Made rich in every way.  Where do I sign up?  Wouldn’t we all like to be made rich every way!  Paul is writing to the Christians in Corinth, who have committed to take part in a special offering to help the church in Jerusalem.  They have already contributed a good bit, but they have not fulfilled their pledge.  Lately there have been rumors going around that Paul has been mishandling the funds, there have been allegations that Paul isn’t a true believer, there’s been a general cloud of tension in the air when it comes to Paul.  Depending on what commentary you read, there are various reasons given for this disturbance in the universe.  Over the course of this letter, Paul often writes in a defensive tone, and he is trying hard to get everyone rowing in the same direction and working for the good of the church as a whole.

So he devotes two chapters of his letter to this collection for the Christians in Jerusalem.  But collecting the offering the Corinthian believers promised is not enough for Paul.  He not only wants them to give money, he wants them to give it cheerfully!  He wants them to be the kind of givers that give with such happy hearts that others around them will be impressed and will praise God.  Paul has some pretty high standards in mind!

To encourage the Corinthians to be cheerful givers, he employs a variety of tactics.  He flatters them and says he knows of their eagerness to help, and he’s been boasting about them to Christians in other regions.  He cites scripture and quotes a description of a righteous person from Psalm 112 verses 3 and 9—that those who scatter abroad their gifts to the poor will enjoy a righteousness that endures forever.  He appeals to logic:  whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.  He reminds them of the “why” to our giving—not only to help others in need, but also as an expression of thanks for all God has done for us.  And he makes promises.  He says that if the Corinthians give generously and cheerfully, they will be made rich in every way.

This promise really intrigues me.  Paul wrote, “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.  You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion.”  (2 Cor 9:10-11)  What do you think?  You’re faithful people.  Has God made you rich in every way?

One good test of that is whether or not we’ve been able to be generous on every occasion.  This week I received emails and letters asking for money from at least a dozen organizations.  All of them are worthy causes.  The library.  The SPCA.  The American Heart Association.  UMCOR.  Add to that our Lima UMC August mission of the month, and our annual school supply drive.  Not to mention our regular weekly giving to the church general fund.  Plus it’s my mom’s birthday this week, we have a baby shower in the family later this month, and I really need a haircut.  I do not feel able to be generous on every occasion!

And that makes me sad.  All of us I’m sure can relate to that.  We simply cannot give to help everyone in need.  God has made us rich in so many ways.  But money doesn’t grow on trees.  We do not have unlimited funds to give away.

So what is Paul getting at here?  I think the first thing to remember is, we tend to interpret scripture as if it was written for us as individuals.  But Paul was writing to the whole church.  He was writing to the congregation, to the collective, not to individuals.  He is not touting the “health and wealth gospel.” He is NOT saying that any one of us, if we do all the right things, will have an easy life!  We know he’s not saying that because he himself is completely invested in serving God, and look what he has to show for it!  Beatings, imprisonment, hunger, sleeplessness, pain and turmoil.  No, Paul would never promise us material riches of every kind just for being faithful.  He is much more likely to promise us suffering for being faithful!

But Paul is promising that the church will experience something extraordinary if they can get their hearts in line with God’s and give generously and cheerfully.  He writes passionately about generosity for several reasons.  First, there is significant financial need amongst the Christians in Jerusalem.  Jesus and his original followers were from lower economic classes, and many early Christians had suffered economic repercussions for the faith.  Paul and other leaders in the church were asking Gentile Christians to help support the church in Jerusalem so those impacted financially for their faith could get back on their feet.

Paul truly believes in the worthiness of this cause.  But this offering would not only ease the suffering of those in need, it would go a long way toward forging a bond between the Gentile and the Jewish Christians.  The Gentile Christians had received so much in terms of spiritual resources from the Jewish Christians.  Now the Gentile Christians had the chance to respond by sharing their financial resources, which would support not only individuals in need, but the work of the “home church” if you will, the base of Christian operations in Jerusalem. The offering is an act of Christian unity, something we know is a top priority for Jesus.

I never thought of our offerings as an act of unity before, but I think Paul is on to something here.  Our United Methodist values call us to be in mission “with” the poor, not “to” the poor.  Every offering should be a two-way street.  Just as Paul didn’t want the Christians at Corinth to give begrudgingly, we should also not be giving with an attitude of superiority.  Much damage has been done over the centuries by giving that is really meant to control or dominate others.  Our giving should be an act of mutuality.  We are all in this kingdom building work together.  Some of us have financial resources to share.  Some have spiritual resources.  Some have creativity and expressiveness.  Others have life experiences and wisdom.  All of us have things to share; all of us also are in need.  Our giving to the church and to missions is a way we act out our beliefs that there is no hierarchy in our faith.  We are all on equal footing before the Lord.

