The Heart of Generosity

A couple of decades ago, I worked on a construction site for a stint, and I’ll never forget the new guy who showed up to work one day and announced that he had just finished his time with the U.S. Army after a tour of duty in Afghanistan. That’s a pretty good story, and a pretty good way to get the respect of a room full of construction workers, but something about him seemed off. The way he carried himself, the way he talked, the physical shape he was in, the fact that he wore bike gloves to work, none of it seemed to line up with a soldier.

Then one day I asked him where in Afghanistan he’d done his time, and he looked like a deer in the headlights for a few moments before he said “Uhhh… Kandar.” I think he was trying to think of “Kandahar,” and that was all I needed to confirm my suspicions that an American soldier he was not.

A number of years later I got to know a friend who told me that had served in the U.S. Army. And I didn’t need to be convinced. Every ounce of this guy, from his posture to his physique to his haircut to the way he talked, dripped military discipline. Even before he said anything, even before he told you his story, you knew he was a soldier.

We go through a similar process as Christians, too, don’t we? We’ve all met those people who say they are a Christian. But the way they act and speak just does not seem to line up with someone who knows the Lord Jesus. On the other hand, many of us have gotten to know someone and, before they ever tell us, we start to wonder if they know the Lord, and we’re not surprised when we find out they do.

With my army friends I noticed the presence of discipline, physical fitness, the effects of combat training. What are the behaviours we look for that confirm or question a Christian confession? If you were to write down all of the behaviours that suggest that someone is a Christian, what would be on your list?

Maybe it’s the way they talk, whether they use bad words, the kinds of jokes they laugh at, whether or not they move in with someone before they get married. Whether or not they go to church.

But I wonder if, on any of our lists, we’d write down “generosity.” When we think of behaviours that are distinctively Christian, does “generosity” come to our mind at all?

I hope, after today, that it will. Because one way of summing up today’s passage, and therefore today’s sermon, is that generosity is a distinctively Christian behaviour. When the gospel of Jesus Christ takes root in someone’s heart, one of the fruits that grows up is generosity.

Now why are we talking about generosity today and next week? The short answer is that one of you suggested it several months ago. We often find ourselves at this time of year with a week or two in between sermon series, where we get a chance to choose a theme or topic to address, and someone recommended that we do some teaching on generosity. The elders loved the idea and so here we are. We’re exploring two key passages on generosity in the New Testament—2 Corinthians 8:1-15 this week, and 9:1-15 next week. This week is all about the heart of generosity, and next week we’ll get into some of the more practical considerations.

Both of these passages come from Paul’s very personal second letter to the Corinthians. Throughout this whole letter, and particularly in chapter 7, Paul writes to the Corinthians about his relationship with them, and wants them to know how much he cares about them. In 7:5 he tells them about his time in Macedonia, and how much he suffered there, but how much he was comforted by a visit from Titus, who came to Paul after visiting the Corinthians. Verse 7 says that Titus “told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.” Verse 13: “And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.” Verse 16: “I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you.”

So that’s the context here. A very personal relationship between Paul and the Corinthians, who brought him joy through Titus while Paul was in Macedonia.

1. The Example of the Macedonians (vv. 1-5)

And then, in chapter 8, Paul makes what seems like a pivot, and he starts telling the Corinthians about the Macedonians and how generous they were. And it seems like Paul is completely changing the subject. “I’m so glad you comforted me while I had a hard time in Macedonia. By the way, speaking about Macedonia, do you know how generous those people were? You should be like them.”

It seems like an abrupt subject change, until we learn in verse 6 that one of the reasons Titus had gone to Corinth in the first place was because of this very issue. See, during this time period, the land of Judea was afflicted by several major famines. The Christians living in Jerusalem were already persecuted, and as a result of all of this they were struggling with extreme poverty.

And one of the main reasons Titus had gone to Corinth was to collect money for the Christians in Jerusalem. They didn’t have online banking in those days, and if you wanted to send money around the world, you had to send a person. The Corinthians had made a pledge to send money to Jerusalem, and Titus went there to help them follow through on that promise.

So when Paul talks about Titus leaving Corinth to come see him in Macedonia, this topic of generosity is kind of like the elephant in the room. Everybody knows that why Titus was in Corinth in the first place. So Paul is not changing the subject. Instead, as he begins talking about the stunning generosity of the Macedonians, he is holding them up as an example of the kind of generosity he’s hoping he will yet see from the Corinthians.

Listen to what he says, here in verse 1 & 2. “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part” (2 Corinthians 8:1–2).

