Giving God’s Way

Series on I Corinthians

VIII Material Concerns

A Giving, Text: 16:1-4

Title: Giving God’s Way

Introduction

Now that the apostle Paul has finished dealing with the many doctrinal questions that troubled the Corinthian church, as in all his letters Paul cannot end without giving some closing exhortations. There have been questions about loyalty to teachers, marriage and divorce, the eating of food which had been used in idolatrous worship, and the resurrection of the body. I resist calling these final exhortations practical as if the rest of the Epistle was impractical because it was doctrinal. One of the problems today is that there are so many people who think that doctrine isn’t practical. This advice however deals with mundane matters that are all too often omitted from our Christian practice. The apostle touches on three concerns here: giving, growing and greeting. Today we look at verses 1-4 and his advice on giving God’s way. We give God’s way when our stewardship is purposeful, patterned, proportionate, and promised.

I Purposeful

According to verse 1 this is a collection for the saints, Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. In a time when there were no church buildings or budgets, the primary concern was for the poor brethren. This does not mean that buildings are bad, but they need to be used with people in mind. Paul says in II Corinthians 9, Let everyone give as he purposes in his heart, not of necessity for God loves a cheerful giver. The whole philosophy of giving has to be with the purpose of thanking and praising God. The physical cost of a building or personnel is to an end to have a ministry of the Word and of deeds which bless others. So when i give i ought to be able to give freely with the purpose of praising God and blessing others with his love and i should not hurt. One commentator reminds us, “When you go to a doctor for a check-up, you are poked, prodded, and pressed and asked, ‘Does this hurt? How about this?’ If you cry out in pain, one of two things has happened. Either the doctor has pushed too hard, without the right sensitivity. Or, more likely, there’s something wrong, and the doctor will say, ‘We’d better do some more tests. It’s not supposed to hurt there!’ So it is when pastors preach on financial responsibility, and certain members cry out in discomfort, criticizing the message and the messenger. Either the pastor has pushed too hard. Or perhaps there’s something wrong. In that case, I say, ‘My friend, we’re in need of the Great Physician because it’s not supposed to hurt there.’” This means that I am not giving as if I were paying my income taxes, but as if it was my wife’s birthday. Why does God love cheerful givers? Because they are like Him. This is the essence of grace that God gave his only son to freely save us. Neither should giving be a method of discharging other obligations as in, “I can’t give my time, but here’s some money.” I read the most exquisite example of that in the Tampa Tribune recently. A synagogue got a new Torah, which according to custom, was sent to them with the last 56 letters missing. They have a scribe on site to complete it, and the members give money for each letter he writes. The Rabbi’s comment was that God commands us to write the Torah once in our lives by being here and buying a letter. These people have allegedly fulfilled their obligation. Beside the fact that God doesn’t command it, it is the most exquisite example of escaping responsibility with giving. That really is not cheerful giving, is it?

II Patterned

This purposeful giving is not to be random nor is it to be forced out of me by pleading and begging because of a special need. It is to be regular and systematic according to verse 2, On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Here Paul identifies Sunday as a time of regular worship in the early Church. This was the day on which Christ rose from the dead, called the Lord’s day. It is the day on which John saw the Revelation of Jesus on the Isle of Patmos. it is also a new sabbath because the old being the seventh day of the week was a symbol of promises unfulfilled and of a people waiting for God’s promises. Now in Christ all is fulfilled, all the promises of God are affirmed in Him, therefore the new sabbath is not looking forward to Christ but looking backward to his death and resurrection as the climax of our faith. The important thing here is that Paul confirms the weekly cycle and the importance of laying aside God’s portion regularly. If we’re as down to earth as Paul then we understand that regular giving cannot be stopped by the weather. In these days it may stop the some services but it should not stop our giving because we are laying aside God’s portion. Some Lord’s days the offering may be less, but what should happen when the weather improves is not that the offerings should simply go back up, they should reflect the fact that people have been cheerfully laying aside their offerings and they should be larger than usual. Are they? Can it actually be the case that in some churches people forget to lay aside when on vacation or sick or in bad weather? To put it crassly if we get paid, God should get paid. God is a God of decency and order, a God of budget planning. Do we really forget? In her book “God Is No Fool” Lois Cheyney invents this story. “Once, a man said, ‘If I had extra money, I’d give it to God, but can only support myself and my family.’And he said, ‘If I had extra time, I’d give it to God, but my job and family and friends take up every minute.’ And the same man said, ‘If I had a talent I’d give it to God, but I have no special skill.’ And God was touched, and although it was unlike him, God gave that man money, time, and a special talent. And then He waited, and waited, and waited…..And then after a while, He shrugged His shoulders, and He took all those things right back from the man, the money, the time and the glorious talent. After a while, the man sighed and said, ‘If I only had some of that money back, I’d give it to God. If I only had some of that time, I’d give it to God. If I could only rediscover that special talent, I’d give it to God.’ And God said, ‘Oh, shut up.’ And the man told some of his friends, ‘You know, I’m not so sure that I believe in God anymore.’” This brings me to the third aspect of Godly giving.

