Extravagant in Generosity

Today, we will continue in our sermon series we've called "Selfless." In this series we're looking at some New Testament examples on why, as Christians, we're called to live as disciples, and that requires that we live counter to the culture that is very focused on self. Today, we're going to be in 2 Corinthians 8:1-15, and we'll be looking at what it means to be extravagant in generosity. Now, before you hit the mute button, this message is not to convince you to "tithe" more or to add to your giving. This message, as you will see, is more about the attitude of giving, not the amount that you give. The legendary former basketball player, Shaquille O'Neil (or better known as Shaq) is a very wealthy man. This is not only due to his 19 years of playing professional basketball, but because of the business ventures that he has invested in over the years, including ownership in known brands such as Papa John's Pizza and Ring, before it was acquired by Amazon. I read somewhere recently that he has ownership stake in over 50 brands. More impressive than the business career that Shaq has made for himself since retiring from basketball, he is also known for being a very generous man. I heard a story of a time he went into a Best Buy store and witnessed a young mother making a payment on a laptop on layaway. He paid for it in full. I saw another example of him in a jewelry shop, and a young man was making a payment on an engagement ring, Shaq simply walked to the clerk and gave him his credit card to pay off the remaining balance of the ring. When asked why he does this so frequently, he responded with something to the effect of "A $1,000 is nothing to me, but for them it's everything. If I have it and can help others, why not?" Shaq is an example of someone who is extravagant in generosity. In our text today, we're going to see what this looks like in the context of the early church. In Paul's Second letter to the Corinthians, Paul will be making a plea to the church to be extravagant in their generosity. Let's read, beginning in verse 1: 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. 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. 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 THAT YOU EXCEL IN THIS ACT OF GRACE ALSO. 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. 10 AND IN THIS MATTER I GIVE MY JUDGMENT: THIS BENEFITS YOU, WHO A YEAR AGO STARTED NOT ONLY TO DO THIS WORK BUT ALSO TO DESIRE TO DO IT. 11 SO NOW FINISH DOING IT AS WELL, SO THAT YOUR READINESS IN DESIRING IT MAY BE MATCHED BY YOUR COMPLETING IT OUT OF WHAT YOU HAVE. 12 FOR IF THE READINESS IS THERE, IT IS ACCEPTABLE ACCORDING TO WHAT A PERSON HAS, NOT ACCORDING TO WHAT HE DOES NOT HAVE. 13 FOR I DO NOT MEAN THAT OTHERS SHOULD BE EASED AND YOU BURDENED, BUT THAT AS A MATTER OF FAIRNESS 14 YOUR ABUNDANCE AT THE PRESENT TIME SHOULD SUPPLY THEIR NEED, SO THAT THEIR ABUNDANCE MAY SUPPLY YOUR NEED, THAT THERE MAY BE FAIRNESS. 15 AS IT IS WRITTEN, "WHOEVER GATHERED MUCH HAD NOTHING LEFT OVER, AND WHOEVER GATHERED LITTLE HAD NO LACK." Here is the main idea that I want to unpack this morning: Why we give is more important than what we give. A little background here is important before we continue. Corinth was a very wealthy city. It was wealthy because of its access to both Rome and to the East. Merchants from all over the known world went to Corinth for trade and commerce. In the first century, it was known to be one of the richest cities in the world. Now, contrast who Paul mentions in the opening verses of this chapter. Namely, the churches in Macedonia. He gives us some information about these churches, which may be the church at Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, are described as being under EXTREME POVERTY and under a SEVERE TEST OF AFFLICTION. Yet, Paul says that they gave in abundance. I think its important to see the language that Paul uses to describe their state. They were under a SEVERE TEST OF AFFLICTION and under EXTREME POVERTY. While they should have been begging for assistance, we see that they were actually begging Paul to take part in this work. That phrase in the middle of verse 4 - TAKING PART IN - is the same word used in the New Testament to describe "fellowship." The next thing that is at least worth noting is that this collection began over one year prior to this letter being written, which we see in verse 10. This letter was written about one year after 1 Corinthians. So, if we go back to 1 Corinthians 16:1-4, we can conclude that this offering was for the church in Jerusalem. Charles Swindoll says this about the church in Jerusalem: "In Jerusalem and Judea, most of the same Jewish authorities and institutions that had sent Jesus of Nazareth to the cross still held power. To be a follower of Jesus under that regime had moved from uncomfortable to excruciating. As a result of the persecution, many Jewish Christians had no work. Who would hire or purchase goods from a 'heretic' Christian? Without work, they had no money. Without money, they had no food." They were in desperate need of aid from their sister churches. This is what Paul desired from the church at Corinth. This brings us to our first question. WHY DO WE GIVE? 1. Because of God's grace. a. Paul recognized, and quickly reminded the Corinthians that the generosity of the churches in Macedonia were by the works of the grace of God. b. The general application here is that if we have the resources, we should be generous with them. We see this in the next chapter, where Paul reminds them that, WHOEVER SOWS SPARINGLY WILL ALSO REAP SPARINGLY, AND SHOW SOWS BOUNTIFULLY WILL ALSO REAP BOUNTIFULLY. 