Introduction
It came to the knowledge of the Salvation Army in a
certain city that it had never once received a donation from the city’s richest
and most successful lawyer. So a volunteer offered to pay the lawyer a visit in
his plush office.
He started
off by saying, “Our research shows that even though your annual income is over £10
million, you don’t give a penny to charity. Wouldn’t you like to give something
back to the poorest in your community through the work of the Salvation Army?”
So the lawyer
thought for a minute and then he said: “I’ve got three questions for you. Firstly,
did your research also show you that my mother is dying after a long and
painful illness and that she has huge medical bills from treatment in the USA?”
Embarrassed,
the volunteer said, “No, he hadn’t realised that.
“Second,” the
lawyer said, “did your research discover that my brother is a war hero who came
back from a tour of duty blind and confined to a wheelchair, and that he is now
unable to support his wife and six children?”
The volunteer,
red faced, started to apologise, but he was cut off again in mid-sentence.
“Thirdly, did
your research reveal that my sister’s husband died in a terrible car accident,
leaving her penniless with a mortgage and three children, one of whom is
disabled and another of whom has learning difficulties, requiring an array of
private tutors?”
The volunteer
was completely humiliated. “I am so
sorry,” he said, “I honestly had no idea.”
And the
lawyer said, “So… if I didn’t give any money to them what makes you think I’d
give anything to you?”
All through
September, we’re going to be thinking about what the Bible has to say about
giving, and the title we have given this series is “Giving is Worship.” It
absolutely is. Jesus said, “As much as you clothed, fed, watered, welcomed,
visited and nursed the least, you did it to me.” Rachael Phillips started us
off last week, speaking on that very passage.
She was
converted, totally unexpectedly, whilst on a tour of duty as a British Army
Captain in a shipping container in Afghanistan. They have no awkwardness at all
talking about money in that country. Rachael was telling me that the first
question they ask you there, after your name and where you’re from, is “And how
much do you earn then?” So if a sermon about giving makes you feel
uncomfortable, I’ve got a couple of tickets for a fortnight in Kabul if you
prefer...
Background to 2 Corinthians 8
We’re looking
this morning at one of the classic
New Testament passages on giving. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 are all about a
collection that was organised by churches all over the Roman world to bring emergency
relief to Judean Christians facing starvation.
Let’s me give you a bit of background. In Acts 11.28 a prophet
called Agabus says that a serious famine is going to blight the entire
Mediterranean world.
This is
actually one of the most documented historical events in the New Testament. It’s
mentioned in Acts 11, in 1 Corinthians 16 and in Romans 15, besides here in 2
Corinthians 8 and 9. Independent records outside the Bible also mention it and confirm
that it happened in the year 47, during the reign of the Emperor Claudius. When
God speaks, what he says comes to pass and nothing can stop it.
Some areas of
the Roman Empire had enough reserves to survive these food shortages, but
others, in particular the province of Judea, (that is to say the area around
Jerusalem) did not. They were severely hit; food prices skyrocketed, and many
people very quickly faced hunger and starvation.
So the
apostle Paul, because he travelled widely and visited many churches, brought
news of this pressing need everywhere he went.
Let me tell
you something about this that I find really moving. In Acts 8, this same Paul,
then called Saul, was persecutor in chief of the church, and he operated around
Jerusalem. So those Christians he was harassing, threatening, rounding up,
imprisoning, and even murdering were these very same people he was now collecting
aid for to save their lives.
Only God can
change a human heart like that. God takes bitter, hardened, hateful, unforgiving
hearts and softens them with the sweetness of grace.
In the days
of Apartheid South Africa, a woman was invited to a poor Zulu church in deprived
Natal and was very conspicuous as the only white person there. They welcomed
her like royalty, and made her feel at home.
They had a
collection to help build a new Zulu church down the road. Then later in the
service they had another collection for Zulu Christians who had no shoes.
She felt
really embarrassed when they announced a third collection. Her purse was empty
and she had nothing left. But the service leader said “this offering is for
petrol for our white sister in Christ.” Zulus had suffered so much at the hands
of the white minority. But Jesus takes the rancid vinegar of our experience and
turns it, through generosity, into the fine wine of his blessing.
So, back to 2
Corinthians, Paul writes about churches in Macedonia (that is to say Philippi,
Berea and Thessalonica) and he says that they had already been contributing to
the needs of these famished Jerusalem Christians even though they themselves,
like that Zulu church in South Africa, were suffering acute hardship.
Verse 2 talks about “their extreme poverty in the midst
of a very severe trial.”
