Of all the subjects that a preacher can talk about, giving is the most sensitive one, especially on a Sunday where there's a lot of rain and you've had two collections. People would rather hear about hell and damnation than about the issue of giving money in the church.
Now, there are several reasons for this. First of all,
sermons about giving rarely come at times when we're giving sufficiently.
Giving lessons usually point out some deficiencies and people don't like that.
It's as simple as that. Also, lessons about money may remind us that we don't
agree on how the money is being spent sometimes, and that could cause some
resentment. We may feel guilty for having indulged ourselves maybe a little too
much in worldly pleasure at the expense of our offering, and giving lessons
kind of make us feel a little guilty, so we don't like those kinds of lessons.
And then, of course, some think that churches are always asking for money, and
so a lesson on giving is just one lesson too many. But giving is also a
biblical topic and it has to be covered from time to time.
One of the primary reasons, however, may be that we are
afraid of the future, and lessons on giving tend to tap into that fear. We're
afraid that if we give too much away, we won't be able to make ends meet. We
won't have enough for ourselves. Christians read passages about God providing
all of our needs and think that the Bible only talks about spiritual needs, but
in the world's economy, the future is never sure. However, in God's economy,
there is always enough for everyone's needs. In the kingdom of God, there is no
need to worry. Now, if we weren't worrying, we would've really amened that
statement. The Lord owns everything. The Lord is not stingy. He's not
possessive about anything. The Lord wants to bless His children. All He asks is
that we trust Him, it's all He's asking for.
So in this morning's lesson, I want to share with you
three promises that God makes to those who give to Him, as a way to motivate
and empower our giving to the point where we can continue being generous when
special needs occur. And also, and maybe this is the point I'm getting to here,
more responsible in making budget from week to week. The budget is a kind of
contract, if you wish, between the leaders of the church and the congregation.
They say, we're going to invest money, this much money this year, in doing all
of these things, and the congregation is saying, "Yes, okay, we agree,
we'll provide for that kind of work."
1. God Will
Make You Rich
10Now 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; 11you will be enriched in everything for all liberality,
which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.
- II Corinthians 9:10-11
When it comes to God's provisions for us, we have to learn
to differentiate between source and means. The means are our jobs and the bank,
and our skills and the companies we work for. The ways that money and other
blessings flow to us, those are the means. The source, however, is where
the blessings, the money, the necessary things we require each day are created,
where these things begin and who controls them. A pump or a faucet are
the means by which we get water, but rain and the springs and the wells under
the earth, those are the source.
We have many means which we can improve and develop, but
only one source. And for us that source is God, Himself. And as far as God
being a source, Paul says the following,
And my God will supply all of your needs according to His
riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
- Philippians 4:19
The Bible teaches that when you give generously out of
love for God, you tap into the very source of God's blessings or God's wealth.
Tapping into the source by giving generously out of love will produce two
specific riches for us. First of all, we will be made richer in our
giving. Now, this is not the gospel of wealth preached by a lot of TV
preachers: send money and the Lord will bless you for it. This is the
give-to-get theory of religion. Generous giving to the Lord will bring many
kinds of blessings on our heads, which include material and emotional
blessings- look at Abraham, Job, Solomon and Barnabas.
However, the greatest of these will be the additional
resources to be able to give more to the Lord. It's a sort of,
you-give-so-you-can-give-again type of theory. No one ever went broke
giving to the Lord. As a matter of fact, the more we give, the more the Lord
enables us to give. Sometimes He does it by giving us more resources, sometimes
He enables us to live more simply so we can give more generously, but either
way we are richly blessed. To be able to give is a great feeling and a great
blessing. To be able to increase our giving, regardless of the reasons, is even
a greater blessing.
Now, let me ask you, have you ever been unhappy because
you made a generous offering to the Lord? What was the feeling? You got a
bonus, I don't know, income tax bonus or your uncle John, that you didn't know,
died and he left you some money. He left you 2000,000 Fcfa and you sat down
with your spouse and said, "You know what? Let's give half of this to the
Lord. Why not? Let's give half of it to the Lord. We didn't earn it and we
weren't expecting it, it just came in as a gift from heaven.
Let's just give half of it to the Lord. We've never done
that, let's get crazy." And you write that check for 1000K and you drop it
in the basket. Tell me, did you go home and cry after that? Did you feel
somehow that God would abandon you after doing such a thing, such a generous
thing? Of course not!
Another blessing of giving generously is that you will
receive more than you give. In other
words, you cannot out-give God. We believe this, but we don't practice it. God
promises us that whatever we give, we will receive back a hundred fold. Did He
not say that? For example, you give a smile, you
receive back many smiles and good vibes. You give a hug and you receive not
only a hug, but gratitude in return. You give forgiveness and you receive
devotion and loyalty
in return. When
you give your money to God, He promises to give it back to you with interest. And so, the first promise of God to those who give
generously is that He will make you rich in the way that it is important for
you to be rich.
So the first promise of God, to those who give generously,
is that He will make you rich in the way that it's important for you to be
rich. Sometimes we do everything spiritually we can and still our lives are
filled with struggles. Perhaps we need to examine and revive our giving so we
can become rich the way God wants us to be rich. The
problem is, we always want to be rich the way we want to be rich, and He wants
us to be rich in the way He wants us to be rich, and there's a difference. Many times we want to be rich so we can have and use
stuff. He wants us to be rich so we can give stuff and know Him more perfectly.
2. God Will
Reward You
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there
may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the Lord of hosts,
"If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a
blessing until it overflows."
