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GRINNING WHILE GIVING #5

GRACE-FULL GIVING

A recent cartoon showed a pastor preaching a eulogy for someone who had died in his church family. Now, sometimes preachers struggle to find something positive to say about the more wayward members of the church, and this was apparently one of those times. Because the caption has the minister reminding those in attendance:

“Now, we can remember George as a convicted counterfeiter . . . or as an unselfish and generous individual who paid off the church deficit!”

Our thanks to Larry Zanco for that particular bit of pulpit wisdom. But is God equally grateful for the funny money that sometimes gets put in the plate, where Ben Franklin looks more like a long-haired Rush Limbaugh and even the word “hundred” is spelled wrong? Does it matter to Him what attitude we display when the plate comes around, or is heaven simply counting up what we put in there?

I know firsthand about the difficulties in getting church members excited about giving. Pastor Denny Brake, who serves the Lord in Wake Forest, North Carolina, tells of the preacher — who knows, maybe it’s him — who sighs every year at about the same time: “It’s church budget season — time for the Sermon on the Amount.” And yet we’ve used this as our series title all week: GRINNING WHILE GIVING. Is it possible to actually enjoy giving to God?

There are a couple of Bible chapters that really paint a picture of joyful giving. In fact, you almost have to wonder if these Christians are from a different planet or something, but right there in the book of II Corinthians, chapters eight and nine, we find that masterpiece portrait of pure happiness . . . IN GIVING.

Notice how verse two reads in the Clear Word paraphrase:

“The members here [in Macedonia] have had their faith severely tested by the trials they’ve gone through, yet they are bubbling over with joy.” And then Paul adds this: “Even though many of them are poor people, they are extremely generous in their giving.” “Their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality,” says the King James Version.

Now, here’s a bit of background. The churches in Corinth — and of course, that’s where this letter was heading — had promised to help their poorer brothers and sisters in Jerusalem, where things were painfully tight financially. They’d made a financial pledge, so to speak. But here they’d fallen behind on that pledge.

And so Paul say, “Look at Macedonia! They’re broke! They live on the other side of the tracks! But they love to give.” “Bubbling over with joy,” as that Clear Word describes it.

And why? Are they expecting to get back a hundred shekels for each one they put in, as we discussed yesterday? Are they on a “prosperity gospel” detour? Do they just happen to be nicer people than the rest of us? What’s the Macedonian secret?

I appreciate a book entitled The Victorious Christian Life, by Pastor Tony Evans, where he points us in the right direction to find the answer; in fact, he has an entire chapter entitled “Team Spirit: The Grace of Giving.” And that’s a perfect selection for his title, when you read the verses that help set up this Macedonian story.

Notice verse one:

“And now, brothers, we want you to know about the GRACE that God has given the Macedonian churches.”

Verse 6, and this is directed toward Corinth:

“So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning [or initiated this offering for the poor] to bring also to completion this act of GRACE on your part.” And then verse seven: “But just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us — see that you also excel in this GRACE of giving.”

And you know, that last line is hugely significant. “The GRACE of giving.” Grace. That’s Calvary. That’s the gift of salvation we’ve received without deserving it. That’s everything Jesus has done for us. And now here in this vibrant, challenging chapter of the Bible, Paul tells us that our giving is all wrapped up in grace. “The GRACE of giving.” Apparently, when the men and women of God begin to understand just what their heavenly Father has done for them in providing Jesus to die for our sins, to give us the incredible gift of eternal life . . . all at once we begin to give back in an entirely new way.

Notice here if you back up to verse three, Paul tells us that these new Christians in Macedonia gave as much as they were able, and even more than they were able. They gave too much! They gave “to their power,” and “beyond their power,” says the great old King James. “More than they should have given,” says the Clear Word.

Pastor Evans then goes on and paints the almost ludicrous picture of people who are so anxious to give that they shush up their preacher. “Enough already! Stop with the appeal! Send around the offering plates. Come on, somebody, and pass the hat quick! I’m dying to give!” Friend, when we truly understand grace, this overflowing river of undeserved love, it’s going to stop hurting and pinching when we contribute to the work of God.

One of our regular sources of inspiration here is the late English writer, C. S. Lewis, as you regular listeners know. Here was a man who must have made big sums of money from book royalties, and yet he lived a fairly simple life there at The Kilns, the very plain residence at Oxford where he lived with his brother Warnie. Why wasn’t he richer, more comfortable? We find an answer, maybe, in what he wrote himself about giving. This is from Mere Christianity:

“I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.”

Well, you know, that doesn’t sound very fun or joyous, although the Christians in Macedonia probably met that standard. And Lewis himself quietly gave sums of money to needy people, sometimes giving directives to his publishers that So-and-So, whom he knew was hurting, should get a stipend. And while we might admire that selflessness and admit it’s the ideal, it’s maybe with a grimace and a sigh that we do so. But another observation from C. S. Lewis’ same book, Mere Christianity, opens our eyes wider.

“For many of us the great obstacle to charity lies not in our luxurious living or desire for more money, but in our fear — fear of insecurity.”

Are we reluctant to give because we’re afraid? Afraid that our own money will run out, that we’ll wish we could get back all we’ve given to the Lord? Friend, if we have that kind of insecurity, then we really haven’t grasped the abundance, the never-running-out nature of grace. The same God who provided the Lamb at Calvary will take care of our other needs, won’t He? Isn’t our God able?

In the same chapter by Tony Evans, he poses the question: what if we still ARE a bit scared or reluctant or even just selfish? We’re still drowning in the numbing effect of our own insecurities, our innate desire to trust in self. He describes many of us as having “cirrhosis of the giver.” What if our giving hasn’t yet been bathed in that Calvary grace? Should we keep on giving anyway? And his answer is yes. But notice:

“Granted, doing the right thing under duress is still better than doing nothing at all, but the benefits God promises to givers are reserved for those who are motivated by a firm grasp of grace, not some guilt-induced sense of reluctant obligation.” And then he adds this: “Giving is not a matter of making deals with God (as in prosperity theology); rather it is obeying God and trusting Him to meet our needs according to His riches in Christ as He sees fit.”

Listen, friend. We need to give. No, not because God needs our money. Whether or not you’ve counterfeited millions, or have legitimate millions, God doesn’t need that money. Yours or mine. But we need to give because we need to always remember and reflect upon and celebrate grace. I like how Pastor Evans puts it very bluntly in that same chapter:

“The Lord doesn’t need your money; you need His grace.”

“‘What - giving again?’ I asked in dismay. ‘And must I keep giving and giving away?’ “Oh no,’ said the angel, looking me thru and thru. ‘Just give ‘till the Master stops giving to you.’”

And what about joy? What about giving being fun? Ah, that’s all wrapped up in grace too. You can give a ton of money and hate doing it — the Pharisees proved that. And you can give zero and be equally miserable; many others of us prove that to be equally true. Here’s just a bit more of Pastor Evans’ wisdom:

“When we understand grace” — there’s that word again — our circumstances have nothing to do with giving. When we understand grace, our urge to give is not influenced by debt-to-income ratios, indexes of leading economic indicators, tax brackets, seasonal considerations, upward mobility, job security, or anything else. Instead, our giving is governed by our own need for grace. . . . The evidence of this accumulating grace is their abundance of JOY, the one possession of which the Macedonians had plenty. You can do without quite a bit if you have joy. Without it, even riches can make you miserable.”

And you know, that’s true. Without grace, where would we be, even with our piles of money? But with grace — with the unmerited favor of heaven constantly raining down on us — what else can we do but give and give and give . . . and grin until we bust?