Quick Note – 2 Corinthians 9 – Giving

2 Corinthians 9:7 – “7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

2 Corinthians 9

Today, I am not going to write a long devotional, but I just want to share with you a few key principles about giving found in 2 Corinthians 9.  In this letter to the Corinthian church, Paul was trying to encourage the Corinthian believers to give to the other church in Jerusalem which was currently suffering (likely due to the famine that was occurring there at the time).  Paul was sent by the churches to gather funds and deliver them to the Jerusalem church to provide for those believers who were struggling.  So he went to the various churches he had started and basically fundraised.  In this chapter as well as the previous chapter, he shares some key principles about giving as he encouraged his fellow Christians to give.  I encourage you to click the link above and read the whole chapter of 2 Corinthians 9 and meditate on this passage about giving as you review these few bullet points I want to share with you today.

Principles of Giving

• Give as you would want to be given – vs. 6
• Give from your heart – vs. 7
  • Giving should be your choice and desire.
  • Giving should not be done reluctantly or grudgingly as if you are unsure you want to do it.
  • Giving should not be done under compulsion. Don’t give because you are forced to because of guilt.  Give because you want to give.  Give because God gave to you.
• Give cheerfully – vs. 7
  • Don’t give as if it is a struggle for you to give. Don’t give with a sad face or heart.  Give willingly and with joy.
  • Don’t be like those people who give but in the depths of their hearts really wish you wouldn’t take it.
• Give as God has blessed you – vs. 8, 10-11
  • God provides for us so that we can be His instrument to serve others.
  • He has blessed us so that we can bless others.
  • Don’t wait for someone else to do the job, when He has provided you the means to give.
  • He has given us all sufficiency in all things at all
  • He has given us everything we could ever want to make us content in everything every time.

Results of Giving

• By choosing to give, you will encourage others to give as well – vs. 2
  • The Macedonian church was encouraged to give when Paul told them the Corinthian church had prepared their gift already.
  • Paul also used the Macedonian church’s desire to give to encourage the Corinthian church to give.
  • By doing good, you will encourage others to do so as well
• Giving is a fruit of your righteousness – vs. 10
  • We as Christians are called to produce good fruit in keeping with our salvation.
  • Giving is proof of the change that God has made in our lives. It is proof of His love and grace flowing through us.
• Giving produces thankfulness to God – vs. 11-12
  • When others are provided for, they will thank God not only for the provisions but for you being a blessing to them.
• Giving supplies the needs of others – vs. 12
  • Obviously, when you give, you provide for the needs of others. This needs little explanation.
• Giving brings glory to God – vs. 13
  • As Christians, our ultimate goal is to bring honor and glory to God. When you give, you display His characteristics, especially His love.  This will cause others to glorify God.
• Giving brings unity and love to the church – vs. 14
  • Paul said that those supplied by the gifts from the church were longing and praying for the Corinthian believers. Through prayer and love, believers no matter what part of the world they were from were unified as the body of Christ.
• Giving is a reminder to us of God’s inexpressible gift to us – vs. 15
  • God gave a gift that can never be matched, when He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins. There was no greater gift than His willingness to let His Son die in our place so that we could have a restored relationship with Him.
  • When we give, it is a reminder to us of the Greatest Gift – Jesus Christ.

I hope you take the time to reflect on these points as you read 2 Corinthians 9.  May these words encourage you to give not only financially but also of your time and love.  Thank God for His inexpressible gift!

Quick Note – Deuteronomy 16:16b – 17 – Never Empty Handed

Deuteronomy 16:16b-17 – “…They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.  Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD our God that He has given you.”

Although I don’t necessarily always follow this rule, I have been taught a basic principle to follow whenever I am invited to a person’s home – “Never come empty-handed.”  I could bring a dessert, a dish, flowers, whatever; I was just always to bring a gift to show my graciousness to the host for inviting me over.  Now, I normally don’t follow this rule with family and close friends, since that would mean an exorbitant amount of gifts due to our constant parties; but, I do follow this principle when I am going to a person’s house for the first time.  Usually, I will bring some type of baked good for us to share, which probably stems from my mom’s habit of bringing something she has baked herself like a cake.  We try not to appear empty-handed lest we suffer the embarrassment of improper etiquette or offending our host.  Although this may seem a little extravagant, I know that I am not alone in this, for I know of people who follow this same rule.  They will never go to a house empty-handed; they do something to appreciate their host.  But if we tend to practice this principle with others, why do we not do so with our Lord God?  Is He not a more important person to please?

