The Grace of Giving: 2 Corinthians 8:1-15

Introduction

A little boy wanted £100 badly and prayed for one week but nothing happened. Then he decided to write God a letter requesting £100. When the postal authorities received the letter addressed to GOD UK, they decided to send it to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister was so impressed, touched and amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a £5 note. The Prime Minister thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy. The boy was delighted with the £5 and sat down to write a thank you note to God, which read: “Dear God, thank you very much for sending the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you had to send it through to Downing Street and, as usual, they took most of it.”

This morning I want to talk about the subject of giving. It is an extremely important subject. As Christians we are called to give generously, with joy, as part of the outworking of the Holy Spirit’s life within us.

Of the 29 parables Jesus told, 16 deal with the subject of money, and in Matthew, Mark and Luke 1 out of ever 6 verses deals with the subject of money. It is something that as Christians we cannot ignore.

In our reading from 2 Corinthians 8, Paul writes about arrangements for an offering from the churches in Macedonia in northern Greece to the impoverished churches of Judea. We see from this passage that Paul did not see giving as a mundane matter. He saw the grace of giving as a core part of what it means for us to be members of Christ’s Church.

I want to draw out some of the principles in relation to giving, that Paul writes about in this letter.

Christian giving is an expression of the grace of God (2 Corinthians 8:1-6)

Paul does not begin by referring to the generosity of the churches of Macedonia. He starts instead with ‘the grace which God has given to the Macedonian churches’ (v1). Grace is another word for generosity. In other words, behind the generosity of the Christians in Macedonia, Paul saw the generosity of God. Our gracious God is a generous God, and he is at work in his people to make them generous too.

The church in Macedonia was not wealthy, far from it. Paul writes, “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.” They gave generously and with joy, because of what God had given them. And as Christians we give, not because we have to, but because we want to, it is part of our outpouring of praise and gratitude for God’s love and mercy. God has not withheld anything from us, he has given us his all, and so we should desire to give in return to God.

Paul in verse 8 writes, “I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. “ Paul is not commanding the Corinthians to give generously, but he is putting the sincerity of their love for God to the test, by comparing it with others, and to their response to God, reminding them of what Christ gave up for them and for us.

So our Christian giving should be in response to the grace that we have already received from God.

Christian giving can be a spiritual gift (8:7)

In verse 7 Paul writes, “But just as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us--see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”

Paul clearly sees Christian giving as a spiritual gift. Many of God’s gifts are bestowed in some measure on all believers. For example all Christians are called to share the gospel with others, but some have the gift of an evangelist. All Christians are called to exercise pastoral care for others, but some are called to be pastors. Just so, all Christians are called to be generous, but some are given the particular ‘gift of giving’. Those who have been entrusted with significant financial resources have a special responsibility to be good stewards of those resources.

In the story of the parable of the Talents, three servants are given talents (a sum of money) according to their abilities, to look after whilst their master is away. Two of the servants invest the money and are able to give the money back to their master with interest. Whereas one of the servants buries the talent in the ground, so that it doesn’t earn any interest. The response of the master to this lazy servant is one of anger. Because the understanding of the master was these talents were given for a specific purpose, to be used and multiplied. And likewise we are called to be good stewards of the resources God has given to us. The question we need to ask ourselves is not “How much of my money shall I use for God?” but “How much of God’s money shall I use for myself?”

Christian giving is proportionate giving (8:10-12)

The third thing we learn from this passage is that Christian giving is proportionate giving. Paul in verses 11 and 12 makes it clear that we should each give according to our means.

How much we give, will very much depend upon our different circumstances. But the Bible does challenge us to be generous givers. It is often the case that the most generous givers are those who seem to have the least. Think of the story of the poor widow in Mark’s Gospel, who puts in two small copper pieces into the Temple Treasury. In monetary value it was not worth much, but she gave all that she had. She gave sacrificially. Mother Teresa said that “If you give what you do not need, it isn't giving.”

We need to prayerfully consider what we can afford to give, and to consider what are our main priorities. For example, how much do we spend on hobbies, or holidays each year, or going out to for meals, or to the cinema or theatre, or buying a daily newspaper? And how does this compare to what we give to God?

Many Christians tithe. The word ‘Tithe’ means ‘tenth’ and to tithe means to give 10% of your income or goods back to God, supporting the work of the church, Christian organizations and other charities. The principal of tithing helps us to remember ‘All things comes from God, and of his own do we give him’. (1 Chronicles 29:14) So when we give to God, we give back to him, what he has given us. In the Bible when people tithed they gave the best and first fruits back to God. There is a principle here for us to follow which is that giving should be something that is planned and thought through. When was the last time you sat down and assessed how much you are giving back to God? As Christians every area of our lives must be open to God, this includes what we do with our money. All of us need to sit down and consider what can we afford to give. That will change depending upon our circumstances, whether we are in employment or retired, whether we are supporting children through education or not, and so forth.

Paul makes it clear, we should give according to our means, and that our giving should never be less than proportionate to our income. In 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 he writes, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

The joy of giving

God wants us to be cheerful givers. We should give not because we have to, but because we want to. God has lavished on us good gifts, and in gratitude we should desire to give some of these gifts back to God, to be used for the benefit of others. There should be a joy in giving.

I came across some interesting statistics the other day. One in five Britons suffers from financial phobia, a psychological condition which prevents them sort out their personal finances. According to research by Egg, the online bank, and a senior lecturer at Cambridge University, half the population show some symptoms of this condition. Symptoms include, feeling anxious, guilty, bored or out of control when managing their money. But I believe that if we develop a healthy attitude towards giving, it can actually help free us from an unhealthy obsession with money and material possessions.

Jesus said, it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). There is real grace in being able to give. Giving is not intended to be a heavy burden, although we are challenged to give generously. Julian of Norwich said, “A cheerful giver does not count the cost of what he gives. His heart is set on pleasing and cheering him to whom the gift is given.” We can fill up our lives with material possessions, but I have found that there is something incredibly liberating about giving money back to God. I came across this quote which goes: “The world says, the more you take, the more you have. Christ says, the more you give, the more you are.”

Conclusion

There is real joy in being able to give, and as Christians it we have an awesome privilege in being able to help others through our giving. We need to take a very responsible and prayerful attitude towards giving. The question we need to ask ourselves is, do we give what is right… or what is left?