Text:\u00a0 2Corinthians 8: 1-9<\/p>\n
I was at a pastor\u2019s conference.\u00a0 A veteran pastor described a worship service he had attended.\u00a0 All went well, he said.\u00a0 But something important was missing.\u00a0 I wondered what that could be.\u00a0 What would you guess?\u00a0 After a few moments, he said, the offering.\u00a0 The offering?\u00a0 I was a bit surprised. Why would he say that?<\/p>\n
Today we get a sense of what that pastor meant.\u00a0 But before we get started first an admission.\u00a0 A pastor can get a bit nervous when he takes up the subject of what we put in the offering plate.\u00a0 He might be tempted to ignore the subject.\u00a0 But if we believe that all of this is God\u2019s Word and this Word has a lot to say about giving, then this should not be neglected.\u00a0 And if we remember that we are speaking of Christian<\/u> giving, if we remember that we are Christian <\/u>pastors speaking to Christian<\/u> people about God\u2019s<\/u> work, then we have every reason to think about these truths of God and apply them to our hearts and lives.<\/p>\n
Here the Apostle Paul writes to the Christians in Corinth.\u00a0 He turns to the subject of a collection being take up by a large number of congregations.\u00a0 You see, the Christians in Jerusalem were suffering great need from a famine and persecution.\u00a0 Paul had asked the Christians in other areas to share from what they had with their fellow Christians.\u00a0 To encourage the Corinthians, he pointed them to the remarkable example of the Christians in Macedonia.\u00a0 An example inspired by God\u2019s rich grace. That is something we have all experienced.\u00a0 Not just the Christians in Corinth and Macedonia.\u00a0 But you and me:<\/p>\n
You Know the Grace of Our Lord<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Look at verse one.\u00a0 Paul writes, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.<\/u>\u00a0 If you and I were writing this letter, we might have said.\u00a0 Look at the outstanding support the Macedonians gave.\u00a0 But no.\u00a0 Instead Paul speaks of the grace that God had given them.<\/p>\n That reminds us of something we should never forget when we talk about Christian giving.\u00a0 We can never give anything unless the Lord first gives something to us.\u00a0 King David understood that.\u00a0 He once prayed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Everything comes from you and we have given you only what comes from your hand.<\/u>\u00a0 You and I cannot give anything that we did not first receive from the Lord.<\/p>\n But here Paul is speaking about another grace given to the Macedonians.\u00a0 Their heart for giving, their willingness to give.\u00a0 For that too is a gift of God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n So when we notice that our hearts are not willing to support the Lord\u2019s work.\u00a0 When we notice that our hands are on my wallet for fear the church might ask for some of my money, when we notice that we have a convenient excuse not to offer our time and talents to the Lord\u2019s service, need to repent and pray.\u00a0 Create in me a clean heart O God, and renew a right spirit within me<\/u>.\u00a0 Lord, give me that willingness once more.<\/p>\n But God doesn\u2019t just zap us with willingness. He inspires it.\u00a0 God inspires us as he did these people by holding before us what he has given us in Jesus Christ.\u00a0 9 <\/sup>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<\/u>.<\/p>\n Every time we celebrate Christmas and stand before Jesus\u2019 manger bed we are reminded.\u00a0 Every time we stand at the foot of Jesus\u2019 cross with its\u2019 shame and suffering, we are reminded of the poverty that the Son of God endured that we might have a Savior from sin and death.\u00a0 But more than that.\u00a0 We are reminded for the great riches that are yours and mine in Christ.\u00a0 Riches that never spoil or fade. The riches of God\u2019s forgiveness from all our guilt.\u00a0 The riches of a new life as God\u2019s child and the riches of eternal life that death cannot touch.<\/p>\n Well any Christian who knows what the Son of God gave up for him, can\u2019t help but be moved.\u00a0 Any Christian who senses the value of what Jesus has earned for him by his death will surely find in his heart a desire to thank God by giving of himself.<\/p>\n We see that in these Macedonians.