Scripture: II Corinthians 9

Well, why do we give? And why should we? A discussion of these questions might involve the time which we put into church and community and neighborhood service. It might include reference to the abilities which we share in cooperative endeavor with others. It may refer to the gifts of substance (money, materials or credits) that we offer through the church. I suspect that we may be wasting a lot of time and effort, looking in at ourselves with the oft-repeated desire to know who we are and why we tick. But it probably does little harm, and perhaps some good, to examine motives for behavior; provided this issues in our going ahead with some kind of good endeavor. So let us spend a bit of time this morning identifying some of the motives which impel one to give --- motives that may be ours in part, or in combination.

Some of the reasons for giving become targets of disapproval by those who would call them “unchristian.” And yet Leland Wilson, of the Church of the Brethren, raises the question as to whether both the Master and Paul (the great missionary) sometimes appealed to a variety of motives. Is it valid or necessary to appeal only to what some might term “highest” or “purest” motives in Christian giving?

Not too long ago, 17 recognized stewardship leaders of several Church affiliations came together for conference. They had submitted ahead of time a list of 30 issues which might be discussed. When they assembled, they examined all 30 questions, but focused their discussion on one --- the motive factor in the philosophy or theology of giving. So it has appeared important to responsible thinkers.

Certain facts, or features, may as well be noted and acknowledged at the outset. (1) First, students of the field say that literature on the subject is scant. What does exist is largely negative, pointing out mainly what motives seem to be wrong, unworthy. One writer, Luther Powell, in his book on “Money and the Church,” hits 8 motives for giving, 7 of which he rejects. He is not concerned, apparently, to find Biblical warrant for giving motives, but rather observes current motives which are now used. (2) Second, there are motives for giving which are treated in the Bible and can be discerned there, with particular stress on the New Testament. This might sound trite, but it is not. A lot of what we read and hear starts with a psychological analysis of man, or “motivational research,” and then sits in judgment on ourselves as stewards, or on the other fellow as steward.

The continual judgment of motives, ours or the other fellow’s, is a dead-end-street. George Buttrick reminds us that endless “self-scrutiny is an infinite regress.” That is, we begin by suspecting our motives. Next, we suspect our reasons for suspecting our motives, and so on. Dr. Buttrick once said in a sermon that “This continual self-examination that is in vogue is something like a snake eating its own tail --- subject to diminishing returns.” Maybe it is better to worship God than Freud!

3) Third, there are some of us who reject the “pure” school of thought --- that position which says that the only right way to give is simply in “love” or in “response” to God; and all other motives are suspect. This is a mood which is dominant at present. But the truth is that our motives are almost always mixed. We can’t breathe the rarefied atmosphere of the current dominant mood. Neither does the New Testament give such a picture.

One of the leaders in the Presbyterian Church in the United States has commented: “Jesus and Paul appealed to many motives. When those stewardship boys get better than Jesus and Paul in their motives, they are just too good for me.”

4) Fourth, when we do look in the Scriptures for motives for giving, it is well to be aware of what the Quaker, Henry Cadbury, observed. He points out that there is often an absence of altruistic motive in the teachings of Jesus. Cadbury once presented this view in a class that he was teaching. Several in the class challenged him and debated the matter with him. But Cadbury made it sound impressive with the New Testament references which he mustered. “Give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” [Matthew 19: 21]. “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you.” [Matthew 6: 14]. “For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” [Luke 6: 38]. “He who humbles himself will be exalted.” [Luke 14: 11]. “He who loses his life for my sake will find it.” [Matthew 10: 39]. One could list other references as well --- such as the Beatitudes. One wonders what meaning Jesus would attach to it --- but there it is. Paul gets into a similar framework when he reminds the Ephesians [6: 2,3] of the first command with a promise: “Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you and that you may live long in the earth.” How “Christian” are these teachings of Jesus and this reminder of Paul? There they are, for us to ponder, at any rate.

5) Fifth: whatever we discover in the way of motives is well worth the hunt. So let us look in Biblical accounts for motives that can be discerned.

I. One motive is the desire to be sons. A most basic motive for giving grows out of our awareness of our relationship to God in the household of faith as sons and daughters of the Most High. Look at Romans 8: 14-17. “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back in fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” The motivation is that of being worthy sons, in our giving, sharing, even suffering with Christ. It is to share in a common purpose.

II. A second motive in our giving, as good stewards, is that of gratitude --- the loving, thankful response because God has given to us. The Old Testament Psalmist had it: “Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving.” [Psalm 107: 22]. In this Old Testament context, offerings were placed on the altar to be burned. There was no utilitarian function to be served. Gifts met only the need of the grateful receiver to be a grateful giver in response.

