JOYFUL GIVING by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Patti Lusher)

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I Corinthians 8:1-7 (The Message)

8 ^1-4 Now, friends, I want to report on the surprising and generous ways in which God is working in the churches in Macedonia province. Fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit. The trial exposed their true colors: They were incredibly happy, though desperately poor. The pressure triggered something totally unexpected: an outpouring of pure and generous gifts. I was there and saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could—far more than they could afford!—pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians.

^5-7 This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives. That’s what prompted us to ask Titus to bring the relief offering to your attention, so that what was so well begun could be finished up. You do so well in so many things—you trust God, you’re articulate, you’re insightful, you’re passionate, you love us—now, do your best in this, too.

JOYFUL HEARTS

If you came upon an unexpected pot of money, a big pot of money, and you didn’t desperately NEED anything for yourself or your family, what would you do with it?

Isn’t that a fun game to play? When people win the lottery, you often hear, “I’m gonna buy a house for my Momma.”  It’s fun to dream about all the things you’d do if you had a whole pot of money.  I’d like to think I would give lots of it away.  It gives me joy to think about all the people I could help.

I believe all of us who follow Jesus have hearts that make us want to help other people.  We have generous hearts.  If you remember a sermon from a couple of weeks ago I shared with you after the tragedy at the Boston Marathon, I held up an empty glass of water, and then poured water into it.  We’re like an empty vessel and when we allow God to fill us up with good things, there’s no room left for the bad things.  God’s love and generosity spills over.  If we can open ourselves to the good things of God, they spill over and there’s no room for anything else.

Scripture from II Corinthians tells such a story.  Paul’s offering for the poor in Jerusalem had been a massive project since the beginning of his ministry.  He’s replying to a letter from the church in Corinth.  They must have asked, “How do we do this?  Won’t people be offended if we ask for money?  What if we have new people in church that day? They may never come back.”

Paul replies by giving an example of a church in Macedonia; these folks have had hard times, they’ve had it bad, not like you rich people in Corinth.  Even though they were afflicted, they begged to give to the poor in Jerusalem BECAUSE THEY KNOW HOW MUCH GOD LOVES THEM.

Now, there has been some stress between Paul and the Corinthians so it’s possible he is shaming them into giving; I hope not, I hate it when pastors use shame.  Maybe he is using healthy competition - like when your child’s class gets a pizza party for raising the most money.  But I like to think the best of people, so I choose to believe that Paul is simply giving them a positive example, and giving them the opportunity to choose to respond.  The choice is still theirs.  People want to be generous.  

It is interesting to know that the people in Corinth were better off than the people in Macedonia, so they had more means to give to the poor in Jerusalem.  I am sure Paul wanted to raise as much as he could because he knew the need in Jerusalem was great. 

But this is the tension.  You just don’t know what’s going to motivate people to give.  Sometimes folks give because we hear about a need and our hearts are touched by a story and we want to give.  And sometimes people are motivated to give because we are aware and thankful of our own blessings.  Not just blessed with money, we know that God loves us and we want to do good things to change the world.  We are generous because we know that God loves us, and we want to respond with joyful giving.  We may not give big gifts but we give what we can. And we are glad to be able to give.

They say that people who live on the edge are better givers.  Perhaps people who have less financial wealth may have learned to depend on God.  In any case, they tend to give a higher percentage of their income away. 

This has been proven statistically. One study I found showed that people making less than $20,000 a year gave 4.3% of their money to charity; and other people in 4 other income groups, ranging from $20,000 and up way beyond $60,000 per year, gave anywhere from 2.7 % to as little as 2% on average.  I was surprised by that. Here are some reasons from the study.

·       People with less money know what it is like to live with less money.

·      Some really wealthy people don’t know anyone who is poor.  I can’t imagine what it’s like to be so insulated, but it’s true.  They are far removed from people living in need.  When you don’t see it, you are less prone to give out of compassion.

·      One person in the study, “Herbert Smith, 31, a Seventh-day Adventist who said he tithed his $1,010 monthly disability check — giving away 10 percent of it — thought that poor people give more because, in some ways, they worry less about their money.  ‘We're not scared of poverty the way rich people are,’ he said. ‘We know how to get the lights back on when we can't pay the electric bill.’"

