Sowing and Reaping Bountifully

2 Cor 6:6 – 11

 

Connection/Tension

Almost every week, the word of God determines the agenda for our gatherings and our sermons. Usually, we see this as we preach passage by passage through a book of the Bible.

Yet, occasionally, a large event will happen in our community we will take a week to meditate on a part of God’s word that applies to that event. This is where we find ourselves this week.

All Peoples Church, we have been the recipients of great generosity from Lebanon Lutheran church. In giving us this building, they have given us the greatest earthly possession their community had.

It’s a remarkable gift. Also, it’s an action that echoes the story of the early church in the New Testament and the Apostle Paul, at a time when there was a needy church and generous churches that rose to meet that need.

This week we are going to look at the Bible and ask, what can we learn from the ancient tradition of churches being generous with one another?

And

How can each of us grow in having generous hearts in daily life in a time where there is greater scarcity and less trust?

Context

About 2000 years, ago, Jesus introduced a new way of living and invited all kinds of people to follow him. Part of this way of life was radical generosity, as Jesus taught on the sermon on the mount (Matt 6:1 – 4).

When the Apostle Paul started founding churches to follow the way of Jesus in the decades after his death and resurrection, he continued Jesus’s tradition of generosity. Since he was a planter of churches, a new opportunity arose in God’s kingdom, for churches to be generous with other churches.

You see, the first church the Apostles planted was in Jerusalem (Acts 2). However, the residents of Jerusalem persecuted this church and drove away many of its members (Acts 8). Later in Paul’s letters, he writes about the churches who have made a “contribution to the poor saints in Jerusalem” (Acts 15:26).

In the letter of 2 Corinthians, Paul is writing to the church in Corinth in part to encourage them to take part in relieving the needs of the church in Jerusalem.[1] And you will see that in this part of the letter he zooms in on, he’s going to focus on the heart motivations behind godly generosity.  

So, let’s hop into the text and see what we can learn about generosity so that we can grow in generosity and in our thanks and praise for what God has done through Lebanon.  

 

Revelation

6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

While encouraging the Corinthian church (a wealthy Gentile church) to be generous to the church in Jerusalem (a poor Jewish church), Paul wants to boil things down to a crystal-clear point.

His point is that there are two paths, the stingy one and the generous one, sowing “sparingly” or sowing “bountifully.” All of us, as we live in this world, are undergoing a test. How we use our limited resources in our limited life will determine what kind of ultimate abundance we enjoy in this life and the next.

How many of you know that there are things of greater value than what we can see and touch? Money has value, food has value, buildings have value, yet, none of these have ultimate value. We know that because we cannot see or touch the God whom we love and worship, who created these things. The creator holds more value than the creation. That’s why Paul writes earlier in this letter,

“…we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Cor 4:18b).

And church, we must choose which things we are going to prioritize, things we can see or things we can’t. The way we obtain things we can see is through hording. Gathering as much treasure and stuff into our store barns and giving as little away as possible is the path toward accumulating earthly possession. Or, as is more the case in our culture, taking on debt to fund a lifestyle we can’t afford (which also forces our focus away from spiritual priorities to earthly ones).

The only problem with that? According to Paul, that’s sowing sparingly- that is, it aims too small. These seen things that we love to heap up are “transient”, that is, “temporary.”[2] They only last if your life on this earth does, or until Jesus comes back (unless a disaster takes them away beforehand). Limited possessions that last for a while are not enough for beings like us that were made to never die. They won’t be enough while you have them, and at some point, they will be gone and you will have nothing left. Don’t aim too low; don’t sow sparingly.

What can we do instead of sow sparingly? Sow abundantly! That is, invest your resources (in this context your finances) in spiritual purposes, and when you rise from the dead, you will receive it all back in a great harvest! There is a whole world of blessing and life coming for those who trust Jesus now. How can we obtain greater possessions in that world? We give them away in this one. My friends, we only get to keep what we give away. This is one of the reasons that Jesus taught, “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:34).

By remembering what future holds in God’s presence, God shapes our hearts to live like Jesus did in the present. We need this soul-shaping truth because, as Calvin points out, scattering seed is costly- it seems to diminish what we have (even if in the end it only increases it).[3] There’s a reason people sow sparingly. Yet, we must remember that the only thing more costly than sowing seed is not sowing seed (ask any farmer if that principle holds true).

Let’s apply this to Lebanon for a moment. They had a few different options of what they could do with this church building. And, in my mind, they chose a generous one that prioritized things unseen over worldly convenience.

