Video Transcript: Cheerful Givers

Gentile churches, mostly. There were Jewish people in them, but they were churches that were scattered around the Mediterranean world. And the offering was being taken for the people in Jerusalem and its vicinity because there was a great deal of economic hardship there.

There had been a famine, and plus the persecutions at this particular point in history were rougher around the area of Jerusalem than elsewhere, so Christians sometimes weren't able to get jobs as easily, and they faced other challenges. The church in Jerusalem was in need, and the apostle Paul wanted the churches that he had planted to help them out. And so he wrote to the church in Rome.

You know, that's known as a great doctrinal epistle, but it's actually a fundraising letter with tremendous 15 chapters of great doctrine first before he gets to the fundraising part of it. And you'll find in many of his letters something about this offering that he's asking for the needy people in Jerusalem, who are mostly Jewish people. As I said, most of the churches that are receiving his letters about giving are Gentile people.

But what he says, that's a very particular, as with all letters in the New Testament, it's a very particular point in time focused on a very particular matter, and yet it has tremendous application for us for the rest of the church age until Jesus comes again. So if you want to know what it means to be cheerful givers, there's really no better passage in the Bible than the one we're going to look at right now. Let's read some of the verses from it and then reflect on it.

The apostle says, We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia. That's one province kind of to the north of Greece. And Corinth is in Achaia, which is in the south part of Greece.

And Paul's writing to Corinth, but he's talking about other churches now. We want you to know about the grace of God that's been given among the churches of Macedonia. 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.

What a way to say it. There's this tremendous combination of extreme poverty in Macedonia with abundance of joy. And so they're so full of joy that even though they really don't have much to give, they give a lot anyway.

For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. They're begging, Oh, please let us give. Please, please, please.

May we, may we give. They begged earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. And this not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

So it's not just a matter of money. They're giving themselves to the Lord. They're giving themselves and their hearts to the Apostle Paul and his colleagues.

And in the giving of themselves, then they're also generous with their money. Accordingly, we urge Titus. There's a book of the Bible entitled Titus, and this is the man.

And he's one of Paul's right hand men. Timothy and Titus and a few others were always working with the Apostle. Accordingly, we urge Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace.

See that you excel in this act of grace. For, you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich. Then he says, if the readiness is there, it's acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he doesn't have.

If you don't have much in your account, you can't write a very big check. That's what Paul's saying basically. If you don't have much, you can't give that much, but it's acceptable according to how much you are able to give.

For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness, your abundance at the present time should supply their need so that their abundance may supply your need that there may be fairness. That's part of Christian giving. Right now I've got more and I've got extra, so I can give.

There may come a time when I'm in a pickle and they're going to have the opportunity to help me. And then he goes on to talk about the finance team. And he talks about Titus, who is my partner and fellow worker, my right-hand guy, you can really count on him.

And then he talks about two brothers that he doesn't name, but everybody in Corinth knew who he was talking about. Brother number one, he says, is famous among all the churches and he's appointed by the churches. So the various churches that Paul is collecting this big offering from have all agreed that they want this guy on the finance team.

And then he talks about brother number two and he says, we've often tested and found him earnest in many matters. He's not a rookie. He's been around the block.

We've seen how he acts and we know he can be relied on. Whenever somebody wants to take an offering, you want to make sure that it's being administered wisely and well by trustworthy people. And so that's why Paul goes into that kind of detail about the people who are actually going to be his advance men in getting that collection.

He says, we take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that's being administered by us. For we aim at what is honorable, not only in the Lord's sight, but also in the sight of man. So give proof before the churches of your love.

I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction, something that's like a tax or forced from you. The point is this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, and then he quotes Psalm 112, he has distributed freely, he has given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the Gospel of Christ and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon you.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. This ends the reading of God's Word, and God always blesses His Word to those who listen. Each one must give as he's decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

What does it take to be cheerful when you give? I want to highlight four things from this passage that indicate what goes into making someone a cheerful and generous giver. First of all is the fact that you've been gifted by grace. You have received enormous gifts from God, and as Jesus once put it, freely you've received, freely give.

Another reason for being cheerful and glad in giving is you are really excited about the opportunity to help because you are linked to other people by love. And so if you can help fellow believers, you're happy about that. If you can help people who don't yet know Jesus to hear the Gospel, you're delighted about that because you love other people and you want to make a difference.

And you are happy when you get a chance. Another thing that goes into being a cheerful giver is walking by wisdom. You can count on the wisdom and integrity of those to whom you're giving and the causes for which you're giving.

