2 Corinthians 9:1-15                The Gift of Giving     Nov 11, 2007

Second in a Series of Four: Generous Living

    Victor Hugo’s great novel Les Miserableas has become a popular Broadway musical in New York.  One of the most famous scenes is near the opening of the story when. Jean Valjean is befriended and given lodging by the bishop. Later that night, he steals his candlesticks. A police officer catches Jean trying to hock the candlesticks in town and drags him back before the Bishop.  As the scene unfolds, Valjean appears headed for jail. Surprisingly, the bishop says that he gave the candlesticks to the man as a gift.  Jean Valjean is stunned. When he and the bishop are alone, he asks, “Why did you do that? You know I am guilty.”

The bishop replies, “Life is for giving.” And out of that moment, Jean Valjean’s life is changed.

      This is a great principle of the universe.   Life is for giving.  Life is not for taking, accumulating, and hoarding.  Life is for giving.  This morning, I am continuing a four week series on how to live a generous life.  Last week, we saw that we really do have enough of the things we need.  Today, I want to see how that realization, that enlightenment, that we have enough can lead us to have the gift of giving.  To live a life that is giving and sharing.   I hope you will see that it is better to give than to receive.  

     In our scripture, Paul writes to the church at Corinth about a collection that he is taking.  You see, there was a food shortage back in Jerusalem.  Paul is collecting funds from other churches to take back to help out.  This was a major part of his traveling missionary journeys.  So as Paul writes to this church at Corinth, he talks about three principles of giving. 

      The first principle is truly a basic law of life. vs. 6 says, “The main point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and the one who sows

bountifully will also reap bountifully.”  This is a basic principle of the universe.  It is a law as true as the law of gravity.  It is like saying two plus two equals four. Whether we agree with it or disagree with it, whether we love it, or hate it, sooner or later this basic law of life will assert itself.  Jesus says, “The measure you give

will be the measure you get” (Matthew 7:2). You see, simple generous living reaps a generous harvest of love and kindness and goodness.

      Now it is human nature, it is sinful human nature, to reject this truth.  The lottery is an example of this.  The lottery is based on the faint hope that we might reap what we have not sowed.  In our greed, we hope that we might sow little—maybe just a dollar—and yet reap millions in reward.  Yet, every study shows that most big lottery winners will loose the money in a just a few years.  And the hard facts are that the vast majority of us will never win the lottery no matter how much we play.  You see, life is just not like that.  The universe testifies that those who sow little will reap little and those who sow much will reap much.  People who give their time seem to have more time.  People who love more are more loved by others.  Jesus put it this way in Luke 6: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back”

        The second principle in the gift of giving is simple. Vs 7 says, “God loves a cheerful giver.”  You see, God’s love is poured out on those who are cheerful and joyous in their giving. It is a part of the gift! Giving enhances our joy! Jesus said that he wants his joy to be in us and our joy to be complete or full.  That complete and full joy comes to our lives as we give our lives away. 

     A mother gave her little girl a quarter and a dollar for church.  Wanting to let her decide, the mother told the girl, "You put whichever one you want in the collection plate and keep the other for yourself.”  When they were coming out of church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given. "Well," said the little girl, "I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection the pastor said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I'd be a lot more cheerful if I gave the quarter."   

      Paul in the scriptures gives us this same choice.  In verse 7, he stresses that the decision to give is individual and without force. The verses say, “Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  You know, each of us is different.  Only you and God know what you really have in the way of time, money, energy, strength, skills, and talents.  Only you and God know what you can give to charity, to your church, to your community.    I often hear people say, “Well, if I had great amounts of money, I would give.”  Or I hear, “Well, when I retire and have free time, I will volunteer in community work.” It is between you and God how you will grow in a life of giving.  John D. Rockefeller, a faithful Baptist Church member in New York, said, "I never would have been able to give ten percent of the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week.

       Finally, the third principle for a giving life is about whether we trust God or not.   Verse 8 says, “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance…having enough…that you may share abundantly in every good work.”   Here is the real question.  Do we trust God to provide for us?  Do we trust that we have enough to share?   To have a life of giving, we must

live in trust.   It takes an act of courage to trust that God will provide.  When I sign up to help with children’s church, I am afraid I will not have enough time.  When I give to the offering, I fear I will not have enough money.  When I agree to be a chaperone for a youth trip, I worry if I will have enough energy and patience.  You see, the opposite of giving is fear.  We live in one place or the other.  We can live a life filled with fear.  Or we can live a life filled with giving.       

      We want so many things in our society as we try to chase happiness. Too often, I am caught up in what I want in life but I do not always see what I really need in my life.    Did you know that a typical supermarket in the United States in 1976 stocked around 9,000 articles; today it carries 30,000.  How many of them do we need to have enough?   The typical American today is surrounded by time-saving gadgets and yet we rush around busier and busier without enough time.  It seems the busier we are, the less we really accomplish in our lives.  A growing number of us in America today are ready to get off the merry go round, simplify our lives, and find the joy of living again.  A path toward that simpler life is a life that is giving, generous, open-handed, outreaching.  It is a life that sows much and reaps much.  It is a cheerful, happy life.  It is a life that trusts that there is enough because God provides what we need.  Because God is what we need.  Amen.