Sermon: Because of Gratitude

 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
Because of Gratitude
James Sledge                                                                                      June 27, 2021

 When Paul wrote his letter to the church in Corinth, there was no such thing as a church budget, no church building and none of the costs we now associate with a church congregation. Yet even without church budget, building, or payroll, Paul still engages in a stewardship campaign of sorts. Paul is collecting an offering for the mother church in Jerusalem, an offering he mentions in several of his letters.

This offering was clearly very important to Paul. From a strictly practical standpoint, the offering was about helping the poor in the Jerusalem congregation. But Paul also understood the offering to be about the unity of the Church.

Paul’s ministry was to the Gentiles, but he did not want them to lose sight of the debt they owed to Judaism and to Jewish Christians. Even though Paul had a strained relationship with the Jerusalem Church leaders because he did not require converts to be circumcised or adopt Jewish dietary restrictions, he wanted his Gentile congregations to show their gratitude for the new life they experienced in Christ, a new life made possible by a Jewish Messiah and by a Jewish Church that supported a missionary movement.

Paul had given instructions in a previous letter about what he called “the collection for the saints,” and apparently the Corinthians had at first been excited about expressing their tangible gratitude to the mother church. But that initial excitement had waned.

The Corinthians were well-off compared with the Christians in Jerusalem and Paul’s other congregations. Corinth was a booming, cosmopolitan city, and the congregation had a number of wealthy members. But wealth sometimes has a negative impact on giving.

In a part of the letter we didn’t hear, Paul is more than happy to point out the generosity of his Macedonian congregations such as the Thessalonians and Philippians. Despite their relative poverty, they have given generously, beyond their means, unlike the Corinthians.

This pattern is repeated in our time. Poorer Christians tend to be more generous in their church giving than do wealthy Christians. Tithing, or giving the first ten percent of one’s income to the church is more common among those making the least money.

Not that tithing is remarkable or impossible. A colleague once shared a children’s sermon that illustrated how to tithe. This sermon is an object lesson, which means that concrete-thinking, young children can’t really understand it. But it works fine for adults.

The pastor brings out a basket with ten apples and says, “These apples represent my income. I’m going to give the first of my apples, a tithe, to God.” She takes away one apple and says, “Now I still have nine apples to use however I need or want.

“But very often,” says the pastor, “that’s not how people do it.” She starts over with her ten apples. “It takes two apples to pay for our house, another for food and another for clothes,” she says, and so on and so on. Soon the pastor has only a couple of apples left. She looks at them and says, “I’m supposed to give one to God, but then I’ll only have one left! I’m not sure I can do that.”

I’m guessing that the wealthy Corinthians engaged in something similar. Wealthy folk often have a more wants and needs than poorer folks do, and it is harder for them to be truly generous. So Paul reminds to the Corinthians of how much more generous his Macedonian congregations are. Paul’s clearly not averse to using a little shame in his stewardship pitch.

But Paul saves his main reason to be generous for last. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. For Paul, to be in Christ is to discover new life that is a gift, grace of incalculable value. And when one truly experiences that gift, that grace, they cannot help but respond with gratitude, with self-giving generosity, grace of their own. 

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Unlike the Apostle Paul, most modern-day pastors are a bit squeamish about bringing up money and giving. O, sure, we’ll do the obligatory stewardship sermons every year, but that’s about it. Never mind that Jesus spoke about money all the time or that people’s giving habits are one of the surest measures of their spiritual health.

Recently, FCPC’s session (our governing council) discussed a book on stewardship which stated emphatically that churches and pastors should lose their shyness about money. It said that I should tell you that my pledge is a tithe. It said that pastors should review members’ giving and should preach regularly on money. It also said that churches should provide resources for members to break free from spending and debt that often inhibit true generosity.

That’s a lot of shoulds, and there’s no way a single sermon can address all of them. And so I think I’ll focus on Paul’s appeal to gratitude. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

John Calvin, the founder of our theological tradition, said that gratitude is the primary motive for the Christian life. People choose to be religious for many reasons. Some are motivated by fear, worried what might happen to them if they don’t meet some standard. Some are motivated by a hope of getting something. If God’s on my side, then surely I’ll be more successful, richer, happier, more satisfied spiritually, and so on.

But Calvin insists that the fundamental, driving motivation for true Christian life and discipleship is gratitude for God’s overflowing, boundless, unmerited grace. We are awash in grace. Everything from the planet we live on to our talents and abilities are gifts freely given to us. On top of all that, God seeks to reconcile with humanity, to show us the true trajectory and shape of human life, by reaching out to us in Jesus. And we did nothing to deserve any of this. As Paul says in a different letter, But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We have been given a gift of incomparable value, and all we can offer in return is our gratitude.

But truth be told, I’m inclined to be an ingrate. Like a small child with no real appreciation for all her parents provide or the love and security that surround her, I take God’s grace for granted. I turn inward on myself and clutch at what I think is mine like a child hoarding toys. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the difficulty I have being generous, generous with my money, with my time, with my affection, and more.

But true gratitude turns me outward, releases the death grip I have on what I think is mine, and opens me to the deep joy that can be found only in gratitude born of grace. Gratitude journals have become popular in our day because the practice of gratitude can reorient your life in wonderful ways, ways that cannot help but make your more generous.

How generous are you? What portion of your time, your energy, your wealth do you share with others, with God and God’s work in the world? Your answer says a great deal about your spiritual health. And I hope that considering your own gratitude and generosity may help show you a path to a deeper, fuller, more joyful relationship with God and with neighbor.