And you yourself follow wise practices when you plan and organize your giving. You say, that sounds a little bit boring and administrative. Well, give a pile of money to some rip-off artist and I assure you, you're not going to be real cheerful about it when you find out.

Part of happy, cheerful giving is doing the homework and walking in wisdom. And then a fourth reason for cheerful giving is there are some tremendous rewards that come from God in giving. And so we'll look at each of those in a little more detail as we find it in this passage.

First of all, people who are cheerful givers know that they have been given a lot. And the verse that stands right at the heart of it in this passage is, 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. Jesus was the greatest giver of all.

The Father gave His only Son. Jesus gave Himself. You know the grace.

You know the gift. He was rich. He had all the wealth of heaven, all the splendor and comfort of glory.

And He let it all go and made Himself poor, so poor that He was born in a manger, that He had no home address to call His own, that He hung on a cross and was mocked and died. He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich, that you might live forever, that you might have all the wealth that God is pleased to give His people, that as the Bible says, you might inherit the earth, that all things are yours, as Paul says in his letters to the Corinthians. So he says the first reason why anybody would be a cheerful giver is just realizing and accepting past grace from God, what Jesus has already done, and by faith you receive that, and you say, thank you Jesus for leaving all of that and coming to be one of the lowliest among us and dying that terrible death, so that I could be enriched with all of your glory, with all of your eternal life, with the blessings you've given now and the blessings that are awaiting us in the future.

Another element of being gifted by grace is that God is at work right now, blessing and pouring out more grace. Sometimes we focus on God's past grace, and we certainly should pay very, very close attention to God's past grace. Some of you know the acronym, G-R-A-C-E, grace, stands for God's riches at Christ's expense.

God's riches at Christ's expense. God's free gift that we don't earn. A gift freely given, and it gives us forgiveness and eternal life.

But the Bible doesn't restrict the word grace to just that great act that God completed in Jesus Christ, but to God's continued blessing and favor that He keeps giving right now. Paul says the grace of God has been given among the churches of Macedonia. Their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

See that you excel in this act of grace. So he says, Macedonia was generous because God is pouring out grace in them right now, making them the kind of people who are people of grace. And you too, like them, should excel in this grace that God's pouring out right now.

They gave according to their means of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor. And here you see the word grace actually. Grace is a very flexible word.

Sometimes it stands for God's riches at Christ's expense, His free forgiveness and giving salvation to undeserving sinners. But it also can just mean God's favor and ongoing blessing. It can even mean being thankful for something.

And sometimes when you read the word translated thanks in this passage, it might also be charis, grace. So, they begged earnestly for the grace of taking part in the relief of the saints. They gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

And then he speaks of the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. Everything you are and everything you have that's worthwhile is grace.

It is God pouring out. Your health is God's grace. Your energy is God's grace.

Your drive and ability to make money is God's grace. Your sense of willingness to share is God's grace. Anything that is worthwhile or noble about you is not first of all something you manufactured.

It's the work of God's grace in you. And when you're doing something for somebody else even, you're expressing the ongoing flow of God's grace into your life and through you to other people. And then of course, there's also future grace.

God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. Does that almost cover it? All grace, all sufficiency for all things at all times. God's grace... Well, and Paul in a few chapters later is going to write about something hard in his life.

About something he called a messenger from Satan. A thorn in the flesh that he prayed to be rid of. But eventually, God just said, it's not going away.

But my grace is sufficient for you. And my power is made perfect in weakness. So the apostle knew that this didn't always mean just getting whatever you want or ask for all the time.

And yet even in such circumstances, he experienced grace that was more than enough for all of his needs. And sometimes, you know, if you're going to be a cheerful giver, you got to know that anything I give is going to be pretty small compared to what God gave me. And what God is giving me.

And what God intends to give me. And when you know that kind of grace, then you can give cheerfully. If you say, but, you know, I'm not sure that I could give very generously because you never know what's going to happen in the future.

I better make sure that I have an enormous store of treasure before I think about giving. And the apostle says, hey, God is able to make all grace abound to you. You're going to have all sufficiency in all things.

And you can abound in every good work. Don't worry. Don't let worries about the future make you stingy or make you overly cautious.

We'll talk about wisdom in a moment. That doesn't mean you're stupid and just throw everything away all the time. But it does mean that if you want to be a cheerful giver, you got to know that God's got it taken care of.

He's been very generous and He's not going to stop outpouring His grace in the future. So, cheerful givers are people who have received the grace of God. By faith, you've received salvation in Jesus.

