A Biblical Model for Giving, Part 3
2 Corinthians 8:3
Let's open our Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and this morning I'm going to do something that is certainly not able to classified as a sermon, it's going to be classified more as a Bible study, but it's very important and it goes right along with our study of 2 Corinthians chapter 8. We're talking about a model for Christian giving. And this is the third in our series on giving. From 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 we had a little bit of an introduction to these chapters for four weeks, but the third one in which we actually looked into chapter 8. And we're looking at a model for Christian giving that the Apostle Paul lays out before the Corinthian church and all of us to show us how we are to give our money and our resources to the Lord.
Albert Switzer once pointed out that there are only three ways to teach a child. The first is example, the second is example and the third is example. And that is exactly what Paul is doing in teaching his Corinthian children about giving. He teaches them by way of example and the example is the churches of Macedonia mentioned in verse 1. "We wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia." The church at Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea, those three cities were the churches in Macedonia who were models of Christian giving. Those churches had learned that any earthly possession can be turned into eternal wealth because whatever is given to the Lord's work becomes immortal. They had learned what Martin Luther knew when he said, "I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all, but whatever I have placed into God's hands, that I will always possess."
The Macedonians had learned what Jim Elliot, the great missionary martyr in Ecuador said, "He who...He is no fool who gives away what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." The Macedonians were examples of giving. They exchanged gladly earthly treasure for heavenly wealth.
And the way in which they gave serves as a model for all of us as Christians and sets off the whole section on Christian giving which encompasses chapters 8 and 9. In the first eight verses of chapter 8 we learn a very great principle from the Macedonians and that principle is that giving is the behavior of devout Christians. It all starts with Christian commitment, Christian devotion, love for God, love for Christ. It rises out of a devoted heart. And the Macedonians whose hearts were so totally devoted to the Lord as is expressly stated in this very section of Scripture, "They first gave themselves," that's very, very much at the heart of the whole issue as it's noted in verse 5. They were devoted to the Lord and out of that devotion to the Lord came this model for Christian giving. Verse 5 says they gave first themselves to the Lord, everything flowed from that.
So as we look at the Macedonians' devotion to the Lord and the consequent character of their giving, several elements are manifest in this text. First of all, their giving was initiated by God's grace. That is it wasn't just human, it was something supernaturally motivated and produced. Verse 1 says, "We wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia," or the grace of God which is at work prompting their giving.
Secondly, their giving transcended difficult circumstances. Verse 2 says they were in a great ordeal of affliction while they were giving.
Thirdly, giving was with joy, even in that ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy was manifest in their giving.
Fourthly, giving was not hindered by poverty but rather their deep poverty overflowed. Deeply poor and yet they were generous in their giving.
Their giving was not hindered by poverty, number five, their giving was liberal. It was generous. It overflowed in the abundance of their generosity.
So their giving was initiated by God's grace, transcended difficult circumstances, was with joy, not hindered by poverty and was generous. And we've already looked at those five truths, those five indications of their devout Christian commitment in just those first two verses. We come then this morning to verse 3 and try as I did, I couldn't get pass verse 3. And it's very, very important. Some of the other ones are going to go a little more rapidly but there is something that is inherent in verse 3 that demands careful attention this morning.
Let's start into verse 3 by saying, number six on the list, their giving was proportionate...their giving was proportionate. Verse 3 begins, "For I testify..." and by the way, by that phrase Paul is indicating he has firsthand experience. This isn't something that's been passed down the grapevine, he knows these churches, knows them well, founded them, had a great part in their life, knew their leadership, knew their hearts, and so firsthand he says, "I testify that according to their ability," and here's another qualifying phrase with regard to their giving. Their giving was proportionate. That is they gave according to their dunamis, or dumanmin(?) in this case, according to their power, according to their ability, according to their capability, each gave as he or she was able.
Notice down in verse 12, same chapter, "For if the readiness is present," in other words, if there's a readiness to give, "it is acceptable according to what a man has not according to what he doesn't have." God does not expect you to give what you don't have. He expects you to give what you have. That's all God asks is that you give according to your ability. Giving is to be proportionate. This sets no fixed amount. It sets no fixed percentage. It isn't a tenth. It isn't fifteen percent. It isn't five percent. It indicates no fixed figure, it simply says they gave according to their ability. And everybody certainly was different.
It says in 1 Corinthians 16:2 regarding the same giving for the very same purpose, the poor saints in Jerusalem which is being addressed in 2 Corinthians 8, "On the first day of the week every week let each one of you put aside in store as he may prosper that no collections be made when I come." Paul says you have to give out of your prosperity. In other words, according to your ability. They gave whatever they were capable of giving. God doesn't expect you to charge giving on your credit card and go further into debt. God expects you to give out of what you have. We aren't supposed to give a fixed amount, that's not what the Macedonians did, that's not, as we shall see in a few moments, what God asks of us, or a fixed percent. We're not supposed to worry on whether it's set against the gross or the net, those questions are not germane to the discussion of Christian giving. The issue is you give as you are capable of giving. And they did that.
