“So What Have You Done for Me Today?”

Scripture: Joshua 24:14-27

Last week, we were in the first 13 verses of this chapter, considering the Lord’s reminder to the people of just what he had been doing for them for the last few hundreds of years. He had promised them the new home that they were currently living in, and had delivered on his promise in a grand way. He had carried them into Egypt to spare them from famine; he had carried them out of Egypt to free them from slavery; he had sustained them in the desert for 40 years, even though they had turned a deaf ear to his grace; he had lead them into this new land; and, when they were faithful, had brought them a victory in every battle they had fought.

Faithful action must always begin with faithful questions.
-- Carol Richardson, Sojourners, January-February 1997, 13.

And so, we begin our quest today with a question – “What does the Lord expect from me?” The simple answer is that the Lord has exhibited great faithfulness to Israel, and he has shown that same faithfulness to his people in Jesus Christ, and he desires nothing less from us. But we need to consider how we show that faithfulness to God. Today, we consider the response that Israel was to offer to the Almighty, as well as the response that we are to give to him.

Read Joshua 24:14-15

Joshua seems to be telling us that regardless of all that the Lord God has given to us, we still get to choose, not only how we will respond to him, but whether we will show him honor or not. Notice that the people aren’t threatened with dire consequences if they choose to serve other gods, and neither are they promised great rewards if they do choose the great Jehovah! Joshua simply tells them that they have to choose!

An elderly deacon at the local Baptist church wore the same suit to church week in and week out, year after year. Some of the more affluent members of the church got together and contributed some funds to buy him a new suit, since the old one was so tattered and worn.
The deacon took the money quietly and without much fanfare. The patrons worried if they had offended him. But since it was a small town, they soon learned that he had gone to the best store in town to buy a new suit, and in the process had enough money left over to buy new shoes, a new shirt and a new tie to complete the outfit.
The entire congregation was waiting for him on Sunday morning. The faithful old deacon, though, never arrived. Now, sure that they had offended him, the benefactors sent some of the other deacons to his home to see what happened.
When they asked him about his new suit, he admitted that he had bought one. And, he told them, it looked good on him. “In fact,”, he said, “ it looked so great on me when I got ready for church on Sunday morning, that I looked at myself in the mirror - at all my new clothes and how well I looked - and I just decided to go to the Episcopal church instead.”
--Thanks to Steve Palmer, (5 July 1995). ECULAUGH, A000000S.MSG.

Strange choice, but a choice, none the less!

But what if Israel had refused to choose - if they had chosen neither the other gods nor Jehovah? In most instances, the failure to select an option just puts you in a “holding pattern” – neither in nor out, and some decisions make little or no difference for our lives. But the choice of a divine benefactor is one that is vitally important because it has a default. Our failure to choose is, by definition, a decision to stay with the other gods. God had chosen the children of Israel as his own thousands of years before, but now they were being given the opportunity to decide who they wanted to follow.
And ever since then, people throughout the earth have had to make their own choice. In our case, Jesus went to Calvary for the forgiveness of all people – that is a fact - but unless people decide to claim that divine sacrifice as one made for themselves, the default takes place, and the outcome of that non-decision is not a pretty one.

Joshua wanted the people to make the right decision, and he reassured them of the one he was making. “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua made the right choice. But would the people?

Read Joshua 24:16-21

The people say that they choose the Lord, but Joshua seems to doubt the sincerity of their words. It’s easy to speak the words “I will serve the Lord!”, but unless they come from the heart, they have little significance.
Question number 2 for the day is this – “Where is our loyalty?” In those days when I was gainfully employed in industry, payday was of particular interest to all of us. Loyalty was quite evident, as we collected our checks, or in later years, when we received the stub saying that our salary had been deposited in our checking account. But were we just as loyal and committed between paydays? Pens, pencils, and pads of paper were always sliding out the door and winding up in employees homes. Copies of personal papers and documents were constantly being made on company copiers. Personal time wasn’t always accounted for – it was routinely taken on company time. And many times, business decisions seemed to be based more in personal gain than in company need. True loyalty, at times, was questionable at best, and at other times was completely lacking.
Joshua knew the hearts of the people – during the 40 years of wilderness living, they had turned their backs on God time and time again. And he challenged them – “You aren’t able to serve the Lord!” And then proceeded to tell them just what would happen if they turned away again. But the people were adamant – “No, no – we mean what we say. We will serve our Almighty God!”

