The book of 2 Corinthians in the New Testament has, in my judgment, one primary concern. I believe its main purpose was to counter the influence of false teachers who had come to Corinth and were seeking to undermine the influence of Paul. They were also seeking to undermine the gospel Paul preached.

This resultant controversy apparently had caused at least one previous commitment to be neglected by the Corinthian Christians. They were the first, Paul says, to have the desire to give and actually to give toward a contribution for the poor Christians in Jerusalem.

You see the Christians in Jerusalem were suffering severe persecution at this time, persecution that forced many of them into poverty. Paul wants the churches out in the Gentile world to respond to that need. The church in Corinth was the first to share that desire and to give toward it. It has been a year since this effort began, Paul reveals, and it is now time to complete it. So Paul, in 2 Cor 8-9, seeks to rekindle the Corinthian church’s enthusiasm for this benevolence project.

Let’s begin our study of these chapters by looking at the first nine verses of chapter eight. Please open your Bible to that section and follow along as I read. I will be reading from the New Revised Standard Version but with several changes which I think better reflect the Greek original. In 2 Cor 8:1-9 Paul says,

We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty abounded in the riches of their generosity. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints––and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should complete this act of grace as well. Now as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to abound in this act of grace also.

I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

What I see in these nine verses is that Paul believes that God’s grace naturally creates persons who abound in the grace of generous giving. Grace is the free gift of salvation that God has given us in and by God’s Son, Jesus Christ. And, in v 1 of this section, Paul makes clear that the generous and sacrificial giving of the Macedonian Christians is an indication of the "grace God has given [them]." In other words, Paul does not view generous giving as something born of our inherent goodness. No, Paul sees generous giving as a sign that God’s rich grace has been received, is actively alive, and is turning Christians into a grace-transformed people. So hold on to this apostolic insight: generous giving by Christians is a sign that the grace of God is dynamically transforming the lives of God’s people.

Now please turn to 2 Cor 9:6-15. This time I will be reading from the New American Standard Bible with just a few changes to draw attention to a recurrence of the same two words, "grace" & "abound." In fact, the relevant Greek words are found three times each in this section." What we see then is that Paul ends this section as he began it, by emphasizing an abounding grace from God that produces generous giving. Please follow along as I read 2 Cor 9:6-15.

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may abound in every good deed; as it is written, "He scattered abroad, he gave to the poor, His righteousness abides forever." Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also abounding through many thanksgivings to God. Because of the proof given by this ministry they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. Grace be to God for His indescribable gift!

In ch 8 Paul begins his section on the contribution to the Jerusalem Christians by emphasizing God’s grace within the Macedonian Christians and the way that grace generated abounding generosity. Paul ends his section on that contribution with that same emphasis. When God’s grace abounds within a group of believers they will abound in the grace of generous giving.

So God’s grace abounds and causes the believer to abound in the grace of generous giving. And that grace abounds within the believer to such an extent that it ascends back to God in the form of thanksgiving for God’s indescribable gift.

But the flow of grace does not end there. Please look again at 2 Cor 9:12-13 and follow along as I read.

For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also abounding through many thanksgivings to God. Because of the proof given by this ministry they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all

Here we see that the generous giving, produced by the abounding of God’s grace, flows out to the recipients of the giving. And what is the result? It abounds, Paul says, "though many thanksgivings to God" and causes the Jerusalem Christians to "glorify God." Generous Christian giving flows from grace and ascends upward to the glory of God, the giver of that grace.

What a powerful cycle. By grace our lives are transformed by the power of God, and we are empowered to give and to give generously/sacrificially, as the Macedonian Christians did. That giving produces thanksgiving that ascends to the glory of God––"Generosity to the Glory of God."

Today is "Generosity Sunday" here at Broadway. We want to nullify completely our current budget shortfall. To do that we need a contribution of $77,070. Would the servers please move to the foyer in preparation to receive that contribution?

A few weeks ago a came across this quotation from a writer named Jim Elliot. He said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. When we give generously to the glory of God we gain what we cannot lose. We gain a closer and more profound relationship to the Creator of all that is.

Around the same time that I first read the quotation from Elliot I came across this story in a book by Ben Gill entitled, The Joy of Giving. Here is how Gill tells that story:

A few years ago, I sat with a man on a college campus in Virginia and looked up at a building that had his name on it. He told me how, a few years before, he had given the money for the building and how, to his surprise, the college had named the building for him. As we stood there that day, he said, "You know, two years after I gave the money for that building, my business went belly-up. Mark this down," he said. "I lost it all. But I have never regretted giving away money when I had it. In fact, to a great extent, the only thing that I have left is that which I gave away" (pp 4-5).

Think about it. One day all that we have left is that which we give away. One day we will leave this world and leave all of our worldly possessions. All we will have left of any value in this world is what we have given away.

Let’s live on the basis of that reality now. Let’s know that the true value of worldly possessions is to show forth the power of God’s grace in our lives. Let’s spend our lives sharing God’s blessings in a way that gives glory to our God.