Sermon: “An Acceptable Gift”

Text: 2 Corinthians 8:1-15

4^th Sunday in Lent (B)

March 22, 2009

Scripture introduction.  Our second reading this morning is from Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians.  This letter is marked by such abrupt changes in subject matter and tone that most scholars have concluded it is a composite of at least two other letters, and perhaps as many as five.  Notwithstanding the interpretive difficulties that such a composite letter presents, the verses we will be reading this morning fit together very well with much of what has preceded it in Second Corinthians. 

Paul was engaged in a very big project—collecting a monetary gift for the relief of the Christians in Jerusalem.  We find references to this project not only in our text today, but also in First Corinthians, Romans, and Galatians.[1]  Throughout the early chapters of Second Corinthians, Paul has been building up to what, in fund-raising circles, would be called the “ask.”  He has laid the groundwork, and in our verses for this morning, he makes his actual request for their gift.  A year earlier the Corinthian Christians had shown initial enthusiasm for the project.  Now, using the example of the neighboring congregation in Macedonia, which gave abundantly despite their meager resources, Paul challenges the Corinthians to follow through and finish the job they began.  Paul’s arguments are instructive and inspiring.

Sermon.  You know, it’s not easy preaching stewardship sermons!  One may imagine that this subject would be close to the heart of every pastor—and I suppose in a way that is true.  Most of us realize, I think, what a close correlation there is between generous giving and Christian discipleship.  Even so, crafting a good stewardship sermon is a challenge.  On the one hand, all of us need occasionally to be rocked out of complacency in our practices of giving.  So a good stewardship sermon needs to hold up a very high standard for all of us to shoot for.  Jesus and Paul did this repeatedly, so there is no lack of material for those parts of the sermon.  On the other hand, the sermon should not be so challenging, and the standard so high, that people are discouraged from even attempting to grow in the grace of generosity.  Maybe I’m just projecting my own thoughts onto Paul, but I think I can see these opposing considerations operating in our verses for this morning.

Note how Paul sidles up to the topic first by praising another congregation—the Macedonians.  According to Paul, they were dealing with a “severe ordeal of affliction” and “extreme poverty,” yet their joy and their poverty “overflowed in a wealth of generosity.”  We don’t know what ordeals the Macedonians suffered, but the Corinthians probably knew already what their fellow Greeks in Macedonia were going through.  Not only did they give, Paul “testifies,” they gave voluntarily and even beyond what they could afford, “begging” Paul for the opportunity of contributing to the needs of the Christians in Jerusalem.  What was it that motivated the gifts of the Macedonians?  Paul concludes that they gave more than was expected because they gave themselves first to the Lord.  Paul was describing a renewed commitment on their part to live not for themselves but for Christ.  As Christians they had come to realize that all they had, and all they were, belonged to Christ; and this belief and this faith motivated their giving.  It was not necessary to goad the Macedonians into giving; Paul says they gave “voluntarily.”  They were not calculating how much they needed for themselves because they were not really thinking of themselves as separate from Christ.  They were part of the body of Christ, the broader community and fellowship of Christians.  Giving to other Christians was the same as giving to Christ himself—almost like giving to themselves.  By referring to how generously the impoverished and persecuted Macedonian Christians were doing, Paul was telling the Corinthian Christians, who lived in a very prosperous city, that they could do the same. 

Next Paul lets the Corinthians know that he thinks the best of them.  He praises them, and there is no reason for us to conclude that this is mere flattery.  Let me paraphrase verse 7:  Paul writes, “When we saw what the Macedonians were doing, we decided to send Titus to you so that you could complete your earlier generous undertaking.  You Corinthians excel in so many ways.  You are very faithful, you are highly articulate, you are well-educated, you are full of eagerness for the project.  I love you, I respect you, and I know you can excel in this, too.”

Although Paul founded the church in Corinth and was the person who brought the gospel to those persons, Paul did not attempt to exert any authority over them, nor did he claim any obligation from them.  Rather, he applied directly to the Corinthians the lesson that he knew the Macedonians already had learned.  That is, our giving is a response to the generosity of Christ.  As he wrote, “For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”[2]  At first that might sound like Paul was laying a guilt-trip on the Corinthians.  I mean, really, how can we respond in kind to the gift of salvation in Christ?  Short of giving our own lives for the gospel, the only way for us to respond to the sacrifice of Christ would be to give everything we have.  It is true that Paul wanted the Corinthians to stir themselves and get busy with the collection.  “You started out last year with eagerness and enthusiasm,” he writes, “Now you need to finish the job.”  Yet despite Paul’s reference to the extravagant love of Christ and his priceless gift of salvation to us, when he gets to the “ask,” it really is quite reasonable.