Loyalty is easy to talk about when everything is working to your favor, but how about when the going gets rough? Is our faithfulness just as firm when the storms of life begin raging? Is our devotion to the true God still unshakable when the rivers dry up and the crops shrivel in the field and it seems that God has, for some unknown reason, decided to withhold his goodness? Israel was staring peace and prosperity right in the face, and God was looking pretty good to them at that moment. But how about tomorrow? How about next year? Would faithful lives still prevail then?

Read Joshua 24:22-27

The people claimed to be sincere, so Joshua tells them to prove it – get rid of all the worldly trappings that were cluttering up their lives. For just a moment, think about the “foreign gods” that each of us has in our life. Where is our vision? Where do we spend our money? Where do we put our time? Are we good and faithful stewards of the creation that God has placed in our keeping? Are we faithful when it comes to caring for our bodies and the wellbeing of our brothers and sisters?
Have we made a covenant with our Almighty and Gracious Lord, to follow his lead and to set all other gods aside?

Joshua set Israel’s covenant in place – that they would faithfully worship and obey their one and only Lord regardless of what may come up against them. And as a reminder, he placed a large stone under the tree for everyone to see.
Israel was always setting up a stone as a marker or an altar whenever something significant happened in their lives. Jacob set his “pillow stone” up to mark the place he had his dream (Genesis 28:10-22); twelve stones were removed from the Jordan and set up as a marker when the people entered the Promised Land (Joshua 4:4-9); the covenant at Shechem was dedicated with a stone marker, and so on. The tradition of the stones would help the people to remember whenever they saw these symbols of God’s faithfulness, but would they be enough to ensure the people’s faithfulness?

What do we have as “stone memorials” in our lives? What reminds us of God’s great gifts to the world? What reminds us of the commitments we have made to our Lord Jesus Christ? How are we reminded of what the fullness of faithfulness is all about? Are we “living stones” to help others in their faith walk?

So let’s return to our original question – “What does the Lord expect from us?” All too often, we think that the Lord wants us to accomplish such great acts that we will never be able to do it! But the truth is that he simply wants us to go when he asks us to go, and to do the things he asks us to do. He knows our limitations intimately, so he never asks more of us that we can give! The point of it all, though, is that when he asks us to go, he will always go with us, and when he asks us to do, he will be there doing all the heavy “doing”. If we simply give him our confidence, our trust, our faith that he is greater than whatever else may come our way, that will be sufficient.

Can each of us give our loving and gracious God that much? Can we give him any less? That’s what he wants us to do for him.

“So What Has the Lord Done for Us Today?”

Scripture: Joshua 24:1-13

For the next two weeks, we will be considering Joshua’s message to the people of Israel when they gathered together at Shechem. They had arrived in the Promised Land many years before, and had been involved in many battles with the people who were already living there. Crossing the Jordan may have been the end of the previous journey, but it was just the beginning of a new one. But eventually, the other nations would be defeated, areas would be divided between the various tribes, and peace would come over the region.
But peace, at least for Joshua, wasn’t enough. He remembered the covenant that Yahweh had made with Israel, and he felt the need for a reaffirmation with the nation. At the end of the previous chapter, we read his challenge to Israel – (23:16) “If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.”

As with every covenant that every person or nation will ever make, we need to periodically have a refresher as to what it really means for us. When was the last time you read our Declaration of Independence? Or the Constitution and the Bill of Rights? Complacency is one of the greatest enemies that anyone will ever face, and it is doubly dangerous for every Christian. We accept a relationship with the Lord when we claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior; it is acknowledged and confirmed in our baptism; we renew that bond in our membership vows; we affirm it in our marriage ceremony – but is all of this it enough? It doesn’t appear to be!
Joshua understood the importance of remembering that God’s bond with us is not dictatorial – that it is relational, and he called the people to assemble at Shechem for the opportunity to reaffirm the Godly union that had sustained them through hundreds of years in captivity, and 40 years in the wilderness, and countless years of conflict. But did the people not only remember what the Lord had done for them, but also understand what he had done?

