2 Corinthians 9:6-15
Preaching in the season of stewardship. I must admit that it’s not my most favorite time to preach. You know…preaching about money, giving, making a stewardship pledge. Maybe it’s the old New England Yankee in me. One doesn’t talk about money. It’s not polite. Just not done.
Then I found a poem by Ann Zwemer about leftovers. Now that’s something a New England Yankee is comfortable talking about—any day! The poem goes like this…
“They were at my door again. Time to collect food for the needy. Hmmm…what shall I give? Ah yes; spinach, yams, a bean concoction. Nobody at home liked these anyway. Leftovers.
The phone rang often. Organizations calling for used clothing. No problem there. Worn-out shirts and buttonless blouses. Good to get rid of these things. After all, they’re just leftovers.
And now the church is at it again…money. Urgent pleas for mission! Don’t they know? The new principle…Our own needs come first. Maybe…at the end of the year, I’ll have some leftovers.
Leftovers. Leftovers is an interesting concept. My husband, the Rev. Andrew C. Burr and I don’t agree about leftovers. You see, I come from a family of grocers on my mother’s side—a family with real old New England Yankee roots dating back to the original English settlers who arrived in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, in the mid 1600’s. Now they probably knew a thing or two about leftovers!
My mother’s father and uncles, then her brothers and now her nieces and nephews own a chain of IGA stores in Southern Vermont. In a family of grocers, you bring home the “leftovers.” The day-old bread, the slightly brown bananas, the wilting vegetables, the meat that’s just past it’s sell-by date. It’s thrifty. No need to waste this stuff!
Perhaps this approach to leftovers makes you a little queasy. It makes my husband queasy, let me tell you. He finds it downright disgusting, but in me it creates a great challenge and no small sense of creativity. Perhaps it’s that thrifty Yankee blood running in our veins, but my mothers’ family we just love leftovers. We celebrate the one who can be the most creative the day after a large meal. We revel in mid-night feasts assembled from treasures discovered under Saran wrap or in Tupperware in the back refrigerator. I mean, really…doesn’t everything taste just a little bit better the day after???!
There’s nothing more satisfying than a big pot of soup or an interesting casserole that is the product of creative artistry with leftovers. In my family, I am the official creator of Day After Thanksgiving Turkey Soup and the P\ost-Thanksgiving Shepherd’s Pie, complete with layers of turkey, stuffing and cranberries, topped with whatever remains of the squash, turnip and mashed potatoes. Now doesn’t that just sound yummie?!?
Andy, on the other hand, calls it “Gruel Pie”.
Andy does have a point. When we have special guests over for dinner, we don’t rummage around in the bottom of the refrigerator trying to figure out what to serve them. And we don’t shop for tired looking vegetables, or the old cuts of meat marked down and packaged for soup or stew.
When the special guests come, we get out your cloth napkins and our fancy silverware. We plan and prepare something special and new. We cook a fine roast or buy a fresh pie. Leftovers just won’t do.
It’s funny, isn’t it? The way we give to the church, I mean. When I think about how I give to the Church, not just on Stewardship Sunday, but all through the year…it’s more often the “leftovers” I give. For example, for years I kept a box in the garage filled up with stuff for whatever and whenever there was a church yard sale. It was filled with all the used stuff I didn’t want or need anymore. Leftovers.
And in my study at home there are often bags of yarn that I no longer need. The ends of skeins of yarn left from knitting projects. It’s wonderful, really. Yarn that’s perfectly good for socks or hats, mittens or prayer shawls. But it’s leftovers.
For years, my girls collected loose change in little orange boxes for UNICEF Trick or Treat. And the change was from the bottom of my purse and the big jar on Andy’s bureau where he empties his pockets each day—you know, the loose change that accumulates and isn’t really enough for anything. Leftovers.
Suddenly it occurred to me that, more often than not, it’s easier for me to give the leftovers in my life. And that’s something I should really examine.
