“STEPPING INTO GOD’S
BOUNTY”
II Corinthians 9:6-15
October 28, 2007
Dr. Paul T. Eckel
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“STEPPING INTO GOD’S BOUNTY”
II Corinthians 9:6-15
“Sow sparingly…reap sparingly
sow bountifully…reap bountifully”
(II Corinthians 9:6)
The minister and the scientist were seated next to each other on
the plane. After getting acquainted the scientist explained, “My idea of
religion is, ‘God helps those who help themselves.’”
The pastor answered, “I feel exactly the same. My idea of science
is ‘Twinkle Twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are’”!
Nothing is as simple as it seems…including religion! God does not
fit in a box. Every time we think we’ve got religion trimmed down to size,
God breaks free and shatters our little arrangements.
Take the Bible, for example. It’s been my experience that Scripture
sparkles with surprises. Just when I’m certain I’ve got the ‘Good Book’ all
figured out, it explodes outward in some fresh new direction. That’s why I
find the study of Scripture so enthralling!
There is something surprising – in fact, downright unsettling! –
about our text this morning. It concerns Paul’s image of sowing and reaping.
This surprising and unexpected thing turns out to be the core of today’s
message. Follow a moment.
Wrestling With the Unexpected
Paul has been urging the Christians in Corinth to be generous in
their support of his collection for the poor in Jerusalem. He spends two full
chapters, II Corinthians 8 and 9, talking about this offering.
These chapters are crammed with motivations for Christian giving.
As Paul’s stewardship counsel draws toward a close, he summarizes his
appeal in this graphic image.
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“The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,
and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”
What’s so unexpected about that? It’s the universally accepted
axiom that return is based on investment. Every banker and broker, farmer
and financier, teacher and parent knows there is a direct correlation between
what you put in and what you take out.
Even so, I’m going to stick to my guns. There is a surprise lurking
in our sermon text. Let’s unpack the surprise this way.
The word ‘bountiful’ found here is usually translated ‘blessings.’ In
the original Greek text this word ‘blessings’ is preceded by an untranslated
preposition meaning ‘for.’ So Paul literally wrote,
“the one sowing for blessings,
will surely reap blessings”
Paul appears to be saying, give in order to get. Is Paul leveraging
money for his cause based upon the ‘reward motive’ for giving – if you give
you get? Is this a shameless attempt to nudge people into contributing, by
appealing chiefly to their own financial self-interest?
Many Christians are uncomfortable with this innuendo, I among
them. Deriving personal financial benefit from your giving must surely rank
close to the bottom on the spiritual-motivation-scale for stewardship.
Speaking personally, I am deeply offended by religious hucksters
who preach a spurious gospel of prosperity – ‘give a dime – get a dollar’!
So I struggle with a text that seems to suggest, ‘Sow with the aim of being
rewarded, and you will be rewarded generously.’
For the better part of this week I’ve been pondering this seemingly
unexpected textual embarrassment. Then it dawned on me, Paul did not
promise that the blessing you reap is the same as the blessing your sow. A
gift of money does not harvest a reward of money.
Earlier in his Corinthian correspondence Paul had used the same
sowing/reaping analogy to explain the resurrection. There he emphasized
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not the similarity, but the distinction between what is sown and what is
reaped. You remember the passage.
“What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable…
It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body.”
(I Corinthians 15:42-44)
The distinction between what is sown and what is reaped serves
as the interpretive clue to Paul’s surprising summation about giving: “sow
bountifully…reap bountifully.” Four examples of reaping follow.
The Blessings of God’s Bounty
First, in verse 10 Paul says, when you step-up your giving you step
into God’s bounty of benevolence. God, Paul writes, will “multiply your
seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”
Here the word “righteousness” means ‘faith in action.’ This is
why the New English Bible translates the verse this way, “The seed you
sow… will multiply…the harvest of your benevolence.”
It’s not that the more you give the more you get. Rather, the more
you give, the more you have to give. Alas, however, major financial resources
do not always translate into major benevolent giving.
Years ago a wealthy member of my church explained, “Tithing is
fine, for a person of modest means. But if I were to tithe my income…well,
we’d be talking about some serious money”! Sadly he never realized the
incredulity of what he was saying and how he was giving.
The Christian principle is this: God gives us financial abundance in
order to increase our ability to be benevolent
Second, in verse 12 Paul says, when you step-up your giving you
step into God’s bounty of thanksgiving. Paul assures us that “this ministry
[of giving] not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows
with many thanksgivings to God.”
