Generous

Scripture Readings

WWTW- ME

Introduction- Generous

I have this theory as a pastor, though some think I’m crazy.

But I believe that I can tell a person how strong their faith is by how generous they are.

Those two ideas are linked.

Strong Christians are generous when it comes time to pick up the bill at the restaurant, and leave a good tip while they’re at it.

Strong Christians are generous with their time, always willing to help a brother and sister in need to move apartments or drive a neighbor to a doctor’s appointment.

Strong Christians are generous with the gifts that God has given them, using whatever talents they have to make not just the church, but the world a better place.

I’m pretty well convinced that there is a relationship to how strong a Christian’s faith is and how generous they are.

And Paul seems to agree with me!

Let’s dive in to this morning’s scriptures:

The story in 2 Corinthians

A famine in Jerusalem

This idea of the church has been spreading like crazy!

They have a host of Church plants popping up all over the world at that point.

But they’ve always had a kind of centralized hub in Jerusalem.

And now, there’s a famine which is impacting Jerusalem.

Some of the body of Christ is suffering, while some of the body of Christ is doing perfectly fine.

Paul wants to take a collection

Paul was committed to taking up an offering from all the churches who were doing well, and sending it to Jerusalem so that those believers could be well.

And this is kind of interesting!

Even for people he’s fighting with right now!

If you’ve read through Acts and some of Paul’s other letters, he’s kind of in a bit of a spat with the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem.

Peter.

James.

Mark.

They see things one way, and Paul sees them another.

Paul has every reason in the world to say “Hey guys! You don’t like me, so…best of luck with that famine thing.”

But he doesn’t.

For him, this collection for the Jerusalem church is a matter of grave importance.

And so, this is how he is working toward closing his letter to the Corinthians.

Sibling Rivalry: The Macedonian Churches have stepped up to the plate!

Apparently, the Corinthian churches have promised to give plenty for this collection, but they haven’t yet fulfilled their pledge.

As the saying goes, Actions speak louder than words.

These guys have spoken, but they haven’t acted.

So Paul starts comparing them to the other churches, particularly those in Macedonia who have already given and given quite generously.

Hey Corinthians…you know those guys have fulfilled their pledge.

What’s your story?

But then…Paul shifts his argument, and things get interesting.

A Generous Undertaking

Greek word- Charis

Charis shows up repeatedly in Paul’s writings, but in 2 Corinthians, the NRSV translates the word variously as “grace,” “generous undertaking,” “favor,” “thanks,” “generous act,” “privilege,” and “blessing.”

How interesting is it that this word for “Grace” can also mean Generosity?

Grace is such a central part of the Christian faith.

And so is generosity.

In fact, when you are grateful for the grace of Christ, when you are excited for the Charis that God has poured in to your heart, the word for that is…

Gratitude- Eucharisomai

Or…eucharist.

You become thankful for how generous Christ has been with grace toward you.

And in fact we do this every time we gather around the Lord’s table.

This is my body broken for you…do this in remembrance of me.

Remember how good Christ has been to us.

Just how good?

Christ’s Grace

You are broken.

Reinhold Niebuhr said it this way:

the doctrine of original sin is “the only empirically verifiable doctrine of the Christian faith.”

We are living in a broken world, and we don’t have to look too far to find it.

Unfortunately, what I think too often Christians have come to do is to find that sin in other people, long before we ever look for it in ourselves.

I guess it’s easier that way?

We don’t have to look at the ugliness in our own hearts if we spend our time judging what we think is the ugliness in others.

But this is bad theology on two levels:

For starters, Jesus made sure to tell us not to judge other people, so we probably ought to knock that off.

But secondly, to deny our brokenness actually gets in the way of our ability to feel the depths of the Generous Gospel.

I know a lot of Christians who move through the world as if they don’t need Jesus at all, he must be for other people.

We need to start here at the truth:

You are broken.

I am broken.

We are broken.

We need to acknowledge that.

We are broken.

But thanks be to God…that’s not all we are!

You are loved by Christ.

Jesus, almost as if he knew where the story was going, told the disciples that no one has greater love than one who would lay down their life for their friends.

Paul goes even further, reminding us that the generous act of Christ was that even though he had the full benefits and powers of God, though Christ was indeed rich, Christ made himself poor for our sakes.

