Five Practices of Fruitful
Congregations – Week 5
Extravagant Generosity
October 28, 2012
BMC- 2 Cor. 8:1-15
Introduction:
This morning, we come to the last
of our Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Extravagant Generosity. It seems fitting to me that we end on this
practice for a couple of reasons. First,
we passed our budget last Sunday night and are newly embarking on this
financial covenant together. Second, we
approved our slate of positions last Sunday night and this morning we will
commission those and others for this year of service together. Especially in today’s culture, generosity is
not only about finances but also about time.
The third reason that this is a
fitting end to the series in my mind is that we are moving into a season of
giving and generosity. Next Sunday
begins mission month and part of that includes our missions offering, above
budget giving for the purpose of spreading the gospel. And then Mission Month is followed by Advent,
the season leading up to Christmas in which many in our culture, whether they
be people of faith or not, become extra generous.
And yet it occurs to me that as we
talk about extravagant generosity that we are making two fundamental
shifts. The first is that it seems to me
that this practice makes a fundamental shift in approach that the other 4 did
not. Each of our other four topics
contained a noun or phrase that I think we readily identified with, but then
added an adjective that took it to the next level.
For instance, we began with
hospitality, which is a very natural part of what it means to carry out the
“invite” portion of our vision. The
change was to consider what it means to be “radical” in our hospitality. Likewise, worship is something that we do
together on a weekly basis, but our author challenged us to consider what it
means for us to be “passionate” in our worship.
We have a Ministry of Nurture that
we would readily identify as a core part of our congregation’s faith
development, but we were encouraged to consider what it means to be intentional
in this effort. And we are well versed
in doing mission and service; but it is probably different for us to consider
taking risks in our outreach efforts.
Our fifth ministry at Bethel is the
ministry of stewardship, which works with our financial realities and
resources, yet our fifth practice is not responsible stewardship. It is extravagant generosity. Now certainly, the idea of stewardship is a
fundamental part of this; but it is not the focus here. When it comes to our resources, we are being
encouraged to make a fundamental shift in terminology from stewardship to
generosity and then to take it to the next level of being extravagant in our
generosity.
It seems to me that this is a
significant shift; not that they are mutually exclusive, but that they come
from a different starting place.
Stewardship has the connotation of managing the resources that God has
given us and discerning the best use of those resources. Whereas generosity has the connotation of
freely giving away what God has entrusted us with to people that are in need of
it. On top of that, we are to be
extravagant in our generosity.
But there is another shift here
because stewardship is not included as a fifth part of our vision. As we do our resource budget that divides up
our annual spending plan into the four areas of our vision, Stewardship is
equally divided among those four areas.
In this way it is seen as a support to the vision rather than a direct
part of it. Yet to suggest that the
fifth practice of fruitful congregations is extravagant generosity, suggests to
me that the practice of the way that we use our resources is also an expression
of our vision. That our practices of
generosity and stewardship are more than a means to meet an end, they are
inherently an important discipline that shapes us and a fifth part of our
vision for carrying out our purpose.
2 Cor. 8:1-15
I think
that this is what we find in the words of Paul in chapter 8 of his first letter
to the Corinthians. Here we read a
report of the church in Macedonia. It
has undergone a tremendous time of trial.
And though they were very poor in the midst of this trial, they were
incredibly happy and an outpouring was triggered. They experienced an outpouring of generosity,
a giving of themselves beyond what they could afford.
But notice
how Paul characterizes this outpouring.
Yes it is to help those who are in need and so in that way it does serve
a purpose of supporting ministry. But
that is not the thrust of what Paul is suggesting. Rather he is suggesting that this generosity
was in and of itself a spiritual discipline, an act of ministry, a way to live
out who God has called them to be.
We see this
in verses 5-7 as Paul tries to explain this completely unexpected
phenomenon. He says that this came about
because the people first gave themselves fully to God. Thus the giving that Paul witnessed was an
outpouring of the movement of God in their lives. This giving was not motivated by a rational
decision to fund the work of the church.
This giving was an outpouring of lives dedicated to God, lives that
first experienced extravagant generosity from God and then in turn poured it
out to others. The Giving was not to
support the ministry. The giving was the ministry.
Paul then
uses this as an example to the Corinthian church to encourage them, to spur
them on to greatness. And Paul himself
refers back to the generosity of Jesus Christ as a model for the generosity
that we should exhibit.
But what
does this say to us? Well, I think that
it raises some fundamental questions for us.
What is our motivation for our giving?
Is it based on a sense of duty or does it flow out of an encounter with
a generous God? What is the purpose of
our giving? Is it first and foremost to
fund the ministries that we value or is it a discipline in and of itself, a
ministry in its own right? Can we
separate our financial lives from our faith lives? Is it possible for us to be fully mature in
faith and to hold on tightly to the resources God has entrusted to us or does a
mature faith in Christ inherently result in extravagant generosity to
others?
Being Extravagant in Our Generosity
And what does it mean for us to be
extravagant in our generosity? I would
suggest at least three things that are involved in extravagant generosity.
Extraordinary Sharing
First, we are extravagant in our
generosity through extraordinary sharing.
We look at what we have not as our own but as God’s and so we share it
freely with those who are in need. We
resist the urge to hoard and protect what we have and instead share it with those
who are in need.
During
the summer of 2004 in my role as Minister of Youth and Christian Education at
Grace Mennonite, I took our youth group on a service trip with SWAP to Eolia,
KY. While we were there, we immersed
ourselves in the culture while also helping people in need with home repair and
upkeep projects.
Many
of us went out to the home of Ruby and Johnny.
They are an elderly couple who needed some painting done for them
because they were unable to do it for themselves. After arriving at their home, we sized up the
task at hand and set into work with the scrappers and stirring the paint. Meanwhile, Johnny took me aside and began
talking with me. He shared more about
the area and told me about his grown children and what they do.
