Effective Giving

Audio Player

John Wesley was the great Evangelical leader in the 18th century. In 1789 he preached in Dublin. His sermon was entitled the Causes of the Inefficacy of Christianity. And he said this:

"Wherever true Christianity spreads, it must cause diligence and frugality, which, in the natural course of things, must beget riches! And riches naturally beget pride, love of the world, and every temper that is destructive of Christianity. Now, if there be no way to prevent this, Christianity is inconsistent with itself and, of consequence, cannot stand, cannot continue long among any people; since, wherever it generally prevails, it saps its own foundation."

This foundation is being sapped today. The 17th Report of British Social Attitudes - the national survey - was published just before Christmas. The decline in the number of people professing allegiance to Christianity is alarming. We will be hearing more of that later in the service. But what is the cause? Why is there this rejection of the gospel in Britain today? John Wesley would point to materialism as a cause. He would have us think about the greed that exists in the world, but also in the church. It was Jesus who said in Luke 12.15:

"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

Well, one antidote to greed is giving, our subject for tonight - EFFECTIVE GIVING

For those of you who are new to JPC let me say that at this time of year we major on the subject of money and giving. On two Sundays starting at the end of January we teach (morning and evening) about what the Bible has to say about these issues. And it has a great deal to say. The passage for us to study tonight is the passage we had as our New Testament reading, 1 Corinthians 15.50-16.9.

And first I want to focus on what I've called THE REALITY, and secondly, THE RESPONSE.


First, THE REALITY

There are in fact two 'realities' here. First, there is Paul's reality which is an immediate one. Look at 1 Cor 16 verse 8:

I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost.

Paul was wanting to make a longish visit back to see the Corinthian Christians. He wanted to help them as they were somewhat unstable as in their faith. You discover this as you read the epistle. But Paul puts off making this visit and the journey from Ephesus because (verse 9) ...

a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.

That is Paul's reality. And indeed, that is so often the reality for Christian people today. It is certainly the reality for Christian people here in Jesmond. God has opened for us 'a great door for effective work.' We sense a new openness. Over Christmas we had thousands literally to our Christmas services, more than ever before. People are looking for meaning and purpose in life, disillusioned as they are with our current political leaders and much of the pap and anti-Christian propaganda in education and the mass media. They want something better for their children. That is why it is important to set up a Christian City Academy in Newcastle. But there are many who will oppose these opportunities. They opposed Paul and they will oppose us. Well, that was Paul's immediate reality - and ours - opportunity but opposition.

Secondly, however, there was and is a great overall reality - the Resurrection of Christ and our resurrection one day. That is what Paul has been focusing on when he comes to talk about money in chapter 16. His great desire (as far as the Corinthians and the world is concerned) is not to raise money but to tell people that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. There was that miraculous transformation on the first Easter day. Christ's body is now no longer in a tomb in Palestine. And Paul knew that Christ had risen. He had met him! So he wants the Corinthians to be clear in their minds about the Resurrection. He says, 1 Cor 15.17:

if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

But as Paul argues in 1 Corinthians 15.20, and millions since have been able to argue:

Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

And what does that mean? It means that sins are forgiven. The devil is, and will be, finally defeated. And for those who trust in Christ for forgiveness and victory, there is that wonderful hope of heaven. As we heard in our reading - verse 51 of chapter 15:

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

And Paul goes on in verse 54:

then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

That is the great reality. That is the background to everything Paul has to say in chapter 16 about money. Is that the background to your thinking about this present life? A man I met last week, a Christian leader, has on his desk this motto:

heaven awaits; hell is hot; time is short.

I hardly need tell you, he is an American! But that is so right. I had to be out of the country last week. When I got back on Monday afternoon I learnt that a contemporary of mine from university-days had died. On Friday morning there was a memorial service in this church. Death is a reality. But the gospel is that death has been defeated; so has sin - the great sting of death. With sins forgiven through the cross of Calvary where Christ died bearing our sins, there is hope. How, therefore, we need to tell others that good news. So that is the great reality - Christ is risen and heaven awaits. What, then, does Paul say should be our response to all this? That brings me to my second heading tonight.


Secondly, THE RESPONSE.

And he says three things. First, look at verse 58 of chapter 15:

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.

You are to stand firm. How important that is these days. I see Christian people drifting - so easily. They drift because of the cultural values all around. On the one hand there is hedonism and especially sexual immorality. In the United States George Barna tells us there are more divorces among Christians than among non Christians. On the other hand there is materialism and the temptation to greed - what Jesus calls ...

the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things (Mark 4.19).

So Paul says, 'stand firm. Let nothing move you.' Don't drift. You say that is easier said than done. That is true. But Paul is not saying 'just grit your teeth and try harder.' No! He has practical advice. He says - the last part of verse 58:

Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.

Satan finds work for idle hands to do. There is, of course, work fo the Lord as you live and witness among your friends and colleagues. But praise God for the hundreds of people who give themselves to the work of the Lord in this place. For as you do work you are involved with a set of people who have different standards to those of the world, and those standards rub off on you. If you are doing a job 'in the Lord' - teaching in the Sunday School, helping in the crèche, being a small group bible study leader or whatever - it is never 'in vain'. That, then, is the first response - make sure you don't drift - and give 'yourself fully to the work of the Lord.'

The second response you have got in chapter 16. This is not just giving yourself. It is giving your money. Look at verses 1-3:

Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem.

