Stewards of
God’s Gifts
2
Corinthians 8:1-15
Pastor Tom
Vos
Introduction
A. The
eighth commandment brings us to the topic of stewardship.
1.
The commandment specifically warns us about sins related to money and
possessions.
2.
The catechism, as it usually does, points us to the positive side of this
command.
3.
And that will lead us to say something more generally about stewardship.
4. The first point is a focus on the commandment
itself. The second and third points take
us deeper into God’s intentions for us as we listen to the apostle’s teaching.
B.
Stewardship begins most broadly by confessing the whole world belongs to God.
1. While we speak of private property and our own
possessions, it’s important that we recognize that all of it belongs to God.
2.
He entrusts it to us to use for good and to enjoy.
a.
But it never becomes purely ours.
b.
God gives richly and provides for His creatures.
c.
So we need to see that all these good gifts of life come from Him.
I. First, that’s why stealing is sin.
A. The
heart of the problem is not just that we unfairly take what belongs to others.
1.
The problem is that we are not using God’s gifts the way He intended.
a. Sometimes we get this strange idea that all these
things are ours and we can do what we want with them.
b.
But it is all God’s.
c.
Start from there.
2.
When we get that wrong, we fall into the sin of greed.
a.
Greed says, “It’s mine. All mine!”
b.
Greed convinces me that I deserve more and better.
c.
Greed makes me envious of anyone who has more than me.
d.
Greed chokes the gratitude that receives these gifts as coming from God’s hand.
3.
So be alert to your feelings here.
a.
Do you resent the fact that someone seems to be better off than you?
b. Do you find yourself grumbling inside when someone
else gets a new car while you have to live with the old one?
c.
Those are the kinds of feelings that you need to bring to God in confession.
d.
Pray that He will give you the grace to rejoice in someone else’s good fortune.
e.
Pray that God will give you greater contentment with what you have.
4.
One of the dangers greed gives birth to is materialism.
a.
Materialism believes that having things will make us happy.
b.
Possessions then become our god. That’s
what we look to for fulfillment.
c.
But Jesus makes it clear that the only way to a full life, is by living in relationship
with Him.
d.
Possessions must take their place as gifts, as tools, as blessings.
e.
So practice gratitude – thanking God for all you have.
f. Practice simplicity – choose to live more simply
than you could afford to live. Refuse to
indulge all your wants and desires.
B. If we work on those inner attitudes of greed and
materialism, gratitude and contentment, we will be better able to resist other
temptations that fall under this commandment.
1.
It almost goes without saying that we must avoid outright theft.
a.
But it creeps up on us sometimes.
b. The devil disguises it, helps us rationalize
stealing so that somehow it becomes OK, or even our right.
2.
We might be tempted to cheat on our taxes – the government wastes it anyway.
a.
The opportunity might arise to snitch something from someone’s locker.
b.
There might be something at work that we would take home with us.
c. Shoplifting is a temptation, as well as changing
price tags, or knowingly keeping the extra change the clerk gives us.
3. There are ways to defraud the government in farm
programs, and to cheat your neighbor in a business deal – even within the law. It is easy to add a few hours to the bill or
charge more rent than is fair.
4.
We should rather lose money than risk taking advantage of someone else.
a.
Be on your guard.
b. If you can be honest enough with yourself to assess
your motives you might catch yourself before you fall for the temptation.
c. If greed or selfishness are lurking in your heart,
then any act you might contemplate is likely to be sinful.
II. If we are serious about keeping this command we
have to do more than avoid certain sins and attitudes. The catechism says this commandment calls for
us to care for those in need.
A. That’s
really what Paul is writing about in 2 Corinthians 8.
1. For some reason there was poverty among the
Christians in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas.
a. It might have been because of persecution, or maybe
a famine had affected that part of the world.
b.
Whatever it was, when the Christians in Macedonia heard about it, they wanted to help.
c.
They were not wealthy people, but they gave willingly.
d. Paul says they gave sacrificially. ”For I testify that they gave as much as
they were able, and even beyond their ability.”
2.
Paul goes on to say he doesn’t expect that kind of giving from the Corinthians.
a.
He doesn’t expect them to impoverish themselves for the folks in Jerusalem. b. He’s looking for some balance.
c.
It’s wrong for the Corinthians to be living well while other believers are struggling.
d.
So Paul says, “We’re aiming for equality.”
3.
This is God’s way of providing.
a.
Paul uses the example of the manna in the Old Testament.
b.
God brought enough manna every day for everyone to have enough.
c.
Now God’s way of providing for everyone to have enough is by the giving of His
people.
B. Today
we take up a collection too, for people in need.
1.
The statistics are clear, huge numbers of people are living in poverty all over
the world.
a.
Thousands of children die daily from malnutrition related causes.
b.
Families caught in poverty have no resources for lifting themselves up.
c.
No amount of hard work is going to change their lives.
2.
So, like the Macedonians we hear about the need, and we want to help.
a. And through the Christian Reformed World Relief
Committee we are making a difference in thousands of families around the world.
b.
If you haven’t read the devotional booklet we left by the mailboxes it would be worth your while to pick one up and
read just a few stories.
c.
CRWRC has learned ways to help people without making them dependent on handouts.
1) A woman takes out a loan to grow some vegetables
which she sells, and from the proceeds she can feed her children even while she
pays off the loan.
2) Then she takes out a larger loan to buy a pig and
when she sells the pig she can pay off that loan and see the possibility of
sending her children to school.
3)
When her children have an education they can find the kind of jobs that will support their families, and the cycle
of poverty is broken.
