Giving for the Right Reasons

Let us turn to the Word of the Lord. Second Corinthians, chapter 9, verses 6 through 15, the words of the apostle Paul, where he tells us: 6 “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly; and he who sows generously will also reap generously.”

7 “Let each one give as he has purposed in his heart: not sorrowfully or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

8 “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you”—say: all grace—“so that, always having all sufficiency in all things, you may abound for every good work;”

9 “As it is written: He scattered abroad, he gave to the poor, his righteousness endures forever.”

10 “And He who gives seed to the sower, and bread to him who eats, will provide and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness,”

11 “So that you may be enriched in everything for all generosity”—notice the repeated use of the words everything and all; it is a language of abundance, a language of generosity, of blessing both on God’s part and on ours as we give in many different ways—“so that you may be enriched in everything for all generosity, which through us produces thanksgiving to God.”

12 “For the administration of this service”—this offering that he is organizing—“not only supplies what the saints lack, but also abounds in many thanksgivings to God.”

13 “For through the proof of this ministry they glorify God for the obedience you profess to the Gospel of Christ and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to everyone;

14 “Likewise, in their prayer for you, whom they love because of the surpassing grace of God in you;

15 “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.”

Now, I know that if you have not read the other verses in this chapter, and even the chapter before it, perhaps you cannot understand that language quite as well, because the apostle Paul’s language and his reference to “them” and “you” presuppose that you know what he is specifically talking about. I know that we are talking about general principles of giving and receiving blessing from God as a result, but the occasion that leads Paul to make these observations has to do with something very specific to his time and circumstances.

Paul had been organizing a special offering, just as we have done over these past few Sundays by inviting you to give an offering of gratitude to the Lord—with your children, your family, or by yourselves as representatives of your household. Paul had been organizing a special offering for the poor who lived in the city of Jerusalem, and he is writing to brothers and sisters who live in the city of Corinth, a prosperous, commercial, centrally located city. In Jerusalem there were many poor brothers and sisters who could benefit from the generosity of the Corinthian believers.

So Paul had organized what we might call, in a sense, a missionary offering to be taken to Jerusalem, to the mother Church there, from which the Church had come, so that these churches that had received the Gospel from Jerusalem might bless the brothers and sisters there. As the Word says: Those of us who receive spiritual blessings should make those who have blessed us recipients of material blessings. So that principle was present, and Paul was organizing that offering and had already spent months preparing it. A group of people had even been arranged to come from Jerusalem to Corinth to collect that offering at a certain time, just as they had done in other cities of the region, such as Macedonia, and so forth.

So Paul is doing what we pastors and those of us who raise funds for the Kingdom of God do: Paul is stirring the people’s hearts and encouraging them to prepare, because giving to the Lord generally should not be something improvised. There are times when God wants it to be that way, but normally, when we come to give our offering, there is supposed to have already been a time of reflection and thought, and then we give to God from that center of sobriety, conviction, and spiritual understanding of what we are doing. And so Paul was preparing the ground so that when these representatives of the mother Church in Jerusalem arrived, these brothers and sisters would be ready to give their offering, and it would be a generous offering—an offering that would even honor Paul himself, who was the spiritual father of these believers in Corinth—so that he would not be embarrassed if they were unprepared for this offering after he had told them, “These people are generous toward God, and you will see how they are going to bless the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem.” So he is giving them a theological foundation.

All those arguments we have read are directed toward preparing the hearts of the Corinthian believers. People need to know why they give; they need to know the biblical foundations for giving and also the blessings that come as a result of giving.

As much as possible, we should give intelligently and for the right reasons, without manipulating people, without making exaggerated or simplistic promises, and without appealing to people’s greed, as unfortunately can sometimes happen when an offering is being collected. Sometimes, instead, we can reinforce people’s greed and tell them that God will give them ten times whatever they give Him, and that if they give Him one hundred, He will give them ten thousand, and so forth. That kind of mechanical attitude is not appropriate; it is not good. I believe the Bible contains very beautiful, very solid, very sublime reasons why we should encourage people to give. And brother, never allow yourself to be manipulated; never be swayed by things that are not in keeping with the Lord. I hope that during these minutes we are going to spend here, you will receive some teachings that will help you in your life of generosity toward God.

