€œGenerosity€
2 Corinthians 8:1-11, 9:6-8
Sermon Preached by Gregory Knox Jones
October 14, 2012

Pauline was born in Montgomery, Alabama during the Great Depression. When her father lost his job with the railroad, they moved to a farm in Hamilton County in order to feed the family.

All of the children were given chores. Pauline fed the chickens, brought in wood for the stove and drew water from their backyard well. Living on a farm was an ideal place to learn about what’s important in life. Her most vivid childhood memory was a lesson she learned from her father about giving and sharing.

On their farm, rows of corn and melon patches were planted next to the state highway. When harvest time drew near, Pauline’s father instructed her and her siblings not to gather any corn or melons from the first three rows. They could harvest from row four and beyond, but they were not to touch the first three. The reason? Her dad said, €œBecause some poor hungry stranger might be passing by and need food.€

Money was scarce in the thirties. The farm produce was all her father had to give. As Pauline grew older, these memories of her father’s generosity became priceless. The satisfaction of knowing he gave willingly from his heart, to total strangers, made her feel incredibly proud of her father. But it was more than that. She said, €œHe instilled in me the true principle of giving to others and not expecting anything in return. These actions from the heart gave me a good self image and helped build my character.€1

This fall, we are exploring what it means to follow Jesus by focusing on key characteristics of the Christian life. This morning, we are looking at one of the core values that Jesus exemplified throughout his ministry: Generosity.

Seventeenth century preacher, John Bunyan said, €œYou have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.€ Loving mothers know this better than anyone. They give and give to their helpless, infant children, not expecting anything in return. And the feeling that comes with sacrificial giving is a deep joy that few other experiences can rival.

Last month, Anne and I conducted five memorial services. Friends and family talked about the impact the deceased had on others and some of the ways the person would be remembered. Consciously or unconsciously, they were weighing how their loved ones spent their time on earth.

I have a lasting memory of a memorial service from several years ago. A woman said she visited her mom a few days before she died. Her mother was ill and knew she was in her final days, but nevertheless, she was sitting up in bed with the phone book and her credit card, still buying things for herself. What a tragic picture.

How will your loved ones remember you? As someone who was always buying more stuff?

This morning’s passage is about generous givers. Would anyone describe you that way?

We read that the Apostle Paul was conducting one of the church’s first stewardship campaigns. He wrote to well-to-do Christians in Corinth about very poor Christians in Jerusalem. It’s a bit ironic that Paul would be spearheading this collection, because it was these Christians in the Jerusalem church who had initially given him so much grief for insisting that the church was to open its doors to Gentiles without first requiring them to become Jews.

But, while Paul was spreading the gospel among non-Jews, a crisis struck the Jerusalem church. Many of them suffered extreme economic hardship and were living on the edge. How ironic, that Paul, persona non grata, would dedicate himself to taking up a collection for them. He undertook a stewardship campaign among the Gentile churches to help the poor Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. In today’s passage, we discover that Paul is appealing to the comfortable Christians in Corinth to make their financial contributions to this offering.

In writing to Westminster Church of Corinth, Paul pointed to congregations in Macedonia that had stunned him with their generosity. The people in these congregations were undergoing difficult times themselves, but despite their limited resources, they gave generously to the offering. In the process, they taught Paul something about the joy of sacrificial giving. Despite the fact that they had little, they were incredibly happy, and they voluntarily contributed, not according to their means, but beyond what they could afford. Paul told the Corinthians that he was not commanding them to give to this offering, but holding up an example of generous giving that he hoped would inspire them to strive for a generous spirit themselves.

Then Paul reminded them that the true reason for giving was €œThe generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, for our sakes, he became poor, so that by his poverty we might become rich.€ This is the basis for generosity. We give because God has given us so much. Christ gave up everything for us, so what portion of our abundance will we give to a brother or sister in need?€

Then, several verses later, Paul states a fundamental truth about generosity. Anyone who possesses a truly generous spirit will tell you the same thing. €œThe one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.€ That verse reminds me of those Christians in Mozambique that Anne told us about last week. They have so little in terms of material wealth, but when it comes time in worship for the offering, they are so happy to contribute, that they dance down the aisle with their gift.

