October 16, 2005 Sermon

Blessings
II Corinthians 8:1-7

The New Testament book we call II Corinthians actually contains several letters the Apostle Paul sent to a young Christian church. Paul wrote these letters to deal with issues any church faces: personal conflict, difference of opinion on God and Jesus, money. We read from chapter eight, where Paul encourages these new Christians to give generously to support people they do not know and never will meet.

The Corinthians lived in a cultured, thriving city. The Corinthian Christians had –done church” well. Paul lists their accomplishments: believing in Jesus, telling others about him, learning about him, making his love real to hurting people. Now Paul urges them to add to their success by giving generously. Even the Macedonians have given generously, he reports to the Corinthians. The Macedonians, poor and suffering, have supported the offering Paul and his partner Titus are promoting. That would be like a preacher telling us educated, forward-thinking Traverse citizens that even the Yoopers gave generously!

Please, all you with Yooperãor even Macedonianãconnections, understand the point. Giving generously blesses the giver as well as the receiver. Godês blessings flow wherever giving happens, even (or especially) from poverty. Give, and receive, blessings.

Blessings flow despite need. In fact, blessings often flow because of desperate need. As I write these words I look at a printout from a web site. I notice the ad at the bottom corner. For the American Red Cross, it reads, –Victims of recent hurricanes need your help nowÄ”¾ (To which we might add victims of the horrific earthquake on the Kashmiri frontier between India and Pakistan.)¾ Word has filtered out from New Orleans of men on rooftops who refused to strap on the helicopter rescue harnesses, handing them over instead to others. Young adults gave their bags of food and hand wipes to elderly people sleeping in the next row up in the Superdome, people who lacked the strength to stand in line for hours to get their bags. ¾¾¾¾¾¾

Ask yourself: Would I pass a lifeline over to another person?

We are in the business of passing over the lifeline. The Christian life is not about getting, but about giving. In the famous words of D. T. Niles, the Christian life involves one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. That bread can mean literal bread to fill the empty bellies of children orphaned by HIV/Aids in Africa , or it can mean the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ himself, through whom we taste eternal life. Blessings flow when we give from our own poverty, be it physical or spiritual. ¾

The world most decidedly does not agree with this. Sacrifice scares the world. Giving seems illogical. One SUV commercial touts –command seating”. Get it all, control it all, thatês the ticket. A home supply chain runs radio ads with a woman telling us her top three reasons for repainting. All three reasons have to do with looking better, feeling better, being better than other people. Happiness comes, the world claims, through seeming to be richer than others. Itês an empty lie.

The Bible tells us that happinessãno, blessednessãcomes through giving sacrificially to serve the physical and spiritual needs of others. Hereês how it works. Did you see this in the news a couple of weeks ago?¾ Associated Press reporter Tom Coyne had the story. Notre Dame has a new football coach. His name is Charlie Weis, and he has a 10-year-old daughter with global development delay, a rare disorder similar to autism. He also has a surprisingly successful football team.

How many requests for time does the Notre Dame coach get?¾ How much pressure does he experience?¾ Charlie Weis received a request from the Mazurkiewicz family. ¾Because they live close by, and because his own daughterês condition softened him up for kids in pain, he went to visit their son, Montana. Yes, Montana was named for Coach Weisê roommate at Notre Dame way back when, the great quarterback Joe Montana. Montana Mazurkiewicz had an inoperable brain tumor. He and Weis talked football. The boy said he hoped to live long enough to see that Saturdayês game.

Montana had become paralyzed from the waist down just the day before. His mother was rubbing his shoulder to ease his pain. She told him to throw her a football Weis had just given him. He could not raise his arm. So Weis climbed into the reclining chair beside him and helped him complete the pass to his mother. Before leaving he signed it, writing, –Live for today, for tomorrow is always another day.”

Before leaving Coach Weis asked if there was anything more he could do. Montana asked if he could call the first play for the next game. When Weis nodded, he called, –Pass right.”¾ That Saturday Notre Dame first got the ball on its own one yard-line. But Coach Weis stayed true to his word. Despite the risk he had his quarterback roll right and complete a pass for a thirteen-yard gain. But Montana Mazurkiewicz never got to see the play. He had died at home the night before. Charlie Weis responded to that news by having his entire team sign a game ball. He personally delivered it to the Mazurkiewiczes. You may ask how the football coach at Notre Dame can possibly represent giving from poverty. He cannotãunless he has a child with a profound disability. Charlie Weis understands, at least in part, the pain Montana Mazurkiewiczês parents feel. I believe he gave from the compassion that pain created in his heart. In the same way, pastors will often observe that working-class people often respond most generously to appeals to give to the poor. Maybe they understand the fear and the barriers poverty creates a little better than the rest of us. As Christians we have a calling from God to give from our poverty to support the poor. We also have the promise that our giving will create blessings. Our gifts will bless those who receive them. And our gifts will bless us, the givers. Do we give to be blessed?¾ No. But do we receive blessings all the same?¾ Yes. Jesus gave himself. He gave his life, which was all he had to give. His father was a carpenter, which means his family had enough but no more. We would consider the conditions in which they lived primitive. But Jesus gave from the poverty of his life, his world. And look what blessings have flowed from his gift.

Because Jesus gave his life we receive forgiveness. Is there a greater blessing?¾ Because Jesus gave his life we receive hope. Is there a greater blessing?¾

We give to communicate the forgiveness and hope Jesus offers. We give to the church, because the church offers these things efficiently and powerfully. We should give even to our enemies because giving makes forgiveness real, concrete. We give directly to the poor, perhaps through the American Red Cross, because it gives hope to people stuck on rooftops or, in the case of the Pakistanis still in shock from the earthquake, people stuck without roofs as the October nighttime temperature in the mountains approaches zero. ¾

Giving is not an act. It is a way of life. In fact, it is the Way of life. Jesus called himself the Way, the Truth and the Life. We participate in his gifts through faith. But others participate in his gifts when we give. Give, give even from what little you have to give. Live the life of giving. It is the life of blessedness.