One of the strongest markets to emerge from the recent global pandemic is the self-help market. Self-improvement is big business, as Americans constantly seek out services to improve their lives — spiritually, financially, physically and emotionally. Market data estimates that the self-improvement market in the U.S. is worth about $13.4 billion.[1] Dale Carnegie might have been the first to introduce us to the world of “how to” books, but he was far from the last. Today you can find a “how to” book on just about anything. Personally, there are book on how to be a better husband, a better wife, a better lover, and a better listener. Professionally, there are books on how to day trade, how to read a book, and how to be successful without hurting men’s feelings. Socially, there are books on how to deal with stupid people, how to be cool in the third grade, and how to be funny. The list goes on and on.

There seems to be such an obsession with self-help books that I thought today I would preach my first self-help sermon. For my first self-help sermon I could have started with something easy like how to usher like a boss, how to avoid sitting in the front row, or how to pretend to pay attention to a pastor. My first self-help sermon could have been about something easy, but instead I thought I would start with a subject that is considered tabooer than the new translation of the Lord’s Prayer. Today I am going to preach the most tabooerest self-help sermon there is. Today I am going to preach, How to be a better giver.

Technically saint Paul will be our better giving guide. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians 9:8-11 Paul is encouraging the Christians in that congregation to be better givers. It is not that the Christians in Corinth were bad givers. On the contrary they were pretty good givers. Paul brags about their giving noting that when the need arose, they “were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.”[2] Paul has been using the Christians in Corinth as an example and encouragement for other congregations in their giving. Listen to what Paul says about them in the opening verses of chapter 9. Paul writes, “I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action.”

In this way y’all remind me of the Corinthians. The members of Messiah are pretty good givers. Your regular offerings not only keep the lights on and the air conditioning running, but because of your giving your called workers are generously supported and we are able to do some pretty cool ministry like start a Christian preschool. But what I like to brag about is how you respond when a need arises. The young men and women in our circuit who are studying for ministry face crippling debt, so, over the last 5 years, you have led the charge to raise over $90,000 in ministerial support for them. A young newlywed vicar comes to guest preach and you pay him over $2,000 so that he can afford to move halfway across the country to continue his studies. The last two Christmases you have given gifts to young missionary families and the gifts you have given are, and I quote one of those young missionaries, “better than the gifts I bought my own kids”. Like Paul, I brag about your giving; I use you as an example for other congregations to encourage them in their giving.

The Corinthians weren’t bad givers, they were actually pretty good givers, but Paul knew that they could be and likely wanted to be even better … and I suspect so can and so do you. So, in true self-help book fashion, at least as I see it, in verses 8-11 Paul has some advice for Christians of all ages who want to become better givers. I have taken the liberty to organize Paul’s encouragements into the following three categories: Experience God’s Grace, Reflect on God’s Gifts, Focus on God’s Glory. These three things will make you a better giver.

But before we get into those three things let’s just quickly make sure we are all on the same page as to what a good giver is. In verse 7, the verse that directly proceeds the “and” of verse 8, Paul writes, “7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” According to Paul, who writes the divinely inspired words of the Holy Spirit, a good giver gives “what he has decided in his heart to give.” A good giver is not forced to give, they are not guilted into giving, dare I say they are not even required to give. No longer is the giver bound by the tithe of the Old Testament ceremonial law. Rather a good giver uses his or her mind to make a calculation as to what to give and then after prayerful consideration “in their heart” they, the individual person, or in the case of husband and wife, persons decide what to give. And they make this decision with a cheerful attitude. The Greek word for “cheerful” is from where the English word “hilarious” comes. Which means a good giver is not a grumpy giver but rather a good giver is a giggling giver. Notice good giving is not an amount. Good giving is a determined thought and cheerful attitude.

