14 June 2026 3rd Sunday after Pentecost

Genesis 18.1-15    Psalm 116.1-2; 11-18    2 Corinthians 8:1-15    Matthew 9.35-10.8

Those who did the ‘Joy’ Lenten Study this year will be familiar with the section of the letter of Paul to the Corinthians that we have heard today.  But, for those who didn’t, and even those who did, I would like to look more closely at this reading.  In this letter, Paul is encouraging the Corinthian people to support the poor ‘saints’ (or Jewish believers) in Palestine.  This is very important for Paul because it then fulfills prophecy – of when the prophets foretold of the day when the Gentiles would come to Zion bearing gifts for the historic people of God.

IGenesis 18.1-15    Psalm 116.1-2; 11-18    2 Corinthians 8:1-15    Matthew 9.35-10.8

Those who did the ‘Joy’ Lenten Study this year will be familiar with the section of the letter of Paul to the Corinthians that we have heard today.  But, for those who didn’t, and even those who did, I would like to look more closely at this reading.  In this letter, Paul is encouraging the Corinthian people to support the poor ‘saints’ (or Jewish believers) in Palestine.  This is very important for Paul because it then fulfills prophecy – of when the prophets foretold of the day when the Gentiles would come to Zion bearing gifts for the historic people of God.

It appears Paul had a ‘special project’ in collecting funds from the Gentile churches to finance a caring ministry to the Palestinian believers.  He thought that the Gentile believers should send ‘thank’ gifts to Israel for the gift of the gospel from God’s historic people of Israel, and he hoped this would serve as a sign to the ‘unbelieving’ Jews.  As we see in this part of the letter, the people of Macedonia ‘outdid’ themselves in their gifting to the ‘saints’.

Now there are some things we may not be aware of that draw out and explain Paul’s praise of the Macedonians.  The Macedonian peoples were being ‘persecuted’, and because of this persecution, they had little resources of their own.  But despite their ‘poverty’, they gave ‘generously’.  In fact, their generosity was ‘well beyond their means’.  Even though monetarily it may have been only a small amount, it was still much more than was expected or reasonable.  They gave ‘sacrificially’ for the service of the saints, it left them even more poor, yet they were happy to do it.  And this gift was ‘freely given’.  There was no ‘coercion’, no ‘pressuring’, no ‘guilting’.  In fact, while Paul was encouraging all the Gentile churches to offer these ‘thank’ gifts, because of the Macedonian situation it appears likely that Paul may not have even asked them to give.  Yet they still gave, in fact they ‘urgently pleaded’ to be allowed to share in this service to the saints.  The Macedonian people saw it as ‘privilege’ to be able to give.  They sought to be part of Paul’s ministry.

And this underlines the mysterious way grace empowers believers.  Even though their giving would have been extremely difficult, the Macedonian churches contributed.  Somehow, as Paul tells us, ‘their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part’.  Paul is almost telling the people of Corinth, and us, that these two elements have ‘reacted’ with each other like a chemical reaction.  Abundant joy reacted with extreme poverty and a joyful and explosive outpouring resulted.

Now, like the ‘widow’s mite’, we can see how a modest offering from someone in extreme circumstances can be seen as an extremely generous offering.  Even though the churches in Macedonia are suffering from ‘unnamed’ hardship and persecution they ‘break out’ with a celebratory freedom which the grace of God has worked in them.  Paul is asking the people of Corinth to respond likewise.

Next week, we will all offer our commitment cards, offering our ‘thank gift’ to God and parish.  Now I am not about to tell you that you should follow the example of the churches in Macedonia and give ‘beyond your means’, but I would like us all to reflect on what this passage is telling us.  When we trust in God’s grace, extraordinary things are possible.  Even when we feel the screws tightening on our resources, we can ‘explode’ in generosity through God’s grace.  If we free ourselves from our ‘fiscal restraints’ and ‘rational thought processes’ and allow God to speak to us, we might find ourselves able to offer ‘generously’, no matter how big or small that ‘generous’ amount looks like.  As Paul says ‘12For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have.  And 15….“The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.”’.  I pray that your offering will reflect the grace God has worked in you as you ‘break out’ with a celebratory freedom and your abundant joy and fiscal limitations will react with each other to produce an explosive outpouring.