Introduction

We all have things that matter to us. And certain things matter to some people more than others. For some people, having a clear driveway in the winter time really matters.  For others, if they can drive over it they will.  For some, maybe it’s how housework is done—the dishes or the laundry, there is a right way, and there is a wrong way, and you’d better not do it the wrong way. Some people care about keeping up appearances, and you always are put together when you go out in public. For others, lounge pants and crocs are good enough to go to the store. There are certain things that matter to some people, and certain things that don’t really matter to others. I wonder—what is something that really matters to you? 

In our home, keeping things tidy really matters. It really matters to Emily—she likes to have things put away and tidied up. And with four boys you have to keep on top of things because they could easily get out of hand. And she is really good at this—I mean, really good.  So good, that sometimes it gets out of hand. It’s already happened where I’m going to make a snack and I get a dish out of the cupboard, set it on the counter, and by the time I go to the refrigerator to get the food and get back to put my food in the dish, she already has is put in the sink, thinking someone left it out. She really cares about that! Another thing we do most Saturdays is power hour. We take an hour on Saturday morning and clean the house—was the sinks, clean the toilets, sweep the floors, tidy the rooms. Why? Because this really matters to us. 

Just like there are things that matter to us as individuals, there are things that matter to God as well. Certain things that God has written in the Bible matter to him, and God cares if we do them or if we don’t. And today in our text, we encounter one practice that really matters to God, but often times it doesn’t really matter to us. It’s something we treat as extra, as optional, as maybe a good practice, but it can be something we forgo if we don’t really want to do it. So today, I want to think about the idea that giving matters to God; giving matters to God.  

Now this a topic that can tend to make people uncomfortable. We don’t like to think about giving our hard earned money to God, when we could spend it on other things. But it’s a topic that is important in the Bible, and it’s a topic important for the church. I wonder—what comes to your mind when you think about giving? Perhaps a scowl comes across your face—ugh, giving? Really? Let’s talk about something else. Maybe for you it’s I’m good; I give and I don’t need to hear any more about it. It could be for you it’s fear—how can I give with the little bit I make right now? I don’t know what response this generates for you, but giving can be a touchy subject. Yet it remains an important, though perhaps under emphasized Christian discipline. Why don’t people like to talk about giving? One reason could be that many believers don’t understand it. They think “if I give to God I won’t have anything left for myself.” But our passage today teaches that God always supplies for our needs when we’re faithful in giving. So as we unpack our text today, I want you to remember one core truth for today:

Big Idea: Giving matters to God

Interrogative: How do we know that giving matters to God?

Transition statement: Three proofs that God is concerned about our giving

2 Corinthians 9:6–9 NASB95

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; as it is written, “He scattered abroad, he gave to the poor, His righteousness endures forever.”

1) God blesses giving from his children (vs. 6)

Explanation: the first proof we have that God is concerned about our giving is that God blesses giving from His children. That’s how this passage opens up here—by giving us a principle of blessing; God blesses giving from his children.

Let’s get some context here. We are entering into a discussion on giving. Apparently the Apostle Paul had championed the cause for giving to the Jerusalem church, which had some needs. Paul notes that the Macedonian church had gotten involved here and were very gracious in their giving to help the body of Christ. The Corinthian church, however, had not gotten involved in this manner. So Paul gives a long discussion to try to convince them to get involved in giving to the Lord’s work. He starts in chapter 8:1-2 and continues throughout chapter 9. He starts off by complimenting them for faith and knowledge, but then tries to compel them to see the importance of giving to God’s work and God’s people. He closes chapter 8 with a challenge in 8:24—Therefore openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you. In chapter 9 he transitions to try to give them motivation by talking about the character of God and how God gives to his children, and we should model that love by giving to His work and people. He closes chapter 9 by mentioning God’s incredible grace to the believers and how our giving is an overflow of thankfulness to God—9:12—For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God.

Right in the middle of this discussion is where we find our passage, and Paul talks about how God is concerned about the giving of his people. He wants us to give. And we find our first proof that God delights in this—he blesses giving from his children. Boys and girls, you can draw someone who gave in the Bible. Paul begins with “Now this I say.” After everything he has said so far, now he brings everything to a point: God blesses the giving of his children. Look at how he describes this:

A. Guarded giving brings limited blessing—he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly

Explanation: if you give in a guarded manner, God’s blessing is limited. Look at what it says in verse 6—he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. Paul uses an illustration from their culture and context. They were in an agrarian society. Sowing and reaping was a fact of life.

