Rev Francisco BilogExodus 16:14-18, 2 Corinthians 8:7-15
The children of Israel were out in the wilderness. They had left Egypt in a hurry. They only had a little unleavened bread and that was about it. It wouldn’t last them very long in this barren land. They needed to find food and find it fast. Or they would starve .
So God gave them bread. Bread from heaven – Mannah we call it. But they didn’t know what it was. They say it and said “What is it.” But Moses told them, “It is bread from heaven which God has given you to eat.”
But God gave them more than just something to eat. God gave them a lesson in faith. God directed them to gather an ohmer of bread for each person. Some gathered more either out of greed or ignorance or both. But in the end God leveled it out.
The lesson was two fold. Lesson one was that God would provide. They would have enough if they would simply trust and put their faith in the one true God he would feed them in the wilderness. The second lesson was that God’s people were to share their resources, which God had supplied in plenty, for the good of the community. And these lessons would continue to apply even after they left the wilderness and entered the promised land. God would supply for their needs. And they were called to share their resources. And in the end they would learn to trust in God.
This lesson of trust was not lost on the children of Israel. God continues to supply in the land and even when they had been carried away from the land into captivity. And 1,400 years later God’s people, the early Christian church, were continuing to learn and practice this lesson. The book of Acts (11:27-30) tells us that God revealed to the Christians that there would be a famine so the Christians in Antioch determined to send aid to Jerusalem to help the believers there. They knew that God had provided enough for them and that they should give to help others. Throughout his life Paul carried on this ministry of collecting offerings to help the church in Jerusalem.
That is what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 8. He wrote “Now as you excel in everything — in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in your love for us — see that you excel in this gracious work also.” The gracious work he is speaking of is the offering for the saints in Jerusalem. Like the Christians in Antioch and elsewhere God had given more than enough to the Corinthians and now they should give to help others. And in giving they would learn faith – trust in God.
This is the first reported case of a relief mission. This is the birth of the kind of relief ministry that is carried on today by our United Methodist Committee on Relief or UMCOR. Apparently the church in Corinth had pledged to help out in this relief effort. Paul wrote, “And in this matter I give my advice: it is best for you now to complete what a year ago you began not only to do but to desire, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have.” (10-11) Paul was simply urging them to follow through on the obligation they had made to him and to God.
But what is really important in this passage is not the fact that Paul is not ashamed to tell the Corinthians to pay up. That is significant because many pastors are afraid to speak so boldly to their congregations. But what is most significant is the reason he gives them. He said, “I say this not as a command,” So he is not ordering them around. He says they should do it “to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.” He continues “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”
Paul is pointing to the example of Christ. Jesus was rich in all things. He was a part of the creation of all the gold and jewels of the world. He was there at the creation of all the bounty of the land and sea. And all those things were his and at his command along with all the angels of heaven.
And he gave all that away. Why? To save a wretch like me. He lived in heavenly palaces but he became a poor homeless refugee for our salvation. He had heavenly robes of gold and scarlet and white, but he
allowed himself to be stripped bare and hung naked on a cross. Jesus had command of heavenly armies and all the forces of nature yet he allowed himself to be bound and beaten and killed for me and you. If Jesus could part with all that for the Corinthians’ salvation certainly the Corinthians could part with a few gold coins for the needy saints in Jerusalem.
2,000 years later the lesson still applies. And it is a lesson of grace for Grace. God will provide! This is something that takes a lot of trust. Too often we look at our checkbooks and our wallets and we wonder if we have enough. God provided for the Children of Israel in the wilderness, God provided for the saints in Jerusalem and Corinth and Antioch and God will provide for you.
The second part of the lesson is that God calls us to give for the common good. Like Corinth we too have made a commitment to Christ. Every Sunday we repeat that commitment. We say our mission is to know Jesus and to make him known to others. How has this congregation helped you to know Jesus? Think of all the ways that we help in making him known in our community and the world. We have made a commitment to God and to ourselves to continue those efforts.
The question is will you trust him. That is where tithing or percentage giving comes in. It is a lesson and exercise that teaches us grace and trust – to help us grow in faith. The Bible lifts up the tithe as a standard of giving for God’s people. By tithing or by growing toward or beyond a tithe we exercise and grow in faith. Its all about a lesson in grace and faith.
I do not command you to do these things. That would be too heavy handed. But I urge you by the example of Christ who gave himself for your salvation. I urge you to follow through on your commitments to know Jesus and make him known to others. God has given you all you need and more. Give where it can be used to serve God and your neighbor.