III Proportionate

This is also found in verse 2, On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. There seems to be an ongoing discussion in the Church at large about the subject of tithing. Is giving one tenth of your income to the Lord the teaching of the New Testament or does it apply only to the Old Testament church? The discussion tends to dampen the vitality of giving and obscure the truth. Here in the plainest terms the Apostle tells us that we are to give a percentage. This is the meaning of the words, “As God has prospered us,” or “in keeping with our income.” If we make more we give more and conversely, if we make less we give less. You know the plan. you do it every April 15th. The only question that is left to us here is what percentage? Is there anybody anywhere who is willing to say that the percentage should be less than what people gave in Old Testament times? if not, then the discussion about whether New Testament Christians are obligated to tithe is academic. Christians are obligated to give a percentage. What shall it be? But, it really goes further. Cheerful, purposeful giving is never satisfied. The words “in keeping with his income“ are true but inadequate to render the original. It’s the Greek word for success in business, “in keeping with his success.” Now if there’s one thing we understand in our culture its success, and Paul says God makes us successful, so can we ever thank Him enough? Can we ever be satisfied? In the ancient Passover God redeemed the firstborn and then claimed it for his own. But what did God give? Was it only a fractional percentage? The blood of the lamb symbolized the blood of Christ who gave himself fully for us. Hudson Taylor wrote, “Let us give up our work, our plans, ourselves, our lives, our loved ones, our influence, our all, right into God’s hand; and then, when we have given all to Him, there will be nothing left for us to be troubled about.”

IV Promised

We cannot conclude our discussion of giving without noting that according to Galatians 2:10, when Paul was officially appointed by the other apostles to go to the Gentiles the one pledge they asked of Paul was that he should remember the poor, primarily the poor Jewish brethren at Jerusalem. This is reflected in the instructions verses 3 and 4, Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. Paul kept the promise everywhere he went, and he did it with diligence as we note here in our text, for he is either going along himself to help deliver these gifts or he is sending a letter to accompany them. Now churches and Christian organizations have to be very concerned with integrity these days because there have been many abuses and they always hit the headlines. Integrity is vital to all of us. Paul could easily have forgotten his promise. When we join a church we usually make promises. We say we will support the church in its worship and work to the best of our ability. This certainly includes giving though it involves much more. The point is, what is the best of my ability and am I doing it? Our salvation is the fulfillment of a promise made by God. Is God a promise keeper? The Netherlands theologian Krummacher says, “God’s promises are, virtually, obligations that he imposes upon Himself.” This is what the word covenant means, and the blood of Christ shed for our salvation is the seal of that covenant. God has promised to supply our every need and to reward those that diligently seek Him. We however, are a bit like the man who was crawling across the frozen river on his hands and knees, fearful that the ice might break. Half way across he was passed by a man driving a horse drawn coal wagon singing merrily.” Trust God. Your weight won’t break the ice. There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, ‘Destroy him!’ So Israel will live in safety alone. Deuteronomy 33:26-28.

Conclusion

Giving is a spiritual response. It is a barometer of our spiritual condition. Giving God’s way means keeping our promise, and giving a percentage of our blessings to him faithfully and cheerfully. As we sing, “Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the holy One, give thanks because he’s given Jesus Christ His son. And now let the weak say “i am strong;” let the poor say “i am rich” because of what the Lord has done for us, give thanks.