Scripture Passage
2 Corinthians 9:6-8
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Sermon Script
In the late 40s (AD), a famine swept through Judea. Judea is the southern part of what we know as Palestine today. Christians in Jerusalem were in need. It was a time of crisis. So, the leaders of the Jerusalem church – James, Peter, and John – asked Paul for help. He stepped up to the challenge and encouraged other churches to prepare an offering for the Jerusalem Christians.
The passage we read is part of Paul’s appeal to the Christians in Corinth. What’s interesting is that he doesn’t beg them to give.
Listen to what he says:
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
Paul tells them to give cheerfully. He doesn’t talk about the amount. He talks about the spirit in which they should give. Whatever they decide to do, he hopes they will do it with a willing and joyful heart.
In a time of urgent need, it is ‘easy’ to give. Crisis has a way of bringing people together. The desire to help others unites them.
Whenever we do a special fundraiser at our church, people give. They give generously. Our offering goes up dramatically. Even during the pandemic, when we were collecting relief fund for other countries in need, people gave freely. We always reached or went above our target. It was so inspiring to see. Now, we’ve been raising money for the church boiler.
Once again – people have been giving generously. From kids to adults, whatever they can. We are well past our halfway point of our overall target. You can sense the spirit of cheerful giving all around the church.
How great would it be if we always gave with a cheerful heart?
Like always being thankful, as we reflected last week?
Even when we bring our offering on Sundays, for example?
I find that there is always this little fear when we give. Behind our giving, there is the feeling of, “I am losing something.” You don’t feel joy. You feel reluctant or even regretful afterwards. You wonder if you should’ve done that. You feel a little empty.
We don’t only do that with our money. We do that with our time and energy too. We feel like everything is very limited and scarce. So we find it hard to give anything cheerfully. We would rather keep whatever we have for ourselves.
But Paul shows us another way of thinking about giving.
Remember this:
Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. (2 Corinthians 9:6)
He uses the farming language. If you are generous with your seeds, you will harvest more crops. If you are stingy with your seeds, you will harvest little to no crops.
This is the complete opposite of what we learn in life. What do we hear usually?
The less you give; you will have more.
The more you give; you will have less.
We think this rings truer than what Paul tells us.
Paul isn’t telling us to be reckless with what we have. Rather, he is pointing to the importance of being generous. Being generous and giving cheerfully are the same thing.
Generosity does something we often don’t see. It creates a room that God can fill. It makes space in our hearts, in our pockets, and in our lives. The less we give, the less room we make for God to fill. But the more we give, the more room we make for God to fill.
Last week, I said everything we have is a gift from God. God gave them in order to bless us. But God didn’t give them to us just to make us comfortable. God blessed us so that we can also bless others in need. God doesn’t want us to be a container that hoards all his blessings. God wants us to be a channel through which his blessings flow. Wasn’t that the calling he gave to Abraham?
I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing. (Genesis 12:2)
That, my friends, is the spirit of Christian giving. Whether we have little or much, we can give cheerfully because we know God has and will always provide what we need.
Paul said the same thing:
And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)
Through your generosity, God will bless those around you. God will continue to bless you and be generous towards you. You will know what true abundance means. You will feel as if you never lack anything.
I’m sure some of you know Henri Nouwen. He was a well-known Christian theologian. He taught at high-ranking universities, but also spent last ten years of his life being a pastor to disabled people in Richmond Hill.
He once did a presentation about the importance of fundraising. During a break, a young man approached him. He asked Henri if he could lend him some money to get home. The young man was from France. He had come to Canada hoping to secure a job. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out for him. He had the plane ticket to go back to Paris.
But he didn’t have enough money for the bus ride from the airport to his hometown in the south of France. So, Henri gave this young man $200 on the spot and asked him to send him a message when he got home.
Later that day, just when he was about to leave after the conference, the booksellers in the lobby an envelope to Henri. It was a gesture of gratitude for what he had done for them. Earlier that day, Henri ran off to a nearest bookstore to get more copies of his book for them. They were all sold out. This was right before he met the young man.
And guess what was in the envelope?
A thank-you note and a cheque for $200!
Isn’t that mysterious, strange, and wonderful at the same time?
The point of the story is not the fact that Henri got his $200 back. It is that Henri had a generous heart, and it shaped everything he did and impacted the people around him in a positive way.
Generosity begets generosity. Giving cheerfully instills the same kind of heart in others. Generosity is not about the amount, but the heart.
You don’t have to look out for yourself all the time. You don’t need to always figure out how to get more. Simply focus on sharing the gifts you have, whenever you need to. God will take care of you. God will provide. Jesus taught us that.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)
Community Prayer
By Jessica Thai
Dear God,
You are a great God,
Even though we sometimes have our problems or worries,
and we don’t look to you at those times,
You are still always by our side,
even if we are not fully aware.
You made us in Your image,
People with differences that no one in the world has
We are who we are because of you
Your faithfulness and grace will keep us strong no matter what.
But we do confess that sometimes we don’t look to you in the times we are struggling.
We tend to try to fix our problems on our own instead of looking to you.
Please forgive us, Lord, for how we don’t have our whole trust in you.
And help us to fix that by always praying and living into who you made us to be,
so that we can be the best version of ourselves.
God, we thank you for blessing us with a wonderful and caring community like this, where we can come worship you, and be together as a community.
In the scary world we live in now, we thank you to have a cherished community,
where we are accepted and care for each other.
We pray for those around us that are struggling with mental health or even school,
and that they are able to get through this hard time.
We also pray for those in the world who are experiencing wars
or other severe difficulties.
May they find peace and comfort in these difficult times.
We pray for Rev. Dave as he delivers the word of God to us today.
Bring him the power and peace to share your good news,
May we open our ears, and receive your words that give life.
In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen.
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