What happened here with the Macedonians is just incredible. Imagine writing this out as a mathematical equation. “Abundance of joy + extreme poverty =” what?

That kind of equation doesn’t exist in most of the world. Deep poverty doesn’t tend to go along with abundant joy. That’s incredible, in and of itself. But it doesn’t stop there. Because in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and extreme poverty overflowed in what? Generosity. A wealth of generosity. These happy poor people, severely afflicted, gave generously.

Verse 3: “For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—” (2 Corinthians 8:3–4).

These Macedonian Christians didn’t just give what they could; they gave well beyond what they could. Beyond their means. And nobody forced them into this. Paul wasn’t up on a stage begging them to give. They were begging Paul for the favour of giving. Verse 5 says that Paul didn’t expect this, but he explains what happened: these Christians gave themselves to the Lord. They gave all that they were, which included all that they had. And because they had given themselves to the Lord, God directed them to give of their resources to the saints in Jerusalem.

This was an act of God, and it all goes back to God’s grace. That’s how Paul started this section: “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.” This incredible generosity flowing out of poverty, this giving well above and beyond what they could afford—this is a result of the grace of God.

This stretches our definition of grace somewhat, doesn’t it? Many of us are familiar with the idea that God’s grace is when he treats us better than we deserve. God forgives us by His grace, saves us by His grace. And we might think that if God poured out grace on these poor Macedonians, that would mean filling up their purses and pantries.

For God to motivate these poor Macedonians to become even poorer seems like an awful dirty trick. That seems like they are getting less than they deserve. That seems like the opposite of grace.

But if we think that way, that’s because we’re not thinking about this the way God does. According to Jesus, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). According to Jesus, if you had a choice between someone giving you $100, or someone asking you for $100, which one should you pick? The second option. It’s more blessed—more happy—to give than to receive. And perhaps one significant reason is that giving generously is one way that we store up treasures in heaven. Giving generously to the work of God is making an investment that will have a huge return.

That seems to be how the Macedonians thought. Back in verse 4, we read how they begged Paul earnestly for the “favour” of taking part in the relief of the saints. That word translated “favour” is just the word for “grace,” the exact same word we find back in verse 1.

Paul was doing them a favour, showing them grace, by letting them share in the contribution to the saints. It was a privilege for them to give in this way. It was a blessing to them. You can imagine them saying, “I get to use my money to help out my brothers and sisters in Jerusalem? I get to do that? Please, let me do that.” Which is one reason why, throughout this whole section, Paul refers to generosity as an “act of grace.” God’s grace empowered the Macedonians to see giving as a grace to them.

What makes this even more beautiful is that these Christians had never met, and in fact had major differences. For a long time many Jerusalem Christians struggled to accept that gentiles like the Corinthians could even be saved. But here they are, acting like a body, enjoying their fellowship in the gospel, sharing their needs with one another like brothers and sisters.

And not surprisingly, in verses 6-8, Paul encourages the Corinthians to follow their example. “Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace” (2 Corinthians 8:6).

That word “accordingly” means “so” or “as a result.” Verse 6 is very connected to what we’ve just heard. In fact, in the original language, verses 3-6 are part of one single sentence. “This is what the Macedonians did, so we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this fact of grace.”

The Macedonian generosity is what motivated or prompted Paul to send Titus back to Corinth to help the Corinthians with their own collection for the Jerusalem Christians. Paul’s whole thought here goes like this: “Look at what the Macedonians did—you guys should do this too!”

That’s the sense of what’s going on in verse 7: “But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also” (2 Corinthians 8:7). He’s saying, “You Corinthians are going above and beyond in all of these areas of your Christian life. You’re going above and beyond in faith, speech, knowledge, earnestness, and also in how much we love you. So, go above and beyond in generosity as well.”

Paul is very clear that he’s not commanding them. Verse 8: “I say this not as a command.” As an apostle, he could just tell them to give. But instead, he encourages them to prove the genuineness of their love by the earnestness of others, as verse 8 says.

In other words, the earnestness of the Macedonians is an example, a benchmark, by which the Corinthians might also prove how genuine their love is. It kind of sounds like Paul is encouraging some healthy competition here. Murray Harris explains, “the apostle is not promoting a contest among rivals… but encouraging friendly imitation among equals.” [Murray J. Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Milton Keynes, UK: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.; Paternoster Press, 2005), 577.)

Look at that the Macedonians did, and follow their example.

