God is a Giver-We Give to be like Him

Text: Corinthians 8: 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.   INTRODUCTION: My dear friends in Christ, A pastor in Tennessee tells about Nathan, a precocious three-year-old in his church. Nathan’s parents were trying to introduce him to what it means to be in church. One Sunday they gave him a one-dollar bill that Nathan was to place in the offering plate. When the plate moved down Nathan’s pew, his parents held it in front of him and told him to place the dollar in the plate. Nathan balked. Finally his mother gently took the dollar from him. She placed it in the plate, and it was passed on down the pew.   Suddenly the offering music was overwhelmed by a voice demanding, “I want my dollar back! I want my dollar back!” In Nathan’s eyes, he had been robbed and he wanted everyone to know it. His parents tried in vain to quiet their son, but he was insistent, “I want my dollar back!” Everyone in the congregation was fighting a losing battle against laughter. Throughout the remaining strains of the organist’s meditative tune, the only thing most worshippers heard was, “I want my dollar back!” Eventually, his parents gave Nathan another dollar to hold and he was content enough.  The Pastor knew he needed to talk about what had happened. Looking out at the smiling faces he said, “We shouldn’t laugh. It may be that Nathan is only voicing the feelings that many of us have after having given to God. We do so, not joyously but out of a sense of obligation. We do so unwillingly. We may not say it, but some of us think it, ‘I want my dollar back!’” In our text Paul is calling for us to learn about giving in a greater way than those parents were trying to teach little Nathan.  And often the same reaction is encountered as we learn.
I.    Why does Paul try to teach us about giving?  Why do we react in a tight fisted way?  How should we react to the idea of Giving?
	A.  Could it be that Paul calls for giving because God needs our money? Does God need our money? Ponder that idea for a second — could that really be the reason? No, not if we have any understanding of God at all. When you really think about it the idea that God would need our money is totally ridiculous.
			1. First, that idea is arrogant, as if we were indispensable to God, as if God could not operate without us.
					a. I'm sorry to burst any bubbles, but God can get along just fine without our money, or our time, or our talents.   b. If God needed to He could take whatever we have without our consent if necessary and leave us as a greasy spot where we used to be.
			2. And second, this idea shows a conception of God that is far too small.
					a. You see, God owns everything. At His word the universe came into being. At His word the world was made. At His word all the beasts of the field were made.   b. The Psalmist writes: "The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; . (Psalm 24:1] "Every beast of the forest is Mine." He says, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. [Psalm 50: 10-12]   c. No, God does not need what we have — actually we really don't have anything that's not already His.
	B. Could Paul be calling for giving because the church needs the money?
			1. Of Course, there is some truth to this — the church always needs money. When it stops needing money then it is dead.   2. Yes, God does often do his work through churches, but again God can supply whatever the church would need without any of us. We limit the church not God.
II. But all this is putting the cart before the horse —It’s not the overall reason for giving.  The real reason for giving is not for God, it's not for the church. No, God wants us to give "for us" What?? To explain that we have to get a little background.
	A. Remember God is a "Giver."
				1. He made the world, but not for Himself. What did he do with the world he had just made? He gave it to Adam and Eve. He told them to rule over it.   So He gave the world to mankind!  And now he continues to give the world to us as He preserves it.   2. Not only did He give mankind the world, but he gave us His image.
					a. This is a concept that defies explanation, but we can get a glimpse of what it means.   b. We can sum it up by saying that We were like Him in every way, except being a spirit.
	B.   But Adam and Eve rejected this image and sinned.
				1. They and all who came after them are broken.  We lost far more then we realize when we sinned and lost the image of God. We are no longer like God.  Now we no longer know God.   2. Now we don't see Him as the Giver He is.  Now we grasp – become tight-fisted because of sin, and because we don’t recognize who God really is.
