Giving Until It Feels Good: Extravagant Generosity

St. Paul’s United Methodist Church

2 Corinthians 8: 1-7 Rev. Marianne Niesen March 21, 2010

Before I read the scripture text, let me give a little background so we will better understand what we will hear. In the very earliest days of the Christian movement, the followers of Jesus were all Jews. They were Jews who had come to believe that the Jewish man, Jesus, though executed by the Romans, had risen from the dead. Even more, they believed that following the way of life Jesus himself led, was life-giving and ‘of God.’ It was good news - literally, ‘gospel.’ Then along came Saul, a persecutor of Christians, whose life was miraculously turned around and who become a great preacher of the gospel of Jesus. It was Saul - who became Paul - who took the preaching of the good news far beyond the bounds of Judaism. He brought the gospel to the Gentiles. This was not an easy transition. Have you ever noticed that we human beings have a difficult time with change? Jewish believers wanted Gentiles to become Jews before they could be Christian - because, that’s how it had always been. Paul argued that Gentiles needed only baptism to be received as Christians.

To make a very long story short, Paul had to argue his case regarding Gentiles before the leaders in Jerusalem - leaders like Peter. In the end, agreement was reached that, indeed, Gentiles could be received as full Christian believers without becoming Jews first. It was a huge step. One aspect of the agreement was that Paul, as he preached to the Gentile churches, would receive an offering for the ‘saints’ - the believers - in Jerusalem where there was a terrific famine. In other words, this embrace of outsiders really did mean they became part of the family - brothers and sisters in faith. The giving of gifts has long been a concrete way human beings have expressed our connection, our responsibility for one another. The Gentile churches would express their ‘connection’ in a concrete way. By giving of they had, they would help people they didn’t know but who were part of their new family in faith. It is a bit like the part of our budget that goes to our mission shares or apportionments. Part of our giving helps people we’ll never know in parts of the world most of us will never visit.

So the agreement had been struck and Paul and Titus, a Gentile convert and one of Paul’s helpers, set off and continued tirelessly doing their work among the Gentiles. Paul had had a bit of a difficulty with the Corinthians - he had called them to task in his first letter to them and we believe there was a another corrective letter, now lost, that had been delivered to them by Titus. Paul was anxious to hear how things went so what we think happened is that Paul traveled north of Corinth to find Titus and ‘get the scoop’ on how things were going in Corinth. He found him preaching in Macedonia. This is so human - imagine the conversation. So, tell me, Tite, how were things in Corinth when you read them my letter? Presumably, Titus filled him in and then shared with him the truly amazing things that were happening in Macedonia.[1] Paul then wrote to the Corinthians again (our ‘2nd letter). Today’s text today is part of that. Listen. (2 Cor. 8: 1-7)

Paul’s words to the Corinthians are an interesting - though not, for him, unusual - challenge. He knew the rift he had with them had been healed but he doesn’t let up. He challenges them to do what the Macedonians were doing. Be generous, he advised. Look how generosity despite all their hardships, has affected the Macedonians. They are joyful, eager, transformed in faith. You could use some of that! So, why not do what they do?

That might sound a bit trite but, remember, in Paul’s day, the primary mode of learning was imitation. People apprenticed themselves for most learning. Whether it was ‘a trade, philosophy, sport, household management, moral reasoning or whatever’[2] people learned through imitating. We get nervous at such things today. Imitating others raises the issue of watching our children succumb to peer pressure or our own temptations to ‘keep up with the Joneses’ - all of which can lead to bad decisions. That’s true, of course. But it is also true that we desperately need models of good - and especially models of generosity in this selfish world of ours. Paul challenged the Corinthians to be generous. He’d probably offer the same challenge to us. People of St. Paul’s, generosity is just plain good for the soul! After all, just look at the Macedonians!!

A couple years ago, I was browsing through an airport bookstore when the title of a book caught my eye. The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann. It was in the business book section but the title intrigued me enough to read the inside flap. “The Go-Giver tells the story of an ambitions young man named Joe who yearns for success. Joe is a true go-getter, though sometimes he feels as if the harder and faster he works, the further away his goals seem to be.” (Sound familiar?) “Joe learns that changing his focus from getting to giving - putting others’ interests first and continually adding value to their lives - ultimately leads to unexpected returns.”[3] I bought the book. The story is told as a kind of parable. Joe meets up with a legendary consultant known as ‘the Chairman’ who agrees to impart his ‘secret to stratospheric success.’ Joe learns that secret the first time he meets with the ‘Chairman.’ It was a Saturday morning. Joe is amazed that such an important man would meet with him on a Saturday but he is in for even more amazement.

“There’s nothing wrong with making money. Lots of it, in fact. It’s just not a goal that will make you successful,” the Chairman says . . .”You want to understand success, yes?” Joe nodded.

“All right. I’m going to share my Trade Secret with you now. . . (He leaned forward and stated simply.) . . . giving.”

Joe waited for more, but apparently that was it. “I beg your pardon?. . .Giving?. . . That’s the secret to your success? Your Trade Secret? Giving?