You recall a New Testament account in which a very expensive ointment was poured over the head of the Master. Jesus calls it a beautiful act; but certain of the disciples call it a waste. [Matthew 26: 6-13]. It was simply an expression of gratitude.

Those who talk of the joy of giving are acting from motives of response to God: first a receptive attitude, openness to what God has done for us, but not stopping there. When one perceives what God has done, he responds -- and part of the response is in the sharing -- the giving -- of his resources.

Critics sometimes point an accusing finger at those concerned with stewardship, saying that they narrowly talk always of money instead of man’s whole stewardship. They may be right in noting so much focus on material resources in practice and procedure. For there is the whole giving of self, in many kinds of service, to be considered. But T. M. Taylor has this answer to the criticism. “The answer,” he says, “is not difficult to come by. Stewardship of possessions has, from man’s most primitive religious expressions, been a symbol of his broader, more comprehensive stewardship. Among the ancient Hebrews, for instance, the corn and oil offerings, the first-fruit cereal offerings --- were all symbolic of the belief that the entire crop --- and all one’s flocks and herds, were God’s gifts to man. .... Each of their offerings of portions of man’s substance amounted to a recognition that man owed all he had to God who had given him of his bounty.”

III. A third motive to be mentioned is obedience, recognition of the sovereignty of God. Some of us have been a part of congregations which sang, lustily, “Trust and Obey,” but, generally, avoided the idea of obedience. We like freedom better --- even license. We deplore nothing more than legalism --- though we have our own set of legalisms that do not appear to include stewardship. When Jesus speaks of obedience, he puts it this way: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” [Matthew 7: 21]. And again he says, “Everyone to whom much is given, of him will much be required.” [Luke 12: 48]. For Jesus, the law is not swept away by the gospel; it co-exists with the gospel.

It is not correct to ask whether the steward idea is based on law or the gospel. It is based on both, and on the dialectic between the two. A good steward enters into this situation of his own free will and receives a right understanding of his responsibility from both law and gospel. In Christian motivation, there is a place for demand, for a sense of obligation, obedience, an acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty. There are not a few who find here that the discipline of the tithe has a satisfying place.

IV. A fourth motive found in the New Testament for giving is status. Jesus spoke so sharply of the hypocrites who gave “that they may be praised by men.” [Matthew 6: 2]. His words for those who act from this motive are harsh. And those words have been hammered into us to such an extent that we have no difficulty in rejecting this motive as unworthy. Do we dismiss it too eagerly? Have we seen the Pharisees so clearly that have not seen the light in Jesus’ prior command? “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” [Matthew 5: 16]. Probably it is not well to hide behind the caution that we not be hypocrites, seeking honor for self, so completely that we fail to remember that God is honored by gifts worthily and generously presented.

Before we completely write off status as a motive for giving, let us study it carefully enough to perceive what Jesus meant. Can it be so disciplined that it can be used by God in ways unseen and unknown?

V. Another motive we do not favor is fear. We are even “afraid” of it, as being related to God’s judgment and action. Strange to see it avoided, for it is obvious in some of Jesus’ stories, or parables, dealing with the master and his steward-servant. There is a clear pattern of result in these stories. The master leaves his possessions in the care of the steward, while he takes a trip. The steward is responsible, though he does not know when the master will return. But the master always returns. The faithful steward enjoys a blessing of approval, and the unfaithful steward suffers disapproval and condemnation. [Matthew 25: 14-30]. The absence of the master in Jesus’ stories, which symbolizes the apparent absence of God, poses a temptation to misuse the master’s funds. Like Adam and Eve, the steward thinks he is unseen and can get away with irresponsible behavior. But Jesus assures him that a day of reckoning will come upon him, suddenly and unexpectedly.

Fear is not the highest of motives to which we may appeal. But Jesus did not avoid it. His parables are full of pointed language that should be fearful to anyone who takes their lesson seriously. This is not craven fear, but fear in the sense of rightful respect.

VI. Another, and worthy, motive for giving seen in the teaching of Christ has to do with our response to the need of our fellow men. How odd that we should even turn our back to this need as a worthy motive for Christian giving. In the 25th chapter of Matthew, our grand designs and our elaborate theological structures are all bypassed or swept away by Jesus’ assertion that those who bestow gifts of kindness and assistance to those in need, even unto “the least of these,” have given their gifts as unto Him! The Good Samaritan responded to the need of the moment. He did not, thank God, have to check to see if it was in the budget! (And this is not an attack on the careful, unified budget which is needed as a tool, serving -- not stifling -- the moving of the Spirit.)

