Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] You.
[00:00:06] Let's pray.
[00:00:08] Our Lord in heaven, there are many fears that we have in this world and dangers which we seek to protect ourselves from.
[00:00:16] Lord, there are resources that you give to us in this world to help us and strengthen us means by which we are to use wisely for for safety. But, Lord, ultimately we are not to trust in the things that are given, but in the giver.
[00:00:38] And we ask that you would help us with that now, that we would look for salvation from our foes, from our worries, our anxieties, from ourselves, from the evil one. Not in anything or in anyone, but you strengthen our courage, our confidence in you. And out of that confidence, Lord, we ask that you would help us to understand more of your word, to apply it in our lives and be reflectors of the light of Christ in our world.
[00:01:14] We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:01:18] Please remain standing, and let's turn now to the passage I mentioned earlier in two Corinthians. Two Corinthians, chapter eight, verses one through 15, you, God's word is good. Let's give our attention to it. Two Corinthians eight, one through 15.
[00:02:01] We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has 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. 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. And this not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God, to us.
[00:02:39] Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you, see that you excel in this act of grace also.
[00:02:57] I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love is also genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by you, or so that. So that you by his poverty might become rich. And in this matter, I give my judgment. This benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work, but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 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. As it is written, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.
[00:04:07] May God be praised. Please be seated.
[00:04:25] Thank you.
[00:04:27] Drawing on a sermon I preached a while back on two corinthians, chapter nine, which we'll get to again in a little bit, and thinking again about this passage here, we can weave together these things and set the context, set the stage for what is going on here.
[00:04:46] I think a helpful way to do that is by thinking about Paul in our own context. Imagine Paul being in California, being in California, writing to us here in Tucson about a gift. We have been getting ready to join with the California churches to provide for the needs of saints in Texas.
[00:05:13] Okay? So that can be a little confusing. And that's why I think it's helpful to use our own geography there. Right? So Paul's in California collecting money there, which he's going to come and collect also from us here in Tucson. Join that together to go provide for the needs of saints in another state.
[00:05:34] That's what's going on here. So Paul, using his geography, he's in Macedonia, writing to the churches in Acaia, which is the city in Corinth. Acaia is the region about money that he says they've been saving up since last year.
[00:05:51] Paul is going to combine it with the money from the Macedonians and bring it to where? To the church in Jerusalem. We read in romans 15, verse 26, for Macedonia. And Akea have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. And Titus is there to kind of send him ahead to sort of get everything ready.
[00:06:18] So one of the things that we see right off the bat is that we see the Lord's work in and among and through his people.
[00:06:27] And we, of course, are individuals, and we think a lot about our particular relationship with the Lord, our individual relationship with the Lord. But there is this bigger picture, isn't there, in which we are set, in which the Corinthians were set, and Paul's calling that to their minds. He says, look at the beginning of verse of chapter eight. We want you to know, we being those who are writing the letter brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.
[00:07:00] Notice how he sets the context of the giving of the churches of Macedonia. He talks about their giving as an act of the grace of God.
[00:07:11] Why would that be?
[00:07:13] We'll think about that a little bit later.
[00:07:16] He characterizes their giving as an act of the grace of God, and he wants the Corinthians to know about it.
[00:07:24] He wants them to hear about what God is doing in this other region.
[00:07:30] And what is God doing? He describes it in the next verse. He says, in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
[00:07:48] Whatever is going on in this situation, we can say it's pretty intense.
[00:07:54] Notice all of the intensing Intensifiers, all of the language in which he talks about not just affliction or a test of affliction, but a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy, their extreme poverty overflowing in a wealth of generosity.
[00:08:15] In a wealth of generosity on their part.
[00:08:20] Something really is amazing is happening here. Despite their difficulties, despite their trials, and particularly their financial ones, a wealth of generosity is overflowing from the churches of Macedonia.
[00:08:39] For the church in Jerusalem, Paul testifies this, that they have given according to their means, even beyond their means. He says, notice the language of finances and needs. In verse four, he says that they are begging, but what are they begging for?
[00:09:03] The favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. These are people that you would want to be around, right? These are people that are so full of joy and excitement and pleasure in knowing the Lord and acting and being generous that they're just overflowing with these things. They are begging for the favor of being a part of this. They're saying, essentially, don't shut us out, Paul. Don't look at us and say, well, just because we're poor doesn't mean we can't give anything. Just because we have extreme poverty doesn't mean we don't want to be a part of this. Don't leave us out, they say, we want to help them too.
[00:09:51] What an amazing heart. And Paul points out in verse five, this is not something this goes in line with things he says in the next chapter. This is not something that they were compelling them towards, expecting or demanding from them, but they gave of themselves willingly, first to the Lord, meaning primarily to him, right? This is done for him, and then by the will of God to us. In other words, they were doing this in the name of the Lord.
