Are you for G.M.A.?

2 Corinthians 8:1-15
My friends, we want you to know that the churches in Macedonia have shown others how kind God is. 2Although they were going through hard times and were very poor, they were glad to give generously. 3They gave as much as they could afford and even more, simply because they wanted to. 4They even asked and begged us to let them have the joy of giving their money for God's people. 5And they did more than we had hoped. They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, just as God wanted them to do. 6Titus was the one who got you started doing this good thing, so we begged him to have you finish what you had begun. 7You do everything better than anyone else. You have stronger faith. You speak better and know more. You are eager to give, and you love us better. Now you must give more generously than anyone else. 8I am not ordering you to do this. I am simply testing how real your love is by comparing it with the concern that others have shown. 9You know that our Lord Jesus Christ was kind enough to give up all his riches and become poor, so that you could become rich. 10 A year ago you were the first ones to give, and you gave because you wanted to. So listen to my advice. 11I think you should finish what you started. If you give according to what you have, you will prove that you are as eager to give as you were to think about giving. 12It doesn't matter how much you have. What matters is how much you are willing to give from what you have. 13 I am not trying to make life easier for others by making life harder for you. But it is only fair 14for you to share with them when you have so much and they have so little. Later, when they have more than enough and you are in need, they can share with you. Then everyone will have a fair share, 15just as the Scriptures say, "Those who gathered too much had nothing left. Those who gathered only a little had all they needed."
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Good morning / evening! The acronym GMA is so familiar to us. It reminds us of Kapuso station on TV, which many of you is an avid fun of said station. It also reminds us of the favorite acronym of P noy to refer to his predecessor. How is this acronym relating to the scripture passage today which talks about the extra-ordinary giving of the Gentile-Christian in Macedonia? We could probably interpret it as; -- Gentile Mission Appeal of Paul. Ok. That probably will do. But what is Paul s appeal? The scripture passage we read talks about their extra-ordinary giving attitude. That amidst challenges, -- to barrow Paul s words: 2 Although they were going through hard times and were very poor, they were glad to give generously. the gentile converts were very generous even amidst hard times. From this point can we then say that the acronym GMA could also mean; Generous Macedonian Attitude / Alternative. But as we begin the month of August, we are not just reminded, in fact we are celebrating month of Mission. The letter M in the acronym may mean Mission [kuhamo?] What comes to our mind when we talk about mission is immediately sending people abroad or sending them to places where there is no one who have ever heard of Jesus Christ. By becoming first a missionary that you can participate in the mission of Christ, I beg to disagree with such an opinion. The passage we heard read this morning / evening talks of some other active participation in mission.

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Paul urges every Corinthian in this very passage to learn the model that Jesus showed. Literally, Jesus gave up his portion in heaven for us. This is what Paul wrote:
Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

Jesus sacrifice was not only on the cross, but it began in heaven when Jesus put aside his glory and agreed to come to earth. Indeed, Jesus has made a radical sacrifice on our behalf, and if we take Jesus seriously, we will do the same in our own lives. This is precisely the matter which Paul is pressing upon the Corinthians and all his readers,particularly related to generosity. As Christians, our lives are marked by the way we replicate Christ. One of the questions we have to ask our self is this, Am I living my life in such a way that if I meet someone new today they will be able to recognize that I am a Christian? [What would be your answer?] Most of the time, our answer to this question is, No, which I am sure is true for many of us. You see, the way we live our lives reflects what we value, and this includes how we use our resources. I think it s fair to say that for the most part, the way we spend our time and resources does not reflect to those around us our identity as Christians. Brethren, we do not exist simply to consume as much as we can and get as much pleasure as we can while we are here on earth. We have a higher purpose. We need to know and understand our life purpose our vision or mission or calling and then spend our resources in ways that are consistent with this purpose or calling. For us, UCCP Davao City our life purpose is[can you read it with me?]: A faithful, empowered and joyful community of Christ stewards, living a meaningful, fruitful and abundant life worshiping and proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord and savior for the transformation of all people this is according to 2004 program plan of the local church. We claim that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior of our lives, then we are to follow the example that he has set before us; to give of ourselves sacrificially in all ways. The Bible tells us that we were created to care for God s creation. We were created to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We were created to care for families and those in need. We were created to glorify God, to seek justice, and to do mercy. All of our gifts and resources should, if not MUST, be devoted above all else to helping fulfill this calling on our lives. We are to use our resources to help care for our families and others to serve Christ and the world through the church, missions, and everyday opportunities. As Paul reminds the Corinthians in celebrating the generosity of the Macedonian church, they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God s will. We have a life purpose that is greater than our own self-interests; it is our very commitment to the Lord, and how we spend our God-given resources reflects our understanding and commitment to this life mission. Every encounter we have with another person, even every action we take in our lives, is an opportunity to be a channel of God s grace. As Paul writes this second letter to the church at Corinth, he is appealing to their life mission as a way of urging them to generosity in the collection for the poor at the Jerusalem Church. And as an example for the Corinthians and all his readers, Paul lifts up the Macedonian church, which in the midst of severe trial and extreme poverty has pursued its life mission and been richly generous. Paul s appeal for the collection for the church at Jerusalem, and more generally God s call to generosity, is not just an option we might chose to engage in; it is a joyful obligation through which we might share God s grace with others. As Paul tells the Corinthians, this is not a command.

