1 Corinthians 16:1-4
The Listen Link: http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw
The Listen Link: http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw
Don’t you just love
fundraisers? Do
you see now that the Christian Church has been doing it since the
beginning? Of
course, we’re not the only ones. I learned that even in Corinth
the Greeks and
Jews had ways of caring for the poor by asking the wealthier
members of each
community to pitch in and help out the less fortunate. Paul would
want the
Christians, filled with the Holy Spirit and the love of God, to
show themselves
to be even more compassionate than the unbelievers around them.
This collection was taken up on behalf of the Church in Jerusalem that was struggling with poverty for reasons such as a local famine and the persecution of Christians that made them ineligible for help from the synagogue led relief efforts. In addition, material support coming from the Gentile churches would strengthen the solidarity and unity between the Jewish and Gentile believers. And beyond that, in other places, notably 2 Cor. 8 – 9, Paul would point out that the younger Gentile churches actually owe a debt of gratitude to the mother church, the birthplace of the gospel that is blessing and changing the entire world with the power of God.
This short text is a brief description of a very practical matter. It is about money being collected for a relief effort back in Jerusalem. This is the initial set of instructions given to a church that had already expressed their interest in supporting the cause, in other words, he was saying, since you want to give, this is a good way to go about it, a disciplined plan of action.
Thus Paul laid down an enduring principle of good stewardship. It is both planned giving, to occur once a week, and it is spontaneous giving, in that it is up to each giver to decide how much they can afford to give with joy. Notice that Paul didn’t mention tithing. He didn’t want any rule laid down because he was definitely opposed to legalism and didn’t want to hinder the people from giving freely from their hearts. Besides, some of the very poor would have had a hard time tithing, and at the same time, the more wealthy Christians who could really afford to give maybe thirty, forty percent or more, would get off too easy if they settled on ten percent! Still, most American Christians at least, really ought to consider giving ten percent, or tithing, as a starting level bench mark to at least shoot for. Anyway the average giving in America for all Christians is currently at about three percent. Surely that means the majority of Americans really could give more than they currently do.
Paul’s message here is also a word of instruction for anyone today who doesn’t think ahead and plan for what they are able to give to the ministry of the church they attend. In so many congregations, as I have heard anyway, people don’t think about what they might offer on Sunday and they don’t plan for it. But, when the collection is being taken up, then they will look and see what they might happen to have left over in wallet or purse. And then decide how much of that they are willing to share with God and his people. If you don’t even know what percentage of your annual income is being offered joyfully to the Lord and His work, then you are not being very disciplined and thoughtful in that aspect of your spiritual life.
In contrast, I did hear about a church that has this practice for its offering: They will announce that as the plate goes by, if you have a need, you may take money to meet that need out of the offering plate, but if you need more than twenty, please speak to one of the deacons about your need. If that sounds a bit inappropriate, ask yourself why. Go deep with that. What difference does it make to you where God sends the money that you freely give out of your generous heart? If you are concerned that somebody might take advantage of that type of situation unfairly or unjustly how would you be judging the person that you saw taking money? Does that make them automatically a thief? Or would your heart of compassion seek them out after the service and find out if they need any additional help?
Sadly, Paul’s brief words here did not adequately motivate the Corinthian Church members to follow through with the plan he recommended, because he had to return to the topic with a much more motivational teaching that went into much greater detail in 2 Cor. 8-9. I’ll be preaching on that someday. And the good news about Corinth is that in Romans 15:26 we learn that ultimately the Corinthians came through.
I have been going through the book of 1 Corinthians in order to take a look at the ways the early church expressed its life in the Spirit. We are nearly done now. And along the way we have discussed divisions in the church, Christian morality and ethics as well as how the congregation should respond and discipline errant members; proper worship, respect for God-ordained authority, Biblical views on marriage, how to respond to the surrounding culture, and how to work together to further the mission of Christ. All of this is really about practical matters of living in the world, soaked in a proper understanding of the relationship of the Holy Spirit to each believer and to all of us together so that we are not of the world even though we are in it.
But you may be wondering how talking about money can have anything to do with spirituality. Jesus talked about money all the time, he talked about money issues more than anything else. Jesus talked more about money than he did Heaven and Hell combined. Eleven of the 39 parables He tells are about finances. There is a reason why Jesus said, “You cannot serve both God and money.” In doing so he pointed at the single most common reason people are not devoted to God. It is easier to be devoted to money. Money has a powerful draw as a source of security in this world. Jesus basically said, it’s always going to be either about Jesus or about money. Money touches our spirituality directly by inviting us to trust in money rather than God.
Jesus is still all about “love,” but I think Jesus realized more of us would struggle with our spending habits than with loving those around us. I know many people who love everyone unconditionally but are either barely scraping by while living paycheck to paycheck or are in debt up to their eyeballs. And Jesus loves us enough to provide wisdom and instruction all through the Bible about how to handle our finances with wisdom and grace. There are plenty of good resources for us to learn how to handle money wisely and perhaps we should run a specific class on that topic one day soon.
