MPC
12th November 2017.November 12 - 2 Corinthians 8, 9 - "Gospel Generosity"
MPC
12th November 2017.
Dan Wilton
If you haven't been with us over the last couple of weeks, we're coming to the end of a series we've titled: Good News That Changes Everything. And we've been going back to basics; going back to the foundations of Christianity. Looking at what the Good news of the Bible - The Gospel - is really all about.
We came up with this tweet sized summary of the Gospel:
The one who died for sin is King #GoodNews
Over the last couple of weeks we've been unpacking the Tweet.
The Good News is that God has organised a rescue mission. Jesus. To
deal with our sin problem. By dying in our place.
The one who died for sin...
We all desperately need a saviour. And Jesus is the solution.
But there's more to the good news.
Because the one who died is no longer dead - He's alive. He's king. And he offers a solution to our other major problem - death.
Jesus offers Life. Eternal Life.
New life for eternity.
Which changes everything!
Changes our attitudes.
Our identity.
Our ambitions.
Changes where we look for security.
Changes what we invest in.
Even changes how we spend our money.
Changes how to be generous.
That's exactly what the chapter we read from in 2 Corinthians is all about.
Paul is writing to a bunch of Christians in Corinth - the southern part of Greece. Asking them to give to the food relief fund.
Almost everywhere Paul goes, he's collecting money. It's a collection for Jewish Christians hit by a famine back in Jerusalem. They're in dire straits. They're starving. And so Paul's collecting money on their behalf.
About a year back, these Corinthians made some big promises. They've pledged their support. They phoned in during the Telethon and said they'd help out. Only trouble is, they've never come through with the cash. And so Paul takes the role of the debt collector. Reminds them of their promise.
It's easy to talk big. But you've got to put your money where your mouth is.
And he begins by showing what generosity looks like when it's transformed by the gospel.
He says have a look at the churches in Macedonia. These guys are poor. They're in hard times. But it doesn't stop them being generous. Doesn't stop them getting behind the appeal.
See what Paul says about them:
Out of severe trial and extreme poverty... they had overflowing joy... that welled up into rich generosity. (v.2)
And they didn't give out of their excess. They gave out of their poverty. They gave as much as they were able. (v.3) Even beyond their ability.
They begged for the privilege of supporting not merely the Jerusalem Christians, but Paul himself (v.4-5).
There's a passion here that's bonkers!
The Macedonians. On the poverty line. But Paul says... they gave... out of their poverty... and they did it joyfully...
Pleaded for the privilege of giving. Begged for it.
Not begging to receive. These were people in poverty begging to give the little they had. To others.
It's a complete reversal of everything we know. Everything we experience.
Have you ever really thought about how our world depends on money? How much we depend on it.
We look to it for security. As long as I've got a healthy bank account; got the house - things will be fine. Have enough to look after the kids; have enough to pay for retirement. As long as we have enough money to get by we'll be fine.
Money's our guarantee of health. If we have money we can pay for all the treatments and the vitamins. The doctors. The gym. The organic food.
Money's the means to beauty. Allows us to colour our hair, smooth our lines, tone our body, hide our imperfections and insecurities.
Money purchases the good life! The possessions we have. The experiences we want to enjoy.
Guarantees our acceptance by those we desperately want to be like.
We ask so much of money! It's no surprise really that most Australians believe their incomes are inadequate to meet their needs.
Recently, a study found that 62% of Australians - including half the richest 20% - believed they can't buy everything they need! Not want - need!
It gets worse...
Only 1.6% thought they were prosperous. Including only 5% of those who were earning over $150k a year.
And as income increases those who report that they are totally satisfied with life decreases. And no wonder. For we ask so much of money. We look to it with hope that it'll bring us so many good things.
But here are a group of people, the Macedonians... who've bucked the trend!
Living in poverty. Yet generous. Giving money away.