Read Joshua 24:1-4

“Do you remember this story?” “Do you remember what God promised to Abraham and his descendents?” “And didn’t it happen just that way?” “Do you see now how it has all worked for your good?”

I’m sure that you’ve heard the old the past saying – “Hind sight is 20/20!” We seem to understand the things of yesterday far better than we can trust in the things of tomorrow! And yet, that is exactly what the Lord is asking us to do! Trust him! In all things! In all ways! In all situations!
Do you think that Joseph understood why everything started to go against him? (Genesis 37-50)First threats of death from his own brothers, then a pit, then slavery, then the lies of his master’s wife, then prison. How many of us could have remained faithful in light of all that? Jacob and all of his family would find themselves on the verge of dying of starvation, until the “lost son” brought them out of death in Canaan and into salvation in Egypt.
Could Abram have envisioned all of this when he and Sarai were lead to Egypt? (Genesis 12:10-20) That one day, his great grandson would be second only to Pharaoh in this mighty nation? And we haven’t even begun to consider what would come after this!

Hindsight! But even in knowing the story, Israel had a hard time putting it all together, and Joshua had to spell it out for them.

Read Joshua 24:5-7

“In retrospect, do you now understand what I have done for you?”

Some days, it is nearly impossible to hear God voice above the roar that inundates our lives. The demands of our jobs, family, society, nation, government, illness, pain, loss - even “church” can claim all of our attention, and God’s word, that “still, small voice” that whispers to our spirit, goes unheard. We listen to those things that will, one day, all fall away, and they begin to take control our life. And that one and only voice, the one that is perfect and consistent and eternal is pushed to the rear. Is it any wonder that we seldom hear God’s plan, and even less certain that we will understand and follow it?
We need to be reminded, every hour of every day, that God not only had a marvelous plan working in the lives of Abraham and Jacob and Joseph and Moses and Joshua, but that he also has one in place for each of us. Do you trust in that promise? Do you believe in that promise? Can you see it working for an ultimate good in you?

Like the Israelites, we sometimes find ourselves in a desert wasteland. No hope, no means, no future to speak of – just devastation and loss and darkness. Israel had been trapped between the sea and the most powerful army in all the world, and yet their God, who is more powerful than either of those, rescued them. Not by might, but by faith. Not because Moses had a great plan to rescue the nation, but because the Lord did. But after being spared from death at the hands of the sea and the Egyptians, their next step would lead them into the wilderness, and because of their lack of faith in what God could do, because they didn’t trust that the Almighty was working on their behalf, they wound up spending the next 40 years wandering in the vastness of nothingness, surviving solely on the benevolence of the God they had rejected. Nothing could defeat the Plan, but it could be delayed.

That’s what our ways of complacency, pride, self-confidence, self centeredness will do every time. It’s only when we step out in faith that our all powerful God can begin to do the truly great things in and through us. It’s only when we readily admit that we will never be able to do something, but at the same time, know that we have to go and begin the task just the same. We know that our participation is needed if the mission is ever to be accomplished. Whether it is a missional opportunity, or a ministry, or a personal endeavor, or some other calling, it is more than just responding to the voice that is speaking to us, it is the matter of trusting in the One who we know is speaking.

The Lord knows our voice, but do we know his?

Read Joshua 24:8-13

A young man wanted to change his life, so he went into a church and sat down in the sanctuary for awhile. He took out a piece of paper and a pencil and began writing down a long list of things that he promised he would do to change his life - a whole page of things - and he signed his name at the bottom,took it up and placed it on the altar, and sat down again in the sanctuary.

