Naylor Community Christian Church
Naylor, Georgia
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 2 Corinthians
7:13-8:7
2
Corinthians 7:13 By all this we are encouraged. In addition to our own
encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because
his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. 14 I had boasted to him about you,
and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was
true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well. 15 And
his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all
obedient, receiving him with fear and trembling. 16 I am glad I can have
complete confidence in you.
2
Corinthians 8:1 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the
grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very
severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich
generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even
beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us
for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they
exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and
then by the will of God also to us. 6 So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier
made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7
But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete
earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in
this grace of giving.
-- eight-year-old Gabi Mann keeps a
treasure box in her home – it’s actually one of those plastic bead boxes with
the individual sections that snap shut – if you’re old like me, think of a pill
organizer – that’s what it looks like – but this container protects treasures
that have been given to Gabi
-- in an article on the BBC website,
the author wrote about how Gabi proudly opened each separate section in the
container and pulled out bag after bag containing individual treasures – after
warning the journalist that she could look, but not touch, Gabi opened each bag
and proudly displayed her treasures
--
one bag held part of a broken light bulb – another, small pieces of brown glass
worn smooth by wind and rain – “There's a miniature silver ball, a black
button, a blue paper clip, a yellow bead, a faded black piece of foam, a blue
Lego piece, and the list goes on -- Many of them are scuffed and dirty -- It is
an odd assortment of objects for a little girl to treasure, but to Gabi these
things are more valuable than gold”
–
Gabi did not collect these items herself – but each of them was given to her,
and that’s what makes them special – the truly miraculous thing is that gifts
were not given to Gabi by her friends or family – but these were special gifts
given to her by crows that she befriended in her neighborhood
--
it all began when she was four years old and dropped a chicken nugget from her
lap onto the ground as she tried to get out of the car – a crow ran up and
snatched the nugget and watched her as she waved
--
the next day, the crow was back, hoping that something else would be dropped –
and, sure enough, as the toddler got out of the car, she dropped more food
items, which the crow gladly picked up
--
this went on for some time – and then more crows started to come – Gabi
realized what they were doing and intentionally began sharing part of her lunch
with the crows – making sure to give them a treat when she got off the bus
after school
--
before long, the crows would gather in anticipation of the school bus and
eagerly greet Gabi as she climbed down the stairs and shared her lunch with
them
--
her parents helped her set up a bird feeder and bath and they began to feed the
crows on a regular basis – same time, every day – and the crows magically
appeared to enjoy the treats that they were given
--
it was shortly after Gabi started feeding them every day on her back patio that
the gifts began showing up – after the crows had emptied the feeder of the
peanuts that Gabi put out for them, she would go out and find a shiny trinket
left on the bottom of the empty feeder – the gifts came sporadically –
sometimes it was an earring – other times a shiny rock – sometimes small pieces
of metal – Gabi never knew what to expect, but she knew when she got a gift
from the crows it would be small enough to fit in their beak – and she
collected all of them in tiny bags and stored them in her treasure box as
reminders of her friends and the gifts that they exchanged1
-- we may not have crows for friends
who bring us gifts in response to the food we offer them, but as Christians,
each of us has a spiritual treasure box filled with memories and mementos from
the acts of service and grace that we provide to others
-- in Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus said, “19
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin
destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves
do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will
be also.”
