The grace of giving

The grace of giving

SIBKL/Pastor Chew Weng Chee/2 Cor 8:1-9, 9:6-15

When I first say this phrase “the grace of giving”, it blew my mind. From the Word of God, giving is grace. Grace is a privilege that we receive but don’t deserve. How can giving be a grace? But grace is actually a privilege. Many people want to give but can’t.

The Victorian preacher Charles Spurgeon once said “If you give a tract to a starving man, make sure you first wrap it up in a sandwich.” To the starving man, which is more important? As spiritual a man as Paul was, he was a practical man. Paul was spiritual but also sensible. At this point, Jerusalem was in the midst of a severe famine. Corinth in Greece was asked to show practical concern to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem because many of them were hungry. Paul didn’t say “pray for them or give them tracts”. Corinth, being well to do, a commercial centre based on an important seaport, was asked to give to them.

Last week, Pastor Andy preached how Paul lauded the Corinthian church for its posture of repentance. “I am so glad you repented, I had confidence in you. Now there is a need….” Paul was not leveraging on the repentance. People who have been forgiven much, love much and give much. Giving is a grace, not a grumble.

In these 2 chapters, Paul actually gives 3 principles on how giving is a grace. They are the principles of excellence, earnestness and enrichment.

Firstly, is the principle of excellence. If you want to give, give well. Otherwise, don’t give. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 8:7,  “But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” What does excel mean? The word “Periso” means to exceed, to be more than enough, beyond mediocrity, abounding in leftovers. They were to translate their excellence into something tangible. The Corinthians were a wonderful church that moved in prophecy and spiritual gifts, and now they were asked to excel in the grace of giving. Personally, I am a high achiever. Even from school, I always wanted to do my best. My parents had very high expectations on me and my siblings. Even in medical school, I did well. When I went into full time, I translated my desire to do well into the ministry. I want to give my best to God, my utmost to God. How many of you watched Lee Chong Wei play Lin Dan in the Olympics? We cheered but Chong Wei lost. Yet we still applauded. This time, unlike 4 years ago, he didn’t just lose. Even though he didn’t get the elusive gold, he played excellently. When you say excel, it means do your best. Everyone cheered Pandelela. She gave her best. Its not in the amount, its in the attitude. In Chapter 8:1-5, Paul asked them to look at the Macedonian churches who exercised excellence in the grace of giving.

What did the Macedonian church do? They had 3 attitudes. In verse 2, we read how out of their extreme poverty, they gave. They were extremely poor but richly generous. There are only 2 instances in the Bible where giving is commended. Here in the Macedonian church, and when Jesus commended the poor widow. She gave more than all of you. Its never the amount, always the attitude.

Secondly, in verse 3, Paul exclaimed how they gave more and even beyond their means. Thirdly, the reason par excellence was that they pleaded to give. It’s a privilege! Some translations say beg. I’ve never seen someone beg to give. Please, can I give? How did the Macedonian church get such a wonderful attitude? There are 2 reasons why in verse 5 – “They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.” Firstly, they gave themselves to the Lord. Once you give yourself first to God, everything else is easy. Other than giving, even serving is easy.                                                                                                                                                    Secondly, our free will is replaced by God. Put God first, and everything follows. Whatever decision you make will be keeping with God’s will. The Macedonian church caught it. This undergirds not only giving but every facet of our Christian lives. When we are totally surrendered to Him, giving is easy. Giving no longer becomes a drudgery.

The second principle is earnestness, as in vs8 Paul says “I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.” In other words, if you want to give, be earnest about it. The Greek Word “spoude” means with diligence, zeal, eagerness, enthusiasm, willingness. You want to give, be a cheerful giver! Many people promise and don’t keep, start and don’t finish. In vs.10-11, Paul said “Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. ¹¹ Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.” As their supreme example, Paul pointed to Jesus Christ in vs.9 saying “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” Jesus gave all the way. He came down from Heaven and died on the cross. He didn’t do it halfway. The whole theology of kenosis described this, about His emptying of Himself for us.

Then, we see the third principle – enrichment in 2 Corinthians 9:6-15. Don’t feel forced to give. God loves a cheerful giver. Jesus Christ went to the cross willingly for you and me. Grace is a privilege.

In this passage, Paul uses seed analogy with 3 results – multiplication, fruitfulness/harvest and thanksgiving to God. The harvest may not be in monetary terms. It is written that when you give, you will have a harvest of righteousness. Your giving can bring a harvest of souls. Some things money cannot buy. The receivers will thank God. The more you give, the more you can give. The sermon of the Mount speaks about letting our light shine before men so that they may praise our Father in Heaven.  

SIBKL, you have been a generous church, and you have contributed to feeding the 974 Myanmar children in the city, supporting the poor community in Sentul Raya, supporting 12 orphanages in Myanmar consisting more than 600 children,  supporting 67 pastors in Sabah and many missionaries. Let us continue to excel in the grace of giving, in earnestness and cheerfulness.