Illustration: I don’t know if you’ve ever done much farming or planting, but I’m sure you can understand this concept. I remember one year I decided to plant some grass seed in our yard at our previous home. We had a hill out back which was probably 90% covered by trees, and we just couldn’t get grass to say on it. So we went out and seeded, and over seeded and just loaded it on and watered it multiple times a day, and it eventually began to sprout. But what would happen if we only put a small amount of grass seed on the ground? We would only get a small amount of seed to grow—it wouldn’t cover the entire area. It’s a known principle—if you sow sparingly you will reap sparingly.

Application: God uses this concept to talk about giving to God’s work. Just like my grass seed and the amount we put on is an investment in my lawn, so the amount we give is an investment in God’s work. If we are guarded in our giving, or stingy, or give gingerly, blessing will be limited.

B. Generous giving brings liberal blessing—he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully

Explanation: Paul continues to give us the opposite here. Generous giving brings liberal blessing. He says—he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. If you give abundantly, there will be abundant blessing. You will get a return on your investment in the work of God.

Argumentation: now we need to be careful here, and we need to make a disclaimer. What Paul is not saying here, and what I am not saying, is that if you give your money to God he will make you rich. This is what has been called the prosperity Gospel here—the more you give the richer you become, and God wants you rich and if you’re not rich it’s because you don’t have enough faith and you’re not giving enough. Many men and woman preach that message today. In fact, I remember listening to a video of Joel Olsteen talking about how God wants us to be wealthy and we just need enough faith and if we ask God for wealth and have enough faith he will give it to us. You won’t find that message in the Bible! You won’t find the message of prosperity—give to God’s work and he will make you rich. That’s selfish. But what you will find is the message of blessing. The principle of reaping what you sow. If you give to God’s work in a generous and abundant way, you can expect that God will take care of you. We’ll get to more on that later in our passage.

Application: but here we have this principle of sowing and reaping—your blessing in giving is directly related to your heart in giving—do you give guardedly or generously? What category would your giving fall into here? It’s interesting; this idea of sowing and reaping is something people use a lot. You hear people say things like “you reap what you sow.” And that is a Biblical principle. What we often times fail to realize is that several times in the NT this analogy is given in the context of giving. Consider Galatians 6:6-8: The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him. 7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Here Paul uses this same analogy in the context of giving—this time in reference to churches taking care of their pastors. He says if you are taught in the word, you should share—i.e. give to the one who teaches, and then he gives the principle about sowing and reaping. Clearly God values our giving. God knows about, and God cares about your giving!

Big Idea: Giving matters to God

2) God desires giving in his church (vs. 7)

Explanation: there’s a second proof that God cares about our giving, and it’s that God desires giving in his church. He blesses giving from his children, and he desires giving in his church. Boys and girls, you can draw the church. Paul focuses his view here more specifically on the church, and the church at Corinth. Before he gave a principle for all of God’s children, now he brings it down to each individual church member.

A. He desires that giving be purposeful—Each one must do just as he has purposed

Explanation: look at what Paul says in verse 7—Each one must do just as he has purposed. There is to be a purpose here—giving is to be purposeful; God desires that giving be purposeful. This means it’s not something where you just open your wallet and see what’s in there. For many of us there’s nothing—because we don’t use cash, we have credit cards. But this is more than a momentary decision “oh, what should I give this week?” It’s not a tip to God—“well, he did pretty good for me this week so I’ll give a little extra, you did a good job God.” It needs to be purposeful. It needs to be something that you have purposed to do.

I find it interesting here that Paul uses the perfect tense. The perfect is used to indicate an action that has been decided in the past with ongoing results existing in the present. What Paul is saying here is this: you should know what you’re going to give before you walk into church on Sunday morning. It’s something you need to think about and contemplate. My wife and I do this usually on a yearly basis. We determine what we are going to give this year. It needs to be purposeful as you decide for yourself.

