Dread and Excitement--2 Corinthians 8

Last week’s sermon on 2 Corinthians 8 stirred up two emotional responses in my life—both dread and excitement.

Dread, because Paul talks about giving; and I don’t like to talk about money in the church, for the chances of offending the faithful increases tenfold whenever money is addressed from the pulpit. I have learned this truth firsthand. Why does this happen? It’s true: ministers are often mistaken in how they address the money issue. Who knows, I might have been wrong last Sunday. But this still begs the question, why do tensions run high when personal finances are addressed in church? Ministers are wrong about a lot of other things and rarely get in trouble for it, not so when it comes to money. Why? The reason for this is simple, in my mind at least—many people have a problem with their money; they don’t want anyone—God included!—interfering with their private and personal finances. I believe this reveals the fundamental problem that I tried to explore on Sunday. We’re often guilty of refusing to apply any value system to the management of our household (read economy). We cordon off that section of our life from any type of interference, wanting to be free to spend our money as we see fit. All of which reveals that we have not yet allowed grace to influence every area of our life. Grace doesn’t teach people to say, it’s mine and I want to do whatever I want with it. A person living out of the grace of God says, All I have is yours, use all that I have for your glory. Remember the Macedonians--they gave freely, joyfully and sacrificially, all because they were living out of the new economy of grace. I don’t know about you, but I want to live there too.

Which brings me to my excitement—I want to hear sermons like the one I preached last Sunday. I don’t mean that as an arrogant statement, implying that the sermon was good (I rarely think my sermons are any good at all). What I mean is I’m challenged by the concept that grace can, and should, influence our life in countless ways, including our personal economies. Grace is not just the means by which we are saved, it is the path upon which we must travel. We’re loved, we must love. We’re forgiven, we must forgive. We’ve been made rich, we must share. In short, we’re called to live out God’s new economy of grace. What an exciting adventure.

The question remains, how? I would suggest that for a start, you learn to pay God first. Paying God last, as an afterthought after we’ve done everything we want to do, misses the point. Giving God our leftovers can only be interpreted that God isn’t really a high priority in our life. Therefore find a way to pay God first. It’s here that I can’t help myself; I must mention the concept of tithing. I know some people believe it’s not a New Testament standard. And in part, they’re right—the New Testament holds us to a higher standard of graceful giving. So tithing is just a start. And I know of no other way to give regularly and sacrificially. Yes, it hurts a little, but it reminds us that God is first. Yes, you’ll have to reorder our life, but isn’t that what you want to do anyway in light of God’s kingdom? If you still disagree with tithing, then do something else. Follow the leading of God. This should not be a have-to (that’s not graceful) but a want-to. If there’s a want-to spirit, then go for it, for the glory of God and in light of his abundant grace. Give sacrificially.

In fact, I’ve been thinking this week, churches aren’t built when people give to God last. Schools aren’t constructed, mission stations established, districts started, when giving remains an afterthought. Great things happen because people learn to give gracefully—sacrificially, joyfully, and liberally. Excitement and dread!

Being Transformed

“And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog. Many have probably stopped reading. To be honest, my little development project is working me over. Please pray for me.

Anyway, I hope I communicated effectively last week. The point is fairly simple. To be transformed our desires have to redirected by an encounter with God’s goodness. Then our focus is redirected to Christ. Having tasted something of Christ’s beauty we want more and more and more. Beauty does that: it arrests our attention, redirects our desires toward itself. This fits with conversion because we believe there is nothing more beautiful that Christ. In this text Paul assumes that our attention has been arrested by Christ and that we are gazing at the glory of the Lord. We have a new focus, in other words.

Now that our desires have been redirected and now that we are focused on Christ, God transforms us. I stated last week, that we become whatever we worship. If we worship money, we will become greedy. If we worship sports, we will become a sports fanatic. If we worship Christ, we will become more Christlike. The Spirit will continue to transform us from one degree of glory to another, as we worship this beautiful One.

I believe this works. In my own life, I’ve learned not to necessarily fight my temptations but rather to use my temptation to remind me of my need of Christ. When tempted, I turn. I turn to Christ, place my faith and trust in him and watch the temptation receded into its own darkness. In other words, don’t try to be good, just follow Christ. Keep your eyes on him and the Spirit will do what you cannot do on your own—create you into a Christlike person.