The level of our generosity is reflected by the results...

A the church where I serve, we have been addressing one of the most misunderstood and misapplied aspects of Christianity, which is the issue of money and giving. We have been spending time talking about money and giving because the issue of money and how Christians are to interact with money has been around since the church was born.

Last week, we discovered that timeless truth that, as followers of Jesus, we are to be generous because Jesus is generous. The Apostle Paul revealed for us that Jesus is so generous that though He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor. Jesus entered into humanity to live as a beggar and allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives by dying the worst death possible by crucifixion so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life and bless us with the riches that come from the forgiveness of sin and the relationship with God that we were created for in Heaven. We discovered that Jesus generous willingness to leave the riches of the glory of Heaven to live a beggar’s life and die an excruciating death should drive us to live a life that is motivated by love and that reveals and reflects His generosity. As followers of Jesus, we are to be generous because Jesus is generous.

This week, I would like for us to look at another section of this letter that was written to this church that was located in Corinth Greece. And in this section of this letter, we will see Paul reveal for us a timeless principle that many of us have heard, but may not have realized came from the Bible. But before we look at this passage, let me spend a moment giving you some background information that will provide the context for what Paul is going to say in this passage.

After revealing to the church at Corinth that they were to be generous when it came to giving to a famine relief fund for a church that was located in Jerusalem because Jesus was generous, Paul explained how the money that was being donated to the famine relief fund was going to be handled. You see, Paul wanted to make sure that the church at Corinth understood that there were systems of accountability in place to ensure that their generosity would not be abused or mismanaged.

After explaining these systems, Paul encouraged the members of the church at Corinth to demonstrate the same passion when it came to investing in the Jerusalem famine relief fund as they had in talking about the Jerusalem famine relief fund. Apparently, the church at Corinth had been one of the primary churches that had expressed an eagerness to generously invest their treasure to meet the needs of the church in Jerusalem.

However, their walk was not matching their talk when it came to being generous. For over a year, the church had talked about being generous, but had not actually been generous when it came to giving to the relief fund. Paul responded to this lack of follow through in 2 Corinthians 8:16-9:5 by explaining that he was sending three representatives to encourage the church to follow through on their commitment, or risk embarrassment for their lack of generosity.

And it is in the context of these comments that we see Paul reveal for us this timeless principle that most of us have probably heard, but may not have realized that it was from the Bible. So let’s look at it together, beginning in 2 Corinthians 9:6:

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Paul introduces the members of the church at Corinth, and followers of Jesus throughout history, to a timeless and true principle when it comes to generosity by way of a familiar farming metaphor: “he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully”. And even today, this metaphor is still used in our culture. However, we tend to say it this way: “you reap what you sow”. This principle is also referred to as the Law of the Harvest. Now when Paul uses the word sparingly, he is referring to one who is meager when it comes to giving. The word bountifully, on the other hand, literally means generously.

And it is in this metaphor that we see Paul reveal for us a timeless and true principle when it comes to generosity. And that timeless and true principle is that the level of our generosity is reflected by the results. Paul’s point here is that the person who is meager or miserly when it comes to investing their treasure in God’s kingdom mission and to meet the needs of others will produce little or no benefit. By contrast, the person who generously invests their treasure in God’s kingdom mission and to meet the needs of others will see their generosity reflected in the benefits that are produced and flow from their generosity.

Now it is important to understand that this principle is neither good nor bad; this principle simply is. And while you can push back against or resist this principle, the principle is active and at work in my life and in your life. Regardless of whether you like this principle or don’t like this principle, you cannot avoid this principle: the level of our generosity is reflected by the results.

Paul then explained to the members of the church at Corinth that, in light of this principle, that each one must do just as he purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And so often, in my experience as a pastor, I have seen this verse used as a justification why Christians are not required to tithe. Maybe you have heard this justification, or used this justification as a reason why you did not need to give.