III. But fortunately God's giving did not end with our turning from Him. He now works to redeem us from sin. And to this end He continues to give in special ways
		A. The first and most important thing He gave was His Son, Jesus.
				1. And our text says: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." [2 Corinthians 8:9]   2. Jesus — God's Son came from the riches of heaven to the poverty of a stable in Bethlehem. He gave and He gave. He even gave His life on a cross, paying for our sin. He took the punishment we deserve. He redeemed us — or paid the price to help us.
					a. There is a story I like to tell.  I’ve told it before but it bears repeating.    There was a young boy who lived in a New England seaport and loved to watch the boats come in from their daily catch. One day he decided to build a little sailboat all of his own. He worked for weeks, making sure each detail was just right. Finally the big day arrived. He went down to the wharf and proudly put his boat into the water. As he triumphantly observed his new sailboat. But then the wind suddenly changed, and the tiny boat was swept out of sight. The little boy was heartbroken. Every day for a month he went back to see if his boat had been washed up on shore. Finally, one day in the market he saw his boat in a store window. He excitedly ran into the store and told the storeowner that it was his boat. The woman only responded by saying that the boat would cost him two dollars. After pleading with her to no avail, the boy finally pulled out the money and gave it to the storeowner. As the boy was leaving the store, he said, "Little boat, you are twice mine. You are mine because I made you, and now you are mine because I bought you.”     Likewise God did the same for us through Jesus. We are twice His — once because He created us, the second because He redeemed us. This redemption is given to us through his Word and Sacraments
				2.  Now that we are His children He begins to restore His image in us. He begins to gives us back what we once had (although we will never quite have it all back until we are in heaven).
					a. We begin to be like Him again,    It’s like this: One professor at a University was a delightful man with a good sense of humor. He was also bald. One night he and his wife decided to go out to dinner and hired a babysitter to take care of their little children. While they were gone, the babysitter got interested in a television program and wasn't watching the children very carefully. Their little boy Peter Andrew, got into his father's electric shaver and shaved a big landing strip right down the middle of his head. When his father came home, he was furious. He said, "Peter Andrew! I told you never to play with my shaver. Now you are going to get a spanking that you will never forget!" He was just about to give the spanking when Peter Andrew looked up at him and said,-- "Wait until you see sister!" The prof. said they were horrified. They went into the next room and there was their little four-year-old daughter with hair shaved off of her head. She looked like a little skinned rabbit. By this time the prof. was really furious. He grabbed up Peter Andrew and said, "Now you are really going to get it." Just as he lifted his hand and started to bring it down Peter Andrew looked up at him with tears in his eyes and said, "But Daddy! WE WERE JUST TRYING TO LOOK LIKE YOU!" There was one little boy who didn't get a spanking that night. Instead he got an explanation and a hug.      Now I’m not condoning the precocious behavior of this boy but here we see a profound truth about children. They want to look like their Daddy. And as we live as Christians He moves us to be like him. We are brought to be more and more in line with His original intent for us. Part of that is to be Givers like our Father.  Giving does not save but it draws us to reflect what the Giver had already done in us.   b. God moves us to be givers like him for our good. It doesn't seem like it should be so, but it is. It's like returning to his original intentions for us. As we Give He moves us to be a little closer to what He has designed us to be. As we give he works to fulfill His game plan for us.   c. And since Christ is the ultimate picture of what it’s like to be the image of God we are moved to be like Him.  But we can't be Christ-like if we don't give, because He is a giver. Giving is now part of how God is shifting who we are. We are made less selfish. Our greedy hearts are reformed. Less selfish people make better husbands, wives, employees, employers.   d. Because His image is being restored we are happiest and most fulfilled when we are giving as the Giver does. We give up what the world says would make us happy and by doing that we become more fulfilled.
CONCLUSION:    Why does Paul want us to be givers? Why does God want us to be givers? It's not for His sake. It's not for the church. But it is for us. It’s for us because it’s an indication of His image being restored in us.  And when we reflect Him we benefit above and beyond what we would expect. Yes, as odd as it may sound we are called to be givers for our own sakes. Amen