Giving 2 - 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

9:6- - In explaining the importance of charitable giving, Paul uses an analogy of the harvest, which can be easily understood. He says “he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” This can be a difficult concept to understand because when it comes to giving “sparingly” or “bountifully” the real determining factor is how we define these terms. Is it talking specifically about a certain dollar amount? Is it talking about a percentage? What is the criteria for giving “bountifully” vs. “sparingly”? If we think back to Jesus’ mention of the widow who cast in her two mites, she was praised, whereas the wealthy people who gave an amount that was so much more but they were condemned. From this we can deduce that the amount of money is not the determining factor. Our answer comes in verse 7 when Paul notes that our attitude when giving is so very important. In the example of the widow’s mite, the attitude was that of gratitude and faith, whereas the wealthy individuals gave out of obligation and to be known to other people. Paul says to give “not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” The concept of “cheerful giving” is an interesting one. It almost makes it sound trivial or like we would be giving our stuff away frivolously, but we know through the teachings on self-reliance, that this is not the case. So how can we be self-reliant but also give cheerfully? Seems like conflicting ideas. To me, self-reliance doesn’t mean hoarding wealth, it means having sufficient for your needs. That might seem like a lot of money to some, and it can be depending on your individual circumstances, but it means covering your basic needs, saving for a rainy day, and helping others where you can. This can get a little complicated when you start talking about second homes or travel trailers or vacations, and I think it’s one of those things where that’s up to you and God to work that out. When someone “cheerfully” gives the substance that they have to someone else, that is the exact opposite of coveting your own property. If the concept of puritan work ethic was really true, and we really did believe that hard work is the determining factor in wealth, then we could look at anyone who is less fortunate and believe that if they just worked harder, then they could have everything that you have. If that was the reality that we live in, then charitable giving could be seen more as enabling someone’s laziness. But that is not the world we live in. I saw once a thing that said, “if hard work was what made someone rich, then every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.” This gave me a solid perspective on what it meant to be rich, what it meant to work hard, and how people were able to do one and not get the other. I would say that the vast majority of humanity work desperately hard and still don’t have enough to eat or clean water to drink, then there are quite a few people who have not “earned” or worked for the wealth that they have, it has been inherited mostly. Either way, the vast majority of the time, the determining factor of who ends up rich and who ends up poor is not hard work, but luck. If luck is the determining factor in how well off you will be during your life, then we must recognize that what we have as far as possessions go, is completely attributed to God. And if that’s the case, then we don’t really “own” or “deserve” or “earn” anything that we have. This isn’t to say that we aren’t required to do what we can for ourselves, but like my brother says, “did you need hard work to be successful? Yes. Was it the only thing that you needed? No.” This is to say that you can work hard all day long, but if there aren’t opportunities for you to take that work and make it profitable or useful to anyone else, then it doesn’t matter, you aren’t going to get what you need. I’m a perfect example of this principle. When I was in tech school, I worked very hard, but when it came to placing me for an internship, I was dead last getting placed. I went to so many interviews, I tried to hard to find my own clinical site, I thought that this was going to be the blessing that allowed me to see my kids more. But the hand of God intervened and got me an internship at the county hospital, which at the time seemed like “whatever” but I needed that to be able to support my family for the rest of my career. Other students in my class who got the internships that I wanted, never worked in our field, because of poor timing, poor placement, etc. It was through no fault of their own usually, but I am working in the field today, taking care of myself and my kids, and they are not. Is it because I’m awesome and I deserve it and they don’t? Of course not. It was because of God’s hand in my life. And if that’s the case for me, then surely it is the case for so many other people. All this is to say that the financial success that we have in life is largely due to God’s gifts. And if that’s the case, then all we have are gifts from God, and all the lack that other people have are mostly out of their control as well. So why should we see someone who is in need and not recognize how easily our situations could have been reversed. In fact, many times in our lives, WE are the ones in need, whether it be financially needy, or emotionally needy, or something else. If we are ever in a position where we have any time, money, or energy left over to give to anyone else, we should be grateful that we are in the position to give instead of the position of need. We should be happy to relieve the suffering of another person, knowing that when we are in need, hopefully someone will be there to ease our burdens. Cheerful giving can be our positive feelings that come knowing that we were of assistance to someone else. It's also difficult to get that in the disconnected world that we live in. For instance, the Church is one of the few charitable institutions that I would give to, as far as humanitarian aid. This is because of the rampant corruption that plagues *almost* every other charitable group, at least with the Church I know that the money that I give will go toward a good cause and not to some non-profit CEO’s performance bonus. But that being said, even though logically I know that the money is going to a good cause, I don’t know what that cause is, I can’t see or participate in good that comes from the money I gave. So “cheerful” giving in this sense is mostly just an exercise in optimism and faith, hoping that someone else is benefitted. This also doesn’t mean, though, that we need to be well off or completely comfortable ourselves to give. In the widow’s mite, she made a tremendous sacrifice to give the little that she had. We too might be making sacrifices in order to give as well. In the case of tithing, whenever I make my budget, I always think, “something is missing,” because it appears that I can live within my means from my one job. But then I realize that I forgot to factor in my tithing, and that’s what pushes me over into needing my second job. I just now realized that I can think about it like, I’m working my second job to pay my tithing, and that might make me a little bit more motivated, instead of being upset with it. I hadn’t thought about it like that, I’m going to have to reflect on that for a while.