Sasha Dichter takes a commuter train to work everyday. One time a beggar asked him for money as he was catching the train home. Dichter said €œNo,€ and hopped on the train.

As soon as he sat down, something inside of him said, €œYou’ve made a mistake.€ He wrestled with it as the train rambled down the track and by the time he got home he decided to conduct an experiment. He called it the €œGenerosity Experiment.€

He made a pact with himself, but to hold himself accountable, he announced it on his blog. He offers this good advice: €œIf you genuinely want to commit yourself to something, announce it publicly.€ He wrote: €œFor the next 30 days, I will say €˜Yes,’ to everyone who asks for money; every beggar, every musician and every non-profit solicitation.€

People responded to his blog. Some liked his idea, some did not. The people who were critical said something along the lines of €œIs this the smartest way to give? Wouldn’t it be smarter to give to a homeless shelter?€

Sasha had two responses. First, he said €œThat’s a false choice. Whether I give money to the person standing in front of me has nothing to do with whether I write a check to a homeless shelter.€ Second, he pointed out that his experiment was not designed to make the smartest gift he could make. It was about himself. It was about the type of person he wants to be. He wants to stop saying, €œNo€ so much of the time.

He is anything but a callous man. He says €œYes€ sometimes, but he wonders how many times he says €œNo€ for every time he says, €œYes.€ Four €œNo’s€ out of every five? Nine out of ten? How many times do you say, €œNo€?

He said, €œThe €˜No’s’ start to add up. The €˜No’s’ start to become who you are and how you respond to need.€ He wanted to say €œYes€ more often, and to do that he needed to develop a new habit. When we teach children to say, €œPlease€ and €œThank you,€ we must remind them over and over until it becomes their natural response. If you want to become a generous person, you must practice being generous.

What happened with his experiment? After many days of giving to everyone who asked, he began to feel differently about himself. Generosity has become a part of his character and defines what kind of person he is. After his experiment, he understands in a deeper way what it really means to be generous. He says, €œIf I want the world to be more open and generous and action-oriented, then I must be more open and generous and action-oriented.€2

This is the time of year that the church calls on each of us to renew our commitment to Christ by pledging to give a portion of our income to the church in the coming year. Each of us is richly blessed in countless ways. And all of us are blessed to be a part of an extraordinary community of faith. At Westminster, we work hard to provide worship €“ through word and music €“ that enhances the spiritual life of all who participate. We have numerous ways for members to deepen their faith through classes and special programs. We have exceptional opportunities for people to live their faith through numerous outreach ministries. We feed the hungry, we house the homeless, we support schools that work with at-risk children, we drive people to doctor’s appointments, we provide meeting space for people struggling with addictions, we nurture young people in the faith through classes, choirs, Vacation Bible School and youth group, we provide Stephen Ministers to people who need healing, we support a halfway house for men who are trying to pull their lives back together, we give scholarships so that low-income youths can fulfill their dream of a college education, we go on mission trips to various spots around the world, we just helped to build a church in Africa, we care for God’s creation, and we work for peace and justice in our world.

Thanks to the financial support of our members, we actively share God’s love with others and we change people’s lives. But we risk not remaining a dynamic family of faith if all of us do not provide more financial support in the coming year. The Joint Finance Committee has developed the 2013 budget. Even with keeping programs and salaries flat, we are looking at a $70,000 budget deficit. While that sounds like a large number, if all of us increase our giving by 5 percent, we can erase the red ink.

All of our church officers made their pledges this summer. Ten days ago I wrote to them and explained our predicament and asked them to prayerfully consider giving seven dollars more per week. In the past week, over half of them increased their pledges and we are still hearing from them.

When you fill out your pledge card, before you write down a number, I hope you will pray about your gift. Think about the kind of person you want to be and how you want to be remembered. Then ask God to fill you with a spirit of charity, with a spirit of Yes, so that you may know in your soul the peace and the joy of generous giving.

NOTES

1. Pauline - Pensacola, Florida, €œThis I Believe€ on This I Believe website, November 10, 2005.

2. Sasha Dichter, €œThe Generosity Experiment,€ vimeo.com/29140232, September 16, 2011