Argumentation: now you say well pastor, what about tithing? Do we or don’t we tithe? First of all, what is a tithe? The word means tenth, and it was what God required the Old Testament people Israel to give to him. They gave a tenth of everything, and that wasn’t even all. There were yearly tithes, another tithe every two years, and another every three. Some suggested that if we were to calculate everything the average Israelite were to give to God, it would total close to 30%. So what about us, does this apply today? I think if Paul would have intended to teach a tithe as mandatory for believers today, he could have said it here. He could have said “each one of you purpose to give 10% to God.” But no, he says do as you have purposed in your heart. There are no clear passages teaching that 10% is what a believer today are required be giving to God. However, there were no passages saying that Abraham or Jacob should be giving that much either, because they didn’t have written Scripture in their day. Well now you’re getting confusing pastor, which is it? I personally believe that the giving of a tithe—i.e. 10 % is not mandated today, but I think it is a practice that we see endorsed and encouraged all throughout the Bible. God’s people have always delighted in giving to God a tithe, and even more, so why would we want to do differently? So while I don’t think a tithe is mandated, I think it is a practice which Scripture endorses. And we shouldn’t stop there—I’ve heard this described as entry level giving. If you don’t know what to give, make the commitment to give 10% of your income to God—that’s what God’s people have always done. But don’t stop there. Don’t let that be your stopping point—“oh what are we doing to give this year honey? Well, we always do 10%.” If giving is to be purposeful, then it stands to reason we put some time and effort into it and don’t just say “this is what we do”, we take some time and think about what can we do. Giving is to be purposeful. Paul gives a few more qualifies here:

●Purpose to give out of persuasion—in his own heart

Explanation: first, purpose to give out of persuasion. Paul says purpose in your own heart. Give out of persuasion. It needs to be something you are persuaded in your heart to do. You can give based on what someone else gives—you need to have it in your heart. Don’t give based on what someone else tells you, be persuaded in your heart. 

●Purpose to give out of pleasure—not grudgingly

Explanation: second, purpose to give out of pleasure. He says not grudgingly. It’s not something you do with remorse—“oh I guess I’ll give this week. Oh it’s the offering time again.” We don’t do it grudgingly—we get to give to God! After all he’s done for us, we can honor him be giving!

●Purpose to give out of passion—not under compulsion

Explanation: last, give out of passion—Paul says not under compulsion. If you’re attitude is “oh, here we go, Pastor is preaching on giving,” then that’s not the right attitude. God doesn’t want or need your money—I mention regularly that God chooses to use the giving of his people to accomplish his work, but he doesn’t have to. If giving for you is “oh, I have to give. I could really use that for this, but God wants me to give so I guess I have to.” No! Not under compulsion! God desires giving to be out of our own passion.

B. God desires that giving be positive—God loves a cheerful giver

Explanation: God also desires that Giving be positive. Paul says God loves a cheerful giver. Well what does that mean? Well it means we have this pasted smile on our face as we hear the sound of our money leaving our hands and falling into the offering plate—”I’m so happy I’m giving to God!” No, it just means what Paul just said—we purpose in our own heart, not grudgingly, and not under compulsion. We get to give, not we have to give. God, the one who has done so much for us, delights in using us to help along his work—we get to be involved in God’s work through our giving. God in his infinite foreknowledge has planned to use my money to accomplish his work—what a privilege!

Illustration: the story is told of a pastor, priest, and rabbi who were having a discussion on giving. The priest said well when I give, I draw a circle and I throw my money in the air, and whatever lands in the circle is mine, and whatever’s outside I give to God. The rabbi said oh, my system is very similar. I draw a circle and throw it up in the air and whatever lands outside I keep and whatever is inside I give to God. The pastor said that’s kind of similar to how I give—I throw my money in the air and just figure that God will keep what he wants and whatever he wants me to have He’ll send back down.

Application: I hope that’s not how you view giving. God is concerned about how we give. He desires that giving be purposeful and giving be positive, because God desires giving in his church. Is this what giving looks like for you?

Big Idea: Giving matters to God

3) God models giving with his character (vs. 8)

Explanation: there’s one final proof that God cares about our giving. He blesses giving from his children, he desires giving from his church, but last, he models giving with his character. Did you know that God gives? God is a giving God! And Paul teaches us here that God models giving for us. Boys and girls, you can draw a gift from God.

