The King's Church in Ilford
The following is the text of the talk given on 10th January 2010 by Robin Hawkins
"Sowing and Reaping
(Or: "How To To Your Best To Ensure You Always Have Enough.")"
- 2Cor 8:1-7 + 9:6-15
Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
There are some things in Scripture that I find hard to teach. You know the passage where Jesus says:"everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." (Matt 19:29) Do I really believe that if I give £100 to God, he'll give me £10,000? - because that's in effect what he said. I'm very wary about saying that you will automatically get your 100-fold - because I don't think you will - automatically, necessarily - and yet I know this principle works. The point is: you can't reduce it to a formula. God isn't a "Hole-in-the-Wall money machine. You put in your card, and out comes the dosh to spend on what you like. Nevertheless, there have been two major occasions in my life where God has done just that. But do I have faith to believe that He will do it for you?
I have to say "Yes" in principle - if you go about it in the right frame of mind. The fact that I must have been in the right frame of mind on a couple of occasions was certainly more by grace than judgement, and something I take no credit for. In both cases, I had a specific need, and I had to give God what I had, trusting him to meet that need, because what I had wasn't enough anyway.
Let me recap on one of the examples, a) because many of you know it already, and b) because it happened a long time ago. Before I was married, the church I attended had a building fund to buy a new premises. I was a spend-thrift; and the thought of ever saving up for a deposit to buy my own house seemed impossible to me. Then I read one day this verse about the 100-fold, and thought to myself: That's 10,000% - sure beats any building society. Hey, I'd sooner give what I've got to God, and trust him to give me what I need when the time comes. As it happened I had about £300 in the bank from a car I'd sold, so I put it in the building fund, and forgot about it. Five years later when I got married, Julie already had a new house which was falling down, and the builders had to buy it back. When everything was sorted out we had £30,000 left with which we were able to buy our house. By God's gracious provision, we've never had to have a mortgage - and that's saved a bob or two!
Now I'm not telling that story to make myself look good. But rather to illustrate that that principle does work. Then when He did it again in more recent years, I became aware that it was more than a one-off work of God's grace, but that there's a biblical principle at work here. Not only do we have Jesus own promise on it, but Paul describes the underlying principle in 2Cor 9:6 -
"Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously."
This principle of Sowing and Reaping is part of God's creation. You find it in so many areas. It's one of the promises God made to Noah in Gen 8:22 and he's never gone back on it:
"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, (Sowing & Reaping)cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."
This is a promise for the earth. The principle is that you sacrifice one small seed in the confidence that from it you will get a lot more. So the promise for us is that if we sow in good soil, and if we're prepared to wait, then we will reap a harvest in due time.(Story of Gardener & Vicar) Why that seed grows is a mystery. Scientists can tell us how it happens. Only God can tell us why it happens. We can water the seed with faith and expressions of confidence in God, but it's God who makes it happen.
But this is not only a principle of God's material world, the same principle runs through the KOG. This shouldn't surprise us. He made it all anyway. Jesus said of himself and his death: Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies , it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Jesus laid down his life because he had faith that it would enable, many others to come to life - you and me amongst them. It wouldn't have happened if Jesus hadn't been willing to be that seed sown in the ground, and to die.
Then there's the P. of the Sower. The Farmer who sowed the seed all over the ground; the preacher who sowed the Word of God in people's hearts. That sowing was a wasteful business. He sowed it anywhere - on the path, among weeds, on stony ground. Some of that ground can be hard, and it can take a while for the seed to take root.
There's some of us here this morning who are hearing this word; and it's going in one ear and out of the other. You've heard messages about giving before, but you've hardened your heart because you don't want to part with your hard-earned cash! Others are hearing it, but the cares of this world are going to prevent you acting on it. There's the instalments on the car; the cable TV bill to pay; the kid's new designer trainers. You end up thinking: "We can't afford to give to God". Others of us are afraid to give for the simple reason that we have very little to start with, and we're afraid that if we start giving to God, we won't have enough for our own needs.
But there's others who are hearing this, and faith is stirring in your hearts. You have an excitement inside, and a desire to give to advance God's Kingdom in this place. So you're going to give - joyfully and enthusiastically - whatever God puts on your heart. This is sowing into God's Kingdom, and you can expect to reap a harvest.
I called this talk: "How to do your best to ensure you always have enough." This summarises what I'm trying to say. You'll never outgive God. "Give and it will be given to you...in abundance". "Everyone who gives up .. anything.. for the KOG will receive a hundred-fold." And if you don't receive it down here because you don't need it down here, Jesus will keep it for you up there where no-one can ever steal it, and no stock market can ever collapse on it, and the investment lasts for eternity. But notice it starts with us. We give in faith first!
But "If you sow sparingly, you'll reap sparingly..." This must be in comparison to what you could sow. Jesus did not consider the Widow's mite to have been sown sparingly. (Luke 21:1ff) Some of us may feel that a "Widow's Mite" is all we've got. But Jesus commended her, saying it was out of her need that she gave all that she had to live on. We have people in this church who have very little, and I know they could testify that they can't afford not to give. Time and again, they've seen the Lord supply more than they had to start with.
Listen: This principle of Sowing and Reaping does not apply simply to money, but to every walk of life. If you sow love, you'll reap it in return. If you want to receive love, give it. As somebody once said: "If (you think) nobody loves you, create the demand!" Conversely, if you sow violence, you'll reap violence. "Those who live by the sword will die by the sword."
If you sow the Word of God in evangelism, eventually you will reap souls for God's Kingdom. And so it goes on. "Freely we have received, so freely give." Sowing is something we have to do freely, in faith, and from a glad heart.
But I would ask this of all us. As we face the year ahead with all the work we believe God's calling us to do here at King's, can I ask you to give yourselves to God afresh - like the Macedonians did that Paul talks of. Say: "Lord, I'm all yours. Everything I have is yours to do with as you like." Ask Him for that same Grace of Giving the Macedonians had, where it became a joy for them to give sacrificially - even more than they could afford.
We have to trust that he will make up to us whatever our needs are.
See it as an opportunity for your faith to grow.
See if you can outgive God.
Don't just give of what you've got spare at the moment.
Give until it hurts, and make it a joyful sacrifice.
"And my God shall meet all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus." AMEN!