There was another reason.  It has to do with legal and illegal immigrants who send money to family back home.  This one is really interesting to me.  They are getting very low wages and sending money home to take care of people they love.  They are sacrificing themselves here to take care of family.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/05/19/68456/americas-poor-are-its-most-generous.html#.UYQfzMon7Ug#storylink=cpy

That last reason seems the most significant to me.  Immigrants, even though they are some of the lowest wage earners, give a high percentage of their income away, because they are sending it home to people who are even poorer than they are. They are giving because they care about someone.

If I have a family member in need, and I have the means to help them, without putting my own children at risk, I will do that. Won’t you? And if I have plenty, I just want to share it with others. It gives me joy to be able to give some of it away.  When I’ve been able to help somebody, I’m glad when they’re in better shape, and I hope they can help somebody when they’re able.

Kurt told me the most amazing story this week about one of his clients giving with joy.  My husband Kurt is an attorney and represents injured workers in their workers comp claims.  Someone did something kind for Kurt.  He was representing the wife of an injured worker; the worker had died, and it was a complicated claim that lasted several years.  The spouse was eligible for life-time benefits and Kurt  fought hard for those.

They settled the claim and the wife came to Kurt’s office to sign checks.  The woman looked at Kurt and said, “I want to give you a tip.”  She told him he had worked many years for her, and she appreciated his work.  She insisted on giving the tip.  So, Kurt called his ethics attorney.  “Can I take a tip?”  The answer was yes.

The woman came back with cash and asked him to do something for himself and for his firm.  She was thankful for what Kurt had done.  She knew she had been blessed and she wanted to share her joy by doing something kind for the attorney who had helped her.

Kurt gave some of the money to Jobs With Justice, an organization that helps fight for the rights of workers.  He also used some of the money for an upgrade on software that allowed him to give a job to another person.  The joy was spread.

This was not a wealthy woman. This was the last money she was going to see, but it gave her joy to share it.  She wanted to give Kurt a tip because she could, and because she was grateful.  It’s the only cash tip he’s ever gotten.  She wanted to do something beyond what she had to do.

How do you decide how to give your money away?  I went through lots of websites to see what people do with their money.  I found a 25-year-old kid who gave away half his trust fund to charity, a fascinating story.

Once a year we ask you to make a financial commitment to The Village Church for the next year.  We give you opportunities to give your time in service throughout the year.  We have special offerings throughout the year.  But, once a year we have a Commitment Campaign and ask you to consider what your primary giving will be to our church.

Some of us tithe; we give 10% because it is a biblical goal.  Some give more than a tithe; some give less but work toward a tithe.  Some give what is in their pocket on a Sunday.  Many of us don’t carry money.  How many of you don’t carry your checkbook or much cash with you?  I don’t.  A lot of us give online now, so that’s why Russ and Tanner did their skit for us.

I want to ask you to be thoughtful about what you will give, and plan.  We make plans for retirement, or to save to buy something important (like a car); we make plans to pay our rent every month, or to send our kids to college.  So, here at The Village we ask you to make plans to include The Village in your plans, because The Village is important to us, just like having a roof over our heads, and school for our kids, and other important things that we spend money on.   We invite you to make a financial gift to the Village in your monthly plan.

Give on-line if you pay your other bills that way. That way, you can give consistently, and we can expect your gift every month.

We ask you to make a written commitment so we know what to expect from you. This helps us plan our budget.  You’ll be getting a commitment card in the mail.  We’ll ask everyone to bring it back in two weeks, and we’re going to have a free, catered celebration lunch on May 19, when we will also receive our new Village Church members.

The most important thing is this – give with joy.  Give because you love God, and you are thankful for God in your life.  Give because this church means something to you and you want to share in supporting this church to do what we do.  We don’t want anyone to give because you feel pressure. 

Getting back to the question I asked at the beginning of this message, if I suddenly came into lots of money, I would give a big chunk of it to The Village because I believe in The Village and I believe we would do great things with that money here. We would change the world.  

Well, Kurt and I get money every month. To some it’s a big amount, to others it would seem small.  It does not really matter how big it is.  It is what we have. Every month we give a generous portion of it FIRST to this church, WITH JOY because we love this church and we believe in this church.  I invite you to pray about what you are giving and what you will give in the next year.  Whatever the amount, most of all I hope you will give it with a joyful heart!