May 4, 2009 2 Corinthians 8:1-15

I just want to start off by apologizing to all of you, for neglecting to do my blogs. I have no excuses for not doing them, no matter how busy I was. Thanks for bearing with me =).

Christian Giving ~2 Corinthians 8:1-15~

And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace God gave the churches in Macedonia. They have been tested by great troubles, and they are very poor. But they gave much because of their great joy. I can tell you that they gave as much as they were able and even more than they could afford. no one told them to do it. But they begged and pleaded with us to let them share in this service for God's people. And they gave in a way we did not expect: They first gave themselves tot he Lord and to us. This is what God wants. So we asked Titus to help youf inish this special work of grace since he is the one who started it. You are rich in everything--in faith, in speaking, in knowledge, in truly wanting to help, and in the love you learned from us. In the same way, be strong also in the grace of giving. I am not commanding you to give. But I want to see if your lvoe is true by comparing you with others that really want to help. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know that Christ was rich, but for you he became poor so that by his becoming poor you might become rich. This is what I think you should do: Last year you were the first to want to give, and youw ere the first who gave. So no finish the work you started. Then your "doing" will be equal to your "wanting to do." Give from what you have. If you want to give, your gift will be accepted. It will be judged by what you have, not by what you do not have. We do not want you to have troubles while other people are at ease, but we want everything to be equal. At this time you have plenty. What you owe can help others who are in need. Then later, when they have plenty, they can help you when you are in need, and all will be equal. As it is written in the Scriptures, "The person who gathered more did not have too much, nor did the person who gathered less have too little."


So...after Joe's sermon last Sunday on Money isn't everything, comes my blog on financial giving to the church. Giving to the church is important, Paul says. First off, we give in response to God's grace. Through his grace and mercy, we have been saved, and we are able to build up those treasures in Heaven, not here on Earth. So what we have here on Earth, we should use to advance the cause of Christ. Giving should be an acknowledgement that we are God's stewards. Furthermore, Paul says that giving is an essential part of Christian spirituality, not just financial giving, but also giving our time, our energy, our hearts. And finally, Paul says that whether we are poor or rich, we can give. Just like the song, "rich or poor, God I want you more than anything that glitters in this world, be my all, my all consuming fire." Whether we are rich or poor, if we give with the right heart, the right attitude, that accounts for our giving. It's not the quantity, but the quality. Zaccheus did not understand this at first, but Mary did when she poured that expensive perfume on Jesus' feet and washed them with her hair. From a previous blog, I mentioned, "I will not offer to the Lord, that which costs me nothing."