BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME

2 Corinthians 8: 1 – 9


What happens at the end of meal you ate at your favorite restaurant?
I am hopeful that as you leave the place, you have left a tip for the waitress. And, I hope that it was befitting of the price of the meal, as well as the wages of the wait staff that gave you a restful time not having to prepare the meal yourself, or in fact clean up afterwards. What I'm trying to get at is that as Christians, we can often think that after having tithed at our church, we have done our monetary duty to the Lord, and become sort of cheap on doling out our hard earned money to the rest of the world.
Carlos Santana wrote in his song Smooth; “Give me your love. Make it real, or lets forget about it”
God says this several time in the Bible. He wants all of us. He wants all that we have. In return, we get eternal life, love, joy, and more blessings than you can shake a stick at.
So why shouldn't we share abundantly with others?

1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.
2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own,
4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.

Paul gave us this example of the churches in Macedonia for a reason. First he wants us to follow this example in our giving, and second, I believe, it can be interpreted to mean that we give to others not just the church.

8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

There it is again. That pesky word of God that instructs on how we are to live despite the way we think we should. Paul didn't order the people to act in such and such a way. He just made suggestions.
Sort of like when your father is angry at you for something, and your mother says “It would probably better if you didn't say anything”. It's not an order, just good advice to make things go a little better for you.
Share what God has given you, whether it is money, or the word of God. When leaving a tip for the waitress, why not leave a tract, they may read it and ask Jesus into their heart. That is if you have given a good tip. Otherwise, if you give a lousy tip, that tract will just be thrown away with the rest of the trash