We know a bit
about that. In some ways, Macedonia was the Roman Empire’s North East of
England or South Wales; it was a region with run down infrastructure,
underinvestment, unemployment, child poverty and all the rest of it. It had suffered
a devastating civil war just before Caesar Augustus took power several decades
earlier. There was heavy loss of life, and it cast the shadow of death over the
area.
Then the
Romans exploited Macedonia for its natural resources; zinc, lead and precious
metals, plundering its wealth, and then deserting it once it was no longer economically
viable.
On top of
that, Acts tells us that the Christians in Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea endured
harsh persecution. Riots and angry mobs unleashed violence against the church. Paul
says to the Thessalonians, “You welcomed the message in the midst of severe
suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.” In Philippi, Paul himself was
beaten with sticks, flogged, and thrown in jail. Anyone associated with him was
in trouble.
These were
the three churches in Macedonia that, v3, “gave as much as they were able” which
sounds really generous. In fact, it was more than that, as it goes on to say, because
they gave “beyond their ability.” Some had lost their jobs because they were
Christians. They really were in extreme hardship.
Eagerness
There are three words in this reading that give us the
key to understanding what it means. The first is “eagerness.” It says in v4
that they “urgently pleaded” (in another translation it says “they begged”) for
the privilege of being able to give. People usually use the word “beg” in the
context of receiving. Beggars badly want to get something. These people badly wanted
to give something. In v11, he talks about their eager willingness to give.
Before he
became the 26th President of the USA, Theodore Roosevelt was New York City’s Police Commissioner. There’s
an old story, probably apocryphal, that he was interviewing an applicant for a
police officer job and he asked him a question, “If a mob started to gather and
you had to disperse it, what would you do?” Quick as a flash, the guy said,
“I’d pass round the hat for a collection, sir!”
That’s
natural. But begging to be able to give what you barely have yourself is supernatural.
It’s miraculous. It is clear evidence of the grace of God touching a human heart.
Mother Teresa
was canonised last week. Actually, everyone who has faith in Jesus is a saint, so
she already was one but the point is that she once told a moving story about a
six-year old orphan boy. The sisters had found him on the filthy streets of
Calcutta where he had been dying of a fever. They took him in and lovingly nursed
him back to full health. On the day he was to leave their care, they gave him a
small packet of sugar, which was a very precious commodity amongst the poorest
of the poor. 150g of sugar equalled roughly a day’s wages.
As the little
boy walked through the gates, he saw some sisters carrying another child in,
obviously in great need. He walked straight over to him and he handed the sugar
to the sisters, saying he wanted the sick boy to have it. Mother Teresa asked
him why he did that. And he looked up at her and simply said, “I think that is
what Jesus would have done.”
How do you become
as generous as that? It’s very simple. Verse 5 says “they gave themselves,
first of all to the Lord.” This is what I mean when I say “Giving is worship.”
When you give yourself to God, everything else flows from that.
So Paul
writes to the church in Corinth. He says, “look at the Christians in Macedonia.
They’re amazing. Be like them.”
So what was
life like for the Corinthians, the recipients of this letter? Well, Corinth was
a prosperous commercial city, with a busy port and a booming economy. It was
vibrant, and it was infamous for its excesses, both sexually and financially.
Unlike in
Macedonia, Paul suffered very little opposition there; a bit of personal abuse
but nothing much, and he was able to stay longer in Corinth than anywhere else.
The church had it easy. No riots, no beatings, no imprisonments, no economic
hardship. In 1 Corinthians 1 he tells them “You have been enriched in every
way.” They were spoiled.
But he has to
point to Christians living below the bread line as models of eagerness in giving
to Christians living a life of ease with no material worries!
It struck me this
week that the Bible rarely mentions rich people as an illustration of
generosity. Somebody once said, “The poor know how to give because they know
what it is to want.” It’s almost always the poor in the Bible who are held up
as examples of what giving should look like; supremely Jesus of course, who had
no place to lay his head but gave everything, including his very life for
others.
Excellence
The second key word is excellence. Twice in v7 Paul uses
the little word excel. “Since you excel
in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and
in the love we have kindled in you – see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”
These Corinthians
were spiritual gift champions. They spoke in tongues (a lot, and all at once),
they prophesied, they were passionate about the gift of faith and zealous for
words of knowledge and wisdom. All that is great. I want to see more of the
ministry of the Holy Spirit here actually. But the message here is: ”Whatever
you’re good at as a church; social action, musical worship, children’s
ministry, preaching, prayer, technology, welcome, hospitality, youth work,
pastoral care… don’t stop there. Put the same level of passion you have for whatever
you excel at into giving.”