The conversation usually goes something like this: “Well Dave, I am a new covenant Christian; I am not under the Law. And since God loves a cheerful giver, I am not bound by any percentage when it comes to giving. And since God does not want me to give if I am not cheerful then I only have to give what would make me cheerful. And what makes me cheerful is to simply give God my leftovers”. They usually don’t say that part; that is my editorial comment.

However, to understand what Paul is trying to communicate here we first need to understand the meaning of several words and phrases. First, the phrase purposed in his heart literally means to make a decision beforehand. In other words, you should not be deciding how generous you are going to be when it comes to your giving as the offering basket is making its way down your row.

If Paul was communicating this phrase in the language we use in our culture today, this phrase might sound like this: “You should have already decided what you are going to give and the check should already be written before the worship service begins. Paul then provides three reasons why we are to decide beforehand how generous we are going to be when it comes to investing our treasure in God’s kingdom mission through giving.

First, when we fail to decide beforehand we can find ourselves investing with an attitude of painful reluctance instead of gratitude. The phrase “grudgingly” literally means to be in pain of mind or spirit”. And for some of us, if we could paint the true picture of what is going on inside of us when we give during the offering, it might look like this: “here you go; this is so painfully hard, oh what I could do with this if I didn’t have to give it to God”.  Now here’s the tough question: does that seem like an act of worship to you? Instead of investing our treasure with an attitude that giving is a grateful response to God’s generosity, giving becomes a duty that must be painfully endured.

Second, when we fail to decide beforehand we can find ourselves investing our treasure in giving from pressure instead of pleasure. The phrase “under compulsion” literally means under pressure. “Oh no, here comes the basket, what should I give? I don’t know, I don’t know? What are those around me going to think if they see what I’m giving? Oh I’ll just throw in what’s in my hand” or “I’ll just put this number down on the check”. Now does that seem like an act of worship to you? Instead of investing our treasure in a heartfelt, joyful response of worship that reflects the generosity of Jesus, we are hurriedly focused on the pressure that comes from beating the deadline of the basket and the possibility of informing the opinions of others.

Third, Paul explains that when we take the time to prayerfully decide beforehand how generous we are going to be when it comes to investing our treasure in God’s kingdom mission through giving, we are able give with an attitude of gratitude that reflects the generosity of Jesus as a response of joyful worship. And it is this attitude of gratitude; it is this response of joyful worship that God loves. The investment of the treasure that God has given us through giving is an act of worship that is to be done out of a heartfelt and joyous recognition that God is our provider who owns everything and allows us to manage all that He has given us.

So, for those of us that would consider ourselves “new covenant Christians” which we all are if you have a personal relationship with Jesus by the way, and justify this as a reason as to why you are not bound by the “10 percent rule”, here is my question. In light of all that God has generously done to rescue you from your selfishness and sin, what percentage do you think would reflect the heartfelt joy that you feel in response to His generosity?

Is the heartfelt joy that you feel as a result of what Jesus has done for you the same as the joy you feel when your waitress brings your meal to you at the restaurant? Because most people give that waitress 10%; I mean that is the minimum cultural standard isn’t it? So, why are we so put off at the idea of giving God at least a tip when he comes to responding to His activity in our lives but we give almost no thought to giving a waitress a tip? You see, the level of our generosity is reflected in the results.

Now, you might be pushing back against everything that you are hearing. You may find yourself objecting to everything you are hearing. For example, you may be thinking “well this is easy for you to say, Dave. How am I supposed to give like that and still be able to meet my needs and the needs of my family? You don’t understand my situation.”

If I have described you, I just want to let you know that I am not surprised that you are pushing back against this. And I am not surprised that you may have objections to what I am saying. I am not surprised because I once sat in that same chair, so to speak, and pushed backed and had many of the same thoughts and objections that you are having.

And what is so great is that the objections and pushback that I once had to this; the objections and pushback that you may be having to this are not new: they have existed for thousands of years. And in the rest of this section of this letter, we see the Apostle Paul respond to the pushback and objections that we can find ourselves having when it comes to the fact that the level of our generosity is reflected in the results.

Friday, we will look at those objections and Paul's response...