Christ gave up his heavenly throne for you.

Christ lived this life for you.

Christ taught for you.

Christ died for you.

Christ rose again for you.

Christ ascended for you.

You my friend, are loved.

You are loved not because you somehow said the right magic words.

You are loved not because you overcame your own sin problem.

You are loved not because you are in the right religion.

You are loved purely, and simply, because it is Christ’s good pleasure to offer his love in a generous act toward you.

If you’re new around here, if you’ve stopped by to just visit us today, I want you to hear this part: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, loves you very very deeply.

And if you’ve been attending here since you were a child, I want you to hear this part: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, loves you very very deeply.

You are fully, unquestionably, redeemed and reconciled.

Because of that love, you are welcomed into a relationship with God.

Yes, the end result of the love of Christ is more love.

So many folks that I work with in that office down the hall don’t know where they stand with God.

Maybe you’ve grown up hearing that God wouldn’t like what you do.

Maybe you’ve been part of a church that made it feel like God was angry more often than not.

Maybe you’ve just been exposed to the kind of preachers that are on TV and have more hair than I do.

But! The reality is quite the opposite.

Because of Christ’s love, you are welcomed into the never ending relationship of the Triune God.

Because of Christ’s love, you can grow more and more deeply in love with God and in love with our brothers and sisters.

Because of Christ’s love, that relationship opens you up to new and exciting opportunities for growth and development in your own life and faith.

Tomorrow doesn’t have to be like today.

And all of that leads to the best part, perhaps why this idea of Grace and Generosity are so linked…

And you don’t deserve any of it!

None of us do!

Left to our own devices scripture says, we would deserve only a life of misery and a sure and certain death.

The gift of God’s Generous Grace is that it is undeserved.

You can’t earn it.

You can’t win it.

You can’t take someone else’s.

Instead, it is just a free gift of God.

And it’s already yours!

And if all of that is true…that Christ has poured such a generous act over us, naturally there’s a question at the end of Paul’s logic:

Our “Grace”

What kind of generous act, what kind of grace, can we extend to the world?

Our grace toward those we see as broken.

Set aside for a moment that we’re not meant to see others as more broken or sinful than we are, because we’re all in the same boat together.

If you do happen to have in your head that there are others who are more broken than you, to imitate Christ is to offer them grace.

If you stumble across a homeless person, to imitate Christ is to be generous in grace toward them.

If you happen across someone who shares a different view point than you, to imitate Christ is to be generous in listening to them.

If you happen across someone who you have grown up believing is living a deviant lifestyle, to imitate Christ is to be generous in welcoming and loving them.

Again, I am in a place where I don’t think anyone out there is more broken than anyone else.

I have to live with my own thoughts all the time…I know where I stand on that totem pole!

But Christ in his generous grace has shown us that he has a soft spot for the broken of this world.

Shouldn’t we?

Our grace toward those who have wronged us.

Let’s do this:

Raise your hand if at any point in your life, someone else wronged you?

Betrayed you, lied about you, cut you off in traffic, anything.

Yeah, every hand in the room, right?

Part of acknowledging the brokenness of the world is to acknowledge that hurt people…hurt people.

None of us is immune from it.

If somehow you’ve made it this far in life without being hurt or wounded, then it’s coming, I promise.

The question is what kind of grace are you willing to offer those who have wronged you?

To be sure, sometimes you need some time and space for that generous grace to be a good thing.

Don’t pet that dawg, right?

(If you’re sitting next to a visitor today, would you just turn to them and explain that one a little bit…)

But you know what, I’m also pretty convinced that those occasions where we need time and distance before we offer grace and forgiveness aren’t the norm.

Usually, in my experience, we end up carrying the wounds of a thousand paper cuts.

We hold on to the person who made a joke that hurt our feelings.

We hold on to the pain of the little white lie.

We hold on to the slight of the thoughtless social media post.

And it turns out when you hold on to all of that, it adds up to a pretty nasty personality.

C.S. Lewis once wrote that people become that which afflicts them most.

A person who grumbles too much eventually just becomes a grumble.

Those of us who hold on to all those little minute seemingly insignificant hurts, we become a hurt.

And we’re more likely to hurt others.

This is why it is absolutely vital that we be generous with forgiveness.

Firstly, we have a never ending supply of it as Christ pours it in to our hearts.