But this sermon is really about the deeper spiritual heart of generosity itself. For example, I have already been providing the teaching of finances and generosity very subtly through the green bulletin inserts you have been receiving for 36 weeks now. In this material we steer clear of the old legalistic teaching that teaches you that there is some kind of obligation on you that boils down to, you’d better give or else you’re gonna get it, from God.
It also steers clear of the opposite false teaching of the prosperity gospel that teaches people to give generously so that they get more. In the false teaching of the prosperity gospel people end up giving to get. But the true biblical perspective is that we get to give. God has richly blessed us, so why not be generous? God has promised to meet all our needs so why not give with Spirit led wild abandon and trust in him? There are just four weeks left in that series. Are you relieved to know that it’s coming to an end? Why?
What is the meaning of this saying? “Do not worry about food or clothing, what you will eat or wear. Your Father in Heaven knows you have need of these things.” Think about this. When you are asked to give and your response is, “I can’t.” On what basis do you determine that you can’t give? Is it that God has told you not to? Isn’t it more likely that the first thing you thought about was, “I don’t have enough money?”
So when it comes to being generous toward God, which of the following two statements is really more true in your heart? It’s either, “I don’t have enough money to be spiritually secure enough to give.” Or, “I don’t have enough trust in God to be financially secure enough to give.” You see what I did there? Which of these two has the greatest impact on your generosity? Do you trust in God to take care of your needs? Or do you look to your bank account for that security? Which of those two do you think was true for the widow who was highly praised by Jesus when she gave everything she had when she gave her two mites? Sure if you have a lot of money you can look more generous than those who cannot easily afford to give so much. But don’t we all already know that the poorest people of the world are really the most generous?
Some of you would have seen this little social experiment that was recently publicized on Facebook. Guy goes into a pizza shop and asks customers if they are willing to share their pizza because he is hungry, as they are sitting there eating what they just bought. He gets nothing. Then, somebody else buys a pizza and they bring it to a homeless man out on the street. As he is eating this “gift” the same guy comes and asks the homeless man if he is willing to share. What do you think happened? Why would I even be telling you this story? The homeless man gladly shared what little he had, and the two of them ate together.
Does it bother you that there are so many different mailings and callers all asking us to be generous with them for all different kinds of ministries and causes? Some of them do use tactics that try to make you feel guilty. But it’s really easy for them to do that because so many of us are already pretty guilty of being afraid to be more generous. They say it doesn’t hurt to ask. Well, I guess it doesn’t hurt the asker. But it also shouldn’t hurt the askee. Personally, I give thanks that there are so many people out there doing Christian ministry. I support the ones I believe in. First and foremost, that’s my family and my church. After those two top priorities, I do my best to be as generous as possible. I love being generous! It makes me feel so rich!
In Scripture God wants to bless everybody with that feeling of being rich. That’s one reason even the poor are to give to God from what they have. According to Deut. 16:16, “No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed.” Let’s simplify this as much as possible. Suppose you have a limited income of just one hundred dollars a month. And you just happen to spend exactly one hundred dollars a month on food. Now suppose you decide to tithe your income, as poor as you are, and you give God ten dollars a month. Is God going to let you starve to death now that you can only spend ninety dollars a month on food? Does God want you to worry about what you are going to eat?
Or suppose all the bills you have to pay come to one hundred dollars a month, with only fifty dollars a month for your grocery bill. Is God going to let you starve to death now that you can only spend forty dollars a month on food? Does God want you to worry about what you are going to eat? Or would God rather have you trust him with joy in your heart as you watch him fill in the gaps?
I have a surprise answer for you. It’s not likely that God would let you starve to death, but as a matter of fact, he just might. I know a story of a missionary lady who was living among very poor people during a famine. She was still getting a regular missionary stipend and so she was able to buy food. But out of compassion for the poor little children who were starving all around her, she shared. She ended up giving away so much of her own food that she fell ill of malnutrition herself. Eventually, she did in fact die of starvation. Now I ask you, did she do something wrong? Was she foolish in her giving? Was she unfaithful to God’s call to entrust all her resources to his care? Would you say that she was too generous? Listen. She gave her whole life for the needy children. Isn’t that exactly what Jesus did for his needy children? Would you then say that Jesus was too generous?
Actually, I would like to say that yes, Jesus was too generous. He gave his all for people who didn’t deserve any of it. But that is a good description of Grace, and I will be forever grateful for God’s great grace, and I want to follow his example and call and be just as generous as Jesus, as far as God asks me to do. I would rather be too generous than not generous enough. It is a challenge for us all. And it is a great joy to say thanks to the God who gave us everything, by even trying to give it all back. That dance of generosity is pictured in the Godhead itself.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church. Then the end will come, when he, Jesus, hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
Such love, such joy in giving everything. May such joy be ours as well, in the Spirit and in Christ. Amen.
