Gifts of Grace
As we continue to study this letter of Paul, we are in the midst of the Christmas season. The theme of gift giving brought to my mind the chaos that is Christmas here in America. It’s a pretty crazy time of the year. Stores have hired their holiday workers and Amazon has been gearing up for weeks for the season. Roads are jammed with a few impatient drivers and shoppers have besieged the stores with their carts filled with bows, bags, wrapping paper, gifts of all shapes and sizes and, for some strange reason, TV’s. At the same time, juxtaposed of all this madness, is a baby in a manger who came to bring us the greatest gift of all. So then, I began to think about people who best exemplify this gift of grace and my first thought was Mother Teresa. She gave of herself to the poorest of the poor without keeping anything back. In this, she learned many lessons and has passed many of these on to us. So, today’s passages will be accompanied by a few powerful quotes on giving from Mother Teresa. I hope they speak to your heart as they have mine.
Vs 5-10 In fact, when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts on the outside, fears inside. But God, who comforts the humble, comforted us by the arrival of Titus, and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort he received from you. He told us about your deep longing, your sorrow, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more. For even if I grieved you with my letter, I do not regret it—even though I did regret it since I saw that the letter grieved you, yet only for a little while. Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us. For godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation, but worldly grief produces death.
“Words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness.” (Mother Teresa) Words are powerful things. They can either bring light or darkness. Paul had to give the Corinthian church some powerful words of truth. They were not words the church necessarily wanted to hear, but, they were words the church needed to hear. The words brought the church grief, but, because the words were out of Paul’s love for them, the grief was a godly grief that led to their repentance. I love what verse 10 has to say – “For godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation, but worldly grief produces death.” Sometimes, we have to give the gift of truth. Truth is not always be easy to give or take, but a gift of truth that brings with it the light of Christ will always produce life. More than ever, we need to be a people who speaks truth, even when it isn’t the popular thing or the socially “acceptable” thing. But, even more than that, these words of truth must be filled with the light of Christ. The grief some may feel because of the words must be the healing kind of grief that leads to salvation. There is enough darkness in the world today. We, as believers in Christ certainly don’t need to add to it with a judgmental or hateful attitude. There is always a way to speak the truth in love. Then God can use our words to soften the hearts and changes the minds of people in need of light.
Vs. 8:1-9 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God granted to the churches of Macedonia: During a severe testing by affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed into the wealth of their generosity. I testify that, on their own, according to their ability and beyond their ability, they begged us insistently for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints, and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves especially to the Lord, then to us by God’s will. So we urged Titus that just as he had begun, so he should also complete this grace to you. Now as you excel in everything—faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love for us—excel also in this grace. I am not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, I am testing the genuineness of your love. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.
“True love is giving and giving until it hurts.” (Mother Teresa) The churches of Macedonia understood what it meant to give purely out of love, and, through that, they gave until it hurt. They took on the lesson Jesus gave us from the widow and her coins. “Sitting across from the temple treasury, He (Jesus) watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. And a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little. Summoning His disciples, He said to them, “I assure you: This poor widow has put in more than all those giving to the temple treasury. For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she possessed—all she had to live on,” Mark 12:41-44. Paul wanted the Corinthian church to see and understand what giving out of love really meant. It might hurt just a bit. It might mean you give up something you love so someone else can have what they need. He wasn’t commanding the church to give, because that would not have been from a heart of love. He wanted their gift to be out of that heart of love, empty of any greed, love for possessions or obligation. As I look around this Christmas, I see a lot of families in my community without many things – food, the where with all to be able to give gifts, some without a roof over their heads… I am sure you can find those in need in your own community. What would it look like if we acted out of love and gave until it hurt just a bit? We might have a few less things, but those gifts of love will be life and light to those in need.
Vs. 8:12-15 For if the eagerness is there, it is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. It is not that there may be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality— at the present time your surplus is available for their need, so their abundance may also become available for our need, so there may be equality. As it has been written: The person who gathered much did not have too much, and the person who gathered little did not have too little.
