Giving

A mother wanted to teach her daughter a moral lesson. She gave the little girl a £5 note and a £1 coin for church "Put whichever one you want in the collection plate and keep the other for yourself," she told the girl. When they were coming out of church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given. "Well," said the little girl, "I was going to give the £5 note, but just before the collection the man in the pulpit said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I'd be a lot more cheerful if I gave the £1 coin, so I did."

Tonight’s New Testament Reading (2 Cor.8:1-9) covers another of those subjects which we’re not often very keen to discuss. However the subject has come up quite a bit in readings recently, and in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus is recorded talking about this subject an average of once every 6 verses. The subject of course is money and giving.

More than with any other subject people cringe as the preacher talks about money, and I can understand it. Earlier this year I went to a wedding and it was a really nice service, but at the end the minister came out before the couple processed out, wished us all well, mentioned the lovely plate of food we would be enjoying at the reception, and went on to talk about the plates at the back of the Church needing to look lovely before we left.

The impression we so often give about money is that we’re happy if people come to Church and just give their money, but it’s not, or at least should not, be true ! Sadly the impression that the Church is always looking for money has been a very damaging one. People have become so hung up on the money side of things that they don’t realise that primarily God wants them, and that is the message that the Church must give.

It’s a very logical sort of argument that if the people come then the money will follow, so it is people that we want most of all… However, we can’t ignore the money side of things. A Church truly concerned with mission and with discipleship needs money to survive, and people concerned with those things must be prepared to give.

And so we go back to the reading from this evening as we think of the motivation for giving. And I think there are 2 main motives. The first is because we are responding to what others have given. For many years our Churches have helped in this area to meet a vision – a vision of sharing the gospel of Jesus to the communities around us. People have sacrificed so much over centuries for the cause of the Church that, if we think it’s important too, then we must be prepared to make similar sacrifices.

And the second reason is that we want to give from our hearts. As we look around and see need locally and further afield, we are trusting the Church to use our money to make a difference for good. A difference that, from deep down in our hearts, we want to see.

As Paul wrote to the Corinthians he didn’t beg for money just to preserve a struggling Church. He asked people to respond to God in a generous way – and he asked people to give because they had received and could give.

And perhaps we have something to learn from this – giving is about time and talent. It is about using the God given gifts we have for the benefit of his Church, and for the benefit of all those around us. But money is one of those gifts that we must not be afraid to talk about – it is a gift from God, to be used for his glory and for the extension of his kingdom.

Too often, we, perhaps like the little girl in the illustration at the start are prepared to give that little bit less to the Church because we don’t think they really need it, or simply want to spend it ourselves. And here’s where we have to be careful – God gives us money as a blessing that we can enjoy – people often say money is the root of all evil, but it is not money, but the love of money that is the root of all evil.

If we put money before God then money will lead to evil, but giving is, as Paul suggests in his letter, not to be a chore, but something that is heartfelt. As I’m talking about giving I have to admit to a little bit of guilt – this week Helen and I went to look at a new television, and the salesman couldn’t have done a better job ! On a 50 inch version of the television we were looking at (which is smaller than that !) he played a Katherine Jenkins video – Who could possibly have resisted ?? The money was out on the counter straight away !

I was indeed a cheerful and a willing giver, and that is actually how we should give to God. Paul asked people to give as a response to what they had received, from other people, from the Church and from God himself. And so as we think about giving we need to ask ourselves the question, ‘Why are we doing it?’ If it’s to keep the Church open to preserve a museum to the past, then we’re wrong. If it’s because we feel guilty about not giving, then we’re wrong.

We give because Jesus has given and wants us to give to others… The giving of its congregations puts a huge responsibility on the Church itself, because the Church must use that money wisely. Mission has always been, and remains, the most important duty of the Church here and everywhere, and the spending of the Church must ultimately reflect that.

Above all, as we think about our own giving we think about what Jesus gave for us. He couldn’t, literally couldn’t have given any more. Is that true of us as we think of the gifts we give both financially, practically and spiritually ? People are often very generous but nobody has ever been as generous as Jesus himself in giving everything for us.

Churches should never be associated with asking for money all of the time, but Christians must be associated with being good and cheerful givers as we respond to that love of Jesus, and seek to tell others about it. AMEN