This collection was taken up on behalf of the Church in Jerusalem that was struggling with poverty for reasons such as a local famine and the persecution of Christians that made them ineligible for help from the synagogue led relief efforts. In addition, material support coming from the Gentile churches would strengthen the solidarity and unity between the Jewish and Gentile believers. And beyond that, in other places, notably 2 Cor. 8 – 9, Paul would point out that the younger Gentile churches actually owe a debt of gratitude to the mother church, the birthplace of the gospel that is blessing and changing the entire world with the power of God.
This short text is a brief description of a very practical matter. It is about money being collected for a relief effort back in Jerusalem. This is the initial set of instructions given to a church that had already expressed their interest in supporting the cause, in other words, he was saying, since you want to give, this is a good way to go about it, a disciplined plan of action.
Thus Paul laid down an enduring principle of good stewardship. It is both planned giving, to occur once a week, and it is spontaneous giving, in that it is up to each giver to decide how much they can afford to give with joy. Notice that Paul didn’t mention tithing. He didn’t want any rule laid down because he was definitely opposed to legalism and didn’t want to hinder the people from giving freely from their hearts. Besides, some of the very poor would have had a hard time tithing, and at the same time, the more wealthy Christians who could really afford to give maybe thirty, forty percent or more, would get off too easy if they settled on ten percent! Still, most American Christians at least, really ought to consider giving ten percent, or tithing, as a starting level bench mark to at least shoot for. Anyway the average giving in America for all Christians is currently at about three percent. Surely that means the majority of Americans really could give more than they currently do.
Paul’s message here is also a word of instruction for anyone today who doesn’t think ahead and plan for what they are able to give to the ministry of the church they attend. In so many congregations, as I have heard anyway, people don’t think about what they might offer on Sunday and they don’t plan for it. But, when the collection is being taken up, then they will look and see what they might happen to have left over in wallet or purse. And then decide how much of that they are willing to share with God and his people. If you don’t even know what percentage of your annual income is being offered joyfully to the Lord and His work, then you are not being very disciplined and thoughtful in that aspect of your spiritual life.
In contrast, I did hear about a church that has this practice for its offering: They will announce that as the plate goes by, if you have a need, you may take money to meet that need out of the offering plate, but if you need more than twenty, please speak to one of the deacons about your need. If that sounds a bit inappropriate, ask yourself why. Go deep with that. What difference does it make to you where God sends the money that you freely give out of your generous heart? If you are concerned that somebody might take advantage of that type of situation unfairly or unjustly how would you be judging the person that you saw taking money? Does that make them automatically a thief? Or would your heart of compassion seek them out after the service and find out if they need any additional help?
Sadly, Paul’s brief words here did not adequately motivate the Corinthian Church members to follow through with the plan he recommended, because he had to return to the topic with a much more motivational teaching that went into much greater detail in 2 Cor. 8-9. I’ll be preaching on that someday. And the good news about Corinth is that in Romans 15:26 we learn that ultimately the Corinthians came through.
I have been going through the book of 1 Corinthians in order to take a look at the ways the early church expressed its life in the Spirit. We are nearly done now. And along the way we have discussed divisions in the church, Christian morality and ethics as well as how the congregation should respond and discipline errant members; proper worship, respect for God-ordained authority, Biblical views on marriage, how to respond to the surrounding culture, and how to work together to further the mission of Christ. All of this is really about practical matters of living in the world, soaked in a proper understanding of the relationship of the Holy Spirit to each believer and to all of us together so that we are not of the world even though we are in it.
But you may be wondering how talking about money can have anything to do with spirituality. Jesus talked about money all the time, he talked about money issues more than anything else. Jesus talked more about money than he did Heaven and Hell combined. Eleven of the 39 parables He tells are about finances. There is a reason why Jesus said, “You cannot serve both God and money.” In doing so he pointed at the single most common reason people are not devoted to God. It is easier to be devoted to money. Money has a powerful draw as a source of security in this world. Jesus basically said, it’s always going to be either about Jesus or about money. Money touches our spirituality directly by inviting us to trust in money rather than God.
Jesus is still all about “love,” but I think Jesus realized more of us would struggle with our spending habits than with loving those around us. I know many people who love everyone unconditionally but are either barely scraping by while living paycheck to paycheck or are in debt up to their eyeballs. And Jesus loves us enough to provide wisdom and instruction all through the Bible about how to handle our finances with wisdom and grace. There are plenty of good resources for us to learn how to handle money wisely and perhaps we should run a specific class on that topic one day soon.