The first principle I see here in these verses I have just read is an invitation from the apostle Paul to embrace an attitude of generosity, of expansiveness in giving. As Christians, brothers and sisters, God expects us to be giving people, generous people, people who are openhanded with our money, our time, our resources, our talent, and our gifts. We are cheerful givers, amen? God wants you to be a cheerful giver.

Paul invites us—the Word of God invites us—to resist the impulse to be conservative with our possessions and to grasp onto them, and instead to invest generously, knowing that we can expect a generous return for our generosity and our investments. So the first thing is to embrace that generous attitude of God, who is the first to give.

What does the Word of God say? “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” How did Christ give Himself? He gave everything. He gave up His exalted position, He gave up the glory in which He dwelt, and He emptied Himself of all that in order to come and bring salvation. And the Word of God invites us to adopt that same generous attitude of the Father, who gave His only begotten Son.

God has always blessed generous people, and I believe that generosity—expansiveness in giving, in every sense—is like a precondition for God to use us. This occurs to me right now; I do not know if I said it in the morning sermon, but if you think, for example, about Abraham, God had a great blessing for Abraham. He wanted to make him the spiritual father of the nations throughout century after century.

God wanted to turn this insignificant Bedouin into the father of faith, and He gave him a test and said to him, “Give Me your son, your only son, and sacrifice him to Me.” And Abraham experienced a moment of terrible crisis: “Should I give Him this son who was born to me when I was one hundred years old? I am a father and a grandfather—just imagine.” Abraham loved him like a father and a grandfather, and perhaps like a great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather at the age of one hundred—who knows? He could do it. And God tells him, “Give Me your only hope of procreation and of the continuation of your generations.” And Abraham experienced a moment of crisis, just as we sometimes do, right? Sometimes we have those few little pennies set aside for retirement, or for that trip to El Salvador, or whatever it may be, and then the moment comes to give to the Lord.

I have heard testimonies from brothers and sisters who have sometimes changed plans they had because something arose during these years of our construction project. And you know what? God has repaid them many times over; He has blessed them in many spiritual ways. I know that the Church is full of people who can testify to those miraculous provisions of God, amen? Yes or no?

And we have seen it: Abraham was willing to give his son, and God tells him, “Because you did not withhold from Me your son, your only son, I will bless you in such a way that if the sand of the sea can be counted, then your descendants will be able to be counted.” Glory to the Lord! And that is what God did: He established a principle of generosity. We see it with David, we see it with Gideon, and we see it with all the great men of God. We must be willing to bring Him a sacrifice, to give to the Lord, and God blesses that.

The natural posture of human beings is completely the opposite. Our posture is to grasp, preserve, retain, and store away. We are like little ants dragging our little clod of earth somewhere to hide it there and use it one day, right? But God says, “No, live differently; live generously.”

I was telling the brothers and sisters about my observation concerning the little girls who carry flowers at weddings, during the ceremonies. You know, the girls—and this is something I always complain about—never scatter the flowers they have in their little baskets. They throw two or three and keep all the little flowers they have in the basket.

Yesterday Gregory celebrated a beautiful wedding here in the afternoon, and there were two little girls sitting up front. I came over to greet the family who were here, and I greeted the girls too. They looked precious in their little outfits. I began talking with them and said, “Look, when you go to scatter the flowers”—because the ceremony had not started yet—“when you walk down the aisle, through the center of the church, throw out all the flowers you have inside; scatter them, because the idea is that when the bride comes through, she will walk over these little flowers.” I embellished it for them, and, as you know, I turned into a poet (laughter). The moment arrived and, you know, they kept almost all the little flowers in their baskets (laughter).

Why? I believe it is because there is an instinctive tendency to preserve valuable things. I think the spirit almost rebels at the idea of throwing such beautiful petals onto the floor, and almost all of them do that (laughs). So I believe God wants us to change the program and understand how beautiful it is to give, because those flowers scattered on the floor are not thrown there merely for the sake of throwing them. If the girls had, let us say, the mental capacity to understand what is being done, they would know: You are preparing a path of roses for the beautiful bride who is about to walk through. The idea is that she will have that same kind of path in her marriage, just like all the sisters who have gotten married and have likewise had a path of roses, I am sure (laughter). I do not like that laugh; it sounds like there is a somewhat nervous laugh there, doesn’t it? (laughter). What a tremendous blessing.

