Sermon preached by Connie Day at the Assembly of the Iglesia Misión Cristiana de Nicaragua (March 28, 2003) Centro Emanuel, Ticuantepe 

 The Apostle Paul was writing to the Christian church in Corinth about an offering that he had been collecting for the church in Jerusalem.

 The people of Jerusalem were very poor.  They were persecuted because of their faith.  They often found it to be difficult to find employment (because they were Christians), so it was hard for them to care for their families.

 Paul was aware of the needs of the people in Jerusalem—how they were suffering because they were poor.  He decided to ask the churches in other cities to contribute to help their fellow Christians in Jerusalem.

 The city of Corinth had a good economy because it was a busy port of trade and commerce.  The people of Corinth were not rich—but they had means to support themselves, and they lived well.  When they first heard about Paul’s desire to collect an offering they were among the first to agree that it was a good idea.  They gave some money for the offering, and promised to give more later.  But they didn’t follow through on their promise.  Maybe they forgot.  Maybe they had other concerns that distracted them.  We don’t know why, but they did not give as they said they would. 

 The people in Jerusalem needed their help.  But that was not the only reason why Paul wanted to collect an offering. Paul had other concerns—even beyond the tremendous needs of the Christians in Jerusalem.

 Most of the Christians in Jerusalem had been raised in the Jewish faith.  Their culture, their customs and their religious practices reflected their Jewish heritage (even after they became believers in Jesus).  The Christians in many of the other churches (in Galatia, in Rome, in Ephesus in Corinth…) were Gentiles.  Their culture and religious experience was very different from that of the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem.  National differences and cultural differences, differences in race and language and experiences threatened to divide Christians from one another.  This was a great concern for Paul. 

 He wanted to help the church in Jerusalem—to meet their physical and economic needs—but he had another motive for asking all of the churches to contribute.  Paul wanted the Christians from various places to be united: to break down the barriers that threatened to separate them from each other. 

 As Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

 In Christ, we are united.  The barriers that would seem to divide us are broken down: we are sisters and brothers through Christ. 

 Families take care of each other.  If one person in a family has a need, the others respond to the needs.  As a leader of the church, Paul was very concerned that all Christians would be united.  Sharing material resources with those who were in need was one of the ways that this could be expressed.  By sharing their material goods, the Gentile Christians in Corinth would be saying to the Jewish Christians, “You are a part of our family.  You are our brothers and sisters.”

Our love for God must be expressed in real ways.

 We cannot simply say, “I love God”.  We must express our love for God through our actions in this world: by caring for people who are in need (as Jesus did), by helping them, and healing them, feeding them, giving them hope, speaking up for those who voices are not heard (the oppressed, the powerless, the forgotten ones)—by sharing God’s gracious love with them in real ways.

 As it says in I John 3:16-18  “This is how we know what love is; Jesus Christ laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has not pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words of tongue but with actions and in truth.” 

We are the Body of Christ.  His spirit lives in us.  He gives us life.  He gives us hope.  He fills us with joy.  He empowers us for ministry.

We are his hands.  We are his voice. 

 If this world is going to hear the voice of God (and the world does need to hear God’s voice) we must speak up: for we are His body. 

If the world is going to be touched by God’s healing presences, we need to reach out to our neighbors: for we are His body. 

 Christ uses us to carry on His ministry of reconciliation and peace.  Christ uses us to serve and care for those in need: to feed the hungry, to help the poor, to stand up for those who are oppressed or forgotten.  He uses our hands, our voices, our resources to continue His work in this world.  “Let us not love with words or with tongue, but with actions and truth.”

 The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth to ask them to demonstrate their faith in God in real ways: by giving of their resources to help their sisters and brothers in Jerusalem.

 At the beginning of chapter 8, Paul writes about the generosity of the Christian churches in Macedonia. He ways that they gave all they could; even beyond what they should have given (much more than anyone expected them to give). 

 The people in the Macedonian churches were very poor.  They didn’t have a lot of material possessions.  They didn’t have a lot of money.  They had a hard time even meeting their own needs. They struggled day by day. 

 They understood what it was like to be in need.  (Maybe that is one of the reasons they gave so generously: they knew what it was like to be poor.  They understood the suffering of their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem).

Paul says that the Christians in Macedonia gave generously and joyfully.  They considered it to be a privilege to help their brothers and sisters. Their giving overflowed. 

 The Christians in Macedonia understood that God is the provider of all things.  They gave because they loved God.  First, they gave themselves to God (they offered themselves as an offering) to be used in whatever way God chose.   As an offering to God, God enabled them to give their resources to help those who were in need. 

Whenever we give—whether it be through offerings of our money, or our time, or our abilities to serve others, or other resources we have—we must first give ourselves to God.  We must offer ourselves to him.  And he will bless us and multiply our gifts so that they will be useful to others. 

