Last week we began a new study called, "Making God Sense of Our Money." We clearly demonstrated how God supplies our generosity. God enriches us so that even in our poverty and want, we can share in the grace of giving. In 2 Corinthians 8:2 (NIV) we discovered that the Macedonian Christians were facing, "the most severe trial." They were facing harsh financial circumstances, "extreme poverty."
Their extreme poverty meant a hungry stomach. It meant selling possessions to put bread on the table. It meant inadequate shelter and possible homelessness. We don't see extreme poverty much in America. Yet in their extreme poverty the Macedonian Christians gave abundantly to God's kingdom! 2 Corinthians 8:2 (NIV) says, "their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity." 2 Corinthians 8:3 (NIV) says, "...they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability."
The reason the Macedonians could give was because God supplied their generosity. In 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 (NIV) Paul explains, "Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God."
God is looking for the few, the humble, and the faithful who will take their abundance and direct it toward his kingdom work. God prospers us for the purpose of being a blessing to others. He enriches us in order to build his kingdom. He supplies our generosity and then some. He breaks open the floodgates. He puts us in a position to be even more generous. It is impossible to become poorer by giving to the God of all wealth. You cannot become poor giving to a google-illionairre. Google equals one with a hundred zeros after it. God always supplies. He is faithful. He provides. The Macedonians knew this and lived by it!
The heart of giving.
But this morning we wrestle with another dimension of giving. This dimension concerns the heart of giving.
Several years ago I walked into a restaurant in the community where I preached. As I walked into the restaurant, a man whom I had never met turned around with a startled look on his face. He had his hand on his right back pocket. I tried to ignore him. I wondered if he was a weirdo or something. But then he just burst out into loud obnoxious laughter. And then he said, "Oh, oh! Look everybody.The preacher's here. I'd better watch my wallet. He's going to be coming after my money!" Eventually that man started coming to our church, but what a character he was!
For a lot of Christians, perhaps most Christians, giving is a touchy subject. Our finances strike at the core of our being more than any area of discipleship. The testimony of scripture is that the way we use our finances graphically illustrates our ethics, our morality, our attitude, and especially our heart before God. Matthew 6:21 (NIV) says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:24 (NIV) says, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You can not serve both God and Money."
When it comes to discipleship, our personal finances are not to be glossed over. Jesus talked more about the stewardship of possessions and money than he talked about any other area of discipleship. He told something like sixteen or seventeen parables on these matters. As difficult or sensitive or touchy as this area of discipleship is, Jesus Christ has something to say to us. He wants to be Lord over every aspect of our lives and not just over the areas we choose! He wants a total commitment.
Coerced giving?
But this is what I want you to hear this morning. Jesus doesn't coerce our obedience. One reason people get so angry at the Church and at pastors is because so many churches try to coerce obedience, especially in the area of finances. That gentleman that put his hand on his wallet and obnoxiously shouted, "Oh Ohhh. Here comes the preacher. I'd better hang onto my wallet!" came from a church that was in dire straights financially. He came from a church that heaped guilt and pressure on its membership in order to meet the budget, pay the pastor's salary, and keep the lights on. As the church grew more concerned with how to meet the budget, it became less concerned with how to make spiritual disciples of Jesus Christ.
And this is exactly the temptation that many churches fall into. Many churches willingly sabotage the long term spiritual development of their respective membership in order to cash in on short term monetary gains. Many churches stress finances more as a matter of institutional survival and less as a matter of spiritual discipleship! Many churches willingly risk driving their membership away with guilt and shame and pressure tactics in order to coerce short term giving! And just think how this has affected Christians' attitudes about giving! Jesus didn't use coercion to establish his kingdom. Why should the Church?
All of these things are matters of the heart. So what is our motivation for giving? Do you give purely out of duty? Out of obligation? Because that's what Christian do? Because the Church asked you to? Because there is a budget to meet? Do you give because of social pressure? Here comes the offering plate. People are watching. I got to give something. Oh, here is a few dollars for the Lord. Do you give because you know the Old Testament law required a tithe and you believe that if you don't measure up to the law, God's grace can't touch you?
2 Corinthians 8 and 2 Corinthians 9 helps us sort through the mangled disarray of emotions, feelings, attitudes, and baggage that has evolved in our hearts through the years. As we study the example of the Macedonian Christians, consider several principles that should guide your heart as you give.
Principle number one: Giving is a response of joy.