Now that we have been reminded what good giving is, let’s see what we can do to improve our thoughts and attitudes about giving. The first thing we can do to be better givers is Experience God’s Grace. In verse 8 Paul writes, “8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” There are no less than 5 “All’s” in this one verses. The original Greek obnoxiously stacks three of them up for emphasis, “παντὶ πάντοτε πᾶσαν”. The 5 “All’s” in this verse frame God’s grace as a super abundant overflowing excessive surplus. By God’s grace you have experienced and continue to experience God’s abundant grace. God’s abundant grace overflows from the baptismal font where lost and condemned creatures are cleansed by the washing with water through the word. God’s abundant grace is served in plentiful proportions at the table where the penitent come to feast on forgiveness. Weekly God’s abundant grace teaches, rebukes, corrects and trains those who gather for worship. Daily God’s abundant grace is lamp to the feet and a light on the path for those who make time for devotion. God’s abundant grace first “abounds to you”; it fills you full and then God’s abundant grace “abounds in every good work”; it starts to overflow into every aspect of your life including your giving.

The first thing Paul tells us to do to be better givers is continue Experiencing God’s Grace. The second thing Paul tells us to do to be better givers is Reflect on God’s Gifts. In verse 10 Paul writes, “10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.” God is both the supplier and the multiplier of all that you have. Jesus invites us to consider the birds of the air and the flowers of the field that we might be reminded of His providence; that is reminded that all that we have comes from God. We confess this to be true in the first article of the Apostle’s Creed when we proclaim, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.” Martin Luther expounds on this confession saying I believe God “has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.”

God is the supplier of all that we have, and He isn’t stingy with that supply. Not only does God supply our needs but He also multiplies our supply beyond what we personally need. I know sometimes it can feel like you barely have enough to get by; I know you often feel like you need just a little bit more to feel secure, but I challenge you to compare what you have to what people in the rest of the world have, compare what you have to what people in the rest of America have and I think you will have to admit you have a lot. Now, there is nothing wrong with that. You do not need to feel guilty that you have been given so much. In fact, God has multiplied your supply for a reason. You have more than you need so that you have enough to share with others. This is not all that different than the parent who hands their child a dollar bill for them to put in the offering plate. It is the parent’s dollar; the parent earned it. But the parent gives it to the child so that the child who lacks the ability to earn their own dollar will have something to put into the plate. It is good for us to remember, on a much larger scale, the heavenly Father is still doing that for you and for me. If you want to be a better giver of gifts it is helpful to remember the gifts that you give, have been supplied and multiplied by God.

The first thing Paul tells us to do to be better givers is continue experiencing God’s grace. The second thing Paul tells us to do is to Reflect on God’s gifts. The third and final thing Paul tells us to do to be better givers is Focus on God’s glory. In verse 11 Paul writes, “11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” You talk to someone who doesn’t really know who Jesus is or what Jesus has done for them and giving seems silly. To the unbeliever, giving leaves the giver with less. But you who know who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for you; you who have and are experiencing God’s grace and are reflecting on God’s gifts, you see giving quite differently. To you, the believer, giving leaves the giver with more. It leaves the giver with a joy that can’t be bought.

It feels good to give; it feels good to know that God is using you to meet the needs of others. God does not need to use you; He does not need to use me, God could easily cause water to flow from a rock or food to fall from heaven, He could easily see to it that the oil jar be self-replenishing, and garments and shoes last for decades without wearing out. God has miraculously done all these things before, and God could easily do them again in order to meet the needs of others. So then why doesn’t God do that? God refrains, because He wants to share the joy of giving with you and me. God allows us to be instruments of His providence, to act as the very hands of God which provide for His people, and then He even allows us to be the recipients of gratitude that comes from those whose needs have been met. And when those whose needs have been met learn that we are giving because we ourselves are Experiencing God’s Grace and we have Reflected on God’s Gift to us then we are not the only ones they thank, they thank the God whose grace and gifts have made us such good givers. So, what ends up happening is the giver thanks God for the opportunity to serve and the one to whom we give thanks God for the gifts that we give; both giver and recipient give glory to God. Glory to God is the ultimate goal of any and every gift that is given.

You, like the believers in Corinth, are pretty good givers, I do seriously brag about you and I know your example has been an encouragement to others, but if, like the believers in Corinth, you would like to become an even better giver than I encourage you to follow Paul’s advice as I have presented in my first self-help sermon. Continue Experiencing God’s Grace, Reflect on God’s Gifts, and Focus on God’s Glory, and you will become an even better giver. Amen

[1] https://blog.marketresearch.com/self-improvement-market-recovers-from-the-pandemic-worth-13.4-billion-in-the-u.s

[2] 2 Corinthians 8:10