Some time ago, I came across a letter from a college student to her parents. She wrote: Dear Nanay ug Tatay: I’m sorry it has been such a long time since my last letter, but I didn’t want to bother you with the fire in the dormitory, and the concussion I got, falling out the window trying to escape.
I want you to know how nice the young man was, whom I met at the hospital. He provided me comfort at that time. I’m out of the hospital now, and I’m doing fine. Especially since the young man who helped me, invited me to live with him in his apartment. He’s a very nice fellow and I know you’re going to like him very much. I do. And I hope you’ll be happy to know that you’ll be grandparents in seven months.
Now in closing, I want you not to worry; don’t be too concerned about all these. There really was not a fire in the dormitory. I did not suffer a concussion. I’m not living with a young man; I’m not even going out with one, and I am not pregnant.
I’ve told you all these to let you know that I got an “F” in Biology and another “F” in Math, and I wanted you to keep all these in perspective.
(Of course a failing grade is better than a pregnant daughter, or a daughter in the hospital.)
Today is Stewardship Sunday. What we need most is perspective. Sometimes churches do not want to talk about stewardship. But let me share with you about stewardship as found in St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. It vibrates with life, and pulsates with an understanding of stewardship and discipleship.
Briefly, let us look at the background of this passage. Paul is taking up a collection for the poor Christians in Jerusalem. That collection had stopped because of dissension and conflict in the church at Corinth. But then, reconciliation had taken place, thus Paul wrote asking them to resume what they had started earlier, not only to affirm their commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and the whole church, but more than anything else, they need to learn the blessings that come as a result of giving.
And then he used an example of the churches in Macedonia to show the Corinthians how they should give. Now the Christians in Macedonia were very poor. And yet, when they heard about the offering that was being received for the Christians in Jerusalem, their response was unbelievable. Against this background, let’s move through the Scripture.
First of all, the Macedonians gave liberally out of generous hearts. And then in verse 4 it says, “Begging earnestly for the favor to take part in the needs of the saints.” Isn’t that something?
As I was working on my sermon, I asked myself, “What if the Holy Spirit suddenly gets hold of this congregation this morning, and you begin to clamor for the opportunity to give? There will be a big celebration of thanksgiving.
Actually, in the Old Testament, there is a story of God’s people who started an offering, and it had to be stopped because the people gave so generously. It is just like taking an offering here this morning. When the ushers would get to the third row, the plates would be so full they would have to empty them, and start all over again. And the same thing would happen by the time they got to the sixth row; and by the time they got to the ninth row, I’d have to say, “Wait a minute, stop! We’ve got enough!”
This is what happened in the story of Exodus chapters 35 and 36. Check it out. Briefly, Moses told the people that the Lord had commanded him to take an offering and build a place of worship in the center of the camp where they would keep the Ark of the Covenant to remind them that God was present in their midst.
Listen to verses 4 and 5: Moses said to the people of Israel, “That is the thing which the Lord has commanded. Take from among you an offering to the Lord, whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord’s offering – gold, silver and bronze.”
Now when I got to that part of the story, I said “Moses, you’ve made a mistake. This is not the way to raise funds. You’ve already put a qualifying statement: ‘Whoever is of a generous heart.’ You know, not all are with generous hearts. Generally, you’ve got to make people feel they’re responsible, and even make them feel a little guilty.”
But when Moses put the word out, the people began to bring their most precious gifts. They brought brooches, bracelets, rings, signet rings, earrings, items of gold and silver, and they presented them unto the Lord. And then the shocking thing happened. Moses’ assistants came to him and said, “You’ve got to stop this. We already have more than enough to do what the Lord wants us to do”; and in the sixth verse of the 36th Chapter, “Moses restrained the people from giving, and the word went throughout all the camp that they needed to give no more.”
Can you imagine people in a church with that kind of generous hearts? I can.
From time to time, this church has been characterized with generosity. I know that for several years, we gave more than what was budgeted for the Rural Pastors Fund, the Kahon sa Kalipay last year, and the project of the new choir gowns. When we asked you to give Bibles to the prisoners, asked some money to help the victims of the flooding, members were willing to give.
And this is not only true to giving money. I experienced the joy, the enthusiasm of the members of this church giving not only your money, but your time, and sharing your gifts. In our worship alone, we see a lot of gifts shared by members of the church to make our worship meaningful.
And if we move on in our scriptures, not only did the Macedonians give liberally out of generous hearts, they gave sacrificially.
In verse 2 Paul wrote, “How, in an intense time of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of liberality.”
Note that the Macedonians had experienced suffering and persecution as a result of their faith. Besides that, they were sorely afflicted with extreme poverty. But their affliction, their suffering issued in a fountain of joy; and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of liberality. Now, that speaks a lot.
Many times, I see people on the verge of despair because of economic failure; I’ve seen people whose marriages were disintegrating because of selfishness and lack of commitment; I’ve been with parents who are anguishing in pain over a child who is into drugs or into bad company; I’ve been with a young woman diagnosed with leukemia; and others.
But because of their faith in a God who never leaves them, they continue to serve God and support the ministry of the church. And they discover a fountain of joy that have come alive in the depth of their faith in spite of their suffering.
And then, there is one more. In the fifth verse, it says, the Macedonians gave themselves liberally out of generous hearts; they gave sacrificially (verse 5) “first because they gave themselves to the Lord”.
Now this is the giving that really counts. This is the bottom line of this sermon, and should be the bottom line of every sermon we preach.
First, we give ourselves to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and then we move intentionally into discipleship and into stewardship as we are led. “First, we need to give ourselves to the Lord; and because of that, we give liberally and sacrificially. Then we discover the wealth that counts or the inner joy that we get by giving.
At a college, a financial campaign was in progress, and the chairman of the committee wrote to a famous alumna, “Send us a message for our campaign, and make it positive!” “Tell them this for me,” she wrote back. “Never take your college for granted. A lot of people broke their hearts to give it to you.”
Never, never take the Church for granted. A lot of people had shed blood, sweat, and tears to keep its ministry going. In fact, Jesus died for it.
The value of our gift conveys the extent of our affection for this Church, and the ministry that Christ has called us to do. Remember that when people in the Bible obeyed God, they were blessed beyond their wildest dreams.
That is the call for you and for me today. Our response to that call determines the kind of eternity, and the joy we will experience.
