2 Corinthians 8:1-15

The Grace of Giving

Our sermon text this morning is 2 Corinthians 8:1-5. You can find that on page 1149 in the pew Bible. As you are turning there, let me note some things.

2 Corinthians 8 shifts to a new matter. There was a need in the broader church. At that time, when the apostle Paul wrote this inspired letter, the church in Jerusalem was very poor and they needed financial help. As you will hear, the churches in Macedonia helped out and Paul encouraged the church in Corinth to respond likewise.

The basis of the Macendonians’ generosity was the grace of God. As I read, listen for the word grace. It is scattered all throughout these verses. Grace is the Greek word Xaris. It means an act of kindness or an unmerited favor or gift.

Reading of 2 Corinthians 2:1-15

Prayer

As you probably know, money is often a taboo topic when it comes to the church. There are many reasons for that. Sadly, some churches have experienced financial scandals. Other churches and leaders are manipulative when it comes to donations and tithing. Some claim that you will reap financial blessings if you give. And then there’s just the general sensitivity of our personal finances. All of that has made many people inside and outside the church suspicious about tithing and giving.

Several years ago, I was reminded about this perception. Before becoming a pastor, my very last work project involved a team of about 10 people for a couple of years. Our task was to build a software platform for a rather large company in downtown Atlanta. We enjoyed working with each other. At times, we spent long days and nights to meet deadlines. We overcame challenges. We celebrated successes. Through it all, we became close friends. They were all aware of my Christian beliefs. Two of them were also believers, which was encouraging. At times, we were able to share our hope in Christ with our colleagues.

Well, then the day came. I called a team meeting and I shared that I was leaving the industry to become a pastor. It sparked some other good conversations. A few weeks later we had a little celebration. I bought them each a nice Bible as a gift. And we looked at a few Scripture passages together.

Well unbeknownst to me, they got together and bought me a gift. It was more of a gag gift… and I brought it today. The got me an offering plate… and they even had it engraved to me with their names on it as well. We got a big laugh about it. By the way, it also says on it “to God be the Glory in all things.” That was a nice touch.

But it was a not-so-subtle illustration about the underlying skepticism about money and the church.

Well, I hope that today, and really over the next three weeks as this theme continues, that we all will be reoriented to a Biblical view of financial giving in the church. I think you will find it refreshing and challenging.

Let me say a couple more things up front before we dive in.

· First, I do not have access to see your individual contributions. I asked not to have access because I do not want to know. By the way, neither do our elders. Honestly, I don’t want the temptation to be consciously or unconsciously partial to you based on your giving. My relationship to each of you and our elders’ relationship to each of you is based on the call we have to spiritually care for and love you in Christ. Though we fulfill that imperfectly, it is our desire.

· Second, Amy and I seek to be faithful in our giving and tithing to the church. We are participants with you in supporting the mission to which we are called. Now, to be sure, these verses are not about tithing. Tithing is a Biblical concept. You know, giving of your first fruits. The word tithe is the Hebrew word for a tenth. Rather, this passage is more broadly about giving. In fact, it’s about giving beyond the needs of the local congregation to support the financial needs of the broader Christian community.

Ok, with all of that said, let’s now draw our attention to this text. There is a sermon outline. It was a little difficult to find a place in the bulletin to fit it in, but you can find it there on the bottom of page 5.

Three points:

1. The Grace of Giving Modelled

2. The Grace of Giving Received

3. The Grace Behind the Grace of Giving. Really, it’s the same grace. I’ll explain that in a few minutes.

1. The Grace of Giving Modelled (8:1)

So, number 1, the Grace of Giving Modelled.

Lets start with some quick reminders. The apostle Paul had written a difficult letter to the Corinthians and he sent it with Titus. The plan was for Paul to then rendezvous with Titus in Troas. However, when Paul arrived in Troas Titus did not show up. And that deeply concerned Paul. So, he left Troas and travelled west to Macedonia. The region of Macedonia included churches like Philippi and Thessalonica. They were in the northern part of ancient Greece.

And two things happened when Paul got there. Number 1, his dear brother in Christ, Titus, showed up. Titus brought good news about the Corinthians – weve considered that. And number 2, while Paul was in Macedonia, he wrote this letter. We know it as 2 Corinthians. In other words, Macedonia was on his mind. He was experiencing first-hand, their love and generosity for the broader church.

By the way, Paul was on his third missionary journey. And one of his objectives was to gather an offering for the impoverished Christians in Jerusalem. So, as Paul travelled, besides teaching and ministering to the churches, he and Titus and others collected financial gifts for the believers in Jerusalem.

And what an amazing testimony! The Macedonians are described in verse 1 as having extreme poverty. Yet, they gave abundantly beyond their means.

