The Graces of Giving
Our Scripture portion today addresses an important subject for every follower of Jesus. It is the subject of Christian stewardship. When Jesus was on earth, He had a lot to say about money and possessions. But statistics reveal that not many churches provide regular or systematic teaching on the subject of stewardship.
Why this lack of teaching? It may be because pastors don’t want to be seen as self-serving. Or it may be because unchurched people have used the worn-out excuse for not attending, “they’re always asking for money.” Or maybe, the members show by their lifestyle choices that their wants come first and if there’s anything left over, they’ll give that to God. And so, many pastors shy away from teaching stewardship. That leaves it up to para-church ministries to fill in the gap on this vital subject.
Ministries that provide biblical, financial counseling give us some interesting glimpses into the finances of Christians. Statistically, 20 percent of church members do 80 percent of the giving. Of those 20 percent, only about 2 or 3 percent actually give a tithe or 10 percent of their income. It seems obvious that there’s a need today for teaching on this subject.
Let us turn to II Corinthians 9:1-15 for our Scripture reading. Here is God’s Word to us.
Here we discover three GRACES of giving that should be every Christian’s experience.
One of the interesting things about this text is, the graces are laid out in verses six and seven, then they’re expanded in the remaining verses. Our title is, “The Graces of Giving.”
The First Grace is,
Give Generously
Paul begins this section of teaching with a very simple analogy, the law of sowing and reaping. In Paul’s day, the seed was scattered by hand, today’s farmers use modern equipment to plant the seeds in the field, but the principle is still the same. The harvest is in direct proportion to the number of seeds planted.
The word translated sparingly in our English Bibles carries the meaning of stingy. If you are stingy when you plant your seed, you will have a poor harvest. But if you sow generously, you will have a bountiful harvest. If you know anything about planting, you know that if the plants are too far apart, the weeds take advantage of that. They’ll grow and choke out the good plants, reducing the harvest. If plants are closer together, as they grow, they’ll shade out the weeds.
Verses eight to eleven of our text expand on this idea of sowing generously. One of the first questions you may ask is how do I know if I’m giving generously? That is a fair question. A basic starting point is a tithe or 10 percent of my income.
Some of you may protest, “that’s the law and we’re no longer under the law.” Let me remind you of something. In Genesis chapter fourteen, Abraham paid tithes long before the law was given! And think about this; under the law, the tithe was an obligation, it was required. Shouldn’t we, under grace, be able to do above what the law required? Jesus Himself taught that principle in the Sermon on the Mount. Grace was given so we could live by a higher standard than simply what the law required!
We could focus our entire message on the principle of the tithe. But for the sake of time, let’s agree that the minimum tithe is ten percent. So, “how do I...
