Friday, August 31,
2012, 5:20 a.m. – the song “Blessed
Are You” was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning. Speak, Lord, for
your servant is listening. I read 2
Corinthians 8-9 (quoting selected verses from the NIV 1984):
And now, brothers, we
want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.
Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty
welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were
able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently
pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And
they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and
then to us in keeping with God’s will. So we urged Titus, since he had earlier
made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part.
But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in
complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this
grace of giving.
…For you know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he
became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
…Now finish the work,
so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of
it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is
acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
Our desire is not that
others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be
equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that
in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as
it is written: “He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered
little did not have too little.”
…Remember this:
Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously
will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his
heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful
giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things
at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As
it is written:
“He has scattered
abroad his gifts to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”
Now he who supplies
seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store
of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made
rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us
your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
This service that you
perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing
in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have
proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your
confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with
them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go
out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God
for his indescribable gift!
Grace of Giving
Paul wanted the Corinthian churches to know about the grace
of giving that God had given the Macedonian churches. This is a significant
first sentence on this subject. He was letting the Corinthian Christians know,
first of all, that the ability to give so generously out of severe trial and
extreme poverty did not come from the people themselves, but God gave them that
ability to do so, and they chose to accept and to exercise that gift,
apparently without any prompting from anyone. This kind of giving does not come
from having an abundance of material wealth, but comes from hearts willing to
obey God in doing what is right to help others in need, often stretching our
faith in the process.
They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to help
those in need, in keeping with God’s will. This is also significant. Some people
may interpret this as giving a tithe to the Lord first and then giving above
and beyond the tithe to help the needy. I can’t say for certain that was what
was intended here, and I don’t believe the New Testament requires the tithe.
Yet, what it requires is actually more, for we are to give everything we have
to the Lord, for all we have came from him anyway, and we are to let him decide
how to use what he has so generously given to us. In this way, we give to the
Lord first by committing our lives to him in full surrender, and then we let
him direct our paths, including our giving of our money, resources, time,
energies, talents, gifts, love, and mercy, etc.
Needed Encouragement
Paul used the Macedonian Christians as an example of this
gift of generosity in action to inspire and to encourage the Corinthians to do
likewise. He also used the testament of how they were excelling in other areas
of their Christian walks to encourage them to go the extra mile in this grace
of giving. He did not command them to do so, but he certainly strongly urged
them and hoped they would be encouraged to do so.
Likewise, these historical references in Scripture to this
gift of giving should help convict, inspire and encourage us to also give
ourselves completely to the Lord and then to the ministry of meeting the needs
of others. This fits, too, with the two greatest commandments, through which
Jesus summarized all the law and the prophets. If we love God with all our
hearts, minds and souls and we love our neighbors as we truly love ourselves,
then no one should have to encourage us to give of ourselves to meet others’
needs. Obviously we can’t meet all the needs in the world, so we need to pray
for wisdom to know which ones God wants us to meet.
Christ as our Example
If the example of the Macedonian Christians, and even the
testament of how they were doing in other areas of their Christian lives, was
not enough to inspire the Corinthians to give generously, the example Paul gave
of Jesus Christ giving up all he had in heaven to come to earth, to take on
human flesh, to suffer as we suffer, to be tempted as we are tempted, and yet
without sin, and then to die on a cross, taking upon himself the sins of the
entire world so we could go free from sin, should have inspired them to want to
give of themselves to meet the needs of others, just as Jesus Christ did for us
when he died for our sins.
The Corinthian Christians were not wanting entirely in this gift
of giving, though, as they had been the first to give the year before. So, Paul
urged Titus to go to the Corinthian churches to bring to completion this “act
of grace” on their part. Perhaps they were just being slow about responding,
and needs were not being met, but whatever the reason, Paul felt it necessary
to encourage them to complete (finish) the work they had begun.
Doesn’t this sound just like us sometimes, though? We get a
good start, and we mean well, and we begin with much enthusiasm and earnestness,
but somewhere along the way we get distracted, forgetful, sidetracked, busy
with our own lives, preoccupied, or just slack. So, we need to be given that
encouragement to do what is right in order to meet the needs of others. We need
to be reminded that there are those who are truly in need, and we need to pray
how we can best meet those needs.
