II Corinthians 8:9 March 29, 2014

Sarah Whitley   

II Corinthians 8:9            

March 29, 2014

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, rich as he was, he made himself poor for your sake, in order to make you rich by means of his poverty.

This verse, taken from Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth, is part of a longer passage in which the apostle is urging the Corinthians to participate in a collection for the Jerusalem church.  Our theme this Lenten season is Grace.  The word, grace, in this verse is also translated as generous act, as well as blessing.  Paul commends the members of the church at Corinth for excelling in faith, speech, knowledge, and eagerness and urges them to continue excelling in this “generous undertaking”.  

I have been fortunate to have had in my life a mother and a mother-in-law who excelled in generosity.  Johnny and I never left either of their houses after a visit without a bag full of things “I thought you might like” or an armload of “I’ve been saving these for you” items.  They were always thinking of others and thinking of how they could share themselves or their possessions with someone.  

They excelled in generosity because they were full of grace.  This grace that Paul mentions is modeled for us by Jesus Christ.  The grace that caused Jesus Christ to voluntarily become poor so that we, through his poverty, might become rich, is the same grace that we are called upon to exhibit as we mature in the Christian faith.  Generosity is a product of a life of grace.  

As we grow in our faith, as we learn to let go of the things of the world, we begin to see what Paul means by becoming rich through poverty.  We learn the joy of generosity as we are filled with grace.  Living a life of grace means we give ourselves away as we abandon ourselves to God’s love.  We give ourselves away as we follow Christ’s example of becoming poor so that others through our poverty might become rich.  Grace allows us to excel in faithfulness, kindness, knowledge, generosity, and, above all, love.  

Almighty God, help us to live in a spirit of abundance and love so rich that we joyfully pour out ourselves to you and to our brothers and sisters in Christ.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.