, only trust. There is no sense of self-sufficiency here, just trust. As Scott Hafemann put it, you aren't giving to the church when you give in faith, you are the church.

Kids, you are the Church, too. You don't have to wait for a job to give. You can the things you have to kids who don't have as much. You can do some jobs around the house or outside for some money to give to God's work.

So, let's get real practical for a minute. Some frequently asked questions.

Am I really telling you that there is no required percentage of income?

Yep. We don't see a 10% requirement in the New Testament, and the Old Testament was closer to 20-30%. The standard isn't a number. There are plenty of people who give 10% of their income and are far away from God. So how do you know when you have given enough? When you stop asking that question and start asking, "How else could I bless with God's money and God's resources I've been lent? I know I'm taken care of." And if you know your heart, that is likely a harder standard. It's a direction you can only travel when you are giving out of a worshipful trust of God.

So does that mean I don't have to give at all?

No. We are called to be cheerful givers and take care of the poor. (Prov. 19:17; 22:9; Luke 3:11; 14:13-14; Matthew 6:2-4 "when you give..."; Acts 20:35 "more blessed to give" 1 John 3:17 "sees brother in need...how does God's love abide?"). We also have clear commands to go and spread the gospel (Matthew 28:19; Romans 10:14-15) which often requires support, and to support local ministers (1 Tim. 5:17-18; 1 Cor. 9:13-14; Gal. 6:6).

Are you saying it is bad for us to have stuff? Is it wrong to buy anything for myself?

No. God gives us a good world filled with good things for us to enjoy that ultimately point back to the giver of those good gifts. It's not wrong to enjoy them but don't let your joy be found only in them. Keep perspective. A boat is a fun thing, but it pales in comparison to God's Kingdom filled with transformed sinners by the power of His Spirit tearfully worshiping God Who has forgiven their sins because of His Son's sacrifice Who now reigns in glory forever. Where do you actually want to put your money? Have you seen what God is doing, Church?

Spend some time thinking about how God has provided for you and others throughout history. Look ahead to see what God is building, and then ask yourself, "What might need to change in my life to be more a part of that?" You might be surprised just how much God will help you along in that journey.