As he was sitting there, however, he began to sense the voice of God speaking softly in his own soul. And the more he listened to it, the more he heard God saying to him, “You've done it all wrong. I want you to go back up there and get the piece of paper and tear it up. And then I'll give you another instruction.”
So, the young man got out of his pew, walked up to the altar and did as the Lord told him. And then he went back to sit down in the pew and waited for the Lord to instruct him. It did not happen immediately, but finally the message came through. The Lord said to him, very gently, “Now take a piece of paper and sign your name to it at the bottom and let me fill in all the rest!”
--From Barry P. Boulware, First United Methodist Church, Kansas City, Missouri, who got it from Norman Neaves, a colleague

For Israel, and for us, it isn’t about God acting on our list – it’s about our trusting in his! For Israel, it wasn’t about their skill and might in war, it wasn’t about their plan to built great cities, it wasn’t about their planting and cultivating wonderful vineyards and fields – it was about God’s preparing everything for them and their loving and faithful care of his wonderful gift!

What has God done for us lately? The simple answer is this: “Everything!!” The real question for us, though, is “What have we done for the Lord lately?” And we’ll talk about that next week!

“Enthusiasm, Praise, and Zeal!”

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:16-24

In the first 15 verses of this chapter, Paul has been exhorting the church in Corinth to not only be more charitable in their giving to those who are in need, but to consider the reasons that they haven’t been more generous. Last week, we considered the generosity of our Lord Jesus Christ toward us and what our generous nature should look like. Today we continue in this chapter, not to see what we must do, not who we must appear to be, but what our attitude in generous giving should be like.

A woman wrote to one of those advice columns in her local newspaper with the following question:
“Can you tell me how a person who has a hard time walking without pain can dance and enjoy it? I do feel it for the next few days afterward, but as I normally limp around anyway, I just go ahead. When I hear good music, I can't sit still. What's the name for a thing like that?”
And the columnist’s answer was this:
“It's [called] 'a good attitude,' Congratulations”.
- Homiletics OnLine

The proper attitude in life can overcome any and every obstacle that we will ever encounter, any and every issue that might be a cause for limitation, any and every negative thought that could possible cause us to doubt. The wrong attitude, on the other hand, will obstruct us at every turn.

Read 2 Corinthians 8:16-21

Let’s think about the attitudes that are being displayed in this passage.
First, there is thanksgiving for what the Lord has done (v.16). Paul doesn’t start patting Titus on the back for being so loving of the people – he gives God the glory for the care and concern that is being shown. We must always remember that generosity isn’t an attribute that we will ever develop on our own. It is one of the great gifts from Almighty God!
Second, Titus is reportedly on his way to Corinth with “much enthusiasm” (v. 17)! He doesn’t see either the trip or the task as a burden – it’s a joy to serve! It wasn’t because of pride in what he was doing, it wasn’t a sense of accomplishment on his part, and Titus didn’t even see this responsibility as an honor. It was simply a joy for him to be able to serve in this way.
Next, we meet one of the unnamed brothers who was praised for his “service to the gospel” (v. 18). Not for his faith, not for his intelligence, not for his honesty, not for his accomplishments, but for his love in serving in the name of Jesus Christ. Paul doesn’t pat this brother on the back, either, but just offers the thought that he has joined the group in their journey because he is a good and faithful servant!
And last, Paul mentions the offering. He doesn’t praise the churches for their generosity, he doesn’t rejoice in the magnitude of the giving - he simply states that it is given to bring honor to the Lord and to show the church’s enthusiasm to help others.

The attitudes that Paul is describing, without his being overly obvious about it, are those of humility, gratitude and a complete focus on faithfulness to God. And with this approach to our faith expression, with the generous giving of ourselves to the Lord and his Church, with all that we have and all that we are, it becomes a second nature for us and we will soon discover that we will never again be able to do otherwise!

Read 2 Corinthians 8:22-24

We now meet a second unnamed brother who is joining the group. The first was chosen because of his service to the good news of Jesus Christ. This second man was chosen for his great zeal in faith. Not a word about the specifics of their service or enthusiasm – just the inference that it was all about Jesus, and to him the honor and glory!
Unselfish, unbridled, without apology, and in joy!
And what about Titus? What attributes does Paul offer for him? He is simply Paul’s “partner and fellow worker” (v. 23) He gives Titus a status equal to his own – neither is superior and they are working shoulder to shoulder. This time, it is Paul who claims no honor for himself, but shares every good outcome with Titus.
And he describes the three as “representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ”. Think about it – three men, traveling together with the offerings from the Gentile churches to be given to the church in Jerusalem, with no individual agendas but providing accountability for each other. No thoughts of personal honor and privilege – only a joy in being allowed to serve in this way.

