2 Corinthians 8:1-15
We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia, 2 for during a severe ordeal of affliction their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means and even beyond their means, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of partnering in this ministry to the saints, 5 and not as we expected. Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, 6 so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking among you. 7Now 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. 8 I do not say this as a command, but I am, by mentioning the eagerness of others, testing the genuineness of your love. 9For 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. 10And 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. 11Now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. 12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. 13 For I do not mean that there should be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality between 14 your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may also supply your need, in order that there may be equality. 15 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.”
There's no greater teacher than experience, especially when we're being taken out of our comfort zone, and we see and experience life through someone else's eyes. We all know the adage “Don't judge someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes”.
It's also true, actually, when we have the opportunity to visit or worship in other churches. And if you've had the pleasure of doing that as a session member or you are working at the Presbytery level and are going to Presbytery meetings at other churches, then you know what I mean. Every time I return home here, I am both more grateful and more relieved that we have all that we have and that we do all that we do. So many other churches struggle literally to pay for heat and light.
We have a phenomenal organ! Some of the organs in churches are beyond repair. They're left to play very old and sometimes, very out-of-tune pianos. Some churches have neon signs in their sanctuaries—of a cross or a sign that says “Jesus Saves.” Not kidding. Other churches can't afford choir robes. Many churches don't have the resources and the talent, like we do, to make banners… and new banners and newer banners and more banners (like the beautiful ones we’ll see next week for Advent). Many churches don't have the talent to create this beautiful scenery that helps us worship God even more joyfully.
Where am I going with this? We are very much like the church in Corinth. We've excelled in so, so many things. As the text says, “we've excelled in faith and in speech and in knowledge and utmost eagerness”. You may not see it as clearly as I do, but it only takes one visit to another church to see the abundance and the beauty and the ongoing possibilities within this community of faith.
Now, please don't hear this as a haughty comparison about our church as the best and the rest of them are ugly and boring and tiresome. That's not what I'm saying. Some of the churches that are in our Presbytery are beautiful, and some are much bigger, but few have the character as well as the blessings. Whether they’re bigger or newer, or historical, so many churches don't have one tenth of the blessings that we have, yet, they are mighty. They're mighty in their tithes and they're mighty in their mission and ministry. Some of them have endured severe affliction. Some of them live in places of poverty, can't pay their pastors fairly or have to go part-time. But yet like the church in Macedonia, they live their faith out, regardless, with abundant joy. Can we say the same? Or have we, like the church in Corinth, gotten a little complacent, a little comfortable. (I hope not, because we've got a lot of work to do).
And, yes, we got sidelined by this virus, but let's think back to five years ago. The vision at the time was two things: Determine and participate in local hands-on mission and make this building a center and central meeting place for the community. And we've done both of those things, even beyond what a lot of us could envision, myself included.
Loaves and Fishes is feeding approximately 150 families a week. Gateway is offering classes in all sorts of crucial life skills. The deacons haven't even caught their breath between the Thanksgiving baskets and now the Angel Tree is up, as well as their work at the Firemen's Home and the Dover Faith Kitchen. Our building is in use by us and local partners and tenants seven days a week, as is our parking lot which is used for not only overflow of events by neighbors like the Elks, but also town events where people feel like they're welcome to come park in our parking lot to save a heart attack coming all the way up the hill. And what a beautiful parking lot it is!
As you see in the weekly bulletin, we are posting now our income and our expenses, so we can see how we're doing. Last I checked we were still running a deficit of about $35,000. The Good news? I just got an email from one of our friends in our extended faith community who's given us another thousand dollars. So if a hundred friends and family of this church gave $350, we'd be fine by the end of the year.
Now not everybody has the capacity to do that. Some of you have a greater capacity than that and some have a lesser capacity than that, but we could really finish the year strong--even though we started the year worshiping apart. We certainly don't want to finish the year looking at a big deficit, but the parking lot, which we had to do especially for safety concerns, is being used by people that we are ministering to and caring for. I'll let Paul say the rest of it to you, picking it up in verse 10. “And in this matter, I am giving you my advice. It is appropriate for you who began the 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 and according to your means.”
Now, I have to say I'm not trying to be cute here, but the text does fit the scenario that we're in. And, again, if a hundred people give roughly 350 dollars, then we're fine. We spend more than that on gas in a year. Now, it may be easier for some than others, but I believe in the earnestness and the generosity of this church and I know we can reach our goal.
The church in Corinth had just emerged from a place of faithlessness. Well, actually, they were pagan, so they were doing a lot of worshiping, but they were worshiping gods with a small “g”. Their faith was new, but it was genuine. Their earnestness was not the issue in question. It was that they were absorbed in their own troubles so much that they had stopped giving. Now, we all know what the market's doing right now and those of you who are retired--Ken spoke about this last week--we're not feeling too good about the market right now. And so the tendency is to sort of dial back our contributions, because the market is bad. It's harder to liquidate assets when the market’s soft. But, if we grow and continue to grow our faithfulness, then God will continue to pour abundance on us, even when we don't expect it. Even when we don't deserve it.
The other day I was leaving Quick Check, which is where I'm getting most of my retirement money, by the way; because people drop coins in the parking lot all the time there. It's unbelievable! Or when people use the automated kiosk pay machine and the change drops down in a catch container. They take the change of the $20 bill, but they forget to take the change and long after they’ve gone, I find the change when I use the kiosk. There's abundance everywhere, friends.
I'm not eligible for student loan forgiveness, because I'm in a private loan program. But I just got word that my loans have been reduced by $16 a month. Now, what am I going to do with that money? Sixteen dollars a month could make a difference, that’s $192/year, more than half of what asking all of us to commit to make up our deficit. That’s one symbol of our unity, just like what Paul was calling the church in Corinth to.
Friends, the symbol of unity is not only our relationships with one another and the connection we have in worship and coffee hour and other events. I think another symbol of unity is our parking lot, because that's where we connect and greet one another (and all the ‘meetings after the meetings’ happen). That's where we bump into each other that we may not have seen in a while. It also helps you get to church early, because if you don't get to church early, then you’ve got to park all the way down on Birch Street. The parking is a HUGE and important symbol of unity, because we're telling the community “you matter; we want to take care of you; we don't want you to trip and fall in the parking lot at night, because there's a pothole. We don't want you to bust a tire when you're coming to get food.” It really is a symbol of unity, that we want and need to fund, as well as our future.
Remember the story of manna in the Old Testament? God rained down manna, and warned the Israelites to take only what was needed. Whatever anyone stored would spoil. The biblical value is not “plenty”. The biblical value is “enough”. “Give us this day, our daily bread”. So, friends, we have our daily bread. We have everything that we need. Not always everything we want, but everything we need. So as you consider your pledge and increasing your contributions for 2023 and covering the cost of the parking lot, know that God will take great joy in your faithfulness until “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.”
Thanks be to God. Amen.