A. God gives grace

Explanation: notice how verse 8 begins—he is able. Talking about God’s power and ability—he is able to make all grace about to you. God gives grace. God is able to give grace when we need it. What a blessed truth! Sometimes you have to wonder if we really get this. We go around life so burdened by the cares and worries of this world, it would seem as if we forgot that God is a God who gives grace!

●For continual service

Explanation: Paul says he gives grace that you may have abundance for every good deed. This is continual service. God gives grace to enable us to keep serving him.

●For constant supply

Explanation: Paul says he gives grace so that we may have all sufficiency. This is grace for constant supply—God is able to supply our needs. What a blessed God we have! He models giving for us with his character by the giving of grace!

B. God graciously gives

Explanation: God also graciously gives. Paul ends with a quote from Psalm 112:9, which says He has given freely to the poor, His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted in honor. Paul ends with a focus on how God graciously gives to his children.

●Universally

Explanation: he gives universally—Paul says he scattered abroad. There is not a place that hasn’t seen God’s grace. Notice the word use here—scattered. This is opposite of sowing sparingly here. God sows bountifully with his grace. What Paul probably has in mind here is what we call common grace—things like food to eat, air to breathe, God has bestowed this universally on all.

●Proportionately

Explanation: God gives proportionately. Paul says he gave to the poor. God is able to discern needs and meet them out of his grace.

●Eternally

Explanation: last, God gives eternally. Paul says his righteousness endures forever. There is no end to the righteousness of God. It is eternal; everlasting.

Application: lest God be accused of asking us to do something he’s not willing to do himself, Paul shows how God graciously gives to us. This example, of a graciously giving God, should cause us to graciously give to him.

Illustration: usually things bought at a garage sale don’t usually end up on national television. But in 2013 a Chinese bowl bought for $3 at a garage sale made the evening news when it was discovered that the bowl was actually from the Northern Song Dynasty and more than a thousand years old. Until someone told them what they had, the family had placed the bowl on the mantle over the fireplace. Once they realized its value, they placed the bowl with Sotheby’s to be sold by auction, and it was eventually sold to a London Arts dealer for 2 million dollars.

Application: why would the first owner sell this item for $3 at a yard sale? They didn’t appreciate what it was worth. Sometimes we can be this way with God. We undervalue his grace, and don’t realize what it’s worth to us. But it we valued it for what it’s worth, it would affect how we give. It would change our heart attitude to one of gratitude, and will compel us to faithfully give to the one who has given so much for us. God gives, and so should we. 

Big Idea: Giving matters to God

Conclusion

I brought something with me to illustrate this. I have a piece of paper. This represents everything you have. Let’s say we decide to give God one corner of this paper. How many corners are there? Let’s cut one off and give to God. Now how many corners are there? Let’s cut two more off. 3 corners for God, how many do we have? Let’s cut another off—now how many do we have? You see that every time we cut off a corner, we have another one ourselves.

This, in a sense, teaches us about giving often times we fear that if we give we won’t have enough ourselves. But our passage teaches us that when we give to God, he always takes care of us. We always have what we need, and sometimes even more.

You don’t need to be afraid to give. Giving matters to God! We saw three proofs of this—God blesses the giving of his people, he desires the giving of his church, and he models giving with his character. This is something that is important to God!

Next Steps

1) Give Faithfully

We need to give faithfully. This is a spiritual discipline that is just as important as Bible study and prayer. God desires us to give and loves when we do. He has chosen to use the giving of his people to accomplish his work. The giving of the local church is what makes a church’s ministry happen in the local community. We all need to be faithful in our giving.

2) Give Cheerfully

Have the right attitude when you give. Don’t give grudgingly or with remorse—“there goes one less Starbucks drink this week” (I hope you give more than a Starbucks drink costs). Don’t begrudge God what is truly his anyways. Give cheerfully—we get to give! This is a privilege! We get to be involved in what God is doing!

3) Give Generously

Don’t be afraid to step out in faith and give trusting God to provide. Don’t be afraid to sacrifice something in order to give to God’s work. Maybe you can have 1 less caribou a week, or one less meal out a week. Or maybe you can forego ESPN 4 (I don’t even know if there is an ESPN 4). But give generously. I would challenge you to consider stepping up your giving this year. Take the $5, $10, or $20 challenge—commit to giving an extra $5, $10, or $20 dollars a week this year. Be generous in your giving because God is generous in His grace to us. Giving matters to God. Let’s be a people who give this year!