"An Indescribable Gift"

November 25, 2012

New Testament Reading: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And 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. As it is written, “He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” 

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.  You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. 

Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you.  Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

SERMON: An Indescribable Gift

The American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a tiny boat with just one fisherman docked.  Inside the small boat were several large fin tuna.  The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, “Only a little while.”

The American then asked why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish.

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.

The American then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos.  I have a full and busy life.”

The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and I could help you.  You should spend more time fishing and, with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats.  Eventually, you would have a fleet of fishing boats.  Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery.  You would control the product, processing and distribution.  You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC, where you will run your expanding enterprise.” 

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But how long will all this take?”

The American replied, “15-20 years.”

“But what then?”

The American laughed and said, “That is the best part.  When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich.  You would make millions.”

“Millions?” asked the fisherman.  “Then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire.  Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids and grandkids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evening, sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos!”

This story of the American investment banker and the Mexican fisherman, and most of our lives for that matter, centers around how we understand the meaning of one word: enough. 

What is the meaning of that innocuous-seeming little word: enough?  What we need for today?  What we want for tomorrow?  As much as our neighbors have?  More than our parents had?  What was enough for the Mexican fisherman was certainly not enough for the American banker.  But why not?  Who decides the standard of “enough?”

As people of faith, we discover that answer, or at least the courage to honestly examine the question, here in God’s word.  In our reading from Second Corinthians this morning, we hear that “God is able to provide us with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having ENOUGH of everything, we may share abundantly in every good work.  As it is written, “God scatters abroad, God gives to the poor; God’s righteousness endures forever.” 

In a world where everything is fleeting, we are reminded that we discover “enough” not in those things that pass away, but in those that endure forever: in the righteousness of God, that is meant for everyone: rich, poor, and somewhere in between. 

Then comes the bold promise of our text: You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us.  There are two ways to read this:  We are enriched because of the generosity we have already shown.  God blesses us with the gifts of this life and the life to come because we have shown ourselves worthy.  Or, we are enriched in every way in order that we can show that same generosity to others.  God blesses us because that is who God is, and because God intends that blessing to overflow into others’ lives.

In Abraham and Sarah being chosen and blessed in order that they would in turn be a blessing to all nations…in Jesus who came to earth to proclaim “blessed” those who mourn, suffer poverty, and are persecuted for the sake of righteousness…in this letter to the Corinthians saying that “the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God” we see that we are not blessed because we have somehow earned it.  We are blessed for others to be blessed through us.

 So, we should build ourselves up as much as possible, right?  We as a nation should be most fully defined by the state of our wealth.  We should strengthen our financial standing as a church community above everything else.  We as individuals should acquire as much wealth as possible… all the better to bless others with. 

But, when we do so, we sound much more like the American banker than the Mexican fisherman.  We sound much more like Pilate the politician and the prideful Pharisees than the Savior who called struggling fisherman to follow him, not to build up a profitable enterprise, but to fish for people.  To make a complicated, risky investment in the lives of sinful, unpredictable, fickle people. 

That Savior was (and still is) building a community of enough for all: enough dignity to see the humanity in each child of God no matter where they happen to be born or which side of a wall they live on. 

Enough wisdom to understand the difference between owning things we need and being owned by “things” in our lives. 

Enough trust in our good Creator to give with generosity to those who are so easily overlooked in this community and world, believing that God will continue providing for our own needs as well.

Enough courage to teach our children and grandchildren to reject the consumerism that lures them with promises of meaning and happiness, and instead show them how to be content with what they have.

This Community of Enough, to which we all belong, is built upon the one indescribable gift of God that surpasses all others: grace freely given through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The grace of God molds us and re-molds us into a community of thanksgiving, where our gratitude to God expressed in joyful giving to others does not end with the abrupt onslaught of Black Friday, even before Thanksgiving Day is over.  The grace of God teaches us the meaning of the word enough, as our Sunday School class explored this Fall.

If we find ourselves grateful for this grace, but still clinging to the seductive drive for more and more for ourselves, at the expense of those who go without, God says to us: “Enough.”

If we say love can’t be bought and sold and yet shower our family with extravagant gifts to prove our love this Christmas season, God says to us: “Enough.”

If we believe that our financial insecurity or constant worry over money determines our worth in this world, God says to us: “Enough.”

If, out of fear and pride, we insulate ourselves from those in our community and country who live at a lower socio-economic level than us, God says to us, “Enough.”

Enough is enough.  God’s grace is enough, for all of us.  Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift!  Amen.