VII. Again, the personal challenge which is offered us by the action of others is a motive from which the New Testament does not shrink. Paul states it in writing to the Hebrews [Hebrews 10: 24]: “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” And see how Paul uses this motivation (referred to in today’s Scripture reading) in appealing to the Christians of Corinth for an offering. “Now it is superfluous,” he says, “for me to write to you about the offering for the saints, for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year; and your zeal has stirred up most of them. But I am sending the brethren so that our boasting about you may not prove vain in this case, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be; lest if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we be humiliated -- to say nothing of you -- for being so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brethren to go on to you before me, and arrange in advance for this gift you have promised, so that it may be ready not as an exaction, but as a willing gift.” [II Corinthians 9: 1-5].

Paul boasts about the “per capita” giving of the Corinthian church people to encourage and challenge the church people in Macedonia. And it works! Paul says it “has stirred up most of them.” Then he slips in a personal appeal. “I have been bragging on you. Now when we get to the report at Annual meeting, don’t embarrass me.” Let us not be humiliated before God or man.

VIII. Further, giving may be a means to spiritual growth. How often we hear the statement: “Just win the souls of people and their giving will come freely.” Sounds fine, but it is passing foolish, for it does not reflect experience. In case after case, there are saints who have been in the pews “won” for decades, but who have never been converted in their stewardship --- who just give the same dollar, or more or less, that they gave last year or ten years ago. Jesus gives us an interesting alert here: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” [Matthew 6: 21]. Possibly we need not lay too heavy a foundation on the order of Jesus’ words; yet there they stand. And experience shows that when people make a financial commitment, they frequently become more involved, in their whole interest, in the life of the church whose program they generously support. Often it becomes the means of awakening the Spirit of God within them.

Thus, one motive for giving is that of a means to spiritual growth, not alone for the inactive member, but for the active member. If we fail to have a strong stewardship program and Christian Enlistment, we miss an important ingredient in the church’s ministry of Christian nurture.

IX. A final motive to be recognized in the spectrum of motives is characteristic of Jesus and generally uncharacteristic of us. It is that of reward. “Go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven,” says he in Matthew 29: 21. “Whoever gives you a cup of water --- will by no means lose his reward.” [Mark 9: 41]. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.” [Matthew 19: 29]. And Paul says that liberality in giving brings an increase in one’s resources. “He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, will supply and multiply your resources and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity,” says Paul, “which through us will produce thanksgiving to God; for the rendering of this service not only supplies the want of saints, but also overflows in many thanksgivings to God.”

[II Corinthians 9: 10-12]. Of course the reward is not the primary motive. In fact it seems, in a measure, to be a surprise. “When did we see thee hungry?” When did we do those things to our credit? It is a paradox that the reward is both announced, and a surprise.

Well, there they are -- at least motives for giving -- (1) the desire to be sons; (2) gratitude; (3) obedience; (4) status; (5) fear; (6) meeting needs; (7) challenge of others; (8) means to spiritual growth; (9) reward. The list is not exhaustive (though we hearers may be exhausted!) But the evidence is impressive. It is an affirmation of our experience that we act from mixed motives. God, in His word to us, shows us the appeal to these many motives.

Surely this is an illumination on our understanding of our stewardship of the “mysteries of God.” Doesn’t it come to this? We give because we want to give. Our sharing of time and abilities and interest and substance makes life joyful in proportion to our will to give. If we want to be stingy and small, or blinded to need and opportunity, we are just small, blind and self-centered. If we want to take a generous share of responsibility in the world that we can help to make, we become generous and helpful, aware of needs and opportunities. We build the church physically and spiritually. We take a hand in building community. And it becomes a joy in proportion to our commitment.

Today, we have been thinking about why we give, or may give. Next Sunday, in this congregation, we will examine some of the things that can be accomplished by our giving in Christian enlistment. Let’s be earnest about it!

There is quite a bit of the world that thinks it sees us church people in this light:

They’re praising God on Sunday.

They’ll be all right on Monday.

It’s just a habit they’ve acquired.

To that observation, let all Christians reply with lives that demonstrate what the old Scotsman said to David Livingstone: “Now, my lad, make religion the everyday business of your life, and not a thing of starts and fits.” Let it be a constant giving of our selves and of that which we control.

(Prayer. God, stir up the spirit of thankfulness within us, that we may take rightful joy in helping to bring joy to others. Most of all let Thy name be praised. Amen.)

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Delivered in Wisconsin Rapids, November 7, 1965.