Persuasive

2 Cor 9:6, 15 "But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully...thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"

Let's just say that I could not just pick one verse today…I had to hit both of these. And when you look at them, they are inseparably linked.

In chapter 8 Paul started to prime the pump. He started to get into his request that these people get ready to give the gift that they promised to give a year ago. It is interesting that it took this church one year to get this gift together. It was either very large and they needed all of that time, or it was something that they kind of put on the back burner and forgot about.

Well here comes Paul. He was not one to mince words. Sometimes I think his writing is humorous because of the way that he persuades people. For example, when he writes to Philemon to accept back his slave, Onesimus, he says: "If he has wronged you or owes anything, put that to my account." How nice. Paul will take care of it. But then he says: "not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides." Phil 19. Now how in the world is Philemon going to make Paul pay what Onesimus owes? He can't. The same happens here in this passage. He reminds the people how willing they were to give a year ago. As a result, he boasted about them to other churches. When he did this, he got the other churches all excited about what the Corinthian church was going to do. But just in case they are not ready, he is sending other guys to make sure that they are prepared to give the gift that they promised that they would give. Then he says: But don't give because you have to. Give because you really want to…hilariously. Then he tacks on this for a reminder: "Remember the law of sowing and reaping. If you sow a little you will reap a little. If you sow a lot you will reap a lot." Persuasive Paul…but truthful Paul.

I think that we need to persuade like this as well. We need to remind people of their promises. We need to encourage people to think about all that they have received and then be willing to share. I need to be reminded of this.

Then the kicker. Then the big enchilada. Here comes the wrap up. "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift." How can you resist when you think about all that God gave? How can you not give when you realize that God gave His very best, frankly the most precious thing that He had…His Son. This gift is indescribable. There is no way that we can explain it. Oh, we try, but we really don't know how much this cost the Father. There is no way that we can understand, but we can realize that it is more than we will ever give. Anything that this church gave was miniscule in comparison to what God gave. And anything that I give will never compare. 10%? Big deal. God gave it all.

So, did they need any more persuading? Probably not. Do I?