There’s a sentence in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians
that’s well-known: “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,
and whoever sows bountifully will reap bountifully.” (II Cor. 9:6) That’s the famous statement. But while the next statement Paul makes is
less familiar, it’s more often used to manipulate people into sowing
bountifully. Paul says, “Each one must give as he has decided in his
heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
But it’s the following statement that’s the glue that binds together
verses 6 & 7. Indeed it’s
what Paul says in verse 8 that is the key to unlocking God’s purpose in giving. Listen to what Paul says, “And God is able to make all grace abound to
you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound
in every good work.” You see, the
essence of Paul’s argument about giving is that the Gospel of Jesus can take
the fear away.
It’s the fear of not having enough that is among the most fundamental
human anxieties. It’s so deep in our DNA
that one of a child’s first words is “more”.
Apparently, for every one of us “enough” doesn’t exist.
In their book Switch: How
to Change Things When Change Is Hard, Chip and Dan Heath describe an
experiment that was conducted using popcorn.
Moviegoers were given popcorn in containers – some were larger than
others, but each container was huge – far more than any person could possibly
consume. Now the catch was that the
popcorn was really, really old – popped days earlier and left out to get
ridiculously stale, so stale that it squeaked on your teeth.
When the movie was over, the amount of popcorn eaten was
measured, and it was discovered that the larger the container, the more people
ate. It appears that human beings can
never get enough! No matter how much
we’ve got, we want more! Life is driven
by the fear of lack, and it’s only the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that can
redirect our drivenness.
A few weeks ago I had the privilege of sitting in the living
room of a couple who were struggling with tithing. “Will we have enough for retirement? Will we have enough for tuitions? Will we have enough for everything else?” It wasn’t greed that prompted these questions,
it was fear. And they’re not alone. For
many Christians cheerful giving has been replaced with fearful giving. We’re concerned that if we don’t look out for
our own needs first, they may not get looked after at all.
Thankfully He knows all about it. The testimony of the Gospel of grace answers
every one of those questions in the same way.
Any fear associated with gathering stuff and giving it to Christ and His
Kingdom work is irrational. It’s as
irrational as a farmer who gathers up his seed and fails to plant it for fear
of losing it. And nowhere is the
antidote to such fear more clearly stated than in this Sunday’s text.
In preparation for Sunday’s message you may wish to consider
the following:
1. Psalm
118:14-24
2. What
is the Psalmist celebrating here?
3. What
is a greater impediment to giving – greed or fear?
4. What
prompts the crowd to gather around Peter and John in Acts 4:1-12?
5. What
prompts Peter to preach to the crowd?
6. Why
does the Holy Spirit fill Peter in verses 8-10?
7. What
does Peter mean when he speaks of Jesus as the Cornerstone in verse 11?
8. Why
is Jesus’ identity as the Cornerstone and the Head of the Cornerstone so
important?
9. What
is the difference between giving out of duty and giving out of delight?
10. How
is freedom the absence of fear?
See you Sunday!
