2 Corinthians 8:8-15
July 2, 2000
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco.
Missing Manners
Two weeks ago the SF Chronicle newspaper surveyed the Bay Area on how courteous and polite people are. In all eight cities surveyed, they all flunked, including San Francisco.
Would the people of Walnut Creek give up their seat on a crowded BART train to a man on crutches? Nope.
Would the people of San Raphael let a man with only a loaf of bread to buy go ahead of them in a supermarket checkout line? Nope.
Would the people of San Francisco offer help to a stranger gazing at a map and trying to find his way to Union Square? Nope.
About the only polite thing that Bay Area people were willing to do was hold open a door for a stranger after passing through it themselves, a relatively trivial act of decency that barely counts!
Most significant was the reluctance of commuters on public transit to yield their seats to a man with crutches, an act required not only by manners but by federal law. In crowded buses, trains, and light-rail cars, the common rule seemed to be: “I got mine. You find your own.”
Comparing this survey with one that USA Today did ranks San Francisco dead last among U.S. cities for courtesy.
Why are we so rude? Why do we ignore the people in need around us: our mothers and fathers, the elderly, the lost strangers?
Corinthian Carelessness
Paul was writing to the Corinthians to encourage them to be generous and caring for the Jewish church. The Corinthians were wealthy compared to the Macedonians. But Paul wasn’t sure whether the Corinthians would be rude or caring. So he uses the Macedonian Christians as an example.
Paul said that even under severe ordeal of affliction/persecution and extreme poverty, the Macedonians were overflowed in the wealth of generosity. They may not have had a lot of money, but they gave their part with overwhelming generosity. They gave voluntarily without anyone asking them. They gave not only according to what they had, they gave
even more. On top of this, they begged Paul earnestly for the privilege of giving and sharing in this ministry. When was your last time or my last time when I begged to give money to a worthy cause? Was there even a first time?
The Macedonians’ caring and generosity would make you and me and definitely the Corinthians ashamed of the little part we are doing for God’s kingdom. After they walked through, the Corinthians let the door slammed right in front of other people’s faces.
Now the Corinthians were not totally that bad. Paul said that they were already doing pretty good in their faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in love. They were excelling in these things. But now Paul wants them to also excel in this generous undertaking of giving resources and caring.
July 4th
This weekend and specifically on Tuesday are times when we celebrate the fourth of July. It’s usually a time when families get together for reunions and barbecues. We spend time with friends, go on an outing, and end the night watching fireworks in the dark sky.
The fourth of July is also the day when we recognize the independence of our country. We remember the responsibilities of being citizens of this country and the importance of guaranteeing freedom for all. Independence Day is also a reminder for us who have much to be concerned about those who have nothing or very little.
We need to be eager to help.
Eager to Help
How can we help others? How do we give more generously of ourselves and our resources to others?
1. First of all, like the Macedonians, we need to give freely, not as a command or requirement from somebody else. The Macedonians gave voluntarily according to their means and then beyond their means. No law or sign on the window should be necessary for us to give up our seat on the bus for an elderly person. When we see a person in need, we don’t try to stare straight ahead pretending that we don’t notice. We freely volunteer our seat to someone else who needs to sit down.
2. Secondly, we need to follow through in what we promised to do. Paul said to the Corinthians, what you started last year, finish doing it now. For the past two years and probably for many more years to come, our church will be calling on you to follow through with your commitments, your promises, your pledges. Just like the Jewish church was in need, our church’s mission and witness in the world needs your support. And we hope that you will follow through with what you promised.
3. And lastly, Paul reminds us that it’s not how much we give, but it’s how eager we are willing to give and help. He said, “For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have.” Just imagine how our world might look like if we have this eagerness to want to give of ourselves to others. Maybe when you see some people on Grand Avenue or on Sacramento Street looking at a map trying to figure out where they are, that you earnestly go up to them and offer to help. For a city that prides itself to be a tourist capital of the world, this recent test found that absolutely no one in San Francisco was willing to stop and render assistance to a stranger looking at a map. Let’s change that!
Jesus Became Poor
But I hope that it’s not just a recent test done by the SF Chronicle or this message that will spur you to become more caring and more generous. To have this genuineness of love and this eagerness to help come from the example set by our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said in this passage, “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.”
Paul was saying that Christ was rich referring to his pre-existence. When Christ was with God, he was in his glory with God the Father and Creator. But when Jesus became human and lived and died for our sins, he became poor.
In Jesus Christ’s saving act, not only would Jesus give up his BART seat for a man with crutches, Jesus would heal him. Not only would Jesus let the man with only one loaf of bread to buy go ahead of him in the supermarket line, Jesus would teach the man that this bread can be the Bread of Life when he believes in him. Not only would Jesus offer to help a stranger gazing at a map, he would lead the lost person to find how to get home to God.
It is because God loves us that he gave his Son Jesus Christ so that by his poverty you and I might become rich. The real reason why we should have better manners and to be eager to care for others is because God in Christ first cared for us. We might need examples like how the Corinthians needed to hear about the Macedonians before we become generous. But the main reason why we should be generous and caring is because Christ first became poor so that we can be rich in God’s grace.
Costco Cart
When the Bay Area Manners Test came out, many readers wrote to the Chronicle to share about their stories of acts of rudeness. One is the Costco Cart Catapulting. You know what I mean.
Costco Cart Catapulting is when you send a decoy to get in line with one or two items, hoping someone will let you in. Once they’ve been let in, their friend appears with a full cart load of stuff. We can identify with this rudeness, can’t we?
When we look into the mirror and discover that we have found the same people who took part in this test of rudeness and lack of generosity, we must not deny the obvious or look away. Maybe it’s time for us to see Christ in our lives and to know that we can do something about this by accepting Jesus Christ in our lives.
Surely we can begin by holding the door for someone or giving up a bus seat for an elderly person. And we can also begin with ourselves by being generous with our resources and our caring for others because Jesus Christ first was caring and generous with us.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, help us to be generous and caring with our lives. Let us not forget that although you were rich, you became poor so that we may become rich in the glory and love of God. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.