By faith, you know that everything you are and have comes from Him. And by faith, you know that He's going to give sufficiency and more than sufficient grace for the future. Another thing that can make us joyful in giving is to be linked with others by love.

Paul talks about taking part in the relief of the saints. Supplying the needs of the saints. The generosity of your contribution for them and for others while they long for you and pray for you.

When you're giving for them, then they are praying for you. And oftentimes, you know, I've seen that even with small gifts. You know, you make a meal for somebody and the meal helps them out some.

And that's wonderful. But they also are so happy that somebody cared about them. And it's the expression of love as much as the actual meal that matters.

So, there is this link that develops. When people are praying for each other, when they're helping each other out, this link of love is there and brings joy to both sides of it. And he says, I do not mean that others should be eased and burdened, but that as a matter of fairness, your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.

In these bonds of love that exist within a congregation, you know that you're not going to be left high and dry. That if a need arises and you express it, that it's going to be met by God's people. And you know that when you give, you don't have to panic.

That, oh no, if I gave a little too much here, I might be left without anything in the future. No. He says, if you give when somebody else is in need, guess what happens when you're in need? There are these links and bonds of love where people are looking out for each other.

You read about that in the early church, in the book of Acts, that the apostles were leading the church, and it says that people who had property would sometimes sell it and entrust it to the apostles and then to the deacons, so that those who had a lot could help out those who didn't have enough. And so he says, give proof before all the churches of your love. Love is sometimes expressed with your generosity.

As we have opportunity, Paul says in another letter, let us do good to everyone, especially to those who are of the family of faith. Don't you like those last three words? That is the verse in the Bible that has the phrase family of faith, or sometimes it's translated household of faith or family of believers. As we have opportunity, let's do good to everyone, especially to those who are of the family of faith.

And we're talking in this passage and in its original context about financial gifts, but there is more to giving than just finance. And some people who don't have very much financially are able to be very generous in other ways. And so I want to think for a moment about these links of love and about generous living.

You remember earlier we read that they devoted themselves to God and to others. Even before they gave any money, they committed themselves to God and to other people. And another element of being generous is, if you've received the good news of the gospel, you want to share the good news of the gospel.

That's something in your own life. If there are people who don't know the Lord, you can be one who shares what God has given you. You can share the love of Jesus.

You can share the truth about how to be saved. And more widely, you can look at causes that are spreading the gospel. Missionaries who are carrying the gospel to the ends of the earth.

And when you're linked by love with the whole Church of Jesus Christ and with those who God is planning to add to the Church of Jesus Christ and just hasn't yet, but you love them and you want them to come to Christ, then you give of yourself and you give of the riches of Christ in spreading the gospel. Another way to give is simply to offer your own wisdom and life experience. And that doesn't mean going around with your nose in the air saying, I'm smarter than you, now let me give you a lecture.

The part of genuine giving and being linked by love is that people share with each other what's going on and a few of the things we've learned. In fact, some of the greatest wisdom you can share is, I learned this by being really, really stupid and making a bunch of mistakes. I would like to spare you some of those.

A lot of the wisdom we seek to share was not gained just from our reading of the Scriptures and our great decision making, but learning from our blunders. So, sharing life, sharing our successes, sharing our failures. Sometimes it's a tremendous blessing to somebody else to tell them how you blew it.

And not just so that they can gain wisdom from that, but also so that they know you're not going around as some sort of superior species that they are totally different from. When people know that others are going through or have gone through some of the same challenges and difficulties, there is just a sense of strength that comes from togetherness. So, just being willing to be transparent, to share what's going on is so valuable because then people aren't going through life alone.

And then there's the sharing, obviously, of money, of meals, of talents. Some people may have less money, but you have a musical talent to share. If you have that talent, you might want to share it because having gained it is not a great blessing to the rest of the people unless you're actually using it so that others can benefit from it.

You may have a talent for teaching. You may have a talent for mercy and helping others. You may have spiritual gifts in a whole variety of ways.

And the Apostle says in his first letter to the Corinthians, don't anybody say that what I'm good at doesn't matter. The ear shouldn't say to the eye that the ear is no good. You need hearing.

You need sight. You need hands. The body has a lot of different parts.

So, nobody should say what I'm good at doesn't matter. What I have to offer is useless. If you have it, God gave it to be shared.

Sometimes it's the gift of time. There are some very wealthy people, and it's hard for a rich person to be saved, but God can do the impossible. And so there are very wealthy people who are very devoted to the Lord and very generous in their giving.