Where does this generosity come from? How do you have to see the world and your place in it, to be like that? To see money as something you're begging to give away! To have joy that overflows in generosity.
What would it take for you and me to see that giving away everything is a privilege and joy that makes complete sense?
Paul says that joy, that generosity, comes in realising that money and possessions can never bring true security. Never bring lasting health, beauty, freedom, satisfaction.
It's only Jesus who can guarantee any of that. The Gospel changes everything!
See, these Macedonians were so filled with joy in the Gospel. So thrilled having been saved by Jesus. It actually changed the way they saw everything!
They'd reached this amazing situation - that's so very rare - where their happiness, their joy, wasn't governed by their circumstances. Or their money.
Paul says it was found in the grace of Jesus. Their motivation comes from The Good News of Jesus.
The ultimate example of generosity.
Have a look at what Paul says in 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 through his poverty we might become rich.
Jesus gave everything! He became poor for us!
See, before he was born in that stable as a baby, Jesus was with the Father in heaven. He was rich beyond comparison. He was King. Seated in Heaven. Rich in power. Rich in holiness.
Now I gather before you and I were born, we were nowhere. I gave up nothing to be born. But Jesus was different. Because he gave up the throne room of the universe and was born in a cowshed.
Entered our world. Became a man. Became a nobody!
And then after that he totally emptied himself of every bit of pride and ambition and self interest by letting them nail him up on a cross. Paid the ultimate price. Gave up his life in our place. The one who died for sin. Our sin. So that people like us - spiritually bankrupt. Could become rich. Rich in our relationship with the creator of the entire universe. So that we could become children of God. Heirs of the Kingdom. Given Life.
We've been given so much! But it's easy to forget! Easy to forget that we're rich. Forget how over the top; extravagantly rich we are.
I know I do. I keep looking for riches in other places.
I keep buying the lie that money can buy me happiness. Daydream about living it up with a Lotto win! Look to money for satisfaction. For life.
But it's an empty promise.
It's like Maccas - You think it's going to fill you up. But you just feell hollow after you've eaten it. And a little sick.
Money never satisfies. Can't buy true happiness.
Where do you look for life? Where do you search for security and riches?
Does life consist in the abundance of your possessions? Or is life more than that?
I reckon our spending and giving habits provides the answer. Your bank account will tell you what you really think is important. What's worth investing in.
That's a scary thought.
But Paul says you've been given so much. More than just cash. Jesus offers us more satisfaction every day. Joy regardless of how poor we are. Because he offers all the riches we could possibly need. You've been given the riches of the King. Forgiven; sons and daughters of God; an eternal home to look forward to; we have an inheritance that is mind-blowing! We have been given life itself!
Friends, Paul says that sort of self giving is the model for our giving. That sort of grace, that sort of generosity that gives without asking anything in return, that gives when it's not deserved... be like that.
Not feeling like we need to give. But we want to give. Begging to be generous like Jesus has been generous to us. Generous out of the riches of the Gospel.
Since Bill and Melinda Gates set up they're charity foundation - they've given away $28 billion.
And the only way they can do that is because they knows they're rich! They know they're not going to miss out; they've got a whole lot of money to fall back on. And so they knows they can give much.
If you're a follower of Jesus, you have so much more than Bill Gates.
If you think you're poor in life, Jesus offers a full new life. A life of belonging to God; a life of being adopted as his son or daughter. Enjoying his eternal grace and forgiveness. If you are a Christian here this morning - you are not poor! You're not missing out. You're rich!
And when we know that - our hearts begin to be free.
It becomes so much easier to be generous with what we have. Generous with our time; generous with our money; generous with our skills.
Because we know we have much!
Jesus became poor so that we could become unbelievably rich!
Knowing the Good News - that the one who died for sin is King. Changes everything!
It changes how we view money. What we invest in. To be giving generously. To be like Jesus! Who gave up everything so that we might become rich!