[00:10:22] And so he tells them of this amazing news, and then he makes an application in the next verses. In verses six, and seven. He applies this to them and he says accordingly, we urge Titus that as he started so he should complete among you Corinth of this act of grace.
[00:10:42] And then he says this really amazing thing which is really worth thinking about and meditating on.
[00:10:52] He calls them to excel in it. See that you excel in this act of grace also in the same giving, in the same generosity. He tells the church in Corinth to excel. He puts it more broadly. To start with, he says, as you excel in everything, in faith, in speech and knowledge, in all earnestness, in our love for you, see that you excel in this act of grace also.
[00:11:25] One of the things that we can be very thankful for to the Lord is that this kind of work of the Lord in and among and through his people, this sharing, this generosity, this taking care of one another and needs, is not confined to the first century alone. But this is the work of the Lord that continues generation after generation as his spirit works among his people.
[00:11:52] As we confessed earlier, the spirit is the Lord and giver of life. He breathes into us his life that we might have these gifts and have these graces as well. And we see this in our own church context, in our own church life. We have diaconal committees and our presbytery and our denomination and here in our own church to help minister those gifts and needs, to help match givers and receivers, to help people see the gifts that they have, whether they're money or skills or whatever, and then apply those and connect those to those who need them, sometimes going this way, sometimes going this way, different times, in different ways. Paul hints at this, talks about this at the end. He says, your abundance in verse 14 at the present time should supply their need so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.
[00:12:57] There's the sense in which we take care of one another at the proper time, right? Moths come, rust comes, thieves steal finances, skills, these things, they go up and down. We can't predict them. We can't lock it all in. We can't create a master plan for everything.
[00:13:17] But we trust the Lord and we give as we're able. And we depend on him to provide for us both through others and for our own generosity as he wills and he's faithful.
[00:13:32] We exist as a church. We are here as a worshiping, organized body of believers because of the generosity of other people who said, yeah, let's help start a church in Tucson.
[00:13:47] That's an amazing thing. We are here because of that generosity. And other churches exist because of our generosity toward them.
[00:13:57] This is the work of the Lord.
[00:14:00] This is the work of the Lord.
[00:14:04] What does it mean to be excellent at these kinds of things?
[00:14:10] What does a call to excellence in generosity and giving look like?
[00:14:18] One thing we might think about is use some other example to help us think about excellence.
[00:14:25] I was at the zoo one time and watched a lady feed a big, very big tortoise, and it was amazing. I've never fed a tortoise that big. I wouldn't have known what to do. But she knew what to do. She had a uniform on that was capable of getting her job done. She came with the right foods, and then as she came out at the proper time, it seemed like everyone, tortoise and a keeper knew what they were doing.
[00:14:54] If I remember right, I think she started. She put some on the ground in a certain spot, and then she went over and kind of hung some up in a tree, which sort of surprised me. Not super high, they don't climb trees, but they can kind of, like, get up on it a little bit.
[00:15:11] She hung it up there and then. She was very attentive and purposeful in everything that she did in taking care of feeding that animal. And presumably that's something that she and her team do every day, maybe multiple times a day. I'm not sure.
[00:15:28] What would it look like if she did not do that job with excellence? What if she kind of did it when she felt like it, or was sort of haphazard about it, or didn't really care which foods were given or what times they were given at, or the ways that they were given? What if she was thoughtful or, I'm sorry, thought less or neglectful? Well, of course, it would be to the harm of the animal and, in a way, to the harm of her own soul as well. I think we can say fairly, excellence.
[00:16:05] We can see excellence in her work, in the work that she did. Instead of being neglectful or haphazard, thoughtless, she was intentional, purposeful, careful, diligent.
[00:16:20] One of the other things Paul mentions here that I think we can draw from the instructions that he's giving to us is that there is both the desire to do it and then the doing of it as well.
[00:16:36] And Paul says that it should be both in us.
[00:16:40] The desire is a great thing, and that comes from the Lord. A desire to serve, a desire to be generous, a desire to take care of the needs of God's people.
[00:16:52] But he also calls them to fulfill it. Right. That's the very particular place the corinthians are in. He says, you've heard of this. You've been preparing for this. Now finish the job.
[00:17:07] Finish the job.
[00:17:09] We all know, at least maybe I'm presuming I know anyway, what it's like to start and not finish things. I know what it's like to have all kinds of energy and desire at the beginning of a thing and have good intentions and good purposes, and then kind of. It gets hard, right? It gets hard. Perseverance, being resolute. It is hard. Sometimes there are obstacles that come along the way. There are things that make us want to give up. We get tired, we get forgetful, we get distracted. Some of those things are just natural part of being human. Some of those things are sinful parts of being human. But there is a need to persevere and to bring to completion. And Paul's giving them this encouragement. He's grounding what they're doing in the work of God. He's showing them the example of others. He's inspiring them to look at what God has given to them and is calling them to now finish the race, finish the task.