Some of them are also very busy. They are not going to be as generous sometimes with their time as other people are. And a lot of people in our world need time more than they need cash.

They need attention. They need to know somebody cares. And when you aren't always in a rush, when you are willing to hang out just a little extra time with somebody, when you're willing to pay some attention and listen, you are giving a tremendous gift.

A gift of time and attention and empathy and caring. So, as we think about being linked by love, gifts of money is one wonderful way to show love. And it is also a good way to show your devotion to the Lord, because when the Lord gets into your pocketbook, then it's an indication that some wonderful things are happening.

But I do want to emphasize that for some of us, our resources are not so much financial, though we all have some finance, but there's a lot else that each one of us has to give. And by generous living, by not just sticking to ourselves and to our own interests, we can be a blessing to others. So, you're gifted by grace and you're glad at all God has done for you.

You love helping other people and being a blessing to them. And so, when you can do something or give something, it brings you joy. And then, walk by wisdom.

The Apostle says, when he's talking about the arrangements he's made, about the reliable, a team of three. I mean, just think about it. He's got a team of three people traveling from city to city.

All the travel expenses, all the bother of doing that. That's got, you know, isn't that wasted money? No. Because you need to have that kind of honesty and integrity and accountability and people need to know that good care is being taken care of money.

We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that's being administered by us. For we aim at what is honorable, not only in the Lord's sight, but also in the sight of man. It matters what people think.

If you're not conducting your financial affairs in a transparent way, people aren't going to trust you. There's going to be rumors circulating. And it's just a bad deal.

And so, we need to be very careful about that. There was, in those days, of course, also the added security concern. You know, you don't want one person carrying a whole pile of money.

If you have three, they're a lot less likely to get attacked by bandits on their way to the church in Jerusalem. So, there's just a lot of good sense. Let's make sure that it's not just one person that's easily attacked.

And let's make sure it's not just one person who's handling all the money. We've just appointed two more deacons. One of our standards in our church is nobody counts the money alone.

That's not because we don't trust the deacons. They wouldn't be deacons if we didn't trust them. But you never have somebody count the money alone.

You have to have multiple people involved in that whole process so that it's administered in a wise way. So, walking by wisdom, what's that involve? Well, I think in your own giving, you can do it a lot more joyfully if you're confident that your money is actually going to a good cause and for the purposes that it's supposed to go toward. You want causes with good goals? You want causes that have a real impact? And you want causes that have multiple leaders, not just one who's handling all the money, and vetted leaders, people where some of the research has been done and you can be confident in how those gifts are being handled.

A cause with iffy goals? Well, why would you want to give to that? A cause that has, you know, maybe have some noble idea but zero impact? Why would you want to give to that? And a cause where the people handling the money are very shifty? I would encourage you, if you ever see me flying in a private jet, to cease giving to Family of Faith. That's just a good general rule on your giving. When you're giving to ministries where the guys have private jets, look into a different cause.

So, in your cheerful giving, you just want to make sure that you're doing that. You know, in our own church, we try to be honest and above board to make budgets available so that people know where the money at the local level is going. We have our deacons, multiple ones counting.

Even two of our elders happen to be the chief financial officers of Christian charities. So, we're happy that we have people who know how to handle money and are people of integrity. In your own giving, walking by wisdom can also mean follow a plan, not just an impulse.

Because sometimes there may be a moment where the Holy Spirit really moves and you just know right on the spot you need to give. But most of the time, plan. It's very easy to show a picture of a starving child and have some cause with the word children in it and say, give lots of money to us.

And people do, because your heart strings should be tugged by the picture of a hungry child. But anybody can put out a picture of a hungry child. Anybody can stand on the edge of the street and say, hey, give me money.

I mean, some panhandlers make a pretty good living at it. You need to do more than just give on impulse. And so, when you read the Bible, it gets into the nitty-gritty.

You choose the amount. You give what you decide in your heart to give, says the apostle. You choose the amount, you prioritize.

You say, well, here's where I'm going to start giving, and if I have enough, I'll move on to the next thing, and so on. Or you allocate. You decide where you want to give.

We do that as a congregation. And there's a lot of good causes that we'd love to support, but we've chosen 10 that we are going to support in a very special way with a designated amount from our budget and then, as a mission of the month, taking all the offerings that are given for that cause. And we've tried to do our homework on what some of those good causes are and have kind of a diversity of causes, whether it's prison ministry or ministry to the homeless or spreading the gospel in Africa, theological education in Ukraine.

