What we do with what we have- what we have in terms of our gifts, our temperaments, our financial resources, and our time; ultimately what we do with everything that makes up our lives, is an issue that goes to the heart of our very selves, and on one level must reflect our understanding of God. What we do with the most material of things- the money that we own, or the money that we earn, or the money that we inherit, is bound up with our theology.
This is what Paul is driving at in the 9th chapter of his second letter to the Corinthians that we heard this evening. He is trying to show that giving is so much more than just contributing to the Church coffers. To give away a proportion of what we have is not important because it helps keep the church afloat but because it helps us grow as Christians. For Paul giving is part of our spiritual discipline; it is the means through which we express God’s character in the world and the way we become more like him.
Of course, Paul was dealing with a very real difficulty that was occurring within the earliest Christian communities. Not unlike today there were some churches that were materially very poor and some that were more fortunate. The poor church that Paul wanted to raise money for was the church in Jerusalem; to contribute to their needs is a ministry to the saints’. He gives this Christian community a special place within the early church; the Gentile communities founded by Paul are being asked to honour the Jerusalem community through the gifts they make.
We might think of this Jerusalem collection as an early version of the parish share; wealthier churches contribute to the central church so that Christian communities in poorer areas might have what they need; Christ’s mission can be fulfilled in all places if we redistribute our resources. Like any good fundraiser Paul reminds the Corinthian community of their earlier pledge: although of course he does not need to I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you may not prove to have been empty in this case, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be;’
Perhaps Paul can be seen as the patron saint of church treasurers and stewardship committees.
But Paul goes beyond reminding the Corinthians of their earlier enthusiasm for the collection. He shows them that they themselves have a need to give. This need comes from the fact that we are all made in the image of God. God is love. God is compassion. This is revealed to us in his gift of himself in Jesus Christ. One of the ways we know of God’s love is in the ultimate gift of himself. When Paul talks about the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ’, this is what he is referring to; the self-sacrifice of Christ which reflects the graciousness of God.
If we have experienced the grace of God in our lives we can give expression to this experience in the graciousness we ourselves exhibit. For Paul Grace had only been truly experienced when it produced gracious people’ (Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle p.707) people who are generous with what they have and generous in a way that leads other to thank God. It is as if Paul is describing a virtuous circle where the grace of God is given to us, which we then share with others, which in turn leads other to give thanks to God. As Paul writes:
11 You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; 12 for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.
So the Jerusalem collection is seen by Paul as a gracious act through which the Gentile Christians can participate in the character of Jesus Christ. In this way giving is not something we do because we ought to, grudgingly or with a sense of duty, rather giving is something we do so that we can enter more fully into the life of Christ. It represents taking our baptismal vows seriously.
Jesus himself spoke about giving as one of three practices that we can do to grow in discipleship. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus linked prayer, fasting and almsgiving as things we do to become more like him. We do not pray simply because God or the Church needs our prayers but because we need to experience relationship and communion with God. Likewise we need to give because it’s only through expressing our Christian love in this way that our love can grow and mature.
Giving away a proportion of what we have is also the way we develop a Christian attitude to the world and the world’s resources which God has given us. The consumerist culture in which we live today is one which goes against this Christian concept of giving and it is all the harder for the Church to do what Paul did. In the coming months this church will be taking on Paul’s mantle and asking for everyone in the church community to contribute financially towards its life and mission in the world. We might see this fundraising attempt as one which is bound up with our material existence in a way which we find depressing or simply boring. But to do so ignores what Paul showed the Corinthian community; we give because we have a need to share in the character of God- fundraising is ultimately a spiritual discipline not a material exercise. Because God himself became flesh we can never divorce spirit from flesh; there is a spiritual dimension to our material existence and a material aspect to our spiritual experiences.
To live lives that are whole and integrated means realising this fact; a fact which religion often tries to escape. In recognising that our theology and missionary work and our pastoral concerns are held together as a single whole we grow in the grace of God.
Amen