Pasadena Presbyterian Church Sermon Text
June 27, 2003

"From Anxiety to Generosity"
Preached by The Rev. Dr. Mark Smutny

Scripture:  Psalm 130; II Corinthians 8:7-15

(7) Now as you excel in everything-in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you -so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.  (8) I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others.  (9) For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.  (10) And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something- (11) now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.  (12) For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has-not according to what one does not have.  (13) I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between (14) your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. (15)  As it is written, "The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little."

- II Corinthians 8: 7-15

  Let me begin by thanking God for the downturn in the financial markets the past three years and the loss of our major income producing tenant in Kirk House last December.  I am grateful for the anxiety I have felt as I lay awake many nights wondering whether we will make ends meet at PPC and in my own household and in the households of the church staff who depend on these income streams to buy groceries, diapers and pay the rent.  I am thankful for the shifting of my responsibilities these past few months to focus on property management, even though I prefer to preach, teach, provide pastoral care and invent new mission and program. 

I am thankful too, for those among you who have experienced the squeeze of the downturn, those who have lost jobs, those whose earnings from invested assets have plummeted, and those who wonder whether next week's bills will be paid. 

I will be even more thankful when the bull market chases away the bears,  when everyone who needs to be employed is, when Kirk House is fully leased, the budget balanced, and I can concentrate on what I am most called to do:  preach, teach, engage in people's spiritual lives, and hatch new ideas for program and mission.

Thanking God for anxiety may seem ludicrous and un-American but I think that God sometimes, sends us anxious moments for us to reflect on what we most deeply care about, to examine with a purifying fire where our values really are, and what gods with little "g's" we really follow.  I think we are tested from time to time and we are given the opportunity to unmask idols in church, culture and self, paraphrasing from the Brief Statement of Faith.

Today's topic is money:  anxiety about it, how to find freedom from it and how to discover a generous spirit.  There is far greater taboo against talking about money than about sexuality in our culture and in church, so I want to talk frankly and directly about money, not because I like the topic - actually, I dread the topic - but because I need to for myself, for my soul and, I hope, for  yours as well.

In today's Epistle Lesson, Paul sends a missive to the Corinthians to send some cash to their fellow Christians who are in need.  He says he's not ordering them to do it, only suggesting that they send a gift to their less fortunate brothers and sisters in Christ.  His arguments are quite subtle. 

First of all, Paul talks about money because Jesus talked about money, frequently, regularly, irritatingly.

Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." (Matthew 6: 24)

"Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear.  Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own." (Matthew 6: 31,34)

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal." (Matthew 6: 19-20)

"Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21)

Jesus brings up the subject so Paul brings up the subject, too, not because he has a favorite cause and wants to promote it, but because Paul has an instinct for confronting his society's most widely held and cherished values whenever he discerns that people's souls are at risk.  He senses the Corinthians' anxiety about money and he knows he has an opening to explore the thing that really matters salvation itself.

Paul speaks of life and all that we have as a gift.  The Corinthians didn't think that way and we don't think that way.  We are culturally predisposed to think one thing about life: we believe we deserve everything we get, make and achieve. We are entitled.  It's ours. We are born into this world with a bundle of rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the function of government is to clear the way for maximum freedom for me to exercise those rights.  We deserve what we have and obtain it by our birthright. We are entitled. 

That pervasive attitude doesn't leave a lot of room for gratitude.  We certainly don't look at our salary check and say to our employer, "thank you" or when our Social Security checks arrive in the mail sit down and write a thank you note to the government.  "I earned it," we say.  On the contrary, Paul and Jesus insist that life is a gift, that everything:  possessions, breath, life itself are short-term loans from God. 

Paul speaking to the Corinthians reminds them of the gift of Jesus, basically saying that they would be nothing without him.  "You know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, because poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich."  Their very lives came from this gift of Jesus' death. 

If we have any sense of decency in us we know that every gift requires a response to the giver.  The recipient of every gift is compelled to assume certain responsibilities and obligations: to return thanks, to reciprocate, to remember.  If we have no sense of life as gift, then there are no obligations.  To those who have been given nothing, nothing is required. But we have been given much.

Every Wednesday, I sit at round tables at the Hilton for the weekly meeting of Pasadena Rotary.  I am surrounded by men and women who by all accounts are self-made.  Each of them has achieved much in life through hard work and great effort.  They are the heads of their organizations and businesses.  There's a lot of brain power, wealth and accomplishment.

