If you want to build a house the first thing to do is to dig the foundations. Without good, solid and secure foundations the rest of the structure will not be stable and there will be a danger of subsidence or worse. Sometimes that requires a raft to be created to spread the load across particularly soft ground. Whatever the conditions, foundations matter.
God been our foundation, the biblical values we carry is our foundations. Today we are going to look a another biblical value of our church we believe in , i.e. Generosity.
We started with our values Prayer, Open Home, Discipleship & today we are looking at Generosity.
Generosity:
As a Church, We value generosity to bless the body of Christ and others in order to expand the kingdom of God and display the love of Christ.
When we talk about generosity, the first thing which comes to our mind is MONEY. And, the Bible dealt with this issue many times. Matthew, Mark and Luke was said to be that out of 6 verses, one verse tackles about money. And out of the 29 parables of Jesus Christ, 16 parables deal with the person with their money or wealth. The whole Bible itself was said to have more than 800 passages that talks synonymous terms such as money, finances, giving, tithing, generosity, etc. This evidence just shows that it is very important that we talked about this and learn from the Bible the teachings about giving, tithing, and generosity.
The most important thing however is learning the main idea of generosity. For us to understand what does it take to give back to God what is due for Him and to offer it in the “right manner” which the Bible gave emphasis on in the book of Genesis in the story of Cain and Abel. The story tells us that first and foremost, we need to offer God what is due for Him in the right manner. Doing it in the other way around discredits our giving.
Scripture warns us about an incredibly powerful snare of our enemy – money. Money, of course, is not bad or dangerous in and of itself, but it has the potential to lead us away from God in arrogance and self-sufficiency. But just as Scripture warns us about potential dangers, it also shines light on the path toward godliness and spiritual growth. The love of money can lead to greed, generosity can set us free from that world of temptation.
Generosity is the antidote for materialism, and it is also a tool that moulds us into God’s likeness.
Before we talk about being a generous giver. Let’s see the Generosity of God.
God made the first move of generosity. God has set the supreme example of radical, sacrificial, giving for His followers.
2 Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
When I saw my name for this topic, I was like not me. But I believe God wants me to speak about it more.
All of us are here are aware that My self & Sandra are bi -vocational Church Pastors. What does that mean, that means we are working professionals , our salaries come from outside the church. That means the Church does not pay anything to us. So I stand here as a person like you , who is working in a secular world and talking about the truth which God wants us to hear.
Few weeks back, one of our church member was asking me, how do you do this, how do you manage this. The food, electricity and all the other things you share with the community. I told him that God provides. Actually yes, it’s true. Yes, we have a housing loan, and at times we did borrow money to pay our monthly EMI . We borrowed money this year. Yes, been times this year , we did not have 50 rupees for our monthly expenditure. But midst of all this the Joy of Giving. God enabled us to see beyond what we have currently. The Joy of giving is looking beyond what we have today.
So, I stand here like You who face all these challenges and speak the heart of God for our Church.
Illustration: Two men were trapped on an island. One man paced back and forth worried and scared while the other man sat back and was sunning himself. The first one said to the second man, “aren’t you afraid we are about to die.” “No,” said the second man. “I make 10 lakh rupees a week and tithe faithfully to my church every week. My Pastor will find me.”
Let us look from the book of 2 Corinthians 8 :1-7
And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. 6 So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
The Macedonian churches are in deep trial and affliction. The province of Macedonia is probably suffering from all kinds of pressures including persecutions.
Notwithstanding persecutions, the Macedonian churches have the abundance of joy for the hope of the message that they have received. And such joy resulted in great generosity.
The Macedonian churches are in deep poverty (Verse 2). However, with the abundant joy, this is not a hindrance to them to practice generosity. Paul even testified that such generosity is even “beyond” their ability to give.
How the Macedonian Churches Gave
They gave out of the abundance of great joy.
Comparing it in our time, we often dispute on how much should we give. This is very true especially in times that we are in financial difficulties. There are times that we give out of grudging heart. There are times that we give out of our pity and unwillingness to give. There are times that some people have to look like beggars first before we give.
But the Macedonian churches gave out of the abundance of great joy. They enjoy giving despite the fact that they are in deep trial and poverty.
The Macedonian churches gave more than what they can afford (v.3). The Macedonian Christians were not rich and they are experiencing severe poverty. But the amazing thing is that they are ready to give and extend their help to the brethren’s who are similarly in severe trials. They even beg Paul and other apostles to receive the gift which comes from their earnestness for the blessing and fellowship of helping the saints (v.4)
The Macedonian churches gave themselves first to God, then to the saints by the will of the Lord (v.5). A selfless attitude has been attained by the Macedonian churches because they have given themselves first to God. They felt that all things they own were his (God) and they kept nothing back. People who honestly devoted themselves to God find it easier to contribute for the cause of charity.
These people gave themselves in accordance to the will of God. This show that God is at work in the lives of those who gave themselves to God.
Acts 5:1-11 tells us of the story of a couple named Ananias and Sapphira who sold a piece of property to be brought to the apostles feet so that the proceeds of the land will be used for by those who are in need (Acts 4:32-35). But the couple instead of forwarding all proceeds, Ananias kept part of the money for himself with the knowledge of Sapphira. Both of them died at the same day.
The main lesson of the story is, God sees everything we do including giving as well as our intentions, motives, and the manner of giving. Therefore it is very important for us to give ourselves first to God for in this way, giving will never be a problem to us.
