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Mar 11, 2012

Giving Worship

Passage: 1 Corinthians 16

Preacher: John Repsold

Series: Objects for Worship--1 Corinthians 8-14

Category: Life Together

Keywords: worship, giving, money, people, plans, opportunities, relationships

Summary:

This message looks at the last chapter of First Corinthians through the lens of worship. Since this last section of I Cor. deals with giving, ministry opportunities and relationships, we see how God wants us to manage all of those for His glory and our joy.

Detail:

Giving Worship

I Corinthians 16

March 11, 2012

 

If you’ve been here the past few weeks, you’ll know that we’re jumping over I Corinthians 15 today and moving right into chapter 16.  Since chapter 15 is the Bible’s premier resurrection chapter, we’ll be coming back to it on Easter.

            But today we come to Paul’s closing remarks to this city-church in Corinth.  Having just spilled a significant amount of ink on the core foundational doctrine of the resurrection and its importance to our worship, he moves right into several other equally important issues on the practical theology side of the road.  He’s going to instruct us on how to worship through our wise use of money, life opportunities and relationships. 

            Paul’s introduction of this last section really begins in 15:58 when he says (and I’m reading from the NKJV), “Therefore [because the resurrection of Jesus has defeated death], my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 

Wow, I love this verse!  What a tremendous reminder and promise God gives us here as we take a look at how we are spending our lives in light of eternity.  God wants us not to just do “the work of the Lord” every now and then; He has designed us and life so that we can do His work “always” and at all times.  He has designed Kingdom living so that work can “abound” in our lives.  Yes, it may look like from time to time that all our work in Christ and His Kingdom is blowing away in the wind.  But God looks at “labor”…work…not humanly observable results.  While the suffering and death of Christ may have looked like all Jesus’ ministry was coming to naught, the resurrection proved that none of it was “in vain.”  So, too, our eventual resurrection and the revealing of all things at the judgment seat of Christ will show that every dollar expended for the kingdom, every act of kindness, ever labor of love, every sacrifice, every word or deed done to the glory of God was not in vain.  That’s why our lives are to always be “abounding in the work of the Lord.”  Whatever our occupation, calling, career, limitations, handicaps, strengths, talents and weaknesses are, seeking first God’s kingdom and righteousness will bear eternal meaning.

 

Interestingly enough, the first issue Paul goes to when it comes to worshiping God with our life is money and the matter of a Christian’s generosity. 

            If this is your first Sunday with us here at Mosaic, I want you to know that I preach on financial issues only as much as it comes up in our chapter-by-chapter study every week of God’s word.  For that reason, I think it has probably been over a year since we’ve even talked about money. Paul talked about it in most of his letters to churches.  55% (16) of Jesus’ 29 parables in the Gospels dealt with money. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, one out of every six verses deals with money.  God obviously knows that there is some direct connection between how we handle financial resources he gives us and our relationship with Him. 

            I Cor. 16:1 starts right out telling us how to worship using our wealth when it says, “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: 2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. 3 And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem.”

ILL:  That reminds me of a story I once heard about a church in California that was taking a special offering one Sunday for missionaries the church supported.  The ushers started at the front of the sanctuary and worked their way down the aisles.  One of the ushers noticed a man sitting on the center aisle ner the back of the church.  The man sat with his arms folded, his chin jutted out, and a scowling glare on his face directed right at the usher coming his way. 

            Reaching the place where the frowning man sat, the usher held out the collection plate.  The man in the pew continued to glare at him and refused to even take the plate and pass it along. 

            The usher leaned close to the man and whispered, “Sir, this is a collection for the missionaries!”

            The man in the pew snorted, “Missionaries!  I don’t believe in giving money to missionaries!” 

            “In that case,” the usher replied, “Feel free to take some money out.  It’s all going to benefit the heathen anyway.”  J  

 

God knows that money has tremendous power to either harden our hearts toward Him or open them up to greater blessings from Him.  Generosity, being at the very heart of God, is something He wants every one of His children to pick up and experience constantly as members of His family.  It’s not a duty; it’s a delight for those who have discovered what giving can do to mold your heart to be more like Christ. 

 

Paul was calling upon the Corinthian church, just as he had all the other churches in the region of Galatia, to take up an offering specifically for the Jewish Christian church in Jerusalem.  While the large early Jerusalem church had been known for its generosity to one another early on (in Acts 2 & 4), it was suffering now from a famine that had struck Judea.  The believers in Jerusalem, while apparently doing all they could to care for each other’s needs, was still falling short in the most basic needs.  So Paul, the Apostle to the Gentile world, calls upon the Gentile churches to step up and help another church…a church in a different city comprised of a different race of people who the vast majority of those giving would never even know personally this side of heaven.