-- this morning, we are going to
talk about those very treasures – where they come from – and how we can store
them up in heaven
-- we are finishing up our sermon
series on the spiritual disciplines and spiritual gifts – I know this has been
a long series, but I hope you have gotten something out of it – we’ve covered a
lot of ground – there’s still a lot more we could cover – but I wanted to make
sure and target the disciplines and the gifts that are represented here in this
congregation
-- hopefully, I touched on your
spiritual gift as we went through this message, for I tried to cover all the
ones mentioned in church after we completed the spiritual gifts survey together
-- this morning, we are looking at
the last three of the spiritual gifts which have been given to us to minister
God’s grace to others individually through acts of service and giving and
encouragement or exhortation
-- so, let’s look now at Paul’s
second letter to the Corinthians and see what we can learn about the exercise
of these spiritual gifts from Paul’s instructions to the church at Corinth
II. Scripture Lesson (2 Corinthians 7:13-8:7)
-- we began our study of the
spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians, looking at Paul’s listing of the gifts there
in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 – so, you should be familiar with the context and
audience of these letters
-- as you remember, the church at
Corinth was a new church – it was comprised of both Gentiles and Jews – and it
was struggling to find its way – the Gentile believers were holding on to some
of their pagan beliefs and practices and bringing them into the church – while
the Jews were clinging to the Law and having a hard time understanding how to
live in grace and not legalism
-- the result was a church that was
very confused and very mixed up and very carnal – so Paul had visited them
several times and taught them how to live in this new way of Christ – and in
response to questions they had and issues that had arisen, he wrote these two
letters to help them understand how to live for Christ in the power and
presence of the Holy Spirit
-- so, it is in 1 Corinthians that
we find Paul’s instructions on the spiritual disciplines and the spiritual
gifts and we find his great discourse that we know as the “love chapter” – 1
Corinthians 13 – where Paul tries to help the Corinthians to stop looking at
themselves but to live out the royal command to love
-- as Jesus said, the first and
greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul
and mind and strength – and the second commandment is to love our neighbors as
ourselves – which we talked about last week
-- it is through the outpouring of
God’s love into us and through us that the church of Christ truly begins to
find its way and when we see the reason that Christ called us to be His hands
and feet in the world today
-- out of all the spiritual gifts
that we have looked at, most of them have been given to build up the church –
to edify the believers – to help them grow and mature in Christ so that they
can begin to pour out God’s love and grace and mercy to those around them
-- these last three spiritual gifts
– the gifts of giving and service and encouragement – are the way the church
puts feet to their faith and shows grace to the church and to those in their
community
-- look with me now at 2 Corinthians
7:13, and let’s start there
2
Corinthians 7:13 By all this we are encouraged. In addition to our own
encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because
his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. 14 I had boasted to him about you,
and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was
true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well. 15 And
his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all
obedient, receiving him with fear and trembling. 16 I am glad I can have
complete confidence in you.
-- like we just discussed, the
church at Corinth had a lot of problems – but as Paul shone the light of Christ
on their issues and instructed them in the way they should go – they didn’t
just listen to his message and go home to Sunday dinner – no, they took it to
heart – and they put into practice – and they began to change
-- and Paul sees that here – Titus
had been ministering in the church of Corinth on Paul’s behalf and had been
helping teach the people how they should live – and he has just now come back
and joined Paul in Macedonia – in northern Greece – as Paul is continuing on
his missionary journey
-- and as Titus shared all the good
news about how the Corinthians had embraced the teachings of Christ and turned
away from their pagan idolatry and practices and how they relied on grace
instead of the law – Paul’s heart was filled with joy – he says here in verse
13 that he was encouraged by everything that he heard – he was so happy that
they were now living for God and that Titus had seen the transformation for
himself
-- encouragement is like a bright
light in a dark place – encouragement can give a person hope and can be a
beacon of light on a dark day – we all need encouragement from time to time –
and that’s true for all of us – even the Apostle Paul
-- I read about this middle school
in Tennessee where a group of students “took it upon themselves to make sure
that everyone feels loved and included.
-- “They started leaving positive
notes, written in brightly-colored highlighter, around school hallways and in
bathrooms. The notes are simple, but powerful. "If you realize it or not,
someone loves you," one note read -- "Never give up," was taped
to a mirror. -- Another said, "Stay strong." So far, the group of
students has left 100 encouraging notes with more to come.
--
“Nicole True is an 8th grade student at Harriman and a member of the group that
came up with the idea to leave the notes – she said, “I think it makes all the
difference in the world -- Considering the fact that all of us have had someone
come up to us and say 'that really affected us in a major way.’ It’s a small
act that just makes everyone's day a little bit happier.”
--
encouragers lift people’s spirits and help them keep going on, even though they
may be experiencing difficult times in their lives – out of all the spiritual
gifts, this is the gift I wish I had – in Acts 4:36-37, we are introduced to
Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas – the name
Barnabas means “Son of Encouragement”
–
how wonderful is that? – to be the type of person that is just so encouraging
that that is how you are known – that your name is changed to Son of
Encouragement because that is who you are?
