"Generous Hearts" - a sermon on 2 Corinthians 8 & 9

RECOMMENDED FILM TO GO WITH THIS THEME IS: "PAY IT FORWARD" (2000).

Paul in chapters 8 & 9 of 2nd Corinthians was trying to motivate members of the churches in Corinth about supporting the poor in the city of Jerusalem. This is something that the church officials back in Jerusalem had asked Paul to remember whilst he went off on mission to the Gentile peoples. But it is also something that Paul was keen to do anyway.

As we well know, God is not pleased that the vast resources that he has given to planet Earth have not been distributed well or fairly! Paul was certainly aware of this, and where possible was going to promote some micro-solutions.

In doing so, Paul was not averse to using some strategy, in this case, telling the Corinthians what great givers others had been (even those who could be regarded as struggling themselves). Later he said that he would like to boast back how generous the Corinthian church had proved to be!

It was in chapter 8 and verse 1, that Paul commends the Macedonians for their generosity, and describes this in terms of being a demonstration of God’s grace amongst them. Despite their poverty they gave “... even beyond their means” (8:3). And so he was using the Macedonian example to stir up the Corinthians ... something like: Emma has raised a lot for the 40-hour famine, how will Anna go? It would be great to boast back to Emma that Anna was in front!

Now apparently the Corinthian Christians had been preparing to make contributions to the Jerusalem poor for a year now, but needed to be challenged that it was time to act. Paul in one of the great fundraising statements of all time says, “I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others” (8:8).

Paul then draws a vivid analogy with the generosity of Jesus in his work of salvation on our behalf – that he became “poor” so that we who were spiritually “poor” might become spiritually “rich” (8:9). This analogy also reminds us that we cannot divorce our spirituality from the material needs of the poor. To give to the poor is a practical application of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Through Jesus (the glorious Son of God) becoming “poor” and dying on the cross, the Macedonians understood that God loved and accepted them. They knew they were God’s loved children and so they were free to love others and be rich toward their neighbours who were also precious to God.

There should be a mutual and global style “eagerness” to right the wrongs of injustice; as Paul writes, “I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance” (8:13-14). One at this point senses that Paul was the radical ‘socialist’ seeking a major distribution of wealth. But this was not going to happen through governmental decree or policy, but rather happen through the transformation of human hearts, attitudes, ethics and priorities.

Here Paul seems to quote from Exodus (16:18) and the incident of the manna descending from heaven – “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little” (8:15). What a grand vision!

Paul reassures us that there is enough food and resources for all of us. God created a good world and we are designed to use our resources to care for each other. The poverty of the Macedonian Christians means they have every reason to think that they need to look after themselves and keep what they have to themselves – but strangely, they don’t! They want to share, and trust that they will have enough to provide for their own needs.

I spend a fair bit of time around about boasting about this church and the good work it’s doing within the local community. Later in chapter 8:24 and then into chapter 9, Paul says that he will be able to boast about the church in Corinth (as he did about the Macedonians) as they prove their love in their eager generosity. Yet it seems this is said more as a motivation than a commendation – something like ... ‘I have spoken highly of you – don’t prove me wrong’ ... ‘I’m expecting great things of you – don’t let others see you fail’!

It’s then somewhat ironic, given the pressure being applied, when Paul then says, “... so that it may be ready as a voluntary gift and not as an extortion” (9:5b). Yet, this gives us a picture of what can happen when someone is committed to a cause, even when they know they cannot control the outcome any that any response is voluntary – they press hard on their theme – like any good preacher – and why not! Paul was trying to promote, coerce, almost oblige, there to be open hearts of generosity (counter-cultural and way beyond what was normally encountered). For this would be the natural implication of following Jesus ... who was (as has already been pointed out) the epitome of generosity!

Yet this need for generosity to be a voluntary act is supported later (in verse 7) where Paul promotes the idea of the “cheerful giver” as opposed to the “reluctant” giver. A “cheerful” giver is the only type of giver God wants. So, does this mean that if we can’t be “cheerful” about giving then we have a get-out clause? Absolutely not!! Bringing all these thoughts together, it means that if we can’t be “cheerful” about giving, then we have to have a work done on us by God’s Spirit to change our attitude ... and then “cheerfully” give!

And so the idea is that we don’t have any excuse to not be generous; any thought of our own poverty is no excuse; a bad attitude is no excuse; and we can say being uninformed is no excuse either. Back in 9:6, Paul says – “... the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (which sounds like Proverbs 11:24 – “Some give freely, yet grow all the richer; others withhold what is due, and only suffer want”). There is a sense here of participation in something bigger, something worthwhile, something transformative, something that works for good i.e. God’s mission in the world. And through participation in God’s mission, there comes a great level of satisfaction and purpose and hope and peace.

Paul continues to make this point as he then quotes from Psalm 112:9 – “He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever” – which Paul uses, given what follows, in the sense of our generosity connecting with, developing and revealing our own quality of right living, which then in turn reflects back glory upon God.

In Paul’s world it was the struggling poor of Jerusalem that was the ethical issue for the more well-off Jesus followers to consider. Yet Paul was elevating a basic principle: the need for us to have generous hearts and be able to naturally respond to human tragedy, suffering and need. Where is there need today? Right across the world! But some countries and some areas are far worse off, and far more effected by poverty and climate change and the global financial crisis.