July 2, 2006 - Early Church Letters

2 Corinthians 8

When we read the book of 2 Corinthians in the Bible, I don't know if we fully realize that it is not a book at all, not a theological essay, but a letter; a letter that Paul wrote to a church community in Corinth in the first century. Corinth is near Athens, Greece and is about 1000 miles away from Jerusalem where Paul is from - that is about the same distance from us to Colorado. Now, when we think of Paul we think of a fervent Jewish man who converted to Christianity, an intense follower of Jesus, an early theologian carving out the meaning of God and Christ for humanity; we think of Paul as a planter of churches in Jerusalem but also around the entire Mediterranean region.

Now for us in 21st century America, writing or receiving a personal letter is almost a thing of the past. But you will recall that it used to be the only way you could correspond to someone at a distance - sent for days by boat, horseback or walking to the recipient. Now we just pick up the phone if we want to talk to someone in Colorado, South America or Greece. We can call them, fax them, text message them much faster than a letter. We can reach someone almost anywhere in the world with great speed today. In fact we can pummel people with messages when we are waiting for a reply from them. I don't know if you have someone in your life who calls you incessantly. It is an easy habit to get into. Because we can call so easily, we do - and we call again and again if someone doesn't pick up.

Well, Paul doesn't have this luxury. Paul knew when he wrote this letter that it would be a week or more until he heard back from them. He didn't follow up this letter with a reminder call or e-mail. So, in some ways, the content of his letter had more weight. He had one chance to make his impact on his hearers before he waited for their reply.

What is the content of this letter? Well, it is an appeal for money. The Mother Church in Jerusalem had been very generous in helping people who were poor and in need, especially during a time of economic hardship and famine in that region. Now that church was impoverished and needed some help. The Jerusalem church was a church of Jewish-Christians and an important church to early Christianity. In Paul's mind, the churches are all connected in their mission and he is appealing to the churches in other areas to help the church in Jerusalem replenish their relief fund and pay their bills. I guess the equivalent for us is if the United Church of Christ nationally paid out a lot of money sending relief to people in need and then needed money to operate, we would be asked to help replenish the United Church of Christ relief funds who operate in our name. So Paul is not asking for money to build a new cathedral or to have something extravagan, but to help the poor.

Perhaps for that reason, Paul lays it on thick in his letter. First, he tells the people in Corinth that the people in Macedonia have been VERY generous - even during their own times of hardship, they have dug deep and given abundantly. Paul says that they "gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints?" Then Paul turns to flattery to those in Corinth, "You excel in everything - in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in eagerness, and in love," so now we want you to excel in giving too!!!

Paul is making a pretty intense pitch to the church in Corinth. Why? Because Paul believes that living for others is just as important as living for yourself. Paul knows that we need to be encouraged to give up some of what we have for others. Human nature has a desire for more and more and more and we need to be reminded that there are needs in the world beyond us. Paul says that he does not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you - Paul is not asking us to give away everything so that we now are in need and understand the strain of poverty; rather, Paul says "it is a question of fair balance between your present abundance and their need." A fair balance.

Pretty straight forward!! A balance between what I get to have and what I need to give to others. But that still requires interpretation. In a previous letter to the church in Corinth Paul spoke about this relief fund to those in Jerusalem. In that letter he suggested that every week we set aside what extra we earn and send it to others. I think that is a challenge for us today. My experience is that whenever we make extra money we don't say, "Hey, look at all this extra!!" Instead we say, oh good, now we can do the work on the house that we have been waiting to do; now we can take a vacation, buy a new car, have new clothes. Now we can send our parents on a cruise, build an extra bedroom for guests, retire early. Nothing wrong with any of those things. But when is enough enough?? If we don't start setting aside something for others while we have little, will we ever?

The whole idea of a tithe, a portion of our abundance, is to get us used to the idea of disciplining ourselves to not spend it all. Recently a friend of mine's husband sold his business and I'm sure made millions. They tithe to their church and so they plan to tithe a percent of that income. Imagine what the church treasurer will find in her box this week!!! But, let's be clear, everyone is called to set aside a portion. It is the same percent for everyone even though the amount is quite different with great wealth.

I remember going to the Montreat Retreat Center in Montreat, Northa Carolina. It is a beautiful retreat center owned by the Presbyterian Church. It is an outdoorsy setting with fields, buildings, cottages, gardens. Everwhere you turned there seemed to be a plaque of some kind, reminding us of those who donated big bucks to build a certain building or garden, or walkway bridge. It was quite striking. I'm used to major buildings being named after people, but this felt odd to me - church members who donated portions of their affluence to a church retreat, who had their names stamped for all to see.

I think Paul is talking about something other than this. I think Paul is asking for each of us to notice our abundance and to figure out where that line is - where can I stop giving to myself and my family and give to those who are in need. Maybe that is why Paul appeals with such strong words in his first century letter, asking them to be eager givers, remembering the example of Jesus who didn't live in a palace but was instead an itinerant preacher who called people to a more depthful kind of living.

Remember, if you have a dollar extra, we are asked to put it in the plate; if we have a hundred extra, we are asked to put it in the plate in service to others. There have been a series of articles recently about Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, two very rich and powerful men. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation is worth billions and their goal is to eradicate the 20 worst diseases in the world through their foundations, as well as to raise up the level of education offered to everyone. Warren Buffet just doubled their foundation by giving $31 billion to it. Do you know what percentage of his wealth that is?? Warren Buffet donated 85% of his wealth away to many people whom he will probably never meet. The money will go to small business owners to start businesses in their villages, to scientists who will work to find a cure for AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases. Now, I know that Warren Buffet still has about 6 billion dollars to his name, so he is not living in poverty. But did you know that he still lives in the same Midwestern house that he bought for about $130,000 years ago? What an interesting role model. Nowhere so far have I read anything about either man's religious convictions. I don't know where their desire comes to want to help humanity on such a massive scale. What they see though is that their wealth, which benefits a small circle of people, does not do anything to help the plight of those who suffer in our world. As someone said, it's not easy giving away that kind of money and having it make a real impact on the world. Thank God for their desire though to share their abundance.

But that doesn't give us the green light to say, "Well, that's covered!!" If Warren and Bill are giving away over 60 billion, what is my measly five dollars a week or $2,000 a year a going to accomplish?? Well, it will do two things. It will help someone else in need. It will be part of a larger sea of contributions to help alleviate the suffering in our world. We often take up an offering as a community and individually it may not be much, but together we have sent thousands of dollars and thousands of cans of food to others. But perhaps more importantly, giving will change our priorities. It will remind us every time we give that God calls us to look beyond ourselves to the needs of others. A reminder that we are called not just to live in a myopic way, but to raise our eyes up and look around and notice what the world needs.

Thanks be to Apostle Paul who reminds us get our priorities straight and not to waste our resources on frivolous things. Amen.