And if this weren’t enough, Paul tells the Corinthians to receive them and love them and show them how worthy their church is. Remember that this chapter began with Paul’s chastising them for being less than generous in their offering! And now he implies that he is proud of them! What could have changed?
The truth is that I don’t believe that anything had changed. Paul was disappointed in their lack of compassion for Jerusalem, but that had no impact on his love and admiration for the people of Corinth. He knew that their hearts were right through the evidence of their past generosity, and he was not going to let them fall away now. He would continue in his confidence of their faith, and would challenge them to continue to be eager and enthused in their service to others, to live up to their commitment to help those who were less fortunate. I encourage you to read the next chapter (2 Corinthians 9) on your own this week (I’ll bet you didn’t know that you would be getting homework!!) to see just how certain Paul was of this church and their great zeal and generous nature.

The point of our lesson this week is this: We can make commitments, we can tell great stories of faith, we can have absolute trust in Almighty God, but if we don’t put our words and thoughts into action, what have we gained?? Or more importantly, what has our Lord gained?

A man walked into a pet store and said, “I want to return this talking bird.”
The store owner said, “Well, sir, we guarantee that all our birds can talk, but we can't guarantee when they will talk.”
“No, no”, the man said. “The bird talks all right, but I don't like its attitude. For six days I said to the bird, 'Can you talk?' The bird said nothing. Every morning and every night I stood in front of the cage and said, 'Can you talk?' The bird said nothing again. Finally this morning, I lost my temper and shouted at the bird, 'You stupid bird, can you talk?!' “
“So, what happened?” the owner asked.
“That bird looked at me and said, 'Yeah, I can talk. Can you fly?'”
-R. Scott Colglazier, Finding a Faith That Makes Sense (St. Louis: Chalice Press),76.

The question before us today, then, is this – are we talkers or are we flyers? Are we focused on simply showing up so that others can see us, or are we doing those things that we commit to, whether others know about it or not? Do we seek out the glamorous jobs or the menial ones, and willingly accept any task we are given? Do we grudgingly go about our task of serving the gospel, or do we approach it with great zeal and enthusiasm?

Titus and his two companions, on that vitally important journey to Jerusalem via Corinth, were “flying”. They would be traveling somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 miles, all of it on foot and it would take several months to complete the trip. They were carrying a good amount of cash and could, at any bend in the road, be attacked by robbers. They would be subjected to cold nights and hot days, sun and rain, aching and tired feet. But nothing would cause them to lose their passion for the assignment they had received, and while I don’t know for sure, I can just imagine them walking down the road, singing songs of praise and worship, and sharing their love of the Lord with anyone who happened to be traveling in the same direction that they were. These men were flyers in faith without equal!

No job too small, no task too daunting. They simply trusted in the Lord and praised him for being able to serve in his gospel of hope and life, and they did that with an enthusiasm and zeal that can barely be described.
Can we say the same thing?

“The Face of Generosity”

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:9-15

You will remember that last week we considered the Corinthians failure to live up to their commitment to help the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem in their hour of need. Other churches had been more than generous in their giving, but Corinth had not, and Paul was calling them on it. Paul offered the church a challenge, that they might “excel in this grace of giving” (2 Cor. 8:5-7).
And this challenge is for us, too. To excel in grace, in whatever form it may take, is the task of every Christian. To excel in grace is be like Christ and to be completely unlike the people of the world. To excel in grace means that we finally understand, and have put into practice, those things that Jesus was trying to teach us.

Today, we continue with the apostle’s explanation as to why we should be that generous.

