2Corinthians 9:1-12

Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written,

“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
 his righteousness endures forever.”

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 every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

Luke 21:1-4

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box,  and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.  And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

The scriptures that I chose for today both talk about money.  But, I don’t want you to understand this as message as my “sermon on the amount” this is a message about the spirit in which we give. I do believe that the tithe; ten percent, of our time, treasure and talent, is the minimum God requires of us. I also believe that we should give more than the minimum.

God does not want us to give according to what is written. God wants us to give from the heart. The widow, placing the two coins in the treasury for the temple gives from her heart a gift of extravagance. She acknowledges the blessings in her life and understands that God has blessed her and because she is filled with love she gives extravagantly back to God through the church.

Do you trust in God like the widow? Recognize here that it is easier to preach ten sermons than to follow one. The widow totally trusts in God; she puts all she has to live on into the treasury. I don’t trust God like that! I know some of what God has blessed me with, but I recognize that I have blessings in my life that I am not aware of right now. I admit there is room in my life to grow in my trust of God.

This story of the widow also points out to me the idea that less often is more. The widow lives so simply that it is easier for her to trust God. She is not worried about her clothes, her car payment, the utilities for her house, credit card bills, or Christmas gifts. She lives totally dependent on God for her survival. With out the extras in her life she can concentrate more fully on her relationship with God. Does she know where her next meal is coming from? Most likely not, but she is confident that when she needs nourishment God will provide for her.

Now to walk the thin line between Church and State; I believe too many of us depend on the government to do things for us that we should be doing for each other. Government should be responsible for some basic necessities for the people. Where do you draw the line? It seems to me the more we depend on the government, the less we depend on God. We are very active as a community of faith in this community in reaching out to the hungry. We have taken seriously the needs of the disadvantaged in Oneida and are working with systems and structures already in place to provide healthy safe food to people in the area. Not all churches are doing this and we could do it better than we do. There is room for more involvement and room for growth. What should we depend out government to provide for us and to what extent should we depend on the systems and structure of Government to provide for our needs? When do we stop depending on government and depend on God and each other?

Paul says something very important in the scripture from second Corinthians. “Each one must give from his heart, not reluctantly or out of compulsion. God loves a cheerful giver.” When was the last time you looked cheerfully at your offering envelope? When was the last time you felt blessed to be able to put something in the offering envelope? Giving to the church and the ministries we do through the community of faith should be a blessing. Yet, many of us do not see our giving as a blessing, rather we see it either as the right thing to do or a responsibility.

Further, too many of us believe the only thing we have to do is toss money to the church and that’s “good enough”. God challenges us to go further. Remember Paul tells us that if we sow sparingly we will reap sparingly. What we give matters to God. If we believe that God is everywhere, knows all things, and sees all things. God knows your heart.

Think back to the story of creation in the Book of Genesis. God works six days and takes the seventh for a rest. As followers of Christ this is our model; 5 days to work at our careers, one day of work at home and a day to rest our spirit for the week to come, a day of Sabbath. God worked days one through five and at the end of each of those days God said the work was good. On the sixth day, God creates humankind and at the end of the day God says the work is very good. Do you see the progression? God creates out of the chaos and creates, God seperates light from dark, waters above from water below, land from water, creates plants and animals, and then after God honed a skill set of creating; God creates humankind and humankind is created in the image of God. God was in pursuit of excellence. Even after creation God pursued excellence. Humankind did not move in the same direction as God so God sent the waters of the flood and started over with Noah and his family.  God selected Abraham and made of him a great nation. Good took a nation out of Egypt and set them up in the Promised Land and tried to place strong role models in search of relationships with God to rule the people. Men like David, women like Deborah, people with the skill set to lead. And when these people failed, God sent his son to help us learn and deepen our faith and trust. Now God sets the pursuit of excellence on our shoulders.

God desires a deep meaningful relationship with you. All around us are reminders of God’s faithfulness to us: the fruits of creation, the wisdom of doctors, the knowledge of professors, the strength of leaders and the love of family. All these things and more point to the God who loves us. Each and every one of us fails to give God the recognition of all the blessings in our lives. We catch some of the blessings, we might even admit, after the fact, that a “bad” situation was just what we needed to draw us deeper into relationship with God. Through all that I still believe that we miss some of the blessings God pours out on us.

God says don’t be so stingy, give a little back to me. Just trust me with a portion of what I have given you and see what I will make happen with what you trust to me.

It’s not just money. God says trust me with a bit of your time and a bit of your ability and I will multiply them. Remember that Jesus says we can do things, even bigger than he did, if we just had a bit of faith as big as a mustard seed (Matthew 17:19-21). Further more Paul says, “I can do all tings through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). If we truly believe that and if we really want the relationship with God that our hearts and souls crave, it begins with trusting God with a portion of our time treasure and talent. God has given us all the opportunity to see the extravagance of God’s blessings. The next step is up to us. I ask you to boldly take your next step and trust God with just a bit more than you are right now. See how God uses that, blesses you, and multiplies the gift.