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It is, however, a call. Andour faith is measured by how we, in free will, respond to this call; particularly in this case to the call to generosity of giving for mission.
Illustration:In the late 1890 s there was a tight-rope walker, a real showman named Blondin, who stretched a tightrope across Niagara Falls and then, with ten thousand people watching and cheering he move slowly from the Canadian side of the Falls to the U.S. side. When he got there the crowd was going wild, shouting his name, "Blondin! Blondin!"Blondin raised his hands and silenced them. "I am Blondin," he said. "Do you believe in me?" The crowd shouted back, "We believe! We believe! We believe!" Again Blondincalmed the crowd. "I m going back across the tightrope, but this time I m will carry someone on my back. Do you believe I can do it?" "We believe! We believe!" the crowd yelled. He quieted them one more time and then he said, I need one more thing to make this performance complete: I need a volunteer that I can carry on my back over the falls. Those of you who said you believe Who among you will be that person?

Do you believe God can carry you, and will carry you, in all circumstances? Will you be that person, will you be those people, who show what they believe? Part of our response to grace comes in a faithfulness of returning to God a portion of all that God has given to us. Even in the face of challenges and difficulties, we can give generously as the Macedonians did. And through such giving we in turn will know great joy and abundant blessings. But this takes faith. If we are truly giving in faith, it means we will give out of our first fruits, not out of our excesses. But we need not fear, as Paul reminds us; we are to give according to what we do have, not according to what we do not have.If we cannot tithe, we need not be discouraged, but if we establish a starting point based on what we do have, we can work toward the generosity of giving which Paul calls us to in this letter to the Corinthians.This is called proportionate giving. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul says, On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up your gift to Jerusalem. As we see in Paul s instructions to the Corinthian church, the New Testament principle for Christian giving suggests that we lay aside a definite proportion for God s causes first ~ kuhamo? ~ and that we grow in our giving as we prosper. The challenge of proportionate giving is first to start where you are now by determining the proportion of income you are currently giving. This can be calculated simply by dividing your monthly gift to the church by your monthly income. You may be surprised to learn that out of 800 individual with tithe envelop from all those who worship atUCCP Davao City:
y y y y y y y 27% (216 persons) are those within the category from zero to 1000 pesos tithe; 18 % (144 persons) are those within the category from 1001 3000 pesos tithe; 18% (144 persons) also belong to those who are giving a tithe between 3001 6000; 8% (64 persons) are those who are giving between 6001 9000 tithes; 6% (48 persons) are those who are constantly giving between 9001 12000; 4% (32 persons) are those who are giving between the range of 12001 15000 19% (152 persons) belong to those who are giving 15001 and above.

This is based on a three year study we did with the Administrative and finance office. There is only one extra-ordinary giver. I say extra-ordinary because this family is able to offer to God for three

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years about 1.2M over and above their building and other donations. I mention this information not to boast the ego of the person. But simply to show to us how we respond to God s call for mission? This is one indication that perhaps our inclination is to give to God out of what remains rather than out of the first fruits of our blessings from God. God is allowing us to use the money God gives us in order to reach the world for Jesus Christ. It is not how much you have offered that is of more importance.What is important is seeking to respond to God s grace in our lives more and more over time.Our giving should increase year after year until a level is reached where you and I, as persons committed to Christ, are completely satisfied and comfortable with our giving level. Like our prayer life, our worship practices, and our spiritual disciplines, our giving to the church in support to the ministries of Christ should be reflective of our relationship with Christ. And as we grow in grace, so should we grow in generosity to God through his mission. Proportionate giving and tithing enables us to look at our earning, saving, and spending through the eyes of God.It reminds us that our ultimate self-worth comes from our assurance that we are children of God; created by God, loved by God and saved by God! Giving increases our faith, frees us from anxiety, and brings us closer in our walk with God.
Illustration:One Sunday morning a pastor encouraged his congregation to consider the potential of the church. He told them, With God s help we can see the day when this church will go from crawling to walking. The people responded, Let the church walk, pastor. Let the church walk! He continued, And when the church begins to walk, next the church can begin to run. And the people shouted, Let the church run, pastor. Let the church run! The pastor continued, And finally the church can move from running to flying. Oh, the church can fly! But, of course, that s going to take lots of money for that to happen. The congregation grew quiet and from the back someone mumbled, Let the church crawl, pastor. Let the church crawl.

My brethren in theUCCP Davao City, we can either fly or crawl. We can reflect the generous love and grace of God in our lives, and help the world experience the saving message of Jesus Christ, or we can stand-by and hope others will get the job done. We can respond to God s call and seek to live more fully into our life mission, or we can ignore it. Which do we choose? Now, let me ask: Are you for G.M.A.? Are you aGenerous-Mission-Advocate? I would like to believe that we all can say YES. Let us show God now what we think of him, and how much we love him and how grateful to God we are for every blessing of our lives. Now finish the work, so that your 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. Amen.

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