Sermon Tone Analysis

!!! Church Offerings

!!!

The Greatest Gift:  They Gave Themselves 1

2 Corinthians 8:1-5

 

 

       How do you give anything to anybody?  Remember what we have been learning, “The way you do anything is the way you do everything!”

The way that you give anything to anybody reveals something about your heart!

The way you give in church reveals something about your heart!

We are in the second message of a four message series on “Church Offerings.”

In the first message, we dealt with The Problem with Prosperity Preaching.”

We pointed out that peasants primarily populate the pages of the New Testament, while many of the people who populate the pages of the Old Testament are rich!

From this, and other considerations, we concluded that God wants to bless His people with prosperity and how we handle that prosperity is up to each of us.

God is *not* ultimately concerned with our financial status, but with the condition of our hearts.

*God doesn’t mind us having riches, but He doesn’t want riches to have us!*

This sermon was the background for the passage of Scripture that I want to begin to explore today.

In the eighth chapter of Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth, he deals with the collection of an offering.

This collection of funds was taken up among Jesus-group members in Achaia on behalf of Jesus group members in Jerusalem.[1]

“This collection was like the customary Israelite tithe collected for the poor.”[2]

“Paul solicits these funds first of all because the pillars of Jerusalem asked him to (Galatians 2:10) and, second, because these Israelite Jesus groups knew about tithing and supporting the poor.”[3]

The reason for their giving was to help the original Saints of Jerusalem!

Our giving helps both Saints and Sinners.

So, although we often have trouble talking about money, it is important that we understand about offerings and money, and these givers are excellent examples for us all.

\\ /(Notice with me please 2 Corinthians 8:1-5.)/

In this passage of Scripture, we have one of the most comprehensive texts on giving in the Bible.

*We must come to realize that giving is a part of our worship of the Lord, as well as a barometer of our spirituality.*

The truths found in these six verses require all of our attention.

/(There are five important *principles* talked about in this passage of Scripture.

We only have time to cover the first four principles.

Principles are cross-cultural and trans-cultural, whereas methods are situational.

*Now,* *the Gospel must be enculturated, i.e. the never-changing Gospel must be interpreted into our ever-changing culture.*

For example:  the principle of blood atonement never changes, but the time of the worship service changes in each locale and culture!

So, let’s consider these important biblical principles of giving!)/

 

I.

Principle Number One:  They Gave Graciously (vv.

1-2).

The churches of Macedonia were operating by the grace of God.  Grace in this instance being defined as

 

grace /5485 charis/ “of the desire to give alms roused by the grace of God.”

 

“The word /charis/ means ‘favor,’ something another person needs because it is either *not* available at all or *not* available now.

Patrons are the usual dispensers of favor, thereby setting up relations of generalized reciprocity.

But family members and friends do endless ‘favors’ within their social groups.

And the God of Israel, like a patron, dispenses favors on His people, most notably through the death and resurrection of Israel’s Messiah, Jesus.

The first witnesses to this divine benefaction were to be found in the Jerusalem Jesus groups, from whom the gospel of God was transmitted.”[4]

*It was God’s unmerited favor towards them which issued into their own desire to help others, and they realized how blessed they were through God’s grace.*

Do we recognize how blessed we are?  *If we do,* *we should be motivated to help others physically and spiritually because of God’s grace towards us!*

\\        We are blessed!

·        Our last stewardship survey (1990), which was done by Church Growth Services, stated that our average household income was $4,000 higher than the average household income of the city of Akron.

In addition,

·        Our median household income was higher than the city of Akron, Summit County, the state of Ohio and the United States as a whole.

We are financially blessed!

Beyond that, if we are never financially prosperous, we have many intangible and spiritual blessings which are due to the grace of God.  *Because of the grace of God, we sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus and are blessed with every spiritual blessing.*

In Christ we have:

 

   substitution--Christ died for us,

   representation--Christ died as us,

   redemption--Christ purchased us and set us free,

   justification--we are just as if we had never sinned in the sight of God,

   reconciliation--we are brought back into right relationship with God, through Jesus, the Christ,

   regeneration--we are born anew,

   sonship (which includes daughters)--adult spiritual privileges,

   sanctification--set apart unto God, and

   glorification--the full outworking of Christ’s life in us.

Get in touch with the grace of God and let that motivate your giving.

Now, I’m *not* saying that we */feel/* financially and spiritually prosperous!

Many of us don’t /think/ or */feel/* we are blessed, because of our “psychology of entitlement.”

/(But there are two very significant contrasts in these verses:)/

 

1.

A Great Ordeal Of Affliction Versus An Abundance Of Joy.

 

ordeal /1832 dokime/ “1. in an active sense, a proving trial:  through affliction.”

*It is in great affliction that we really learn to have joy!*  Suffering and joy really go together!

When we have successfully withstood our tests, we will experience joy.

*It is crisis that leads us to the cross, and it is at the cross that we find unconditional acceptance, a stable identity, and true joy.* 

\\ Paul said in

 

Romans 5:3-4, “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope.”

“Hope,” according to /Thayer’s Greek English Lexicon/, is the “*joyful* and *confident* expectation of eternal salvation.”

*Joy is not based on our circumstances, but on our view of our circumstances; and our view of our circumstances must be adjusted to the cross of Christ through Significant Emotional Events, crises, or suffering!*

/(There is another important contrast here.)/

2.

Poverty Versus Liberality.

poverty /4432 ptocheia/  “2. in the N.T. poverty, the condition of one destitute of riches and abundance:  deep, i.e. extreme poverty.”

Poverty, in this passage, is *not* the want of two cars or two television sets, or steak instead of hamburger.

*Poverty, here, is the absence of the necessities of life, i.e. food and clothing.*

You have a much better understanding of what Paul means here by “poverty,” because last week I covered the fact that most of the people who populate the pages of the New Testament are peasants who lived at the subsistence level!

What Paul appears to be describing here is below subsistence level, which many people did!

*Yet, in spite of their affliction, the abundance of their joy and their poverty overflowed in the wealth of the liberality.*

liberality /572 haplotes/  “openness of heart manifesting itself by benefactions, liberality.”

Once again, we see that it is about the heart!

*When the heart is right, the wallet is not tight!

Please note:*

 

·        Affliction does *not* destroy joy!

Joy is *not* determined by one’s circumstances, but by one’s evaluation and response to those circumstances.

\\ /(Secondly,)/

 

·        Poverty does *not* destroy liberality!

One’s financial status does *not* determine what is in one’s heart.

Furthermore, one’s financial status cannot determine one’s liberality.

Liberality is *not* measured by the amount that one gives, but by 1) what one gives in relationship to what s~/he has to give; and 1) that attitude in which one gives!

So, Paul describes their giving with the words “the wealth of their liberality.”

Therefore, we must rethink our giving in the light of these Corinthians.

Out of their joy and poverty they gave abundantly.

How are we giving out of our poverty?

How are we giving out of our blessedness?

/(Let’s move on to the second important principle.)/

II.

Principle Number Two:  They Gave Sacrificially (vs.

3).

They gave according to their ability, and they gave beyond their ability.

*That’s sacrifice!*

Personal sacrifice is *not* a value that is being taught any more in America.