“Our Lenten Fast: Jesus Makes our Fast a Feast”

2 Corinthians 8:1-9

“I leave the service feeling like I have received more from them.”  That’s what one of the ladies of our parish has often said about her participation in the worship services we hold each month in the seniors’ homes of Cranbrook.  I have had a similar experience in visiting with our people at home and in the hospital.  I arrive with my mind set on the things that I plan to do in the visit: ask after the person’s well-being and listen to him or her, share some of my own recent experiences, and take time to pray and share God’s Word with them, offer counsel and encouragement, and distribute the Sacrament.  That may sound like a lot, but when the time comes for me to leave, I inevitably feel refreshed and grateful, as if the person I’ve visited has given me a gift much more valuable than what I shared with them.  Perhaps this is some of what Jesus had in mind when He said that it is more blessed to give than to receive. 

 Throughout this season of Lent, we have meditated on the meaning of fasting, literally and spiritually, as we follow our Lord.  Fasting is not a magical spiritual exercise that enables us to tap into deep spiritual revelations.  Nor is it a good work by which we impress God and become more spiritual.  It is an act of self-denial often related to us acknowledging our need for forgiveness from God for our selfish, sinful ways.  It is an expression of repentance.  Fasting can also represent other expressions of faith like worship and service, those acts we accomplish with God’s help that turn us away from ourselves to God and to other people.  

 One such act is that of giving to others.  Tonight’s reading from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian Christians is a part of his encouragement to that church in giving.  For a number of years the land of Judea had suffered from a severe famine.  As Paul travelled through the lands north of the Mediterranean Sea, preaching the gospel and gathering together churches, he told the new Christians of the plight of the people of Judea.  The gospel had come to these people from the apostles who first set out from Judea.  Soon these new Christians got a beautiful idea: they could express their thanks to God and their fellow Christians for the blessings of Christ by sending them financial aid to help them through the famine.  The church at Corinth was well-positioned to help with this ministry because they had some fairly rich members in their midst, and they were quick to embrace the idea.  For some reason though, the Corinthians did not follow through on their part in this mission of mercy immediately.  In our reading tonight, we heard Paul graciously encourage the people to bring to completion the good thing they had first intended.  

 Why did the Corinthians come up short?  They seem to have lost the momentum of their generosity after Paul left them to continue his missionary work in the province of Macedonia.  Without their prophetic pastor among them, the Corinthians may have fallen back into the self-centered, materialistic ways of their neighbors living with them in that rich city.  We know how hard it can be to share with others in our culture, where ideas of life’s goodness are so tied to having wealth and possessions.  We’ve been walking through a fog of anxiety since the beginning of the recession.  Good news about the economy lifts the cloud for awhile, but it can descend upon us again just as quickly with a word of warning from an economist.  Charities are hit hard in times like this because when we are under financial pressure it seems that we can’t possibly have enough to make our own ends meet let alone share with others. 

 If this was the Corinthians’ problem, Paul responded to it with genius and grace.  Paul was very gracious; he never scolded the Corinthians for setting their hearts on wealth or demanded that they shape up and fulfill their earlier commitment.  Instead, he encouraged them to remember and rely upon the grace of God to help them to complete their act of generosity.  “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he become poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich…as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you – see that you excel in this act of grace also.” (2 Corinthians 8:9,7)  This relief mission was an opportunity for the Corinthians to live by faith in Jesus who gave His all for them by giving to their needy Judean Christian brothers and sisters.  Their lives did not depend of the abundance of their possessions; it was safely secured and supported by the Lord who died to forgive them for their sins and rose from the dead to lead them in a life of rich love. 

 Paul also displayed great pastoral wisdom in his counsel to the Corinthians.  If the people of this congregation had lost their enthusiasm for generosity out of fear for their own well-being, Paul had just the story to tell them.  “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.  For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints – and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.” (vs. 1-5) 

 The churches of Philippi, Berea, and Thessalonica were congregations under siege, suffering severe persecution for their faith in Jesus.  Some of their suffering was probably economic in nature, with unbelieving Jews refusing to do business with Christians.  The people of these churches were not rich in money, but you wouldn’t have known that from the way they responded when they heard of the need of the church in Judea.  They took up offerings.  Perhaps they had rummage sales.  They asked Paul to include their gifts with those being brought to help Judean Christians.  Paul seems to have been surprised by their generosity, and perhaps he even expressed concern for their well-being in giving so much.  The Macedonian Christians would hear none of it.  They trusted the Lord.  He would provide for them, for they were His.  They believed He wanted them to give their gift. 

 Imagine the effect of the Macedonian story on the Corinthians.  How could they be worried about themselves when God cared for them so well?  Surely they could cheerfully join in the gift-giving to relieve the needs of their brothers and sisters who once shared the gospel with them by sending them Paul.  If the poor churches of Macedonia could give so freely and generously, just think what God would help them to give from their considerable wealth! 

 When you and I remember the grace Jesus has given us to live, we can also fast from worrying about our own economic well-being in order to share with others in need.  Our Lord died and rose from the dead; He breathed His Spirit into our hearts through baptism, making us God’s dearly loved children, and through His Word and Supper, Jesus continues to declare His faithful love for us and His plan to love the world through us.  The fearful feelings that persuade us to believe that giving to others will mean painful lack for ourselves deceive us.  Doing with less to help others will not harm us; it helps us to remember that God is the One who sustains us in each moment of every day.  Fasting in some way to share with others allows us to experience the joy of being God’s servants, praising His goodness by loving each other.  We give, but we also receive the joy of confessing our faith in the God who loves us richly.  We give, but we feel secure because Jesus is our rock.  We fast, but we don’t go hungry because the feast of God’s grace never ends.  Amen.