Paul wants the church at Corinth to give cheerfully so they can a) help alleviate the true suffering of the Christians in Jerusalem and b) forge the unity in the church Jesus prayed for and desired.  But I believe we can see from his writing a third reason he is so passionate about generous and cheerful giving, and that has to do with how cheerful giving comes back around like a boomerang and blesses us.

Recently I was listening to a podcast with Kelly Corrigan, who is a Philadelphia area native, author, and PBS talk show host.  She has been interviewing people lately asking them what makes for a good life.  At one point she asked a fellow author, “When have you been so indulgent, maybe even reckless with your spending that it left you feeling icky?”  And then she said, “And when have you used your money in a way that made you feel morally beautiful?”  What a contrast, right?  But I think Kelly Corrigan has captured Paul’s hopes for the congregation at Corinth with those two words, “morally beautiful.”  Generous, cheerful giving sets us up for the most amazing feeling.  We can feel morally beautiful—which to me is another way of saying, we can feel in synch with God!  After all, look at how God gives to us.  Not begrudgingly.  Not with restraint.  Not with resentment.  No!  God gives abundantly, lavishly, creatively, joyfully!  When we give with that same mindset, we experience something so valuable, so beautiful, so exquisite.  We become rich in every way.

If a podcaster came to Lima and interviewed us about what makes for a  good life, I imagine there would have to be some talk about money.  It’s hard to have a good life without financial stability, and of course the world we live in pressures us to believe the good life comes from having more and more money, and more and more stuff.  I don’t think the worry for most of us is that we have too many experiences of spending so indulgently that we feel icky.  Most of us are probably pretty responsible with our money.  But I do think there is a very real danger that we might be missing out on the experience of feeling morally beautiful.  That we might be putting money in the offering plate, sending checks to charity, even buying gifts for friends and family without our hearts being in synch with God’s.

Made rich every way.  This is Paul’s hope for the Christians at Corinth.  He wants them to give money and fulfill their pledge, of course.  But he is not only concerned with how much they give.  He is concerned with HOW they give.  Are they giving cheerfully?  We can sympathize with our ancient kin, because we know how hard it is to give cheerfully.  Who can part with their hard-earned money cheerfully?  It’s painful to give it away because that means there is less available for our own needs, wants, and security.

But giving generously and cheerfully enriches us in a way that is truly priceless.  It connects our hearts to God’s heart.  It puts us in synch with the ultimate generous and cheerful giving.  It comes back to us in the form of moral beauty—our little lives being swallowed up into the grandeur of God’s story.  Paul deeply desires this kind of giving for the church at Corinth because he knows it will be like a boomerang.  It will come back to them, making them rich in every way, so they can be generous on every occasion, and through their generosity, hearts will be turned toward God in gratitude and praise.

Reading Paul’s letter this week reminded me of a short story written over one hundred years ago by O. Henry.  It’s called “The Gift of the Magi”, and tells of a young wife named Della who is struggling to find a Christmas gift for her husband that she can afford.  She only has a small sum, not nearly enough to purchase a gift that is on par with her love for him.  Finally she decides to sell her beautiful long hair, and she uses the proceeds to purchase a platinum chain for her husband’s pocket watch.

But unbeknownst to Della, her husband Jim has also been struggling with finding a gift for his wife that he can afford and that also reflects the depth of his love.  Finally, he sells his pocket watch to buy a set of hair combs!  When it comes time to exchange their gifts, we are struck not only by the irony of the story, but by how much this young couple loves each other.  They each gave generously and cheerfully, from the depths of their heart and from the most valued of their treasures.  It strikes me as a story of moral beauty.

Almost every week in worship, I take a minute to thank people for their faithful giving to Lima and its ministries.  Today in addition to saying thank you, I want to ask a question:  do you think our giving fulfills the hopes Paul had for the early church?  Indeed, our giving really does help to address very real needs in our community and beyond.  And for sure, our giving is also an act of unity in the church, helping to forge bonds between us and others all over the world.  But are we giving generously and cheerfully?  Are we giving in such a way that we are being made rich in every way that truly matters?

When we give generously and cheerfully, we get connected to the essence of God!  It makes me a little nervous to say this, but if giving is a drag, you might be doing it wrong!  You’re either giving too much or too little or without enough thought or maybe even with too much thought.  Let’s not miss out on the chance to experience the feeling of being “morally beautiful”.  Let’s not miss out on the opportunity to be made rich in every way.  Let’s give so the boomerang comes back and blesses us, so we can be an even greater blessing to the world.  Amen.