The Motivation for Giving
Sermon Notes
Today we’re starting a new 4 wk teaching series called Generous, and it’s about learning to give, in a world of greed. Some of you might be wondering why we’re doing another topical series since this isn’t the norm for us. We typically go through entire books of the Bible and only do a few topical series a year. But the reason we’re doing another topical series is because we prayerfully discerned the Lord wanting us to talk about generosity. We also like to take our time going through books of the Bible and didn’t want to try rushing through a book before Christmas season. So we’re really building up your hunger for our 2022 teaching series called The Story, where we’ll go through the entire biblical narrative in a year. We’ll be giving you snapshots of God’s story from the very beginning, to the last amen. It’s something to look forward to in 2022, and we’ll tell you more about it at the end of our Generous series. But for the next 4 wks we’ll be in our Generous series breaking down 2 Corinthians 8-9, learning to give in a world of greed.
Now both skeptics and believers would agree it isn’t good for us to live in a world of greed. I mean imagine living in a society full of greed, a society where nobody’s ever generous with their time, talents, or treasures...Imagine living in a society where nobody’s ever willing to help when your car breaks down, help bring you meals when you’re sick, help when you’re struggling financially, emotionally, spiritually...Imagine living in a society full of greed, where nobody’s a good Samaritan...You wouldn’t want to live in a society like that, which tells you our lives, relationships, churches, society would be far better off if we grew in generosity instead of greed. But how? How do we grow in generosity instead of greed? It starts with our motivation, and that’s what we’re talking about today. We’re talking about our motivation for giving, so let’s turn to 2 Corinthians 8 and get into it. You’ll find 2 Corinthians in the last quarter part of your bible, and we’ll be in 2 Corinthians 8:1-9. The title of today’s message is The Motivation For Giving, and here’s the big idea. We give because Jesus gave...We give because Jesus gave.
Context:
Here’s your context...The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to a church located in Corinth Greece, and over the years archaeologists discovered that Corinth was a very wealthy urban city. They found many urban structures, large homes, theaters, meat markets, even fitness gyms. So the issue Paul’s addressing with these Christians isn’t their lack of wealth, it’s their lack of generosity. Many churches were giving to help the Jerusalem church that was suffering, and at one point the Corinthians were giving too. So in ch’s 8-9 Paul encourages them to continue their giving, and as he does we’ll learn some practical principles on giving. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
2 Corinthians 8:1-9 states, “We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia.” Notice Paul starts with the “grace” of God...He starts with the grace of God given to the Macedonian churches, which is principle 1.
Principle #1 = Christian giving starts with the grace of God: It starts with the grace of God transforming our hearts. The deeper we grow in understanding God’s grace toward us, the deeper we’ll grow in generosity toward others. Paul uses the Macedonians as an example of how God’s grace transformed their hearts into being more generous. Their generosity is an outward manifestation of an inward transformation that took place in their hearts. First the grace of Jesus saves them, then it started to transform them. Paul says in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Once this gift of God’s grace takes root in our hearts, it starts transforming every part of our lives. It starts transforming even how we use our time, talent, and treasures like it did for the Macedonians. Paul’s point is God’s grace not only resulted in the forgiveness of their sins, it also resulted in the transformation of their hearts. A heart overflowing with God’s grace, eventually becomes a heart overflowing with generosity. Its God’s grace in our lives, that can change the greed in our hearts.
Again vs. 1, “We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia. 2 During a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.” So here we’re learning that the Macedonians were in a much different financial situation than the Corinthians. The Corinthians had an abundance of wealth and were giving very little, but the Macedonians had very little and were giving an abundance. This leads to our 2nd principle.