But this sermon is really about the deeper spiritual heart of generosity itself. For example, I have already been providing the teaching of finances and generosity very subtly through the green bulletin inserts you have been receiving for 36 weeks now. In this material we steer clear of the old legalistic teaching that teaches you that there is some kind of obligation on you that boils down to, you’d better give or else you’re gonna get it, from God.
It also steers clear of the opposite false teaching of the prosperity gospel that teaches people to give generously so that they get more. In the false teaching of the prosperity gospel people end up giving to get. But the true biblical perspective is that we get to give. God has richly blessed us, so why not be generous? God has promised to meet all our needs so why not give with Spirit led wild abandon and trust in him? There are just four weeks left in that series. Are you relieved to know that it’s coming to an end? Why?
What is the meaning of this saying? “Do not worry about food or clothing, what you will eat or wear. Your Father in Heaven knows you have need of these things.” Think about this. When you are asked to give and your response is, “I can’t.” On what basis do you determine that you can’t give? Is it that God has told you not to? Isn’t it more likely that the first thing you thought about was, “I don’t have enough money?”
So when it comes to being generous toward God, which of the following two statements is really more true in your heart? It’s either, “I don’t have enough money to be spiritually secure enough to give.” Or, “I don’t have enough trust in God to be financially secure enough to give.” You see what I did there? Which of these two has the greatest impact on your generosity? Do you trust in God to take care of your needs? Or do you look to your bank account for that security? Which of those two do you think was true for the widow who was highly praised by Jesus when she gave everything she had when she gave her two mites? Sure if you have a lot of money you can look more generous than those who cannot easily afford to give so much. But don’t we all already know that the poorest people of the world are really the most generous?
Some of you would have seen this little social experiment that was recently publicized on Facebook. Guy goes into a pizza shop and asks customers if they are willing to share their pizza because he is hungry, as they are sitting there eating what they just bought. He gets nothing. Then, somebody else buys a pizza and they bring it to a homeless man out on the street. As he is eating this “gift” the same guy comes and asks the homeless man if he is willing to share. What do you think happened? Why would I even be telling you this story? The homeless man gladly shared what little he had, and the two of them ate together.
Does it bother you that there are so many different mailings and callers all asking us to be generous with them for all different kinds of ministries and causes? Some of them do use tactics that try to make you feel guilty. But it’s really easy for them to do that because so many of us are already pretty guilty of being afraid to be more generous. They say it doesn’t hurt to ask. Well, I guess it doesn’t hurt the asker. But it also shouldn’t hurt the askee. Personally, I give thanks that there are so many people out there doing Christian ministry. I support the ones I believe in. First and foremost, that’s my family and my church. After those two top priorities, I do my best to be as generous as possible. I love being generous! It makes me feel so rich!
In Scripture God wants to bless everybody with that feeling of being rich. That’s one reason even the poor are to give to God from what they have. According to Deut. 16:16, “No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed.” Let’s simplify this as much as possible. Suppose you have a limited income of just one hundred dollars a month. And you just happen to spend exactly one hundred dollars a month on food. Now suppose you decide to tithe your income, as poor as you are, and you give God ten dollars a month. Is God going to let you starve to death now that you can only spend ninety dollars a month on food? Does God want you to worry about what you are going to eat?
Or suppose all the bills you have to pay come to one hundred dollars a month, with only fifty dollars a month for your grocery bill. Is God going to let you starve to death now that you can only spend forty dollars a month on food? Does God want you to worry about what you are going to eat? Or would God rather have you trust him with joy in your heart as you watch him fill in the gaps?
I have a surprise answer for you. It’s not likely that God would let you starve to death, but as a matter of fact, he just might. I know a story of a missionary lady who was living among very poor people during a famine. She was still getting a regular missionary stipend and so she was able to buy food. But out of compassion for the poor little children who were starving all around her, she shared. She ended up giving away so much of her own food that she fell ill of malnutrition herself. Eventually, she did in fact die of starvation. Now I ask you, did she do something wrong? Was she foolish in her giving? Was she unfaithful to God’s call to entrust all her resources to his care? Would you say that she was too generous? Listen. She gave her whole life for the needy children. Isn’t that exactly what Jesus did for his needy children? Would you then say that Jesus was too generous?
Actually, I would like to say that yes, Jesus was too generous. He gave his all for people who didn’t deserve any of it. But that is a good description of Grace, and I will be forever grateful for God’s great grace, and I want to follow his example and call and be just as generous as Jesus, as far as God asks me to do. I would rather be too generous than not generous enough. It is a challenge for us all. And it is a great joy to say thanks to the God who gave us everything, by even trying to give it all back. That dance of generosity is pictured in the Godhead itself.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church. Then the end will come, when he, Jesus, hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
Such love, such joy in giving everything. May such joy be ours as well, in the Spirit and in Christ. Amen.
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