Giving

I have showed you all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive... they all wept sore and fell upon Paul's neck, and they kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they should see his face no more. (Acts 20:35–38)

Why exhorting you to give is, in truth, calling you into greater joy.

A Life of Bitter and Sweet

I am tremendously blessed to be with you this morning. My wife and I have been on the edge of our seats, waiting for the arrival of our new little baby girl. Tomorrow is her official due date, so continue to pray. Such anticipation really does induce joy. And yet this last Thursday I was filled with deep sorrow as one of the families in our church gave birth to stillborn twin baby boys.

Life is a mixture of bitter and sweet. As those who love God, we know Romans 8:28, that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose. But at times like that, it is incredibly difficult to grapple with such promises.

The Stewardship of What We Treasure

Every Christian is confronted with the reality that what we have is given to us by God. It is not ultimately ours, but His. He has allowed us a blessed stewardship over this life and the things of this life, but those things belong to Him. Parents face this stewardship in a unique way, filled with a love equivalent to what Jesus spoke of in John 15:13—"Greater love has no man than this, than that a man would lay down his life for his friends."

Resident in the heart of every true parent is the fear of losing that which they treasure more than any other possession. There is a tension in the God-loving Christian parent: I don't want to idolize this precious gift, but I sure do love this little child God has given. Such love is good. God created us with this capacity, and it gives us the opportunity to appreciate—merely scratching the surface—the zealous love with which our Father loves us.

Job recognized God's hand when he said, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Those are powerful words, but they are not easy to live with. In our own strength it is impossible. Yet things impossible with man are possible with God, and in Philippians 4 we can do all things through Him who gives us strength. Where does that strength come from? Nehemiah 8:10 finishes, "the joy of the LORD is your strength."

Reviewing the Path Into Joy

Throughout this series we have considered John 15:11, where Jesus says, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." Our goal is to apprehend the very thing for which we have been apprehended (Philippians 3:12). God has for us a joy that is full and enduring, increasing into fullness and on into eternity.

Jesus is the key to unlocking joy, as Paul's reckless abandon shows: "what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ... that I may win Christ" (Philippians 3:7). Jesus has shown us the path of life—"I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6)—and He is the source of enduring joy: "In your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11).

Many Christians confess, "I believe these things, but I'm not experiencing increasing joy." So how do we promote joy? Last week we saw that we promote our joy in God through gratitude, an emotive response, not self-will. You can try to make yourself thankful, but then it is just lip service—a people who honor God with their lips while their hearts are far from Him. Gratitude is encouraged through contemplating God's greatness, and its overflow is worship, which escalates our joy.

Love That Overflows in Giving

From there we go to this: worship of God and joy in Him expands our love for Him, which overflows in love for others. That love is expressed not only in tender affections but in tenderhearted action—which is giving, and next week, serving. One author said, "Love is the overflow of joy in God, which gladly meets the needs of others." Giving and serving, when motivated by love, result in joy. "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).

I'm going to say that about thirty times today—you'll have it memorized by the end. There is a blessing inherent in giving, and God calls us to give to lay hold of that blessing. But the question stands: is it right to be motivated in our giving by the promise of joy we will receive?

Proven Even by Science

Before we answer, consider that this truth is being proven scientifically. In 2006, Psychology Today, Science Central, and others reported on a National Institutes of Health study, published by the National Academy of Sciences, in which the words of Jesus were found to be psychologically and physiologically true.

A group of researchers led by Jordan Grafman studied which areas of the human brain are involved in donating—something other species don't do. They wired participants with functional MRI technology and had them play a computer game where they received money gifts and could also give sacrificially and anonymously. They found that donating to charities lit up the brain's reward circuits even more than receiving cash. "That surprised us," says Grafman. Giving also excited areas of the brain not activated by receiving, including the release of oxytocin, the so-called cuddle hormone.

