So, you all know that about a month ago it was my honor and privilege to preach at the opening worship service of the Indiana-Kentucky conference annual meeting. You’re not gonna get to go incognito, Chad, I’m sorry. I should let you know the conference Minister of the Indiana-Kentucky conference and his family, they’re here worshiping with us today. Reverend Chad Abbott, Reverend Dr. Chad Abbott? No doctor, not yet, soon. So, welcome this morning.
So, Chad invited me to preach at that event and then in the evening, Carrie Newcomer, who’s the singer-songwriter, gave a concert. She told a story about a conversation we had with, a conversation she had with Parker Palmer and out of that conversation a song called “Three Feet or So” was born. She talked about how it’s really easy for us to feel overwhelmed by everything that’s going wrong in the world, and whenever we start to spiral if we simply look at what is three feet or so around us we can begin to make the world a better place. So, think about your lives as you walk through your daily life, who’s three feet or so around you and how can you be generous with what you have.
Hear these words:
When I’m weary, lost or sad
Overwhelmed or just fed up
I say grace for what I have
And most of the time, that is enough
We are body, skin and bones
We are all the loss we’ve ever known
What is gone is always near
We’re all the love that brought us here
And the things that have saved us
Are still here to save us
It’s not out there somewhere
It’s right here, it’s right here
If I start by being kind
Love usually follows right behind
It nods its head and softly hums
Saying, “Honey, that’s the way it’s done.”
We don’t have to search for love
Wring our hands and wring our hearts
All we have to do is know
The love will find us in the dark
And the things that have saved us
Are still here to save us
It’s not out there somewhere
It’s right here, it’s right here
I can’t change the world
But I can change the world I know
Once within three feet or so
We are body, skin and bones
We are all the loss we’ve ever known
When I don’t know what is right
I hold it up to the light
I hold it up to the light
I hold it up to the light
Let us pray: O, God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be found acceptable in your sight for you are our rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
True confessions of your pastor:
When people read Corinthians to me, this is usually what I hear: It begins with “Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” and then I hear “wah wah wah wah wah wah, jars of clay, wah wah wah wah wah, don’t lose heart, wah wah wah wah wah, I Paul, I Paul, I Paul, wah wah wah wah wah, I’ve endured, wah wah wah wah wah, suffering, suffering, suffering, wah wah wah wah wah,” and then I’m done. Even Pastor Connie on Monday said, “My eyes kind of glaze over whenever people read Paul to me.” Corinthians is, it’s complicated, it’s hard to understand and so, I’d like for you to get out the scripture that’s printed in your bulletin and if you have a writing utensil just circle the verses we’re gonna focus on.
We’re gonna focus on verse 7, “Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.”
We’re also gonna focus on verse 13 all the way there at the end where Paul writes, “I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but 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.”
So, friends, anytime we read the epistles, we’re reading somebody else’s mail. It helps if we understand the context from which this is mail came from. The church in Corinth is an interesting place because Corinth is an interesting place. Back in the 9th and 10th century BCE, it was this commercial center with 2 ports because it’s on an isthmus. It made it very, very successful. If you didn’t want to deal with boats, you could just deal with the over land transport of goods and services. The population of Corinth was 90,000 people and they were packed into a little less than a 7-mile square. There was this bustling commercial center which, then, was invaded by Rome. Desolated, and, then, just abandoned. That happened in, in about 146 BCE, and then, a hundred years later, Rome made it the capital of Achaea. Corinth, because it was on this isthmus, it was always filled with an incredibly diverse population of people. There were lots of different people from all over the ancient world who arrived with their various religions. So, spirituality was always a fluid thing in Corinth. It’s important for us to remember this context that this place Paul is writing to had once been a superpower and then it got decimated and then it rose again. It’s a complicated place, a diverse place, much like our country is a complicated and diverse place.
