Creekside Church Sermon of September 21, 2003 "God's Generous Generosity " 2 Corinthians 9:6-15	Rev. David Bibbee
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I'm going to waste no time telling you what this sermon is about. It is about money. The church needs it. God wants us to give it.

Most pastors don't enjoy talking about money. Stewardship sermons rarely get "Amens!" Congregations should be grateful their pastors don't talk about money nearly as much as Jesus.

Perhaps we were subjected to the guilt approach to giving. "Won't you please bite off a little more for God this year? If we don't get enough pledges we won't be able to pay the pastor's salary. We'll have to set the thermostats in the sanctuary and classrooms to 55 degrees this winter."

"Enduring pain for higher gain" sermons do not work. A successful businessman was traumatized at turning fifty. He went to his pastor and said, "I've never been so depressed. The caring pastor asked some probing questions: "What are your most intense inner feelings?" The man replied, "I don't know. All I know is that I am very unhappy. It may be the age thing. All I know is that I have no contentment in my life." After confiding much, his pastor said, "I can hardly think of a more blessed person than you. After all, you have a six-figure income, a large paid annuity, a palatial home, two luxury cars-- everything money can buy." The despondent man replied, "Yes, I know, but it doesn't make any difference. I'm still depressed." Thinking that a benevolent act might serve a therapeutic value he suggested to the man, "Why don't you give away your money?" The businessman lifted his head from his sweaty palms and replied, "I don't want to be happy THAT badly."

Experience has taught me that, "If we would only" sermons aren't effective. You know the appeal: "Is a dollar a day for the quality programming you hear on Public Radio too much to ask? You spend as much or more for that cup of cappachino on the way to work each morning." "If every church in the Northern Indiana District would give just $7 per member, we would more than double the District budget." Or, "If every Elkhart City member tithed 10% of their income, we could increase programming and extend the reach of our mission. "From a facts and figures standpoint this makes sense. But "if" isn't a good motivator. "If" wishes were horses then dreamers would ride.

Today marks the twenty-first year I have given a stewardship sermon. I wish I could tell you that giving was influenced dramatically by one of those sermons. Like I said, "I wish..." I've worked with hot-off-the-press stewardship programs, each claiming to be the "giving solution" the church has waited for. In twenty-one years I've learned to separate the wheat from the chaff.

The church which Jesus loved to death is worthy of more than glossy appeals, dog and pony shows, giving motivated by guilt and obligation, or "giving to" God in order to "get something from" God.

Therefore my appeal is straight-forward, unapologetic. Christians need to give. By "needing to give" I don't mean ITS THE LAW! Christians "need to give" because they can't help themselves. We have heard a message. We live by a different reality. We know what they have received. We experience life as a pure gift.

Today I want to share a CONVICTION, an OBSERVATION, and a MOTIVATION. My conviction is that the ground floor of giving is the tithe.

We should never be legalistic about tithing. The Old Testament upholds the importance of offering God a tithe-- 10% of one's labors. God gets the "first fruits," no leftovers. Many of you practice this discipline. When its time to write checks, the first one goes to the church. Its a faith statement that says, "God comes first." Your checkbook record is evidence of your priorities. Which gets paid first? The mortgage, the VISA bill, NIPSCO, Elkhart Public Utilities, the CABLE bill, insurance, or the church? "Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also."

Some of you have practiced tithing most of your life. Some started early with the encouragement of your parents. I know this is the case for Tim and Cara. Should you tithe 10% of your gross or net income? I can't answer that for you. As I said, legalism doesn't beget generosity. Its is a question to be worked out between you and the Holy Spirit.

If you don't tithe, please don't hear my remarks as scolding. Each of us have different circumstances that impact what we can give. Tithing isn't a paddle to spank us into compliance. The question is: "Does my offering represent the best I can do in response to the best God has given me?"

Paul said, "God doesn't want us to give under fear or compulsion. God loves the cheerful giver."

