Proportional, Planned, Graceful
This sermon was based on an outline from www.givingingrace.org

Corinth
Boasting is not a word we would associate with goodness really is it?
We don’t really like boasting we prefer modesty, so it is with some surprise that we find Paul in this passage telling the Corinthians about his boasting about them!
So why has Paul been boasting about the Corinthians?
Well they were some of the first to respond to the needs of the church in Jerusalem and their example spurred everyone else into action, especially the Macedonians.
But unlike the Macedonians the enthusiasm in Corinth faded away.
So Paul has to write to them again with all sorts of detailed arrangements for their giving, and send the boys round to collect it!!
It conjures up a lovely picture doesn’t it: this letter being read out loud to the church.
They hear all Paul’s teaching, his criticism, and his reconciliation then they get hit with two whole chapters on their giving, or lack of it, and the fact that Paul is sending Titus round!
Preview
There are two messages in this passage for us:
First that good intentions aren’t enough;
Second that our ministry of giving is important: not just how MUCH we choose to give as our ministry, but HOW we give!
Good intentions
Inertia is a real problem isn’t it?
Sometimes we just don’t seem to get round to putting our good intentions into practice.
We hear the sermon, we see the need, but then life takes over and action is shelved for the moment.
That's why we've devoted so much time to this teaching programme, just as we did to the teaching on prayer last year.
Each one of us needs to have time to think, pray and finally do something about our ministry of giving.
Good intentions are not enough.
So how should we give?
Paul gives three guidelines: our giving should be proportional, planned and graceful.
Proportional
In his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 16, Paul tells people on the first day of each week to set aside a sum of money in keeping with their income.
In other words our giving is in relation to what we receive from God not what our church needs.
We don’t send the boys round like Paul did, we have no Titus here, but if you get paid monthly make contact with Henry Sanderson, and make arrangements for a standing order.
For those who pay any tax at all, a signature on a simple form means the church gets the tax you paid as well as the gift, so it's far better than simply putting cash in the offering.
For those of you who are not tax payers, and not on monthly pension or wage, then use the envelope scheme.
Just see John Dowlen, our envelope secretary.
Either way the point Paul makes is that our giving should be in relation to what we receive – proportional giving.
His second guideline is that giving should be PLANNED.
Planned
In this passage Paul is clear that he wants the collection to be a gift, the Greek word means literally ‘a blessing’, but how does Paul ensure that the collection is truly a gift and not grudgingly given?
His answer is that it is PLANNING which makes the difference between a grudging duty and a generous gift.
Planned giving is about a conscious decision to be caught up in the overflow of God’s grace.
Our gifts of money are the action of God’s grace taking shape in our giving, almost like a thermometer testing the temperature of our hearts and our faith.
So by planning our giving in advance, in relation to what we receive rather than any perceived needs, we fulfil the first two of Paul's guidelines for giving.
The final guideline is harder to tie down, but is the most important of the three.
Graceful
This last guideline is to do with the importance of our ministry of giving.
Its importance not to the receiver, whether the church or some other good cause, but to us.
Because we are changed by the act and grace of giving if we give as a ministry.
The issue here is our willingness to be caught up in the grace of giving and generosity.
Water illustration
God beckons us to the water, but will not drag us in, or pull us under.
We can choose to stay on the ground never experiencing the exhilaration of the water.
We can choose to dabble, getting our toes wet but little else,
or we can walk in and take his hand and experience the wonder and the joy of joining in his creative, life-changing ministry.
The metaphor of water is OK, but we have waterproof skin, the water doesn’t permeate our bodies.
In contrast, generosity and grace will reach the very heart of us.
Rich young man
There is a story in the bible of a rich young ruler who was ruled by his possessions
Jesus challenged him to take up the one thing he couldn't buy: the grace of giving.
As we know, he walked away from that challenge and, in so doing, walked away from Christ himself.
For that man, good intentions were not enough, nor are they for us.
Conclusion
Paul told the Corinthians that their good intentions had to translate into giving.
Giving which is proportional, planned and grace-filled.
Paul says he wants a gift that blesses, not money grudgingly given.
Frank Lake apparently coined the phrase “hardening of the oughteries”, the Christian condition “I ought to do this, ought to do that.”
For many of us, giving becomes something we ought to do, ought to have envelopes, ought to Gift Aid.
But Christian giving is far more than that.
When we give in a proportional, planned and grace-filled way we receive infinitely more than we let go.
We release God's blessings into the church and the world and God is glorified.
Like the Corinthians, we must turn our good intentions into giving in grace:
Not just reVIEW our giving but reNEW it.