my mourning into dancing.
Psalm 30:11
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
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. 8 I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
10 And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something— 11 now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.
12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. 13 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 14 your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. 15 As it is written, "The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little."
Epistles
An epistle is written communication – basically a letter – addressed to a person or group, although these days some blogs qualify as epistolary. Examples? Lead article in the church or organization newsletter. You may get some substack letters; I get a bunch (too much), but Boston College history professor Heather Cox Richardson's daily Letters from an American is the must-read.
In addition to seven letters the Apostle Paul wrote to various churches, the New Testament contains other epistles attributed to him, as well as letters that cite Peter, John, and James as author. Back then when they didn't have necessary copyright laws, attributing your writing to a well-known person was commonplace and not considered dishonest.
New Testament epistles received edits and annotations as they circulated to different churches, so every word and phrase might not be from the original writer. Paul's letters were earlier than any of the gospels—predating even Mark's Gospel.
Corinth
Today's second reading from 2 Corinthians addresses the Church at Corinth that famously was full of vanity, competition, and divisions that reflected the opulent, cosmopolitan style of the city. Particularly as it relates to money and finances, this passage is a default for stewardship campaigns. However, Paul doesn't focus on balancing the budget of the Corinthian Church; instead, he's concerned about connections and relationships between local churches.
In this section of the letter he wants the mostly gentile Corinthian congregation to provide financial assistance to the mostly Jewish Jerusalem church. Twenty-plus centuries later, different denominations have different polities or governance structures, but whether highly centralized like today's Church at Rome or almost autonomous local churches like free-standing Baptists, we're all interrelated and interdependent in Jesus Christ.
Grace and Economics
All of 2 Corinthians 8 says a great deal about grace; Greek for "generous undertaking" in verse 7 is gracious endeavor and charges the Corinthians to excel or abound in grace because of Jesus Christ's "generous act" that's simply grace in verse 9 – "though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor" – and echoes Paul's earlier Philippians 2:6-7.
In Greek, economics literally is the household law. Although verse 14 reads, "…so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance…" Christian economics is both material and spiritual and it's never zero-sum with one party depleted if they give to another. Not surprisingly Paul relates the meaning and impact of gifts of cash in the light (and in the shadow) of Jesus' death and resurrection.
This reading easily expands to spiritual and material gifts of service, prayer, compassion, food, presence, clothing, facilities maintenance, knowledge, and other specialties. Stewardship and giving need to encompass (1) cash ("legal tender") to exchange for stuff we need but can't produce ourselves; (2) time we need to get things done; (3) talents we apply (spend – you may remember a talent was a chunk of money in Jesus' day) toward ongoing or one-time only ministries. And, of course, stewardship of God's gracious gifts incorporates intelligence, prayer, scripture study, and – to all outward appearances – doing nothing as we wait to discern and learn what's next for us.
Where We Live
You probably remember reading about the nascent church in Acts 2:
43 Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.
Many many groups since then have tried living communally; monasteries usually function in ways to be sure everything has enough. Some monasteries and other religious groups freely provide for the surrounding community; others sell their produce, handicrafts, and other specialties to support themselves and those they reach out to.
In the world of Western liberal democracies, governments on all levels attempt a type of "fair balance" distributive justice. You probably can share your own experiences of sometimes giving, at other times receiving, of studying the issues and possibly acting by signing petitions or serving on advisory boards.
Joy cometh in the morning.
Psalm 30:5
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