But there is beauty in the symbolism, just as there is also beauty in giving to the Lord. There are a number of beautiful theological and biblical principles that enable us to give. In other words, let us not keep the little flowers in the basket; let us put our possessions and our gifts to work for the glory of the Lord.

As we prepare this morning to present this special offering of gratitude, it is important for us also to consider these biblical principles, this call to be generous, and to understand the beauty and the lovely paths that giving to the Lord prepares.

You know that last Sunday we had this young missionary from Kyrgyzstan with us—do you remember? The Lord unexpectedly led me—I sometimes talk about planning, but this time it happened without being planned—to tell you and the brothers and sisters at the nine o’clock service that, if they wanted to, they could give an offering so that these brothers from Kyrgyzstan could make progress toward purchasing a van for their missionary journeys in that very isolated country. And I told you, “Those who wish to give something may do so at the end of the service; there will be envelopes available around here.” Do you know that at the end of the service we had $3,500? Give the Lord a round of applause—and yourselves too.

I was surprised, and I even wondered, “Why don’t I also ask for an offering for myself and my family in the same way, unexpectedly too—a little trip, even if only to Europe, a new Mercedes-Benz, something like that? I don’t know—why not bless your pastor?” (laughter). The truth is that you continually surprise me; you surprise us with your generosity and selflessness. It is something very beautiful, and this year God has compelled us—has forced us, in a sense—to be generous as never before because of all the disasters and catastrophes that have occurred in the world. There was that terrible hurricane in Houston, for example. Thanks to the Lord, we were able to give an offering to a couple of Hispanic churches there so they could bless other churches as well. There was also the terrible suffering of our beloved Puerto Rico. Thanks to the Lord, thousands of dollars in offerings were taken and were also sent there to churches and to different places. There are still brothers and sisters giving and traveling there.

Mexico was blessed, as were the English-speaking Caribbean islands. In other words, you have had to be generous, and I have never heard anyone complain. Perhaps I have heard the creaking of a few elbows that had to bend more than usual, but that has been all. I have not heard any complaints from anyone; it has been a tremendous blessing.

And many times, brothers and sisters, when that moment comes to ask for an offering like this, the truth is that I have to overcome an instinctive resistance in my heart to making people uncomfortable—I imagine you all. In my mind I create these monsters of people saying, “Oh, the Pastor is asking for money again, the Church again,” and I have to resist that because it is for the Church of God, and Paul encourages us to have a sense of peace within us.

Paul says that we should never give out of a sense of obligation, never give under pressure, never give with discomfort, but rather give out of conviction after sober reflection concerning giving, and then, and only then, should we give. Never give because of manipulation or because people are watching you—no, please, brothers and sisters—give from the depths of your heart, because if you give out of a sense of obligation or strict duty, you know what? You are diminishing the beauty of your offering, because God looks at the heart.

Ultimately, God is not interested in your money, you know? One day, up there, we will discover that giving is simply like a drill; it is an exercise, that is all. It is for our blessing, for our good. God has no need; He owns the gold and the silver. He owns the atoms that make up the paper from which money is made—write that down somewhere for me so I do not forget it.

He owns the cosmos—everything. The finger with which you pick up the bill: He owns that; He made it. So it is simply this: we have to give to the Lord with joy in our hearts, with conviction and gladness. The inner state of our heart is more important than the offering we give.

Christ left us that wonderful illustration of the widow who gave everything she had. She gave the twenty-five cents for Monday’s coffee, and she gave more than those who gave millions of dollars, because she gave with sincerity, conviction, and devotion to the Lord. It is not what you give, but the heart with which you give. There is something good there too—write that one down for me as well; I am inspired today.

Brothers and sisters, we have to make sure we find that inner place of comfort when we give to the Lord. We have to search there like the samurai, go within ourselves, and find that place of peace and joy. That is the most important thing of all.

Now, where can that comfort come from? Where can that joy with which we give to the Lord come from? Number one, I believe we must have a conviction about how much we have received from God. First of all, if you know everything you have received, the grace that has been poured out upon your life, and the blessing you enjoy every day, you will find a wellspring of gratitude to the Lord and will give generously to Him. Before giving, always think about everything you have received.