Like each of us, the Corinthian Christians must have been asking, “What gift will be acceptable?”, that is, “What gift will be both welcome and appropriate?”  And here’s Paul’s answer:  “If the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have.  I do not mean that there should be relief for others [that is, the Christians in Jerusalem] and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance.”  To illustrate, Paul quotes the story of the manna from the Old Testament book of Exodus.[3]  God provided the Israelites in the desert with manna, which was always enough for the needs of the day but could not be hoarded.  Paul was saying, in effect, “All persons had as much as they needed, but not more than they needed.”  In other words, give out of your abundance, but be sure you keep enough for your own needs.  God does not require a level of giving that causes us to become poor.  Moreover—and this is not a casual point—every gift, large and small, must be made with eagerness.  As Paul writes in the next chapter,

The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.[4]

So an acceptable gift is one that is (1) proportional to the abundance we have received from God and (2) cheerfully and eagerly given.  It’s that simple.

Of course the tricky part—the part where our faith really becomes evident—is deciding how much we really need.  In our culture we have been conditioned to believe that more is always better and that wants are equivalent to needs.  As persons of faith we know that this way of looking at the world is incorrect, but it still has some force in our lives.  Prayer is the best way we have to allow the wisdom of faith to replace the wisdom of the world.  Sometimes prayer is asking God for what we need, but just as important, when we talk to God we should be asking God to bring what we think we need into harmony with what God knows we need. 

Next Sunday at the time of the offering we will receive your financial commitments.  Early this week the last of our special newsletters will be mailed, and inside will be two pledge cards—one for the 2009 annual operating budget of the church and one (payable over three years) for the renovation of our church facilities.  All the preparatory work has been done.  You have been very patient as our church officers have commissioned formal architectural and engineering studies that confirm not only the basic soundness of our structure, but also the repairs and renovations which are truly needed if our building is to be a dependable platform for ministry in the decades to come.  You shared with Jim Graham your enthusiasm for this project and your willingness to support it with your financial resources.  With Jim’s input, Cargill and Associates prepared a careful estimate, based on their considerable experience and taking due note of the general economic climate, of what our congregation might reasonably expect to raise over a three-year capital campaign.  Soberly and prudently, your representatives have instructed the architects to reduce the budget for renovations to the lower range of expected giving.  Should the gifts exceed the minimum, they can be applied to important work, like the kitchen, that at least for now conservatively has been excluded from the project.

At important steps along the way, our congregation has voted its approval of this process.  Before I arrived as your pastor you made the important decision to remain in this location if at all possible, and just several months ago you re-affirmed this decision and approved the session’s recommendation to proceed with a capital campaign.  No congregation could have been more engaged or supportive during the campaign itself.  You have participated on various teams that have educated us all about the nature of the project and the extensive mission that already is being done by this congregation.  Every age-group has been included—from the children’s collection of the noisy offering to presentations to our Celebrating Life group and to the residents of Westminster Village.  You have opened your homes to small group gatherings, in which we all gained clarity about the project itself and about the kind of sacrificial giving that will be required if we are to reach our goals.  You have decorated, you have cooked, you have educated, you have spoken, you have listened, you have planned—and now each of us is praying.  The work of this capital campaign is now essentially over—all but the prayers.  We wait now for the movement of the Holy Spirit in each heart as the moment of decision approaches.

There is no need to give you the example of some other congregation like the Macedonians.  Our forebears here are the only examples we need.  I’m not sure of the exact date, but I think this building was built in the late 1870s or 1880s.  Touched off by the Panic of 1873, that period marked what was probably the worst depression in American history, worse even than the Great Depression of the 1930s.  You can get the details from Kevin Christ or Bob Guell.  Despite those hard economic times this congregation rose to the challenge and built the building that has been the center of our work and worship for over a century.  Hard times are an element of our picture, but they are not the whole picture. 

So what is an acceptable gift?  It is one that is proportional to the gifts we already have received from God.  But just as important, the gift must be cheerfully and eagerly given.  Next week, when you fill out those pledge cards and turn them in, make sure the numbers that are on them are numbers that represent your most cheerful and eager hopes for our church.  As you put pen to paper, consider that you are not pledging to me or to our session or to Jim Graham, but to Jesus.  Imagine that he will be here at the front next week to receive your cards.  He knows all the ins and outs of your life, not only the resources you have, but also the pressures you are under.  He does not want you to be poor.  In fact, he wants you to have the spiritual riches that come from giving.  He is pulling for you to do the right thing and to allow the Holy Spirit to change your life through faithful stewardship.  What is an acceptable gift?  Yes, proportional and eager, but I have been trying to come up with an image that is contemporary, personal, and that gives real guidance.  I hope you will forgive an informal image of Jesus.  [After all, he was fully human, had a sense of humor, and enjoyed life.]  Here’s the image: give a gift that would cause Jesus, who knows everything about you, to be truly happy.  The image is of him down here at the front embracing you, saying “Way to go!”  If you can truthfully imagine that when you give your pledge card to Jesus, he gives you a “high five,” that is an acceptable gift.

Now it’s time to pick a number.  Pick one that gives you joy and that gives him joy.