Sometimes I wonder about the multitude of fund-raising appeals I get in my mailbox each week. Harvey Mather, one of my former parishioners in Altoona where I served a small blue-collar church, used to call those the "ask-its." Just about every time I saw him he would tell me about how stuffed his mailbox was with requests for this and that, and he wanted to know how many of them I thought he should be giving to, or at least if I could tell him some sort of screening out process. As the newbie pastor, I had to admit that I really didn’t know. At the time, I was renting a town house and paying off loans. For me there wasn’t all that much to give, so all those organizations hadn’t quite found me yet. But just yesterday, in our SATURDAY mail, I heard from two cancer research organizations, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Tennesseans for Fair Taxation, and got a thank you note for the donation I made to the ministry fund of my seminary. That’s just in one day. Over the course of a week I may get pieces of mail from several different medical research groups, from appeals to solve hunger or other justice issues, from political organizations and causes, from civic organizations – local and national, and just to add some entertainment to the mix NPR has had their fund drive on the radio this week.

It is enough to drive one a little bit crazy. For the letters I actually try to take the time to read, they are written well and are designed to appeal to my philanthropic side. But in their abundance, I have found that I can sympathize with the frustration of my Pennsylvania parishioner. A lot of them don’t even make it into the house. They get dropped in the recycle box by the door. The ones that do make it in often get sorted over the trash can as I pull out the freebie address labels, or the nickel, whatever that’s for, and then throw the rest away.

Today, and for the next three weeks, we’ll be looking at a different kind of fund-raising appeal – one that comes to us from the first century. In Chapters 8 and 9 of 2^nd Corinthians we can find a biblical passage that could easily be Paul’s stewardship letter to the church at Corinth. He may not have flooded mailboxes, used bulk mail, or relied on a marketing gimmick like sending a free calendar or return address labels, but he was direct and urgent in his communication strategy. However Paul was asking for money for something even less tangible than feeding the hungry, fighting cancer, or organizing to address a social justice issue. Paul’s appeal focuses on the work of ministry, the effort that it takes to spread the word of Jesus into the world. To our ears, his appeal may sound a little bit strange. We are intelligent people. We know that it takes money to do mission in the world. This congregation includes people who are incredibly charitable with their time and dollars for multiple causes both inside and outside of our sanctuary walls, and yet Paul is asking us to let go on a deeper level – to be generous and faithful and loving not for any one particular thing but because it is the "right" thing to do.

In fact, in this text the words for "generous gift" and "grace" are practically interchangeable. They come from the same root word. Paul is asking not only the Corinthians, but by extension is asking anyone with money and power and the desire to do good to excel in this generous undertaking, or as this year’s annual church campaign is asking you, to excel in the grace of giving.

To me, those who excel in the grace of giving are able to fully let go because they are giving in a spirit of generosity, joy, grace, gratitude – whatever you want to call it. These shining examples let go because they recognize a higher purpose. The check they write is no longer a tool of influence nor does it remain a cause for worry. It isn’t a way to simply avoid paying taxes. It isn’t a way of getting what they want or securing that their programs will be the ones best funded. It is letting go in order to be a part of something greater. It is about really knowing down deep that they have enough, and caring about others having enough too. I too value the concept that marks the end of this passage that the one who has much ought not to have too much and the one who has little should never have too little. Therefore, I make it my discipline to practice regular giving, giving that will stretch me in a "keep it all" world. I continue to practice letting go of my own desires for control and security in hopes that one day I may be one of those examples for someone else.

Paul is certainly bold in his writing to the Corinthians. He’s not afraid of causing embarrassment or discomfort. He reminds them that the impoverished Macedonians gave to the work of ministry in a way that was well beyond their means. They gave themselves first to the will of the Lord and then shared what they had with Paul and his staff of ministers, missionaries, and apostle-types. He also reminds them that Jesus, who had EVERYTHING, gave it up and became poor so that we might be beneficiaries of and witnesses to God’s love.

Now after all that, what Paul says is "DO SOMETHING." Start somewhere, and if you can’t do something – get the desire to do something so that your eagerness may begin to match your means. No one is off the hook. Any gift is acceptable – based on what you have, not what you don’t have. He says to them, "…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." Those who have more should be challenged more – according to Paul’s logic.

So why in the world would we, now, give to a ministry like Paul’s? What in heaven’s name was he doing with the money he received – either from the poor Macedonians or the rich Corinthians? For a stewardship letter, he should have included more graphics, a pie chart perhaps of where all the money was going to go. What are his programs? Who are on the payroll? Is the church meeting place being kept up well? Even going beyond today’s lesson – we don’t get the detail there that we’re used to in our other fund drive letters. There’s a whole lot of trust involved – with little accountability on Paul’s part.

Now, I’m not suggesting we should adopt Paul’s rubric exactly as we send out our annual campaign letter. He starts off with shaming the Corinthians by comparing them to a church community that gave proportionally a whole lot more. He claims that he would like to boast about them and to me that just sounds like – guilt, guilt, guilt. He’s cried over them in the past – you can reference chapter 2 – so obviously he is quite concerned about their spiritual well-being and thinks that giving and being generous is a big part of getting there. But even if we don’t model his approach exactly, there are some things we can learn from what he has to say – in this week’s text and in the weeks to follow.

For this week – I’ll mention 5 take away lessons as I see them. You may be able to think of more, and I hope that you will. But from my perspective, here’s what I think we can get out of this week’s text.

Now in being the preacher for the day, I can recognize that Paul had the same dilemma I have. He was benefitting from the very same pot of money that he was trying to raise. Though some sources say that he was a tent-maker in his day job, a lot of the time he actually lived off the generosity of others. Gifts to his ministry freed him from most of his other financial obligations. Not having these financial burdens allowed him to travel more and more freely tell the good news of Jesus Christ. All pastors struggle somewhat with this – some with more fear and trepidation than others. It’s tough being both counselors about giving to God and beneficiaries of those same commitments to stewardship that you make through giving to the church’s annual campaign. Paul chose not to shy away from the hard realities. Corinthian Christians had a lot to give. They were his rich church. Paul made it known that they were expected to give according to the means that they had. He let them know that generous giving is indeed a mark of faithfulness.

Stewardship is absolutely about money – plain and simple, but it’s about a whole lot more than money too. Paul was teaching them and in turn is teaching us about a way of life. When we excel in our generosity – we learn something about what it means to let go and follow Jesus Christ. Grace and generosity go together. It’s hard to experience one without the other. Be challenged. Excel in the grace of giving. You will find that the practice of giving will strengthen your faith.

Amen.