If you’re
about my age or older, you’ll probably remember the TV chef Graham Kerr. He
hosted a show called The Galloping Gourmet and he was the Jamie Oliver or Rick
Stein of the 1970s. He was a worldwide star and became very wealthy.
But then he
and his wife Treena had a series of accidents and health scares. At one point,
Treena was given a year to live. She began to suffer with mental health issues and
became addicted to painkillers. And then, the Lord broke in. One day, someone
laid hands on her and prayed that she would be made well in the name of Jesus
and she was completely healed. They were both converted.
Soon
afterwards, they felt God speak to them through the story of the rich young
ruler where Jesus says “sell everything you have and give to the poor.” They
felt they should give away everything they owned. And they did; their plush
home, their fancy cars, their sparkling jewellery, and their bank account with
millions in it. They gave it all away to bless the poor.
What was
surprising was the criticism they received from some Christians because of
their obedience. Some said that they weren’t good stewards. They could have
maybe invested their money so they could give away even more.
Do you
remember the woman who broke an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, pure nard, and
poured it over Jesus’ head? People muttered, “What a waste! This money could
have been better spent.” And they rebuked her harshly. Jesus said “Leave her alone.
She has done a beautiful thing to me!” Giving is worship.
See that you
also excel in this grace of giving.
Give yourself. Give your all. Give the very best.
Equality
And the third word is equality. What kind of equality
does God want? Verse 13 says, “Our desire is not that others might be relieved
while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they
need so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality.”
Equality is
one of the buzz words of our age. What does it mean? It doesn’t mean that
everyone should earn the same wage, no matter what job they do.
The verse
quoted at the end of the passage is from Exodus 16. It’s about the manna, the
bread that fell from heaven, to feed people in the wilderness. Some gathered a
lot, some gathered only a little. Those who collected lots of manna didn’t have
so much left over that it was wasted. And those who collected only a little had
no lack. All had enough. Equality
means we should try and ensure that everyone has enough.
When our son
Nathan was about 5 or 6, we were on holiday in London one day as a family. And
very spontaneously, all of a sudden, Nathan gave all his holiday spending money,
every last penny, to a beggar we passed in the street. I can still see him
doing it in my mind’s eye. I remember how we all walked past, and then Nathan stopped,
and emptied the contents of his pockets into his little hands, turned back, and
tipped the lot into the man’s tin cup.
His heart was
moved. It wasn’t much by my standards, but he gave all he had. I think he just
felt, “It’s not fair. I’ve got everything I need; a home, a family, toys, food
to eat, I have all this cash. And here is this beggar in dirty clothes not even
knowing if he’s going to have breakfast today.”
Ending
That’s one of
the most precious memories I have of our children growing up. Because it reminded me of Jesus. In v9 it says he was rich,
yet for our sakes became poor. He was rich beyond compare. He was waited on by
servants in heaven. He had 12,000 private angels that he could have called upon
at any time. But he gave everything; he became poor, a baby born in a stable, he
became a refugee fleeing for his life, a carpenter’s boy, a homeless preacher
in humble clothes; he laid down his life in humiliation, in shame. He didn’t
even have his own grave; he didn’t have enough to pay his funeral costs, it was
a pauper’s burial.
He
became that poor to raise you up to the throne of the heavens, to be seated in
heavenly places and reign with him.
How
poor does our giving make us? How rich does it make those we’re giving to?
One
last story as I end. Paul Freed was the President of Trans World Radio which
broadcasts the gospel in lands where it is impossible and illegal; communist
and Muslim countries mostly. One day he visited Poland when it was still under
communist rule. And he visited a Christian widow in a one-room shack in a small
and soulless village near Warsaw. She told him how she had been invited to a
friend’s house to listen to the radio.
She said, “For the first time in my life I
heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. My boy and girl listened too. I cannot tell
you the joy we all had as we dropped to our knees at the end of the broadcast
and accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour that night.
As
he was leaving, she touched his arm and said, “Why is there only one broadcast
a week for 30 million Poles who did not know Christ?” He said, “Because we
don’t have the money.”
She
walked over to the corner of the room, pulled an envelope from a crevice in the
wall and offered it to him. It was all the money she had. He refused it. He
just couldn’t let her do that.
And
she looked at him with all the dignity of a queen and said, “Sir, I am not
giving it to you, I am giving it to Jesus Christ.”
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 11 September 2016
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