[00:18:15] Going back to our zookeeper, our animal keeper analogy, it would be wonderful, right? If she gets dressed, if she gets the food ready, if she prepares it all, but it's really just not good enough. If she never actually feeds the animal, she could say, well, I did all these things, and that would be good.
[00:18:35] But it's really about finishing is so important here.
[00:18:41] This is what it means in part to be excellent.
[00:18:46] But of course, it's not just excellence and finishing something, and it's certainly not about a particular dollar amount when it comes to generosity. And we see that from the Macedonians giving out of poverty.
[00:19:01] Excellence, ultimately, and when it's done in the Lord, is about our hearts.
[00:19:07] It's about our hearts.
[00:19:11] Notice the blessings that come from this, the ways in which he describes this. He talks about it being a gift of God. He talks about their heart desiring to do these things. If you turn over to two corinthians, chapter nine, as we're kind of interacting with these two passages, look at verses eight through ten with me, he says, 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, he is distributed freely. He is 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.
[00:20:07] This is the work of the Lord.
[00:20:11] It's what he does. In verse seven, we have in that chapter nine, we have the principle. Each one must give as he is decided in his own heart.
[00:20:21] In his own heart, not reluctantly nor under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.
[00:20:32] Well, so we see God's love, what God loves to see in his people. Ask yourselves again, where does that come from in us? Where does a heart of generosity come from? Where does a heart that isn't reluctant nor bound under compulsion, but is free and overflowing and intentional and thoughtful? Where does that come from?
[00:20:58] It comes from the Lord.
[00:21:00] It's God's gift to us. Sometimes we think. Sometimes people will say, well, we give our money out of the generosity of the Lord, because it's the Lord who supplies the money in the first place. And that's true. The Lord does give to us the things that we have, and it's out of those things that we have that we share with others. But I think we can go one more deeper. It's not just the things that we have that we share with others that it's because of him, but it's the heart that we have, isn't it?
[00:21:34] A generous heart comes from the generous one, the one who gives to us, the one who empowers us, the one who is doing this grace.
[00:21:44] It's God's gift that empowers us to give, gifts who are then supplied by God through us. And ultimately this results in what Paul talks about as a harvest of praise and thanksgiving.
[00:22:01] In other words, God works in us in a way that changes us, frees us, loosens us. He supplies not only for our material needs now, but also for our spiritual needs as well.
[00:22:18] He does that particularly through and foundationally through the work of our Lord Jesus.
[00:22:25] Notice what he says in verse eight. And following, he says back in chapter eight, he says, I say this not as a command, but to prove the earnestness of others, that by the earnestness of others that your love is also genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor so that you, by his poverty, might become rich.
[00:22:58] There's so many ways in which we might think about this.
[00:23:02] It's really worth meditating on because this is the strength and source of our salvation. This is where it all begins, where it all ends in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:23:15] Paul reminds us here of the gospel, of the good news, of the promise. He tells us what Jesus has done for us. And what has he done though he was rich, he became poor. What does he mean by that? He's talking about Jesus being the infinite and eternal God, the one who owns a thousand, the cattle on a thousand hills. The one who, to whom every particle and everything belongs, the one who is splendid and glorious and magnificent, and who always is and who always will be. That never changes, never has. It never will.
[00:23:58] But then what we have is that glorious king, that glorious Lord, the one through whom, through who was the word, through whom the father spoke and created all things that one took on human flesh.
[00:24:17] He became finite.
[00:24:21] Not his infinity changing to finitude, but taking humanity on. He added to himself human nature, true human nature, just like you and just like me. A human nature that came into the world without any money.
[00:24:40] None. Just like all other babies.
[00:24:44] He came into the world without anything. And we know that he got tired and he needed alone time, and he got frustrated and he got angry righteously, so never sinfully.
[00:25:06] And he loved deeply, and he felt pity for people, and he got hungry.
[00:25:14] Our Lord took on our humanity, a humanity which in so many ways is weak, but also, even more importantly to say, I think, under a curse, not just a natural weakness that is in us, but under a curse, born to die, the Lord took on that kind of life. And you know what?
[00:25:46] He did die.
[00:25:48] He died at the hands of ruthless, careless people who did not care for the righteousness of God, but loved and desired the things of this world, power and money and fame.
[00:26:05] Judas, remember, gave up his Lord for 30 pieces of silver.
[00:26:13] Then he killed himself.