On Wednesday I was seated next to a banker with a Harvard MBA.  He attends another Presbyterian church in the area and so we often swap stories.  He's a pretty conservative guy, but we get along well. He has yet to call me a heretic, only a liberal.  We were talking about the Supreme Court's decision on Tuesday affirming the use of race as a factor in university admissions and I would have predicted that he would have been pretty upset by it.  He wasn't.

What struck me was when he said everyone of the 300 or so members of Pasadena Rotary were beneficiaries of some form of affirmative action.  We don't call it that, but that's what it is.  He said that the man over there got to where he is because his grandfather started the business 60 years ago and gave him a job in the backroom stacking shelves.  That one over there joined the Navy to get away from an unhappy home.  When he got out, his uniform got him a job at the City.  He left that years ago and became a developer.  He's one of the wealthiest men in Pasadena. 

He could have gone on and picked out each one of us who had been given a leg up because of some family connection, hot tip or connection to alumni.  We don't call it affirmative action, we call it looking for a favor from someone who knows your father or who went to your university.  "We call it networking," he said, "But it's affirmative action."

Some of us have been the beneficiaries of the best society has to offer: the best education, the most exciting challenges, experiences rich in people and resources and opportunity.  "To the one to whom much is given, will much be required," the Master said.  

In our society, we're not suppose to treat certain kinds of people in special kinds of way.  We're all equal.  The playing field is supposed to be level for all kinds of folks. Of course, we know this isn't true.  Our histories are different.  For some the past involves discrimination, deprivation and a host of personal factors that make a mockery of the myth of the level playing field.   The fact is that some have been given far more than others. 

Paul challenges our superficial motions of equality, entitlement and rights.  He challenges the notion that the good life comes from a notion of "perfect freedom from" and "no obligations to" by saying to the Corinthians and to us, "to those who have been given the most, the most will be required."

The Corinthians had been given a lot.  Corinth was a port city strategically located on the major trade route between the Aegean and Adriatic Seas.  Corinth was rolling in wealth. Everyone in the ancient Near Eastern world knew it.  Corinth was filled with "self-made men" and so the Corinthian church had great means, but it was also at risk.

In such an environment, it was easy for the Corinthians to believe that they owed nobody anything, so Paul reminds them that they indeed had been given far more than others, and of them much would be required, for their very lives were a gift from a gracious God.  He reminds them of what Jesus had done for them, that he had died for them, and they owed their lives to him.

"Where your treasure is, there, also, your heart will be."

When we don't have "it" and we are filled with anxiety about "it" our heart can still be consumed.  We feel bankrupt.  When we have "it" and think "it" is ours, our heart can also be consumed.  We are still bankrupt.  We're talking about a condition of the heart and of the soul.

I personally do not have this figured out.  Two generations ago, my grandmother and her children had nothing, but an alcoholic husband and father.  I do not know how they managed but by sheer grit and the largess of neighbors.  My parents' generation did better, but the anxiety about making ends meet bathed the household in which I grew up. 

My own family has so much, so much talent and brain power, a wonderful marriage, two accomplished sons and a great church to serve.  Still I worry far more than anything Jesus describes when he says, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink."  I have not figured it out.

Yet, I try to thank God for the lean times.  I thank God for my anxiety that, when placed before the gracious purifying fire of a generous God, is reduced to ash.  What remains is a peace that can last for a day or two or three.  For the anxiety of these days, I give God thanks and look forward to the times ahead when the bears are scared into the mountains and the bulls run free, when Kirk House is a cash cow, and  the coffers overflow with milk and honey, when everyone who needs work is fully employed, and the stewardship campaign is canceled.

I look forward to the day when generosity grows in you and me and that all of us fully realize that who we are and what we have is merely a loan from a gracious God.  I look forward to the day when it's not just what we own or don't own that matters, but who owns us the One who once said that by giving up your life, you will gain it.

I look forward to that day, not just for other people in need or my own pet causes or even the church, but for your sakes and mine.  For the sakes of our very own souls.

May that day come.  Come, Lord Jesus, come.  Amen.

(c) Copyright 2003 by Mark K. Smutny.  All rights reserved.  Permission granted for non-profit use with attribution.