I also believe there should be within us a kind of lightness, freedom, and pleasure in giving to God and to others—a sense of peace when sharing what we have with others. Practice that. Give as though you were about to drink a glass of cold water. Do not worry; do not think about how it feels. Think about giving freely; let it be as natural as breathing.

Another thing as well: when we give, we need to have confidence that what we give will not impoverish us or weaken us financially, but that our giving to the Lord will become a channel for the grace of God, which will repay us and bless us as a result of our generosity. Amen?

If you know that you are not impoverishing yourself—quite the opposite, you are preparing the platform for the blessing that comes from God when you are generous—then you will give freely and even joyfully, right? And that is what Paul says. Look at verses 10 and 11 of this same chapter: “And He who gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater will supply and multiply your store of seed”—he is not talking about cement; he is talking about seed. A store of seed is the place where seed is kept. So he is telling you: that place where you store this seed—what is its equivalent in our urban culture? The bank, the account—He will supply and multiply your bank account, your provision, your store, “and will increase the fruits of your righteousness, so that you may be enriched in everything for all generosity, which through you produces thanksgiving to God.” That is very beautiful language.

What he is saying is that when you give to others, when you give generously and joyfully to the Kingdom of God, you know what? God blesses you—and this is very important—in every way imaginable. I believe that pastors and those of us who raise funds for the Church of Christ make a mistake when we tell people, “If you give God $10, He will give you $100; if you give Him $100, He will give you $50,000.” Then we diminish it; we turn God into one of those Las Vegas machines, right? You pull a lever, some little wheels spin, and coins come out. No.

God blesses you in every way. He blesses you physically; He blesses you intellectually; He blesses you morally as you grow; He blesses you in your emotions; He heals your wounds; He gives you joy; He gives you hope concerning the future; He blesses your children, your family, your old age; He makes you a recipient, a vessel of His grace in various ways. So, brother, when you know that this is what you are doing by giving—wow, who would not like that? Everyone would want to give to the Lord joyfully. That is your conviction.

Then Paul quotes Psalm 112—read it in your own time—“the upright man blessed by God as a consequence of his generosity.” One of the interesting things you will see about that Psalm is that the person who gives does not give so that God will give to him, but gives because God has already given to him. He gives out of His righteousness; he gives out of the prosperity he has received. He is like a tree that simply produces fruit from the sap it has within.

Have you ever seen a tree out there saying, “Okay, spring has arrived; I have to give”? No. The tree simply fills with sap, fills with life, and naturally, because of the life within it, bears fruit that we then eat. By the way, be careful, because those two plates are for me to take home when the service ends. Do not touch them (laughter). And I have already counted those little grapes over there. I know you all very well, so be careful—there is a camera here watching you (laughs). “The righteous man blessed by God gives generously from his blessing.” Brothers and sisters, we must not resist the fact that God gives to the cheerful giver. That is a Word that comes from the Lord.

Now I want to establish one or two more principles, and then we will get ready. God’s financial blessing resulting from our generosity, and the generosity of the Corinthians, is not simply so that they may accumulate more money, more provision, more wealth, and become misers who hoard everything. No. God blesses you—do you know what for? So that you may then abound in works of kindness and generosity toward others. In other words, generosity should be something distinctive, very common and characteristic of the believer.

“God,” Paul says, “abounds in blessings toward His children,” and we must abound in blessing toward others. We have to be joyful hosts and practice hospitality. The Bible says that we should offer hospitality to one another, because without knowing it, some have entertained angels. We have to give generously wherever we can, as the saying goes: do good without regard for whom you do it.

We Christians have to distinguish ourselves by abounding in every good work, and it does not have to mean giving money alone. If God gave you knowledge of the Word, share it with others. If you are a healthy man and there is a child out there who needs a mentor because he has no father and needs the warmth of a man, look, be his mentor. If there is a young person out there who is advancing in his career and you are in a position to help him move forward, become that young person’s mentor; mentor him in his professional career. If you are a mature woman with experience in marriage and there is a young woman who has just gotten married, and you have a relationship with her, look, invite her out for coffee one day. She herself will begin asking you questions, and you can be a spiritual mother to her.