There's a variety of causes. And so, in each of your personal giving, you may have other causes that you know of that our church doesn't support, and you know they're a great cause. Well, that can be part of your generous giving.

But the point is, prioritize. How much am I going to be able to give this year? You may turn out to be able to give a little more than that, but how much am I going to be able to give this week or this year? You read 1 Corinthians 16, right after that great chapter on the resurrection, the next thing Paul says now about the offering. On the first day of the week, set aside an amount and bring it.

So, there's a scheduling, even, where, okay, I've got income coming this week, and here's how much I'm giving this week. There's the planning that goes into that. Now, in this passage, it's interesting, one word you don't read from Paul is tithe.

Tithing isn't bad, and some of you may not know what tithing is, so I'll briefly mention what it is. It was a standard of giving in Old Testament law where you gave 10% of your income. Yikes, that's a lot.

Well, that's, as with many things in the law, that's your baseline. That's where you start. You say, well, for most people, you know, 10% will be something that I can do, and maybe if God prospers me, I can give well beyond that.

But Paul here isn't talking about tithing. He's saying you give as you plan and as you determine in your heart to give. For some people, the tithe might be a little too much.

For other people, the tithe might be much less than you could cheerfully afford to give. I've mentioned before that John Wesley, you know, as a preacher, when he was making 30 pounds a month, he gave 2 pounds back to the work of the Lord. You say, boy, he was a cheapskate.

The man only, he gave less than 10% because 10% of 30 pounds would be 3 pounds, not 2! What a cheapskate. When he was making 50 pounds a month, he was giving 32 pounds and keeping 28. When he was making 100 pounds, then he was giving 72 pounds and keeping 28 because he knew he needed 28 to live on.

So he knew what he needed, and then he was generous beyond what he needed. So at one point, he was getting barely beyond what he needed. So tithing isn't this automatic legal requirement of all believers.

In this passage, the Apostle doesn't mention it. Jesus does say something good about tithing in passing. He says to the Pharisees, now you tithe right down to every nickel and dime, but you neglect the great things like justice and mercy.

He says you should have done the former without neglecting the latter. So he says, yeah, the tithing was a good thing, but you didn't have the heart for people that you should have had. So the advantage here of walking by wisdom in choosing your causes as causes that conduct their financial affairs well and of planning your own giving is then you can enjoy giving what you're able to give and you don't feel bad about what you can't give.

You say, well, I decided that this was what the Lord laid on our hearts and this is what my financial resources allow for. These are some causes worth giving to. I give into them.

I enjoy it. It's a lot of fun. And I'm not going to feel guilty every time I see another appeal about giving or I get another mailing or email about some worthy cause.

I planned it. I gave what I could to causes that I know are sound and doing the Lord's work. And now I'm just happy about it.

And I'm not going to have regret about what I couldn't give. The gift is there according to what you can give, not what you can't. And you're not going to have the gift, you know, the regret of paying for some guy's private jet and his four palaces that he lives in.

You know, do your homework and you can avoid those regrets and just have joy in supporting the Lord's work. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he doesn't have. Each one must give as he's decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

So you decide according to what you have. You decide it in your heart. And God loves it when people give from the heart and give wisely.

And finally, the matter of rewards. And this is the one probably that is more distorted and twisted in some preaching than anywhere else and why some others of us are very reluctant to preach about giving because of these lavish promises of how rich you're going to get if you give to my cause. Proverbs says, A man who is kind benefits himself.

One gives freely yet grows all the richer. Another withholds what he should give and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched and one who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

These are some of the great generalizations of Proverbs that in general a generous person somehow seems to get richer. And very often a stingy person seems to have less. I remember a couple in a church that I served long ago where they never had the ability to give anything, in their minds at least.

And they kind of frittered along and then when they got their tax refund it would always go to some big luxury that they really didn't need. But they never managed to have anything to give for God's work. And years later they still had almost nothing and they had a lot of difficulty and strife in their relationship as well.

And I've also talked to people where I think they're only half serious but they say, Do you know how much money we would save if we didn't tithe? Do you know how much money goes out when we tithe? And I say, Well, as far as I know you've got an awful pile of money. Are you sure you would have that much if you didn't tithe? So it can seem a little transactional but the Bible does seem to indicate that very often God is going to bless pretty lavishly people who are generous with Him. And so you get unscrupulous people who turn this into a health and wealth gospel and say you want to get really rich write an even bigger check.

