Giving Like God

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This is a sermon on the subject of Christian Stewardship, especially as it pertains to Christian attitudes toward financial giving to the Lord.

Written Excerpts:

2 Corinthians 9:7 (NKJV) So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

Introduction:

If you’re a first-time visitor or occasional visitor here this morning, this sermon might confirm what you’ve always suspected about church – i.e. “churches are always talking about money.” For those who are regular attenders, you might recognize that this may be the first or second sermon I’ve given on this topic since I came here six years ago.

I do not feel led to discuss this topic because our finances are in trouble here at Wayside. In fact, I’ve often thanked you all for the generosity this church seems to have, and I’ve been grateful for the generosity you’ve shown to Kris and me. I felt led to preach this sermon for a couple of reasons.

First, I recently was reviewing some articles that I had filed away for future reference and came across one article that was a critique of church giving in America in recent years, and I thought it was important for all church attenders to have a biblical view of charitable giving.

Secondly, I felt that this would be an appropriate time to talk about this subject because of our missions’ conference that is taking place next weekend – when we will be asking you to participate in giving funds for worldwide evangelization and charitable ministries.

Transition:

I would like to speak to you today regarding some of the reasons why people fail to give like God.

I.    They fail to realize the difference between ownership and stewardship.

(R. Paul Stevens, Regent Univ., The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, ed. by Stevens and Banks.) The Greek word for steward (oikonomos, from which we get our word economy) means “one who manages a household.” Years ago persons called stewards, rather than huge financial institutions, were employed to manage the financial affairs and households of wealthy people. Their management included not only money but everything that makes a household thrive, not unlike the vocation of homemaking but on a large scale. A biblical example is Joseph’s work as steward of Potiphar’s house; his master did not “concern himself with anything in the house” (Genesis 39:8).

Stewardship is a term theologically related to service or ministry (diakonia). If service denotes the motivation for ministry—undertaking God’s interests for the pleasure of God—stewardship suggests the purpose of ministry: to manage God’s world in harmony with the owner’s mind.

Psalm 24:1 (NKJV) ¹  The earth is the LORD'S, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.

Psalm 50:9-12 (NKJV) ⁹  I will not take a bull from your house, Nor goats out of your folds. ¹⁰  For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. ¹¹  I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine. ¹²  "If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.

The subject of stewardship is one that we could preach an entire series of sermons on because it entails far more than just money or finances. We obviously don’t have time today to cover every aspect of the subject. But, I would propose that anyone who has a basic knowledge of the Bible probably has come to realize that God essentially owns everything. What we may possess is only loaned to us as His stewards to use for His purposes.

(Now, He doesn’t force us to use our possessions strictly in ways that glorify Him, and there are some people in the world that do not intentionally use any of their wealth or possessions for God’s purposes.) So the concept that all our possessions “belong” to us and we can do whatever we please with them is not a concept that should exist in the mind of a Christian or disciple of Jesus.

I certainly believe the Bible endorses the concept of personal property because the 8^th commandment says, thou shalt not steal, which implies a person in some sense has ownership. But… if you believe you are the ultimate “owner” of all your possessions, then whose will they be the minute after you die? And whose will they be when the new “owner” dies?

We only have our “things” for the short period that we live on this earth, then we’re done with them. Every Christian should be concerned about obeying God in every area of life including the area of stewardship. Every Christian should exhibit a desire to use their finances and possessions for the glory of God and to fulfill God’s purposes.

Many years ago I came across this little “parable.”

Once upon a time there was a man who had nothing, and God gave him ten apples. He gave him 3 apples to eat. He gave him 3 apples to trade for shelter from the sun and rain, and He gave him 3 apples to trade for clothing to wear. God also gave him 1 apple so that he might have something to give back to God to show his gratitude for the other 9 apples.

The man ate the 3 apples for food; he traded 3 apples for shelter from the sun and rain; and he traded 3 apples for clothing to wear. Then he looked at the 10^th apple, and it seemed bigger and juicier than the rest.

He knew that God had given him the 10^th apple so that he might return it to Him out of gratitude for the other 9. But the 10^th apple looked bigger and juicier than the rest, and he reasoned that God had all the other apples in the world… so the man ate the 10^th apple and gave back to God… the core.

I know that there are many people in the world who do not even give God the “core” of their “apple.” But sadly, this parable describes the behavior of many Christians who profess to love God and want to be considered as faithful stewards. (By the way, I think I know how to keep the 10^th apple from looking bigger and juicier than the other 9. Give it to God first before you even use up the other 9.)

