2 Corinthians 9:8-11
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 9, 2009
2 Corinthians 9:8-11 (New International Version)
8And God is able to make all grace
abound to you, so that in all things at all times,
having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9As
it is written: |
I admire a person who is a jack-of-all-trades. He can do so many things. Some don’t share that admiration and will
quote the saying, “Jack-of-all-trades and master of none.” It is a reminder that all of us have
limitations. There is one who does
not. We grow in our appreciation of that
truth and our response as this text reminds us GOD CAN DO IT ALL
I.
He overwhelms you with grace
II. He enables your generosity
Ponder the ways and works of God and He will overwhelm you
with grace. Paul began, “And God is able
to make all grace abound to you.” The
word that had the first position in his sentence was “able”. That was his emphasis. God is able.
It is a good fact for us to remember as we face life and its
difficulties. God is able in all ways—in
His power, for nothing is impossible with Him—and in His knowledge, wisdom and
problem solving.
He applied that ability to the number one problem you and
I have, our sin. We were trapped in
it. We are all sinful by nature and we
still struggle with it daily, even as Christians.
He has brought the blessings of His work to you personally
as He made you His own. He called you by
the Spirit to trust in Jesus. The Spirit
overcame the natural resistance of your stony heart and planted faith. He continues with you, strengthening you to
withstand temptation by His Word and supplying fellow Christians to encourage
you in your faith. He
daily supplies forgiveness for your failures, to pick you up and renew you for
victorious Christian living.
Note the repetition of the word “all” in the opening
verse. “God is able to make all grace
abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need,
you will abound in every (again the word “all”) good work.” Absolutely everything is secure. Your life is under God’s control. He won’t let it get out of hand. How we need our God who is able! And we need this reminder. We so easily forget it and get all stewed up
as we think the world is collapsing around us as we struggle for a
solution. That won’t work. We are weak and sinful. Why spend energy on such futility? As a well-known hymn notes,
“Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Ev’rything to God in
prayer!”
Turn your troubles over to God. He is able to handle them.
In dealing with us God acts on the basis of His grace or
undeserved love. Nobody forced Him to do
so nor does He owe it to us. He wanted
to rescue us from sin; He wants to handle our needs and problems because He
cares for us. That’s just the way God
is.
We are thankful to Him for that amazing grace, for so many
blessings and such great ones. No, we
can’t pay Him back for His goodness. But
we can sing His praises as we worship at church and at home and as we speak His
goodness to others. We live in thankful
love as we serve and obey Him, not for our honor or credit but seeking to bring
glory to His name.
II.
That’s how it happens that He enables your
generosity. Generosity would flow forth
in the offering being gathered in the Corinthian congregation. At the end of his first epistle to them Paul
had announced the special campaign. The
believers from the Galatian and Macedonian churches
and from
There were problems troubling the congregation that the
Apostle also addressed in his letter.
Those conditions diverted their attention and consumed their
energy. Some had progressed to
resolution. But it seems they had let
the special offering slide. Paul
encouraged them to follow through here in chapters eight and nine of his second
letter. They had originally shown good
intentions. He had even used them as an
example as he urged others to support the effort. Now he pointed to the example of others to
encourage the Corinthians. In the prior
verse he told them of the attitude needed.
“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not
reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” They had the resources. They had reasons to share God’s
blessings. “Don’t hold back,” he told
them.
Our giving helps others.
Quoting a psalm Paul continued, “As it is written: ‘He has scattered abroad his gifts to the
poor; his righteousness endures forever.’”
At first hearing the verse we might think it’s talking about God. A look at the whole psalm shows it was
describing how a believer lives in response to God’s gifts. We are so overwhelmed by God’s goodness that
our arms aren’t big enough to hold all of His blessings. So we share them. Our righteousness received from Christ
produces acts of righteousness. They
will endure. Jesus will mention them as
visible evidence of the faith in our heart come Judgment Day, noting, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of
mine, you did for me.”
He provides the means for us to give generously. “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your
store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.” He does so in abundance. “You will be made rich in every way so that
you can be generous on every occasion.”
He can perform miracles as today’s other readings showed such bounty. Remember the feeding of the five
thousand. Afterwards there were more
leftovers than items Jesus started with.
The Lord also places opportunities before us. There are plenty of people with needs in
other parts of the world and right around us.
There are homeless shelters, food pantries and disaster victims to whom
we can give aid. Not all the
opportunities are organized efforts.
Maybe a family member or neighbor needs assistance. Not all acts of generosity are
financial. You can supply physical labor
to help with a project or provide a listening ear or emotional support to a
troubled individual. As we are
other-directed we will surely not overlook the greatest good we can do for
another, and that is to give spiritual support as we share the Word of God and
the Savior’s love.
Challenges exist to a life of generosity. All of us are aware of the economic
difficulties of the past months. Several
of our families have been hit with layoffs, and nearly all with reduced hours,
wages or benefits (or all three conditions).
Those with investments have seen their values shrink. Our natural inclination, encouraged by Satan,
is to say certainly now is not a time for generosity. “You have to think of yourself.” I would submit that we are still blessed. Obviously the riches of the gospel have not
declined in value, but we are also still blessed in a material way. You and I don’t know what poverty is. At our recent synod convention I had the
opportunity to listen and talk to some of our world missionaries. A presentation on
Mention of the convention calls to mind the challenges
facing our church body. Last month the
WELS Connection noted how our synod faced the need to cut $8 million from the
next budget and some reports might lead us to wonder whether that’s enough. Our congregation dealt with similar issues as
we formed our current budget. God
supplies what we need to carry out His work.
In fact, He already has. May He
move our hearts to share the bounty He has given and to use the gifts of our
people wisely!
The word “generosity” carries the idea of being single-minded,
of acting with simplicity and sincerity.
We have only one purpose in mind:
to bring glory to God. When we
are generous in giving to others we are not seeking credit or glory for
ourselves. We do not look for attention
but desire to praise Him. We have plenty
of reasons to do so as we noted. He is
the source of countless blessings for body and soul. There are plenty of people who could benefit
from our sharing for their bodies and souls.
God’s goodness provides the ability and attitude that enables
generosity.
God can do it all.
He already has. He has given us
full and free salvation in Jesus. He
fills our lives with good things. We can
face the challenges and opportunities of life with confidence. Fix your eyes on the Lord and follow Him in
faith and service with energy and eager anticipation of continued joy.