“We cannot give what we have not got.” (Mother Teresa) Giving is all about willingness and even eagerness to see others’ needs met. If we don’t have love or that sense of eagerness, there will always be a stinginess to our gift. We will always feel we are doing without which produces fear and stress. Paul gives us a lesson out of Exodus for this. As it has been written: The person who gathered much did not have too much, and the person who gathered little did not have too little. Whenever you see the words “it is written” you have to go and find out where it is written. This was written in Exodus 16. As the Israelites were traveling through the desert to the Promised Land, God provided them with manna as food for each day. He commanded them to only take as much as they needed – no more and no less. As long as they did what God said, they never had to worry – no fear and no stress. There was always just enough manna to provide for all their needs. But, if they became greedy or stingy and decided to hoard the manna, there were consequences in the form of smelly worm infested manna. To me, this is the best possible picture of greed and stinginess. It’s a smelly worm infested practice. It breeds nothing but ugliness and stinks up the rest of the world. If we don’t have a giving heart, we are not really givers. If we don’t have love, we can’t give love. If we don’t have mercy, we cannot be merciful. If we hoard instead of give, all we accomplish is breeding worm infested manna. We cannot give what we haven’t got. Paul wanted the Corinthian church to to open up their hearts and give out of loving, merciful, grateful hearts so that others needs will be met for the glory of God.
Vs. 8:18-21 We have sent with him (Titus) the brother who is praised throughout the churches for his gospel ministry. And not only that, but he was also appointed by the churches to accompany us with this gift that is being administered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself and to show our eagerness to help. We are taking this precaution so no one can criticize us about this large sum administered by us. For we are making provision for is right, not only before the Lord but also before men.
“Whenever you share love with others, you’ll notice the peace that comes to you and to them. (Mother Teresa) Paul wants the church at Corinth to understand the gifts they give will be administered in the right way. It was a very large sum and Paul didn’t want any appearance of wrongdoing. So, he made sure there were several trusted witnesses and representatives of the churches that would accompany him. Most of all, I want to point out something Paul says here in these verses, “this gift that is being administered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself and to show our eagerness to help.” Paul isn’t just an administrator of the gift, he is eager to help. He can’t wait to give these gifts. His desire is that these gifts, which have been given in love and mercy, would bring light to those receiving the gifts and glory and honor to God. He understood that in his sharing brought peace and comfort to everyone involved – the givers, the administrators and the receivers. The amazing thing is, when we give out of love, everyone receives something. Like many churches throughout the U.S., and the world, our church participates in Operation Christmas Child. It is a wonderful giving opportunity for children all around the world. There a couple of ladies in our church who help organize this every year. They give 100’s of hours and provide many of the items for boxes each year. When asked why they do it, both said because they love giving. They both saw this as a vital ministry to not only provide for the physical needs of children, but their spiritual needs as well. As tiring as it is to do, both ladies said they feel more energized and excited during the Christmas season because of Operation Christmas Child. They are a testimony that sharing love will bring you peace and blessings beyond measure.
One last quote here – “Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier.” (Mother Teresa) During this busy season, lets be kind and merciful. Give the gift of truth wrapped in love to those who need to hear it. God will take that gift and use it to soften hearts and bring people to himself. Give as the widow gave – not out of your surplus, but out of your love for others and their needs, remembering the gift of our loving merciful Savior. Understand that giving might hurt just a bit, but know that God will always provide for our needs. Allow God to use you and your gifts to be the His provision for others. We cannot give out of what we don’t have, so cultivate love and mercy in your life so that all your gifts come from that. Finally, as the quote above says, let your objective this season be lifting others up. Giving them a word of encouragement, kindness and mercy. Our hearts desire should be that the words we say, the actions we do and the way we walk will leave people we come into contact with in a better place and just a bit happier than before we got there.
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