Paul wrote to the Corinthians and told them about the generosity of the Macedonians because Paul wanted the Christians in Corinth to be challenged to also give generously and joyfully.  The Corinthians knew that the people of Macedonia were poor.  They knew that it would be difficult for them to give anything.  So Paul challenged them by saying, “Look what they have given.”

 In much the same way, the people in the churches of Nicaragua are challenging the people in the churches in Idaho.  We hear of your generosity: your work and service to others.  We hear of the work you are doing in education: helping to teach children and young people and adults.  We hear of your efforts to provide health care for people in need.  We are challenged by your generosity, just as the church in Corinth was challenged by the Macedonian churches. 

 We know that your resources are limited, yet you use those resources to serve Christ—to be his hands, to be his voice in this world.  We know that your ability to give comes from your commitment to God.  You have given yourselves first, as an offering to the Lord, and your generosity overflows into your communities, touching people with God’s healing power, giving them help and hope.  

This letter that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth could easily be read as a letter that was written to the churches in the United States:

 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given to the Nicaraguan churches.  Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.  For I testify that they are giving as much as they are able, even beyond their ability. 

 We are challenged by your faithful service and generous giving.  And we give thanks for your testimony of faith and your commitment to our Lord. 

 The delegation from Idaho that is here today brought some gifts for you: our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

 We have a gracious opportunity from God to bring Bibles for each of your pastors and for each of your churches.  We have pulpit Bibles for each congregation.  We have a study Bible and a Bible dictionary for each church so that you will have resources in your church for learning about the Word of God, for growing even stronger in your faith and understanding. We have 10 Bible for each established congregation for you to use in worship and study. 

   We hope that these gifts will be useful for you.  We hope that you will find inspiration and hope as you read and study and pray over the Word of God. 

 We know that the Bible is valuable.  As it says in Psalm 119:72 God’s word is “better than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.”

 We are pleased to have the honor and privilege of bringing these gifts to you.

 But we have not come to Nicaragua simply to bring these gifts. 

 It would only take one person—maybe two—to bring this offering to you.  It doesn’t take 14 people to carry the money to buy these Bibles.  (We purchase these Bibles here in Nicaragua—and your President, Eddy Moncada, was gracious enough to do most of the work—buying them and bringing them here).  So you can see that we didn’t need to send 14 people to bring these gifts to you. 

 But we needed to bring 14 people.  And we will send 12 more people next week.  Because it will take 26 people to carry your abundant gifts back to our churches:

• your testimony of commitment and service
• the joy you find in knowing our Lord
• your trust in Him day by day
• your willingness to serve Him in whatever ways He chooses to use you
• your joy and enthusiasm in worship

 The Spirit of God is alive and present in the churches of Nicaragua.

 Your faith challenges us to trust in God.

 Your hope in God, despite difficult circumstances, challenges us to put our hope in Him (to be stronger in our faith) and to recognize that God alone is our hope and our only true security.

 You commitment to serve God and to give sacrificially of your time, your resources and your abilities in order to do God’s work in this world challenges us to recognize the opportunities God gives us to serve Him among the poor and oppressed and forgotten people in our communities and throughout the world. 

 Your joy in worship challenges us to sing out in praise with enthusiasm and life and joyful hope.

 Your commitment to one another—the way you care for each other’s physical needs and spiritual needs—challenges us to pay attention to the ways God is calling us to care for people in our churches and communities.  And it strengthens our partnership with you (our brothers and sisters)—our desire to join with you in your ministries of service. 

 We are thankful for the many gifts we have received from you this week as we have had the honor and privilege of working side by side with you, and as we have had opportunities to play together, to sing together, to share meals with each other, and to worship in your churches. 

 You have given us many gifts to take home to share with our churches.  And it will take all 14 of us to carry these blessings home.

 We came here to work, but we have had many opportunities to play.  A few nights ago there was an international soccer match (Nicaraguans vs. North Americans) right here in this place.  The score was 21-1 (in favor of the Nicaraguans).  Our youth had a hard time scoring a point even when the “big guy” carried off your goalie!  After a while, the youth decided to “even up” the teams, with some Nicaraguans and some North Americans on each team.  They all had a lot of fun together.  And it was good to see the ways we were building relationships with each other. 

 So it is with our ministries together.

 As Paul says in 2 Corinthians:  “Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality.  At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need.”

 We hope that the gifts we bring will bless your in your ministries: that they will help you to grow stronger in your faith and that they will bring life and hope and challenge to you—just as your gifts have to us. 

 May God bless us in this partnership we have with each other so that through our ministries others may come to know God’s gracious love and the abundant hope that comes from Him.  Amen.