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2 Corinthians 8:7-15

But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

By: The Rev. Prof. Stephen Noll

The theme for this month is “abounding” and “abundance.” The Book of Genesis teaches us that God created the world “very good” and that Eden was a luxuriant garden which Adam and later Eve were to “serve and keep” (Gen. 2:15), that is, to prune its natural abundance and preserve it for future generations.

Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation” is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written. I especially love a duet by Adam and Eve that goes like this: “From thy bounty, O Lord and God, comes earth’s fullness. The world, so great, so wonderful (so wunderbar!) is Thy handiwork!”

Here is a YouTube link for the oratorio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us-CdONHFYc&feature=related

Of course, we have ruined it and Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden, with great grief, as captured by the artist Masaccio (http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/m/masaccio/brancacc/expulsio/expuls.html).

Since then man works “by the sweat of his brow” and the woman will bring forth children by painful labor, and both return to the dust (Gen. 3).

Christians inherit the blessing and the curse of Eden. At the same time, we have access to the grace of God which He has abundantly poured upon us, and hence Paul writes: But as you excel abound in everything–in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you–see that you abound in this act of grace also (verse 7). The particular way that Christians abound is “readiness” in sharing goods selflessly. Later Paul commends the “cheerful” giver (9:7). The word “cheerful” (hilarious, some say), denotes freedom of sharing with others: “freely you have received, so freely give” (Matt 10:8).

Sharing implies fairness, literally “equality” (verses 13-14). Paul makes clear this fairness is not some abstract political right but rather the natural desire to share one’s abundance with others. Like the Corinthians, we in the West have an abundance of material things, which we did not earn on our own but comes from God’s bounty. At the same time, many of our materially poorer brothers and sisters have great spiritual riches to share with us.