The Grace of Giving
Prayer for Illumination
Father, Like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season, we delight in Your Word. Please, open up Your Word to us this morning so that we can be rooted in Your Word and nourished by Your Spirit. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
On October 8th, 2020, a new statue was unveiled at the University of Southern Mississippi honoring an elderly woman who impacted hundreds of lives over her ninety-one years.
This petite black woman was not a war figure, athlete, or political giant—one who typically receives such an honor. What made her worthy of such an honor?
Oseola McCarty was born in rural Mississippi and grew up in Hattiesburg, where she was raised on a farm by her grandmother, aunt, and mother.
When she was only 8 years old, McCarty began working after school doing laundry beside her mother, grandmother, and aunt. She aspired to become a nurse but left school in the sixth grade to care for her ill aunt and never returned to the classroom.
She began washing and ironing for friends and neighbors. Each nickel and dime she made, she tucked underneath her doll buggy.
She had $280,000 in the bank when she quit working in 1995 at eighty-six due to arthritis. She decided to give most of her savings away: to her church, three family members, and the majority to USM to help needy students get the education she never got. She kept only what she needed to live on.
In a profile, The New York Times wrote, “Oseola McCarty spent a lifetime making other people look nice. Day after day, for most of her 87 years, she took in bundles of dirty clothes and made them clean and neat for parties she never attended, weddings to which she was never invited, and graduations she never saw.
She quit school in the sixth grade to go to work, never married, never had children, and never learned to drive because there was “never any place, in particular, she wanted to go”. All she ever had was the work, which she saw as a blessing. …
“She spent almost nothing, living in her old family home, cutting the toes out of shoes if they did not fit right and binding her ragged Bible with Scotch tape to keep Corinthians from falling out.”
In 1995, McCarty contributed her savings so that Black students at the University of Southern Mississippi could receive something she never did — an education.
We’ve been studying the book of 2 Corinthians – Apostle Paul’s letter to the Corinthian congregation. In chapters 8 & 9, Paul talks about generosity and joyful giving.
In v. 1, Paul wants the Corinthian congregation and the readers to know about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia. The “grace of God” Paul is referring to is the grace of giving.
The Macedonians, specifically, the Churches of Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, were extremely poor. On top of that, they were also “in a severe test of affliction”.
These young Macedonian churches were sorely persecuted from the time they came to faith, and it had left them financially bereft. The grinding poverty and the crushing persecution made life very difficult.
But through their challenging situation, they did what most of us would consider impossible. V2 says, “for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.”
In our understanding, poverty and generosity do not go together. Being persecuted and having abundant joy do not go hand in hand. However, for the Macedonian Christians, severe affliction added to abundant joy, and extreme poverty overflowed into a wealth of generosity.
That’s why Paul said that these churches had received the grace of God. Their attitude and generosity in the face of depressing circumstances, cannot be explained, but by God’s generous work in them.
The context of the situation was that: The Jerusalem Church, the Mother Church was going through a tough time due to severe famine and poverty. In gratitude to the Jewish believers in Jerusalem who had given the Macedonians the most precious thing they had – the gospel of Jesus Christ, now they were eager to help the Jews in Jerusalem.
Likewise, the Corinthians had previously agreed to participate in this collection about a year earlier. Paul gave them instructions, on how to do so, in 1 Corinthians, his previous letter to the Corinthian congregation. However, because of the strained relationship with Paul, they chose not to take action.
When the Abbotsford flood happened in 2021, I was the interim moderator of Bradner Presbyterian Church in Abbotsford. Several Presbyterian churches from the east contacted me or Thomas, the minister of Calvin Presbyterian Church in Abbotsford.
At that time, neither Bradner nor Calvin was directly affected by the floods except one member from Calvin, so we had been forwarding any donations to other organizations closely working with the flood victims.
I remember one particular congregation. It was a small congregation in southern Ontario, having less than 20 people on Sundays. But they collected $1000.00 and sent it to us.
And here Paul is reminding the Corinthian congregation of their commitment to give by pointing to the example of the churches in Macedonia. With this in mind, Paul urges them to excel in this “act of grace,” as they excel in faith, speech, knowledge, earnestness, and in his love for them.
