Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. 1 Samuel 16.7 tells us that man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. So when it comes to our giving, why we give matters just as much as what we give.
Let's do a heart check today as Pastor Rich digs into 2 Corinthians 9 in this message titled, Liberality with Alacrity. Christian Generosity. In September of 2013, a man in Brazil developed what doctors called pathological generosity. In a article published in the Journal of Neuroscience, doctors described the strange case of a 49-year-old man identified as Mr. A, who had a remarkable personality change after suffering a stroke. His physician said that after the stroke affected the subcortical regions of the man's brain, he suddenly had an excessive and persistent urge to help others. He wouldn't stop giving money and gifts to people he barely knew.
According to his wife, he would buy candy, soda, and food for kids he met on the street. He also quit his job as manager of a large corporation. A neurologist at Duke University said although personality change is not that unusual for stroke sufferers, this particular one is apparently novel. When asked by researchers if he wanted to return to his job, Mr. A claimed that he saw death from close up and he wanted to be in high spirits for the rest of his life. Isn't that interesting? I think there's some things that we can glean from that example.
He saw death from close up. Who but the Christian knows better that this life is temporary? And when it's done, we stand before our maker. And when we recognize that this life is so short and temporary, how does that affect us?
What does that do for us? We should not grasp the things of this life so tightly. But another one is, you know, he had a personality change where all of a sudden he had this urge to help others. Is God not in the business of transforming hearts and minds? I, as a child of God, is it not true from scripture, and yes it is, that the nature of the parent is handed down to the child and God is a lavish giver. He's in the business of helping people.
And I, as his child, with my heart and mind being transformed at the level of desire, does it not follow that I would be intentional and eager to help others and to give to others? The title for today's message is, Liberality with Alacrity. Now, yes, there's been some alliteration going on here, much to the chagrin of my son, Benjamin, who is in Maine. But he's not there because of the alliteration. I just want you to know that. He and Megan are enjoying their actual honeymoon and a reception up there in Maine, in the foreign country of Maine.
Oh, I'm sorry, we do have maniacs here. The first title in this series on Christian generosity was, Liberality that Abounds, and Paul said, let's see that this grace abounds in you, that it overflows, that it's an abundance. But also, the second one is, Liberality from Abiding. It's not just something we do because that's what Christians are supposed to do. It is something that the child of God does as an outflow of the work of grace that God is doing in us. But also, last week, it is Christianity, it is liberality that approves, liberality that approves. There has to be wise stewardship on the giving side, on the administrative side.
It requires the wisdom of God that we do so, that we do so with a high degree of accountability, that we do not allow greed to get its foot in the door. For today, the message of 2 Corinthians 9 is liberality with alacrity. Definition, please, what does alacrity mean? Well, it just simply means cheerful readiness. God loves a cheerful giver, and alacrity means cheerful readiness. The word that we find in verse 7, God loves a cheerful giver, that's the word hilaron, it means cheerful. It is the word from which we get hilarious or exhilarate. But we need to be careful here because there's not the sense in scripture that when we think of hilarious giving, which isn't really an accurate translation, maybe some of you have heard that before, but we need to be careful that by hilarious, we don't mean like the picture of some Irish pub or something like that, where there's a bunch of boisterous frivolity. Cheer up, you saints of God, there's nothing to worry about.
You know, that's not what he's talking about. I know some of you are asking, Rich, how do you know what goes on in an Irish pub? What hilaron means, two senses here, that it is eager and prompt. It is eager and prompt, like you're sitting on the edge of your seat and as soon as there's a need, you're there to meet that need, that sense of cheerful. The other one is that you are kindly disposed, that there is something developing in your nature, that you have a kindness about you, once again, because God is kind, God is good, God is a giver. He is a prodigal God, prodigal means lavish, and God has lavished his grace upon us. Did you notice how Paul ends this chapter?
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. You see, that's the fountainhead of my generosity, and that's the idea of cheerfulness. Kindly disposed, eager, and prompt. Now, we're given a contrast here before we get on into the outline of this chapter. The contrast of cheerful giving is a grudging obligation.
Look back with me at verse five, right at the end of verse five. Not a grudging obligation. This word is pleonexia.
The word actually means to be taken advantage of out of greed. Paul is very, very careful here to let the Christians know that this giving, this gift is not about him. It's not about cushioning his lifestyle. That's not it at all. There's no pleonexia going on here.
A lot of that is going on today, however. What do you think of someone who the only time you ever hear from them is when they want something from you? He's saying, Rich, we're in church. I can't say those words. It's not pleasant, is it?
Whenever someone contacts you, it's only because they want something from you. Paul says that's not what's going on here. That's not what Christian generosity is about. He makes it very clear, for example, in First Thessalonians chapter two, he says very, as he writes to the Thessalonian church, not at any time did we use our ministry as a cloak for covetousness. Our ministry is not to somehow raise our standard of living.
That's not it at all. In Peter, the Apostle Peter, in Second Peter chapter two in verse three, he warns believers that there would be those coming under the guise of ministry with a hidden agenda of greed. He says that by covetousness, they will exploit you with deceptive words. So we need to be on the guard for that.
That's why there needs to be liberality that approves. What is this giving for? Is it glorifying a person or is it glorifying the God, the creator of the universe, and our Redeemer? So no pleonexia in this, no taking advantage of someone out of greed. The other opposite here of cheerful giving we find in verse seven.
There's two of them mentioned together here at the very end, in the very middle of verse seven, not grudgingly or of necessity. Giving not out of regret or mere duty. Regret or mere duty.
It's the disposition of the individual. Oh man, you're going to give, I'm going to give but you're going to have to drag me. You know, pull me in dragging. You know, you're hanging on to this, I guess I've got to give it. Or just giving out of a sense of mere duty. I give because that's what a Christian is supposed to do. God rescue you from ever doing anything just because that's what a Christian is supposed to do.
That's not grace. God is doing a work in our hearts and our minds and as you are walking with God and communing with him and his work of grace is working in you, that becomes an outflow. And so it is with giving. But it is the disposition of the individual not out of mere duty or regret but the disposition of a cheerful giver.
What do I mean by that? Well, for example, in our home, I often give our children an invitation to do the dishes. Sometimes I have to give them what I call a special invitation and that is done so with a towel tightly wrapped. That's because I'm a missionary kid, grew up in a boarding school and I know how to towel fight. OK, it was a matter of survival and my kids know that they cannot win against me in that arena. Right. So if they start stalling when it comes to doing dishes, they see me grab the towel and their hands are in the dish pan. It's that simple. So grudgingly.
And that's very different from when I invite them to do dishes to when a friend calls and invites them over to their house for the day. That's an entirely different disposition. That's cheerful. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in Him. The one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m..