Grafman noted that children get excited receiving gifts while parents prefer the Santa Claus role—donating is more a learned behavior. "You have to be persuaded to donate at the beginning," he said, "but once you do, you'll come back and give more because you'll realize what a pleasurable sensation it was." Here is a secular, atheist, evolutionist scientist concluding that giving more is good for the species—so that God may be proven true again and again. It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Is Desiring the Reward Wrong?

I believe joy induces giving, and giving itself produces more joy. Yet many Christian ethicists argue that desiring one's own good or joy in giving lacks virtue. One Christian author wrote, "Happiness is never a goal to be pursued. It is always the unexpected surprise of a life lived in service to others."

As we saw weeks ago, C.S. Lewis in The Weight of Glory identifies this thinking as coming more from Immanuel Kant than from the Christian faith: "If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith." Kant said, "An action is moral only if one has no desire of performing it... and derives no benefit from it of any sort. A benefit destroys the moral value of an action."

Many of us think like that, and we can point to verses that seem to support it. "Love seeketh not her own" (1 Corinthians 13:5). "Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth" (1 Corinthians 10:24). So we conclude that desiring my good must be wrong.

What the Scriptures Actually Say

But 1 Corinthians 13:5 comes two verses after verse 3, and must be read in that context: "Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor... and have not love, it profiteth me nothing." Why does Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, raise the issue of our gain in loving giving? Why does God seem to care whether we gain? He apparently is interested in our gain in giving. There is a desire for gain that is right, and a desire for gain that is wrong.

Even more, Jesus said, "Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive." If it is immoral to consider your reward, why would Jesus say "remember" that? Why doesn't He simply say, give for nothing, deny yourself, take up your cross—and leave it there?

It gets stronger. In Luke 14:12–14, Jesus says when you make a feast, don't invite your rich friends and neighbors who will repay you. Instead invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, "and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." There is one kind of reward we ought not desire—temporal, marginal joy. And there is a greater treasure God will give in eternity, which we should desire. In Luke 6:38, Jesus says, "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over."

Jesus, Our Example

This is the very example Jesus left us—the One who gave more than we ever could. "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2). He endured the cross because of the reward on the other side of it.

So we are commanded to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him (Luke 9). That is not the goal of the faith; it is the process by which we apprehend greater joy. Even in Gethsemane, His flesh said this is hard—yet for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. The purpose on the other side of the cross gave it true meaning and value.

God Loves a Cheerful Giver

This is how we become what God delights in. "He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:6–7).

There is a way of giving begrudgingly—I worked so hard for this; fine, I'll help. If I offered you a gift while complaining the whole time, would you even want it? Yet we come to God: I'm giving, but do you know how hard it is to keep a job in this economy? The Bible says God loves a cheerful giver.

Our world, under the sway of the wicked one, says: keep, hoard, give nothing away, build bigger barns, because that will give you joy. But the enemy is a thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy—to rob us of joy in God and rob God of glory in us. Jesus answered, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee" (Luke 12:20). Paul told Timothy we brought nothing into this world and can carry nothing out. The exhortation is to sow bountifully so we may reap bountifully—not to gain cars and houses, but a reward in heaven far greater, eternal and enduring, which the things of this world cannot bring.

We recognize this existentially. If stuff produced joy, why are there more suicides off the Coronado Bridge, in one of the most beautiful and prosperous places in the nation, than off the Brooklyn Bridge?

The Beautiful Cycle of Joy

Joy in God overflows into thankful worship, which pours forth into cheerful giving, which itself produces increased joy. When I contemplate the greatness of God and the gift of salvation—He who spared not His own Son but gave Him up for us—it stirs gratitude, which overflows into worship, which expands my love for God and others, displayed in tender affections and tenderhearted action.

We are motivated by love to give. That is how God was motivated: "For God so loved the world, that he gave" (John 3:16). And we give, as Jesus did, to apprehend greater joy (Hebrews 12:2).