In 2 Corinthians 8:2 (NIV) we are told that, "(the Macedonians') overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity." Their extreme poverty could not quench their joy in the Lord. Their joy was so intense that it prompted them to give almost irrationally by the world's standards. Their joy was rooted in their deep gratitude for their salvation. God had given them eternal riches in Jesus Christ. God had given them eternal life, hope, and peace.
God's grace had swept them off their feet to the degree that not even an empty stomach or worn clothing or homelessness or persecution or whatever else they were experiencing could extinguish their joy. Their joy in Jesus Christ transcended the moment. It transcended their circumstances.
How many of us, if in extreme poverty or dire circumstances, would have joy? How many of us if in extreme poverty could give sacrificially and still have joy? God's generosity in Jesus Christ is the cause of our generosity. We don't give to get joy. We don't give to receive God's generosity or favor. We give because we have the joy of salvation. We give because God has already given us everything we could ever need and because he has already shown us favor! Giving is our response to God's grace. It is reciprocating back to God even a small measure of the generosity that he first showed us.
Jumping back to the example of the Macedonian Christians in 2 Corinthians 8:3-4 (NIV) Paul tells us that they "...gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints."
Principle number two: Giving is not compulsory. It is free will.
Notice in this verse that the Macedonians gave, "entirely on their own." They weren't being coerced, pressured, manipulated, shamed, or strong-armed! They gave because it was their personal decision to give. These verses suggest that the apostle Paul initially refused their generosity. He took one look at their circumstances and said "Forget it. It's okay. Really!"
Just imagine! A preacher turning down those who wanted to give! Is that possible? But we are told that the Macedonians, "urgently pleaded" to give. They begged Paul! And because of their nagging persistence the apostle relented.
I firmly believe that we need to follow the apostle's example. We need to take the guilt and shame out of giving. We need to make giving non-compulsory, a matter of free will. We need to allow people the latitude to use their freedom to honor God with their personal finances. We should never coerce giving by setting artificial standards. We are not under the Old Testament law. The Old Testament law required every Jew to give a tithe on their income. A tithe is a tenth or ten percent.
Most preachers today insist that the Old Testament Levitcal tithe is just as much law today for the Christian as it was law for the Jews in Old Testament times. The problem is that the Old Testament law required other types of tithing. The Levitical tithe, which required ten percent of everything earned or grown, was given to support the Levites and priests who served in the tabernacle. There was also the festival tithe, which was the tithe off the ninety percent that remained after the Levitical tithe was taken up to fund the national priestly program. The festival tithe paid for yearly religious festivals in Jerusalem. And there was the welfare tithe, which was taken every third year, and was used to feed the poor and cover the needs of the Levites. These tithes totaled up to twenty-three percent of the Jew's income. Failure to turn these tithes over to God resulted in a divine curse, as we find in Malachi 3:8-12.
But here is the problem. As Christians, we aren't under the law. We are under grace. If we are under the law, let us not forget circumcision and the Sabbath. Where do we draw the line? Why obey the tithe but not obey other laws? Instead, the Christian is under grace. The Law commands, but grace invites. The Law judges and condemns, but grace sets us free to live to please God. We need to take the guilt and shame out of giving, let the Holy Spirit convict people, and let the enormity of Christ's sacrifice compel our generosity.
Principle number three: Giving is a privilege and not a duty.
Notice that the Macedonians pleaded with Paul for the, "privilege of sharing." They considered it an honor to support the expansion of God's kingdom. It was an honor for them to see their money being used to directly bring the joy of salvation to every corner of the globe. The fact that they saw giving as a privilege, served to deepen their joy all the more!
Last Monday night the leadership teams in this church pledged over half a million dollars toward the future expansion of God's kingdom through this ministry. On Monday night, as people dropped their pledges into a basket, I saw deep joy. I saw a group of people who felt honored to be a part of God's work here at Lakeside. I saw people making sacrificial pledges who gave sacrificially during our last campaign that we did three to five years ago. This was a campaign that got us to Toronto road! It was more than joy. It was overflowing joy. I saw satisfaction. I saw a sense of pride and accomplishment in what God has been doing through this ministry. Giving isn't a duty. It's a privilege and it's an honor that God bestows on us.
Principle number four: Giving is for the Lord first.
In 2 Corinthians 8:5 (NIV) Paul continues, "And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will." Our giving is not particularly about the Church's need. The Church's need, its vision, its budget, and its mortgage all is secondary. It is incidental to the obedience God is inviting us to. Our present stewardship campaign is less about the future needs of Lakeside Christian Church and more about your heart before God. We are to give ourselves first to the Lord and then to the vision of this church and its leadership.