2. Because there is a need. a. Too many people ignore need when there is one. i. I can recall many years ago, before I met Natalie, my girlfriend at the time calls me as I'm getting out of the shower. I answer the phone, and she tells me that she's at the store with her sister and her baby nephew. They have a flat tire. I hurried and got dressed and drove to store to assist. I honestly assumed that by the time I got there, someone would be finishing up the job, but no. Two young women with a baby were standing at their car with an obvious need with dozens of people just walking past them. No one showed any concern. ii. Another time, my car completely shuts down in the middle of a busy intersection in Pasadena, CA. Several cars honk, tell me I'm number one (if you know what I mean) and yell at me as they drive by. Yet one man decided to help me push my car to the nearest gas station on the other side of the intersection. He was walking by, saw that I was in need, and helped. By his appearance alone, he was the last person I expected to stop and help me. b. Paul was simply urging them to use the resources they had to bless their brothers and sisters who were in need. I read a quote this week from John Calvin. It's a long quote, so I didn't want to read it all to you here now. But, to summarize, he says that the flesh always finds an excuse not to help. He states that Paul, here, erases these excuses by reminding them that, "each of them should contribute according to his ability and he adds, as his reason, that God looks not at the amount, but at the heart." 3. Because of the example of Christ. a. Verse 9 might be the key verse to this entire section. It reads: 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. b. In its most simple form, we can interpret this as saying that Jesus left His throne to become a man, so that we can be reconciled to God through Him. 4. As a proof of our faith. a. In verse 8, Paul alludes to the fact that giving generously to those in need is a proof of our love for the saints. John says in his first epistle that if we claim to be followers of Jesus, then we must also love His saints. b. This section is a bit comical if you ask me. c. Here, he says that this isn't a command, but in verse 11 he sort of tells them that they need to finish what they committed to back in 1 Corinthians 16. d. He is putting the pressure on them by first using the Macedonian churches as an example, but then by using Christ Himself as an example of why to give, he adds a little more pressure. e. It almost like when your wife tells you, "fine, do whatever you want," she doesn't really mean do whatever you want, she's really telling you that you know what to do here. Don't make the wrong decision. WHAT DO WE GIVE? 1. According to our means. a. Going back to the example of the Macedonian churches, we see that they gave according to their means, then more. b. But Paul didn't ask for more, as we see in verse 11 that they were to give out of what they have. c. He says, don't break the bank, but don't hoard it for yourselves. Jesus told several parables on this principle. Read the Parable of the Talents or the Parables of the Hidden Treasure when you have some time this week. 2. Your excess. a. We clearly see this in verse 14. Paul says, YOUR ABUNDANCE AT THE PRESENT TIME SHOULD SUPPLY THEIR NEED b. I know many people don't have excess income, but in those rare occasions, are you looking to but something or are you looking to bless others with it? That's what Paul is saying here. 3. We give generously. a. I know, this is probably more of a "how" than a "what," but that's not one of the questions. b. Recently, our family was raising money for an awareness walk for Gabrielle and others like her as part of a fundraising effort for next year's convention. We received one donation that, to us, was very generous. So much in fact, that we contacted them to see if they accidently hit too many "zeros." They didn't. It was no mistake. They didn't have to do that, but their response was simply, "your family is a blessing to ours." c. There's another family, right here at TFC who recently had the possession of an extra vehicle that they didn't need. Since there was another family who needed it, they gave it to them. d. Those are two very recent examples of families right here at TFC who are extravagant in their generosity. WHAT SHOULD WE DO FROM HERE? 1. Give God your firstfruits. a. Let's go back and read 1 Corinthians 16:1-4, which was mentioned a couple times earlier: 1 NOW CONCERNING THE COLLECTION FOR THE SAINTS: AS I DIRECTED THE CHURCHES OF GALATIA, SO YOU ALSO ARE TO DO. 2 ON THE FIRST DAY OF EVERY WEEK, EACH OF YOU IS TO PUT SOMETHING ASIDE AND STORE IT UP, AS HE MAY PROSPER, SO THAT THERE WILL BE NO COLLECTING WHEN I COME. 3 AND WHEN I ARRIVE, I WILL SEND THOSE WHOM YOU ACCREDIT BY LETTER TO CARRY YOUR GIFT TO JERUSALEM. 4 IF IT SEEMS ADVISABLE THAT I SHOULD GO ALSO, THEY WILL ACCOMPANY ME. b. Notice the direction in verse 2, ON THE FIRST DAY OF EVERY WEEK ... this is a concept that is commonly referred to as the firstfruits. This is the top, the first thing that is considered when your paycheck is received. c. There is an illustration here that reminds us to prioritize God over everything else. 2. Reflect on God's blessings to you. a. It is the month of November, where most of us will gather for a meal on a day we call "Thanksgiving." I have a cousin who is posting on her Facebook account everyday in November what or who she is thankful for. It's a nice reminder to be intentionally thankful. b. While I'm sure it doesn't feel this way for some of you, but if you were able to get up and come here in person, you likely have much more than much of the world. If you were able to get up and login online, you likely have much more than much of the world. These are simple blessings that we take for granted. c. Take the time to reflect on what God has provided you. 3. If you are able, bless others with those blessings. a. I think James said it best in his epistle. Chapter 2:15-17 says: 15 IF A BROTHER OR SISTER IS POORLY CLOTHED AND LACKING IN DAILY FOOD, 16 AND ONE OF YOU SAYS TO THEM, "GO IN PEACE, BE WARMED AND FILLED," WITHOUT GIVING THEM THE THINGS NEEDED FOR THE BODY, WHAT GOOD OR BENEFIT IS THAT? 17 SO ALSO FAITH BY ITSELF, IF IT DOES NOT HAVE WORKS, IS DEAD. b. You see, James and Paul agree. It is not enough to simply say something, faith requires that we do something. Paul goes further here and says, "look, if you have it, bless someone with it." Today we saw that why we give is more important than what we give. Paul, in his letter to the Galatians urged Christians to bear one another's burdens, then in verse 10 of chapter 6, he says these familiar words: SO THEN, AS WE HAVE OPPORTUNITY, LET US DO GOOD TO EVERYONE, AND ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO ARE OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH. Paul reminds us that if we cannot count on one another, aside from the Lord, then who can we count on? Do you have the opportunity? Is there someone in need? Has God blessed you with excess? Who can you bless today? Let's pray.