God’s Abundance(For those looking for the marble story, look farther down in this post.)
In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul is writing to stir the Christians in Corinth to give freely to the church in Jerusalem. Actually, they had begun taking a collection for Jerusalem the previous year, but for some reason their enthusiasm for the project had dwindled. Maybe Corinth was experiencing some kind of economic downturn, like what we are experiencing now. It’s hard to know, but reading between the lines, we can see Paul trying to breathe new life and
enthusiasm back into the original collection efforts.
In addition to exhorting them “…to excel in this generous undertaking…” he reminds them:
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2Co 8:9)
Although Paul’s purpose in the whole passage is to exhort the Corinthians to give to give of their worldly wealth, his reference to Jesus who was rich becoming poor so that through his poverty they might become rich, is deliberately taking the argument to a higher level. Paul is referring to the spiritual riches the Corinthians inherited through believing in Jesus, reminding them how much more they have received of God’s spiritual abundance than what they are being asked to give out of their material abundance. The contrast between spiritual riches and material riches is an important reminder to all of us, especially during this time of economic crisis, about just where our abundance lies.
Story of marbles
Eight years ago when I was living in Chongqing, I attended a local Chinese church that had an active young people’s fellowship. Most were new believers; some not yet believers. One week they asked me to come and speak to them about “the Gospel and Prosperity.” It’s not as easy a topic as you might think.
They eagerly pointed out the places where the Bible records how God blessed Abraham and the patriarchs of the OT among other things with material prosperity.
1 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. (Gen 13:1)
They liked the part about the silver and gold.
Or, for example, the record of how Jacob prospered mightily while he was tending sheep for his father-in-law Laban.
43 In this way the man (Jacob) grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys. (Gen 30:43)
Or later how God blessed Joseph until he was second only to pharaoh in all of Egypt.
So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt." 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, "Make way !" Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. (Gen 41:41-43)
Rings and gold chains suited them just fine. Their idea of a chariot was a BMW, a concession to modern times they felt God would understand.
They also showed me a coffee-table size magazine from the US, beautifully printed in full color on glossy paper. In it were a number of brief biographies of Christian couples who had become very wealthy, including their testimonies about how it was through their faith in Jesus that God had blessed them so.
So these young people wanted to know if God would similarly cause them to prosper because they were now believers, or considering becoming believers. To say that God doesn’t want his children to prosper wouldn’t have been right, but to answer them with a simple yes ran the risk that, having heard what they wanted, they would stop listening. In that case Christianity would mean no more to them than burning some incense and praying for prosperity at the local temple means for so many superficial Buddhists.
So I told them about marbles.
When I was in first grade we were living in Taiwan. That was 1954, which may not be as ancient as it sounds, but it was back before Taiwan’s economy had begun developing. Life was pretty basic. That year marbles caught on at our school. We had two kinds of marbles among us kids – we missionary kids bought ours locally, and they weren’t anything special – mostly one color, one size, random bubbles in the glass, and although they were round enough, the outside wasn’t very perfect. I suppose the molds used to make them weren’t all that smooth. Anyway, those were our marbles.
Then there were the American marbles the military kids got to buy at the PX. Those were special – different sizes, including “boulders” and “peewees.” They were perfectly clear, no bubbles, and the outsides were completely smooth. They even had all different colors of “clearies,” and ones with a beautiful little flower or something in the middle we called “cat eyes.” Needless to say, they could trade one of their American marbles for lots of ours.
That was the situation when my dad had to make a rare trip to HK for some missionary conference. It happened to be close to Christmas. Of course my brother and I begged him to buy some beautiful marbles. At first he didn’t really get it, but once he realized these were VERY important to us, he said he would try. No promises. You can imagine our joy when we opened our Christmas presents and found marbles that were beautiful beyond our wildest dreams. I don’t know where they were from, but they even made the American marbles look drab.
When we got back to school and it was finally time for recess, my brother and I were the focus of great attention.
Alas, it wasn’t long before some of the sharp-shooters conned me into playing with them, and over the next few days, one-by-one I lost my beautiful HK marbles. When the last one was gone, I was desolate. Once again, my dad didn’t get it at first, then he realized how much the marbles had meant to me, and he tried to comfort me. I suppose one of the things he tried to help me understand was that there are more important things in life than marbles, even beautiful ones.