The context of our passage today, which speaks to this very issue, describes the three feasts in which the Jewish people were supposed to come to the Temple of the Lord with their sacrifices – the Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.  The Passover, of course, was to commemorate their deliverance from Egypt, where each Israelite house that had the blood of a lamb struck against its lintels was passed over by the Angel of death, who struck the firstborn.  The Feast of Weeks was a time to give thanks for their bountiful harvest as they brought the first fruits of their harvest to the Lord.  The Feast of Tabernacles/Booths was used to remind the people of Israel of their time in the wilderness and how God had always provided for them.  In each of these three feasts, they were supposed to make sacrifices to their Lord God, which is why vs. 16b states, “…They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.”  Although at each of these feasts there were specific sacrifices that needed to be made as described in the other Levitical laws by the priests for the nation as a whole, what is interesting here is that a person could bring whatever he could and offer it to the Lord, as well.  They were actually called to come before God with something, anything that they could afford to give; they were to give as God had blessed them.  There was no minimum or maximum amount; they were just to give as God had blessed them.  If they were blessed with a bountiful harvest in grains, then they were to give a lot.  If they were blessed with a more difficult year, then they give less.  The opportunity to give was not limited to just the rich but was also open for the poor.  They were just to give as they were able.

We can learn a number of things from these two verses.  The first is simply that we should never come before the Lord empty-handed.  That doesn’t mean that we need to give huge and extravagant amounts of money every time we go to church or pray.  It simply means that we must give what we can to the Lord every time we approach Him, never coming before Him empty-handed.  It can be you giving your life to Him, when you first get saved.  It could be you relinquishing your will to Him every day as you take up your cross and follow Him.  It could be your service in some ministry when you go to church on Sunday.  It could be your worship on Sunday.  It could be your praise, your honor, your glory, your pride, your time, your heart, your willingness to obey.  All of these things can be given to God and will be greatly appreciated.  God isn’t like a king who is imposing a minimum requirement; He wants you to give back to Him as He has blessed you, and we have been blessed a lot by God through His Son.  The second thing we can learn from this passage is how God appreciates every gift no matter how small.  Don’t be discouraged just because you can’t offer millions of dollars to the ministry.  God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7), and He takes joy just knowing that you are willing to give your all to Him.  Look at how Christ honors the poor widow who gave only two sixty-fourths of a day’s wage at the Temple; He lifts her above even those who put large sums in the offering box, for she gave of all that she had.  It was not the value that mattered but her willingness to give all to God (Mark 12:41-44).  God doesn’t care how much we can give, as long as we are giving our all to Him.  The third thing that we can learn is gratitude, for as the Psalms constantly say, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.”  In this passage, the people of Israel were called to give as they had been blessed.  This seems to be, in a way, a lesson of gratitude.  They were to give back to God as they had received from Him.  This act of giving back to Him likely helped them to remember the source of all the good and to tangibly praise, worship, and thank Him for all He had done for them.  How often do we as Christians forget to say “Thank you” to our Lord God?  He has given us so much in material blessings, provisions, and protection, not to mention the more important things like salvation, grace, mercy, His Son, and a personal relationship with Him.  How can we not give our lives back to Him in gratitude?  He asks for nothing more than our full and complete devotion to Him; that is the least we could do for our Lord and Savior.  What else could we give Him that could even come close to the blessings He has poured out on us?  Oswald Chambers expressed it best in a devotional in his book My Utmost for His Highest, “In our surrender, we must give ourselves to God in the same way He gave Himself for us— totally, unconditionally, and without reservation.”¹  Next time you come before the Lord, consider what you are giving to Him and humbly lay it at His feet.

1  Chambers, Oswald.  “God’s Total Surrender to Us.”  My Utmost for His Highest.  http://utmost.org/god%E2%80%99s-total-surrender-to-us/.

Loving God by Loving the Church the Way Christ Does – Nourish the Church – Pt. 4

Ephesians 5:29 – “After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church…”

Coming from an Asian background, food is literally one of the most important things in life.  Our various parties revolve around what food is going to be given for the meal.  Our get-togethers always involve food.  And even when somebody just comes over to say hello, food becomes a main point of the conversation.  For example, one of the first greetings you will hear from my family when you first come into the house is “Have you eaten yet?”  It is almost like that is one of the key things that need to be done before any other fellowship can occur.  But I would assume that food is not only a central matter to my family but also to many other families whether Asian or not.  In history, sharing a meal was one of the most important ways a person got to know another; and come to think of it, it is still one of the key ways to get to know someone or why would every date have a meal involved?  Surely, nourishment is important to life.

