A Cheerful Giver

2 Corinthians 9:6-15     The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. As it is written, “He scatters abroad, he gives 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. You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Luke 21:1-4 He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”

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I remember an autumn Sunday from my youth when I sat in the sanctuary of my church, and the pastor stepped into the pulpit.  It was the custom at that time for the pastor to make the announcements of the church right before the sermon.  He began with an announcement about the budget.  At that time in my life I paid zero attention to budget matters, but apparently there were some financial difficulties, budget shortfall, if you can imagine such a thing.  I only half listened, but at some point I noticed that his announcement was running really long. 

About 20 minutes later he stopped talking.  He acknowledged rather sheepishly that he had spent too much time on the announcements and would forgo his sermon rather than make them suffer through another 20 minutes of him talking. The congregation laughed, and he wrapped up with a prayer.  I always suspected that it was all intentional.  His message that day, disguised in an announcement, was about giving.  Our message today, on this Consecration Sunday, is also about giving.  But rather than be subversive, I will tell you up front.  And I do so with gratitude for the help of my colleague in ministry, the Reverend Bob Wade, who showed me the importance of speaking freely about giving.

There is an old story about two men marooned on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean. One of them is frantic, filled with despair. The other says, “Hey don’t worry.  I know my church will find us.  I haven’t paid my pledge yet.”

We can laugh about it, and there are plenty of funny stories about the church and money, and the idea that the church is overly fixated on money.  Some people think the church talks about money way too much.  But I disagree.  I think we really don’t talk about money enough in the church.  Given that the Bible has well over 2000 verses about money, given that Jesus raised the issue more than any other subject except the kingdom of God, given that money is one of the most important aspects of our lives and how we use it reflects our priorities and our values, I would say, no, we don’t talk about money enough.

We are afraid we will embarrass one another, or infringe on someone’s privacy by talking about money.  We are afraid of offending one another by asking too much.  We have implicitly agreed to leave the subject of money off the table, as though it had nothing to do with our spiritual lives. 

There is a story about a Sunday school teacher who asks her class of 8 year olds, “Who would give a million dollars to our missionaries?” and all the children cried, “I would!”  Then she asked, “Would you give a thousand dollars?” and they all said, “Yes!”  “How about a hundred dollars?”  “Yes! Yes!”  “Would you give just one dollar to the missionaries?”  Again they cried out yes – except for Johnnie, who suddenly put his hand over his pocket.  The teach looked at him and asked, “Johnnie, why didn’t you say yes?”  Johnnie said, “Well … I HAVE a dollar.”

One of the reasons we have a harder time talking about money is because it touches us where we live.  But may I say that the gospel is meant to touch us deeply, in all aspects of where and how and why we live.  We see this so clearly in the story of the widow’s mite. 

Jesus is with his disciples in the temple in Jerusalem, and he watches the wealthy giving their gifts to the treasury.  Impressive amounts, perhaps.  But then he watches a poor widow putting in her two pennies, which were worth almost nothing.  Yet “this poor widow has put in more than all of them,” he says, for she has given all she had to give. 

I believe we read at the roundtable this week that those pennies she put in the treasury were worth 1/64 of a daily wage at the time.  We tried to work out what that means.  If we consider a work day to be 8 hours, then this is 7 ½ minutes’ worth of work.  Not much, and yet, we are told, it is all she has.  That is how little this widow has.

The story reminds me of a vacation Kim and I took to Mexico City about 30 years ago.  At that time the Mexican peso was drastically devalued.  And it was this fact that made the vacation possible for us.  The very favorable exchange rate allowed us to live like royalty for a few days, staying in the nicest hotels, eating in the best restaurants.  But we were surrounded by poverty.  Everywhere we went, there were women sitting in the streets, head down, hand raised in a begging posture.  There were swarms of young children wandering through the city sidewalks selling chiclets for something like 5 pesos, which was literally worth a fraction of a U.S. penny.  We bought their chiclets and gave them handfuls of coins.  We watched their faces light up as if they had won the lottery.  It felt pretty good.  But we knew it cost us absolutely nothing.

We were the wealthy ones who gave to the treasury enough to impress but not so much that it would hurt.  The important question is, are we willing to sacrifice anything for the sake of the gospel?

We hear in the letter to the Corinthians that the one who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  Paul reminds them that God supplies the seed to the sower, and that they will be enriched in every way for their generosity.  Paul, too, like Jesus, lifts up those who have given generously, even through their affliction and their poverty.  And in doing so the grace of God, the blessings of God, will be granted in abundance.

The point Paul is making is that the act of giving generously is an evidence of God’s grace in one’s life.  What does that say, then, about a refusal to give generously?  This is why Christian giving is said to reveal the spiritual condition of our hearts.  Refusal to give, reluctance to give, may be a sign of spiritual ill health.  Spiritually healthy Christians reflect the generosity of God who is always giving. 

Paul writes to the Corinthian church that they must give as they have made up their minds to give, “not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  It may feel a stretch to think of giving until it hurts and being a cheerful giver in the same moment, but the important point is that our giving to God is a free act.  The sacrifice we make is an act of giving up something good for the sake of something of far greater worth.  And sacrifice is always given freely. 

Each of you must give as you have made up your mind to give.  God gives us the freedom of this choice.  This year our stewardship team has challenged each member to consider increasing your pledge by 5%.  What will this mean to you, to increase your pledge by 5%?  Well, say your current pledge is $1000 a year.  Increasing it by 5% would mean that you would give about $4.15 more each month.  If you pledge $2000 a year, a 5% increase would mean giving about $8.33 more per month.  If your pledge currently is $3300 a year, then a 5% increase is $13.75 per month.

Since I have been your pastor, Kim and I have increased our pledge by about 10% each year.  This year, in addition to our commitment to the Melt the Mortgage Campaign, Kim and I have increased our 2017 pledge by 13%.  I tell you this so you will know that I would not ask you to do anything that I am not willing to do. 

You are invited to consider whether the challenge to give more is the right thing for you to do at this time in your life.  Some of us will be increasing our pledge by more than 5%, some will be keeping our pledges at the same level, and others may be pledging less than we did last year.  Again, God gives you the freedom to decide.  No one should feel pressured or guilted into doing more than they feel able to do.  As Paul wrote, each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Consider another translation of this verse from Paul’s letter – this one from Eugene Peterson’s The Message: “I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give.  That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting.  God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.”

Today we are invited to bring our pledges forward and dedicate them to God.  We pledge our funds not just to support the church budget but to delight in the giving.  Out of gratitude for the life that we have in Jesus Christ.  Out of love for the world that needs our ministry of compassion now more than ever. 

Let us give thanks to God for God’s indescribable gift and let us give with glad hearts.