Giving, The Macedonian Way

Read:  2nd Corinthians 8:1-15

Giving is an act of worship.  It is essential for a healthy personal relationship with God and church development.

Background:

• 2nd  Corinthians is a very personal book that shows how complex handling a church is in times of crisis – this time the church in Corinth.  
• Authorship:  The Apostle Paul, possibly along with Timothy 
• Date & Place Written:  It was written approximately in 57 A.D. during Paul’s 3rd missionary journey while he was in Macedonia, after he left from Ephesus (where he wrote 1st Corinthians)
• Purpose: To vindicate his apostleship and encourage the church to remain faithful especially in the area of helping the needy.   2nd Corinthians was actually the 4th letter of the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth.  

Who are the Macedonian Churches?
The northern part of Greece was called Macedonia. The southern part was called Achaia where the city of Corinth was located.  After the close of the Old Testament in the book of Malachi around 400 BC, the Jews returned to Palestine from Babylonian captivity.  Years later, Palestine was captured by the Greeks. This was also the reason why we have a Greek translation of the Bible called the Septuagint.  Macedonia became the center of history because of Alexander the Great, who was considered by most historians as one of the most powerful conquerors in history.  So Alexander the Great was from Macedon. Alexander was tutored by Aristotle and he succeeded his father, Philip II, where the name Philippi came from.  Alexander conquered territories making him not only the king of Macedonia, but also the pharaoh of Egypt, the King of Persia and the king of Asia. 

Macedonia became very poor and oppressed when the Romans conquered it sometime in 60 BC and that continues even up to the time of the Apostle Paul.   You can see from the map who are the churches of Macedonia:  they were in cities such as Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea and we know that in the New Testament, Paul has also sent letters to the Philippians and to the Thessalonians.   Paul spoke highly of the Macedonian churches – not only because they were faithful in giving but the fact that they are able to give despite their situations.

Important Lessons in Giving:

Like the Macedonian Christians --

1.  We can give voluntarily and with overflowing joy in our hearts

     -  Jesus said "You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things" (Mat.  23:23)

The Israelites were very good in following this concept.  This is the reason why we didn’t see Jesus not spending a great deal of time teaching about tithing in the New Testament.  They were already very good followers so there is really nothing to teach anymore.  In fact, they were very legalistic but in doing so, they forgot the more important things like love and mercy and compassion and humility and even free-will giving.  It has become more like a stressful obligation rather than a joyful act.  Jesus had to correct the hearts of the Israelites.

     -  Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, 

        not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7)

2. We can give not just out of our abundance but beyond what we perceive to be our 

    limitations

    -  I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing 

       (2 Sam 24:24)

Paul was commending the Macedonian Christians not because of the DOLLAR VALUE of their gifts, right? Remember they were poor.  Paul was commending them for their attitude, for their eagerness to give.  Same way Jesus did when He commended the poor widow who gave two coins.  It’s not about the money.  It was never about the money.  It’s about our attitude.  The Macedonians still give out of their lack.  This is the reason why the principle of tithing is good because it is based in proportion to what we have.  It tells us to set aside something for God, first and foremost, before anything else.  

3. We can treat giving as a privilege being part of our worship and

     service to the Lord

       “they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s  people.” (They understood that giving is a privilege; a form of worship)

      When you give, you must feel it. When you give, there should be a bit of a sacrifice on your part.  Whenever you give you must have given up something.  Some people can do anything you ask him to do in the church, he can give you his time, his talent, his connections, he can pray for you all day long, he can teach Bible lessons, he comes to church every Sunday, he can counsel you about life, but when it comes to giving, when it comes to financially supporting the church, he becomes very protective of his resources.

       I like how my favorite preacher Adrian Rogers puts it:

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Conclusion:

• God owns everything.  The grace is not in the gift itself nor in the one giving but grace comes from the One who enables us to give (This explains why Paul calls it the grace of giving)
• We can give like the Macedonian Christians because we are partakers of the same grace from the Lord Jesus Christ  
• So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith (we can give because Jesus gave first)
• Jesus is the true grace giver (Remember what the Bible says about giving and doing good works – they are considered filthy rags if not done with the proper attitude and if Christ is not the reason for giving.  
• If you have not given yourselves up to Christ, then your giving will just be “an exercise in futility.”
• We don’t give to be SAVED. We give because WE are saved.

Prayer

Wherever you are, whatever you situation you may be -- you need the love of Jesus in your life.
Please say this prayer sincerely from your heart:  

Father God, I confess all my sins to you today.  Please forgive me.  Today, I open my heart to your Son Jesus Christ.  I accept Him in my life as my Savior and as my Lord.  May the Holy Spirit come to my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be.  In Jesus Name, I pray.  Amen.

The above article is an excerpt from a sermon delivered at WCF Richmond on  March 1, 2015

I apologize if there are grammatical and spelling errors.  

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