We also need to know this about the church in Corinth: that Paul, who founded the church there, he has a complicated and messy relationship with this church. In fact, if you back up in the scripture, you find that Paul is making all kinds of words of reconciliation with the Church of Corinth: “I don’t hold any ill will to you any longer,” “don’t hold any ill will to me.” And, he’s also trying, in this letter, to encourage them, but he does it in a way that is kind of like whipping them into shape. He wants to make sure that they understand how much they actually have so that they can be generous with what they have. See, there’s a portion of this letter where Paul is asking for the church in Corinth to give a donation, take up a collection, for churches in Jerusalem, and he’s saying, “You have so much. You have so much you need to give from that place. We might say that the people who lived in Corinth also live in the land of 13 different kinds of Oreos. They had a lot. These folks had so much and yet they couldn’t quite figure out how to be generous. We also have a lot and we need to figure out how to be generous, not in a way that puts us at risk, but in a way that creates a fair balance. Again, verses 13 and 14, “I don’t mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it’s 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 might be a fair balance.”
When we’re thinking about what we actually have available to us in order to give it raises a lot of questions. Now, yes, this, this passage, this letter, it’s about, it’s about money, but that’s not the only way in which we can give. I thought we might make a list this morning of the ways in which we can be generous. What are the other things that we have to be generous with? Of course, money is one of them. But, whenever you think about your resources, what else do you include in this list?
(From Congregation) Time.
Time.
What else do you include in this list?
(From Congregation) Listening.
Oh, we can be generous with our listening. We can have the capacity to hold space for someone else and listen.
What else can we be generous with?
(From Congregation) Hospitality.
Oh! Hospitality! And, let’s remember as people who are part of the Abrahamic religions, that, that in the ancient world, to not to show hospitality to the alien and the stranger was the greatest sin you could commit. We are called to be hospitable to a fault.
Somebody else said “Skills.”
“That’s right,” says the Finance Chair. Jan is allowed to do math for the institution, your pastor is not! I don’t have that skill! I don’t have that skill. You’re not expected, you’re not expected to be generous with skills you don’t have. Although, we can learn new things. But, we are called to be generous with the skills we do have.
What else? What else can you be generous with?
(Congregation) Encouragement.
Encouragement. I’m also not allowed to spell for the institution. What? E, M, E, N, T. Good job, thanks. Woo! We all did it together. Yay!
What else? What else can you be generous with?
(Congregation) Love.
Our love.
What else can you be generous with?
(Congregation) Smiles.
Our smiles. It matters when you smile at someone.
What else can you be generous?
(Congregation) Food.
Food. “Food,” says the recipient of, the recipient and former organizer of the Ministry of Casseroles. Yes. Food. We do that as a church for people within our community, and we do that as a church for people who are hungry and come and eat on Mondays.
What else can you be generous with?
(Congregation) Acceptance.
Mmm, acceptance.
(Congregation) Our focus…
Our focus. We can be generous with actually seeing people. I’m gonna call that “Presence.” We can be generous with our, our own personal ministry of presence.
(Congregation) How about willingness?
Ah, our willingness. If we are generous with our willingness, it means we may have to move outside of our comfort zone, move to a place where that 3 feet around us engages a new thing or a new person. Yes?
(Congregation) Gratitude.
Our gratitude.
(Congregation) Activism.
We can be generous with our activism, with our willingness to, as the prayer of confession talked about, actually, literally use our bodies in ways that, that leverage our power.
(Congregation) Kindness.
Kindness. We can be generous with kindness.
(Congregation) Prayer.
What?
(Congregation) Prayer.
We can be generous with prayer because when we pray, it opens up new possibilities in the world.
(Congregation) Caring ways.
Our caring ways.
(Congregation) Our courage.
We can be generous with our courage. And, I want to link that to one: that we can be we can be generous with our privilege. And, we may have to be generous with ourselves in terms of our courage, so that we can use what privileges we have in order to, in order to make the common good even better.
Generosity is not just about money. It’s about all of these things, and I’m certain that this is not an exhaustive list. You are called as disciples of the Living One to use all of the riches at your disposal to make the world more like the reign of God. To make the world more like the kingdom of God.