Principle #2 = Christian giving is joyfully sacrificial: Paul says the Macedonians were giving joyfully, not begrudgingly or because they felt guilty. They actually wanted to give, and they’re giving joyfully, gladly, not begrudgingly. Begrudgingly is what happens when parents ask their children to do their chores...Gladly is what happens when parents ask their children if they want to eat Kelly’s Ice Cream...The Macedonians were gladly willing to give. They were filled with so much joy over the abundance of grace God poured into their lives, that it lead to an abundance of joyful giving flowing out of their lives. The text says it overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. But the text also says they’re giving sacrificially out of extreme poverty, which shows just how much God’s grace transformed their lives because that isn’t normal! I mean when facing poverty or financial hardships your natural instincts isn’t to give abundantly, it’s to tighten up. It’s to tighten up the budget, tighten up your giving, tighten up your generosity. When facing a salary cut, an unexpected bill, an increase in our mortgage or rent, we tighten up our giving, and for many people the first to go is their giving to the church. The bible teaches us to give our first fruits to the Lord, but it often becomes the first to go. We’d rather reduce our giving to the church, than reduce our cable sports entertainment package in our home. We’re a lot more like the luxurious Corinthians than the impoverished Macedonians. Living in America we have so much, but sacrificially give so little. The Macedonians had so little, but sacrificially gave so much. You can always find reasons for tightening up your giving. “If I can just pay off my medical bills, pay off my student debt, pay off my car debt, build up my retirement portfolio just a little bit more, then I’ll finally be able to give more.” You’ll always have reasons to tighten up, but true generosity happens when you’re giving sacrificially in poverty or luxury.
In Mark 12 Jesus gives a similar teaching on sacrificial giving. Mark 12:41-44 states, “Sitting across from the temple treasury, Jesus watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. 42 Then a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little. 43 Summoning his disciples, he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had—all she had to live on.’” The widow who gave two coins was more generous in her poverty than the rich who gave in their luxury. It’s because her giving was abundant in sacrifice not quantity, but their giving was abundant in quantity not sacrifice. Both Jesus and Paul are saying generosity isn’t measured quantitatively, it’s measured sacrificially. It isn’t about how much you give, it’s about how you give it. It’s about giving joyfully and sacrificially whether in poverty or luxury. Both the widow and the Macedonians are examples of generosity, examples of giving joyfully and sacrificially.
Vs. 3, “I can testify that, according to their ability and even beyond their ability, of their own accord, 4 they begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints...” We’re again seeing how the Macedonians viewed giving. They viewed it as a privilege! It was a privilege to share in supporting the ministries of the church, which is our 3rd principle.
Principle #3 = Christian giving is viewed more as privilege than an obligation: They saw giving as a privilege, as an opportunity to share God’s grace in and through the church. In particular they saw it as a privilege to give even to Christians suffering in the Jerusalem church. So they not only gave to their own church, they gave to other churches too, which is exactly what our church does. When you give to City Awakening it isn’t just supporting our church, it’s also supporting other churches locally and globally. Over the past 5 yrs we’ve supported 2 new churches in Central Florida, and we’re about to support a 3rd church in North Carolina. One of those churches was less than 2 yrs old and were hit financially hard during COVID. We gave them some financial support, told them to keep going, and it brought a lot of encouragement to them. We’ve also helped meet the needs of teachers, the poor in our city, medical teams and first responders worn out by COVID, and supported missionaries globally. When you give to City Awakening it isn’t just helping our church, it’s helping others both locally and globally like the Macedonians. It’s such an amazing privilege for us to be able to share God’s grace like this. Too many people view their giving as an obligation, as simply fulfilling their Christian responsibility. But it’s really a great privilege that God invites us to invest in sharing His grace in and through the church. The Macedonians hearts were changed by God’s grace so much, it caused them to say “What a privilege. What a privilege it is to share and spread God’s grace.” May God’s grace change our hearts in such a way, that it causes us to view our giving as a privilege too.
Again vs. 4, “They begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints, 5 and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us by God’s will. 6 So we urged Titus that just as he had begun, so he should also complete among you this act of grace. 7 Now as you excel in everything—in faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love for us, excel also in this act of grace.” This is our 4th principle.