Now, there’s something very very important here. It’s not about the size of the gift. Because the Macedonians were themselves poor, their gift wasn’t a large monetary gift. Rather, the Macedonians’ generosity was about their heart’s desire. They had, as verse 2 says, an abundance of joy. And they gave with a heart for the Lord and his grace. They, in fact, pleaded to give, and they gave “beyond their means,” it says.

Isn’t that counter intuitive to our worldly mindset? When we think of generosity, we often think of the size of a gift. Yet, God reveals here that it is a matter of the heart and it is in proportion to our means.

Earlier in the service we read the account of the poor widow’s offering. Jesus had called his disciples to the temple treasury. As they sat there, they observed people giving their offering. They witnessed different amounts being dropped into the offering box. Clink, clink. Some large gifts were likely given. Perhaps they thought, “Oh, now that’s a generous gift…” But then a poor widow came and she dropped 2 very low value copper coins into the offering. And then Jesus made one those paradigm shifting statements. He said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

It was truly an abundant gift. It was abundant because she gave sacrificially from her thankful heart.

Is that not like the sacrifice here of the Macedonians? They modelled giving from hearts for the Lord. It says they were earnest to participate in the grace of giving. They begged to participate. Those are the words used. Even though their gift was small in earthly terms, yet it was large in heavenly terms. They gave abundantly, from abundant hearts according to their means. Or as verse 12 puts it, a person gives “according what he has.”

God has given us each different means. You know, we have different incomes. Or to put it differently, we fall in different tax brackets. No matter whether you have been given much to steward or little to steward, God calls you to be generous. And that generosity is a matter first of all according to your heart desire, and second of all, relative to your means.

Now, in a few minutes, we’ll get to the source of the heart motivation, which is the grace of God in Christ. I want to be clear about that. We’ll get to what that means in a few minutes.

The point of these opening verses is that the Macedonians modelled joyful heart-motivated giving. And in verse 7, the Corinthians are called to excel in their own giving, just like the Macedonians. Verse 7 says, “But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.” In other words, giving is a fundamental part of the Christian life. Just as we seek to grow in our faith, and be enriched in our knowledge of God and his word, and grow in our love that we give and receive, so also, we should excel in this “act of grace,” as it says, the grace of giving.

2. The Grace of Giving Received

Which brings us to point 2. The grace of giving received. In the outline, you’ll see two sub-points. That grace is received by the giver and received by the receiver.

But let me ask, why do you think giving is called an act of grace? Is it an act of grace because the poor in Jerusalem received grace from the Macedonians? In other words, is it because when we give, we are the ones giving the grace?

The answer is no!

No, giving is God’s act of grace in us. For the giver, God gives his grace which motivates the giving.

Look at verse 1 again. “We want you to know, brothers, about [what?] …about the grace of God…” [clearly it is God’s grace. now listen to what is says next] “…about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.” God has bestowed his grace which has resulted in their generosity.

So, it is God’s grace, and just like other areas of life where we experience God’s grace, God blesses us through it. In the case of the Macedonians, God gave them a desire and he gave them joy.

I want to make something very clear here. The act of giving itself does not result in blessing. Let me say that again. The act of giving itself does not result in blessing.

Rather it’s God’s grace that blesses us… that happens when he turns our hearts to him and gives us a joyful desire to earnestly give.

Now, some so-called pastors would strongly disagree. They would say that giving itself results in blessing. If you give, God will bless you with financial prosperity. Or they say he will bless you through other means. They turn giving into a transactional merit-based scheme. It’s not about the grace of God, rather it is about manipulating people to donate. What it actually does is cover up God’s grace in Christ.

We sometimes we call this teaching the prosperity gospel. It is not the gospel. They say that if God is not prospering you financially, then you need to give more, or you need to trust in God more. Beloved, do not buy this false gospel. There is no place in the Bible that speaks of financial prosperity as God’s will for you. Nor that when you give materially that you will reap materially.

Rather, it says that generosity comes out of a heart disposition that loves the Lord.

Verse 5 makes that priority very clear. Look at it. Verse 5. The Macedonians, it says, “gave themselves first to the Lord, then by the will of God, to us.” Meaning, they first trusted by faith in the grace of God in Christ, and then out of that grace, they gave an offering to Paul for the poor believers in Jerusalem.

Now, I am not saying that there are no benefits to giving. What I am saying is that the benefits come through the changed heart that God gives us through his grace. In verse 10, Paul, talking about this grace motivated giving says, “this benefits you.”

What are those spiritual benefits and blessings? Well, when God gives us an earnest heart-felt desire to give, God helps us to open the grip we have on our financial resources. God helps us to see that we are merely stewards of what he has given us. As you know, money is alluring and when we love our money, we replace God in our hearts with that false love. But when the transforming work of God’s grace convicts us of that sin, we are blessed with joyful longing to participate in God’s missions in the world through his church.

Those blessings are indeed blessings… but they are not our motivation. Rather, God’s grace motivates. It is what changes us.