But secondly, it does our souls good.

Trust me on that one.

Our generosity.

Paul quotes from Exodus here at the end of this passage.

2 Corinthians 8:15 “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.””

The only way for that to happen is for those of us who have a lot to be generous with it.

Time

This is, as they say, our most valuable resource.

But we can give more of it than we think we can, right?

Talents

This week I’ve spent a lot of time thanking God for Kerri, our financial manager.

Because…math.

Not one of my talents!

But certainly one of hers.

Because when she is generous with her talents, the one who has little does not have too little.

Who can you share your talents with?

Treasures.

Yes, we can be generous with our material resources too.

Now, I know what you’re thinking:

Oh no! I stumbled in to a stewardship sermon!

Fear not gentle listener!

For those of you who weren’t here last week, we introduced our new theme for Stewardship this year:

We don’t need you!

So I promise, this is not a conversation about what the church needs.

We’ll come back to that later!

This is a conversation about what our faith needs.

This is a conversation about how our generosity can strengthen our faith.

Our faith needs to receive the generosity of Christ.

Be generous with owning your “stuff.”

Look, we have said quite a few times in this sermon, we’re all broken people.

I firmly believe the word that Christians should be most known for is “Sorry.”

I’m sorry for when I’ve gotten it wrong.

I’m sorry for when I was certain I was right.

I’m sorry for what I said before I had my coffee.

I’m sorry I hurt you.

I’m sorry for my own brokenness coming out toward you.

I’m so so sorry.

We can be super generous with owning our own part in the brokenness…

Not pointing to someone else’s

That’s a waste of time if you ask me.

Almost any time I see someone pointing out the sin of someone else, I see someone who is trying to deflect from something going on in their own heart.

Don’t worry about the person in the lane next to you.

They’ll sort out their own stuff in due time.

Be generous with owning your stuff, yes.

But! Please, please, please,

Don’t stop there.

Be generous with naming Christ’s love for you

I have this little device in my pocket at all times.

And while I’m told that it makes phone calls from time to time…

What I really use it most for is to remind me of stuff.

Alarms go off when it’s time to get the boys off the bus after school.

Calendar alerts remind me when I forgot about a meeting I have coming up.

Task managers keep my to-do list in line.

Because, I’m sure I’m alone in this, I’m a forgetful dude.

Whether it’s your phone, or a pocket notebook, or writing on your mirror, or coming to church, or having a friend in your life who will speak over you,

Please, find a way to remind yourself every single day of the love Jesus has for you.

Please find a way to remind yourself that he lived, died, and rose again for you.

Please find a way to remind yourself that in his sight, you are beautiful and wonderful beyond compare.

Please find a way to remind yourself that you are not defined by your worst moments. You’re defined by his best.

Be generous with that! Name it again and again and again!

You are loved.

You are loved.

You are loved.

You are loved.

We can be generous with what we claim in this faith.

And we can also be generous in what we give.

Our faith needs to give generously

Give forgiveness Generously.

Our sick world, in some kind of twisted power struggle, has gotten rather stingy with words of forgiveness.

Change the story. Let’s be generous.

I’ll bet right now, there’s a name coming to mind of someone you should call.

I’ll bet there’s someone that needs to hear a word of forgiveness from you.

I’ll bet there’s someone you need to set free from the hurt.

Who knows? You may even come to find out it’s you.

Let’s be generous with forgiveness.

Give kindness Generously.

In a few minutes, as soon as I’m done jibbering on, we’re going to have a church picnic!

I was here yesterday, a whole bunch of people have been generous and kind in setting this up for us.

And generous, one hopes, with the Mac and Cheese!

For this, of course, we are grateful!

And our gratitude has a real opportunity to give kindness back.

Let someone else go in front of you in line!

Offer your chair to someone else down there!

Legitimately, from a place of curiosity, spend some time learning someone’s story you didn’t know.

It’s a church picnic, sure.

But it’s also a training ground for kindness.

We never run out of that!

Why not give it away?

Give resources Generously.

Time

Talents

Treasure

Our faith needs to be released from fear.

The task of pastoral leadership is to lead our congregations, from the crippling fear that if we share our abundance with others there will not be enough left for us, into joyous trust in the God who provides for all our needs.

Perfect love casts out fear…more on that next week.