            What does that tell us about where at least some of our giving should go?  Clearly, it should go to blessing our needy breather in other parts of the world whom we may never meet until we get to heaven.  Nowadays, you can do that in a host of meaningful ways.  Let me just mention a couple.

On Saturday evening of Bloomsday weekend, in one of our two weekend services, we’re going to be hearing from someone who works with a ministry called “Voice of the Martyrs .”  It is a ministry that has been going for several decades that seeks to link the non-persecuted church around the world with our persecuted brethren.  It gives us a practical way to connect with our brothers and sisters in nations where they are being beaten, mutilated, tortured, raped, enslaved and killed because they will not deny the name of Jesus.  We’ll be getting an education on how we can help them in many ways besides financially.  And we’ll be giving a part of our resources to help as well.

We’re living in a day when there are a number of very well run, financially sound and prudent organizations that help us assist both the church world-wide as well as the unchurched world.  You can support and educate needy children the world over through organizations like Compassion International, World Vision or Agros International.  You can help with disaster relief through Samaritan’s Purse and World Vision.  You can personally encourage and spend time with a village of believers in Nicaragua we support through Agros International. 

Giving to believers in other parts of the world, be they missionaries or national Christians in need, will grow our hearts to have a love and passion for the church universal as well as the spiritually lost apart from Christ.  God wants us as to be experiencing real life His church universal (in the whole world), his city-church (Spokane) and his house-churches (local Mosaic or Seaside or Orchard Christian or 1st Covenant or Calvary Baptist all in the core of our city). 

APP:  If you’re not giving regularly a part of what God has given to you to the church world-wide, you’re missing a big part of God’s heart.  Whether you’re a poor college student or a well-funded businessperson, something of what we have should be going to places and people we will never see until we get to heaven.

 

Let me just briefly run through a few of the important financial giving principles here in this chapter.

1.)  ALL Christians are expected to give.  Vs. 2—“…each one of you should set aside a sum of money…” for giving to God’s kingdom work.  Paul didn’t say, “Just those of you with incomes over $5,000…or $50,000 set aside a sum of money” every week.  He didn’t say, “If you have any left at the end of the month, go ahead and give it away.”  He said “each one of you.”  That means every man, woman, teenager, child, the person pulling down 6 figures and the one living on public assistance.  If you’ve got any money or support coming your direction…ANY…God’s will for you is to learn to share something from that with His people.

 

2.)  Giving is to take place on a weekly/regular basis.  Vs. 2—“On the first day of every week….”  We’re not sure if most Corinthians got paid daily, weekly or on some other schedule.  We do know that the church often met “on the first day of the week” which is Sunday.  So Paul is instructing the church to make it their regular practice to set aside something from every week’s income for kingdom ministry. 

 

3.)  Giving should be proportionate.  Vs. 2 says, “…each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income….”  Our giving should be in the way God has given to us.  It’s not about the dollar amount; it’s about the percentage, the “proportion.”  The widow in Mark 12 who gave two pennies…her last 2 pennies…gave 100%.  And God saw and took care of her.  The others who gave to the Temple treasury that day may have given thousands of drachmas worth.  But many of them were probably giving what the majority of American church-goers give:  about 2.7% of their entire annual income. 

            Many Christians have the mistaken notion that God expects 10% of our income, a “tithe” or “tenth,” and that we can therefore spend the other 90% on ourselves.  That’s not the N.T. teaching at all.  You will nowhere find God requiring 10% of Christ followers.  But you do find him asking us to give according to how He has and is giving to us. 

Most of us here today are in the top 10% of the world’s highest income earners.  If God has blessed us that much, maybe 20 or 30 or 50 percent is more reasonable and faith-filled for us.  I know of a group of business people who are called the 90-10 Club because they try to give 90% of their annual incomes away and keep just 10%.  Do you think God notices that kind of heart and is going to keep pouring out blessing when he wants things done on earth?  J

 

4.)  The handling of donations is to be done responsibly and openly.  Vss. 3-4—“And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. 4 But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me.”

            Wherever there is money, there will be temptations towards corruption, abuse, mishandling, theft, personal enrichment and a host of other things.  God’s people are not exempt.  So our practices must be all the more transparent, accountable and forthright. 

