Well, I have gotten so excited about doing this sermon series thing that I have decided to continue preaching from 2nd Corinthians just like I did the past two weeks. I sort of feel like a cocaine monkey in one of those experiments from the 1980’s – even if I wanted to stop I am not sure that I could. And there is also another reason for this, which is that I did not want to discuss the Markan sandwich that we have in our Gospel today. If you are curious, a Markan Sandwich occurs in the book of Mark when you have the beginning of a story, which is then interrupted by another story and then the initial story is only resolved after the completion of the interrupting story. So in today’s story Jairus comes and begs Jesus to heal his daughter, on the way to doing that he heals a woman with hemorrhages and then he resolves the first story by healing the daughter of Jairus. Or put another way, discovering such patterns keeps New Testament Scholars employed, but back to 2nd Corinthians.
What we have today is essentially a fund raising letter. Paul in his travels would collect money from one place to strengthen the church in another place. And it is sort of funny when reading it to realize that fund raising letters have not changed a whole lot. It starts with flattery, moves to the argument for why they should give and ends by asking them to give what they can. Now just because it follows a somewhat familiar pattern does not mean that we can move on without a little reflection. This sermon will obviously take a little different tack than it would take in my home parish because I will not end it with an appeal for you to give money to St. John Chrysostom Episcopal Church in Delafield, Wisconsin (unless you really want me to in which case I can give you the mailing address). But baring that let’s take a few moments and reflect on the call to give money for the growth of Christ’s Kingdom.
As I said it begins with a bit of flattery. Paul says, “As you excel in everything-- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you-- so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.” When I was looking at some commentaries about this passage one of them went to great lengths to explain that Paul was not being sarcastic. I am not sure why the author of this commentary spent so much time on this - perhaps there is a sarcastic school of Pauline theology of which I was previously unaware that the writer felt he needed to counter. Whatever the case Paul’s appeal appears to be genuine. The Church at Corinth excels in faith, speech and knowledge and as a result of this Paul wants them to excel in another thing, a thing, which for lack of a better term we can call generosity. Giving of themselves for the benefit of others. Which sounds very nice, but it is probably worth asking why being generous is something worth excelling at. And I don’t ask this flippantly; rather because I think now and then it is worth reflecting on why the things that we consider to be good and noble pursuits are actually good and noble pursuits. And it would seem that St. Paul agrees because the next part of this appeal addresses just that question.
He states, “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. And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something-- now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.” So the short answer to why we should be generous is because Jesus was generous. And what Paul explains is that Jesus is the Son of God and yet he stooped to become one of us. He gave up his glory to be born in a manger, walk on bad roads in mediocre footwear and toil as a carpenter. I don’t think he means that he became literally poor or at least poor by the standards of those days, but rather in comparison to the glory and majesty of the Godhead he came down quite a bit. In other places, like Philippians chapter 2 Paul expresses this same sentiment by saying though Jesus, “was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”
Now, rather obviously for those of us who are mortal, which I assume includes all of us, we cannot literally give up divinity and come down into a different order and so the things that we can give up are not necessarily part of our essence or nature. Instead, the things that we often can give up are the things that we possess. While certainly some of these things can be parts of our personality like our ego, but more often they are things that we quite literally possess, that is the stuff that we own. So when Paul makes the argument that people should donate in imitation of Christ it is not a perfect imitation largely because we are not actually the Son of God, but essentially he is asking us to do what we can, to imitate as best we can. The important thing however in this imitation is that we do it with the same end in mine. Christ came to bring us into communion with God, to tear down the barrier of sin that separated us from God. So when we give to the Church we are continuing that mission. Now that Christ has broken down the barriers that separate us from God we can help others to grow closer to God. That is what the money that we give to the Church is supposed to do. But there is also another reason and one which is more self-interested, but has the same end in mind and that has to do with freeing ourselves.
I had a seminary professor once say to our class that if he gave each of us one million dollars that it would have no effect on some of us while for others of us it would guarantee our perdition. What he meant by the comment is that some people will make an idol out of money and the more they have the more of an idol they will make while others have a reasonable relationship with money where it does not possess them. Money offers a special temptation because it gives us power to do things and with such power can come confusion about who God is, or at least about God’s place in the order of things. When the power which money can offer pushes God to a secondary position it becomes a real problem. Many people often misquote the book of Timothy by saying that money is the root of all evil, but what is actually said is that the love of money is the root of all evil. Money is neutral. It can build hospitals, churches and buy food for the hungry. It can also buy heroin, build concentration camps and produce movies staring Brad Pitt. But beyond that it can create a greedy soul - a soul that looks to its salvation not through God but through money. That is why Jesus gives the warning about the inherent difficulty of the wealthy inheriting the kingdom of God because of the temptation to seek salvation in creation and not in the creator. So the call to be generous is the call to be like Christ. The call to cast off what we have so that we can be part of God’s plan for salvation.
Christ came both to break down the barriers that exist between us and God but also to show us a way to live; a way that is free from that which separates us from God. Part of that is trusting in God above all and being generous with our possessions. If Jesus became man and dwelt among us we can at least give a hundred bucks to the church outreach fund. No it is not exactly the same, but giving of ourselves, including that which we possess is as close as we humans come to Christ’s great sacrifice. May we all imitate Christ in thought word and deed, so that we may be his both now and forevermore.