Read 2 Corinthians 8:9

Christ was the wealthiest being who had ever existed – he was the glory of heaven. Can you even imagine what that means? To be Almighty God – to be all powerful, all knowing, all present, all loving, all giving, all living? To be eternal in nature and in being? To be exalted by the heavenly host, who celebrated his glory constantly? The richest man on earth can’t even come close to having that kind of wealth and power.

And yet, he gave it all up. For his sake? Absolutely Not! It was completely and lovingly done for ours. He surrendered every ounce of his glory and power and prestige in order to be born on earth in a human way, as a flesh and blood mortal. Think about that one for a moment! The unlimited God accepted the bounds that you and I live under – we have to take a breath of air every few moments or we die, we have to eat food to gain energy or we die, we have a finite number of years to live and then we die, if we want to be in a place that we can’t walk to, we have to use a mechanical device to take us there, and we haven’t even begun to talk about the absence of total honor and praise in our lives. Jesus gave up the rich existence of heaven for the likes of this one. The word “poor” had nothing to do with his lack of financial resources – he gave up the glory and honor of heaven to become a mortal man.

And why would the Almighty God even conceive of such a plan? He did it so we might have the opportunity to know the riches – the glory – of his home. He took our poverty – our pain, our limitations, our struggles, our death upon himself so that we might experience true and infinite wealth.

That is what this verse is telling us – that Jesus gave up everything he had in order to become the poorest, so that in his poverty, we might gain the riches of eternal life. That is the epitome of perfect generosity!

Read 2 Corinthians 8:10-12

But we aren’t living in the wealth of heaven yet, are we? We’re still in the poverty of earth! So what do we do until the prosperity of eternity becomes ours? Do we sit around commiserating with each other over the struggles and limitations of this life that seem to multiply every day? In the 6th chapter of this book (2 Corinthians 6:10), Paul describes a life that is guided by the Holy Spirit - “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”
It would seem that we are to live as though we already have the riches of heaven at our disposal! And why not? It has never been about what we deserve or what we have earned or what we have created by our own means in this place – it’s about leaning on the grace and glory of Jesus Christ, it’s about “having nothing and yet possessing everything”!
In verse 10, Paul tells us that it isn’t about giving, and it isn’t about how much we give, it is simply about our great desire and drive to give. And in verse 12, he says that if we are willing to give, then our gifts are acceptable when they are given out of the resources we have, as long as our hearts and minds don’t see our resources as being limiting! In other words, we are to give out of the wealth that comes from God, and not out of the poverty that comes from this world.

The author William McClelland writes:
.. the Bible stands there as stubborn as a rock, and every time we open it to read, we stub our toe on its assumption that all the resources of our lives come from God: the strength of our hands, the cleverness of our minds, the health we enjoy and the possessions with which we have been blessed. God has loaned them to us in trust. We are stewards of these gifts of grace, and we are to use them whenever and however the Spirit indicates.
-William Robert McClelland, Worldly Spirituality: Biblical Reflections on Money, Politics, and Sex (St. Louis, Missouri: CBP Press, 1990), 40.

When we allow Jesus Christ into our lives, we surrender all that we have to him, and allow the Spirit to increase and guide us in our generosity toward others.

Read 2 Corinthians 8:13-15

The term “equality” has taken on a rather tarnished image during the past 3 years – many have expressed opposition to our government’s stand that equality means that resources must be reallocated from the wealthy to those who are poor – it is one sided. But scripture, at least in this passage, would have us believe that equality is about giving whatever you may have to someone else who is in need of it – a two way approach. It is about helping each other, regardless of your social or economic or religious status.

I’ve never been a big fan of Peterson’s “The Message”, but I like the way it words this passage. It says:
“The heart regulates the hands. This isn’t so others can take it easy while you sweat it out. No, you’re shoulder to shoulder with them all the way, your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your deficit. In the end you come out even.”