At
one point, he led me into his garage and began showing me around. He pointed out this old crank (Show
crank to listeners) and said that it was used to crank the
engine of a Model T Ford. He then
proceeded to give me the old crank. Now
to some, this may not seem like much; but to me this is an important gift. It was given to me by a man who barely knew
me and obviously did not have much from which to give. It is a gift from the heart, one of
hospitality.
We
went on to paint the brick and trim of their house and even came back the next
day to finish up the job. On the second
day that we were there, Ruby harvested some vegetables from her garden and
fixed us a virtual feast for lunch. We
had hot dogs, chili, corn bread, chips, green beans with ham, coleslaw, pasta
salad, and cinnamon raisin bread. She
spent the whole morning preparing this meal with the little food she had
available and served it to us with a gracious spirit. Through Johnny’s gift and Ruby’s meal, we
experienced true hospitality while at their home. They offered us so much from so little and
they served as an example to me of extraordinary sharing.
Willing Sacrifice
Second, we
are extravagant in our generosity through willing sacrifice. As Jesus willingly sacrificed Himself for us,
so we willingly make sacrifices for others.
We willingly give of our time and our resources for the good of others,
even if that means at times that we ourselves go without and give something up.
The one
show that Beth and I watch on a weekly basis right now is Once Upon a Time. We watch it on Hulu+ so we always have to
wait a day to see that week’s episode, but it is a creative show that takes
familiar storybook characters and weaves their stories together in new ways.
This last
week, we found Snow White and Prince Charming working with Sir Lancelot. Snow White received a curse that meant that
she would not be able to have any children and Charming’s mother was mortally
wounded. They took her to get healing
water from the lady of the lake; but when they got there, they found a dry
lakebed.
After
searching, they were able to find a snail shell with the last drops of healing
water in it. They took it to Charming’s
mother and she pretended to drink it; but instead, she had Lancelot sneak the
water into Snow White’s drink. Snow
White was freed from the curse while Charming’s mother died. She made a willing sacrifice for the good of
her future daughter-in-law.
Christ did
a similar thing for us. He gave his
life, a willing sacrifice that we all might be saved. He exhibited extravagant generosity to us and
though we may never be called to give our life for another, we are called to
make willing sacrifices. We are called
to give up things that we have for the good of others.
Joyous
Giving Out of Love
Third, we
are extravagant in our generosity through joyous giving out of love. When practiced rightly, extravagant
generosity is not done with grumbling and lamenting. It is done with joy and it is done out of
love. In order for this to happen, we
must have hearts full of joy and love because our motivation matters.
I am aware
of a church that has experienced extravagant generosity out of what I can only
assume is joyous giving out of love. A
few years back a couple moved to their community and began attending their
church. This couple had been to other
churches, but had never experienced a church like this one that welcomed them
in and invited them to grow deeper in their faith.
Unfortunately
about a year later, the couple had to make another move that took them out of
state. Yet the treasurer of this
congregation shared with me that the couple still sent several thousand dollars
back to the congregation that they had worshipped with for that year. Now the treasurer doesn’t know for sure what
the motivation for this extravagant generosity was; but it sounds to me like
joyful giving that comes out of love for one another.
Where We Go From Here
Well, as we
come to the end of another series and we consider these Five Practices of
Fruitful Congregations, a natural question is “Where do we go from here?” Only time and discernment of the Holy Spirit
will tell but it seems to me that we have a good foundation in these practices
here at Bethel. While there is always
room for continued growth and improvement, it seems to me that we have a pretty
good handle on each of these areas.
And yet our
author suggests that, “Vibrant fruitful, growing congregations perform the five
practices in exemplary ways because they keep repeating them, improving them,
honing them, sharpening them, deepening them, and extending them. They never forget how important these
practices are. Fruitful congregations do
not ignore them, avoid them, or become too distracted with other things to do
them well.”[1]
And so I wonder how intentional we are
about applying these areas of our vision to our congregational purpose
statement. Our statement is “to
experience and extend the gracious rule of God.” And I think that through our ministries we
work at both experiencing for ourselves and extending to others. But it also seems to me that we tend to
create a division of labor.
It seems to
me that we tend to look at the Ministries of Worship and Nurture as primarily
about experiencing God’s gracious rule.
At the same time, we tend to look at the Ministries of Mission and
Fellowship and Mutual Care as primarily extending the gracious rule. Likewise, we tend to look at the Ministry of
Stewardship as primarily about resourcing the other four ministries rather than
as a ministry in its own right.
I wonder what
it might look like for us to make a shift in application here. I wonder what it might look like for each of
the ministries to take the whole of our purpose statement and be intentional
about discerning the ways in which they will enact both halves of our purpose
statement. How will the Ministry of
worship both experience and extend the gracious rule of God? How will the Ministry of Nurture both
experience and extend the gracious rule of God?
How will the ministry of mission both experience and extend the gracious
rule of God? How will the ministry of
fellowship and mutual care both experience and extend the gracious rule of
God? And how will the ministry of
stewardship both experience and extend the gracious rule of God?
How will each of our ministries
work at both poles of our purpose statement?
How will we balance the realities of nurturing the faith of those who
are already a regular part of our church family while also extending the
message of the gospel to the un-churched and de-churched of our county? And in what ways will God minister to us
through those un-churched and de-churched folks that we connect with?
Conclusion
As
believers in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we have experienced extravagant
generosity from the God that we serve.
This serves as a model for us as we exhibit extravagant generosity
through extraordinary sharing, willing sacrifice, and joyous giving out of
love. May God guide us as we live out
these practices of fruitful congregations and may we experience and extend the
gracious rule of God through them and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
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