Number seven in our list and the second one in verse 3, their giving was not only proportionate but...and this is a very important corollary to that...their giving was sacrificial. Verse 3, "I testify that according to their ability and beyond their ability they gave." So they gave what they had but they gave it in proportions that were sacrificial. Their giving was beyond what could or would be expected of such poor Christians. In fact, their giving would be a contradiction to their condition. And i remind you of verse 2 that they gave out of deep poverty and in a great ordeal of affliction. Times were difficult, life was difficult. They had very little, were extremely poor, a contradiction in their condition when compared to the generosity and the overflowing abundance of their liberality. With no regard for themselves, with no regard for their future needs, compelled by concern and care and love and compassion and obedience, and all of those things, they were glad to place themselves in an impoverished position even further dependent on God and believe that God would supply all their needs.
As Philippians 4:19 told us last week, "My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." They believed that. They believed they needed to take no thought for what they should eat or drink or wear because God would meet that need. They believed that what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 is exactly what He meant, that if He clothed the grass of the field and the lilies of the field and feeds the birds of the air, He is going to take care of His own. And it was in that attitude that they gave like the widow in Mark 12, they gave generously and they gave sacrificially. Like David who said, "I will not give the Lord that which costs me nothing," they were not about to give God something that didn't represent sacrifice. They were glad to place themselves in deeper dependence on God to supply their needs by demonstrating generosity to the poor saints at Jerusalem whom they had never even met but for whom they had a heart of compassion.
So, we find in verse 3 that their giving was proportionate. But not just proportionate, that is to say not just out of what they had, but sacrificial. And then thirdly, which would be the eighth point, the third one in this verse, the eighth one overall, their giving was voluntary. It says at the end of verse 3, "They gave of their own accord." They gave literally of their own volition. They gave of their own will. They gave out of their own initiative. They were self-motivated and spontaneous. This was their choice. In fact, the term here is very interesting, authairetos in the Greek which is the word used, "they gave of their own accord," literally means one who chooses his own course of action. They chose to do this. They weren't coerced. They weren't manipulated. They weren't intimidated into this. They weren't bribed into it. They weren't sort of coddled into it. They weren't brought into it by some promise of something or some trickery or some gimmick. There was no manipulation. There was no coercion. It was out of their own hearts.
Now let me just dig into that a little more deeply. It is possible that Paul had not even asked them to give. It is possible that due to their deep poverty Paul never even brought that up among them.
If you look at chapter 9 and verse 2, Paul says, "I know your readiness...in this matter of giving to the Corinthians...of which I boast about you to the Macedonians, namely that Achaia has been prepared since last year and your zeal has stirred up most of them." Interesting, isn't it? What was the original motivation for the Macedonians? Apparently from what he's saying here it was the zeal of the Corinthians down in the province of Achaia, it was the zeal of the Corinthians that stirred up the Macedonians originally.
Now remember what we have here. As Paul is writing 2 Corinthians we told you that it is year that has passed since he first told the Macedonians about giving...I'm sorry, since he first told the Corinthians about giving. He mentions that. A year ago he had told the Corinthians about giving and they had started to give. We saw that right there in chapter 8. They had already begun to give as much as a year before. Apparently it was their initial interest in responding to Paul and giving that the Macedonians heard about. When Paul told the Macedonians about the generosity of the Corinthians, it stirred up the Macedonians to want to give. So we could suggest then that the Macedonians were following the example of the Corinthians who started a year before and that the Corinthian generosity, initially, motivated the Macedonians and then they just ran with it and maybe Paul never really overtly asked them to give knowing how poor they were. They volunteered it. Based upon the pattern of the Corinthians, they wanted to get involved. That certainly does fit the statement of verse 4 where Paul says they were begging us with much entreaty for the favor of participation in the support of the saints. That, too, might indicate that Paul was reluctant to ask them for anything because they had so little but they were begging to be able to participate. They volunteered. It was right out of their hearts. They were freely voluntarily, willingly giving from the heart.
So what we find then in verse 3 is that giving is proportionate, giving is sacrificial, and giving is voluntary. Very, very important issues. And the understanding of those three out of the eight elements of their giving leads me to a bit of a digression this morning that is absolutely crucial if we're to understand this whole matter of giving because whenever you talk about giving in a Christian context, there are always people who are going to say, "Well I thought we were supposed to give ten percent," right? I mean, that's the sort of traditional Christian percentage. We talk about tithing, the word "tithe" is a word that means a tenth. The Greek equivalent of tithe is dekate(?) which means a tenth part, it's a mathematical word. The Hebrew equivalent is maasrah, it means a tenth, it too is a mathematical word. And Christians through the years have just felt...Well, we're supposed to give ten percent. The Jews gave ten percent. Abraham gave ten percent. Jacob gave ten percent. So we're supposed to give ten percent. That's God's abiding standard.
And that doesn't fit into here. There's no ten percent in chapters 8 and 9. There's no ten percent with regard to the Macedonians. They gave what they could give. They gave sacrificially what they could give. And they gave voluntarily, that is they chose whatever amount they could give and desired to give and gave it. There is no prescription of ten percent here whatsoever. And that leads us to the issue of why do Christians today think they need to give ten percent? Where does that come from? And I want to answer that. It comes basically from a misunderstanding of the Old Testament. And I feel obligated to make that misunderstanding clear to you and then set it right.
Here's how the argument generally goes, and it's a somewhat cursory look at the Old Testament to even come up with this, but this is how it goes. It goes like this. In the law of Moses the Jews were supposed to give a tenth. In the Old Testament it talks about the Jews required to give a tenth, a tithe. And we know that and s