Sermon Tone Analysis

Reader: Tod Edlund

Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:1-9

Introduction

So here we go…we are officially entering into the season of giving.

Not that we don’t have opportunities to give throughout the year but there is something about... coming out of the celebration of Thanksgiving that launches our culture full bore into what many would call the season of giving.

And to have gifts to give our culture has given the day after Thanksgiving the label “Black Friday” because it is the biggest shopping day of the year and so it can put a retail business in the “black” as far as their profits go.

But more recently we have added more to our gift acquisition week.

Following the “Black Friday” sales in the big box stores we have “Small Business Saturday” followed by “Cyber Monday” and then the not for profits threw there hat in the ring with the label “Giving Tuesday” !!

And even though we may all have various levels of appreciations for the energy, excitement and traffic that surrounds these traditions...in principle...there is something good, right and fitting about a... season of grace... following right after a season of Thanksgiving.

Tension

You may wonder if I misspoke there, saying a “season of grace” instead of a season of giving which I used earlier, but that was intentional.

If there is only one thing that you get out of your being here this morning I hope that you get this.

That whenever you hear the word “Grace” you should think about it in terms of a gift.

GRACE = GIFT

Grace is one of the key way that the Bible talks about giving gifts.

Theologically, you will often find the word defined as something like “unmerited favor” but stop and think about that definition for a moment.

Isn’t that exactly what a true gift is?

A true gift is when someone gives something to another that they didn’t earn, merit or deserve in any way.

If they earned it by their behavior towards you…then it isn’t really a gift.

It is a payment that you owe them

If they earned it by means of their position over you…then it isn’t a gift.

It is a kickback or bribe to keep you in good standing

If they earned it by means of just being related to you…then it isn’t a true gift either.

It is a tradition or mandatory social obligation that you are operating under

Take a moment here this morning and evaluate your gift giving.

Take an honest look.

What compels it?

What drives it?

Why do you do it?

How have you given your gifts in the past and what are your plans for this upcoming season of giving?

Are there some ways in which these descriptions apply?

And don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that all of these things are out necessarily out of bounds for us, I am just saying that if those way of “giving gifts” are our only framework for understanding what giving is, then the Biblical idea of giving as “grace” won’t fit into our definition of what giving really is.

And if that is the case then not only will we miss out on the greatest joys in giving, we will misunderstand a wonderful characteristic of our God.

How He has both given us the gift of Grace and wants to work through us to give it to others.

So if you haven’t already, please open up your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 8, it’s on page 967 in the Bibles in the chairs.

I’ll pray and we will get after a deeper of knowledge of God’s grace together.

Let’s pray.

Truth

Before we can really understand the text what Tod read for us this morning, we need to remind ourselves of one of the objectives that the Apostle Paul had in his missionary journeys.

Paul is known as one of the first traveling evangelist in that he traveled the known world and shared the message of the Gospel with anyone and everyone who would listen.

As the message of the Gospel changed lives, Paul appointed Elders and planted Churches in these various cities and regions.

After circling back through Jerusalem on one of his missionary journeys Paul saw how the Church there was being persecuted for their faith in Jesus.

So as he traveled on to revisit cities, and even venture into new cities he would share with the Churches how their brothers and sisters in Christ were suffering in Jerusalem - the birthplace of their faith.

He would also offer them an opportunity to send a financial gift to help bring them relief.

In the case of the Church here in Corinth, Paul had already shared about the need in Jerusalem and they immediately were excited about helping out.

In his first letter, Paul gave them careful instructions on how to be ready to give and here in his second letter he is following through with a reminder and encouragement so that their gifts will be ready when he comes.

(It’s not like they can just write a check or give online)

And I know that we don’t really like to talk openly about money, but the Bible does.

And if you ever wondered where the Bible teaches about how Christians should handle their giving then 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 are a great place to start.

We can see from these chapters that this was an important topic for the Church to address from the very beginning.

But we are not looking just at the realm of finances this morning, we are looking at that as an example of the principle of what happens when someone experiences the grace of God.

So our first theme for this week is...