[00:26:17] They wanted the things of this world. They desired. They craved the things of this world. And they took the life of the Lord of this world, the Lord of heaven and earth.
[00:26:33] Why did he do that?
[00:26:36] Why did he not just allow it to happen, but intentionally, thoughtfully, purposefully enter into that situation?
[00:26:49] You can read it in your bibles. In verse nine. It says, for your sake, he loved you.
[00:27:04] He gave up everything so that by his poverty, you might become rich.
[00:27:11] He loved you, and he does love you.
[00:27:16] That's why Jesus did these things.
[00:27:20] And that's why Paul instructs us in the way he does.
[00:27:26] How much do I give? A really important question to ask. It's a question about being intentional. It's a question about being thoughtful, about being careful.
[00:27:40] Well, what's Paul's answer?
[00:27:43] Does he say 10%?
[00:27:46] Does he say 30%? Does he go through all the different multiple tithes and the system that is described in the Old Testament?
[00:27:55] No.
[00:27:56] What does he say?
[00:27:58] He said what I read earlier. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
[00:28:12] That's it.
[00:28:14] That's the standard.
[00:28:17] And this is such a good and important reminder for us, because when we forget the Lord's generosity toward us, when we forget the grace in which we stand, when we forget the opportunities that we have because of what he's doing in our lives and doing in this world, to be a part of this amazing kingdom, this church of God, this body of believers, when we forget those things, then we start asking all the wrong questions.
[00:28:47] We start judging our giving and our generosity by all the wrong ways.
[00:28:53] We give a big amount. It's all relative. But we do it because we think we have something to prove or earn or earn something, or atone for something.
[00:29:04] Or we protect what we give because out of our heart we're afraid God won't provide for us. Or we'll regret that we're going to give it. Or we'll regret what we give, or we're going to miss out on something that we may want, or we give it under compulsion, or reluctantly, or we put other people under compulsion, or we tie a thousand strings to it so that it'll be really easy to get back and really hard to take.
[00:29:33] But this is not how Paul describes the work of God in the Macedonians. It's not how Dal describes the work of God in the church of Corinth.
[00:29:44] These things that I described are not the work of God. It's what happens when the evil one gets a hold of our hearts.
[00:29:59] We ought to each commit ourselves to excellence in everything that we do, including giving.
[00:30:08] Not to prove anything to anyone, not to earn anything from the Lord, not to atone for any sins and not to be better than someone or something else.
[00:30:22] But we do it in excellence because of the excellent one.
[00:30:27] We do it with generosity because of the generous one. We do it with love because of the loving one.
[00:30:35] We do it with a sense and with a dependence on the Lord because we have nowhere else to turn and because it's a joy to be in him, and it's a joy to belong to his people.
[00:30:48] We do it first by remembering whom we belong to and whom we serve, that we were bought with a price and that we were united to the body of Christ so that we might encourage and build one another up in love.
[00:31:05] The Lord is the source of our strength. The Lord is the source of our heart. It's our giving, our generosity. He is the source of our resources. And when we remember that, he will lead us in the right ways. He will make cheerful hearts and all of it will lead to a harvest of thanksgiving and praise.
[00:31:26] Let's pray.
[00:31:28] Our heavenly Father, how gracious you are, how loving you are.
[00:31:34] You have given to us our very lives, our brothers and sisters, and a magnificent work to be a part of, Lord, as we consider the work that you are doing in the world and doing through us, we are amazed. How could you take greedy, selfish, inward turned people and turn them into people who are overflowing with a wealth of generosity?
[00:32:02] How amazing it is you can take people who make idols out of rocks and trees and the stars and ourselves and turn our hearts toward you to change us in such a way that we no longer call ourselves our own gods, but serve you as the one true living God forever and ever. This is marvelous, lord, and you do it so intentionally, so perfectly, with so much excellence and beauty, so wisely and all in your perfect timing. Oh, you are so worthy to be praised. And we praise you and we love you.
[00:32:45] We thank you, Lord, for our brothers and sisters and the ways in which they sow excellently a supply for our needs, words of encouragement, money at the right times, friendship, a listening ear, resources, ideas, and joining together in this work of sharing your gospel to the world.
[00:33:19] We are in awe, o Lord, and we give you praise. We ask that you would work in our hearts and strengthen us in the works that you have called us to do. Help us to excel in everything.
[00:33:33] Help us to excel in giving.
[00:33:36] Let our hearts be excellent, not turned inward, not turned. And hearing the lies and believing the lies of the evil one and of this world and our flesh. But instead, Lord, let us be turned outward toward you and to each other.
[00:33:54] Lord, let this be a great testimony to your work in us and in the world, and may many come and see and praise your holy name. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
