SEED, NEED AND GREED?

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work (2 Corinthians 9:6–8).

INTRODUCTION: This morning we are going to talk about money. My message is based on a really good book that was written by Larry Stockstill concerning giving called: ‘The Blessed Life.’ Did you know that one out of every eight verses in the Bible talks about bling bling (money)? That alone is reason enough to talk about it at least a couple Sundays of the year. Martin Luther said that a Christian must be converted three times: the first time for his mind; the second time for his heart; and the third time for his wallet, and of the three the most difficult conversion is of the wallet. Arrogance is driven by what it can gain. Confidence is aimed at what it can give. When it comes down to it, we all face three specific challenges when it comes to our finances. When we have need, we should trust God to be our sufficiency. When we move beyond sufficiency into abundance, we must deal with the temptation of greed. When we move into multiplication and harvest, it is the result of planting our seed.

I)   Need—The Test of Sufficiency
The Macedonians were poor: And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own (2 Corinthians 8:1-3). However, they did not let poverty affect their generosity. They were cheerful and rich in giving. The best time to develop the quality of cheerfulness and joy in giving to others often comes when you are in need.
The Macedonians gave “not only what they could afford, but far more” (8:3, NLT).
They begged Paul for the opportunity to send finances to the impoverished believers in Jerusalem. Their hearts were generous and touched by God for the benefit of others. Finally, “they first gave themselves to the Lord… (8:5 NKJV).” When you are the first level of sacrifice, it becomes easier to give material things. God’s promise is for:
•    “All grace”: You will have all grace overflowing constantly.
•    “Always”: The promise is yours for all times and seasons.
•    “All sufficiency”: You will never experience a permanent shortfall.
•    “All things”: This does not say most things, but all things!
Three examples: A DAM; A BANNER; A SKITTLE
Imagine, if you will, an enormous dam, a majestic concrete structure cutting across a great river, the water backing up behind it. The sluice gates are opened, and out of the front of the dam there are gushing torrents of water being released. The water churns through the generators, sending power to distant areas, and rushes down to fill the area below. Like a flash flood, the water surges forth along the riverbed, clearing debris where it has accumulated, and later on, the water will flow more smoothly in the river, eventually depositing into a lake where people will gather for refreshing. How many of you want a flood of blessing to be released into your lives? Malachi let’s us in on the secret of abundant blessing: it comes by following the safety rules.
Factory Safety Banners: Have you noticed how many factories today have a big white banner prominently displaying how many days they have gone without any injuries? The reason for this is because any injury makes everyone pay a price. When you count the cost of treating the injury, replacing the worker, loss of productivity, higher workman’s comp rates, and higher health liability insurance rates you can see why getting employees to follow the safety rules is so important. Too bad we don’t count the number of people keeping God’s rules in the church. When God’s people keep the rules then everyone benefits just as when only one breaks the rules, everyone inevitably pays a price.
Tithing is one of God’s rules. Tithing is not a test to see how much money the church can raise, tithing is a test of faith to help us grow in our relationship with Christ. Also, there is nothing that tests a person’s true view of the invisible realm more than taking ten percent of your income and laying it on the altar before God. It is illogical to give it away, but it is an act of faith that declares, “I believe in the Living God, and I sow my faith into His promise.” He doesn’t say you have to do it to go to heaven, to be loved by God, or in order to know the kindness of His mercies along the way of your life. But He says that if you would like to see a harvest of overflow, of spiritual blessing, and provision from heaven’s sources into your earthly setting, then He’s calling you to make this sowing into the realm of the Spirit. Then you make up your mind whether you’ll do it.
Tithing is not an Old or New Testament principle, it’s a life principle. When you come to the life principle and respond, something opens.
It’s like Ed Young’s’ example of Skittles. Watching her eat the Skittles, I said, “Landra, can I have some Skittles?”  She said, “No.”  I said, “Landra, just give me a couple.”  [She said,] “They’re mine.” My little daughter didn’t understand several things.  Number one, she didn’t understand the fact that I was the one who bought the Skittles for her.  Number two, she didn’t realize my strength.  Number three, she didn’t understand the fact that I could have gone to the concession stand, put 300 packages of Skittles on a credit card, come back to her and given her so many Skittles; I could have rained so many Skittles on her that she couldn’t have eaten them all in a year.  I could have done that.  Like Landra, we don’t understand several things.  Number one, God is the one who gave them to us.  They’re His Skittles.  He bought them.  If God wanted to—because after all, God is omnipotent, all powerful—He could take all the Skittles from you and me like that!
II) Greed—The Test of Abundance
Need is when you are tested to trust God as your sufficiency. Greed is when you are tested by abundance. It is the temptation to build bigger barns to hold greater wealth, as Jesus taught in the parable in Luke 12:16–18. The promise is for “abundance for every good work.” The purpose of that abundance is to scatter your seed abroad and to give to that which advances the Kingdom.