Paul shows the cycle in the Macedonians (2 Corinthians 8:1–4): in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. Going through trials and poverty, they had such overwhelming joy that it stirred them to give beyond their power, begging Paul to receive the gift. They heard the church in Jerusalem was suffering, and though things were hard for them too, their abundance of joy overflowed into generosity.

Two Kinds of Reward

There is a reward we should seek and a reward we should not. In Matthew 6:1, Jesus says, "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven." Sound no trumpet as the hypocrites do, "that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."

So you have two rewards: the reward of your Father in heaven, and the temporary glory of men. Some give loudly so people will say, "You're so giving"—and that's it, that's the reward, gone very quickly. But "when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth... and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly" (Matthew 6:3–4). He says the same of prayer and of fasting. Jesus is inducing us to seek a reward from Him. You can seek it here, but it is temporal and fleeting. In His presence is fullness of joy, and at His right hand pleasures forevermore.

A Word to Our Church

So a few practical things. Giving involves not just treasure but our time, talents, and treasure. Next week we'll look at time and talents through serving. Today, treasure—"for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

This church is an incredibly giving church. With eleven months of 2011 complete, the body here at Calvary Chapel of Escondido has given in excess of one million dollars to the general fund, specific ministries, and missions. That does not include the gifts for Operation Christmas Child, the Angel Tree Outreach, or the more than fifty thousand dollars given for short-term trips to China and Africa and for talking Bibles. There has never been a time when we share a need that goes unmet—and many needs never reach the office because the body of Christ meets them within the men's ministry, women's ministry, and home fellowships.

With a few weeks remaining in the fiscal year, we are about thirty-five thousand dollars shy of meeting our budget. This shortfall is not from mismanagement but from the furthering of ministry. We've expanded our vacation Bible school and harvest celebration, added Christmas and Easter at the Center for the Arts, and invested for the first time in fifteen years—about forty thousand dollars—in new cameras and audio so the many people who watch us on Channel 18 and online can be reached. Our podcast had some forty-five thousand downloads. God is doing amazing things, and we are pruning some things—including ending our Wednesday night service this week—not for an extra night off, but because we are expecting God to do great things.

So we are asking you to partner with us—not the staff or leaders, but us as a church—to reach this community, through treasure, time, and talents.

Where Your Treasure Is

When I taught on giving a month ago from 1 Corinthians 16, I wondered afterward whether I should have said it. Driving home, I believe the Lord spoke to my heart: when people get upset about messages on money, it is generally those who don't give who are upset, while those who do give rejoice. It just might be the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Don't kill the messenger.

This I know for sure—where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. In a shaky economy, 401k becomes 201k, housing drops, and if your whole investment is in those things, you will be distraught. Buy more gold, more silver—but I'll clue you in on what the Bible says: it's all going to burn with a fervent heat. That doesn't mean we shouldn't save or leave an inheritance; we'll come to those passages. But if your whole life is bound up here, it all burns. There is a bank of eternal securities where moth and rust do not corrupt and thieves do not break through and steal.

I even see the joy of giving in our two- and three-year-olds. When we shopped for Operation Christmas Child and told them, "We're not buying for us, these are for our friends far away," they got excited—"Can we get this for our friends?" When we brought the gifts in, Ethan was telling people in the office, "This is for our friends really far away." That is joy.

So in all honesty, with a pure heart, my encouragement for you to give is that our joy would be full—not because I need something from you. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills; He does not need what you can give. What He desires is to transform us through giving, so that we are no longer so attached to the things of this world. Through giving, we let them go and gain a greater reward. Amen.

Closing Prayer

Father, I thank you for your word, which is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, and at times challenging and convicting. So, Lord, I pray that as we go from this place you would soften our hearts to receive anything that may have been convicting today. Your word says that we, the leaders of the church, are workers together for the joy of the people, and it is our desire that we would be a joy-fulfilled people, and that the world around us who does not know you would see that joy and find it desirous. Work these things into our lives, we pray. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.