Principle number five: Giving is motivated by a love for God.
In 2 Corinthians 8:8 (NIV) Paul tells the Corinthians, "I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others." Remember, we are not under the law, we are under grace. Paul doesn't appeal to the law to motivate their giving. Otherwise he would have said, "I am commanding you. I order you. Obey me."
Instead, Paul appeals to the sincerity of their love for God. He invites the Corinthians to use the present need as the occasion to express the sincerity of their love for God. He holds up the example of the Macedonians and says, "Look at what their sincere love for God compelled them to do! Ten percent of nothing equals nothing, but they went beyond the law and they gave out of their extreme poverty!"
One reason many pastors continue to use the Old Testament tithe as a standard for giving is because they're afraid that grace doesn't motivate as effectively as the law! Grace picks up where the law leaves off. Grace motivates us to go the extra mile. Grace motivates us to take our love for God to seemingly irrational heights! By the law, the Macedonians would give nothing. But by grace, they were freed from the law and gave as much as they able and even more! When you love someone its hard to stop at ten percent!
Principle number six: Only heart-driven giving is accepted.
In 2 Corinthians 8:11-12 (NIV) Paul says, "Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have."
Here is the bottom line. If we give with a wrong heart, our gift is not accepted. If we give out of obligation to the law, if we give because we feel guilty, if we give because we are trying to earn God's grace, if we give because we feel manipulated and coerced, then our sacrifice means nothing before God.
Paul says, "...if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have." Your willingness must accompany your gift because your heart is the central issue of supreme importance to Jesus Christ!
Matthew 6:21 (NIV) says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:24 (NIV) says, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You can not serve both God and Money."
Listen, if your heart is not right when you give, nothing has been accomplished! God wants you to be a right-hearted disciple. He wants your love and affection. He craves your worship. He invites your obedience. He wants to be your treasure. He doesn't want some short term monetary gain for his kingdom. He wants you! Jesus wants you to be his disciple. He wants you to grow in your faith to the degree that money no longer holds sway over your heart. He wants you to be driven by the thought of your money being used to expand his kingdom throughout the world.
Lakeside stewardship campaign.
Right now our church is in the middle of a stewardship campaign. Our church's need of eight hundred thousand dollars is incidental to the message you've just heard. Our church's need of keeping the five acres just east of our building for future ministry expansion is incidental to the financial discipleship Jesus Christ is inviting you to this morning. Instead, our church's vision for the future is a momentous occasion here for your generosity. As I said, the leadership team has already committed a half million of the necessary eight hundred thousand dollars that is needed over the next three years.
By now, most of you have received newsletters and information about our campaign. Let me again clarify, our campaign is not about Lakeside's financial need. Institutional survival is not the mission of Lakeside Christian Church. Kingdom expansion, starting with your heart, is the mission of Lakeside Christian Church. Our stewardship campaign is about all of us developing a right heart for God in one of the most important areas of discipleship. Our personal finances. "Where your treasure is, there your heart is also."
On Sunday, June 2our church is going to enjoy an all-church banquet. On that night we will have fun and games and food for children of all ages here at the church. But the rest of us will be meeting at Northfield Inn. At the Northfield Inn we will celebrate the work that God has been doing in our lives and through this ministry. Every regular worshiper is encouraged to come, but you must R.S.V.P. today in the lobby. After enjoying a first class meal you will be given an occasion to express your love for God by making a financial pledge to this ministry over the next three years.
This commitment is between you and God. You will not be billed for any commitment you make. No one will know about your pledge except you, God, and our treasurer, who will track the overall progress we make as a congregation toward our goal of eight hundred thousand dollars.
Every principle we taught about giving today applies to this campaign.
Your commitment, your giving, is to be a response of joy and not a response of guilt. Your commitment, your giving, is to be non-compulsory and free will from the heart. Your commitment, your giving, is to be a privilege and not a duty. You are getting in on the ground floor of the enormous work God is doing here. Your commitment, your giving, is to be motivated by your love for God, who loved you so much that he sacrificed his one and only Son in order to give you life.
Last, only heart-prompted giving is accepted. If God doesn't get your heart through this stewardship campaign, the kingdom of God loses and therefore, Lakeside Christian Church loses. We are not looking to make a financial transaction. Just forget it if your heart isn't right before God! This is an invitation. This is an occasion for your generosity. This is an occasion to love God.