Lebanon chose to gift (not sell) this building to a young church without much in the way of financial resources. Moreover, this young church does a lot of things differently than Lebanon did for decades and decades. And, we are not Lutheran, but Baptist.

Yet, they made this choice, despite these things, because their greatest desire was not to maintain the status quo, but to ensure that a church continues to use this building to worship Jesus and serve this city for the next generation! The spiritual purposes of Jesus and his kingdom outweighed their preferences or comfort. Lebanon, we cannot do much in the way of paying you back for this gift, but God can! He loves to reward with an abundant harvest those who sow bountifully.

Now, let’s keep moving through this text,

7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Now that Paul has laid down a reality of generosity (abundant sowing à abundant reaping). He’s going to reveal what that’s intended to do to our hearts. Our God is not primarily interested in dollars and cents. He doesn’t need them- he has limitless wealth. He’s interested in our hearts and that our wealth is a worship issue in showing what matters most to us.

So, what happens to our hearts when we believe that there is a generous God who wants to reward us in the future for sacrificial generosity in the present?

Paul says that our motives and our emotions that are connected to our giving change. Our tendency is to grasp onto our resources, since giving away means that there is less for ourselves. So, giving, when God is not in the picture, tends to be reluctant or even feel compulsory (like when you go a restaurant, and they have a mandatory gratuity of 20%).

Yet, when our giving does not just happen with reference to ourselves, but in relationship with a boundlessly generous God, we stop being fearful we are going to lose, and start to become glad that we will gain. When we live in relationship with a generous God who loves to give, something quite amazing starts to happen to us, we become cheerful givers like him who love to give. We cheerfully give because we know there’s a boundless giver watching over us who loves to reward our generosity.

That’s why God “loves a cheerful giver,” because when someone gives cheerfully to his people, it reveals that they’ve encountered his generosity. A cheerful gift of our limited resources testifies to the unlimited generosity and heart of God that changes us into cheerful givers.

So, when you are giving to God’s people, examine your heart and ask, “am I giving cheerfully?” And the degree we are still reluctant or feel compelled, rather than joy bubbling up within, is the degree we still need to encounter the radically giving God of the Bible, taste his generosity afresh, remember his purpose to abundantly provide, and pray that he would change our hearts to be like his own.

Lately when I’ve talked to Barb and Jeanne, they keep echoing this same phrase to me, “we made the right choice.” What this phrase is telling me is that they don’t regret giving us this building, they are cheerful givers. Taking this chance to show undeserved, over-the-top generosity to God’s people has come not from compulsion (“I guess we don’t have a better option…”) but from joy (“we are excited about what God will do through this gift for the next generation!”). And by God’s measurement, that is a whole world of difference. What an example for us to learn from and practice!

Next, Paul is going to write about God’s purpose in giving us thing. What is that purpose?

8 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.

Here Paul clarifies a second reality or truth that God means to uphold our cheerful giving- God always gives us everything we need to be generous.

Grace simply means, “God’s undeserved generosity.” And as God’s people, God promises us sufficient grace not just to survive, but to live with generosity throughout our days. In the very last chapter, Paul wrote,

“…You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 9:8b). To be a Christian means you have received undeserved generosity more than you need (since this verse calls you “rich”), so by definition you have something to give away. (also the example of creation?)

Going back to our verse, do you hear the three-times repetition of how sufficient God’s grace is?

(1)    “having all sufficiency”

(2)    “in all things”

(3)     “at all times”

Are you hearing the point that God gives you enough so that you have enough to give away? As a Christian, there is not a time or a place you can be where you can’t be generous. And that does not mean you are never really poor or needy- but that even in those moments, God’s help and abundance is still overflowing to you and you have something he has equipped you with to give away.

Notice what Paul says we abound to others in, “good works.” Money is not the only way to be generous (and sometimes we have much to be generous with and sometimes we have only the smallest amount to be generous with), it’s just an important and crucial way for us to be generous.

However, there are endless ways to be generous towards others through good works. And first the example of the Lord Jesus who made us rich through making himself poor, and now, the generous gift of this building by Lebanon challenge each one of us today to ask, “how can I be generous to others through good works?”

There is an endless variety of ways you can use your time, talents, and treasure to benefit others. And, I would like to draw your attention to the greatest resource of all you have to be generous with- the message of the gospel. It’s truly the only unlimited resource you have- the message that Christ saves sinners- that can rescue and bless anyone, in anytime, at any place. And as a follower of Jesus, it’s a message always at your disposal. God has entrusted that message to you and given you the authority to speak it everywhere and anywhere.  