“You’re shoulder to shoulder, … all the way”.
It’s about the rallying cry of the three Musketeers was “One for all and all for one.”
It’s about sharing your excess with those who are in need, and vice versa.
1 Corinthians 13:5 tells us that love doesn’t keep score. It isn’t about making everything even – it’s about giving what is needed to whoever is in need! You may have heard the expression “Pay it forward.” Ben Franklin received a request from a friend for some financial support, and he sent his response in a letter to his friend Benjamin Webb on April 25, 1784:
“I do not pretend to give such a sum; I only lend it to you. When you .. meet with another honest man in similar distress, you must pay me by lending the sum to him, enjoining him to discharge the debt by a like operation, when he shall be able and shall meet with another opportunity. I hope it may thus go thro’ many hands, before it meets with a knave that will stop its progress. This is a trick of mine for doing a good deal of good with a little money.”

This is the face of generosity – a loan that never ends and is never fully repaid. And if, as 1 Corinthians 13 tells us, we fail to keep count of the repayments, all the better. Shoulder to shoulder, all the way.
Both the apostle Paul and the philosopher Ben Franklin were talking about financial resources, but it doesn’t have to be so limited. One person may have money, another may have a skill or tool, and still another time. Give whatever you may have to the greater good – “Do a good deal of good with [very] little”. And when the entire church claims this concept and theme, we will then begin to truly live as the Body of Christ.

“Excelling in the grace of giving” is what Paul wanted the church in Corinth to do, just as the churches in Macedonia were doing. Give out of your wealth, just as Christ gave for us.

“Excelling and Generous in Grace”

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:1-8

One of our shortcomings in this life is that of comparing ourselves to others. And it is a shortcoming! We have never been told to do better than someone else. As a matter of fact, we are told that God will judge us by his standards and by his merit, and not by comparing ours against that of others.
When I was in college, grading on the curve was one of those items that could either help or hurt, depending on how well or how poorly the rest of the class did. Most professors didn’t use this method of grading, but some did, and some even let the class choose early in the course. The curve was bell shaped, with an A on the left and an F on the right. There had to be at least one A and at least one F, regardless of the percentage grades.
Fair? Not at all, and personally, I always preferred to sink or swim on my own, and not depend on the failure of others to hold me up!

In faith, God never grades on the curve, and will never compare us to others. And how will we be judged? By these questions – Are we one of his flock or not? Do we follow his commandments or not? And these are questions that the Lord, and him alone, will answer. We will be judged by God, by his standards and by his mercy, and nothing else.

In the church, there are many issues that should never be compared person to person, to be decided on a curve. Faith expression and response is never a contest. How many committees do you serve on? I’m on more! How many hours each week do you spend at church? I give more! How much do you put in the offering plate? You’re not even close to me! Comparing the things we do as Christians have nothing to do with what others do. They have little to do with our faith, and they have nothing to do with salvation. But in our passage from scripture today, Paul seems to be doing this very thing – pitting one church against another in a financial contest.

Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-4

Becoming part of a faith community implies that a mutual focus exists. In the case that Paul alludes to, offerings are being taken to help the residents of Jerusalem who are in dire financial straits. Now we might think that a generous response to a situation like this, to brothers and sisters in need, is pretty much a given. But the truth is that Gentiles were being asked to help Jews.
This relationship, this tearing down of walls that had existed for centuries, was a totally new concept for the emerging church. The Jews had always looked down their noses at the rest of the world, and would never have even looked in the direction of a non-Jew, except to express their contempt. But now we are seeing the real life application of Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) – those who were previously despised were helping those who had rejected them. This is the situation that Paul is writing about.

But he is doing something else that, at least for me, causes some concern in faith. He is creating an atmosphere of competition between the churches in Macedonia (notably Thessalonica and Philippi) against those a few miles south in Corinth. All had committed to the offering, but apparently, Corinth was falling far behind. So Paul is telling them how well others are doing, in the hope that they will take up the challenge.

But what does the commitment and generosity of the Thessalonians have to do with the Corinthians? Jesus, I believe, taught us just the opposite! In Matthew 6:1-4, the Lord tells to keep the amount that we give to ourselves. Now it’s true that our Financial Secretary keeps a record of our giving, but it is simply so she can give us an accounting at the end of the year, primarily, I believe, for income tax purposes. The point of the Matthew passage is this - don’t brag about what you give and don’t use it as a means to create an indebtedness that someone else is obligated to pay to you. But on the other hand, this in no way gives us license to be less than generous either. As a matter of fact, it gives us the opportunity of being overly generous toward the needs of others, while experiencing humility and mercy in our own lives.

