the Second Thursday of Advent
Scripture Reading for Today:
Spurred on to Generosity
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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