Now, I get excited when I think of all the creative ways this church community can be abundant and generous. Any one of us alone can only do so much, but imagine all of us being generous, and then people connecting in our church to be even more generous together! That’s how the body of Christ is supposed to work.

And we also need to dream of ways we can be generous to other churches since that’s what this text is about and that’s prompted this sermon. I think that starts with treating the other churches who do and will rent this space from us with hearts of grace, patience, and love. This begins with just showing welcome and love to other believers we come across in this space, like the Hispanic brothers and sisters of Lirio church.  

And I love what Paul writes next,

9 As it is written,

        “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;

his righteousness endures forever.”

 

After all these amazing things Paul has written, he offers one more- “As it is written…” In other words, there’s something from the Old Testament, Revelation that God has already laid down for God’s people, that’s in Paul’s mind and heart and prompting him to write these glorious things.

This quote (“he has distributed freely”) comes from Psalm 112, a short song about a “blessed” man in God’s kingdom. If you remember from Psalm 1, there is a “blessed man” (“blessed is the man who does not…”). It’s likely that this “blessed man” is the king of Israel and all who follow him in following God.[4]

And we know from the Scriptures that the kings of Israel look forward to the true king of Israel, Jesus, the true “blessed man” who makes all of us who follow him blessed.

By following Jesus, we become “blessed” men and women who follow the truly “blessed” man. What Jesus has done to us, he wants to do through us. I repeat again, “you know the grace of our Lord Jesus, that though he was rich, yet he became poor, that by his poverty you might become rich.”

Jesus lived, died, and rose again to make those who were eternally poor and helpless to be everlastingly happy and rich in the abundance of his forgiveness and presence. No one who knows and follows Jesus is ever poor. Those without him could not be more destitute.

It’s rehearsing and remembering this gospel that frees us like nothing else to be generous in this life! There’s a lie the enemy wants to whisper in our ears, that “there’s not enough” or “God’s not enough” to be generous.[5] He wants to subdue us into stinginess through fear.

And yet, whenever we believe we don’t have enough to give, we’ve forgotten both that God created this world with abundance, and generously rescued us and keeps giving us everything we need. Paul thunders that truth in the three-fold phrase, “all sufficiency,” “in all things,” “at all times.” Jesus has died and risen so you know you have enough to be generous like him.

So, for example, when people here like me feel stingy about my time and the amount of time it takes to care for someone well, I have the story of Jesus to challenge and change me that I do in fact have the power to give myself away to others.

Now, if you are a skeptic here and wonder why we are talking about money and maybe feeling suspicious about that, please notice here that this text is not about getting, but about giving, and that’s how true followers of Jesus live and act in the world. It’s false followers who have not encountered the risen Jesus who are stingy and greedy rather than abundant and generous.

Now, as a member of this community, I’ve witnessed mind-blowing generosity, and it’s such a sweet example of what this text is calling us to. As one example, I can’t help but think back to my days as a bachelor, when the Wilsons gave me a room in their home (for such a low price), invited me into their family dinners, all while pursuing hosting their neighbors who are far from God (for now). Generosity like this (and we could go on and multiply example after example), is one way the invisible God becomes visible in and through our community.

This is why at the end of this section in verse 15, Paul responds,

“Thanks be to God!” The pattern is God’s grace comes down, produces generosity in God’s people, and thanksgiving and praise goes up in return to God.[6] I want to see this pattern increasingly shape all of our lives on this planet.

And that’s how I want to conclude this sermon, “thanks be to God because of your gift to us Lebanon! Thanks be to God All Peoples Church because of your continued generosity, and thanks be to God most of all for Jesus who became poor that we might become rich!”

 

 

Reflection questions:

1.      Am I being generous with what I have (even if it’s little)?

2.      If I’m not as generous as I want to be yet, what steps can I take to grow in trusting God to become more generous?

3.      How can I honor and show gratitude to Lebanon members?  

[1] M. J. Harris, “2 Corinthians,” in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, ed. T. Desmond Alexander and Brian S. Rosner, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 309.

[2] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 881.

[3] https://ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom40/calcom40.xv.ii.html

[4] James M. Hamilton Jr., Psalms, ed. T. Desmond Alexander, Thomas R. Schreiner, and Andreas J. Köstenberger, vol. 1, Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2021), 94.

[5]Calvin, https://ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom40/calcom40.xv.ii.html

[6] I heard this general pattern from Jason Meyer in his sermon series on 2 Cor at Bethlehem Baptist Church.