            I’ve watched this happen here in the U.S. and I’ve seen it in other countries as well.  There is an international ministry Sandy and I know of first hand that we refuse to support, not because they are not seeking to do commendable things.  But when we received their fund raising letters years ago and knew first hand what their ministry was doing, it didn’t match.  I read the letter that made it sound like they were turning a whole nation upside down for the gospel, look at Sandy and say, “Are we talking about the same country?  The same work?  The same people?” 

            Wherever we give, we have a responsibility to do our own homework and ask things like…

  • What are the overhead and administrative costs of this ministry?  Do they spend a lot on advertising or does the vast majority of my giving go to where they say it does?
  • Do they keep good financial records?
  • What is the measure of their financial compensation packages.

 

Overview of Mosaic’s finances:

 

So part of our worship as God’s children involves giving of the resources God has entrusted to us. 

QUESTIONS?

 

The second general worship venue Paul brings up is OPPORTUNITIES we have & PLANS we make.  Vss. 5-9

5 Now I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia (for I am passing through Macedonia). 6 And it may be that I will remain, or even spend the winter with you, that you may send me on my journey, wherever I go. 7 For I do not wish to see you now on the way; but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits.

8 But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. 9 For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

 

Apparently Paul was in Ephesus when he wrote this letter to Corinth.  His plan was to travel through Macedonia on his way to Corinth, winter in Corinth and then go to Judea with the collection. From November to February, it was impossible to travel by ship, thus staying in Corinth seemed like the best option. 

            But this whole section is full of tentativeness and contingencies in his plan.  According to his words later in 2 Cor. 1:15ff, Paul apparently had to change his plans.  While the plan he outlined here in I Cor. 16 was, we think, what he eventually did, some in Corinth ended up accusing him of fickleness and unreliability in his travel plans. 

 

Do you ever feel like Paul did here, hoping the plans you are making are solid and sound but also wondering whether or not what you are doing really is God’s will? 

            I think a little uncertainty in life is a good thing for our pride.  We are so used to living in a culture where every part of life is supposedly planned out well in advance.  “We’ll spent 12 years in school, graduate from high school, go on to college, meet someone special, graduate, get married, go on to grad school or get a job, buy a house, start a family, etc., etc., etc.”

            Paul submitted all these plans to the phrase “…if the Lord permits” (vs. 7).  That is how we worship Christ with both our opportunities and plans.  “If the Lord permits,” is a great phrase in which to bookend our plans. 

Yesterday at the Men’s Connection breakfast, we were talking about perseverance.  Dave Lott shared his life journey in Christ, one filled with plenty of hard things, suffering, sorrow and imponderables.  The men at our table got to talking about how we can sometimes be fully convinced that we are headed in the right direction, doing what God seems to have indicated we should be doing and yet not have things materialize or play out as we have diligently planed and prayed for.  It can create a disappointment with God that has the power to turn us away from Christ.  OR, when we re-surrender our hopes, plans and disappointments to God again, there can be real growth and deeper faith.

I think Paul, the “type A” driver that he was, had nonetheless come to learn that his plans in life must not only be birthed in waiting on God; they often need to be re-surrendered and re-birthed through continual submission to Christ.  “If the Lord wills…” is a statement of submission that should be both on the tip of our tongue and in the core of our hearts.  

 

 Notice a few of the things Paul talks about that helped him worship God with his plans and opportunities.

1.) Paul made ministry plans.  So should we.  There is nothing spiritual about drifting with the wind.  Paul was obviously thinking about and most certainly praying over the next several months of life and ministry.  While it’s true that his life was much more fluid and variable than ours due to the nature of his calling as an Apostle, nonetheless he was both working out a current plan of ministry as well as developing a future one for when God moved him on from Ephesus. 

            Notice that I said “ministry plans.”  Paul carried his profession of tent making with him wherever he went.  That didn’t change.  But his life passion was not his profession; it was his calling in Christ. 

            Professions are important.  God would have all of us do our very best and achieve the highest level of success in our careers as possible.  But living out God’s call to both evangelize and disciple people around us should hold just as much important planning and strategizing as we do for our careers. 

            What are our plans and goals for ministry and growth in Christ over the next 4, 8 or 12 months?  What new and challenging changes do we sense lie in store for us?  What faith and uncertainty will we be called upon to exercise?   If we’re not planning some challenging changes into life, chances are we’re going to stagnate.  Making plans to grow and change are well within God’s desires for us.