Equality
This may sound like socialism to some, but it is volunteer,
not forced equality. The encouragement here was that we should not sacrifice
our own needs or our family’s real needs in order to give to others beyond what
they really need. This is a very important principle here in many respects. The
Bible teaches that we should take care of the needs of our own family, so this
type of giving should never be at the sacrifice of our own family’s legitimate
needs, especially if it is to make others see that we are being “generous.” Wisdom
should always be exercised here. We should not do without so that others can
live beyond what they really need. We just shouldn’t live beyond what we really
need if we are capable of helping those to whom God has impressed it upon our
hearts to give generously.
So, with that being said, that also raises the question as
to what are legitimate needs. Jesus Christ died for our legitimate need of
salvation, not to fulfill our fleshly wants or desires. So, we need to be
discerning about what are real needs and what are not real needs, too. For
instance, we can give and give and give fish to those who need food, or we can
teach them how to fish. Paul is not encouraging a welfare state. In fact,
Scripture teaches that if a man does not work, he should not eat. Handouts to
those who are capable of working are not helping people and handouts may not be
meeting the real need, which could be for work. Some people can’t find work,
but we can put them to work, if they are able, so they are earning what we give
them, to a certain degree.
I don’t know what the needs were in the time of Paul’s day
or why people needed to have gifts given to them. They could have been farmers
and had a bad year, or they could have been sheep herders and the sheep got
diseased. Sometimes we will experience situations beyond our control and we’ll
need help, but in helping others, we need to first of all show mercy, and
perhaps meet the most urgent needs, but then anything long term, we should
determine what the real needs are, and what can be done to best meet those
needs. I think a lot of times we get wants and needs confused and so we don’t
really help people if we are not discerning about the real needs and willing to
give of ourselves to help meet the real needs.
The Blessing of
Giving
“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and
whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” This is not speaking merely
of this grace of giving to meet financial needs. People have all kinds of needs
– for salvation, encouragement, hope, healing, comfort, exhortation (strong
encouragement), counsel, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, practical helps in
how to do stuff, an extra hand, a hug, urging and spurring on to good works,
money, work, etc. And, God has gifted us all in many ways in meeting those
needs, too. The thing for us to do is to pray for wisdom, and then to act upon
what God shows us, and to reach out and meet the legitimate needs of those to
whom God leads us. And, God will supply us with all we need to do his will.
Not only will he supply all we need, but we will be blessed
richly in so many ways because we obeyed God in giving of ourselves to meet the
legitimate needs of others. Then we can continue to be generous with our time,
talents, energies, knowledge, wisdom, money, etc. And, God will enlarge our
harvest of righteousness, i.e. he will grow us spiritually through it, and he
will impact other lives for Jesus Christ because of our willingness to give of
ourselves to meet the legitimate needs of others, following the example of
Jesus Christ.
Blessed Are You /
An Original Work / August 29, 2012
Based off Luke 6:20-49 NIV 1984
“Blessed are you;
Blessed are you who
are poor
For God’s kingdom is
yours.
(Kingdom is yours)
Blessed are you;
Blessed are you who
are hungry,
You’ll be satisfied.
(Be satisfied)
Blessed are you;
Blessed are you who
weep now,
For you will laugh
with joy.
(Will laugh with joy)
Blessed are you;
Blessed are you when
men hate
And reject you because
of Christ.”
(Because of Christ)
“Rejoice in that;
Rejoice in that day
and
Leap for joy; great
your reward.
(Great your reward)
But I tell you;
But I tell you to love
those
Who hate you; do them
good.
(Do good to them)
Pray for those who;
Pray for those who
treat you wrong
And say kind things of
them.
(Kind things of them)
Do to others;
Do to others as you
would have
Them do; have them do
to you.”
(Them do to you)
“If you love those;
If you love those who
love you,
What praise is there
for you?
(What praise for you?)
Because Christ is;
Because Christ is
kind,
Be merciful, just like
He is.
(Just like He is)
Forgive others;
Forgive others their
offense
Against you; be ye
kind.
(Be kind to them)
Hear My words and;
Hear My words and put
them
Into practice, then
you’ll be fulfilled.”
(You’ll be fulfilled)
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