Earnest and Eager – 3/15/08

It’s time to pass the plate. No, your pastor is not asking for an early offering. A few authors of a new book are asking Christians to step up their giving to needs and causes around the globe. They aren’t addressing all Christians by the way, just those Christians in America. If you’re wondering, as of 2005 that’s about 225 million people. Of course, not all of them attend church regularly, so the book begins by focusing on the 138 million people who attend church more than twice per month. The authors ask the question, “What could 138 million people do if they would give 10% of their income every year?” They see a great potential and are calling Christians to step up to the plate by passing the plate. In a moment I’m going to ask you how much extra money you think is out there.

What we’re discussing this 3rd Sunday of Lent is charity. Since September, we’ve been pouring over the pages of Scripture and listening to all of the voices in the Bible that call for justice. If nothing else, I hope you’ve discovered just how important that word is to the Biblical message. This season of Lent, we’re taking a look at specific things that we can do in order to do justice as the prophet says. We began by looking at living more simply. The idea that if we want to do more justice in the world we will live with less so that others can simply live. The point was not only that we should make sacrifices for the sake of others, but that living with less might actually makes us healthier and happier. It’s certainly good for the environment.

That was what we looked at last week in worship and in Sunday School. Even a brief glance at the first chapter of the Bible offers clues to how important the earth and all its creatures are to God. While humans are the only ones made in the image of God, they are done so to nurture and guard the creation. They children of God are called to answer the groanings of creation so that the earth itself might achieve the very same glory that God’s children have. Again, it’s easy to see how simple living and caring for creation are tied together. Smaller homes, less driving, fewer possessions all mean using earth’s resources at a more sustainable rate. Smaller homes, less driving, and fewer possessions also mean more possibilities for charity.

So, it’s time to answer that question, “how much extra money would be available if 138 million committed Christians gave 10% of their income to charity?” According to the authors’ calculations, there would be an extra $46 billion dollars annually. That’s extra, by the way, because committed Christians are already some of the most generous people in America. So, if only those 138 million committed Christians would give another 8% of their income, there would be another $46 billion dollars. Knowing that, I want to do something that is a little overwhelming and perhaps a little pointless. I’m hoping it’s worth the effort. The authors go on to list what might be accomplished with all of this money.

(Please see Passing the Plate by Christian Smith, et.al. pp. 15-?? for the list.  Hint: you can get most of it by previewing the book on Amazon and Google.)

That’s about what $46 billion could do every year. Let me just remind you that this is after-tax income of only those 138 million Christians who consider themselves committed. The authors think that if everyone who called themselves Christian gave 10% there would be an extra, an extra, $133.4 billion dollars that could be devoted to Christian and other development causes around the world. This money wouldn’t require Congress to pass a law or the United Nations to act. You wouldn’t need to send troops overseas or wait for the Supreme Court to make a decision. The only thing that’s required to make all of those things happen is for committed Christians in America to be more charitable.

As we listened to the Scripture passages this morning we are forced to admit that this matter of charity is a matter of the heart. It makes sense, after all, being that charity is often used as a synonym for love. What the passage from Deuteronomy and the passage from 2 Corinthians have in common is that they address us at the core of our humanity; at the secret thoughts of our hearts and at our motivations. From their beginning, God’s people have been commanded to give liberally from their resources. “You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be…Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.’” But throughout this passage, God seems quite concerned with what’s happening on the inside.

“Do not be hard-hearted.” Lend “willingly.” “Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought.” Do not “view your neighbor with hostility.” “Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.” So, it’s not just that we give liberally to our neighbors, but that we don’t resent it or hang it over their heads or hold a grudge against them for taking from us. Or, as Paul wrote it, “If I give away all my possessions…but do not have love, I gain nothing.” As far as God is concerned, it’s a matter of the heart. God is asking for charity that is charitable. Paul is asking for the same thing from the Corinthians.

