Be A Cheerful Giver 2 Corinthians 9:1-9
Intro.: On this the first of our annual stewardship
emphasis weekends we give attention to the words of the apostle Paul to the
Corinthians (Read Text). "God
loves a cheerful giver." I
don’t know if you remember me telling you this or not, but in the Greek when
Paul calls upon us to be cheerful givers he uses the word “hilarion”. The more literal translation would then be
that God loves an hilarious giver.
As we approach the spirit-led commitment of
our time, talents and treasures, we need to remember that above all the Lord
loves it when our hearts are filled with the wonders of His grace and overflow
with joy and enthusiasm over our salvation.
He would have us look to His wonderous love
and to the countless blessings He daily and richly pours out on us; look to our
glorious victory in Christ and our eternal riches from His grace, and respond
with an hilarious offering of ourselves to Him. This is the kind of new spirit which the Lord
wants for us and works in us by faith.
The result is that by His grace our life is not a vain repitition of daily routines - a meaningless and boring
existence, but one filled with the excitement of knowing His love and of being
not only created, but redeemed for a special purpose. He calls us from the empty ways handed down
to us so that we may spring forward with a spirit of hilarious giving of
ourselves as we declare His praises.
Today Paul encourages us all, in view of God's grace, to... BE CHEERFUL GIVERS.
I. GOD INTENDS
THAT WE WOULD BE EVER CHEERFUL IN OUR SERVICE TO OTHERS.
Consider the joy of the early Christians,
the celebration of John and Peter because they were deemed worthy of suffering
for Christ's sake at the hands of the Jewish rulers. Paul who amidst his
beatings and imprisonment for his faith lived with joy in the knowledge of His
salvation and his opportunity to take part in the gracious work of his Savior. Consider Stephen the first martyr of the New
Testament Church who on account of the glory set before Him, was able to speak
words of love to those who were putting him to death, and express with joy the
vision of his entrance into heaven. In
calling us to faith it was never God's intent for us to mope and mourn, instead
Christ teaches us that he came that we might have an abundant life; one filled
with joy in the service of the Lord as we serve others. This hilarious attitude was what
A. In the portion of His letter that I just read
Paul was encouraging them to cheerfully give of themselves to support the
Christians in
The
Jerusalem Christians were suffering because of persecution and famine; they
desperately needed the help and support of their brothers and sisters to take
care of the needs of body and soul.
So Paul calls upon the Corinthians to be
cheerful even (hiilarious) in giving their gifts to
Christ and to those in need.
They were being called to delight in sharing
and helping others with a cheerful readiness.
In verse 2 Paul says: "For I know your eagerness to help , and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians,
telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to
action."
Paul reminds them that their response was
not to come from reluctance or compulsion.
He writes: "it (that
is their offering) will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly
given". Such boyant generosity comes from knowing that when we render
our gifts and service, we are really serving Christ, who said "Whatsoever
you do to one of these, you do also unto me." [Expound
upon this idea...food pantry, prison ministries, Hispanic ministry, care
ministry, people here who need]
B. In serving others, not only do we serve
Christ, but we also conform to the example or likeness of Jesus, our Savior.
The sacrificial love of Jesus guides us in
our life of service, who came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom. In Hebrews 12 we are encouraged to "set
our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of
our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the
throne of God." In setting our eyes upon the joyful service of
our Lord, we learn in every situation and under any circumstance to live
hilarious lives.
Having been ransomed by Christ, being first
served by Him, we are able to respond in cheerful service to our Lord by
serving others.
C. This cheeful
service to our Lord not something we think about only once a year or on the
weekend. It is to be part of our new
being, an ongoing, continuous stewardship process.
In the same way our lives are to be marked
by ongoing, constant, everyday living and giving to the Lord from all that He
has given us until that day when He finally calls us home. Each day until then is an opportunity for
joyful service. Unfortunately, this does
not describe most of our lives most of the time. Because we are constantly burdened with the
old sinful nature that clings to us like a blood sucking paracite,
we fall into periods of self-pity, are preoccupied with thoughts of
self-preservation, and consumed with desires of self-satisfaction. For this reason…
II.
WE ALL NEED STIMULATION AND MOTIVATION TO BE CHEERFUL GIVERS.
A. In his letter Paul revealed that he was
concerned about the response of the Corinthians.
He knew of their eagerness to help and had even
boasted of it openly to others. Yet, he
was concerned that temptation could come and hinder their service. They had their own problems, their own
financial burdens, and their own struggles of faith. They were dealing with fighting and
quarreling among the members of their congregation and with members who were
being treated badly when they came to worship, by other members who thought
themselves superior. They had all the
demands of family, work, and dealing with neighbors who were openly hostile to
their faith.
