Morning Message Text: 2 Corinthians 8: 1-9
The Collection for the Lord’s People
1 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.
2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own,
4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.
5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.
6 So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part.
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.
8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.
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 through his poverty might become rich.
Morning Message:
If you have listened to my preaching through the years, you will find that I don’t preach much on giving. Some might say that’s a mistake, maybe a weakness in my ministry. You can turn on your TV anytime and hear some preachers tell you that you should give. They might even tell you exactly how much you should give in order to secure the blessings you are looking for. There are all kinds of charlatans out there that will gladly sell you false hope for the right price; they will even insinuate that you can buy your way into heaven. I believe that there is a very special room in hell for such liars that pass themselves off as God’s prophets and shepherds. The only difference between them and a snake oil salesman is one is in the back of a wagon and the other is standing on a beautiful stage in a beautiful church.
The Christian who understands the principles that are clearly taught in the New Testament will understand stewardship as a matter of wholehearted generosity and responsibility before God. In the Old Testament, God’s people were told to give specifically; in the New Testament, the principle goes beyond that to giving sacrificially. The word sacrifice gets its meaning ultimately from the Latin sacra which means “sacred,” and ficeo, which means “to make.” So the word means literally “to make sacred,” or “to make holy”; in other words, to devote something to God. I do preach sacrifice.
My devotional explains this better than I ever could in my own words. Using Leviticus 1: verses 2 and 9: “You shall bring your offering of the livestock—of the herd and of the flock … And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord.” Now don’t get all caught up in this thought of smelling the burned flesh, that is not what this is referring to. Think of it this way: God is pleased with our genuine sacrifice. The devotion goes on to explain sacrifice. “Sacrifice always involves loss of some kind, like when we sacrifice our time or money. But such sacrifice is not a total loss—we don’t give up all our time or money; there is always more available to replace what was lost. But the notion of sacrifice in scripture had a more ominous meaning.
In the Old Testament when an animal was sacrificed on the altar, it was a total loss. The life of the animal was extinguished. Yes, there were more animals in one’s flock, but for the animal that died, everything was taken.” We see sacrifice as giving up a little something for a short amount of time, but that’s not true sacrifice.
Still in my devotional, I don’t want credit for other people’s words: “It was this kind of sacrifice that Paul had in mind when he implored Christians to willingly present themselves as sacrifices to God in Romans 12: 1. Not sacrifices that would die physically, but living sacrifices that would live—alive to God but dead to self. Many times, throughout Paul’s writings in scripture he describes his life as living for Christ and dead to self.” He considered his life nothing and lived only for Christ.
This devotion ends with something that kind of struck me as funny. It says, “Living sacrifices can be tempted to crawl off the altar. Consider yourself today to be dead to self and alive for the glory of Christ.” Am I the only one who sees this in myself and realizes that my commitment is sometimes weak. Come on church! This can be funny, and we can learn from it. Have you ever made a commitment to the Lord and later found that it was too difficult? Now picture yourself crawling off the altar. That’s what it must look like from God’s vantage point, looking down.
Listen, we have the wonderful opportunity and privilege of choosing to make our lives holy. Old Testament giving was by law: you were required to give. New Testament giving is out of love. You don’t have to give, but when you do, it should be out of love. That’s sacrifice. Old Testament giving has obligation at its center; New Testament giving has others at its center. For me or anyone else to stand up here and preach to you about giving and try to guilt you into making a weak sacrifice is living in the Old Testament. True Christian giving cannot come from obligation. It must flow from love and have the well-being of others at its heart.
Old Testament giving was by percentage; in the New Testament, it is by proportion. There is no set amount that makes you right before God. Ten percent, a tithe, that’s good if you can do it, but it is not set in stone and there is not a limit on what you should give. I like this saying, “Give until it hurts. As Christians I would rather you give until it feels good. Either way, it’s not a sacrifice unless you can feel it. Old Testament giving was a responsibility; New Testament giving is a response. If you give to the church because you feel like you have to, then you might just as well be paying your dues to a club. This is what I base my whole theory on when it comes to preaching about giving. True giving must be your personal response to what Jesus has done for you. If I, or anyone else must convince you, then it is not truly your sacrifice. The Christian faith is unlike any other faith. It’s God reaching down to you, and you choosing whether or not to respond to him. There is no set of rules, no ten steps to salvation; it is a personal choice to respond sacrificially to your creator. So many people live insincere lives, posturing whenever others watch. Do not play games with God. If you are not ready to give “in full’ from a sincere heart, then give a little out of a desire to be obedient and see what God does—both with your gift and with your heart. God says that in this one area, we can test him. The one who gives out of a genuine love for God will be blessed. Being a living sacrifice is not supposed to be painful. If you fully commit yourself to Christ, it will be a joyful experience.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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