What’s the point? Children’s economies and adult economies are different. Good parents don’t ridicule what their children hold precious, even if they are of very little value to an adult. Rather they help us live through the ups and downs of learning about what is of real value, helping us gradually move beyond childish things to more adult things. My Dad was very understanding of my disappointment at losing my HK marbles, even though they meant little to him. At the same time, imagine how alarmed he would be if today I still thought life revolved around marbles.
I believe God looks at material prosperity the same way. For many adults, material prosperity looks like the key to life. Some Christians even see it as evidence of God’s special blessing on them, and maybe it is. But I also think Paul’s reminder to the Corinthians puts material blessings in perspective. However important it may be to us at certain points in our life, material prosperity doesn’t amount to much more than marbles in God’s eyes. And I am sure, like a concerned parent, God anxiously watches for us to grow up and begin to value the spiritual abundance that is our inheritance as Christians.
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Having said that about the importance of recognizing our spiritual abundance, our close association of security with material prosperity can make it hard to move on and mature spiritually, even if we accept the marble doctrine. Talking about our spiritual inheritance isn’t difficult, but the real question is, how do we learn to trust that abundance when something devastating happens like our retirement fund getting wiped out, or finding out we’ve lost our job? Or even in normal times as we cope with the demands of day-to-day living. Put another way, you can tell children there are more valuable things than marbles, but if you’re in danger of losing your beautiful HK marbles, it’s awfully hard to believe.
The story of Peter walking on the water is something I find easy to identify with.
25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
28 "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
29 "Come," he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" (Mt 14:25-31)
Jesus saw beyond the wind and the waves to a place of peace and security, so that what was happening all around had no effect on him. Peter, so long as he was focused on Jesus, experienced that peace and security, and may not even have been aware that he was walking on the water. But once he saw what the wind was doing and realized to his horror that he was walking on waves in the middle of a storm, he lost that peace and security and began to sink.
I find myself doing the same thing – on a smaller scale – in many ways. So long as I am uplifted in worship in church, or in a small group, or in my own devotions, or even preparing a sermon, I find my focus on God, and the usual anxieties and fears move into the background. But when I open the daily paper or get a report from my retirement fund, and am reminded of the wind and the waves, it is easy for me to begin to sink.
We need to remember that learning to trust God’s abundance is a growing process, not something that happens just because we want it to. It takes time for our understanding of what abundance and prosperity are to move beyond what we are taught every day by this world to God’s understanding of what is valuable and precious, and yes, unshakable and inexhaustible. The challenge is how do we move.
The little church near Yale
Back when my father was in divinity school, studying to be a minister, he and his classmates were all assigned to churches in the area as part of their fieldwork. His friend was assigned to a pathetic little church that had no minister, they couldn’t afford one, and had been gradually wasting away. When his friend got there the remaining members of the congregation had pretty much given up hope for their church.
Once he saw how little life the congregation had left, he realized the church would in fact die if the members didn’t learn to trust God. So in his first sermon, he announced that hereafter one half of every offering would go outside the church as a love offering. They would only keep half for themselves.
The church members were appalled! Maybe they thought by agreeing to take a seminarian they would get some kind of subsidy from the divinity school. But here was the seminarian telling them they would be giving away half of every offering. In their minds THEY were the ones that needed a love offering, not someone outside the church!
But he stuck to his guns. His first Sunday the offering didn’t amount to much, but he put half aside in a love offering fund. The second Sunday wasn’t much better, but he put half of that into the fund as well. You probably can guess the rest of the story.
Gradually the offerings grew. Church members found churches and people more needy than they were to give the love offerings to. They began to reach out. People were affected by the spirit of the little church, and new members joined. The offerings grew. By the time my father’s friend graduated from divinity school and left the church, it was thriving, had a great budget and a search underway for a full-time minister to take over when the seminarian left. They never stopped setting aside 50% of all giving as a love offering.
What’s the point? One point is that you can’t exhaust God’s abundance. The other is that if you really want to experience God’s abundance in your own life, one way to begin moving and growing is to give to others out of your own abundance.
Finally, we need to remember that God’s abundance goes far beyond material prosperity – of course we need to give of our wealth and prosperity, as the little church did -- but even more, our abundance from God includes our health, the love of our families and friends, the wonderful opportunities we have to serve God in China, and the sheer joy of living as redeemed children of God. As we share all of this with people around us, we will learn that God’s abundance is indeed inexhaustible.
Closing -- Luke 12:27-34
22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
27 "Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Ten thousand Matters As (you) Wish