At District Conference, our Annual Conference Moderator Chris Bowman said there is a major concern about denominational funding in the coming years. The problem? The tithers are dying off. The baby boomers and younger generations do not tithe. We need to do a better job of educating people about the importance of tithing. This is not the SERMON ON THE AMOUNT. Whether you give 2% or 5%; whether you are working toward a tithe, or are going beyond it, your giving is a reminder of your dependence upon God.

As members of the body of Christ, we are brothers and sisters. Christ is our common chord. We worship, pray, and grow together. We help one another in whatever way necessary. We multiply each other's joys. We shoulder each other's burdens. We share the most intimate aspects of our lives with one another. The church family that is closer than many biological families. But there is one aspect of our lives we do not share.

Robert Wuthnow wrote a book called, God and Mammon in America. His research concluded that the taboo on talking about money is strongest among people who attend church. Twenty-five percent of people who seldom or never go to church claim that all or most of their friends have told them how much they earn. Among those who attend worship weekly the number drops to one in eight.

A goal of the gospel is creating people with "glad and generous hearts." Generosity grows in proportion to our awareness of God's generosity. The generous generosity of God is our motivation for giving. "Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, nor hearts conceived the glorious things that God has prepared for those who love him." Inconceivably good things await those who love God, and we don't have to die to know them.

Last Sunday in church school we talked about the ways we experience mystery in worship. Gail Vance shared an experience she had during Love Feast. Teary eyed, she recalled a dramatic moment in the service when the distinctions between space and time, past, present, and future melted away. She felt connected and surrounded by people from generations past who had gathered around the table, as well as those who have yet to come. Gail was enveloped in something words can't describe... something that Christian mystics call a "numinous, ineffable experience." What kind of price tag do you put on something like this?

Dallas Willard talks about pictures of the Eagle Nebula taken from the Hubble Space Telescope, showing clouds of gas and microscopic dust extending six trillion miles from top to bottom. Within in it, hundreds of stars, hotter and larger than our sun. He quotes an astronomer's' description of the the scene: "Towering clouds of gases trillions of miles high, backlit by nuclear fires in newly forming stars, galaxies cart wheeling into collision and sending explosive shock waves boiling through millions of light-years of time and space." As he pondered this mind-blowing sight, Willard remembered Jesus' promise to the disciples: "In my father's house there are many places to live. I go to get some ready for you." Is there a price tag you can place on such an experience of awe? What is the worth of an eternal home?

Telescopes and microscopes reveal the infinite and infinitesimal evidence of God's generosity. We think of the times past and present when we have been the direct recipients of God's goodness. Think of all you've received that you neither asked for nor deserved. Think about the times in your life when your sin was responsible for another's hurt, and you were given another chance. Think of the times you were picked up and given a shot of courage you needed to go on. Think of how different your life would be had the church never been part of it. Think of all the times you have said, "I don't see how I ever could have found my way through the dark and distressing chapters of my life without the love of Jesus in my church family." Think about the compassion you received when you grieved the death of one your loved. What's the figure you put the price tag for such blessings?

The Apostle Paul wasn't timid about taking up the collection. The church in Jerusalem had fallen on hard times. Paul was soliciting funds to alleviate the suffering of Christians in the mother church. In his second letter to the Corinthians he bragged on the Macedonians. They had their own hard times, but their lives radiated Jesus' love. Though desperately poor, they were incredibly happy. No one expected much of an offering from them, not even Paul. But the Macedonians didn't say, "You know the economy is in a slump now. We have lots of people on fixed incomes." They BEGGED for an opportunity give. The text says, "They gave whatever they could-- far more than they could afford."

WHY? There was no price tag on the generosity God had shown them. God's generosity inspired theirs.

To the church at Corinth and Elkhart City Paul says, "Lavish planters get lavish crops." I want each of you to think it over and make up your own mind what you will give. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.... God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done.

This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something that you can give away, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.... You show your gratitude through your generous offerings.

Thank God for this gift, his gift. No language can praise it enough!

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