Sunday, August 3, 2014

Sunday August 3, 2014   

2 Corinthians 9: 6 -15

Generosity, gratitude and contentment seem to be the key words in today’s passage.  How does Paul suggest these are related?

I see that God calls me to be generous as a way of imitating Him. Paul quotes a psalm: He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways never run out. (The Message: v 9) God’s abundance is limitless and so is his generosity. Paul urges me to consider carefully my abundance and to be generous with it: not to give everything away, become a beggar and need others to give to my need, but to be mindful that I do not need too much. Jesus’s story of the widow and her gift was about that, I think. Interestingly, the old meaning of “generous” was “of noble birth”, suggesting that the liberality of giving came from abundance (not just of material wealth but also of character) - hmmm, sounds like God.

When I think some more about what characterizes God’s generosity, I realize that it has nothing to do with the deservedness of the receiver!!  God’s love to me is not something I have earned - it is not a Sunday School prize.  In a funny way, not deserving and receiving encourages me to want to deserve - and one way to do that is to imitate the Giver and the giving.  I remember too that God gives his love and gifts to everybody (the good and the bad alike - Matt 5:45).  If He gives and leaves the response (what we do with the gift) to us, then I guess I too am not called to prejudge whether or not the receiver of my gift will use it wisely (in my eyes!)  I am just called to see the need and to give.

Gratitude is built right into this passage - both as our response to God’s generosity and as a consequence of our generosity.  It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35) means that the benefit to the giver is even bigger than to the receiver - that’s a hard one to get my head around sometimes!  But that is surely what Paul means when he says that God loves a cheerful giver (7) I like The Message translation of this idea: God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.  He goes on to say that our generosity produces abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God. (12)  It is more powerful than just words in  declaring our love for God - when we love each other, those in most need.  (I hear in my head: Whenever you did it for the least of these, you did it for me. Matt 25:40)

Finally, Paul talks of contentment: being happy with having my needs met, rather than being unhappy if not all my wants or desires are met. He suggests that the reason God gives to me abundantly is so that I can give much away, knowing that giving away will be of more benefit to me that holding on to it or using it solely for my own material pleasure. Recognizing the true values of God’s realm/kingdom rather than of the material world will actually bring the greatest happiness to me, not just “in heaven” but right here and now. Again, Jesus’s words on this come to mind: consider the lilies of the field; where your treasure is, your heart will be; blessed are the meek...  Jesus, and Paul also, knew that in chasing after material wealth there is great danger of missing the true wealth of a spirit in close communion with God.  

And so, I am back to where I started, with generosity as a way of imitating the nature of God, of listening to God and being obedient, in the old way of talking.  

Generous, grateful, content: I want to be like that.

Blessings

Ann Kelland