(Illustrations Unlimited.) There was a knock on the door of the hut occupied by a missionary in Africa. Answering, the missionary found one of the native boys holding a large fish in his hands. The boy said, "Reverend, you taught us what tithing is, so here—I've brought you my tithe." As the missionary gratefully took the fish, he questioned the young lad. "If this is your tithe, where are the other nine fish?" At this, the boy beamed and said, "Oh, they're still back in the river. I'm going back to catch them now."

II.  They fail to cultivate biblical attitudes about giving.

There are several concepts presented in Scripture that characterize appropriate attitudes we should have about giving.

Generously – 2 Corinthians 9:6 (NKJV) ⁶  But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Notice the contrast between the words “sparingly” and “bountifully.”

Proverbs 11:24-25 (NKJV) ²⁴  There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. ²⁵  The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.

Proverbs 22:9 (NKJV) ⁹  He who has a generous eye will be blessed, For he gives of his bread to the poor.

There is something about giving generously that is contrary to popular belief or opinion… The more generous a person is, the more God seems to bless them and they never seem to be in need or want.

Sacrificially – Luke 21:4 (NKJV) for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

It is possible for someone to be generous in their giving without being sacrificial. Someone has said that sacrificial giving is not measured by how much one gives, but by how much one has left.

Purposefully – 2 Corinthians 9:7a (NKJV) So let each one give as he purposes in his heart….

Cheerfully – 2 Corinthians 9:7b (NKJV) … not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

The reason these kinds of attitudes are encouraged and even commanded for the followers of Christ, is because they describe what God has demonstrated and displayed toward all of us. God is generous! God is intentionally good and gives blessings to us! Who can number all the generous blessings that God bestows upon all people, especially His children?

God gives sacrificially! What greater sacrifice has anyone given, than the sacrifice God gave when He sent His only begotten Son into the world for our salvation? God does all that He does with grace and favor, not “grudgingly.” God is a cheerful giver, so we should be too!

An organization named, Empty Tomb, Inc. does an annual report on church giving. In 2012, the latest year for which the numbers are available, church giving dropped to 2.2 percent of member’s incomes, the lowest percentage since 1968. (That’s definitely like giving just the core of the apple back to God.)

But, individual people are not the only ones who fail to live up to biblical attitudes about giving.

“Sylvia Ronsvalle, Empty Tomb’s executive vice president, told Religion News Service, ‘Churches on the whole are continuing to spend more on current members and less on the larger mission of the church and cutting back on missionaries.’” Ronsvalle says that this decline in outside giving is having devastating affects on poverty alleviation and other humanitarian services.

Churches are also guilty. As a church, we can become so preoccupied with our own wants and desires for comfort and security, that we fail to follow all of God’s will in funding the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ like we should. Churches and other religious organizations can become more interested in self-preservation than in outreach, if we abandon these biblical attitudes that God has given.

I’ve been pleased with the general attitude among our own church board members who have often expressed the idea, “God has blessed us so that we can be a blessing to others.” But, I want God to show us if we need to be even more generous and more sacrificial in our giving as a church.

III. They fail to properly appreciate all God has given to them.

I truly believe that another reason some people fail to give back to God in the same way God has given to them is because of a lack of appreciation or the sin of ingratitude.

I’m sure the whole “ownership” vs. “stewardship” issue comes into play here, but I don’t understand how someone can be stingy and fail to be generous if they really were thankful and appreciated the wonderful blessings they have received from God.

One biblical example of a person who demonstrated ingratitude is the story of the servant who was forgiven a huge debt that was owed to his master, then he refused to forgive another fellow servant of a small debt, and had him thrown in prison until the debt could be paid. (Matthew 18:23ff)

It seems to me that it would be a natural thing for a person to be generous, sacrificial and cheerful about giving to others and to the Lord if they were truly thankful for all God had provided for them.

IV. They fail to believe that God can use them or their gift(s) to bless others and advance His kingdom.

I’m convinced that many of us simply do not give generously to the Kingdom of God because we do not really have the faith to believe that our gift matters, or that God can use us to accomplish big things. If you have studied the Scriptures very much you know there are numerous passages that illustrate the things we miss because of a lack of faith.

One clear example that comes to my mind is the reference in the Gospels describing the visit Jesus made to His home town of Nazareth. Mark 6:5-6 contain these words, “He could do no might work there… He marveled at their unbelief.”

May the Lord help each one of us individually, and help all of us corporately to faithfully live as stewards who will one day give account to the Master Owner for how we used the possessions and funds He has blessed us with to glorify Him.

Let’s stand and sing our closing song: # 671, Something for Thee.