And so with this motivation, Paul gives us three basic principles for what gospel generosity will look like.
Firstly, Paul says generosity is about the heart before it's financial.
Paul says - don't worry about how much you give... I'm pretty sure the creator of all things can deal with that. What God is actually interested in is where your heart's at.
There's a particular order. Back in verse 5. Give yourself first to the Lord.
God doesn't want your money, if he doesn't have your heart first. God doesn't want your time and your skills if he doesn't have your heart. God doesn't want you energy poured into the church if you haven't poured you're heart out to Jesus.
Without gratitude for what Jesus has done for us, our generosity just becomes proud selfish actions. And it's called religion.
You might be here this morning and you don't know Jesus. If that's you, please hear me - God doesn't need your money; He wants your heart. The question I want to ask you is not will you be generous, but will you accept Jesus? Will you allow his grace to flood your life? Will you allow him to be generous to you?
He wants your heart. He wants to show you unfathomable and unbelievable riches.
For those who already know Jesus - the question isn't how generous can I be. The first question you need to ask is have I given myself first to God? Do I regard all that I have as belonging to Jesus? My health; my marriage; my kids; my work; my money; my talents; my time; my energy.
If not, forget your budget; forget your pledges; forget your serving rosters and rekindle that first love for Jesus. Rekindle that joy of knowing grace for the first time. Understand the Gospel. First.
Why are we generous? Because of what Jesus has done for you. The King who gave up his throne - became poor - died for sin - So you could become rich.
The second thing he says is: it's more than the dollar value.
God's not interested in how much you give. So much as how generously you give.
Have a look at how Paul puts it in verse 11: You promised to be generous - to put your money where your mouth is. But do it according to your means. Out of what you have.
Size doesn't matter.
You might only give a little. But given your circumstances, it might be incredibly generous. Or you might give what on paper seems like a lot. And yet it's only a fraction of what you could give. And it's not generous at all.
And thirdly your attitude is key.
Paul's putting on the thumbscrews. He's putting the pressure on the Corinthians to put their money where their mouth is.
They were eager to give a year back, they were full of promises while the Telethon was on. And Paul's been telling people about their enthusiasm. So now it's time to deliver. He wants them to give what they promised they would. And he's sending some guys to pick up the money.
But there's more to it than that. The fact is, the reason he's writing ahead to give them some warning, is not so much so they can work on getting the right money. It's so they can work on getting the right attitude.
Have a look at what he says in chapter 9, verse 5, because that's his goal.
He says "Then it will be ready as a generous gift - not as one grudgingly given."
See, it's the same thing again, isn't it? Attitude. If you're going to give grudgingly, if you're going to complain, if you can't give generously and gladly, then don't give at all. Because God looks at your heart. Is it generous? Or are you cursing under your breath?
We live in a world that's imprisoned by the love of money.
Money promises to fulfil some of our greatest and deepest longings. Money can pay for security, success, honour, control and power. If we're trusting money for security, we will be loathe to give it away in any capacity that it might hurt us. That might cost us. Because it doesn't make any sense to give it away.
But the Gospel changes all that! The one who died for sin is King!
The Gospel shows me that Jesus and only Jesus can fulfil my deepest longings. Eternal security in Jesus is what matters!
The Gospel shows me that all I ever wanted, needed and then some was given to me in Jesus. The King.
Freed from the power of living for money and serving self.
We've been given freedom. Freedom from the slavery and anxiety of wealth and possessions. We're free to be like God himself - abundant in generosity.
When you know the riches you've received at Jesus' expense; when you look at what God has given you, when you consider the God who became poor so that we could become rich... the only genuine response is generosity.
Not being generous out of guilt. The Good News frees me from guilt. And thrills me with the prospect of my generosity blessing others. And when that starts happening, I know the gospel has changed everything. Even what I do with my wallet.
To be generous. Deliberately and joyfully. Knowing the riches I already have in Jesus.