Principle #4 = Christian giving is something to excel in: When it comes to discipleship and Christian growth we often focus on growing in our theology, our biblical understanding, our prayer life. But Paul’s saying we also need to focus on growing in the grace of giving. He’s saying to the Corinthians “You’re excelling in so many areas! You’re excelling in your faith, your trust in God. You’re excelling in your speech, the use of your words. You’re excelling in your knowledge, your grasp of biblical truths. You’re excelling in so many areas, but you also need to excel in the grace of giving!” As Christians we should strive to excel in our giving, but that doesn’t mean excelling to the point of putting ourselves in poverty. I mean first of all poverty doesn’t exempt us from giving sacrificially, which we learned in the examples of the Macedonians and the widow with 2 coins. Second if you’re somebody who has the ability to make lots of money, or you made a lot of money in your lifetime, praise God for that! You don’t have to feel guilty for being wealthy, and you don’t have to neglect your ability to make money. Instead utilize that gift for the sake of excelling in generosity toward the mission of God. Paul’s saying every Christian should excel in this grace of giving.
Again vs. 7, “Now as you excel in everything—in faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love for us, excel also in this act of grace. 8 I am not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, I am testing the genuineness of your love.” Paul’s saying one of the ways we demonstrate our love is by giving. Why? Because you invest in the things you love. If you love books, you’ll invest in books. If you love sports and fantasy football, you’ll invest in sports and fantasy football. If you love your family, friends, the church, you’ll invest in your family, friends, and church. You invest in the things you love. One of the things we say often here at City Awakening is you can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving...You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving...That’s what Paul’s saying here. He’s saying giving is one of the ways we demonstrate our love, which is exactly what Jesus did for us. He demonstrated his love by giving up his very own life for us.
Vs. 9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” This is our last principle.
Principle #5 = Christian giving is motivated by the cross: It’s motivated by the generous grace Jesus poured out on the cross, giving up his very own life for the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus left the rich comforts of heaven, to suffer in the impoverished discomforts of the cross. He became poor on the cross so we’d become rich in salvation, rich in life, rich in eternal life with him. The Macedonians are a great example of generosity, but Paul’s saying Jesus is the greatest example of generosity. He’s telling the Corinthians and us to reflect on how much Jesus gave us on the cross. We should be motivated to give, because of what Jesus already gave!
Tim Keller once gave an illustration of how the grace of the cross works to change our view of wealth, how it fees us to be more generous. He says imagine you’re dying, but then I said “I’m a doctor, and I have the cure for your illness. The survival rate of this cure is 100%. However it’s very expensive so you may not want it. It’ll cost you your home, your Ipod, your entire savings account, and everything you own.” Now if your life is precious to you, then you’d say “Of course I’ll take it! Of course I’ll sell all my things so I can live! I mean what good is a house, an Ipod, my wealth if I’m dead?” Your life is so precious to you, that holding on to your wealth starts to become less important to you. So it is with the grace of Jesus. The more you grow in the grace of Jesus, the more precious Jesus becomes to you...the less concerned you’ll be with holding on to your wealth, and the more generous you’ll become. This is how we grow in giving generously. It’s by viewing the grace Jesus poured out on the cross, as more valuable than your wealth. Paul says we excel in this act of grace, by reflecting on the grace of the cross.
The Big Idea:
Look the big idea is to we’re to give because Jesus gave...We’re to give because Jesus gave...We’re to excel in being generous with our giving, just as Jesus has been generous to us. In the words of Robert Murray M’Cheyne, who preached on this text in Scotland over 150 yrs ago.
M’Cheyne said, “Do you know the grace of Christ? If you do, feel the logic. Oh my dear friends if you would be like Christ, and if you pray that you will be like Christ, then be like him in your giving. ‘Though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor.’”
“Objection: ‘My money is my own.’ Answer: Christ might have said, ‘My blood is my own; my life is my own,’ and then where would you be?...”
“Objection: ‘But many people in need are undeserving.’ Answer: Christ might have looked at you and said, ‘Look at these wicked rebels, should I lay down my life for these? No, I will give to the good and deserving poor.’ But no, he left the ninety-nine sheep, and came after the lost. He gave his blood to the undeserving.”
“Objection: ‘But people who I give my money to might abuse it.’ Answer: Christ might have said the same thing, with far greater truth. Christ knew thousands would trample his blood under their feet, most would despise it, and many would make his blood an excuse for sinning more; yet he still gave his own blood.”
“My dear Christians if you want to be like Christ, then give much, give often, give freely, even to the vile and undeserving. Christ is so glorious and happy, and so shall you be.” Let’s pray.