Read 2 Corinthians 8:5-8

The New Interpreters Bible says this – “The ‘remembering of the poor’ - in its being given and in its being received – becomes for Paul the supreme symbol of the unified people of God in Christ in whom truly there is “neither Jew nor Greek (Galatians 3:26-29). Paul construes the collection as a one time, symbolic act in which the Gentile churches as donors, and the Jerusalem believers as recipients, each acknowledge that they belong to the other in Christ.”

While this may be true, I still think that Paul has overstepped his bounds by putting the generosity of one church up against that of another, if indeed that is his intent. He does make one comparison that I agree with, though – he reminds Corinth that they have been generous in many other ways – why not in this one?
He lists several areas where they have been very faithful. Their great faith is a reason for rejoicing, their speech, which I take to mean their proclamation of the gospel message, is encouraging, the raising up of their knowledge indicates that they are eager to study and understand Christ’s mission to the world and how they fit into it. And their love and support of the apostles has been a special gift to Paul and others. Generous in many ways! But when it came to their giving for the poor of Jerusalem, (Paul calls it “this grace of giving”), they are falling short.

So what is this “grace of giving”? The expression implies that we are to see our giving to the Almighty, not as an obligation but as an opportunity, as a point of grace – a chance to express their gratitude for God’s good gifts to them. Corinth was being selective in their giving – those gifts that they could offer within their own church and area were given generously, but the needs of the Jews who lived so far away apparently meant little to them. Now I don’t want anyone to think that I’m calling our church to give to every need that comes along. If we did, we wouldn’t make much of an impact on any of them. However, when any need arises, we always need to pray about our response.

Pastor Scott Colglazier offers the following as a means to reflect on our attitude toward giving. He writes:
I would suggest that you try something for one month. Try smiling the entire time of the offering. Smiling really can be a form of prayer and meditation. Smile from beginning to end! I guarantee that you will begin to feel more joy in the experience of giving.
--R. Scott Colglazier, Finding a Faith That Makes Sense (St. Louis: Chalice Press, 1996), 29-30.

Do each of us have a sense of joy in what we give each week? Can we truly claim that we show “grace in our giving”? Please don’t think that I’m suggesting that we don’t – I just want each of us to think about the quality of our giving. Do we trust God enough to be personally generous? Do we give out of our prosperity, or in our poverty? Does our giving truly reflect our gratitude for the Lord’s gracious gifts to us?

Paul uses the example of the churches in Macedonia to illustrate the point – they gave “out of the most severe trial.” They didn’t see their situation as being limiting – they just gave.

And while Paul was writing about a financial matter, we can’t limit our understanding of “grace in our giving” solely to that of money.
We need to ask ourselves “Am I generous in my giving of love to others?” – not just to those in our congregation and to those who we can identify with, but more specifically to those who are not – like the Gentile giving to a Jew.
We need to ask ourselves “Am I generous in the giving of my time?” Do I regularly spend time in bible study and devotions? Do I regularly spend time in service to others, helping them in ways that they cannot help themselves?
We need to ask ourselves “What abilities and gifts do I have that someone else may need?” Can I stop by a homebound person’s house and mow the lawn or trim the hedge? Can I take a moment to make a phone call, or even better, a visit to someone who is struggling in life? Can I give them a ride to the store? Or fix their porch? Or change the oil in their car?
And we need to consider why we do each of these things – is it because we are looking for reciprocity from those we help, or are we giving graciously because of all that we have already received?

These are all questions that we need to ask ourselves, and, I believe, they are questions that the Corinthians should have been asking themselves. But what they should not have done is to try to out give the Thessalonians! The real question for that church was – “Are they giving to the extent and in the ways that they knew that God wants them to give?”
And the question for us is, “Are we giving to the extent and in the ways that we know God wants us to give?” Be honest in your answer, and generous in your response, and smile with joy the entire time that you are giving.