And then God's really going to send more wealth. So let's put it this way. If your motive in giving is I'm actually at heart a selfish pig but I know if I write out some checks then I'm going to get more and more and more.

That is the exact opposite of what the Apostle is talking about. Jesus said, Give and it will be given to you for with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. Sell your possessions, give to the needy.

He didn't say here sell all your possessions but sell possessions, give to the needy. Provide yourselves with money bags that don't grow old with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail. Inflation will not devalue treasure stored in heaven.

Stock market crashes will not decrease the value of treasures in heaven. So Jesus says, Use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves so that when it's gone you'll be welcomed into eternal dwellings. There is this investment of treasure in heaven that Jesus promises.

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. Whoever sows bountifully will reap bountifully. God loves a cheerful giver and God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times you may abound in every good work.

You see that last phrase? God's going to give you a whole bunch so that you can abound even more in your good works. You give in order to get, in order to give even more. You want God's grace and His gifts to keep increasing so that a greater flow from you can bring even greater blessing to others.

And notice the talk about sowing and reaping. Let's say there was a farmer last spring and he had a thousand bushel of corn. And he said, You know what? I need to sell all thousand bushel.

I need to take that money and I... Well, okay. Okay, okay, okay. I'll plant one bushel and I'll sell the other 999.

Would that be a brilliant farming decision? He's got hundreds of acres and he's going to keep one bushel and sell the other 999. If he had planted all thousand bushel he would have a tremendous crop coming right now. You get according to what you plant.

Or taking our own case at a much more miniature level. Maria got really carried away last spring. She found some plants on sale.

And of course we can't pass up a good sale. So bought 40 tomato plants. We'll just throw them all into the garden.

Some of them are going to die anyway. None of them died. It was a jungle.

And so we have 100 quarts of tomatoes. 100 quarts of spaghetti sauce. We got salsa and barbecue sauce running out of our ears because we put in a lot of tomatoes.

If you sow a lot, you're likely to reap a lot. But as I said, the reaping is not just that, Okay, that's so I can be a selfish pig and pile up my money. But so that I can abound in every good work.

You give to get more in order to give more. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing. You see that? It doesn't just say multiply your bank account, but it's going to give you more seed.

Your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You'll be enriched in every way. Why? To be generous in every way.

That is one of the great rewards that you reap. If you're generous, you get to be even more generous. That's what makes someone a cheerful giver.

I love being generous and I would love to be even more generous if God gave me more resources. And then what is another reward? Well, if you care about God and love Him, the ultimate reward is to see God honored and glorified for the glory of the Lord Himself. It produces thanksgiving to God, overflowing in thanksgivings to God.

Just picking phrases out of this passage. They will glorify God. They'll long for You and pray for You because there's a passing grace of God upon them.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. When you're a miser or a selfish pig, does God get a lot of glory out of that? Do people say, oh, thank you God that she is a miser and he is selfish. They praise God when they see evidence of God's grace in you.

So, each one must give as he's decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. I love these two chapters of the Bible and I really have to preach on giving once in a while. And I have to so that you can be blessed.

And so that you can have joy in giving. And so that your joy and cheer may increase. One reason I don't, I don't preach on giving so that I will get my salary and so the church budget is met.

It's dangerous to say this, but the church budget is already taking in too much. Okay? There's never too much. You say, okay, next year we'll make the budget.

You know, the mission causes and so on. That's how we've got to handle it. But it's not saying, finances are tough.

I hope you folks will come through soon. I've never had to preach a sermon like that in 21 years here. And I am so thankful to God that he has given his people the resources, not only, but also the heart to give.

But I want you to be able to enjoy it even more. So, think again on the grace. Think of the ties that develop among Christians when you work and bless other churches and bless fellow Christians in your own church.

Walk by wisdom. Use your head. And then you can count on God giving you more so that you can give more.

So let's pray together. Dear Lord, we thank you for the unspeakable gift of Jesus. We thank you, Jesus, that though you were rich, yet for our sakes you became poor, that we, through your poverty, might become rich.

Lord, give us the heart of the Savior that we may have a heart of grace, of generosity, of giving. Give us also, Lord, the love of the Savior that we may delight in bringing blessing to others. Give us, Lord, the wisdom of the Savior, the spirit of wisdom and of understandings that our giving may be wise and well-administered.

And, Lord, may we bring glory to you in all our giving. May we increase in our ability to make an impact in our church and in our neighborhood, our community, and our world. And may we have joy in all of it.

For Jesus' sake, amen.