Greed is the enemy of generosity. Waste or Worship? Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jarof expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. . . . But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, “That perfume was worth a year’s wages.It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself (John 12:3, 5, NLT). This is a tale of two hearts: the generous heart and the selfish heart. Mary gave the equivalent of a year’s salary, but Judas despised her generosity and said it was impractical and wasteful. These two people illustrate the conflict within us between generosity and selfishness.
Judas felt Mary’s gift was a waste. He used a religious pretext to mask his selfishness: “It should have been given to the poor.” He represents the world that thinks anything given to Jesus is a waste. Nothing the world does, however, is seen as wasteful, but is lauded as necessary. Selfishness promotes, protects, and provides for self. It begins when we are children and builds itself as a fortress in our hearts. Judas acted as if loving the poor motivated him. In fact, he was upset that the money was not put into the “support box” where he could steal it!
What do you do when you receive finances above your needs? Do you think only of spending it? Do you pay off debt? Do you consider that it may be for others? At times, God will test you with unexpected income. He wants to see what your heart really desired all along: to expand His kingdom or yours?
II)     Seed—the Test of Multiplication
The highest use for finances is as seed sown in God’s kingdom, not just to meet need or satisfy greed. The test of seed is in sowing bountifully. God can supply your needs in various ways. Elijah received meat from ravens and water from the brook. He also received cake from angels.
“Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness” (2 Corinthians 9:10, NKJV). “God will supply you with all the seed you need” (v. 10, GNT). “God will increase your store of seed” (v. 10, NIV). God supplies seed to the sower, not to the keeper.
There are three fundamental principles of seed:
You reap what you sow Like begets like, and exactly what you sow (time, love, finances, etc.) is what you will reap.
You reap after you sow You can’t reap before you sow, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.”  (Genesis 8:22). Start where you are; don’t wait on a harvest before you sow
You reap more than you sow Multiplication may be sown through tears, Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy (Psalm 126:5), but it will always be far greater than the seed. Two corn seeds produce a plant with multiple ears, and each ear has 400 new seeds.
There is a place that we could call the place of “extravagance of generosity.” Generosity never does what is normal or expected. It always exceeds it. Mary gave the equivalent of 300 denarii, one year’s salary.
There are principles that govern our ability to exhibit generosity. Let me give you some practical advice:
•    Make the lifestyle adjustments that will enable you to have something to give.
•    Pray about every significant financial decision, and wait overnight to act upon it. This will help curb impulse buying (80 percent of purchases are made on impulse).
•    Make up to people what they feel you owe them. God will bless you back with it, even though you may be in the right.
•    Never manipulate others. Don’t drop hints to people who are in a position to help you.
•    Don’t look at people as your source Give as God leads you to give.
Tithes: This is the first level of the ladder of giving, and it opens the windows of heaven.
Offerings: This is seed you plant that results in the multiplication of finances.

Extravagant offerings: David gave what some say was the equivalent of $21 billion to the temple, and Solomon sacrificed 1,000 bulls. The widow gave extravagantly even with her two mites, and with Jesus, God gave the “unspeakable gift” (Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15 NKJV). There is purpose for every gift. “She has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial” (Mark 14:8, NKJV). The woman who anointed Jesus was the Mary whose brother Lazarus was raised from the dead (John 11). She unknowingly anointed Jesus’ body for burial, because He was crucified before the Sabbath and would not have been able to be anointed until the day after the Sabbath. However, by that time He was already raised!
CONCLUSION The story is told of a lady who shared the joy she experienced when one of her children gave her a bouquet of dandelions. The dandelions were available, they were abundant, and they were actually hers, since they came from her yard. What made the bouquet so special was that it was a declaration of love from her child. That is what your giving is: a declaration of your love for God.

The little boy in the Bible gave his five loaves and two fish. Jesus took them, blessed them, and fed five thousand men, plus women and children. He put Himself in the offering. Similarly, give yourself to God and everything else becomes easy!