Sermon: "A Pattern for Living and Giving"

Stewardship Series: “Irresistible Invitation”
A Pattern for Living and Giving
(Last in the Series)
2 Corinthians 8:1-15
November 16, 2008

We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints— 5and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking among you.

Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.

I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something— now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. 2For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. As it is written, “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.”

A college student wrote a letter home to our parents that said…

Dear Mom and Dad:
I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last letter, but I didn’t want to bother you about the fire in the dormitory and the concussion I received falling out the window trying to escape. I want you to know how nice the young service station attendant around the corner was. He provided me comfort all the time that I waited for the ambulance. I’m out of the hospital now, and I’m doing fine. Especially since the young service station attendant invited me to live with him in his apartment. He’s a very nice fellow and I know you’re going to like him very much. I do. And I hope you’ll be happy to know that you’ll be grandparents in seven months.

Now, in closing, I want you to know that I don’t want you to worry—don’t be too concerned about all this. There really was not a fire in the dormitory. I didn’t suffer a concussion. I’m not living with a young man; I’m not even going with one, and I’m not going to have a baby. I’ve told you all this to let you know that I made a D in Biology and an F in European History, and I wanted you to keep all this in perspective.
Your loving daughter.

Today is Commitment Sunday and what we need is perspective, especially when it comes to talking about money in the church.

You may be aware that a couple of preachers have been in the news lately with some fairly controversial sermon topics. The pastor at First Baptist Church in downtown Dallas had protesters picketing his church last Sunday when he preached on “Why Gay Is Not OK.” Ed Young, Jr. of Fellowship Church in Grapevine made the news last week with the sermon he’s planning to give today urging married couples to have S-E-X for seven days in a row. He’ll even be sitting on a big bed when he gives it.

But as touchy as those subjects may be, they’re nothing compared to preaching about money in the church. And yet, I’m going to forge on ahead. I hope we don’t have any protesters or news cameras outside today when we leave!

This passage from 1 Cor. 8 gives us the perspective on money and giving we need, I believe. It gives us a pattern for living and giving. So let’s look at it a little more closely.

But first, just a little bit of background. Paul had been collecting money to help the needy widows and orphans back in Jerusalem for over a year. The offering in Corinth had gotten interrupted by division and infighting in the church there. Some people had gotten upset with Paul. But all of that’s now settled, so Paul invites them to finish collecting the offering that they’d started.

He believes it will not only deepen their faith, but it will also strengthen the bonds between the Jewish and Gentile churches. Most importantly, the Corinthians will learn the blessings that come from giving.

To inspire and motivate the Corinthians, Paul tells them about the Macedonians and how generous they had been. Even though they were going through some very tough times, and they were very poor compared to the wealthy Corinthians, when they heard about the needy people in Jerusalem, the Macedonians had “overflowed” in their generosity. The way they responded, Paul says, is a pattern for living and giving for all Christians. They gave generously, they gave sacrificially, but there was one more thing that really set them apart. So let’s look at their model as we think about our own giving today.

1) They Gave Generously

Note first that the Macedonians gave generously. Listen to verses 3-4 again:

For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints…

That last verse really catches any preacher’s attention: they begged for the privilege of sharing in this offering. I think I might have a heart attack if anyone ever begged me to let them give money to the church!

But then, come to think of it, in a way I have had someone do that. Many years ago, in one of the first churches I served, we were getting ready for the annual stewardship campaign. We were going over the mailing list of members we should send pledge information to. We came to one older lady who lived alone. Everyone knew she lived on a fixed income, had a lot of medical problems, and a sick brother she helped take care of. She lived a long way from the church so she couldn’t attend very often. We decided not to embarrass her by asking her to pledge. She’d give if she were able.

After all the mailings went out, I got a phone call from her. She’d talked to friends who’d gotten their pledge packets. She wanted to know where hers was. I explained that we were aware of her circumstances and didn’t expect her to make a pledge. She let me know in no uncertain terms that while she couldn’t give very much, she had always pledged to the church and wasn’t about to stop now. So I apologized to her and sent her a pledge card. She kind of reminds me of the widow in Luke’s story this morning. Giving was one of her main ways of feeling a part of the church she loved so much since she couldn’t attend much any more. It was wrong of us to try to take that privilege from her.

Sometimes our generosity has a lot to do with our reason for giving. If I’m called to give out of a sense of duty or obligation, then I’m not likely to be very generous. It’s like the family that was driving home from church one Sunday. Dad thought the sermon was terrible, Mom thought the choir sounded off-key, and sister didn’t like the hymns they’d sung. Little brother piped up from the back seat, “But it was a pretty good show for a quarter, wasn’t it, Dad?”

I’ve been getting calls from SMU, my alma mater, almost every day lately. I know it’s SMU because that’s what Caller ID tells me. I haven’t answered because I know why they’re calling. They want me to give them some money. I’ve given them a little money over the years, but it’s mostly because I feel guilty when they call. And I had to make a lot of those calls to alumni when I was on the Perkins Alumni Council several years ago.

We’re much more likely to give generously when we’re really grateful for the blessings we’ve received. Joy is a much better motivator for giving than guilt or duty. Think about how important this church has been to you over the years, what it’s meant to you to have a church family like this one, as you plan your giving for the coming year.

2) They Gave Sacrificially

Second, the Macedonians gave sacrificially. Go back to verse 2:

…for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

They were suffering, they were poor. But that didn’t keep them from giving joyfully and sacrificially.

I know economic times are tough right now. I know a lot of folks are suffering from the economy and from investments that have lost value and from home mortgages. No one really knows how long these tough times are going to last and no one knows what effect it’s going to have on churches.

But in times like this we may learn what it really means to give sacrificially. That’s why Jesus was so impressed with the widow’s gift. It wasn’t the size of the gift – it was just two pennies. But it was all she had! It was like she was putting her whole self in the offering plate, giving herself to God and saying, “God, I’m trusting you to take care of me.”

Paul reminds us in verse 9 of the ultimate sacrificial gift:

For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

Jesus gave himself sacrificially for us so that we could give ourselves sacrificially for others.

3) They Gave Themselves First to the Lord

Finally, and this is the most important point in this whole pattern of living and giving, Paul says in verse 5 that the Macedonians “gave themselves first to the Lord.”

That’s not just what stewardship and giving to the church is about. That’s what the Christian life is all about: giving ourselves to the Lord. Everything else we do as Christians flows out of that.

If we haven’t given ourselves fully and completely, 100%, to God in Jesus Christ, then we’re going to be very limited in every other area of faith: not just giving, but worship, prayer, service, fellowship.

But once we give ourselves all the way to God, then we’re going to experience what real life is all about. Someone once said, “It doesn’t take much of a man (woman) to be a Christian, but it takes all of him (her) there is.”

So first, give yourself to God. Make a 100% commitment to be a servant and disciple of Jesus Christ, and allow God to use you as God knows best. And then let all your other faith commitments flow out of that: to attend church, to pray, to serve with your time and talents, and to give. If you give yourself first to God, all those other things will take care of themselves. Amen.