Reading through the commentaries, the passage that we just read from 2 Corinthian’s this morning describes, as far as I can tell, the first ever church-wide stewardship campaign! The earliest mention of it occurs in Galatians 2:1-10, where Paul recounts his crucial meeting in Jerusalem with the church elders. That meeting resulted in the elders of the Church giving their blessing to Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles.
Their only stipulation was that Paul and his coworkers should “remember the poor.” In the early Church, those Christians who were well off shared their possessions with the impoverished in the believing community. They all expected Christ to return any day. When that didn’t happen, the shared goods were eventually exhausted, and the whole community was in need. And, although individual Christian communities were growing throughout the Mediterranean, they continued to see themselves as one church—and connected to and supporting each other.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul is writing to these Christian communities asking them set funds aside for the poor. Paul suggested that as they had received spiritual blessings from the mother church, they should share their “material things” with the saints in Jerusalem.
Like the saints today, some of the early churches are more generous than others. The Christians in Corinth, apparently, began the collection enthusiastically enough but are now slacking off. Paul, the master of persuasion, has the letter hand-delivered by some of his coworkers in order to, in his words, “arrange in advance for this bountiful gift that you have promised, so that it may be ready as a voluntary gift and not as an extortion.”
In other words, Paul is saying—”Look, guys, it shouldn’t be your leftovers!!!!” The word he uses for the “gift” he wants them to give is the same word for “blessing”. His point is that God blesses them so that they can bless others. It wasn’t enough to wish the poverty-stricken Jerusalem Christians well (no “thoughts and prayers” for Paul!). The Corinthians needed to do what they could to help–to give their very best, just as God gives to them.
Two summers ago, in the wake of Hurricane Maria, I was asked to assist several Puerto Rican refugee families stuck at Motel 6 in Leominster. For nine months stuck at Motel 6. And I, being the “queen of leftovers,” I immediately thought that we could easily offer them used clothing for the coming winter, or furnishings for an apartment. But the Disaster Relief folks were clear—no used items. Their needs are so basic and clear—they need to be able to purchase the most basic necessities—everything from underwear and socks to gas for the car. These are things they need to choose for themselves. Things where “leftovers” just won’t do.
That was a spiritual learning moment for me. What’s the message I want to give with my giving? Not that I’m better or have more, but that I care about you and respect you. You’re a special guest at my table and I’m getting out the cloth napkins! And I smiled as I dropped of the beautifully wrapped basket to be delivered to one of the families. It contained one of our lovely prayer shawls, some small personal gifts for each family member, gift cards to a Big Y, Walmart and Mobil from our congregation, and a note from us letting them know we’re thinking of them, they are welcome at our table any time, and wishing them well.
Our individual giving – yours, mine – is a personal spiritual matter between us and God. When Paul writes to the Corinthians that “God loves a cheerful giver,” the Greek word he uses is hilaros — the root of our English word “hilarious.” God loves a hilarious giver.
Hilarious giving. That’s giving of our best rather than what’s leftover only when our needs have been met. Today I am inviting you to be a hilarious giver…give from your best so that it puts a big smile on your face.
Because, as the last line of Ann Zwemer’s poem goes…
“Then suddenly, it frightened me. My giving had gone all wrong! God gave (God’s) Son, God’s very best. I saved my best for me. What if…what if God gave only leftovers?”
And, more and more, I am coming to understand that my giving to the church—whether from my time, my talent or my treasures– is truly a heartfelt, joyful…even hilarious… expression of gratitude for all the blessings in my life. God has blessed me with so many things—the tangible things like family and friends, fulfilling work, a warm home and a full refrigerator—even a call to Edwards Church– and the intangible things of love, faith, forgiveness, healing, hope.
These are not God’s leftovers! I’ve got a seat at the table with the cloth napkins and the special silverware, and so do you. Let’s become hilarious givers, giving generously to God from the very best of ourselves!
May it be so for all of us. Amen.
Sources: “Leftovers” by Ann Zwemer; Commentary on 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, Homiletics On-Line