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This week I made a quick trip to San Antonio to visit my daughter,
Chelsea, who is in her senior year of college. During my visit she
asked me if I wanted to taste the peach pie that she and her friends
had made for her roommate’s birthday. I did. It was great, but the
story she told me about the pie was even better. She said her friends
had never made a pie before so she was the teacher. They went to the
store to get the ingredients. One of her friends looked in the basket
and said, “Shouldn’t we get some pie crust?”
Chelsea looked at her as if her friend did not understand their task.
“We are making a pie.” She said, “Just get some Crisco.” When they
got home Chelsea told her friends they would need to do the hands-on
work, because she had been struggling with a cold. They were excited
to be part of the birthday pie project. Their first task was to cut
shortening into flour. Chelsea made motions to help them understand.
They asked, “Won’t that get flour on the floor?” They began slicing
the shortening and the flour, until Chelsea’s patience grew thin and
she began cutting the shortening. She did get a little on the floor.
Next she told them to ball the dough up, again using gestures. They
looked at her as if she were asking them to do something gross, “Do
you mean we have to touch it?” They went no deeper than their
fingertips and tried to coax the dough into a ball. Again Chelsea
intervened.
Eventually they rolled the dough out and together made a delicious
peach pie. However, I am not sure that any of that day’s cooks would
have used the expression, “That was as easy as pie.”
The last several weeks we have been talking about Giving Thanks,
that is, responding to the graciousness of God, with consistent,
proportional, financial giving. I could tell you that it is as easy
as pie, and to those who give regularly as part of your spiritual
discipline, it may be. If it is not a part of your discipline it can
be as challenging as pie.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians to encourage them in their giving
thanks, a sort of a Thank You Note. The Corinthians were relatively
affluent compared to much of the Greek world, but seemed a bit like my
daughter’s friends when they began to count the costs, “Do you mean we
have to get our hands into this project?” Listen to Paul’s note on
the subject that is found in II Corinthians 9:1-8. Hear now the Word
of the Lord:
1Now it is not necessary for me to write you about the
ministry to the saints, 2for I know your eagerness, which
is the subject of my boasting about you to the people of Macedonia,
saying that Achaia has been ready since last year; and your zeal has
stirred up most of them. 3But I am sending the brothers in
order that our boasting about you may not prove to have been empty in
this case, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be; 4otherwise,
if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we
would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—in this undertaking. 5So
I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you, and
arrange in advance for this bountiful gift that you have promised, so
that it may be ready as a voluntary gift and not as an extortion.
6The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also
reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap
bountifully. 7Each of you must give as you have made up
your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a
cheerful giver. 8And God is able to provide you with every
blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything,
you may share abundantly in every good work.
The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to
God. In this passage Paul encouraged the Corinthians to fulfill
their heartfelt desire to give generously.
Last week I invited you to discover the art of giving
thanks. The word, “art” served as an acronym as giving thanks
appreciates what has been given, relates to the one who has given, and
translates to every culture and generation. Today I want to use
another acronym as I tell you that Giving is as easy as pie.
We may have to spread the letters out on a scrabble board before
putting them together, because I want to begin with the letter “I”.
Giving Inspires others
Paul had served as the founding pastor of the
Corinthian Church for about eighteen months. They knew each other
fairly well, so when he talked to them about a giving opportunity,
they were on board. “Count us in, we are ready to step up to the
plate on this one.” He told the people in Northern Greece, Macedonia,
about the eagerness of the Corinthians and they were inspired. Look
at verse two, “your eagerness…is the subject of my boasting…and
your zeal has stirred up most of them.” The Macedonians, a
relatively impoverished part of the Greek world, gave beyond Paul’s
estimation. If you know preachers, giving beyond our estimation is
not an easy thing to do. Paul told the Corinthians that they had
served as the inspiration for the Macedonians. There is power in
inspiration.