And where do we begin? We begin three feet around us. If you’re at home, what’s 3 feet around you?
(Congregation answers)
Yeah, the people you live with. Your family.
If you’re at home, what else is 3 feet around you?
(Congregation) Your dog.
What?
(Congregation) Dog.
Your dog! Your dog loves you in the way that God loves you: with unconditional love and acceptance, and I will tell you that it’s the love of your pet that enables you to be generous with your own courage. It’s the unconditional love of your pet that makes it possible for you to be able to get up the next morning and go do the next thing. It just is.
What else is three feet around you if you’re at home?
(Congregation) Social media.
Thank You, Johnell. Social media. So, how are you being generous with all of the places that you show up in the world? Lots of us show up on social media. I tend to wake up at about 3 o’clock in the morning every morning. And, this week, I had several friends who, ah, they were just beside themselves with sorrow and rage and frustration and we joked about having a 3 a.m. Lament Party. So, the next night, whenever I woke up at 3:15 in the morning, I said, “I’m awake. It’s the 3 a.m. Lament Party. Who else is awake, too?” And, let’s face it, I wasn’t gonna go back to sleep for about 45 minutes, and there was a friend of mine who’d had a horrible day. A horrible day at work and she messaged me and said, “The world and my world is all mess.” That’s three feet around me, even though she’s states away.
What else is three feet around you if you’re at home?
(Congregation) Food.
Food. We can be generous with what we have. Look around at the resources that you have. Look around at the inequities in our community.
What can you be generous with?
(Congregation) Bank statement.
Your bank statement is also three feet around you at home. We just spent a whole list writing down what we can be generous with, but I’m gonna tell you: we can be more generous with our money than we are. I can tell you I can be more generous with my money than what I am. If I want the world to reflect the realm of God then I need to make donations towards organizations that have the skills to be able to leverage the power to make it so. It’s just the way it works, friends.
What else is 3 feet around you if you’re at home?
(Congregation) To-do list.
Your to-do list. Tell me about that. Tell me about that, busy mother of three, two. (Congregation replies) Yes. Oh, did you hear what Kathy said? She said, “I feel like my whole list, I feel like my whole life is about making a to-do list and then immediately crossing something off, either because I’ve already done it or because it wasn’t that important to begin with.” Which means, then, we can prioritize what is important, not just for us and for us alone, but for the common good, for the community, for the community in which we live which goes beyond just the bounds of these towns.
Anything else?
(Congregation) Calendar.
Calendar. Which also kind of fits under here.
You said “your space.” Can we be generous with our spaces? Can we be generous with literally where we live? How it is that we invite people into our home. People who are tired and frustrated and need connection.
If you have a computer, your computer and your phone are within three feet of you. If you’re frustrated about the way in which the world is working these days, on your to-do list, you can prioritize emailing or calling the representatives in our area. It’s a way that you can leverage your power for the common good, a way that you can be generous with what you have.
Anybody else? Anything else?
(Congregation) Self-care.
Yes, I’m gonna put that up here at the top. We are called by Jesus the Christ to love our neighbor in the same way in which we love ourselves and sometimes I wish Jesus had said that differently. I wish Jesus had said, “Love yourself, love yourself with abundance in the way that I love you, so that, then, you’ll know how to extravagantly love your neighbor.” You have to feed yourself so that you won’t eat people up. You have to feed yourself so you won’t eat people up. And, here’s the thing, if we’re all doing this, then it’s okay for you to rest. It’s okay for you to take sabbath space. You know why? Because somebody else is minding the store while you’re resting, while you’re taking sabbath space, while you are being generous with yourself. Every single person in this room has skills and gifts and talents and you can learn new things. Things that, things that make you special and unique. We’re called to be generous with what we have. Not beyond our means, but in a way that creates fair balance. If we all did that, if we all did that, we could change the world.
May it be so.
Amen.
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