1. Generous Giving is a product of Grace 2 Corinthians 8:1-5

Here in 2 Corinthians chapter 8, Paul highlights the unique story of the Church in Macedonia to inspire the Corinthians, and by extension us, towards what should really drive our patterns of giving.

He says...

2 Corinthians 8:1–7 (ESV)

1 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

So we talked about “affliction” some last week and how it should be an expected reality for anyone who is following Christ on this side of heaven.

But we press on because we know that while we are here in this tent, we are here to accomplish a mission, but we are comforted as we think forward to the day when we will spend eternity with God in the incorruptible home that He has designed for us.

So we all expect some level of affliction to be a part of the Christian life... but Paul describes the affliction of these people in ways that we will probably never know.

Paul shares their story as an example because they were dealing with a “severe test of affliction” and they lived in “extreme poverty” and yet they responded to the gift of God’s grace with such joy that they were inspired to give generously...

3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

I don’t know about you, but at times I have joked about being “por”.

What I am really saying in that moment is that I can’t do something or I don’t have something that I know could make things nicer or easier for me but I just can’t afford that right now.

But the word “poverty” is a different matter.

I would never claim to have experienced poverty, much less anything that could be described as “extreme poverty”.

In fact, the Greek word Paul uses for poverty, πτωχεία (pu-toe-hee-a) is to beg or be a beggar.

That makes Paul’s statement here even more profound…that these “beggars” are begging him for something very unexpected.

Instead of begging to receive from others, they were begging for the opportunity to be able to give to others.

There is something unnatural about this kind of giving.

We typically think that giving is something that is reserved for the wealthy, the rich, that haves and not the “have nots”…but these guys were pleading with Paul to be given the privilege to participate in financially helping these Jewish brothers and sisters that they had never met who lived in a far away land.

How could they desire such a thing?

Because something had deeply changed in their perspective in this life.

They may have been the “have-nots” when it came to earthly possessions, but they were the “haves” when it came to to joy and grace of Christ Jesus.

And pleasing him with whatever they had was all that mattered.

And so Paul uses the example of the Christians in Macedonia to encourage the Corinthian Church to take up the same attitude:

6 Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace.

7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.

Grace giving is not just for those who have a lot of money, it for those who have a lot of Joy in Jesus.

Our giving is something that we should evaluate, nurture and grow in along with the other disciplines of the faith.

The Macedonian Churches were a great example of what the grace of Generous giving looks like, but there is always a better example when it comes to how we life out our faith.

Our second theme this week is

2. Generous Giving is modeled by Jesus. 2 Corinthians 8:8-9

Jesus is always our example in every area of how to live the Christian life.

2 Corinthians 8:8–9 (ESV)

8 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.

9 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 by his poverty might become rich.

Here on earth Jesus experienced life in a poor blue collar family, but before his mission to come down to earth, He was “rich” in ways our tiny minds could never comprehend.

As one part of the Trinity, Jesus created everything that we have here on this third rock from the Sun. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

- John 1:3 (ESV)

Even our concepts of wealth or riches in terms of gold, silver or any other earthly valuable would mean little to the one who made all those things by just speaking them into existence.

In our experience, wealth is ultimately just about having the authority, resources and power to do whatever you want to do and on that scale Jesus’ wealth is literally out of this world.

Yet He looked down at our spiritual poverty—that we were sinful, wretched, selfish, and totally separated from the Father and deserving of His wrath and so he left his place in the glory of heaven to share in the flesh and blood of mankind so that we could share in the glory of heaven with Him.

As we sang earlier…”This is Amazing Grace”.

There is no better description because we could never even fathom the depths of that kind of gift.

Still, if you are a follower of Jesus, we are called to follow Him in His example of generous giving just as much as the other graces that we have recieved from Him.

How can we follow Him in this, well like most of the ways of Jesus...

3. Generous giving is a heart issue 2 Corinthians 8:10-12

Starting here in verse 10, the Apostle Paul returns to the specific plans for this Corinthian Churches commitment to give toward this cause.

He says...