Paul is here referring to a collection for the Christians in Jerusalem. It may have been that they had needs because of persecution. So these verses tell us, at the very least, we should be concerned about poorer Christians that we know - and many, if not, most of these will be in other parts of the world. Old Bishop Ryle once wrote: "I believe there is an utter disproportion between men's expenditure on themselves and their outlay on works of charity and works of mercy."

But these verses also give us five principles for Christian giving in general that are relevant for home as well as missionary and third world giving. First, Paul clearly is saying that giving is to be principled and thought out. That is why we have a 'giving scheme' at Jesmond and have no collections in our services for our own needs. You should be receiving the literature about it during the week. Please read it. Paul said: 'Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.' He clearly thought that the Galatian 'giving scheme' was exportable.

Secondly, he says, be regular - 'On the first day of every week each one of you should set aside a sum of money.' This, incidentally, shows that Christians did think of Sunday - the day of the Resurrection as a special day. God led them to move his special day of rest from the 'seventh day' of the week (that had celebrated the first creation) to the 'first day' of the week (that now celebrates the new creation). But the point of this is regular giving. And a help for regular giving today is a bankers order.

Thirdly, Paul says, verse 2, give proportionately - give 'in keeping with [your] income.' You say, 'what proportion'? The Old Testament, as we heard in our first lesson from Malachi, spoke about a tithe or a tenth for God's work. But you say, 'Is that for now, after Christ, when we have a new covenant?' The answer is 'Yes, but we must listen to Jesus teaching.' It seems a bit like the day of rest - or the Sabbath - we have just been speaking about. Jesus encountered a great deal of legalism with regard to the Sabbath. And he would have none of it. But he still kept the day of rest himself. And the change to Sunday, from Saturday, showed that one day in seven as special was still important after Christ. It seems the same with tithing. Jesus found legalism there. He found religious people tithing, giving a tenth, in a precise legalistic way, yet being fundamentally disobedient to God's word. But Jesus approved their tithing while he attacked their disobedience - Matthew 23.23:

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practised the latter, without neglecting the former.

It is a fact that tithing, like the day of rest, although endorsed at the time of Moses, came earlier than the law of Moses. The seventh day of rest was instituted according to Genesis 2 at Creation; and in Genesis 14 we read of Abraham, long before Moses, tithing to Melchizedek. So what does all that mean for the Christian?

Paul simply says here, give 'in keeping with [your] income'. He doesn't say, 'give ten percent'. Was he weakening Jesus teaching? Of course not. It was Jesus who had taught that our righteousness must 'surpass that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law' (Mat 5.20). Jesus commended Zacchaeus who gave not 10 percent but 50 percent. And he praised the poor widow who amazingly gave 100 percent. Of course, Paul would have known that there were rich people at Corinth who could give more than ten percent. He knew that the rich can give not only more but proportionately more of their wealth than the poor. He knew that in giving, what is important is what is left.

John Wesley, who we have referred to and who over his lifetime received much money, gave away basically all of it. He died with just two silver spoons left as an inheritance. John Laing the Christian builder also gave away a great fortune and left little. As we are to steward all our time for the Lord (not just one day in seven), so we are to steward all our money for the Lord (not just ten percent). Ten percent, like one day in seven, is just a reminder. Yes, bills have to be paid. Responsibilities to dependants have to be met. Paul knew that. But he says, give proportionately. Nor does he limit that giving. That proportion is between you and God.

Fourthly, he says, there should be no panic about Christian funding:

[set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income,] saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

If there is regular giving, rather than irregular giving, it makes it easier for those who have to administer a church's finances.

Fifthly, he says that there must be accountability (v 3):

when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem..

Paul was concerned that the donors had confidence that the money was going to where it was meant to go to and not somewhere else. How important, therefore, that money given to charities and churches is properly audited. So at this church the accounts are fully audited. You can see them at the AGM-time at the back of the church, and, of course, at the AGM. To recap - then - the first response to the great truth of heaven and the Resurrection is to stand firm and give yourself to the Lord's work. The second response is to be faithful and give your money to the Lord's work. The third response is in verses 14:

Do everything in love.

Paul had already said in that famous chapter 13 ...

... even though you 'give all you possess to the poor ... but have not love, you gain nothing'.

You see, giving money won't save you. Of course, not. You can still give money, but your heart can be quite wrong before God. So what is the answer - and with this I must conclude?

There needs to be a prior work of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that God pours out 'his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.' (Rom 5.5). You first need to be truly born again, to use Jesus phrase, by the Holy Spirit of God. Then there will be that new and right motivation. You will then want to give - however daunting it may seem. You will want to live for God and not yourself. You will see that Christ 'died for all ...

that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again (2 Cor 5.15).

And you will see that Christian giving is so sensible.

You will see that it is the way that needs are met and opportunities for the gospel can be taken. It is a way of defeating one form of opposition, lack of resources. Without Christian giving, there would be no Jesmond Parish Church and no mission work - no Wycliffe Bible Translators, no Christian Institute and no Tear Fund.

You will also see that it is the way that God blesses you. As Proverbs 11.24 says:

One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

Of course, you mustn't give to get! You must give because you believe that God is good, he loves you, and he wants the best for you, and in response you want to thank him and then let others to know about him. You want your wealth, however, small or large to help in the extension of his kingdom. But it is amazing that as you give, so often you are blessed, even financially.

Back to top