26 October 2025

Paul on Money: As Service

2 Corinthians 8:10-15

Last week we talked about Paul’s fund-raising drive to bring support to the church in Jerusalem, where there was a famine. Much of 2 Corinthians 8 is devoted to this appeal, and today we pick up where we left off, with verses 10-15:

10And 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— 11now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. 12For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. 13I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between 14your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. 15As it is written,

‘The one who had much did not have too much,

and the one who had little did not have too little.’

Last week, I talked about how Jesus had a lot to say about money – including such things as “Go, sell all you have, and give to the poor.” But then we looked at Paul, as he tried to sort out what that meant for the church in a practical world where money is an essential element of functioning in society. We can’t all give everything away, so it gets tricky. And as our financial lives have gotten more complicated, involving mortgages and interest rates and IRAs and HSAs, the relationship of the church to money has only gotten more complicated. Take tithing, for instance. The Old Testament law codes call for people to give a tenth of their income – mostly crops – to the temple, and so “tithing” has been for many years the gold standard of stewardship sermons. But how does that work today? Is that gross income or take-home pay after withholding? Or is it maybe the Net Income on your Form 1040 after the Standard Deduction? And what about untaxed benefits, like expense or travel allowances? Interest income? Unrealized capital gains? And what about people who are self-employed and who reinvest most of their income into their business – farmers, for instance? At what point do you figure the ten percent? 

Fortunately, Paul avoids all this complication. At no point in our scripture – or anywhere else – does Paul talk about the tithe. This only makes sense. He soundly rejects a slavish, legalistic approach to the Old Testament law, and that includes tithing. No, Paul isn’t interested in calculating percentages: he’s interested in how to approach money from the perspective of grace, and that’s what we find when we look at today’s selection from Paul’s fundraising letter in 2 Corinthians. Within these six verses, we see both words of reassurance and grace and words of challenge. Let’s start with the grace. Beginning in verse 11, Paul says, [Let] your eagerness … be matched by completing this gift according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. First, eagerness. We are to give as much as we can give eagerly, willingly, cheerfully. We are not to give grudgingly, resentfully, out of obligation, or out of fear of consequences if we don’t. We don’t give because it's the law, but because we want to. Now, some of you may be thinking, “Ssh! What are you saying? Some people grudge every penny they spend! You’re giving them permission not to give at all!” Newsflash: they don’t need my permission. They already don’t. And my guilting them to give what they don’t want to give is not going to make them any more willing. Now people can change. There may come a time when those people will become eager to give, but that change will not be brought about by a stewardship sermon. Changes like that begin at a deeper place. Paul went around to collect money from people who were eager to help those who were hungry, not to drum up money by whatever means possible.

Second, Paul says that people are to give according to your means. Don’t give more than you can afford. Now this feels like common sense, but it’s good to have it in writing. Give what you can, and keep what is necessary for your and your family’s needs. Paul explains this further in the next verse: I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you. If you and your family go hungry because you gave your money to feed someone else, that hasn’t solved the problem; it’s just moved it around. Now most of us could give more than we give and still support our families, but not always. I have several times had church people make private appointments with me to tell me that they didn’t think they could meet their pledge this year: “You see, Pastor, I’ve just been laid off.” Dude! Of course you shouldn’t meet your pledge. Take care of your family. How can your church help? 

That’s the grace that is in Paul’s fund-raising letter. Give willingly and within your means, or don’t give. But I also said that there was a challenge. Let’s read on. It is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. 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.’

Paul says, very simply, if we have abundance, and someone else does not have enough, then it is up to us to fix that imbalance. We don’t give because we have to, because there’s a particular percentage of our income that “belongs to God.” We give because we have what others need. It’s that straightforward. Then Paul quotes those verses about ‘The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.’ Paul doesn’t give the context of those verses – maybe he thought everyone knew it already – but they come from Exodus 16, which describes God’s gift of manna to the Israelites in the desert. One of the miracles of the manna, according to Exodus, is that no matter how much people gathered, when they got home and worked it into bread it was always just enough for their family for one day. The implication of that miracle is that God gives to each of us is enough for our needs and no more. And Paul’s inference from that miracle is that if God gives us anything above what we need – that is, abundance – then we should assume that it has been given for us to use in service to others.

No, I don’t think this means that we should not save money. In our society and our capitalist economy, saving is a part of caring for our needs. We should save for our children’s education, for emergencies, for retirement. But I do think this means we should regularly examine our financial lives to determine what exactly we are doing with our abundance in a time when others do not have enough. That’s the challenge that Paul gives us: if we have abundance, we need to be asking what God would like us to do with it.

And, by the way, this is about more than just money. This applies to every resource: physical, emotional, intellectual, whatever. Let me give a few examples: Here at Lake Street, as a result of the vision and the generosity of church members past, we have a wonderful church building, with an abundance of space, more than we need ourselves, really. So, over the past few years we have been sharing that abundance with others who need space. Since the Kairos Homeschool Co-op began using our building on Fridays, we now have people in the building every day of the week: scout groups, support groups, recovery groups, classes, hobby clubs, a Polynesian church, an ecumenical church for people with disabilities, a respite program. We had an abundance, and we decided that abundance shouldn’t be just for us. Another valuable resource today is time. Now some of you don’t have enough time, but some of you have an abundance. What will you do with your abundance? And how can you use that abundance to serve others? And, by coincidence, if you’re looking for ideas we’re holding a volunteer fair after church today. Stop by the Fellowship Hall and see all the different things that your church does and see if there’s something that fits you.

And this is how I’m ending the 2026 financial stewardship drive, not just with an appeal to give of your financial abundance, although that is important, but with an appeal to think about all the resources you have in abundance that are serving no one: money that you spend on things you don’t need, time spent in activity without meaning, talents that you are not developing to use with others. What we have in abundance was given to us to use in service. So let us give: eagerly, and according to our means. Amen.