I still remember that one person who was part of another Church started giving money to our church because that person felt, there church has lot of people to give and they are financially stable. Believe me, it was a huge amount every month. But one day we told that person that you are obliqued to give to the Church were God has placed you not to us. Whether they are rich or poor, it is our duty to bless our church where we receive our spiritual food. And we stopped receiving that money. When I was writing all this, God was saying this to me Speak to them that they would know how I am building my church renewed hope community.
Some truths of Generosity:
2 Corinthians 8:15
8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
10 And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. 11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, 15 as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”[b]
Generosity is a test of love to God (Verse 8-9). Paul explicitly said that generosity is a test of love to God. He used the word “Agape” for the word love, which is the highest form of love. Now the question is, “do we really and genuinely love God?” Then it can be tested through generosity.
We are very familiar with the saying “We can give without loving, but we cannot love without giving.” Paul is not commanding the Christians in Corinth to be generous, but he clearly says that he test the sincerity of their love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. Therefore, we can say that generosity was not given as a command but a test of our sincere love for others.
Illustration: Ask the church to do it with their neighbour. (For brunch, we don’t have money)
A pastor stood before the congregation and said, “I have bad news, I have good news, and I have more bad news.” The congregation got quiet. “The bad news is: For brunch, we don’t have money!” the pastor said. The congregation groaned. “The good news is: we have enough money for the Brunch. “A sigh of relief was heard rippling through the gathered group. “The bad news is: it’s still in your pockets.”
Verse 9 tells us the example of Jesus Christ that which is very clear to all of us. Though he was rich with his entire splendour with the Father, he became poor for our sake. The greatest generosity one can ever demonstrate. A selfless attitude for the sake of someone he loves.
Generosity is willingness to give accompanied by actions (Verse 10-12). When God first taught the people to give, He made it as a requirement. But we all know that the Law is a “tutor” of what it is to come. God wants us to learn the act of giving where we will voluntarily give from our hearts and not in a grudgingly.
There were times that we say we are willing to give. But the fact is, generosity is not generosity until is practiced. Paul gave his advice to the Corinthian church to finish what has been started.
Sometimes, we when we start to talk about “giving more”, we start to become sceptic and then we misinterpret that we have been forced to give. In contrast to the main lesson of this point, one has to learn to give out of gratefulness and joy and not with the grudging heart. We have to know that when we give something out of a grudging heart, that gift is nothing and God does not honor it.
Illustration: Once there was a man who made a covenant with his pastor to tithe ten percent of their income every year. They were both young and neither of them had much money. But things changed. The layman tithed one thousand rupees the year he earned ten thousand, next year, he gave ten thousand rupees the year he earned a 1 lakh rupees and 10 lakh rupees the year he earned a 1 crore. But the year he earned 6 crores he just could not bring himself to write out that check for 60 lakh to the Church. He telephoned the pastor, and asked to see him. Walking into the pastor’s office the man begged to be let out of the covenant, saying, “This tithing business has to stop. It was fine when my tithe was 10 thousand rupees, but I just cannot afford 60 lakh. You’ve got to do something, Reverend!” The pastor knelt on the floor and prayed silently for a long time. Eventually the man said, “What are you doing?” Are you praying that God will let me out of the covenant to tithe?” “No,” said the minister. “I am praying for God to reduce your income back to the level where one thousand rupees will be your tithe!”
God prefers the gifts that were given because it has been the desire of the one giving out of the abundance of great joy and faith. Therefore, if we see giving to be a burdensome, or something that is an additional expense, then we are in the wrong track and it is far from pleasing God. But if we are giving out of the abundance of great joy and the faith that depends on Jesus when it comes to finances, then it is indeed a great offering to God.
Generosity is intended for financial equality (v 13-15). Tithing and offering was originally designed to support God’s ministers such as priests, Levites, pastors and the like. When God first required tithing, it was intended not only as a form of sin offering but to support the Levites who administers the Tabernacle of God.
Then, a portion of those offerings were also intended to help the poor people, widows and foreigners. It was not intended so that these people will take advantage of the rich, but for the financial equality among them.
Illustration: There was a guy who came to church with his family. As they were driving home afterwards he was complaining about everything. He said, “The music was too loud. The sermon was too long. The announcements were unclear. The building was hot. The people were unfriendly.” He went on and on, complaining about virtually everything. Finally, his very observant son said, “Dad, you’ve got to admit it wasn’t a bad show for just 10 Rupees.”
Giving our offering and practicing generosity is far more than amusement. If we see generosity as what we have discussed, then I assure you that you are in a wrong track. Generosity is worshipping God and helping other people who are in need and certainly not for amusement.
Just want to conclude with this: Over the period of years, I always used to forecast the money which we will having for the entire year for our church. If we have received 10,000 in the month of April, May. I would average it out saying that we will reach 120000 as our church annual income. And when I used to look at the expenditures which we will having, I used to fear as it was difficult to mage with that amount. One day we received a cheque of 2,50000 Rupees in our offering bag. Our church strength was 10 people. We thought that person by mistakenly added additional zeroes, so we went and spoke to that person, that you mentioned the figures incorrectly. That Person said to us , Virjil & Sandra this money is for the church. I Don’t know what else I can give or help this church. You can use the money wherever you feel like, that family said. We kept that amount in the bank fixed deposit that time.
And when we look at our projection sheet of 120000 per year was completely tossed up by God. God spoke to me ,That I am beyond your calculations.
This year, we faced some financial issues, so we started utilizing that amount from the fixed deposit.
God speaking to us this morning. If you give or not, God (I will) provide for my people and my church. Its up to us to be part of this great Joy and opportunity which God has given us.
Virjil Selvan is Pastoring the Renewed Hope Community. The Renewed Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that Renewed Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Karanjade, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel, Church in Karanjade because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.
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