Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:6-11
VIDEO: Mr. Likes to
make change in the offering plate guy.
Praise the Lord HORSE story: (The reason for the joke was to make
you laugh, chuckle or at least smile; because we are going to look at a single
word in the scripture – in the original language it is pronounced “hilaros”
from which we get the English word “hilarious.” I know the joke wasn’t
hilarious, but for some odd reason the idea of Donovan on a horse about to
plunge into disaster makes us chuckle inside…)
It
just makes our heart feel good – when we laugh…when we are cheerful. Our text
for today tells us the best way to give is cheerfully – hilariously.
Giving
is not as much about having your money as it is about having your heart. God
wants your heart. We are the church with heart and our giving should reflect
that – indeed it does.
Out
of 140 churches in Mission Northwest – We are the second most generous church
in our giving to the region and 5th highest in overall giving to ABC
mission work. Locally, we assist
transients, church members with needs, we give generously to the Operation
Christmas Child, Salvation Army, Valley House homeless Center and in support
for children’s needs at Lincoln Elementary School. That is just in direct finances and does not
take into account time and abilities given for the sake of our community. We are hilarious givers.
Matt 6:19-21
“Do not store up
for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where
thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and
steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” On
“American Pickers” you can see where people keep stuff stored in a leaky barn
till it has lost all value. And many of us have had something stolen at one
time or another. Things that last are from your heart.
Your
heart has to be involved to give cheerfully.
Mark 12:41-44
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the
offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple
treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and
put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said,
"I tell you the truth, this poor widow has
put more into the treasury than all the others.
They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in
everything — all she had to live on."
She
gave cheerfully.
Genesis 4:2-5
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of
the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from
some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel
and his offering, but on Cain and his
offering he did not look with favor.
Abel
gave cheerfully. (No guarantee about earthly tresures
2 Corinthians 9:6-11
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will
also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7
Each man
should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under
compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all
times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9
As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his
righteousness endures forever." 10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and
bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will
enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in
every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your
generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
2 Cor 9:7 The MESSAGE
I want each of you to take plenty of time to think
it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you
against sob stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in
the giving.
CHEERFUL hilaros NT:2431), from hileos, signifies
joyousness, hence, "cheerful" (Eng., "hilarious"), 2 Cor 9:7,
"God loves a cheerful (hilarious) giver."
Note: In the Sept. the verb
hilaruno translates a Hebrew word meaning "to cause to shine"
A CHEERFUL LIVER
Mary Ann
O'Roark: "As a little girl I heard grown ups repeat a bible verse that I
was certain said, "God loveth a cheerful liver." I asked my grandma
what a liver was. "It's a part inside you," she told me, "like
your stomach or your heart." I puzzled over how to get my insides to be
more cheerful. One day in Sunday school an older kid set me straight:
"It's giver, not liver." But I don't think I got it all that wrong.
God does love a cheerful liver."
RICH SO YOU CAN BE GENEROUS
QUOTE: While I’m not a proponent of the
health and wealth gospel, 2 Cor. 9:6-11 is nothing short of amazing in terms of
a Biblical promise. How else would you interpret words like these? "You will be made rich in every way so
that you can be generous on every occasion." With a promise like that
how could you not be a generous and cheerful giver?
It’s like turning on a water faucet at home. I’m never afraid that the water will run out, because I know that my faucet is hooked up to the whole Edwards Aquifer. That’s billions of gallons of drinkable water behind my faucet. The only limit is my ability to pay my water bill.
And being generous in giving; amounts to being hooked up to the reservoir of a more generous Father than I could even think or imagine. I don’t have to be stingy or miserly knowing that my Father in Heaven has promised to make me rich in every way so that I can be generous on every occasion. The only limit is the limit of my ability to trust God to keep it coming. Knowing this assures us that we can be cheerful, joyful, hilarious givers.
It’s like turning on a water faucet at home. I’m never afraid that the water will run out, because I know that my faucet is hooked up to the whole Edwards Aquifer. That’s billions of gallons of drinkable water behind my faucet. The only limit is my ability to pay my water bill.
And being generous in giving; amounts to being hooked up to the reservoir of a more generous Father than I could even think or imagine. I don’t have to be stingy or miserly knowing that my Father in Heaven has promised to make me rich in every way so that I can be generous on every occasion. The only limit is the limit of my ability to trust God to keep it coming. Knowing this assures us that we can be cheerful, joyful, hilarious givers.
Realize one thing in two ways –
When you give joyfully you are not doing it alone – 1st) God is
doing it through you 2nd) You are doing it with others. In the body
of Christ we are never working alone – Here is an example of the bad things
that could happen when you try working alone.
WORKING ALONE
A letter to the insurance company called
“Doing the Job Alone”.
Dear Sir,
I’m writing in response to your
request for additional information. In block 3 of the accident report form I
put trying to do the job alone as the cause of my accident. In your letter you
said I should explain more fully, and I trust the following details should be
sufficient.
I am a brick layer by trade and on the
date of the accident I was working alone on the roof of a new six story
building. When I had completed my work I had about 500 pounds of brick left
over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand or having someone to help me, I
decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley that was fortunately
attached to the side of the building on the sixth floor.
Securing the rope to the ground level
I went to the roof, swung the barrel out, loaded the bricks into it and then I
went to the ground, untied the rope while holding the rope tightly to insure a
slow descent of 500 pounds. You will note in block 2 of the accident report
that I weighed 160 pounds. Due to my surprise of being jerked off the ground so
suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless
to say, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building. In the
vicinity of the 3rd floor I met the barrel coming down. This
explains the fractured skull and the broken collar bone.
Slowing down only slightly, I
continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until my hand was two knuckles deep
into the pulley. Fortunately, I regained my presence of mind and was able to
hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain. At approximately the same time,
however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the
barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighed
approximately 50 pounds. I refer you again to my weight in block #2. As you
might imagine, I began a rather rapid descent down the side of the building. In
the vicinity of the 3rd floor I met the barrel coming up. This
accounts for my two fractured ankles and the lacerations on my legs. This encounter
with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell on the pile
of bricks.
I’m sorry to report, however, that as
I lay on the bricks in pain, unable to stand, watching the empty barrel six
stories above me, I again lost my presence of mind and let go of the rope. The
empty barrel weighed more than the rope and so it came down and broke both of
my legs.
When you become a hilarious giver –
you are always a partner with God and with your brothers and sisters in Christ.
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