the Second Thursday of Advent
Scripture Reading for Today:
Isaiah 12:2-6
2 Look, God is my deliverer! I will trust in him and not fear. For the Lord gives me strength and protects me; he has become my deliverer.” 3 Joyfully you will draw water from the springs of deliverance. 4 At that time you will say: “Praise the Lord! Ask him for help! Publicize his mighty acts among the nations. Make it known that he is unique. 5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done magnificent things; let this be known throughout the earth. 6 Cry out and shout for joy, O citizens of Zion, for the Holy One of Israel acts mightily among you!”
Amos 6:1-8
6 Woe to those who live in ease in Zion, to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria. They think of themselves as the elite class of the best nation. The family of Israel looks to them for leadership. 2 They say to the people: “Journey over to Calneh and look at it; then go from there to Hamath-Rabbah; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they superior to our two kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours?” 3 You refuse to believe a day of disaster will come, but you establish a reign of violence. 4 They lie around on beds decorated with ivory, and sprawl out on their couches. They eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the middle of the pen. 5 They sing to the tune of stringed instruments; like David they invent musical instruments. 6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, and pour the very best oils on themselves. Yet they are not concerned over the ruin of Joseph. 7 Therefore they will now be the first to go into exile, and the religious banquets where they sprawl on couches will end. 8 The Sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. The Lord God of Heaven’s Armies is speaking: “I despise Jacob’s arrogance; I hate their fortresses. I will hand over to their enemies the city of Samaria and everything in it.”
2 Corinthians 8:1-15
8 Now we make known to you, brothers and sisters, the grace of God given to the churches of Macedonia, 2 that during a severe ordeal of suffering, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in the wealth of their generosity. 3 For I testify, they gave according to their means and beyond their means. They did so voluntarily, 4 begging us with great earnestness for the blessing and fellowship of helping the saints. 5 And they did this not just as we had hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us by the will of God. 6 Thus we urged Titus that, just as he had previously begun this work, so also he should complete this act of kindness for you. 7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, and in all eagerness and in the love from us that is in you—make sure that you excel in this act of kindness too. 8 I am not saying this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love by comparison with the eagerness of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you by his poverty could become rich. 10 So here is my opinion on this matter: It is to your advantage, since you made a good start last year both in your giving and your desire to give, 11 to finish what you started, so that just as you wanted to do it eagerly, you can also complete it according to your means. 12 For if the eagerness is present, the gift itself is acceptable according to whatever one has, not according to what he does not have. 13 For I do not say this so there would be relief for others and suffering for you, but as a matter of equality. 14 At the present time, your abundance will meet their need, so that one day their abundance may also meet your need, and thus there may be equality, 15 as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”
NET
Spurred on to Generosity
Reverend Jessica Isaak is a co-lead pastor at Hampton Free Methodist Church in Saskatoon, SK. She has a background in journalism and has worked in television and radio news for ten years. She is ordained in the Free Methodist Church in Canada and is currently working on graduate studies at Northeastern Seminary. She serves on the board of a local theatre company in her spare time, sings and plays guitar, and enjoys trying new foods from various cultures. She also really likes gummy candies. She and her husband Matt have been married for 18 years, and together they have two sons.
I went to bible school way back in the 1990s. This was before the fancy technology of today. My computer was a word processer with a 4-inch screen. We made calls on the communal dorm payphone shared by thirty students. Cellphones were not around quite yet, so people communicated by writing notes to each other instead of texting. To get those messages, you had to walk across campus to the school mailboxes to retrieve them. My mailbox was usually stuffed with graded papers, mini notes from friends with bible verses scribbled across them, and the odd small textbook.
I started bible school when I was 18 years old, one year out of high school. I relied on student loans for almost all of it. I’d work summer jobs to earn some money, but the minimum wage didn’t get me far even working full time. It was never enough. Basically, I was broke.
I remember heading over to check my mailbox one December, the week before classes ended for the Christmas holidays, and I found something inside that I will never forget. There was a note from the main office saying an anonymous donor had gifted me five hundred dollars. FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS! I could hardly believe it. Now, five hundred dollars might not seem like much now, and maybe it wasn’t even much then, but to me, it was extraordinary. I had never received such generosity, and I will never forget how loved and supported I felt at that moment. It was one of the most beautiful Christmas gifts I’ve ever received, not because it was five hundred dollars. It was the best gift because someone saw my need and cared enough to meet it.
Chapters eight and nine of 2 Corinthians are all about giving – true, generous, and abundant giving. The kind of giving I was fortunate enough to receive.
The author of this letter, Paul, brings up an ongoing fundraising project. They are collecting donations for a relief fund. This project wasn’t new. The Corinthian church was already aware of the initiative (we see it mentioned in 1 Corinthians). There is a famine in a nearby land impacting Jewish Christians. People there are struggling, even starving. News of this difficulty prompted Paul to ask the Gentile churches to help, and many were stepping up with support. Now it was time to collect.
Paul begins by mentioning the generosity of a church in Macedonia. At first, I found this strange. Why is he talking about another church’s charity? Is he comparing them? Is he pressuring the Corinthians into giving? As I read on, I realized it isn’t to compare or pressure but to encourage.
Here is what he says:
I’m not trying to order you around against your will. But by bringing in the Macedonians’ enthusiasm as a stimulus to your love, I am hoping to bring the best out of you. You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us—in one stroke he became poor and we became rich.
So here’s what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t. The heart regulates the hands. This isn’t so others can take it easy while you sweat it out. No, you’re shoulder to shoulder with them all the way, your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your deficit. In the end you come out even.
(2 Cor. 8:8-15 New English Translation)
Paul is spurring them on to goodness; he’s encouraging them to finish well and reminding them that the heart leads the hand. He’s not asking for anything outrageous. He’s simply saying to give what you can – help others in their need because you could use help when the time comes. A person does not need to give everything away, but Paul is reminding them that Jesus did. The Creator was willing to embody creation. God gave up His power and wealth and, “in one stroke he became poor and we became rich.” Now that is generosity.
This heart-directed generosity is the kind of giving I received. Someone sacrificed something for me – five hundred dollars, right before Christmas. I’m sure the money could have gone to all kinds of other uses, but they chose to help me when I was in need. Their generosity impacted me. It changed me. From that time on, I wanted to be generous to others because they were generous to me. Let the story of my anonymous giver inspire you to give what you can.
I’m sharing my story with you because, like Paul, I’m hoping to stimulate your love and bring the best out of you. If you see a need this Christmas, meet it. You never know how it might change someone forever. It might change you too.
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