2018-07-02
Brooke Strong
Called to be More
Scripture: II Corinthians 8:7-15
For our reading today, we jump into the beginning of an appeal by the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth. He is getting ready to ask them for support; for money. He wants to base it on the good that they have already done and not attach it to any kind of guilt giving. He encourages them to continue doing better, as was their habit. The church in Corinth was very new and probably only about five years old at the writing of this letter. They did many things wrong as we can see in a reading of 1st Corinthians. As a new church start in what was, 2000 years ago, a new expression of faith, these folks had previously had no exposure to a relationship with one God. Additionally, they were now learning about Jesus.
Remember back to when computers first came on the scene and we all struggled to learn this new thing. Phrases like 404 error, page not found, and data error made us want to slam our keyboard, once we learned what a keyboard was, against the wall. It was something like that for the church member in Corinth.
However, they had a way of working their way through their mistakes and coming out on top. Paul begins with a strong affirmation:
7 Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.
8 I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. 9 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. 10 And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something— 11 now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. 12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. 13 I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between 14 your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. 15 As it is written,
“The one who had much did not have too much,
and the one who had little did not have too little.”
May God’s blessing continue on this Holy reading.
A seminary professor once told me that Second Corinthians is perhaps the least preached book in the New Testament. The instructor was speculating that it was sort of a generic book involving lots of church business and it was more about making things right than providing support for the new church. I always thought that was a strange statement, yet, over the years, when Second Corinthians comes up in the lectionary, I often pick the alternative verse.
So when I saw that 2 Corinthians was on stage for this week, I immediately first looked at the other suggested lectionary lessons. However, before I made my final selection, I thought I would take a look at what part was being featured.
I have certainly read 2 Corinthians a number of times over the years, but reading this selection, I found myself in a comforting cocoon of affirmation and compliment. I had forgotten Paul’s opening encouraging pronouncement to this church. Paul is telling the church to continue building on what they have already displayed high competence in doing. And while it is a verse on giving, I think it can apply to so much more. I kept the verse before me throughout the week, just to absorb it.
It stood out to me that to excel in something means a much higher competence than is usually expected or observed. And Paul is even specific in the areas where he has seen this church excelling in their faith lives. He points out their accomplishments in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in receiving the love of Paul – so, Paul says, “we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.” That undertaking was for an offering that the church had promised Paul a year earlier. But again, I think it applies to more than our wallets. I think it is a way of seeing life and living out our faith.
This was truly a great verse to think about throughout the week.
And then a concerned mom came to visit me, kids in tow. And she and I sat in my office a bit, and she expressed her concern that in our current political climate, both the right and the left were quoting scripture to prove how righteous they were on issues we are facing as a country. With her kids scurrying around my office, we both lamented that it seemed like the Bible was dusted off and pulled out of the closet as our leaders, on both sides of the aisle, used scripture to emphasis how far off the opposing side was in issues of immigration. Neither she nor I hinted where we stand on the issue. But as Christians, we both felt that our sacred text serves us better as a conduit for life and guidance and salvation. Neither of us saw the Bible as a crow bar or hammer to get one’s own way. I wondered where excelling in goodness had gone.
I also remembered that this Sunday, July 1, would be the closest to our celebration of Independence. How ironic, I thought, that the scripture calls on God’s people to continue to excel in our words and our living examples during a time when churches are splitting over the tensions and divisions we experience in the political realm.
A day later, I remembered an experience from the first year in my ministry while in Ravenna. I was called after church to the home of long time member, who had a son who was a year behind me in school. I had known this young man all my life. He was a sweet kid and I had great and funny memories of him growing up. His mother said he had been hurt very badly. I was thinking car accident or an illness, or something equally terrible. She did not offer more information. I promised her I’d come and visit him after church.
I drove to the house remembering times when he and his family intersected with my family at church activities. Still thinking he was either ill or injured, I knocked on the front door.
The mother greeted me and ushered me into the kitchen, where she told me in a whispered voice that her son had been badly beaten and left for dead as a result of a drug deal that went south. I remember tingling with uncertainty and fear. What was I going to tell this guy? I remembered him from youth group as a really good kid. Now he apparently was involved in a life and world I knew nothing about, and I was supposed to represent Jesus and the church to him.
His mother took me into the living room where all of the curtains had been drawn shut and blankets had been placed over the curtain rods to keep out all light. The young man was on the couch and I will leave description to your imagination as we have young ones with us this morning. Your imagination will not sufficiently create a picture of this man’s condition.
We sat together in silence and he shared his story in bits and blurbs. My unasked questions were mostly filled in by his accounting. I could picture what had happened and my heart broke for him over and over as I realized how far he had drifted from the kid I grew up with. At one point I asked, “How could you come to this place in your life where you are suffering as you are?”