2. The Grace of Christ (v. 9)

But Paul knows that the Corinthians have a far greater example to follow than just the Macedonians. They have Christ himself, who is not just an example but a living source of grace in each of our lives. Listen to verse 9: “For 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 Corinthians 8:9).

“You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is not new material for them. They know about this grace. In their lives, they have tasted and experienced this grace. The grace of a saviour who was rich—and what an understatement! In heaven, with the entire universe at his command, surrounded by the worship of angels. The richest billionaire on earth has nothing compared to that. Jesus was rich in glory, the only currency that really matters forever.

But for our sake, Jesus became poor. He exchanged heaven’s glory for the humility of small-town life. He became glory-poor. And Jesus became literally poor, often with no place to lay his head. At the end of his earthly life his possessions were his clothes, and even those were taken from him as He hung alone, rejected by men and lamenting the abandonment of heaven.

But this poverty—this poverty that reached its lowest point in the agonies of the cross—was for a purpose. He embraced this poverty for our sake. He came for our salvation. He died for our crimes. He embraced poverty so that we might become rich.

Now, some of us might be uncomfortable right away because it sounds like this is endorsing the prosperity gospel. And we wonder if we missed something. But let’s remember—in what way was Jesus rich prior to becoming a man? He didn’t have bank accounts or stock options or mansions in the country. He was rich in glory, eternal, heavenly glory.

And that is the sense in which he’s made us rich. I think of Ephesians 2:7 which says that God saved us “so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

The problem with the prosperity gospel isn’t that people are demanding too much from God. It’s that they are satisfied with way too little. They’re happy for little trinkets like houses and bank accounts. God has promised us something so much greater: ages and ages of immeasurable kindness being lavished on us.

That’s the grace of Christ, embracing absolute poverty for us in order to lavish us with eternal riches. And this grace is an example for us to follow. “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16). Love like this makes us want to love others like this.

But it’s not just an example. The grace of Jesus also gives us a rock-solid gospel foundation to be generous. Because we know that, through the poverty of Jesus, we have already become blindingly rich in every way that really matters. We have been guaranteed an inheritance imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for us, where moth or rust cannot destroy, and thieves cannot break in and steal, where storms can’t sink our superyachts. We are rich.

And so the grace of Christ provides us with everything we need to be generous. The love of Jesus shapes and motivates our hearts to love the way we’ve been loved, and it provides us with a real foundation for generosity, knowing we have nothing real to lose and everything to gain.

3. The Appropriateness of Following Through (vv. 10-11)

So the Corinthians have the example of the Macedonians, and they have the grace of Christ. Paul gives them a third major reason for why they should be generous. And it has to do with the appropriateness of following through.

Verse 10 addresses the fact that the Corinthians had started, a year ago, to set money aside for this gift. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians speaks about this, in chapter 16. And in verse 10 and 11 he tells them how important and fitting it will be for them to them to finish what they started and follow through with what they had committed. “So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have” (2 Corinthians 8:11).

4. The Importance of Fairness (vv. 12-15)

At the end of verse 11, he slips in an important phrase: “out of what you have.” “Completing it out of what you have.” Even though Paul held up the incredible example of the Macedonians, who gave out of what they did not have, he’s not recommending that as a course of action for everybody to take. He’s not telling the Corinthians to make themselves poor. He’s not even telling them to set aside a certain percentage. He just says that they are to finish this work of generosity out of what they have.

And that leads right into verses 12-15, where Paul unpacks this further as he explains the importance of fairness. Verse 12: “For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened.” In other words here, the goal is not you give everything you have to the Jerusalem Christians, so that you basically switch spots. As he goes on to say, the goal is that “as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need.”

Right now, you have more than you need, and they don’t have enough. So, as a matter of fairness, give what you can and then both you and the Jerusalem Christians will have enough to live off of.

But he doesn’t stop there. Look at verse 14 again: “your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness” (2 Corinthians 8:14).

Is Paul saying that, at some point in the future, you might be poor, and they might be rich, and they might help you out? Maybe. But it’s far more likely that he’s speaking here about spiritual abundance. He’s saying that the Christians in Jerusalem are abounding spiritually. I mean, that was a church that had the twelve apostles as a pastoral team for a while. Maybe it’s not surprising that they were doing a lot better than the Corinthians in the ways that matter. At the very least, they were Christians first, and from there the gospel went out to the world. As Paul says in Romans 15, speaking about this very same situation, “if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings” (Romans 15:27). It’s only fair.