Sensing their struggles Paul sent the
"brothers" ahead of him to encourage the Corinthians so that his
boasting in them would not become hollow.
He wanted to avoid the embarassment of finding
them unprepared when he came for them to fulfill what they had started. He did not want others to look at them or
himself as being foolish and hypocritical, and so bring shame to Christ.
B. We too need stimulation in our stewardship
because the temptations brought upon us by the devil, the world, and our own
parasitic fallen nature constantly fight against
us. Sadly, excuses come far too easily
for us.
Rather than rendering cheerful service to
the Lord and others, we often suffer from a grudging and reluctant spirit. Perhaps we become lax or lazy in our our efforts and do not fulfill our commitments to the Lord. Maybe we find that at times we become greedy
and consider only our desires and not the genuine needs of others, both
physical and spiritual. Rather than
continuous, ongoing support, yes, even until our life’s end, we might respond
with, "I've done my share."
We struggle with the same issues as the Corinthians, and daily face the
same barriers to cheerful service and giving.
Like them we don’t want to be embarrassed by our failures, nor do we
want to be seen by the world as foolish and hypocritical. And the last thing we want to do is to bring
shame to Christ. So what we need is
constant stimulation and motivation to be God’s hilarious people who cheerfully
give their all for Him. But where does
this stimulation and motivation come from.
Would it help if your pastor followed the way of the televangelist and
worked up a few tears for you? Would it
help you if I beat-up on you a little more with the law to shame you into a
more godly life, or promised you earthly riches and heavenly treasures as a
return upon your investment? Such
things might seem to work, but they are lies which never bring about a truly
cheerful life of service, and the free response of a redeemed child of God.
III.
OUR MOTIVATION TO BE CHEERFUL GIVERS AND SERVANTS OF CHRIST IS
FOUND ONLY IN THE GOSPEL, THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST AND HIS LOVE.
A. From beginning to end the new hilarious lives
we have in Christ are the gift of God through the Holy Spirit working through
the Gospel. Our whole life is a
Spirit-led response to Christ's love. In
view of His mercy and grace we give deliberate and joyful consideration to the gifts
we bring to the Lord, as
We
give what we have of our time, talents and treasures, because we have cheerfully
decided upon it in our hearts. Next week
when we offer of ourselves to the Lord, we will not be giving to the budget of
the congregation, nor the needs we see, but in view of God’s love in Christ we
will give from the storehouse of blessings we know we have and will continue to
receive from Him. Redeemed and alive
with Christ we are able to render our service to the Lord and His kingdome work in a way that is deliberate, well considered,
and in a way that flows from the joyfilled
heart of faith in Christ Jesus. This
involves every intention we have, a Sunday School Teacher planning the lesson, a
Trustee taking the time to get the work done, an offering that is intentional
not just a last minute thought as the offering plate approaches. As the Lord planned from before the creation
of the world how He would
serve us and save us through His Son, so we decide what is
befitting to offer to the King of creation and our Savior.
This is not a difficult thing because it is
the grace of God that
moves us, not compulsion of the law, not
what we should do or must do. It all
flows from a grateful and joyful heart because we have the privilege of knowing
the love of God in Christ. We know God
as our loving Father. We know the
sacrificial service of Chrsit for us. Our whole life is a reflection of the object
of our faith. Our life is hilarious
because we can think on Jesus and His love.
B. Responding to Christ's love, we can set our
priorities.
In I Cor. 16:2,
Paul teaches us to give first to the Lord... this is how the collection which
of which Paul speaks in II Corinthians
was recieved:
"On the first day of the week each one of you should set aside a
sum of money in keeping with his income"
Give yourself first to the Lord, when planning your weekly schedules,
put your appointment with the Lord first, here on this day make Him #1, and the
rest of the week make sure that you have given Him priority in your devotional
life, in your service to the church and others. Not leftover giving to the Lord, but firstfruits giving.
Such cheerful giving will result in a generous gift for the Lord and His
people.
C. Responding to Christ's love, we can be
generous without worrying about our own needs being met for God will provide,
as St. Paul says in v.8: "And God
is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times,
having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." in fact the more
generous we are in our service to the Lord the more our lives will overflow
with blessings for others and for us.
CONCLUSION: God intends for His people to be hilarious
people, filled with the excitement and joy of our salvation. From His grace we are moved to follow the
example of Christ as we overcome temptations to selfishness, and worry, and are
transformed into generous givers, who are loved by the Lord. Grant this Lord unto us all. Amen.