A Stewardship Sermon

Scripture — 2 Corinthians 8:9-14 (NRSV)

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. 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—now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. 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 your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance.

Devotion

We are now well launched into Ordinary Time or the Season After Pentecost—the upcoming Sunday will be the Sixth Sunday After Pentecost—and we are traveling through 2 Corinthians in this season. (Every year we do a deep dive into a few Epistles during Ordinary Time. This year it’s 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, James, and Hebrews.)

I once wrote an article for CT Pastors which had the opening line “Some years ago, a survey estimated that 85 percent of clergy are uncomfortable talking about money. My dad was in the 15 percent.” My dad was, as I explained here a few years ago, a United Methodist pastor who had formerly been a businessman, and he would talk about money in church any time you asked him. He helped people understand budgets and he traveled to churches to lead stewardship campaigns and he gave them informal advice about all things financial. He did not limit his thoughts on money to four Sundays in the late fall when people were willing to talk about their pledges for the upcoming year.

I think the Apostle Paul was a lot more like my dad than he was like some of the rest of us. In this same deeply theological letter to the Corinthians where Paul talks about having the gospel in clay jars (4:7) (“earthen vessels” if you grew up on the RSV as I did) and being persecuted for its sake, and explains that we are to be about the ministry of reconciliation (5:17-21), and mentions that somebody he knows (cough, cough, probably Paul himself) was caught up into the third heaven (12:2), he also talks a lot about money.

Chapters 8 and 9 are one big stewardship sermon, centering around the need that Paul sees for the Corinthians to take up a collection for Christians in need at Jerusalem. In fact, 9:7 is a verse that has been used in many modern stewardship sermons: “Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (I think I even had offering envelopes when I was a child which had that verse printed on them.)

Now, I firmly believe that we ought to talk about money in church—frequently—and that understanding stewardship rightly, and giving generously, is important for the general project of human flourishing that the De Pree Center is about (along with so many other places). I also know that these words of Paul have sometimes been misused to force people to give things they don’t have, or to give to things that turn out to have been fraudulent, or to give with an attitude that may be outwardly smiling but inwardly teeth-gritting.

I think Paul was smarter than that. You can see that here. Desire to give and not to hoard, he says, but don’t give what you don’t have. Strike a fair balance between your needs and the needs of the world that are calling out to you. Don’t give with the expectation of getting something back tit for tat, but know that if you give out of your abundance—however large or small that abundance may be—then you help us all move towards the kind of community where, when you are in need, others will give from their abundance to you. And in so doing, you will be following the example of your Lord and Savior.

And yes, talk about money in church. Frequently if you need to. But always remember that we use money in the context of community. Not the other way around.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project’s online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Generosity Is Not Optional (2 Corinthians 8:1–9).