- Malachi 3:10
One of the problems with the Jews, that Malachi refers to,
is that they did not fulfill their financial commitments to the Lord. They
were, if you wish, behind budget. And the consequence was that they were
suffering economic and social problems as a result.
Some say that in the New Testament, we're not required to
tithe, 10%, like they were required to do in the Old Testament. Well, it's
true, the New Testament does not mention the percentage of our income, but it
does state that we have a commitment to the Lord to give, just like they had a
commitment to give to the Lord as well. On the first day of every week, each
one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections
be made when I come.
- I Corinthians 16:2
The commitment in giving in the New Testament is as
follows: Each Sunday, regardless of where we are, to set aside for the Lord. We
give each week, not each time we're in church. Whether you are in church or not
you give every week. And then the second thing: Every member gives; this
includes young people, old people, single people, married people, pensioners,
part-time workers, every one should give.
If you take from the communion plate, you should
contribute to the collection plate.
And each should put aside and save. This means a conscious
decision and effort to earmark some money for this purpose only. Save means you could use it
somewhere else, but you've chosen not to. You've set it aside for the Lord, and
you do that first.
And then the other instruction: we give as we're
prospered. Each give as he or she is prospered. This is where the percentage
comes in. In Malachi, God invited the people to examine or to test Him, to see
if His promise concerning His blessings was true. He said, "Go ahead,
try Me. Stop giving Me the leftovers. Stop cutting down what you're giving.
Stop falling behind. Go ahead, test Me now. Watch and see what I'll do if you
do what I tell you to do when it comes to giving."
A weekly financial commitment requires a change of habit.
It requires faith that God will provide. It requires discipline to continue
with the commitment regardless of changing circumstances. But God promises that
if you commit to Him financially, He will reward you for that commitment. But
remember, He will reward you in His way, for His purpose. But you can be
guaranteed of one thing: you're going to like it. You're going to like the way
He blesses you.
3. God Will
Surprise You
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond
all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.
- Ephesians 3:20
That, "abundantly beyond all that we ask,"
that's surprise. In Luke chapter five, Jesus needed Peter's boat in order to
move back from the crowds who are pressing in on Him, on the shore. And Peter
was tired from fishing all night, but he agreed to take Jesus out in his boat.
And after the sermon, Jesus told Peter to cast his net into the deep part of
the lake in the morning sun. Now, Peter had failed all night at fishing, had
caught nothing- and that's when you fish. He had just cleaned and stored
his nets, and fishing in the sunshine was not a good thing, and the deep part
of the lake was the worst area to fish. All experienced fishermen on the lake
knew this. But Peter obeyed Jesus anyways and made the greatest catch of fish
in his lifetime. Not only did he make a great payday, it was this day that
Jesus invited him to become one of His apostles, an invitation that would
change his life forever. God surprised him.
A surprise means you're not expecting what will happen,
you don't know the outcome. The Lord promises those who commit themselves to
regular, generous giving, that He will not only bless us, He will surprise us.
And so the true power in giving is the power of God to
fulfill His promises to those who give. That's where the power is, and that is:
the promise to make rich those who give; rich in the ability to give joyfully,
rich in the blessings that follow generous giving. And what are those
blessings? Peace, joy, satisfaction, hope.
Secondly, a promise to reward us. Our social and economic
welfare is directly dependent on God's ability and willingness to make us
prosper and live in peace. God is able to do this, but His willingness is
connected in a large measure to our faithfulness and our generosity in
giving. And also, a promise to surprise us. Go ahead, see if you can out
give God, go ahead. See for yourself how creative and generous God can be in
blessing you. We never know where and when the blessings come and He blesses us
in the most ingenious ways, so we are surprised, we are in awe, we are amazed
at how wonderful He is.
Three Decisions
to take
1. Giving as a
Christian
Decision number one, a decision to give as a Christian.
Christians give according to the Bible, as I read previously. We set aside a
certain amount, a percentage from all of our income and wealth, salary,
commissions, bonuses, tax backs, interest, gifts, whatever. If I get a gift,
part of that goes to the Lord. We give every Sunday, not just when we're here.
If we miss, we keep that portion for the Lord and we add it when we come back.
If you are a Christian, then you should give like a Christian is instructed to
give from the scripture, not what the preacher is saying, not what the elders
are saying, this is what
the scripture says.
2. Develop a
Giving Plan
Secondly, develop a giving plan. We plan for our pensions
and they only take care of us for a few years. We should also have guidelines
and plans for our giving to the church, that will last forever. Give the bulk
of your offering to your home congregation, I always encourage that. If the
local church and leadership is strong, then the programs for youth and missions
and benevolence will also be strong.
Give first and foremost to your home congregation, because
it is responsible for your most important assets: your soul and the souls of
your family. Part of the plan, of course, is to give first to the Lord. If we
wait until the last minute to figure out our offering, then there's usually not
much left. When the first portion goes to the Lord, the Lord will enable us to
live on the rest.
Another element of this plan is to increase your offering
regularly. Look for extra ways and times to give, as the Lord leads you. Review
your giving also so you can increase.
3. Dedicate All
Your Wealth to the Lord
And so, give like a Christian, develop a giving plan, and
then finally, dedicate all of your wealth to the Lord. Everything we have
belongs to God and by rights we should give it all to Him. He recognizes
that we need to live, so He permits us to give Him a portion
of our wealth as a way of dedicating or purifying all of our wealth beforehand.
Every time we remove the first portion to give to the
Lord, we have made holy and acceptable everything else in our life. If we
don't, it remains unholy and unacceptable to the Lord.
You may want to give your life to Jesus and become a true
christian. Or you want to change your giving plan and test how the Lord is
faithfull. This is the time to stand up as we get a song.
