"LET THE BLUES BE OLD NEWS!"

Written by David P. Nolte

2 CORINTHIANS 8:1-7

1. THEY FOUND JOY IN GENEROSITY:
   1. Let's listen to Paul again, "Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord."
      1. First they had experienced God's grace and that motivated giving. In chapter 9 Paul wrote, "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;" 2 Corinthians 9:8 (NASB). They were first saved by grace, then provided for by grace, then motivated to give by grace.
      2. Then, they overflowed in a wealth of liberality. Paul meant, literally, that, "their excessive, superabundance of joy and their profoundly deep poverty led to sincere generosity that overflowed in giving more than they could afford to give."
   2. Now, some rejoice in getting and being taken care of; these folk were just the opposite.
      1. They knew the truth of Jesus' words, the overlooked beatitude, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35 (NASB).
      2. They experienced the words of David, "Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The Lord rescues them when they are in trouble." Psalms 41:1 (NLT).
      3. They put into practice Solomon's counsel, "If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord - and He will repay you!" Proverbs 19:17 (NLT).
      4. They heeded the reminder in Hebrews, "And don't forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God." Hebrews 13:16 (NLT).
      5. They followed Paul's command, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Galatians 6:9-10 (NIV).
   3. Let me say, parenthetically, that this is not a teaching to pander to the lazy, the indolent, the irresponsible, the selfish, the freeloaders, the mooches, the leeches, the scammers and the takers of our world. To them, Paul says, "if man won't work, neither let him eat," and "Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right." 2 Thessalonians 3:12-13 (NIV). Be generous to the genuinely needy, and the rest should get off their lard and get a move on to provide for themselves.
   4. Sometimes it is the little guys who teach the big lessons. Last week in Childrens' Church, Trevor Frazier started to leave the classroom to approach Hayden Hardiman. Marlene said, "Oh, Trevor, you need to stay in the room." He looked at her and said, "I only want to share my crackers." His desire was to give some of what he had to Hayden. He found joy in giving and modeled it for us. So did the Macedonians. And,

2. THEY FOUND JOY IN PARTNERSHIP:
   1. Perhaps Paul, realizing their need, hesitated to take anything from them. But what is really strange here, as he wrote, "they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, and this, not as we had expected." Beyond expectation, they desired to be partners in sharing.
   2. Partnership.
      1. It involves co-operation and teamwork.
      2. It involves unity and harmony, accord and agreement.
      3. It involves sharing a load.
      4. It involves sharing the good things we have with others.
      5. It involves commonality of purpose and intent.
      6. It involves the principle of synergy: The working together of two things to produce an effect greater than the sum of their individual effects.
      7. There is joy, not conflict or competition, in genuine partnership.
   3. Partners know that we can do together what we can't do alone. We are partners in several ways.
      1. We are partners with our missions: OCEF, Hope House, Key Communications, Turner Memorial Home, Boise Bible College and Olé Ministries.
      2. We are partners in personal services we render to those we can help.
      3. We are partners in sharing the gospel with friend and family.
      4. We are partners in sharing our resources with the truly needy.
   4. If you are still singing the blues about something, a sure cure is to get into partnership with helping someone in need. A rich business man and a prominent attorney were traveling around the world and learned about Christian partnership. One morning as they walked along a country road in Korea, they saw a boy pulling a plow which was steered by an old man. It impressed the attorney so much that he took a picture of the scene. Later he showed the picture to a missionary in the next village. "Yes," said the missionary, "it seems a very strange way to plow a field, but I happen to know the boy and old man well. They are very poor. However, when the little church was built here in the village, they wanted to contribute something. They had no money. They had not grain to spare and winter was coming on, so they sold their ox and gave the money to the church building fund, and now they have to pull the plow themselves." The men looked at each other for a moment, then the attorney said, "But what a stupendous sacrifice! Why did you allow it?" The missionary replied, "They did not feel that way about it. They regarded it as a great joy that they had an ox to give to the Lord's work." They found joy in that partnership. So did the Macedonians. And,

3. THEY FOUND JOY IN GIVING THEMSELVES TO THE LORD:
   1. Hear Paul again, "they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God."
   2. Until we have given ourselves, we give nothing of worth. When we have given ourselves, then everything we give is worthy.
      1. The story has been told in which a rich man wanted to marry a country girl and promised her the moon; but he was merely buying himself a possession. There was no giving of himself though. She turned him down for a simple farmer who had not two nickels to rub together but who freely offered her his heart.
      2. Paul puts it like this, "If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:3 (NLT). I.e, the gift without the giver is void.
      3. When we love, we give ourselves, and when we give ourselves, we also give our stuff.
   3. Giving ourselves to the Lord is characterized by:
      1. Gladness and free-will. What they gave was entirely on their own, without any coercion from anyone.
      2. Unconditional surrender to His authority. They gave in keeping with God's will.
      3. Complete trust in His goodness. We only give ourselves to one we trust completely.
      4. Total commitment to His way and will. We have not given all of ourselves until we give up our self-will as well.
   4. A man whose hobby was collecting old books was a guest in a friend's home, and he was invited to browse around his host's library. He came upon a book which would fill a gap in his collection and offered to buy it. He was told to take the book as a gift. A couple of days later he received an envelope with some pages from the book he had been given. A note from the friend said, "These pages belong to you. While straightening up my library I found them. I'm sending them to you, for when I gave the book I was giving it entirely, and you must have these pages too." When we come to Christ to give ourselves to Him, we must give ourselves totally and unconditionally. As we grow in knowledge and understanding, then other things in our lives will come to light and we see that we need to give them to Jesus, too. We say, in effect, "Lord, I meant to give you my whole self in the first place, but I've found these other things I need go give, too. Now these things belong to you as well." Then we'll know, as did the Macedonians, the joy of giving ourselves to the Lord.

The blues don't have to be the theme of our lives. Sure things are hard economically, and maybe with our health or relationships or stresses or emotional stability. But if we follow the example of the Macedonians, the blues can be old news. Discouragement will be replaced by the joy of generosity, the joy of partnership in benevolence, and the joy of giving ourselves to the Lord. In return, when we trust Him, He will give us "a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." Isaiah 61:3 (NIV). Put off the blues, grab the good news. No matter where you are in life, no matter how impoverished you are spiritually, no matter how in debt for sin, Jesus gives joy. He invites you to come to Him, dragging all your baggage, bringing the blues; coming though unclean, unkempt, and unworthy. Be glad that you can come, just as you are, and find a warm welcome that will dispel the blues, and bring eternal joy.

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