3. CRWRC Disaster Response will be working in Louisiana and other states hit by hurricanes for years to
come.
a.
They will reach out to people without insurance.
b.
They will make life bearable in the name of Christ.
4. Sometimes the need is close by, so we can get our
hands on a project, but the world wide needs are waiting for Christian
response.
C. Paul
calls this grace.
1.
It’s the grace of giving.
a. God shows His grace to us by reconciling us to Himself
through the blood of His Son, shed on the cross.
b.
Giving always begins with God.
2.
Now, that grace must flow.
a.
Grace we receive and hoard is not grace at all.
b.
If we have truly received, we will freely give.
3.
Do you remember the story Jesus told of the unforgiving servant?
a.
He was forgiven a large debt, but refused to forgive a fellow servant a small amount.
b. Then Jesus said, “If you refuse to forgive your
brother from the heart, your heavenly Father will not forgive you.
c.
Something of that applies here too. If
we have received we will give. If we don’t give, then we haven’t received.
4.
The model of giving is God’s gift in Christ.
a.
Though he was rich in heavenly glory, he became poor for our sakes, so we could
be rich.
b.
We imitate that self giving. We become
Christ like in our giving.
III. Then we can sum things up by talking more
generally about stewardship.
A. Paul
talks about “service” and “ministry” here.
1.
Those are words which you could find in business circles of his day.
a.
Paul has given them a spiritual meaning.
b.
But the idea of administration is still there.
c. We are charged with managing the Master’s
money. That’s what stewardship is –
managing money, possessions and resources that are not our own.
2. A
cartoon shows Dennis the Menace sitting in church with his parents.
a.
Obviously the preacher’s sermon is much too long for a wiggly little boy.
b.
So he says to his dad, “If we give him his money now, will he let us go home early?”
c.
That’s one picture of giving – the preacher, or the church needing your money.
d.
The need is there – need to reach the lost and feed the hungry.
e. The need is endless. If you send a gift to CRWRC or the Back to
God Hour, they’ll send you a thank you, with an envelope for your next gift.
f.
You might get cynical, like Dennis the Menace, if you see it as fund raising.
3.
But your need to give is greater than the need for you to give.
a.
The need is great – huge – but that’s not the real reason you give.
b.
We must give because God has given to us.
c.
We must give because God expects it of us.
d.
Look at it this way.
1)
We set a budget every year. For a number
of years now we have not met that budget.
2)
But just suppose we set a budget of $130,000 for next year.
a)
Then we put on a big push and promote giving to reach that goal.
b)
Suppose then that we actually reach that $130,000 goal.
c)
Have we given enough?
d)
Maybe. Maybe we have given sacrificially
to reach that goal.
3)
But maybe not. Maybe we could reach that
goal by giving 4% of our income.
a)
If so, we have not done what we should.
b)
Our need to give is not based on the need out there, but on how the Lord has blessed us.
B. The
Bible’s principles for giving run like this:
1.
Give your first fruits.
a.
That is give first to the Lord.
b.
If we give Him the leftovers there will never be much left over.
c.
We should do as Paul told the Corinthians earlier: “On the first day of every week,
each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income,…”
d.
When we practice first fruits giving, we are obeying God’s will.
2.
Second, give as the Lord has blessed you.
a.
That is, set a proportion of your income.
b.
$50 a week might be a sacrifice for one person and easy for the next.
c.
So give according to the income you receive.
3.
The tithe, or 10% is the best goal to shoot for, though some of us should do more.
a.
Jesus endorses the 10% tithe in Matthew 23.
b.
The Old Testament people of God likely gave 20% or more for the Lord’s work.
4.
What’s holding you back from giving a full 10%?
a.
If you aren’t there, promise to God that you’re going to get there.
b.
If it’s too big a jump all at once, increase your giving 1% this year, and add
a percentage
point each year until you are giving as the Lord has blessed you.
5. Someone has estimated that if all Christians
tithed their income there would be enough money to wipe out world hunger.
a.
That’s an awesome thought.
b.
But it’s not the main motivation.
C. We give
because the Lord has given.
1.
That’s our motive.
2. There are voices that tell you if you give, the Lord
will give back to you in return. And
they are thinking in terms of dollars and possessions.
3. I
will only promise that you will experience the richness of God’s grace.
a.
Jesus became poor so we can be rich.
b.
Only some of us will ever be wealthy in the eyes of the world.
c.
But there’s a more satisfying richness of God’s grace.
d.
To know you are living within the will of God brings contentment.
e.
To give is a blessing because we know we are letting God’s grace flow.
4.
It’s the grace of God that creates the desire to give that Paul writes about
here.
a.
Grace erases the grudging attitude.
b. Grace creates willingness.
Conclusion
A. Charles Swindoll shares a humorous list of requirements
for trusting or mistrusting a dentist. It begins with the heading, ”Never Trust
a Dentist Who”:
1.
Who wears dentures
2.
Whose drill is driven by a system of pulleys connected to three mice on a treadmill.
3.
Who sends you a Christmas card and charges you for it.
4. Who sprays his equipment with Lysol to sterilize it.
B. A
dentist, a builder and accountant all need to inspire trust.
1.
God does.
2.
God gives us all we have, and we can trust Him to provide for our needs.
3. Giving faithfully requires a deep faith, trusting
that what is left over for our own use will be enough for our needs and the
needs of our loved ones as well.
4. When you put God first in your budget you find your
faith deepened and, far from being impoverished, you will find yourself
enriched.