November 4, 2012
The Grace of Giving - The Grace of Giving
- 2 Corinthians 8:1-7
- Rev. Jim Capps
Fifty-seven pennies that were found under a little girl’s pillow when she died left their mark on Philadelphia. The girl wanted to attend a little Sunday school in Philadelphia years ago, and was told that there was not enough room. She began saving her pennies to “help the Sunday school have more room.”
Two years later she became ill and died and they found a small pocket book under her pillow with fifty-seven pennies and a piece of paper that had the following note written very neatly: “To build the Little Temple bigger, so more children can go to Sunday school.”
The pastor told the story to his congregation, and the newspaper took the story across the country. Soon the pennies grew, and the outcome can be seen in Philadelphia today. There is a church which seats 3,300 persons, a Temple University which accommodates thousands of students, a Temple Hospital, and a large Temple Sunday school. And it all began with a beautiful, dedicated spirit—and 57 pennies.
What a tender story of the grace of giving! It all began with the unselfish vision of a little poor girl.
In Paul’s Second Letter to the Church at Corinth written several months after the first, we read another tender story of the churches of Macedonian who also were experiencing the grace of giving in a marvelous manner. I have visited the places where at least three of these churches were located- Berea, Philippi, and Thessalonica. Macedonia was an impoverished area with few financial or material resources. But what they lacked in money and possessions they made up for in generosity and the grace of giving. Interestingly, Macedonia is located not far south of Romania, where we have a very active partnership and which many of us have visited.
Macedonia was in vivid contrast to Corinth which as we said last week, was a center for travel, trade, religion and philosophy. The Corinthians, for the most part, were a people of privilege with lots of resources. In II Corinthians 8 and 9, Paul is dealing specifically with the commitment which the people of the Church of Corinth made to give to the offering for the Church of Jerusalem. The Church in Jerusalem was in dire straits after a famine and persecution by the religious establishment. While the Corinthians had been enthusiastic at first, their passion to generously follow through had cooled and no longer seemed as important.
As I read II Corinthians 8:1-7, there are three situations or settings where the “Grace of Giving” is mentioned. Please follow along with me as I read.
IN VERSES 1-3, PAUL FIRST USES THE EXAMPLE OF THE MACEDONIANS TO WHOM GOD GAVE GRACE.
So that we are all on the same page, it’s important to define “grace.” Grace is unmerited, undeserved favor. If mercy is not getting what you deserve, grace is getting what you don’t deserve. The epitome of grace is God sending Jesus to our world as the “Word made flesh” not only to live among us, but to die so that we might experience the forgiveness of sins.
The churches in Macedonia experienced the rich grace of God in the midst of their depravation and despair. Paul says that in the midst of “the most severe trial,” God brought them “overflowing joy.” When speaking of this trial, the Greek here has the idea of “a great testing of affliction.” Somehow, we are talking about the harassment which is taking place form the world around them. It’s possible it could be persecution from the Roman government or the religious leaders who plagued Paul. We aren’t certain from whom they experienced this trial.
What we are pretty certain of is that this “most severe trial” left them in “extreme poverty.” That phrase has the idea of “rock bottom” or “down-to-the-depth” poverty. By human standards, this is a bleak picture. Yet, because of God’s grace lavished on them, the Macedonians are experiencing overflowing joy. What a contrast.
The joy that God gave them was a fruit of the Holy Spirit who lived within them. It would never be in any way dependent upon the external happenings around them. In fact, their dire situation made that overflowing joy even more real. It was in vivid contrast to their very difficult setting. Serendipity! They were surprised by joy!
There also welled up within them a “rich generosity.” They could empathize with the sister and brothers in the Church of Jerusalem who were also going through famine, persecution, and extreme poverty. They genuinely could feel their pain.
My mind goes back to the first chapter of II Corinthians when Paul writes in verses 3 and 4:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
Their empathy resulted in action, which was a “rich generosity.” You can bet that their giving from their poverty was sacrificial. Yet, it precisely in because it was sacrificial that God gave them “overflowing joy.”
Paul underlines this point by stating in verse 3, “For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.”
Wow! It must have been wonderful to be a part of those churches of Macedonia! Certainly, it wasn’t easy to give sacrificially. But I brought them great encouragement and meaning as they got outside of themselves and their own situations and experienced the grace of giving to others who also were needy.
Listen to this story from Gary Waddlingham of Billings, Montana, which serves as a kind of window to what the Macedonians must have experienced:
“Several years ago, when I was ministering in a small rural community, we had extra food left over from our Christmas basket. I happened to think of a poor family who lived at the edge of town. I packed up the food and drove to their house.
I am never sure how one goes about ‘doing charity’ while preserving the dignity of those who receive the charity. When the woman, surrounded by several children, answered the door, I thought of a subtle way to offer the food to her.
I asked, ‘Do you know anyone who could use some extra food?’
‘You bet,’ she said and got her coat, headed toward her car saying, ‘Follow me.’
She took me to people who were poorer than she, people who desperately needed food. I remember clearly that there was absolutely no hesitation on her part.”
Can you imagine her overflowing joy which came as a direct result of her rich generosity? So it must have been for the Macedonians!
IN VERSES 4-5, THE MACEDONIANS URGENTLY PLEADED WITH PAUL FOR THE PRIVILEGE OF SHARING IN THE GRACE OF GIVING.
Do you see what is happening here? Instead of Paul going to the Macedonians and pleading with them to give as they are able to the Jerusalem Church Relief Fund, they beg Paul for the “privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.” Then as if incredulous at their actions, Paul says that the Macedonians did the completely unexpected when they first gave themselves to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.