\u00a0 Paul said, they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God\u2019s will<\/u>.\u00a0 (5) What did Paul and the others expect? Very little.\u00a0 These people were poor.\u00a0 Yet they were generous.\u00a0 How? Why?\u00a0 They knew the grace of our Lord and gave themselves to Him.\u00a0 Maybe you\u2019ve heard the story of the little girl in church with her family.\u00a0 Something strange happened when the offering plate came by.\u00a0 She put it on the floor and stood in it.\u00a0 Her dad was shocked.\u00a0 He quickly took it away and passed it on.\u00a0 Why did you do that?\u00a0 In Sunday they told us, to give ourselves to the Lord.<\/p>\n She had the right idea, didn\u2019t she?\u00a0 Like these Macedonians she gave herself to the Lord.\u00a0 And you know something?\u00a0 Once we do that the rest follows.\u00a0 Missions are supported and missionaries are sent.\u00a0 People are helped.\u00a0 When God\u2019s people dedicate themselves to the Lord, the needs of Jesus\u2019 church take care of themselves.\u00a0 Hearts look to give.<\/p>\n And here again Paul points to \u00a0the Macedonians and writes:\u00a0 Entirely on their own<\/u>, 4 <\/sup>they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints<\/u>.\u00a0 Think of how these Christians approached the matter of giving.\u00a0 For them, it wasn\u2019t a duty.\u00a0 It was a privilege.\u00a0 It was opportunity the Lord placed before them to respond to his grace.\u00a0 In fact, Paul tells us they urgently pleaded<\/u> with him to taker what they were willing to give.\u00a0 Paul may have thought, even said, Wait, you need this for yourself.<\/em>\u00a0 But the Macedonians pleaded that they take it.<\/p>\n And this they offered with overflowing joy<\/u>.\u00a0 These were poor people.\u00a0 Bible poor not American poor with social safety nets to catch them.\u00a0 And yet they found a great deal of joy in being able to give in a way that honors the Lord.<\/p>\n For after all, selfishness lives in us all and with it, we struggle.\u00a0 And all of us have met selfish people who keep a tight grip on what is theirs.\u00a0 We\u2019ve all met selfish people.\u00a0 But let me ask you this.\u00a0 Have you ever met one who is happy, really happy and content?<\/p>\n You see, these people experienced a truth that escapes far too many. Jesus said:\u00a0 It is more blessed to give, than to receive.<\/u>\u00a0 And it\u2019s true.\u00a0 There is joy to be found in the grace of giving.\u00a0 Joy as we meet the needs of others.\u00a0 And joy in getting out that message that meets that all important need.<\/p>\n I think of my friend Pastor Jim Radloff.\u00a0 Supposedly, he\u2019s retired.\u00a0 But these past years he\u2019s been active in China Friends.\u00a0 From thousands of miles away he has taught Chinese people about Jesus using Skype.\u00a0 In person on trips funded by good Christians, he has taught and baptized.\u00a0 And that\u2019s just one example of the many opportunities.\u00a0 Opportunities to hold up the saving name of Jesus to a world on a free fall towards death and judgment. Opportunities that bring joy to the giver.<\/p>\n And finally notice Paul\u2019s approach.\u00a0 I am not commanding you.<\/u>\u00a0 We are not a church that compels anyone to give.\u00a0 We don\u2019t insist on some level you must meet.\u00a0 For as Paul writes elsewhere the Lord loves a cheerful giver<\/u>.<\/p>\n Instead, we point people to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 We point them to the love of God at a cross for each of us. We point them to that love so wide, long and deep in a Savior who bled and died for us all.\u00a0 And we point them to the awesome blessing of forgiveness and life that are ours in him.\u00a0 Blessings that invite a response. Blessing that move hearts to give. Some in a profound and wonderful ways For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 <\/strong>Amen.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Text:\u00a0 2Corinthians 8: 1-9 I was at a pastor\u2019s conference.\u00a0 A veteran pastor described a worship service he had attended.\u00a0 All went well, he said.\u00a0 But something important was missing.\u00a0 I wondered what that could be.\u00a0 What would you guess?\u00a0 After a few moments, he said, the offering.\u00a0 The offering?\u00a0 I was a bit surprised. Why would he say that? 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