The Payoff of Generosity

Yesterday, we looked at 2 Corinthians 8 and talked about the desire to be generous.  I was challenged and encouraged by Paul’s words to practice generosity because of what Jesus has done for us and to consider all that I have instead of what I don’t have.  I hope you were too.

Today in 2 Corinthians 9, Paul talks about the results, or the payoff, of our generosity.  Again, Paul makes the issue one of devotion and not dollars.  In v.7, he says, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  This echoes what I talked about yesterday – if you don’t want to give, you don’t have to!  The reasons for giving what you give, or don’t give, to the work of God is between you and God.  But God, in his Word, has expressed to us a great reality of generosity – he loves it when we give generously!  Generous giving honors God and pleases Him because in our generous giving we become like Jesus and make an investment in growing his Kingdom.

Paul outlines several results that come about from our generous financial giving. 

A return on your investment – v.6

“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”

It’s pretty clear cut.  If you give with clenched fists and out of obligation, you’ll get clenched fists in return.  If you give with a heart of generosity with the intention of blessing somebody, you’ll get generosity and blessing in return.  I don’t know about you, but I like that kind of return on my investment. 

Here’s a real life example.  Between the time I finished serving at my previous church and the time that Jessie and I decided to start a new church, it would have been easy for us to justify not giving generously to God.  But we weren’t connected with a particular church during that time; instead visiting many different churches – some of which I interviewed with and some of which were doing great things for the Kingdom of God.  But we knew that 10% of our income at that time belonged to God, so we set it aside for whatever ministry or church God had prepared for us. 

There are a lot of different things that go into starting a new church and one of them is to incorporate as a non-profit.  There’s a lot of expense involved in that!  But when we looked at what it would cost and what we had set aside because we desired to be generous with our money, we had just enough to pay for the things that we needed to pay for to get Alive “official” with the government for tax purposes.  I’m not gonna lie, it wasn’t easy at first to write a check for so much when we weren’t in the best financial situation!  But we did it because we believed that by sowing that gift we would reap an incredible blessing.  Four years later, I don’t even think about that money anymore because every penny has been worth it in terms of what God has done through ALIVE! Community Church.  The return on that investment has been to see God change lives for eternity and to know that our obedience with our giving helped to fuel that! 

Getting more than you give – v.v. 8&10

“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

^“Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”

One of the things that brings me great encouragement in my walk with God is knowing that He is a God of abundance!   Our God is a God that doesn’t hold anything back from his children.  When we live like we believe that, it frees us up to give generously and to believe that God will give us more in return than we give to him!

The blessing of abundance isn’t just talking about material or financial blessing, though it may include that.  It’s not a sin to be rich or to have a lot of stuff!  The sin is when our stuff has us.  Poverty is not a virtue and it’s not something that Jesus demands of us.  God wants us to live a life of abundance, and that can include financial and material abundance.

V.10 tells us that when we give generously, that God increases our store of seed and produces a greater harvest of righteousness.  Some of you may be like, “But I’m not a farmer.  I don’t need more seed.”  Although Paul is talking metaphorically in farming terms (sowing seeds), this is a spiritual reality.  As we live and give generously, God gives us more so that we can give more.  Not only that, but the “harvest of righteousness,” means that our generosity makes us more like Jesus.  Not only is our righteousness increased by generosity, but the righteousness of others is increased through our generosity. 

These verses are an incredible promise for us – when we live with generosity God will give us all that we need and then some.  Abundant blessing and abounding in every good work is more than just the bare minimum – it’s about getting more than we give!  When you partner with your church or another ministry financially, your gifts are (or at least they should be) being used to change lives for eternity!  Knowing that somebody has moved from death to life because you’ve made it possible with your generosity is one of the greatest blessings we can receive!    

Generosity leads others to Jesus – v.v. 13-15

^“Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.  And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.  Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

Our generosity is a visible and tangible expression to others of the grace of Jesus.  When we are generous with our time and money, it leads other people to Jesus because they see that He is generous in all of the things we talked about yesterday. 

Generosity is a sign of God’s grace (v.14) and it is something that blows minds.  Have you ever tried to give something away to somebody?  Usually, they’re shocked.  They expect that there’s a catch to your generosity, that somehow it’s a bait and switch.

Every year in Saxonburg (where I live) the firemen host a summer carnival.  For a week in June every year, it’s the talk of the town.  Along with the carnival come carnival workers.  And those of you who are reading this just formed an opinion about the carnies.  Everybody does.  They’re not exactly embraced in our community.  Being a carnival worker isn’t the easiest life in the world – they’ve got no permanent home during carnival season; many of them are away from their families or support systems; and many of them are pretty young and trying to make a go of life on their own for the first time. 

So many years ago, some folks from our church decided that we wanted to bless them with no strings attached.  So we started an annual “Cookies for Carnival Workers” ministry.  We asked folks in our church to make a couple dozen home made cookies, and a team of us would walk through the carnival grounds during one of their break times and hand out cookies and pray with them if they wanted us to. 

To a person, they were absolutely shocked.  After all, many of them make a living through the old bait and switch at their games of skill and luck.  “How much are they?”  “No, I’m not gonna take them because you’re going to make me pay you.”  “Why would you do this for us?  Everybody hates us.” 

That simple act of generosity blew their minds.  It was for us an opportunity to show people – many of whom were admittedly far from God – how extravagant and wonderful His grace is.  Some were moved to tears.  We had the opportunity to pray for and with many of them.  I don’t know if any of them came to trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior through our simple ministry and generosity, but I know that they tasted God’s grace in an environment that is pretty devoid of grace. 

Being generous isn’t something that comes naturally to most folks – especially when it comes to financial generosity and giving to the church.  But this is exactly the context of 2 Corinthians 8&9 – giving to a local church in support of the ministry and mission of that church and how generosity changes lives for eternity. 

We’ve talked about the “why” of generosity – in response to the generosity of Jesus.  We’ve talked about the “how” of generosity – according to what we have, and not according to what we don’t have.  And we’ve talked about the payoff of generosity – that God increases our opportunities for generosity and changes lives for eternity because of our generosity.