Theme

Coming Together in a Generous Undertaking

As we did last year, the first time the 2009 Stewardship Team met, Ruth led us in a Bible study on 2 Corinthians, Chapter 8:1-15. Before the passage below, Ruth sets the scene for our reading. Read through the passage out loud and write down all the words and phrases that jump out at you. At the end, you will see what the team saw - or hear what the team heard - and how Paul’s writing inspired our theme.

Ruth’s comments for the context of our passage

At the end of the first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul asks them to contribute to the needs of the saints in Jerusalem. He is orchestrating a mass collection from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia, provinces that cover most of modern Greece. Such an offering will demonstrate the unity of the Church think of the tension between Christians who were first Jews and those who Gentile.

About Corinth, it was a large city, a center of trade, rich from the commerce of slaves and merchandise. It was a community with many nationalities and religions. Called the city of Aphrodite with a grand temple to Apollo and many other temples, Corinth was a pluralist society. Establishing the Christian community and a distinct identity was challenging. It was a culture that valued wisdom and knowledge. Spiritual activityspeaking in tongues, prophesying, and ecstasywas valued as a demonstration of exalted faith.

There was tension within the church in Corinth. They were struggling to determine what it meant to live in Christian community and how to understand that identity in defining morality, order, and even the act of worship.

The final verses come from Exodus 16:18, in the story of God’s provision of manna from heaven.

2 Corinthians 8:1-15: Encouragement to Be Generous
We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints—and this, not merely as we expected they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking among you. Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking. I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. 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. As it is written, "The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little."

Significant Phrases and Words

• Overflow in generosity
• Privilege of sharing
• Eagerness
• Give from abundance
• Receive the grace of God
• A fair balance between present abundance and their need
• Balance
• Engaged
• Committed
• Excel in a generous undertaking
• Excel in your generosity
• Desire to do something - now finish it
• The sharing of this ministry
• They voluntarily gave beyond their means - generous undertaking with a desire to do something - a fair balance between your present abundance and their need.
• Verse 12 - Eagerness comes from joy in faith - giving from what I have rather than from what I lack - makes it a good / acceptable act. Coming from a heart/place of fullness
• Verse 5 – Gave themselves first to the Lord - give from a prayerful, inspired place
• Wealth of generosity - doesn’t matter what you give or that you - in possessions - are wealthy but the generosity makes us wealthy
• Remind them of the gospel - touch the heart
• Voluntarily - according to your means - my choice, my considered choice
• Persistent prayer changes hearts

As we considered the reading and our discussion, we were led by Paul’s exhortation of the Corinthians to "excel in this generous undertaking." We decided that this "generous undertaking" for us are the ministries that our gift supports: Worship and Music, Pastoral Care, Outreach, Parish Life, and Christian Formation for Children and Adults. Through our gifts, like the churches of Macedonia, we come together in a "generous undertaking" that is Christ Church.