Let me put it this way. Giving is an act of worship. It is a response. That is why our offering is part of our worship service. In our giving, God is glorified, and we are blessed. And that is because God’s grace enables us to worship, which includes our giving. And through that grace enabled worship, God builds us up in him.

So, for the one who gives… giving is an act of God’s grace which we receive. And the results of that grace are those motivations and spiritual blessings. Again, that’s the giver part.

But also, the receivers of the grace enabled gifts receive God’s blessings. I think that is probably obvious. God bestows his blessing through giving to meet their needs.

Verse 4 talks about the relief of the saints. It’s talking about the Christians in Jerusalem. God used the generosity of the broader church to bring financial relief to these impoverished saints.

Paul mentions that the Corinthians abundance would help supply their need. You see, it is God’s grace through the gifts of his people that bless his people.

There’s a built-in illustration here. It’s in verse 15. It says, “As it is written, ‘Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.’”

That reference comes from the book of Exodus. After God freed his people from slavery in Egypt, he brought them into the wilderness. But what would they eat? I mean, not much grows in the desert. Well, God provided bread from heaven – he provided Manna. Every day, God provided this daily sustenance. It was a miracle. Everyone gathered and there was no lack some gathered more, some gathered less. That’s the quote.

What God is saying in verse 15 is that the miraculous provision of manna in the Old Testament… is an example of how the gifts of the church provide for God’s people in the New Testament.

I find that amazingly encouraging. God now uses his people to support the needs of his people. In other words, God’s act of grace and blessing to the receiver comes through giving. It parallels God’s miraculous provision of the manna. You see, even though God’s people are to give, it is still God’s work – his grace.

To summarize point 2, God’s grace is given to the giver, which turns his heart to give. That results in God’s provision and blessing to the receiver. It is all his act of grace – God’s grace.

3. The Grace Behind the Grace of Giving

Ok, that brings us to point number 3. The Grace Behind the Grace of Giving. I’ve already mentioned that it is God’s grace in Christ – all of it. However, I haven’t really clearly defined what that means. So, what I want you to now see is first, that God’s grace in Christ is indeed the center of this text. And second, at that center, God clearly explains the grace of Christ.

About once every year we come to a Scripture text… which has a unique underlying parallel structure. And we have one of those parallel structures this morning. So, you’ve heard me talk about it before. These parallels in the Greek move from the outside in. They move from the beginning and end and they work their way to the central focus of the text. They are very helpful because we are given the explicit driving emphasis that underlies it all.

· On the very outside of this parallel are verses 2 and 14, which focus on abundance. That’s the word. The Macedonians abundance of joy in verse 2 and then in verse 14, the word “abundance” is used two times. The abundance that the Corinthians are called to and which they will receive in times of need. Abundance.

· The second layer is in verses 3 and 12. So we are moving in one layer. Giving should be according to someone’s means – that’s verse 3. And in verse 12, the same idea – giving should be according to what someone has.

· The third layer is one more step in. Again, moving from the outside in - verses 6 and 11. In both is the call to complete the giving. In verse 6, Titus is called to complete the act of God’s grace. And in verse 11, the Corinthians are also called to finish it. Paul says there, “completing it out of what you have.”

· Do you see those parallels? Abundance – abundance; according to one’s means – according to what someone has; complete it – complete it.

And this whole parallel focuses our attention to the very heart of this passage, which is verse 9. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” Even in that one verse, we see the same outward-in parallel. Rich, poor, poor rich. This is the focus.

It is not talking about financial poverty and riches. No, it is talking about the mercy of God in Christ. Jesus Christ, though he was rich in the sense of displaying the fullness of God’s glory as God the Son, yet he humbled himself. He became poor. He became a man, he endured the miseries of this life, he suffered and died.

And he did all of that so that we in our poverty may become rich. In other words, in our fallenness, deserving of the punishment of damnation and hell, Jesus Christ has redeemed us. He has, through his death and resurrection, restored us to the riches of the presence of God. We, in Christ, are now clothed with the robes of his righteousness - exalted with him in his resurrection. We are indeed rich in that way.

Friends, this is the grace of God in Christ Jesus – it is the Gospel, and it is the foundation to all the callings we are given in this life, including the call to be generous.

We give because of the joy that we have in Christ, just like the Macedonians. We give out of thankfulness for what God has done for us in Christ. We give because others in Christ who have the same riches of God’s grace have needs. We give to further and foster God’s mission, which is to make known the riches and mercy of his grace. We give not out of human compulsion, nor do we give out of a sense of guilt, nor to somehow merit blessings. No. We give because God has graciously given us eternal riches in Jesus Christ.

May God give us each the joy of the Gospel. And may he in turn, give us abundant joyful hearts to give generously, no matter our means. May we long and even beg to participate in this act of God’s grace. All because Christ Jesus became poor for our sake… to take us out of our spiritual poverty and make us rich in his mercy. Amen