Sacrificial Giving

Happy Post-Easter week! If you joined us this past Sunday, I'm so glad you could celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with us. But as I said at our Good Friday service, the only reason we get to celebrate the resurrection is because of the crucifixion. No cross = no empty tomb.

Absolutely critical to the gospel and the Christian faith is the fact that Jesus willingly sacrificed Himself on the cross for us. He didn't die because the Romans made a mistake or because the Jewish leaders felt threatened or because God the Father was abusive. Jesus Himself said in John 10 that out of love for His "sheep," He willingly laid down His life for us (and could willingly take it back up!).

But that selfless sacrifice doesn't just save us from our sin. It models for us how to live.

Making the Sacrifice

This coming Sunday, we kick off a new theological series entitled Dollars & Sense where we will look at five different biblical (and sensible) financial principles. To supplement that sermon series, we will be looking here in the News & Notes and on the Riverwood blog at seven qualities of a giver as seen in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5. And the first thing we see in those five verses is that a true giver is to give sacrificially.

As the Apostle Paul starts chapter 8, he switches to the topic of financial giving. He begins to tell the Corinthian Jesus-followers about the generous giving of their brothers and sisters in Christ in the Macedonian region, using them as an example of what giving truly looks like. Here is what he says in verses 1-3...

"We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord," (2 Corinthians 8:1-3)

Notice that the Macedonian believers weren't rich. Yet they gave - generously! Sadly, we too often think giving is something we do out of our abundance. If we have enough in the bank, or enough to pay all the bills, or enough to remodel the house, then we will give.

But Paul was emotionally moved by the generosity of the Jesus-followers in Macedonia, because they didn't try to give out of abundance. If they had tried to do that, they wouldn't have been able to give! Rather, despite their "severe test of affliction" and "extreme poverty," they gave generously.

Now, generosity can look different. For Elon Musk, giving a million dollars is nothing when you are worth $370 billion dollars (according to the April 15 estimates from Forbes). A million dollars might sound like a lot to you, but it is only 0.00027% of Elon's net worth. If you made $100,000 in a year, giving 0.00027% would only be $27. So for Elon to give a million dollars away couldn't be called "generous."

Yet, if someone who only made $20,000/yr and spent 98% of it just on rent, groceries, and gas, a $27 gift would be very generous. Or, dare I say, "sacrificial."

For us to give like Jesus, we have to give sacrificially. We can't wait until the bank account hits a certain level before we can give. We need to go ahead and let God move our hearts to give in an eye-opening manner.

Before you think this is foolish talk (to give when you feel like you don't even have enough for yourself), join us next week, because the second quality of a giver will help explain both how and why a Jesus-follower would want to give so sacrificially.

'Til then...