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When you offer your pledge – or as I prefer to think of it, your
faith promise to support your church – your church family is thankful. But
you need to know, this is not what Paul means by “thanksgiving.”
The apostle is not saying the recipient of the gift thanks the giver
of the gift. The blessing you receive from giving is the knowledge that the
entire church is moved to thank God for putting generosity into your heart.
Your gift causes everyone in your church to be thankful to God!
Third, in verse 13 Paul says, when you step-up your giving you
step into God’s bounty of obedience – “You glorify God by your
obedience to…the gospel of Christ.” J. B. Phillips put Paul’s meaning
this way. Your giving proves that “you practice the Gospel of Christ
you profess.”
Sometimes, of course, we don’t. We’ve all fallen short here.
Perhaps it was when you failed to live up to your own standards, or violated
the trust another had placed in you, or failed to speak for Christ when you
could have
Lots of us are long on profession and short on performance. This
is often the case with giving. We talk strong faith and practice weak
stewardship. The stubs in our checkbooks reveal our true priorities.
When your commitment to Jesus is demonstrated by your gifts to
your church, you take another step into the bounty of obedience to Christ.
Fourth, in verse 14 Paul says, when you step-up your giving you
step into God’s bounty of intercession. All who receive your gifts will
“pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has
given you.”
Paul is not saying your giving can buy another’s prayers. Rather,
he is convinced that when a gift is given God’s people spontaneously offer
prayers of thanks for the giver. Why? Because clearly God has touched
the giver with the grace of generosity.
So, when you step-up your giving you can expect to share in the
bounty of the congregation’s prayer support.
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Giving Away a Warm-Fuzzy
When you take a step toward more generous giving, you step into
God’s bounty. This is why your officers are urging everyone this year to
step-up in giving, step into God’s bounty and step forward in faith.
Through the years I’ve become convinced that children show us
most clearly how to take steps of faith.
Back in the ‘60s all of us seemed to be exploring fresh ways to
express our faith and experience the joy of faithfulness. One Sunday
morning my turn with the children rolled around.
Our church was located on the growing edge of the sprawling city
of Washington DC. We had the privilege of serving many younger families
and a lot of children! At my invitation the kids came forward flooding the
front of the sanctuary. I came down and sat with them.
Just like here at the Palms, we tried to correlate the children’s
moment with the topic of the adult sermon so the whole family would have
a common theme to chat about over Sunday dinner. My sermon that day
was from I John 4:7, “Love one another for love is from God.”
“What does love feel like?” I asked the kids. Then I gave them a
choice – the feel of a cold-prickly seed, or the feel of a warm-fuzzy like
these I’m holding. They quickly agreed that given the choice, love felt a lot
more like a warm-fuzzy.
I explained, “Jesus told us not only to accept the love God has for
us, but to share God’s love with others.” With that, I gave each child a
handful of warm-fuzzies. Their assignment was to move through the
sanctuary and give away to all in the pews their warm-fuzzy – symbols of
God’s love.
The kids scampered into the congregation passing out warm-fuzzies
as the teenagers – with guitars and voices--sang Burt Backrack’s “What
the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love.” (It was, after all, the ‘60’s)
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It took only one verse of the song for the kids to complete their
mission . As the teens hummed in the background I said to the
congregation: “The kids have given each of you a warm-fuzzy--a symbol
of God’s love for you.
“But God’s gift of love is meant to be shared with others. So right
now I’d like for you to give away your warm-fuzzy to someone sitting
near you in Worship. Yes, and keep on giving away any warm-fuzzy you
happen to be given.”
There was a momentary pause of curiosity, which turned quickly
into respectable chuckles, followed by uproarious laughter as worshippers
tried desperately to give away their warm-fuzzies.
Of course it quickly became clear it couldn’t be done. No sooner
had they given away one fuzzy than someone gave them another. “That’s
love for you!” I announced over the joyful bedlam. “If everyone is giving
away God’s love, everyone is getting God’s love back again.”
~
“Sow bountifully…reap bountifully!” If everyone gives,
everyone gets. When you step forward in faith and give as you’ve been
blessed, then everyone is benefited.
For “God is able to provide you with every blessing in
abundance,” Paul wrote. Indeed God pours out on all of us the bounty
of His joyful thanksgiving and the goodness of his pure grace.
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Church of the Palms
3224 Bee Ridge Road
Sarasota, Florida 34239
(941) 924-1323
www.churchofthepalms.org
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