2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Proper 8 (13) - Year B


Check out John Wesley's sermon The Use of Money.

It's three-fold pattern of

earn all you can
save all you can
give all you can

is still a good pattern.

It is also good to remember that John berated the early Methodists and I imagine would excoriate us today regarding the last of these, "give all you can."

Paul's emphasis upon "fair balance" would fit here very nicely.

And just how eager are you to give all you can? This is one of those weakest link situations. It seems we always settle for the level of giving of the least eager to give. Folks around you will be influenced by your eagerness. They won't be any more eager to give than you are. We may not be able to pull everyone up to our level of eagerness (presuming there is much) but we sure can drag everyone down to our level.

At any rate, regardless of the level of eagerness we have, let us at least finish what we have begun and then evaluate and set a new intention that might also come to completion.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/june2003.html

 


 

Fund raisers are clear that board members cannot substitute their time at meetings or conversation/promotion of their cause for their financial giving. If you don't put your pocket where your mouth is, you are an ineffective board member. At issue is not the amount of financial support, for that will vary according to one's resources. What is at stake is the validation of your faith, wisdom, knowledge and love.

This is like James saying that faith without works is dead.

So, reconsider your giving pattern. First, are you giving? Second, are you giving generously in relation to what you have, not what you don't have? Third, if so you are a blessing, if not you are unfair to yourself and your cause.

I stand convicted, and you? Will we who are so convicted repent and change our ways?

There was an editorial in today's New York Times by Paul Krugman, Toward One-Party Rule that reads in part:

"As a result, campaign finance is only the tip of the iceberg. Next year, George W. Bush will spend two or three times as much money as his opponent; but he will also benefit hugely from the indirect support that corporate interests - very much including media companies - will provide for his political message.

"Naturally, Republican politicians deny the existence of their burgeoning machine. 'It never ceases to amaze me that people are so cynical they want to tie money to issues, money to bills, money to amendments,' says Mr. DeLay. And Ari Fleischer says that 'I think that the amount of money that candidates raise in our democracy is a reflection of the amount of support they have around the country.' Enough said."

The same thing is happening with The United Methodist Church. Your resources are needed to reflect your faith, hope, and love. To modify an old advertising slogan, "Attend the church of your choice," it might now read, "Financially support the cause of your choice."

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/june2003.html

 


 

Generosity is a gift to be paid forward. We have received it. We are to offer it. Any questions?

Even if you only sense a bit of generosity coming your way, at least that much can be passed on. Like mercy, we can appreciate that which has been received and humbly ask for more, we can put forth the energy to pass on more than we have received in anticipation of that more already being on the way.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2006/july2006.html

 


 

Just as we cannot have personal holiness without social holiness, so we cannot have personal generosity without social generosity.

This will speak to many issues:
- death penalty
- environmental integrity
- living wage
- universal health care
- etc.
- etc.
- etc.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2006/july2006.html

 


 

"Test your genuine love against the earnestness of others."
"If eagerness is there, your gift is acceptable."

Needs around us have hastened to make themselves known. These are givens in our lives. The options regard our response.

Are we as eager to live alongside a need, taking it to our hearts, as such needs are revealed everywhere they travel? Here is a test worthy of our lives. It is a test that is as communal in nature as it is individual. Encouraging one another to do well, even to share our insights with one another, is acceptable morality in this test.

Question: Where do abundance and need meet?
Response: _______________________

If it helps you may want to also make this an open-book test as well as a communal one.

- - -

sensitive to word and touch
we journey toward
a great getting-up day
when and where
our eagerness is sufficient
for earnest need

attentive beyond death
we settle in to days no more
no more mourning
riling to despair
no more no more
holding us back

in moments of generosity
we undertake a beginning desire
little by little
through this year
according to what we have
abundance in need

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html


 

We just completed a successful Capital Fund Campaign. Our scripture theme was 8:12 (CEV) – "It doesn't matter how much you have. What matters is how much you are willing to give from what you have."

The practical use of this passage is thus validated. A part of every encounter with the holy includes, but goes beyond the practical. For instance, the very folks who responded well to verse 12 would have a most difficult time with verses 13-15. Their individual/personal concept of fair stops short of a communal vision of fair. If it should come to actually sharing their surplus and having their deficit covered by others, there would be great grumbling about "socialism". Corporate welfare seems to be alright, but not sharing with the poor. A capital campaign to benefit themselves seems to be alright, but a straight up equivalent for the poor is out of the question, and these are good and generous people. Without lessening our tendency to greed, part of the difficulty is the inability of the whole system to adequately frame the issue.

This is a difficult concept for disciples of any era – from perceptions of Cain regarding Abel, to responses to a woman anointing Jesus, to commitments by Ananias and Sapphira, to any who are hearers but not doers, to the Laodiceans, to prosperity preachers, to profit-first economists, to you and me.

It is so difficult to see what we can do and so easy to see what we can't do. From there it is no stretch at all to cocoon ourselves. Come quickly disaster. Come strongly enough that we will learn.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2009_06_01_archive.html

 


 

Which comes first - chicken or egg? Faith or Generosity? Do you think yourself into being generous or act your way into faith? Of course, both/and is usually a safe response.

Don’t you love the various translations:
          You excel in ... our love for you - [NRSV]
          You do well ... you love us - [Message]

This variation is of course done to test the genuineness of your incoming and outgoing love ratio and your generous sense of ambiguity.

Imagine Jesus’ healings in light of some “fair balance” - for every unexpected healing there is an equally unexpected death or disaster.

All in all, an appeal for generosity in resources is probably best responded to by pats on the back. The early Methodists, working among those impoverished by the transition to an industrial revolution, knew that no one was too poor to participate in an offering for the poor. Everyone can excel in generosity and so that may be an excellent spot to start a conversation about what is trustworthy. It turns out that nothing is trustworthy, particularly wealth, so being generous for one’s own pleasure is a good thing.

For those interested in such things, a book from the early 1990’s might be worth the read. It’s subtitle is “Choosing Service Over Self-Interest” and the simple title is Stewardship by Peter Block. Shoot an arrow of generosity into the universe and it will find its mark.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/06/2-corinthians-87-15.html