However, Paul first ensures that he is not commanding them to follow through with their commitment. That would defeat the purpose of the gift. Instead, he asks them to understand this as an opportunity to prove that they genuinely have Christlike love for others.
Paul tells the Corinthians to remember the example of Jesus’ sacrifice for them. The great and generous grace that Jesus had lavishly poured out upon all humanity. Though He was rich beyond all measure, for our sake He became poor so that by His poverty He could make us rich, beyond our wildest imaginings.
All things were made by Him and all things were made for Him. All the inconceivable riches and His glories were laid aside simply because of His GRACE towards us – for your sake and mine and He stripped Himself of everything, becoming so poor that He did not even have a place to rest His head.
The Macedonians have proved their Christlike love for others is genuine by giving so earnestly. Now the Corinthians have an opportunity to demonstrate that same love.
A desire to give, even a sincere readiness to do so, is not meaningful if it never results in actual giving. There is a wide gap between “wanting something to happen”, “being willing to make something happen,” and “making it happen.” Verbally agreeing to help others is hollow until we take steps to make good on our promise.
Ch 9 V 6, Paul pleads to remember that: “the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”
This applies to both the natural and spiritual worlds: larger harvests typically require larger planting. The one who sows less seed can expect to have less grain. The one who plants more seeds will have a more bountiful harvest.
‘Sparingly’ means holding back. You give, but it’s coming from a heart that wants to hold back.
Giving bountifully means giving from a heart that wants to share things. It’s a desire to give and share as much as possible instead of keeping as much as possible.
Paul also tells them they must give as they have decided, not reluctantly or under compulsion because God loves a cheerful giver.
Paul wants the Corinthians to catch the vision that their financial contributions to the needs of other believers can bring spiritual results. The more they can “sow” out of a heart of true, Christlike love for the ministries of Christ, the more that love will bear crops.
One thing we have to remember is that the purpose of giving is not to make the giver, us more prosperous. It is not an investment. When you give, do not pray, “Lord, I give an offering of $100.00 today, and I’m sure You will bless me with $200.00.”
Rather, the point is that God will enable the giver to continue in the good works He has prepared for them to do. God will multiply the seed of those who give to increase the harvest of the righteousness, that comes as a result. Your gift becomes evidence of the love given in the name of Christ.
Why should Christians willingly and cheerfully give money, time, energy, and effort to the ministries of the church or to meet the needs of others? If giving is not mandated, and percentages are not required of a believer: then what’s the primary motivation for our gifts?
Our willingness to give allows us to participate in what God is doing. Giving generously we have the privileged opportunity to participate in God’s work. Sow seeds of faith and grace generously and see the fruit – see the harvest God would reap.
Those results are not in money coming back to us but in the spiritual lives of the givers and those who receive their gifts.
As we give offerings, we need to keep three things in mind.
Our giving should be voluntary. It is not a tax or an obligation. A gift of money or anything else is only called a gift when the giver is not obligated to hand it over. We are not forcing you to give offerings.
God calls on every believer to decide in his or her heart and mind how much to give. The important point is that it is an individual choice based on conscience and a person’s relationship with God. You don’t have to compare yourself with others. You don’t have to argue if it’s 10% out of gross or net income. I’ve been asked this question many times.
The second truth about giving is that God loves cheerful givers, not reluctant givers. The opportunity to give to meet the needs of the church or others should be our delight. When it does, God is delighted in us. I pray that all of us find the greatest joy in giving.
The third principle about giving is that we give generously. When we give generously, we are convinced that the source of our provision will not run out—because that source is God Himself! God is ultimately the one who gives and multiplies.
To date, over 100 students from USM have received support from the Oseola McCarty Scholarship Endowment. McCarty gave sacrificially of what she had; others were inspired and continued to give.
She said, “When I leave this world, I can’t carry nothing away from here. Whatever I have, it’s going to be left right here for somebody…The only thing I regret is that I didn’t have more to give.”
Friends, let us be cheerful and generous givers. We sow bountifully and God will reap bountifully.
Let us pray.
Source of All Blessings, You have blessed us abundantly with many things. You gave us Your only Son, Jesus to make us rich and blessed. Help us share generously and cheerfully what we have received freely to those in need and to do the work of Your church. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.