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Sermon, 2 Corinthians 9
Intro
An email sent to me, dated 26 September 2008:
If you had purchased £1000 of Northern Rock shares one year ago it would now be worth £4.95. With HBOS, earlier last week your £1000 would have been worth £16.50. £1000 invested in XL Leisure would now be worth less than £5. But if you bought £1000 worth of beer one year ago, drank it all, then took the empty cans to an aluminium re-cycling plant, you would get £214. So based on the above statistics the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and re-cycle.
I was asked recently, “What would Jesus say about the “credit crunch”?” I do not speak for Jesus but I do declare his gospel.
1) Sowing and Reaping
Verse 6. Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
This scripture does not teach that we should give money in order to get more.
One scripture quoted to support the “give to get” view is Galatians 6:7-10
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
As always when seeking to understand scriptures, look at the context. I do not think these scriptures teach me to sow money so that I can get more money.
See Psalm 1:1-5
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
The emphasis there is about righteousness, for us that is Christian living and the life of faith.
See Luke 6:38. Again look at the context.
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Compare with Matthew 7:2
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Verses 10 and 11 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. 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.
Does this refer to money? Only if you think that to be rich refers to money. I believe Paul was more grown up in his faith than to think that.
What about the teaching of Jesus? See Matthew 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.
Do you think Paul was unaware of this teaching?
The gospel according to scripture, attested to by history, is not about money, it is about our salvation from sin and death - eternity
2) The Safest Bank
2 Corinthians 8 verses 16-19
This reminds me of an incident in the book of Ezra.
Ezra 8:22-30
I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.
So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, together with Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their brothers, and I weighed out to them the offering of silver and gold and the articles that the king, his advisers, his officials and all Israel present there had donated for the house of our God. I weighed out to them 650 talents of silver, silver articles weighing 100 talents, 100 talents of gold, 20 bowls of gold valued at 1,000 darics, and two fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold. I said to them, You as well as these articles are consecrated to the LORD. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers. Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the LORD in Jerusalem before the leading priests and the Levites and the family heads of Israel. Then the priests and Levites received the silver and gold and sacred articles that had been weighed out to be taken to the house of our God in Jerusalem.
See Ezra’s strategy for transporting money. He first handed it over to God then expected God to look after his own money.
I am not suggesting we pour our money into the offering (giving to God) but that we retain our God-given stewardship. We make sure our lives and all we are, all we possess belongs to God. God is able to look after his own.