Interestingly enough, we also find that one way that Christ shows His love to His church is by feeding and caring for it just as He would His own body – “After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church.”  If we want to show our love for God by exemplifying His same love to the church then we must also seek to nourish the church in whatever way we can.  Jesus found this to be so important that He, before His Ascension, made sure to tell Peter that he needed to feed His sheep, or in other words, nourish the church (John 21:15-19).  But how can we nourish the church?

First, we can nourish the church by using our spiritual gifts to help the body of Christ.  Throughout 1^st Corinthians, Paul reminds the Corinthian church that each person is important to the Church, for each person is a member of the body of Christ.  One is like the ear, which provides hearing, while another is like the eye, which provides sight.  No matter what part of the body and what its role, it was beneficial to the body to have that member perform its duty.  Especially now, with our better understanding of the body, we can fully appreciate this idea, for even if something as small and “unnecessary” as the gallbladder malfunctions, we feel the pains whenever we eat that greasy burger.  Each part must do its duty so that the whole body can perform optimally.  Paul’s whole analogy about each person’s spiritual gifts basically summed up to one sentence in 1 Corinthians 12:7, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”  We must all use our spiritual gifts not to help glorify ourselves but to help the church grow more into the Perfect Bride of Christ.  For some of you, it may be by joining the praise band or choir and letting your voice be used to glorify God.  For others, it may be to start a blog and allow the insights God shares with you to help encourage others.  Whatever the gift, let us seek to use our gifts to nourish the church.

Second, we can nourish the church by providing our tithes and offerings.  In the Old Testament, the Lord asked the people of Israel to provide a portion of their sacrifices and the firstfruits of their harvest to the priests and Levites to make sure that they were fed and well taken care of.  Throughout the Levitical law are splashed countless of references about making sure that the Levites were taken care of and not forgotten.  This was basically the tithe.  It was the set aside portion that the Lord wanted to have to make sure that those who were serving Him and the people would be provided for.  In today’s context, it is the portion of your salary that you set aside to provide for your church’s ministry.  The offering on the other hand was the additional giving of something past the tithe.  It was going over and beyond the “necessity” of the tithe to provide even more to help the ministry or to worship the Lord.  It was the freewill offerings at the Tabernacle and Temple, where people brought more than what God had asked for, because they wanted to praise Him.  During that time, the people of Israel made sure to bring their tithes and offerings for if they did not the Levites did not eat.  Some families such as the one that housed Elisha even made sure to provide for the prophets whenever they came into town.  Today, we can also nourish the Church by providing it with our tithes and offerings.  We can make sure to help support our church and pastor in the ministry through giving.  We can make sure to provide for missionaries in full-time service so that their focus may be on sharing the Gospel instead of providing for their family.  We can make sure to help support various organizations that are reaching out to share the Gospel.  Spending some time preparing a sermon when my dad was on vacation taught me how difficult it is to be a bivocational pastor.  To have to deal with work during the day and to come home tired yet still have to study for Wednesday night Bible study as well as the Sunday morning service is very tough.  One needs resilience and strength and that is without the additional evening services, Sunday schools, prayer meetings, and visitations.  It is a tough and unthankful job, so let us try to do our best to provide for the ministries through our tithes and offerings.

Third and most important, we can nourish the church by sharing the Word of God with other members of the body of Christ.  What better nourishment can any person receive than the Word of God, for “’Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4).  There is nothing better for a weary heart, a hungering soul, and a thirsty spirit than the Word of God.  For only in the Word of God can we find true wisdom that points us to the Comforter, the Bread of Life, the Living Water, and the Author of Salvation – Jesus Christ.  We should always seek to teach and preach Jesus Christ.  He must be the first, the last, and everything in between.  He should always be the focus.  This is not only a job for the preacher but for every member of the church, for each person can share something that can be an encouragement to another Christian.  1 Corinthians 14 emphasizes that there are multiple speakers so that all may learn and all be encouraged not just a few.  Sometimes even the “lowliest” church member can encourage the greatest evangelist.  It only takes a few verses out of the Word of God to nourish a heart and renew its life.  Let us never forget that even if we can’t give of our offerings, even if we have yet to know what our spiritual gift is, we can serve by sharing with any fellow Christian something that God has laid in your heart and taught you today.  You might be surprised at what encouragement you might bring.

One way to love the church the way Christ does is to nourish it.  You can do so in multiple ways, whether through serving with your spiritual gifts, giving of your tithes and offerings, or sharing the Word of God with a fellow believer.  All ways are important.  Let us just remember that no matter what we do, we always return the focus to Christ, for that is where hunger and thirst if fully satiated.