February 28, 2023
Dear friends,
“God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7).
Part of me hears that in an awful way. Something like: “You’re going to give, and you’d better be happy about it!”
That’s not how Paul meant it.
Consider the whole passage. Paul is writing to the Corinthians to encourage them to take up a collection to support the Christians in Jerusalem, who were enduring a famine. He wrote them this wisdom:
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written,
“He has distributed freely, he has given 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 all your generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
(2 Corinthians 9:6-11)
The cheer of giving does not come from forcing a smile, like a grudging thank you to your Aunt who gave you yet another pair of socks for Christmas. Maybe you can fool your Aunt with a forced smile, but you cannot fool God.
With that in mind, here’s some really good news: God only ever asks of us things that he himself will supply. Or as someone once put it – God only ever asks us to work out what he has already worked in.
From the passage above, you see that it’s God who give seed to the sower and bread for the eater and the multiplication and increase of harvest. And so when God asks for a portion of the produce of the field, he’s only asking for what he has already supplied.
The same thing goes for cheer in giving. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” God is not trying to wrestle out of our stingy hearts a wisp of joy, or the mere admission that it wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be. Instead, God wants to supply all your cheer in your giving. He wants to fill you with joy in giving. He wants you to delight in it the same way he does. He is all charity with joy, and it is the best thing there ever was.
But, how does he get us there? Well, it’s the same way he does anything to us – he teaches us through his Word. In the weeks and months ahead we’ll pay closer attention to what God’s Word says about money and giving and the treasures our hearts cling to. The goal will be that in the end, we will learn how to be more like God, to be more and more cheerful givers, sharing in his generosity!
For now, try out this simple exercise: whenever you find yourself thinking or talking about your money, your stuff, your home, your family – replace that “your” with “God’s”. See what it does to your thinking to try to remember that “the earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1) and that you don’t have anything that you didn’t receive (1 Cor. 4:7).
God bless and keep you,
Pr. Buchs
COMING EVENTS:
Choir Practice – Wednesday, March 1, 15, 29 @ 6pm
Family Night – Wednesday, March 8 @ 5:30pm
Elders and Council – Thursday, March 9 @ 6 & 7pm