Recently I read about a great new invention. A man invented a new offering plate for churches to use during worship services. I am not making this up. This is the top of the line offering plate. As the ushers pass it around, the person sitting in the pew can actually slide their credit card or ATM card in the side of the plate. Once they put their card in, they can punch in how much they want to give that Sunday and the money is taken out of their account on Monday morning. But that is not the best part, according to the man who invented it. He said the best part was that there would be a machine in the back that would tally the amount of the offering as it was being taken. He thought this was great because a preacher would get immediate feedback on the sermon he just preached. If the offerings were huge, he would know that he had hit it out of the ballpark with his message. If the offerings were low, the preacher would know that he had struck out with his sermon.

Is this a good idea or not? Should I bring it up at the next elders meeting so they can rush out and buy these new offering plates. Well there may be some value to it, but don't you think the inventor's reasoning was a little askew? I would hope and pray that the amount that you give to God is not based my sermon. First of all that is a lot of responsibility to place on a simple preacher like myself. And secondly, is that really the proper motivation for giving? I hope that no one here bristles at the thought of giving back to God for all he has given you. Rather I hope you are filled with joy to give to God. And so today we are going to see how God wants us to give. He challenges us in the words of 2 Corinthians to excel in the grace of giving.

To start out I want to give you a little background to the lesson for this morning. The Apostle Paul, as he would travel from city to city preaching the gospel, would also collect offerings from the churches. He would use this money to support his ministry. He would also use this money to give to those in need. At this time, he was collecting money for the church in Jerusalem. The Christians there were starving because of a severe famine.

Paul asked all the Gentile churches to help their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem. The Corinthians promised Paul that they would contribute. However their offering never came through. And so Paul encouraged the Christians in Corinth to put their money where there mouth was. Paul encouraged them to excel in the grace of giving by pointing to the example of the Macedonian churches and then led he them to an appreciation of Christ's generosity.

And so today let each of us examine our own giving. And just as Paul used the giving of the Macedonian congregations as a good example for the Corinthians, we will use that example for own lives. The Macedonian congregations were poor. In fact, the Bible says that they were in extreme poverty. But those congregations gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.

It also says they urgently pleaded to be able to do this. What in the world! Did I read those words wrong? Did these people actually beg to give their money away? Yes they did. There was no grumbling. There were no second thoughts. There was no selfishness. They wanted to give so badly, they urgently pleaded for the privilege to do so. Amazing!

Yes it is amazing, and yet it is also very humbling. I don't know about you, but God has blessed me greatly. And yet rarely do I beg God for the chance to give away those blessings for his work. It is humbling and a little embarrassing that our hearts are not always filled with this spirit of generosity. We as sinful people, living in a sinful world, give into selfishness everyday. Greed eats away at our hearts hoping to devour us completely. And there is not a soul here who has always been a perfect manager of the gifts God has showered down us.

But let us be thankful that the churches of Macedonia were given to us as examples. Because of selfishness and greed, we were on the opposite team of God. We were losers, completely defeated by sin. And yet God made us his children. That gospel message which I just gave you is what caused those Christians to have an overflowing joy that welled up in rich generosity. May that gospel make you overflow with joy. May your hearts and attitudes be like that of the Macedonian Christians. May you give yourselves first to God and then may you excel in the grace of giving following their good example.

Now I will not stand up here today and level a guilt trip on you. I will not pull each of you into my office and go through your offerings so far this year. I will not pound you with the budget details and I will not burden you with a forecast of deficits and cutbacks. I could do each of those. But would you be moved to give with overflowing joy to the work of the kingdom? Or would you become sour under the burden?

It is true that each of us needs to sit down and examine how we use the gifts that God has placed in our care. We need to examine how we use our time, talents, and treasures to God's glory. And I know that if we do so, every one of us will realize that we have been lacking at one point or another when it comes to stewardship. We are not perfect managers of the gifts of God. And even when we seem to be giving generously, we sometimes give with a bad attitude. Or sometimes we give so that others may think highly of us or because we expect an even greater reward in return. Oh how disappointed God must be. He gives us everything we have and we act so selfish and greedy.

But you know what - even though he must be disappointed in us at times, he did not turn his back on us. He did not cut us off from all the blessings we enjoy. Instead, he gave us the perfect motivation to excel in the grace of giving - he gives us an appreciation of Christ's generosity. For Christ's generosity makes all the difference in Christian stewardship. Verse 9 is the key to excelling in the grace of giving. This verse tells us that Jesus was rich. What an understatement! He ruled in heaven with the Father. He had everything in Creation at his disposal. Yet the passage goes on to tell us he became poor. He was born a human being and laid in manger in Bethlehem. He walked this earth, unappreciated in his hometown, rejected by his own people, and put to death like the worst of criminals. He suffered for the guilt of the world. He truly became poor for us.

And so realize this - because he became poor, you have become rich. You have wealth beyond comprehension. Because of that sacrifice by our Savior, you are God's child. You have the gift of heaven. You have so much because Christ's generosity. And not only has God made you wealthy in the spiritual sense, but he has made you rich with a gargantuan sum of earthly blessings.

Consider all your wealth. I don't know what forgiveness of sins, alleviation of guilt, and the sure hope of eternal life means to you, but I hope that you are moved in appreciation of Christ's generosity. For those things were won for you at a dear price. I don't know what a roof over you head, food on your table, and family and friends mean to you, but I hope it moves you to excel in the grace of giving. I don't know how much our school means to you, but if it means one child goes on to be a pastor or a teacher; I hope you are stirred to support its work with your time, talents, and treasures. I don't know how much having 2 pastors means to you, but if one person is saved from the fires of hell, I pray that you are encouraged to lend your support with appreciation for the generosity of Christ.

In the Old Testament, God told Moses to go approach the Israelite people with the encouragement to give freely from the heart so that a place of worship and sacrifice could be built to God's glory. Moses related the message to the people and do you know what their response was? They brought so many gifts to the Lord that the workers could not finish the project. Moses had to tell the people not to bring any more offerings. Can you imagine if Pastor Keller or me got up on a Sunday morning and told you that we were so far ahead with offerings that you should stop giving! Praise be to God that we have good examples like the Israelites and the Macedonian churches. But praise God even more that we have the generosity Christ which has made us rich beyond our wildest dreams. Let that life-saving generosity motivate each of us to examine our stewardship and then excel in the grace of giving. AMEN.