--
that is awesome – I so wish I had this gift – I so wish I was known in the same
way – we see that in Barnabus’ life – he’s the one who went and got Paul and
brought him to Jerusalem to introduce him to the apostles – he’s the one that
took care of John Mark, even when Paul didn’t want anything to do with him –
he’s the one that helped serve the widows at the food distribution to make sure
everyone had enough – Barnabas is always there – serving and giving and
encouraging those around him – lifting them up and making sure they know they
are loved
--
that’s what people with this gift do – that’s how they live – that’s who they
are
--
we know the encouragers – we see them – we are drawn to them – these are the
people who we call when we’re down – these are the people who send notes and
who check on us when we’re struggling – these are the people who praise us with
their words and who tell us we’re doing a good job, even if we don’t feel like
it – these are the people who hold us and who are there for us when we’re
walking through times of darkness and difficulty
--
I have a lot of respect for the encouragers – the exhorters – for those with
this spiritual gift – for they keep us going
--
and that’s what Paul is saying here – I am encouraged by what you are doing – I
am encouraged by the report that Titus has given – I see what you have done – I
see who you are becoming – and I have complete confidence in you and your
relationship with God
-- this is the ministry of the
encouragers – and it is special indeed
-- look at Chapter 8
2
Corinthians 8:1 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the
grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very
severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich
generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even
beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us
for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they
exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and
then by the will of God also to us.
-- Paul moves on to discuss an area
of ministry that he has confidence the Corinthians will excel in – he shares
the example of the service and giving from the Macedonian churches to encourage
the Corinthians to follow suit
-- back in the Book of Acts, we read
of Paul’s visit to Jerusalem to meet with the elders of the church – with Peter
and James and John – this James is the brother of Jesus, not the brother of
John – John’s brother had been killed by Herod – and James, the brother of
Jesus, had risen to a leadership position in the church after he had put his
faith in Jesus following the resurrection
-- Peter, James, and John affirmed
Paul’s calling and ministry – they recognized him as a fellow apostle – as one
who had seen the risen Christ and who had been given his ministry directly from
Jesus Himself – they confirmed that Paul was to be the apostle to the Gentiles
– carrying the message of the resurrection of Christ and the forgiveness of
sins through faith by grace to the Gentiles while they ministered to the Jews
-- the only thing they asked of Paul
was that he would remember the Jewish believers and to set aside offerings to
help support those who were destitute and unable to provide for themselves –
Paul remained true to that request – and as he traveled among the Gentile
communities – preaching Christ and setting up churches along the way – he
reminded them of the debt they owed to Christ and to the Jews, from whom Christ
came and from whom the holy scriptures were originally given
-- while he was in Macedonia, Paul
made the needs of the Jewish believers in Jerusalem known to the churches – and
although they were living in poverty themselves – although they were in the
midst of severe trials of their own – God’s grace gave them the ability to
offer gifts and service to those who were less fortunate than they
-- Paul writes here that God’s grace
welled up a rich generosity among the Macedonians – and they gave even beyond
their ability as an act of faith and in gratefulness to what God had done for
them
-- when we teach and speak about the
spiritual gifts, we tend to separate out the gifts of service and giving – but
really, they are just different sides of the same coin – the gift of service is
the supernatural ability that is given by the Holy Spirit to serve someone else
-- the Spirit-given capacity and joy to work faithfully, practically, and
tirelessly for the good of others
-- this gift of service might take
the form of direct action – as in helping someone do something – or physically
meeting a need that someone has
-- the people who have this gift are
action-oriented – hands-on – people who love to take action and who inspire
others to join with them in whatever ministry is at hand
-- John Wesley, the founder of
Methodism, famously said, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can,
in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can,
to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
-- this describes the role of those
with the gift of servanthood – the gift of serving – but it also describes
those who have the gift of giving – for giving is related to serving
-- while serving means direct action
and getting your hands dirty by participating in ministry, others are called to
serve through giving – primarily, through the gift of giving money and other
resources to others
-- as The Spiritual Gifts Project
points out, “The spiritual gift of Giving is the Spirit-given ability to
joyfully, freely, and sacrificially share one’s resources—time, talent, and
treasure—for the work of God and the good of others. While all Christians are
called to be generous, those with this gift experience extraordinary eagerness,
joy, and discernment in giving.”
