Reaping God’s Abundance – October 20, 2024

Malachi 3:6-12, II Corinthians 9:1-15
October 20, 2024

The other day I asked my computer to give me the top ten scripture readings for Stewardship.  And the one that came up as number one, is the one we read today – II Corinthians 9!  And it’s one that probably sounds familiar, because it’s the place we find Paul’s iconic words, “God loves a cheerful giver!”

As I read those words again, they reminded me of what Mr. Harold said last week in his introduction to stewardship.  Do you remember?  He said, “Our faith makes us want to do things!”  I like that!  Too often we think of our faith in terms of things we are compelled to do.  We think the things our faith calls us to do are required of us.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  That’s not bad.  There are things in our faith that we need “discipline” in order to do.  There are things in our faith that we are compelled to do even when we don’t “feel like” doing them.  And there are times we need to remember that God does require certain things of us.”  The prophet Micah asked, “What does the Lord require of you?”  Do you remember what that was?  “To seek justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

But Paul – who would agree with those things – took this a step further.  He said in essence what Mr. Harold said.  Our faith inspires us to want to do things.  Paul wrote, “Each one must do as he has made up his mind.”  And that’s the choice part.  That’s the essence of pledging.  We decide up front what we’re going to do.  But then he adds that further element.  He adds the inspiration.  He adds the part where faith makes us want to do things.  He says, “We do what we have made up our minds, but not reluctantly or under compulsion.  For God loves a cheerful giver.”  In other words, “God loves the person who gives because of the joy they have in their life of faith.”  There’s that inspiration part!

We were talking the other day about the number of us who give through “modern means” – Venmo, PayPal, bill payer services, and bank drafts.  And that’s great!  Again, if you need to learn how to do that, let us know!  But think of the words I’ve been saying all along.  “Keep up the good work!”  No matter how you choose to support the Church, keep up the good work!  That’s the inspiration!  That’s the encouragement!  And that is so much better than the gloom and doom and guilt that some churches lay on their people!  And believe me, I’ve heard some pretty heavy gloom and doom over the years!

Think about it.  If you’re really excited about something, you’ll naturally put more of yourself into it, and you’ll give it more of your support.  Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  We’re going to look at those words next week.  And that’s what Paul was getting at here.  And he was using some of his most inspirational words in getting that inspirational message across, starting with, “God loves a cheerful giver.”

But he was telling them even more than that.  He was telling them that it works both ways.  He was saying, yes, if you’re excited about something, you’ll put more of yourself into it.  But, it’s also true that the more you put yourself into something, the more you’ll be excited about it.  Do you see that?  The more you put yourself into something, the more you’ll be excited about it.  That’s what Paul means when he uses these words, which have also become iconic over the years.  “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.  But he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully.”

In other words, “You Reap What You Sow.”  I don’t know if this passage is the source of that expression, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was.  I almost used that as a title for this sermon, “You Reap What You Sow.”  Because that’s so true.  The more you put into something, the more you get out of it.  But the more I thought about it, the more I noticed how many times Paul used the word “abundance” here.  God’s abundance is a big part of what he was saying in this passage.  “Reaping God’s Abundance” became my title.

I’ve said this before.  That’s what God wants for us!  Abundance!  Remember why Jesus came to this earth.  I’ll never forget the talk I once heard, by Tony Campolo, where he asked that question.  “Why did Jesus come to earth?”  And the people in the audience gave all the proper answers about atonement and redemption.  And he said that was all well and good.  But then he asked if anyone remembered what Jesus himself said was the reason he came?  And he quoted John 10:10.  “Jesus said, I have come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly!”

That thought of “God’s abundance” pours out of Paul’s words here.  He said, “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work.” (II Cor. 9:8)

It’s about abundance!  And the “inspirational” part of that is so important!  We do better when we are being encouraging to each other, rather than critical.  We do better when we think in terms of abundance, rather than focusing on the lack.  We do better when we choose to look to the joy, rather than the frustration.

Again, Paul says, “If we sow sparingly, we will reap sparingly.  But if we so abundantly, we will reap God’s abundance.”  And love the metaphor of sowing!  Jesus used that, too.  Remember his “Parable of the Sower?”  And “sowing” is a matter of “planting seeds,” isn’t it?  And that’s a good thought in all of this.  That’s the “seed” I want to plant in your minds today.  I want you to think about “planting seeds.”

Sometimes we think evangelism is a matter of giving someone the full gospel story every time.  But sometimes – and I would say more times than we realize – it’s simply more a matter of planting a seed.  And a seed could be that act of compassion, those kind words, that encouragement you gave a stranger, that positive thing you said about the Church, that mention of God in a conversation.  All of those are “seeds.”  And as we “plant” them, maybe we will remember Paul’s words in his first letter to the Corinthians.  “This is how it works sometimes,” he said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”

We may not ever see the results of some of the seeds we plant, but that doesn’t make them any less important!  And we need to remember that we can also plant bad seeds, too!  We can also plant the weeds!  Can’t we?  We can give someone a bad image of the church!  Maybe that’s a critical remark, a selfish attitude, or a thoughtless action.

In all this, and as we think about Stewardship, we need to remember that we are part of God’s abundance.  And that abundance is not just something we receive from God!  It’s something we contribute to, and not just financially, but with our encouragement and enthusiasm.  We contribute to it by “sowing” – that is, by “planting seeds.”

The last thing I would say about that is that contributing to God’s abundance adds to our own abundance.  When we make ourselves part of God’s abundance, when we plant those seeds in others, we feel good about ourselves!  Don’t we?  It adds to the joy we have in the kingdom of God!

So ask yourself, are you sowing sparingly?  Are you sowing more weeks than good seeds?  Or are you sowing bountifully?  It’s all part of the big picture.  It’s all part of “Reaping God’s Abundance.”

Prayer

Eternal God, we thank you for your steadfast love and faithfulness to us.  Help us to live in your love.  Help us to be inspired to live faithful lives.  Help us to see opportunities to sow seeds of your bounty in the world around us.  Help us to know better the joy of being your people, for we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.