Taking Romans 12:1 seriously, the Macedonians first presented themselves as living sacrifices to the Lord, which was only their reasonable worship when they considered all that God had done for them. After that, it was only natural to give sacrificially in keeping with God’s will.
I can relate to how Paul must have felt about the Macedonians. I once had a friend in one of my previous churches who came into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. Without being asked in anyway, after reading the scriptures, he began to giving generously to the Lord. Then when he realized God’s blessing, he joyfully gave even more to the church as well as other ministries with whom he became involved. When he took as step back and realized what God was doing through him, in gratitude, he took out a large insurance policy knowing that if something happened to him and his offering the church would be in a bind. His only problem with the whole endeavor was that he never felt that he gave sacrificially.
Dear friends, that’s the kind of spirit we see in the Macedonians. They were a wonderful example of the grace of giving.
IN VERSES 6-7, PAUL URGES THE CORINTHIANS TO FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF THE MACEDONIANS AND EXCEL IN THE GRACE OF GIVING.
Paul next is making a tangible application. He has urged Titus, who had been with them before and had credibility, to go back and help them complete their commitment which they had made the Jerusalem Church Relief Fund. We aren’t told why they hadn’t completed the fund.
Somehow I have the feeling that they became distracted by all kinds of other things. Maybe it was more opportunities than they could manage. Possibly it was an argument between members. It could have been something happening in the culture of their city or world which turned their attention away from their commitment. It doesn’t really matter what got them off the track, it was just important that they get back on track so that they might complete the act of grace which they had begun.
Then in verse 7, Paul pays the Church in Corinth a compliment when He says, “But just as you excel in everything,” and he goes on to praise them for their faith, speech, knowledge, and complete and earnest love for Paul and his entourage.” What a positive to say. They are a great church, just like I often say to you.
But next comes the zinger, “see that you excel in the grace of giving.” In the same manner that you do such a great job in all of these others areas of life and ministry, make sure you also excel in the “grace of giving.” They had been blessed as much as any church in the world with all kinds of resources. Now it was crucial for them to reflect the grace of God by giving generously of their financial resources to the Jerusalem Church Relief Fund.
When I think of where we are located at a place where Zionsville and Carmel come together, we as a people are blessed. If I got it right, there are very few if any other cities in the state which have experienced the kind of prosperity that we have.
To go a step further, this church has excelled in so many ways. When talking to the executive director of two national organizations within the Presbyterian Church, he spoke in glowing terms about you as a church and what you have accomplished through the years. Praise God for almost 30 years in which God has allowed ZPC to excel in many ways.
The thing that might be a little different, however, is that ZPC has excelled in giving in the past. Yet, with all that has transpired in the past few years, we aren’t as large as we once were and we are in a season of transition. It is so important that we take our eyes off of ourselves and anything which would distract us and make certain that the Macedonian Churches that we are an example of the grace of giving to those near and far. The bottom line is faithfulness to the God who has showered us bountifully with his grace.
APPLICATION
While most of us are not experiencing the “most severe trial” and “the extreme poverty which the Macedonians endured, could it be that we are not experiencing “the overflowing joy” because we have not “welled up in rich generosity?”
To whom much is given, much is required. Listen to these convicting words of Larry Kiser:
“The joy of sacrificial giving to the Lord’s work is one value easily lost in the presence of prosperity. I regularly saw my parents give beyond what is comfortable for them. I don’t know how frequently my children see me give sacrificially to God’s kingdom. Proverbs 3:9 tells us to honor the Lord with our ‘substance.’ We normally give to God from our surplus, but he desires our substance. There is a difference.”
Even though we may be living in a different age and a different situation in life, we need to follow the example of the Macedonians in their grace of giving. It must be in a joyful faithfulness to God as well as our desire to be an example for those who follow after us.
Next Sunday, we are going to have the privilege of tangibly demonstrating the grace of giving in making a faith commitment of our financial resources to the God who has shown His loving grace to us. Will you and I have the same attitude as the Macedonians? Could it be said of you and me that we gave ourselves first to the Lord and then to keeping the will of the Lord? Are you graciously giving your time in ways that sometimes money cannot buy? Are your talents and spiritual gifts be used sacrificially for the glory of the One who generously gave them?
Let me close with this story from Judy Keene of Hoffman Estates, Illinois:
“While hurrying though Chicago’s commuter train station, I had an “Aha moment that stopped me in my tracks. I’d just left the candy counter where I’d bought Valentine’s treats for an upcoming party a few of us were planning for our church’s single moms. Doing so took my thoughts back to a cookout the previous summer, for which I had covered the cost. The single moms, their children, and I enjoyed a glorious day at a local sunshine-drenched beach, conversing and stuffing ourselves with burgers, chips, and all the trimmings.
As the afternoon ended, I sat among the moms at the picnic table as they enthusiastically divided up the leftover hot dogs, sodas, and desserts. No one thought to offer me a thing. Though no-one suspected it, my feelings were a little bruised. No, I didn’t need the food. And most of the moms had given little thought to where the picnic spread had come from. But the slight was significant enough that I recalled it in the train station six months later.
Then it hit me! How much more slighted must God feel when, as recipients of His enormous generosity, we’re reluctant to share a portion of our resources with Him. Just as I didn’t need potato salad, he doesn’t need our money. But He craves our gratitude—our acknowledgement that all we have is from Him.”