-- obviously, there were some in the
churches of Macedonia who had this gift – who heard of the need of the
destitute in Jerusalem and who led the effort to collect money and resources to
support their Christian brothers and sisters – to support those who they had
never even met – but who they were connected to through the Spirit
-- Paul says they gave beyond their
ability to give – as they began to give of what they had, God provided the
excess – just as He multiplied the fish and the loaves to feed the twelve
thousand – when you begin to give sacrificially as God calls us to do, then God
meets us in that place and makes it happen
-- several years ago, when we had
started Koinonia Church, we became aware of a need in the community where we
were meeting – there were a lot of really poor kids in that community that
could not afford backpacks and school supplies – and we felt like this was
something that God wanted us to do – so, we reached out to the school around
the corner and asked if we could provide backpacks and supplies – and they
gladly said we could
-- we told them we were a small
church – we only had a handful of people – we didn’t have a lot of resources –
but we told them we would give what we could and trust that the school would
make sure it got to the kids that needed it
-- we went out and bought backpacks
and school supplies and spent all the money we had on that – it wasn’t much –
and then, out of the blue, a check came in the mail from someone who wasn’t
part of the church – they had heard about the ministry, and wanted to help –
and then another check came and then another
-- our little church was able to
provide enough backpacks and school supplies that year to make a real
difference in the community – we gave beyond our ability – and God multiplied
the offering, just as He did here with the Macedonian churches
-- those who have this spiritual
gift of service and giving know that God will always provide – they have a
faith in the providence of our God to meet whatever needs arise – they give
more than they possibly can – they give until it hurts – because they know that
God will take care of their needs just as they are taking care of the needs of
others
-- when you give with a sacrificial
heart – when you are led and empowered by the Holy Spirit to serve and to give
in this way – God will meet you there and magnify the blessings
-- verse 6
2
Corinthians 8:6 So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to
bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But since you excel
in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in
the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of
giving.
-- Paul writes here that he has
complete confidence in the church at Corinth – he shared with them what the
Macedonians had done – how they had given above and beyond in faith that God
would meet the need – and he urges them to do the same in response to the need
of the people in Jerusalem
-- Titus had already told them about
the need and encouraged them to make an offering to the people in Jerusalem –
and Paul asks them here to bring this act of grace to completion as he prepares
to go to Jerusalem with these gifts from the Gentile churches
-- he tells the church at Corinth
that he has already seen how they have begun to excel in all things through
their faith and trust in God – their faith – their speech – their knowledge –
their earnestness – their love – had grown and matured as they had learned to
put their whole faith in God to meet their needs
-- and so, he calls them to join in
this ministry – to serve and to give their time and talents and resources to
those who were in need – so that the love of God that had been given to them
through Paul might be magnified and enlarged through the grace of giving to
others
-- people who have the gift of
giving have a heart that responds to the need around them – they are the first
in the church to see the need – they are the first in the church to begin to
give – and they are the ones who encourage others to join them – to encourage
others to give from the heart, also
-- people with the gift of giving
are those who come up with ways to meet needs through fund-raisers or giving
campaigns – they call on people to make things and give of their excess so that
others can be blessed – they lead the church in stewardship and in responsible
giving
-- I’ve told you before that I don’t
like church fund-raisers – I don’t like it when a church raises funds for
themselves – but I wholeheartedly support fund-raisers for specific ministries
and needs
-- I have no problem with raising
funds for mission efforts or to help others who are hurting – when Hurricane
Katrina hit back in 2005, we raised funds to send to churches out there who
were on the ground ministering to people in need – I support that – and I think
that’s something we should be doing
-- and this is where the people who
are gifted in servanthood and giving come in – for they are the ones with the
vision who see the need and come up with a plan to meet the need and encourage
others to join in
-- these people lead the outreach in
servant ministry in a local congregation – and just like encouragers support
those who need a special word or light in the darkness – those who serve and