This past week has been a tragic week for our faith community. We
have lost two active members through death. Carl Henry had been at
A&M United Methodist Church for 50 years, since he was three years
old. Carl was a survivor. His life began overcoming the difficulties
of a premature birth. At one point he was 21 inches long and weighed
two and a half pounds. At the age of two Carl was struck by a car and
nearly killed. He developed scoliosis about the time he arrived in
College Station, but had to wait until he was seventeen for any
surgical remedy. More recently he had to adjust to a progressive
paralysis that increased his physical limitations. Yet in all of that
Carl survived and seldom complained. He was an inspiration to many
with his optimism, his independence, and his genuineness in his
faith. Carl’s faith was not automatic or rote. He had some issues
with God, but as life neared its end, his faith was authentic,
relational, and firm. Ralph Rayburn had been a member of A&M UMC
since 1999. He was an Aggie through and through. He was elated when
the opportunity came for him and Elaine to move here. Ralph was an
encourager to all who knew him. Family and friends have talked about
his ability to focus on the present and be with you in a way that made
you feel as if you were the most important person in the world.
There is power in inspiration. It is not something that you can see,
but as Elaine Rayburn told me just the other day, the apostle Paul
wrote, “What can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is
eternal.”
Inspiration cannot be seen, but its impact has eternal dimensions.
Your life is being watched by others. Who are you inspiring to a
better life? Giving is as easy as pie. The “I” is for
Inspiration. Giving thanks inspires others. The “E” is for
Enjoy.
Giving Enjoys the Opportunity
Paul had been touched by the eagerness of the
Corinthians to give. They seemed to enjoy being included in the
project. However, with the passing of time he was afraid that their
zeal had lessened and what they had pledged would not be available
when he came to town. That would prove to be embarrassing for Paul
who had been bragging about them, and embarrassing for the Corinthians
who would be seen as all talk and no action. He reminded them that
this was something they wanted to do. Nobody twisted their arm. Then
he wrote something beautiful when he wrote, “God loves a cheerful
giver.”
Every time I read II Corinthians 9:7 I think
of the closing scene of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Do you
remember how everyone in town hears that George Bailey is in need of
help, of financial help? They are elated to have been asked to help
the one who had so often helped them. They had a giving party
right there beside the Christmas Tree in his drafty old house. Mr.
Gower, Tom, Mr. Martini, Annie, Miss Davis, Sam Wainwright, Violet,
all of them enjoying the opportunity to give thanks. Even the sheriff
and the bank examiner were caught up in the joy of the giving party.
I am told that in Cote d’Ivoire the offering is like
that. People come forward excited about the opportunity to give. I
hope we haven’t lost the enjoyment of giving. It is supposed to be
fun. It is designed to be a cheerful exercise. Giving is as
easy as pie. The “E” is for Enjoy. The “I” is for
Inspire. The “P” is for Perpetuate.
Giving Perpetuates the Plan of God
The eighth verse of this passage is such a powerful and
promising verse. Look at the many comprehensive terms used. God
is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so
that by always having enough of everything, you
may share abundantly in every good work. That word,
“enough” is literally “all sufficiency” and it was a Stoic catchword
of the day. The goal of the Stoic was to eliminate needs to where
what one had would be enough and the Stoic would be self-sufficient.
This is not God’s plan.
God’s plan is more like what I witnessed in
Tamazunchale earlier this year, when our twenty-four missionaries
formed a line from the house where our supplies of food, clothing, and
toys were; to the trailer that would carry these supplies up the
mountain. It was amazing to see everyone participate in this human
conveyor belt. Take the box or bag from the person at your right side
and hand it to the person on the left side. The chain worked
flawlessly unless someone tried to hold on to that which they were
given. We always had enough as long as we kept passing it on.
This is God’s plan. You will always have enough so
that “you may share abundantly in every good work.” The Contemporary
English Version translates this phrase, “You will always have more
than enough to do all kinds of good things for others.” As we
give, we perpetuate the plan of God.
So you see, Giving is as easy as pie:
o
Giving Perpetuates
God’s plan
o
Giving Inspires
others
o
Giving Enjoys
the opportunity
Of course, much like making the piecrust, it does
require that we get our hands into it. Amen. |