 

2.)  Paul recognized that even the most fruitful seasons of life come with serious challenges.  Paul said in vs. 8--“I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. 9 For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” 

            Acts 19 speaks about the wonderful ministry and church that Paul was able to develop in Ephesus.  But eventually he was forced out of the synagogue by his opponents.  So he rented a hall where he could preach.  Every day, six days a week, he taught the Word of God.  People came from all over the region to hear Paul’s messages, and the gospel exploded throughout the Roman province of Asia. 

            His ministry was so effective that it began to impact even the pagan religious and economic systems of Ephesus to such a degree that it eventually sparked a riot in the city by the silversmiths whose profits were being negatively impacted by all the conversions to Christ.  J

Worshiping God with our plans will also mean we must not let hardships be the primary reason we leave something and move on. Significant ministry often comes with significant opposition.  More often than not, trouble, hardship and opposition are signs that God has opened a door of ministry for us that the Enemy doesn’t like.  Don’t confuse hardships with God’s call to move on. 

 

3.)  Paul’s final call to worship for the Corinthians had to do with PEOPLE.   How we treat God’s people is a measure of the authenticity of our worship.  Money and plans are meaningless without people.  The church’s greatest asset is people.  Our greatest investments are in people.  The most important plans, expenditures and investments must be in people.  We’re not called to love programs or institutions or buildings or budgets or even spiritual dreams and plans.  We’re called to love people.

            Paul’s closing words were about people in the church.  He named some specifically like Timothy, Apollos, Stephanas, Fortunatus, Achaicus, Aquila and Priscilla.

 For young and apparently timid Timothy, the church was to show loving acceptance and even financial support that would take him back to Paul. 

For somewhat stubborn or strong-willed Apollos who wouldn’t go to Corinth with some brothers for some unstated reasons, Paul urged patience. 

When it came to Stephanas who had devoted himself to serving and laboring for all the saints (vs. 15), Paul calls on the church to “submit to” him and others like him (vs. 16). 

APP:  What’s the point for us?  Different people with different gifts and personalities in the body of Christ need different expressions of the love of Christ.  These people mentioned here were either missionaries, pastoral leaders or lay leaders in the church.  They all had their strengths and weaknesses. But Paul’s challenge to the church was to worship God well by taking care of and respecting well the spiritual leaders around them.  Leaders need that just like every one of us needs that.  God takes delight when we take notice of the different needs of people and respond accordingly.

Paul ends this chapter with warm greetings from a number of churches in Asia (vs. 19) and a call for all God’s people to “greet one another with a holy kiss” (vs. 20).  Since we’re a really “biblical” church, how about we practice that…right now!  J 

ILL:  When we lived in Spain, that’s how you greeted anyone of the opposite sex and sometimes good friends of the same sex—a double kiss—one on the right cheek and one on the left.  And if you got confused about which side went first, you would usually meet in the middle!  J

 So our first Sunday back in Spokane after our second term in Spain, I walked into the foyer and planted a couple of kisses on the first woman I saw.   I can still see her rather startled look.  She was probably thinking, “Wow, I’m glad they weren’t missionaries to France!”  J

Here’s the truth for us.  Paul’s experience with his spiritual family was not one of stoic, unemotional distance. He didn’t see showing interest in others and brotherly affection as the responsibility of a few ushers or greeters at the door.  Showing interest in and concern for others IS an act of worship.

If you’re in God’s family, then it is YOUR privilege and responsibility to “meet and greet” the people of God whenever you gather with them.  God wants a family that is genuine, personable and warm. 

And this isn’t just for those extroverts among us.  Moving past our own inhibitions and insecurities will more often than not move us into God’s loving interest in other people.  Think of a couple of questions for someone before you walk through the door.  See yourself as you truly are, God’s presence into the life of someone else whenever you step into a gathering of God’s people.  Don’t settle for silence.  Don’t be satisfied with isolation.  Take it from someone who is not naturally outgoing, who usually likes to sit in the back row, slide in late and slip out early:  being “other-conscious” really beats being “self-conscious.”  When we treat others as Jesus would treat them were He sitting next to them, we are really worshiping Him in our interaction with each other.    

APP:  So let’s put this into practice right now.  Take the next 5 minutes to find out at least one heart-concern or desire of someone near you that they would like to see God meet.  If you’re comfortable praying for them, do so. If you’d rather just pray silently, write it down and lift it to God as we close the service.