If someone has recently accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, and you can take one of those books and teach that person the lessons instead of requiring them to come here when, for some reason, they are unable to attend the service, volunteer to go to their home for four days and teach them the lesson there over a little cup of coffee.

If you know that someone is in a hospital—I thank God for everyone in our Church who visits the sick in hospitals, you know? People like Mayra Rodríguez, whom we honored the other night, and so many of you who, when I cannot go or one of the Pastors cannot go, go as pastoral presences. How much blessing is spread throughout this Church by generous people.

Sister Marta Garzón, others in Honduras, sister—you know who you are—brothers and sisters X and Y, you are this Church’s pastoral presence in many places we cannot reach. Let us become givers. That is what it means. We have to abound in every good work, not only with money but with great acts of grace.

And you know what? One last thing—and the ushers can get ready, and the brothers can come up here in just a moment—do you know what the greatest benefit of being a generous community is? The apostle Paul says that this results in thanksgiving and praise to the Lord.

When a community like ours adopts an ethic of giving and generosity, we become a machine that generates thanksgiving and glory to God, because when people see our generosity, they are encouraged to thank the Lord for everything He does through us.

You know what? When we collected this offering for the brother from Kyrgyzstan, I called Brother Doug Tony on Sunday evening. He is the leader at Youth With a Mission, where the brother was staying. I told him, “Look, I am surprised. When we took the offering spontaneously, the Church gave $3,000,” and I did not know it was $3,500. And do you know what Doug said? “You know what? Your Church is such a generous church, and you are all so special. I thank God for you.” That came from his heart, and I believe that is what happens.

Paul says, “Now that you give, the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem are going to thank God.” Brothers and sisters, a Church like León de Judá—and I do not say this, God knows my heart, to glorify ourselves; we know that everything is by grace and mercy, and there is no pride—but through all the things that are done—the academic resource center, Alfa working with immigrants, missions in Honduras and the Dominican Republic, work with the children of The Shrines Institute, what we do with our homeless brothers and sisters on Saturdays, the visits to—there are so many things—our work throughout New England for unity and revival across the whole New England region in so many ways, you do not know how we serve as an instrument so that people are continually saying, “Thank God, thank God, thank God.” An immigrant working with Alfa thanks God for having someone to help him fill out his paperwork and reunite with his family.

We are becoming a platform from which expressions of gratitude rise to the Throne of God. How beautiful that is, how wonderful. When you bless someone in the Name of Jesus Christ and identify yourself as a member of the Kingdom of God, as a priest of the Kingdom of God, that produces a benefit for the heavenly Father, which ultimately must be the end and the target of everything we do: His glory, His honor alone. We keep none of the glory for ourselves; it is all for Him alone.

And the last thing the apostle Paul says is that your generous offering to the Lord, your giving life before the Lord—you know what?—blesses you too, because people will pray for you as well. Wow, what a blessing. You get your little bonus too; make no mistake about it. You too are blessed in so many ways. God blesses you, and others bless you and pray for you. And then what happens? You prosper more, you are blessed more, you give more praise to the Lord, there are more prayers for you, more blessing—a great cycle of grace, an economy of blessing and grace. And that is what we unleash by being cheerful givers.

May the Lord deposit a seed of generosity within us this afternoon. Let us be cheerful givers, and let us live lives that glorify the Lord through His generosity. May the Lord bless us. And now we deposit this in your heart, in your spirit, and I want us to free ourselves from all pressure. This has to be a gesture of great—it is something sacred, something beautiful in which—are you familiar with the word liturgy? It has a somewhat negative connotation for evangelicals, but liturgy is where the word service comes from, and Paul actually uses it in this text. It is worship; it consists of the symbolic instruments we use to praise the Lord. And what we are about to do now is a beautiful liturgy, in the loveliest sense of the word.

When you come with your family, or by yourself, and bring your offering to the Lord, expressions of praise to God are rising. Therefore, right now I declare a special stillness and a special freedom over this people. No one is going to feel obligated; no one is going to feel threatened. This is the people of God participating according to what is possible for each one, in order to bless His Church.

This will benefit León de Judá in many ways—our missions, the different kinds of things we do, repairs, and all of that—and will strengthen our congregation’s finances; it will also be a beautiful way for us, this weekend, to express our gratitude to God for His countless acts of goodness.