As Paul went about the Mediterranean planting seeds of faith with good news, he also asked that those seeds bear fruit for the poor in the church at Jerusalem. What we encounter in this passage from 2 Corinthians is Paul’s appeal that the church in Corinth finish gathering the offering and send it on. Again, we find that Paul is appealing to their hearts. “I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others.” He writes that he is proud, not only because they began to gather an offering, but because they actually desired to do it. He encourages them by saying that it doesn’t matter what the size of the gift is as long as the eagerness is there. “For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has – not according to what one does not have.”

Paul is looking for eager and earnest giving. He is looking for Christians to give with an intense enthusiasm, to be excited about their charity on behalf of others, to give what they are able and to look forward to doing it. Paul is also looking for Christians to give with a focused seriousness, to make their charity a priority, and to strive to do it well and with great effort. For Paul, to give charitably is to give eagerly and earnestly; with enthusiasm and seriousness and to match those inner feelings with outward action. If the authors of Passing the Plate are even half right, the Christians seem to lack both the inner enthusiasm and outward action of charitable giving. I have to say that Hope is much more generous than most churches. And, I have to admit that the older generations are much more faithful than my generation. But the needs still far outweigh the effort.

Perhaps $46 billion is too big to deal with this morning. Maybe Global Missions and U.S. Development are too broad a category to really grab us this morning. So, let’s take the same message of eagerness and earnestness and apply it to a neighbor who asked for $300. An older gentleman from the apartment complex just to our Northeast came by this past Monday. He’s somebody’s grandpa. He walked with a walker, much like my own grandpa does. I’m sure he relies on Social Security to get by these days and this month he ran a little short on his rent; $300 short. He said that two of his nephews just got out of jail and needed a place to stay and he tried to help them out. This month he couldn’t help himself. He had opened his hand to his poor and needy neighbor and now was looking for someone to open their hand.

I entertained all kinds of mean thoughts about this man. “How do I know you’re telling me the truth?” But none of the passages say, “Give liberally as long as the person is honest.” I wondered, “Why would you come here for money but not for worship?” But neither of the passages say, “Give liberally as long as the person will come to your church.” I thought, “You’ll probably do something with the money that I don’t approve of.” But neither of the passages say, “Give liberally as long as the person will put the money to good use.” I had never met the man before so I have no evidence one way or another. I thought those mean thoughts as we stood there having a conversation and I sent him away saying that I would talk to the deacons and let him know if we could help him out. As he limped away, I felt guilty.

There is a lot of need in the world today and a lot more of it could be met if Christians in America would give more charitably; more eagerly and earnestly. Our present abundance would go a long way toward achieving the fair balance that Paul wrote about, but guilt is the wrong note to end on. Guilt is not a good motivator for our hearts. But gratitude is. Gratitude is what Paul uses to motivate the Corinthians to give charitably and gratitude is what has been passed down to us by our Reformed ancestors. “For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” Paul used the amazingly gracious act of Jesus Christ to inspire the Corinthians to greater giving. During the season of Lent we take the time to acknowledge the generous act of Jesus Christ who was the Word made flesh, who was with God, who was God, but who did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited.

What we witness during the seasons of Advent and Lent is that this Word emptied himself to become human. Having emptied himself, he also humbled himself. He was not a human ruler or a human king or even a human priest in the temple though he had the wisdom and power to do both. Rather he took on the form of a slave with no where to lay his head and no home to call his own. He not only lived as a slave, but died like one too. He became obedient to the point of death. It wasn’t a peaceful falling asleep. It wasn’t under the close watch of physicians and medication. It was a brutal and painful death on a cross. It was a death that absorbed all the hate and violence and sin a fallen world had to offer so that that same world might be free from that sin; so that we might be free from that sin; so that we might stand up from underneath that sin, shake it off and walk in a newness of life not experienced before, a peace of mind that passes understanding, on a firm foundation that cannot be shaken.

Jesus was broken and spilled out and poured at our feet. This generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ brought great change in the world. And we’re not talking about quarters and pennies. We’re talking about a faith that overcomes fear and sins no more. We’re talking about a hope that sees beyond sight and touch, beyond even death, to eternal life. We’re talking about a love that softens hearts and opens hands, that approaches charity with eagerness and earnestness, so that there will never be anyone in need among us. So, let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Amen.