If you have children, or remember being a child, you know how important this issue of fairness is. If someone gives some siblings a pack of smarties, they’re going to count those smarties to make sure they all got the same amount. Children in a family want things to be fair. And sometimes that can be born out of selfishness. But in a broad sense, Paul endorses that impulse. And to back this up, Paul finishes this section with verse 15: “As it is written, ‘Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack’” (2 Corinthians 8:15).

This is a quote from Exodus 16:18, which speaks about the gift of manna. When God sent manna, He saw to it that each of His people had just what they needed—not more and not less. Today, we should recognize that everything we have comes from God, and it some of us have more than others, it’s fair for us to share.

Now let’s be honest—this might be a tough pill for some of us to swallow. Here in Western Canada, we’re very used to conservative capitalist principles, which say that people should work for what they’ve got. And if you have more than someone else, well, that’s too bad for them. If they didn’t work hard like you did, that’s their problem, not yours. You should get to enjoy what you worked for.

Notice how very individualistic this is. You work, you get, you enjoy. The other guy’s problem is the other guy’s problem.

And you could argue that this is good economics or good political theory. But it’s not how Christians are to relate to one another. When it comes to our brothers and sisters in Christ, we don’t get to look around at those with less and say, “well, too bad you didn’t work for what you’ve got like I did.”

Because the reality is that you didn’t work for what you’ve got. Everything you have is a gift. Every day you had the health and strength to get out of bed and go to work was a gift you don’t deserve. The circumstances could have been so different. There are many people in this world with way better work ethics than you who, working way harder than you’ve ever worked, and through circumstances they can not control, they’re still poor.

And so when it comes to our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ, fairness, or “equality” as this word means, is the principle God works off of.

Now, let’s add another important clarification here. This whole passage is assuming that the Jerusalem Christians are in legitimate need. Remember the famines. It’s not a matter of them being able to work and refusing. We know that Paul had to tell the Thessalonians not to give to that kind of person. “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

So yes, that’s there. But don’t miss that Paul had to tell this to the Thessalonians. He had to tell them to stop giving to these people. Because their default was this principle of fairness, and their basic impulse was to be generous.

Conclusion

I wonder how you respond to that this morning. I wonder how you respond to this whole passage this morning. I wonder how you respond to the various ways Paul sought to motivate the Corinthians to generosity. Without shaming them or guilting them or commanding them, he points to the example of the Macedonians, the grace of Christ, the appropriateness of follow-through, and the importance of fairness, and calls them to share from their abundance with those who don’t have enough.

Now this morning, in our application here, we’re not going to get too specific. We’re not going to talk about things like tithing, or whether Christians should give to their church first or to specific people themselves. We’re going to answer some of those specific questions next week. What we are wanting to think about here is the heart of generosity, and whether these motivations for generosity impact our hearts or not.

Do we feel the beauty of Christians like the Macedonians, and generous Christians all around the world today, and does the generosity of others make us want to say, “Count me in”? Do we feel the burden of fairness, and sense how wrong it is for us to have more than we need if we know our brothers and sisters are living with less than they need? Most importantly, do we feel the grace of Christ in our lives? Are we so aware of how kind the Lord Jesus Christ has been to us? Do you see the cross and know just how big of a gift you were given that day?

I love you, but if one of you asked me for my son, the answer would not be yes. But God so loved the world that He gave His only son. Behold the man upon the cross, taking your place. Drinking your cup of judgement. Rising to share His inheritance with you. What more could He give?

And what more could we hope for, then to know that the God of the universe is for us, not against us? What greater inheritance could we want than what He’s promised us? What better promises then to have the riches of His kindness to look forward to, forever?

I’ll be honest—I didn’t always see things this way. I grew up very poor, and when I actually did begin to earn money as a young man, it was very easy for me to justify my lack of generosity. I deserved to take care of myself after all those years of nothing. But looking back, it’s very interesting for me to see how my willingness to give walked hand-in-hand with my appreciation for the gospel. I don’t know that I honestly made that connection until this very week. But the time in my life when I began to say “okay, Lord, I will give” was the time in my life when I was growing the most in my appreciation for what the Lord had given me in the life and death and resurrection of His son. I don’t think this was a coincidence.

And that’s why as we move into the Lord’s table this morning, this is probably one of the best ways we could apply this passage. Behold, in the bread and in the cup, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

“This is my body, which is given for you” (Luke 22:19). As you hold the bread and the cup this morning, would you ask the Lord to give you the grace of truly appreciating His grace? And would you ask God to give the grace among us, that we might eagerly desire to participate in that grace by delighting in this act of grace known as generosity?