He looked at me through bandages and bruises and said, “It’s all good, Mark. I am an American and that makes me a Christian. I’m going to be fine.” My heart ached for this friend and a little while later he thanked me for coming and said he needed to sleep. Again, how had my friend strayed so far from excelling in goodness?
On the way home I wrestled with his belief that being an American automatically makes one a Christian and as a result, God will sort out our problems. That is just not true.
Also this week, a member of Federated called me and left a message for me asking for my help and consideration in a matter. She was trying to arrange some prayer time with some folks who were being detained in our Geauga County Justice system over issues involving immigration. When I returned her call, she made it clear that she had no interest in words like good or bad, right or wrong, or political views – she wanted to go and sit and pray with some of the women and mothers. Between her call and my returning her call, she discovered that this was not allowed unless one had taking the training to be a jail visitor, which would not be offered again until September. Her idea hit a dead end. She could not excel in her goodness due to a bureaucratic stipulation.
Each of these stories reminded me of our theme for today: Called to Be More. This is what Paul is maintaining in 2nd Corinthians. He is telling that church that they have excelled in so much, now continue in that spirit and do even more. Take the good that has been done and magnify it and amplify it and multiply it into even more good.
I think our founding leaders were trying to excel in their creation of a new way of governing that involved the people as the heart of the grand experiment. They knew what they did not want and they struggled and debated to put together something that they thought would serve Americans even better. They included such concepts and free thinking and speaking. They made provisions for faith as something key and positive in this new government, but did not mandate what that element of faith would look like. For the most part the founders were believers on varying levels. Yet, they were not keen on replicating a dictated or mandated national religious expression the likes from which they were breaking away.
I have been asked numerous times over the years, what are my faith responsibilities as a Christian to our country. A great discussion question, don’t you agree?
I believe our veterans who are Christians could give us many insights. I believe people of color who love Jesus and have struggled in our nation could add to these insights. I know that our JOY, GROUP and Confirmation youth struggle with the political climate and express deep anxiety about our country. And again, we have teens in our programs that affiliate with both of our political parties. We who are white also have a great deal to offer and share in what being a Christian means to our national identity.
I have spoken to some over the years who believe we are Americans first and Christians following. John Kennedy, a Catholic, answered a reporter that he was an American who happened to be a Catholic. I have heard some say that their religion is their nationalism and not attached in any way to organized religion.
I have heard others say that their first allegiance is to their faith in God, and from that relationship they find the guidance and determination to be good Americans. So this question of faith responsibilities as an American has no easy answer. There is no magic solutions that allows our faith to influence our politics, especially in a time when politics have become so polarized and divisive.
Yet, perhaps turning to Paul’s lesson for today, we can take some wisdom and receive direction. “Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness …so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.
I am not pessimistic about where we are as a nation. I do not agree with some of our leaders, and I have probably thought more deeply about where we are in American than any other time in my life. Part of this I believe is age. At 63 I finally discovered some level of maturity. It evaded me for so long. But I remain hopeful in our lives together as Americans. I love our heritage, our nation and our people. I love being an American and in ways that are appropriate to me, I do pledge my allegiance to my country. As I travel the world, I still see America as still being acknowledged as a place of hope, safety and peace.
And I also acknowledge that I serve a higher goodness that is found in my faith in Jesus Christ. I find that my faith speaks to my patriotism, and sometimes moderates my views. I see scripture telling me to pray for my leaders, and I do – whether I agree with them or not. And today, I hear Paul saying that I need to excel, and continue to surpass those goals I have already met.
So, on this Sunday just before the celebration of our Independence, I encourage you to excel in your faithful response as a Christian to the wonderful nation in which we find ourselves as citizens. Not as America first – for our first love is to God. Not as America best – for we are one of many blessed and prosperous nations in the world. But as our America, remembering the United States part of our title.
I conclude with candidate John Kennedy’s quote from September 1960 in an address to Greater Houston Ministerial Association.
“I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end; where all men and all churches are treated as equal; where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice; where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind; and where Catholics, Protestants and Jews, at both the lay and pastoral level, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood. That is the kind of America in which I believe.”
Jesus said that we, as the Church, are salt and light to the world. Salt is a preserver and light illuminates. Paul calls us to excel in the goodness that we are doing and increase that goodness even more. While we may disagree on politics, or position papers or whatever else seeks to divide us. It is my hope during this week of celebrating our independence that we will seek to show the world the love which Christ has placed in each of our lives, and live in a way that brings glory to God, but also understanding to our nation and our world.
And to strengthen us for that endeavor, I call each of us to Christ’s table of love, acceptance and forgiveness.
Amen