give support those who need help in a tangible way – either through direct
service or through financial gifts – as empowered and led to do so by the
Spirit
III. Closing
-- let’s bring this to a close
-- as everyone here is painfully
aware, we are in the grip of an exceptional drought – this is the worst drought
that we have had in south Georgia in over twenty years – and it couldn’t come
at a worse time
-- for this is planting season for
farmers – the time of the year when we’re trying to get seed in the ground and
produce food and resources for others – it’s the time of the year when the
animals are starting to reproduce – when birds are nesting and mammals are
having babies – and it’s the time of the year when the plants are starting to
grow and flower and produce seeds and fruit
-- and without water, all of this
will be affected – all of life will feel the effects of the drought and the
lack of rainfall in our area – we’re already seeing the rivers and ponds dry up
– and some people are having problems with their wells – we need water – and we
need it desperately
-- I thought about that this week --
I'm not a big gardener, but we put out some wildflower seed and they sprang up
and began producing flowers –I noticed they were wilting and starting to turn
yellow – they needed water
-- so, I got out the sprinkler and
hooked it up and put in the yard and let it go for several hours – and not only
did the wildflowers perk up – but the wildlife did, too – I have a small bird bath
in the yard and the birds haven’t been going to it – I put a pump in there to
spray the water up to get their attention – and between that and the sprinkler
– the yard just became alive with birds and squirrels drawn to the water
-- when I went out and turned the
sprinkler off, it hit me what that meant – I controlled whether these plants
and birds had water or not – I could turn it on or turn it off – I could choose
to give them a lot or a little – it was up to me – it was my choice
-- and it’s like that with the
exercise of our spiritual gifts, too – while the Holy Spirit has gifted us with
the supernatural ability to minister to God’s people – to serve them through
leadership and prophecy – through acts of knowledge and wisdom – through
exhortation and mercy – through service and giving – it’s up to us whether we
allow the Spirit to use us or not
-- God has given us these
manifestations of the Holy Spirit to use for the common good – to share with
those around us – to use as ministers of His grace and love in this world today
-- but how much good are we doing if
we never turn the sprinkler on? – and how much good are we really doing if we
only turn the sprinkler on when we want to – when it suits us – when we feel
like it or when it’s for the people we like?
-- as I turned the spigot off and
watched the water in the sprinkler slowly die down and then stop completely, I
wondered whether that little bit of water had helped or not – it would be
better, I thought, if I could provide water more consistently – constantly –
dependently
-- I thought about getting a soaker
hose and putting it out – those hoses with the little holes that you leave on
all the time – that just put out water constantly – then I could give out the
water to the plants and the birds and the animals whether I felt like it or not
– it would continue to flow out as long as the spigot was open
-- that’s the way we need to
approach these spiritual gifts – we need to become soaker hoses for Jesus –
letting love and mercy and grace continually flow out of us to where it is most
needed – to exercise our gifts in such a way that we are indistinguishable from
the presence of the Spirit within us – to use these spiritual gifts to touch
those around us so that they might experience the love and mercy of God as we
have
-- it’s not enough to just know
about these spiritual gifts – to take a survey and find out where God has
gifted us – it’s not enough to know about the spiritual disciplines – the means
of grace by which God makes Himself known to us and through which we grow
deeper in our relationship with Him – we have to use them – we have to put them
into practice
-- but we have to be consistent in
both the disciplines and the gifts – we need to stop using them like spiritual
sprinklers that we turn on from time to time when we feel like it – but we need
to become more like soaker hoses – who soak up the love and mercy and grace of
God and pour it out to those around us – ministering to them as God has gifted
us and as the Spirit has empowered us
-- that is the message that I want
you to absorb today – that is the point of this entire series
-- you know what to do – you know
how God has gifted you – now go forth and put into action that which you know –
excel in the grace and ministry of God – as you pour out the love of God into
this world today and tomorrow and every day after
-- with that, let us pray and ask
God to give us His strength and His grace to do even more than we think we are
capable of
-- let us pray
--------------------------------------------------
1 The
girl who gets gifts from birds by Katy Sewall -- https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31604026
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