. . . “Indeed,” said the Chairman. “That’s too simple . . . is that what you’re thinking?”

“Something like that,” Joe admitted sheepishly.

. . . “Most people have that reaction. In fact, most people just laugh when they hear that the secret to success is giving.” He paused. “Then again, most people are nowhere near as successful as they wish they were.” (There is more conversation and then the Chairman continues . . . )

“Most of us have grown up seeing the world as a place of limitation rather than as a place of inexhaustible treasures. A world of competition rather than one of co-creation.” He saw that Joe was puzzled again. “Dog eat dog. . . that about sum it up?” Joe admitted that it did.

“Well, it’s simply not true.” And then he goes on to explain that what is true is that you get what you expect in life . . . “Go looking for conflict and you’ll find it. Go looking for people to take advantage of you, and they generally will. See the world as a dog-eat-dog place and you’ll always find a bigger dog looking at you as if you’re his next meal. Go looking for the best in people, and you’ll be amazed at how much talent, ingenuity, empathy and good will you’ll find.[4]

Following the initial exchange with Joe, the Chairman agrees that he’ll do something more to help him grasp this trade secret - in other words, how giving can change life for him. He’ll teach him the ‘Five Laws of Stratospheric Success’ as long as Joe agrees that, as he learns each of the ‘laws’ he will put them into practice immediately - before he goes to bed that night. Joe agrees . . . and here are the laws he learned over the course of a week - complete with my shorthand translation for us.

1. The Law of Value: your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment. (That is, worry more about how much you give than what you get.)

2. The Law of Compensation: your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them. (Wesley said it like this . . . do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, by all the means you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.)

3. The Law of Influence: Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interest first. (As Wesley said . . . earn all you can, save all you can so you can give all you can away.)

4. The Law of Authenticity: The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself. (Genuineness and generosity go hand in hand.)

5. The Law of Receptivity: The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.[5] (Admit there are things we don’t know. Be open to learn, to grow, to move beyond the negative.)

Ostensibly, this is a business book. But, if you think about it, its ‘trade secret’ is a way of life for followers of Jesus since we’re actually in the ‘giving’ business. We’re in the business of generosity - not so much because we like it but because that’s what Jesus’ business was fundamentally about. In other words, the secret of a successful church is not measured by how beautiful our building is or how excellent our music sounds or even how many people are here. Our success is measured by how generous we are - individually and collectively. How good are we at giving our goods and selves away? How good are we at sharing our faith with our children . . . and at sharing the fruits of our faith with all children? How good are we at keeping our building beautiful and at sharing it with the community? How good are we at passionate worship that feeds and nourishes us and at going beyond our comfort zones to explore new and different kinds of worship that will nourish others? How good are we at giving enough to care for our own needs and at giving abundantly so that we can even work miracles?

Today we focus on the last of the five practices for a fruitful congregation. We will only be as vibrant, alive, vital and growing as we are extravagantly generous - with a big vision, taking big risks, doing big things. This is a particularly challenging practice because it calls on each of us to examine our personal lives as well as our life together. How are we doing in the ‘giving’ department? The challenge is for each of us to look at our patterns of giving. Are we approaching the biblical tithe - giving 10% or more of our income away? As a church, are we responding generously to the needs of our community and the world? And we cannot do that adequately if we are not each doing the first. We are in the ‘giving business’ - giving time, talent and resources as we follow Jesus, the one who gave himself away. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, when people looked at our church and at the people in our church they said . . . look at St. Paul’s - they sure are a group of go-givers! In many ways we are already a church that gets things done. The growing edge for all of us is to add go-giving to our go-getting.

And here’s the real secret to this extravagant generosity business. We can only become generous when we realize how much we’ve been given. You’ve heard me do whole sermons on this so today, I just ask one thing. Reflect for a moment this week on a time you were a ‘victim of extravagant generosity.’ I was in seminary. I was a nun, a Catholic, preparing for ordination in, most likely, the United Methodist Church. My entire education was paid for by the Franciscan Sisters - the order of which I was a member. They paid the whole bill. When I finished seminary, I had no debt. I was forced to leave the order in order to start a new life and a new career with a new church - and the leaving was painful. And, I admit that some times I have focused more on what it all cost me personally. But, the truth is that I was far more blessed than besieged. I was given the priceless gift of an education. I didn’t deserve it and I have never paid it back to the people who gave it - nor have they asked. But, I do have a debt - it is a debt of gratitude, payable only by how I share - generously, extravagantly - the gifts I have been given. I hadn’t thought of it that way until I began to reflect on this extravagant generosity stuff. No one of us can be generous - little less extravagantly so - until we admit our own blessings. So this week, think about it - how/when/where have you been a ‘victim of extravagant generosity?’ Once you and I admit to that, we will be able to begin our recovery process . . . a process of imitating generous behavior - you know, imitating the Macedonians . . . and Jesus. And, as we become go-givers, others will imitate us. And that cycle will change our lives and the world - stratosphericly!
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[2]Ibid., p. 122.

[4]Ibid., p.13-16.

[5]Ibid., listed on p. 129 but explained throughout the book.