Don’t worry I’m not going to hit you up for another 10%.
So 25% is the limit? Well there isn’t really a limit. It was at this point that grace giving took over, or you might say “giving from your heart” or in basic terms, nonrequired offerings.
Nonrequired, now you’re talking my language.
Numbers 18 gives us, what we call, “firstfruits” offerings in which an Israelite, out of their love for God, brought the first-fruits of his crop or livestock to God. The thing which really stands out is that they did so without any knowledge about how the rest of their harvest will go. That could’ve been the best or the last of what they would reap that harvest, yet they still gave it to God, trusting that He would bring in the rest. Totally voluntary.
We also have freewill offerings.
Exodus 25: Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering.”
Totally Voluntary. Exodus 36 even shows us that the response to this was so great that Moses had to tell them to stop. And the people were restrained from bringing, 7 for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done—indeed too much.
Whether mandator or voluntary, the key for Christians should always be the state of their heart. You ever catch yourself giving in contempt or is your heart overflowing with joy and God’s grace?
So back to Part 1 with Paul and the Macedonians’ astounding giving: “we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: 2 that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.”
Today we start getting a little weary if one of our accounts hit sub 100, with savings still in another. We feel broke because we can’t go out for dinner every weekend. But the Macedonians, not only were they extremely poor, they were “in a great trial of affliction”. What does that really mean? Well the Macedonians were strangled by life. You know when people say “this life isn’t worth living”, the Macedonians are one of the few people who could probably get away with that without sounding dramatic. The surrounding culture rejected them and continued to pursue them because of their devotion to Christ. A lot of us would find such a situation basically impossible to navigate, yet in their extreme poverty and severe trials came incredible grace and overflowing joy which welled up in rich generosity.
Paul gives even more context to their grace: 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.
“They urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.”
They begged Paul to give, not the other way around. “Come on Paul, I’ve still got more to give, stopping capping me my guy.” “Don’t limit us!”
“I pray God will make me rich so that I can give to others.”
The grace of giving has nothing to do with being well off. It is not dictated by ability, but rather a willingness to give.
But where did such a will to give come from?
5 And they exceeded our expectations: they gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.
They gave themselves first to God, before even attempting to go into their pockets. In all that they did, God, and their adoration of him, carried them through. I guess it is pretty simple. When all you have is given to God, giving to others becomes a natural reflex.
It’s easy to give a part when you’ve already given the whole.
My Sunday Skl 