THE CHARITY OF YOUR CHOICE

Scripture: II Corinthians 8:8-15

Now faith, hope and charity abide, these three…but the greatest of these is charity.

(I Corinthians 13:13, King James Version)

INTRODUCTION

The older I become, the more frequently I find myself opening the newspaper and turning first to the obituary section. Mark Twain used to do that, and quipped as only he could, “I read the obituaries every morning, and if my name isn’t there, I know it’s going to be a relatively good day.”

The truth is, most of us who read those notices are looking for the time and place of the funeral or memorial service of someone we have known and loved who has died, and at the bottom of the article, we are told where to make a contribution. There was a day when the obituary would say, “In lieu of flowers,” the family requests that you give to the deceased person’s college or university or some other institution. But the florists objected to that phrase some years ago, and now, the notice often suggests that you give to the church or to “the charity of your choice.”

This morning, I want to suggest that this Christian congregation and the charities of our city and nation are all worthy and deserving of our support, not only in memory of those who have died but also to help people who are poor and suffering and struggling to survive. However, the church and the charity of your choice are not the same, and in today’s sermon, I want to tell you why I believe that is so and the difference it makes.

When the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Christians in Corinth, he was soliciting an offering from them for the mother church in Jerusalem. The resources he collected were to be given to the poor, and there was a sense of urgency about that endeavor, because no one else was going to help them (see also Romans 15:25-27).

The Roman government extracted money from people through its system of taxation to pay for the operation of the empire. They didn’t give a single denarius (a Roman silver coin, about a day’s pay for a laborer), not a penny, to those who were starving or living in poverty. And neither did the wealthy citizens of Rome or Palestine – they kept their financial resources to themselves.

So it was left to the Jewish synagogues and early Christian churches to provide for the poor. There was no welfare system, no food stamp program, no Red Cross or United Way, and no foundations or non-profit organizations to provide assistance to those who were poverty stricken. And that’s the way it was for centuries, as communities of faith, local congregations, reached out with compassion to care for people in need.

Today, especially here in America, we have created charitable institutions – all those I have just mentioned and many more – to help people who are poor and offer them the promise and possibility of a better way of life. Moreover, many of those institutions are geared up to intervene in crisis situations when disaster strikes.

Several winters ago, there was a severe storm in West Virginia and a Red Cross rescue team made their way up the side of a mountain to a remote cabin, which had been buried underneath an avalanche of snow. The rescuers struggles on foot through the deep drifts until they got to the cabin and started to shovel their way toward the front door.

They knocked and when an old mountaineer answered, they said, “We’re from the Red Cross.” The crusty old man looked them over once or twice, shook his head in disbelief and replied, “Well, it’s been a right tough winter up here, and I just don’t see how we can give anything this

year.”

Well, as you all know, since the tragic terrorist attacks on September 11, the Red Cross and the United Way have moved in on the situation, and more than one billion dollars has been given to them and other charitable organizations to help relieve the pain and suffering of thousands of people. To be sure, they are still working out the delivery systems for all of the contributions that have come in. But those charities, together with countless numbers of churches like ours and other religious institutions across America, have sent resources and people, together with our prayers, to New York City and Washington, D.C. to help our fellow citizens in need.

II.

And so it has been for a long time now here in the United States. Churches and faith-based organizations have worked alongside charities and foundations to help the hurting, homeless, destitute and desolate people of this country and other nations. And the contributions keep pouring in.

Recent statistics indicate that Americans increased their charitable giving from $40.7 billion in 1980 to more than $140 billion in 2000, and a large percentage of that money was given to and through Christian congregations. (In 1998, $48 billion was received from 375,000 churches throughout the United States; in 1997, Americans gave $69.4 billion to religious causes – statistics from “What Have We Learned?” by Dr. Lyle Schaller, Abingdon Press, 2001, pages 106, 116; and from an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution by Maria Saporta, May 28, 1997, page F3)

In fact, the word charitable and the whole concept of charity has been nurtured and promoted by the church since the first century. The Greek word “charis” means grace, and the translation of “charisma” into English is gift. So you see, our annual giving theme, “Gifts of Grace,” comes from those ancient Greek words. And over the course of time, it was the church which gave birth to the real meaning of charity – God’s grace (charis) has been showered upon us, and we have the opportunity and responsibility to share our gifts (charisma) with others.

Now Paul reminded the Corinthians that the ultimate revelation of God’s grace and the real inspiration for our giving was found in the sacrificial life of Jesus Christ, saying, That though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich in your generosity. (II Corinthians 8:9)

Christian friends: that is what makes the church different than all the other charities of our choice. As important and beneficial as those institutions are, it is the church which has been sanctified and set apart by God to be the channel of His grace. And when we give to and through the church, our gifts are offered in Jesus’ name and for His sake. Because if we believe that He gave everything, even His life, for us, then our response is to share what we have received with others, in gratitude to Him.

Paul went on to describe it this way: I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of equality, you in your abundance should supply their wants (and needs) (II Corinthians 8:14). Which means, I think, that as we seek to follow Jesus, He has called us to care for the poor and He has shown us how to share our resources with people who need to discover His love and receive His grace.

That is happening, right here and right now, in this church at the corner of 16^th and Peachtree Streets. Little children are being baptized and brought up in the faith. Teenagers and young adults are finding Christian fellowship with one another. Marriages and families are being strengthened, broken lives are being healed, people who are sick and suffering are being cared for, men and women are studying the scriptures and growing in their walk with the Lord.

And as we worship God every Sunday, this congregation has been motivated to reach out to our city and commissioned to go out into the rest of the world to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ and touch and transform the lives of those who need our help and are looking for hope.

All of that and so much more is happening here, and that is why our Annual Giving Campaign is so important. It is not just fund raising – it is, rather, faithful stewardship of the gifts of grace which God has showered upon us, and sharing those gifts with the world that God loves through His Son, our Savior Jesus. And that is what this campaign is all about.

CONCLUSION

Stanley Kresge believed that, you know. He was a Christian philanthropist who inherited a vast amount of wealth and who then maximized that fortune. During his lifetime he gave away hundreds of millions of dollars to others, and especially to his church. When he died in Detroit at the age of 85, his pastor said this in the eulogy: “He considered what he had as a trust from God, and that he was a steward of all that God had given to him.”

Before his death, Kresge told a newspaper reporter why he never let it be known how much of his personal fortune he had given away. He said, “I’d be embarrassed to have anybody think I was bragging about charity.” But quietly and consistently, all of his check payments and charitable contributions were signed exactly the same way: “In the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, Stanley S. Kresge.” (From an article entitled “Wealthy Industrialist Always Had His Values Right,” Profiles in Stewardship Newsletter, September, 1985).

As we collect and dedicate our pledge cards today, may that same spirit of love and generosity motivate us to give freely, as God has given to us. The old King James Version of the Bible put it this way, in that familiar passage about love: So faith, hope and charity abide, these three. But the greatest of these is charity (I Corinthians 13:13). For when all is said and done, Christian charity is love…in action.

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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