GIVING

James Carter used to tell the story of a man who wrote a pastor. “Giving, giving, giving! That’s all you preachers talk about.” The pastor responded, “thanks for the best definition of Christianity I’ve ever heard.”

You see, Christianity is about giving: God so loved the world that he gave…So we too are called to give.

Paul was regularly taking up an offering, but not for himself nor for his ministry. He took up the offering among the Gentile churches for the persecuted Christians back in Jerusalem and Judea. In so doing, he hoped also to bind the two peoples, Gentile and Jew into one. In 2 Corinthians 8-9 he is talking about that offering and also laying down some general principles about Christian giving.

In November of every other year in my pastorates I dedicated most of the month to stewardship. My first sermon was always on stewardship of life. In it I said, “If you want to get mad at me, get mad today, not when I talk about tithing and money. Because today I am saying everything we have belongs to God and is subject to his guidance.” Paul says this.

As he encourages the Corinthian church to prepare their offering, he holds up the Macedonian church as an example. In so doing he comments they did it not as he expected, but first gave themselves to the Lord and only THEN to his offering.

Surprisingly in 9:6, Paul says whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will reap generously! Does he mean that if you give a lot, God will bless you with more money? Frankly some believe that. I’ve heard many testimonies from people who felt unable to tithe, but tithed anyway, and at least half of them have said their income increased.

God may in fact do that, but that’s not the main meaning in my opinion. Remember the first principle is giving yourself  to the Lord. Second remember at the beginning of the letter, Paul says God gives us mercy that we may have enough mercy to share with others. That’s the basic Christian principle: Everything God gives us is meant to flow through us to help others as well as ourselves.

We do trust God to take care of us. That’s basic. But we must also trust His generosity to share with others what He has given us!

Also, remember the principle applies to other things besides money. Our talents become spiritual gifts when we dedicate and use them in the service of the Lord. Our time becomes holy when we spend it in His service.

Thus God promises us spiritual blessings in relation to how much we sew. I once knew an older lady who planted over a hundred tomato plants every year. She always had an abundance and spent time trying to give them away. What do you have to give away?

Verse 9:7 reminds us that we give according to our own decision. Even further, we are to give joyfully as one giving to God, certain He will continue to walk with you and bless you. Finally, verse 8 repeaats the idea the God will bless you so much you will be able to share His bounty in many different ways.

Giving is a fundamental Christian virtue. How well have your let the Spirit develop that gift within you?

YOU ARE THE LETTER 2 Corinthians 3-4 First, the best thing I can do for you with this lesson is to encourage you very strongly to read these chapters in the Message or the New Living Bible. They do an excellent job in catching the meaning in free-flowing English. I hope you have all discovered the free Bibles available for your cell phones and tablets. I recommend the You Version of the “Holy Bible.” In the Apple store it's the red book. After downloading it, click on the second icon at the bottom, which says “Read.” Then you can select whatever book it comes set on, and a menu of all the Bible books will drop. The app will save the first five or six versions you read in at the top, but there are dozens underneath. If you read another language, you can find it there. I read Spanish and some German, so sometimes I compare those. You can also download free Bible Hub and Bible Gateway. You can google a bible verse and the search will usually land you at the Hub and show you first the NIV, but you'll see others too. I do it frequently when I don't remember the exact wording or location. >>>Remember a major purpose of Paul was to defend his doctrine and authority against some false apostles who had come in teaching heresy and putting Paul down. In Chapter 3 he begins by saying he needs no recommendation because THEY are his letter of recommendation. What did he mean? Before Paul came to Corinth, there was no church and no Christians. Paul won people to Christ and formed them into a church. He had stayed there until he felt it was on its feet. When he got a letter from them asking questions, he answered it (1 Corinthians). Their very Christian existence and transformed lives witnessed to the power and truth of his gospel. Has your life demonstrated the power of the risen Christ to transform life? Are you a public testimony to becoming more and more like the image of Christ in you? I find it a strong evidence of the truth of the Gospel that I can recognize those whom the Lord has touched by their speech and general behavior. The rest of chapter three is devoted to showing the superiority of God's new covenant in Christ. This leads me to believe the false apostles attacking Paul's ministry and message were Judaizers, those who taught one had first to become a Jew and keep the law before adding Jesus to your life. Chapter 4 begins with a powerful statement about integrity in Christian leaders. Paul says we preach transparently without trying to manipulate people. That's even more important in today's climate of fake news and skulduggery. A good deal of skepticism today about “organized religion” is the feeling that preachers etc are in it for their personal gain in money and power. Often they are right. Verse 5 tells us that the gospel is that Christ is Lord and we are His servants. In a nutshell, that is the Christian position. Verse 7 - “Earthen vessels”(KJV) or jars of clay (NIV). Part of the continuing miracle of the incarnation, we have the eternal message in a very temporal and limited body. We are very limited in what we can do. Therefore we MUST depend on God to bless our message and bring forth fruit. Verse 16 – We don't lose heart. Our clay jars may be drying and cracking, but their contents are being refreshed day after day. Remember the widow Elijah chose to stay with during a famine. Her jars of flour and oil never ran out...eternal biscuits! All the trouble Paul has been enduring (he catalogues them in chapter eleven) have been supremely worth it. Why? Because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ and sharing that Word with as many as will receive it.