Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.
I do not say this as a command, but I am, by mentioning the eagerness of others, testing the genuineness of your love. 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. And in this matter I am giving my opinion: it is beneficial for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something. Now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. For I do not mean that there should be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may also supply your need, in order that there may be equality. As it is written,
“The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.”
Sermon Text
We come to the yearly moment where the lectionary necessitates we dig into money for a little bit. I promise though, it will be a worthwhile discussion and not just me putting a hat out to you all. Money, time, resources, all of these are what allow the world to spin around and around the way that it does. We live in a time and a society where legal tender is the one universally accepted means of business. If you want to own a house, it takes money, if you want to feed your family it will take money, if you need non-negotiable health care, it takes money. As Joel Grey once told the world, “Money makes the world, go ‘round.”
Our scriptures were written in a far more fluid time in the world. While currency had revolutionized the way trade was conducted centuries before the New Testament enters the world stage, the world was not yet under its total thrall. Locally the main way people conducted business was via barter. I give you a chicken, you give me a hammer, any difference in value will come out in the wash down the road. Some people in this room may remember, distant though it may be at this point, a time here when people were willing to do something similar. So many babies in the United States were, not all that long ago, brought into the world with vegetables and fresh eggs paying the doctor’s fee.
Even as we do most of our transactions by cards and online, we still find a familiar rhythm working in our lives. Money comes in, money comes out, the bills are paid and the food is bought, and at the end of the month we hope that we have even a little extra money to squirrel away. We save, not so we can hoard our money, but so we can be prepared for emergencies that may creep their way into our life. Most people, at this point, are only about one paycheck away from falling into poverty – a huge departure from more hopeful economic conditions of a few decades ago.[1]
The wide disparity in wealth means that there is a constant need for us to be willing to work with others to meet people’s needs. When everyone is struggling it takes everyone to make sure that everyone has what they need. If only a few people are willing to help, then suddenly they are drained of their resources and pushed down lower than those they first set out to help. If no one helps, then nothing will move forward to better the world we are living in. The way that the world benefits the most is when everyone is willing to come together to do what needs to be done to help, and does so as much as they can.
In our scripture for today, Paul is writing to the Corinthians. This is after the passage we read a few weeks ago where he was telling them that though life may seem overwhelming, God will see them through their darkest days. Immediately before the section we read this morning, Paul tells the Corinthians about ministry he had been doing in Western Greece – or Macedonia. In Macedonia, the scattered Christians – though poor – had raised a large amount of money to help meet the needs of Christians in Jerusalem. Paul tells the story of their generosity, not to shame the Corinthians into giving to this fund, but to inspire them that they are capable of it. If the poor in Macedonia can raise this money, why not the middle class of Corinth?
For Paul, it is not a question whether someone will give to help others – they will give to help others because their Christian, he assumes that much. What he encourages them to do is to become people who give eagerly. He doesn’t tell them, “If you do not feel like giving, don’t.” He says, “it is right not only for you to do it, but to be eager to do it,” in other words the giving is assumed, he just asks them to do so willingly and with joy.
Paul also sets parameters for this giving. We do not give so that we become impoverished and another person becomes rich, but so that everyone has what they need. We are called to give based upon what we have, not what we do not. Therefore, if after all necessary expenses we have $5 to our name, we are called to give generously based upon that $5, not the theoretical hundreds we would have if we had a different job or a different life entirely. I point out I say, “necessary,” expenses here because we all have plenty that are not necessary at all, whatever our particular vices may be that take from our livelihood.
I want to be up front in saying that one of the most consistent ways that we can fund ministry is giving in this building, to the ministries not only of this building but to the conference and beyond through our connectional giving. Like the collection for the Jerusalem Church, we as a conference take up money as each individual church and send it on to do ministry across the state. This year, the conference has cut the mission budget of all mission sites by 25%, and our conference ministries have been cut by 50%. Hundreds of thousands of dollars that could go to help our communities and our college students cut. Why? Not for greed, but because there is just not enough money coming in. Not enough churches paying apportionments to see the good of the Church happen beyond their doors.
Domestically, we need help too. We are so close in both churches to meeting our budget for the year. We dream of the day we have the means to do more than just keep the lights on and keep our current ministries going, but that takes money I’m afraid. The shortfall is different in each church, but it is there. If we do not see a major turn around in the next six months, we will have to think about how we can cut our expense rather than expand our ministries. If we want to grow and flourish we need to be willing to put forward a little bit more toward the mission of the Church to see that the needs of our community are met.
I say a little bit, because it really is a little bit. I’d say it is a universal thing that if all people in a Church gave just a little bit more each month, major changes would happen. I cannot prescribe that amount, because I don’t have everyone’s financial records in my hand. Yet, I think that all of us might have a bit more we could put forward for the kingdom. Maybe that means mailing a check even if you’re not here on a Sunday, maybe that means giving one hundred more dollars a month, maybe that means putting an extra dollar forward than you did before.
No one likes money talks, but we need to be honest about it all the same. Scripture is not neutral on matters of money. We are called to give to the ministries of the Church and to live a life that is based – not on us accumulating as much comfort as possible – but on working to make more equal the disparity between the rich and the poor among us. I am guilty as anyone of not contributing as fully as I could, except maybe abstractly in the form of my time. Yet, time cannot keep the lights on, sadly that is just not the way of the world.
For the next year, I go down to a single income household. I also will be welcoming a child into my life. I’ll be eligible for the food pantry and make use of it to make sure we have what we need. Yet, I have told Grace that as we plan ahead, we will be working to expand how much we can give in the midst of this sudden drop in income. We must be more generous, even in the midst of harder times, because the work of the Church does not stop no matter what we are doing. Maybe that just means I don’t turn in a receipt now and again to provide more cushion in our budget here at the church, maybe it means I drop some money in the plate now and again, maybe it means I keep a few twenties in my wallet for those I meet who need it. No matter what it is, I must follow the example of Christ – who became poor for my sake, though rich, and in so doing gave the model for generosity.
We are Christians, that we give to the cause of God’s mission is a given. Let us develop a willing and eager spirit for that generosity the only way there is to do so… By practicing our generosity. Let us give not to impoverish ourselves, but to fund the work of the Church, and let us do so with joy, that through our meager means some may know the goodness of God who did not know it before. – Amen.
[1] Though generally reported, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness gives the statistic at its most stark. “In effect, more than half of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and one crisis away from homelessness.”
Available at: https://www.usich.gov/guidance-reports-data/data-trends
Teach us to Number our Days 