“The Macedonian Miracle”

2 Corinthians 8:1-7

David A. Shirey

Broadway Christian Church

Our subject this morning is miracles.  I witnessed one this week as a merry band of volunteers unloaded, transported, sorted, priced, displayed, shelved, hung, sold, bagged and boxed Boone County residents’ finest cast-off treasures: 217 metric tons of do-dads, gizmos, gadgets, gear, and all manner of wearable, readable, playable, decorate-able and (I guess) useable stuff in 72 hours, raised 30 grand in quarters, dollar bills and twenties, and then in 180 minutes made everything vanish in time for worship this morning. Broadway’s Garage sale is a miracle!  Well, there are all kinds of miracles in the Bible, too. They’re just not as impressive as the garage sale. Red Sea parting. Water into wine. Lepers’ skin made smooth as babies’ bottoms. 

But I submit to you that the miracle among miracles is what Paul witnessed at the church in Macedonia where he says (and I quote), “They begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing” (2 Cor. 8:4) … in a Stewardship Campaign.  You heard me right:  a congregation that begged to contribute to a Stewardship Campaign.  As someone who has undertaken his share of stewardship campaigns over 42 years of ministry, that beats anything I’ve ever heard of.  People begging to make a pledge? Pu-leeeze!  Phil Fichter: you’re Chair of the Stewardship Campaign for the umpteenth time. Tell me, has your cell phone been blowing up in recent weeks due to the number of calls you’ve been receiving from people begging you to be on the Stewardship Committee?  Please Phil.  Please, please , please.  I’m begging you, please let me help you with the Stewardship Campaign.  Didn’t happen!

I know what really happened in Macedonia.  Word got out that Paul was leading a Stewardship Campaign, inviting the members of Macedonia Christian Church to give of the fruits of their labors to extend the ministry of Christ’s Church far and wide and folks were saying,  “If your phone rings and the caller ID says Paul,  Don’t answer it! Let it go to voicemail.”  People were saying, “If you get a letter in the mail the first week of April on church stationery sent out from Pastor Paul’s administrator, Ingrid, Don’t open it!  It’s got a pledge card in it. Keep it at a distance.  Drop it in the recycling unopened.  Say you never saw it.” People were forwarding an e-mail to one another that had as its heading: Warning!  It read: “If you get an e-mail with the words Paul, church, or stewardship in the title, delete it immediately! Don’t open it. It will harm your computer, savings account, and stock portfolio and has even been known to crack children’s piggy banks down the middle. 

My point is this:  people don’t beg for the favor of taking part in Stewardship Campaigns! They beg to be spared from them. Countless jokes have been made about preachers taking up offerings and I think I’ve heard ‘em all. 

Hey Preacher, did you hear the one about the two men who were stranded on a deserted island? One was cheerful and upbeat. The other was nervous and dispirited.    “Why are you so happy?,” the anxious man asked his compatriot. “Don't you know we’ll never be found?  We’re gonna die in this godforsaken place.” 

“Cheer up,” the first guy said, “We’ll be fine. My church pledge is due next Sunday and I know the finance committee will find me.” Hardy har har. 

The folks in Macedonia begging earnestly for the privilege of giving was a miracle on several counts: 

• For one thing, they gave even though they were living in trying economic circumstances. “During a severe ordeal of affliction,” Paul writes, “their extreme poverty … overflowed in a wealth of generosity.”  Folks who didn’t have much to give gave anyway. Diminished income didn’t restrict generous outgo. A miracle.  

• There’s more: they gave sacrificially. Paul testified, “They gave according to their means… and even beyond their means.” They went the second mile. They increased their giving beyond what could have been expected.  A miracle.

• Plus, Paul notes “their abundance of joy.” They didn’t give begrudgingly, but joyfully. In the next chapter Paul pens the famous line “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6).

In sum:  those Macedonian Christians living in hard times nevertheless gave generously, sacrificially, and joyfully. Miraculous stuff!

Which got me to wondering.  How’d dey do dat?  What happened in Macedonia to precipitate such a miracle of giving?  According to Paul, the key was this: “First, they gave themselves to the Lord…” (2 Corinthians 8:5). They didn’t first call in a professional fundraiser. They didn’t first do a needs assessment. They didn’t first do a potential lead donor income analysis. That’s secular fundraising stuff.  The secret sauce in the Macedonia Stewardship Campaign was supremely spiritual: “First, they gave themselves to the Lord.” They put God first and everything else followed. We just sang, Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord to Thee.  When we consecrate our lives, everything else follows: Take my intellect and use/ Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose. Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold.  If you put God first and give yourself to God heart, mind, soul, and might, everything else, including your wallet and purse, will follow.

The story is told of Sam Houston, hero of Texas history, who gave his life to the Lord in his later years and asked to be baptized. He was taken down to a stream and the pastor said, "General Houston, you should take your glasses off because I am going to immerse you." There were some papers in General Houston's pocket, so he took those out as well. Then, just as he was getting ready to go into the water, the pastor noticed that General Houston still had his wallet in his pants. He said, "General, you might want to take that wallet out of your pants. It’ll get wet. Houston said, "If there is any part of me that needs baptizing, it is my wallet." Which reminds me of something Martin Luther said to the effect that "There are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, the mind, and the purse." When it comes to giving, some people will stop at nothing.  But not those Macedonians.  Apparently, their wallets and purses got baptized, too, because they stopped at nothing to give, begged earnestly for the privilege of giving. 

I tell you, miracles happen when people of faith don’t just say and sing their faith, but generously give it. I’ll never forget the story a colleague told me years ago about a church in western Kansas where almost everyone was involved in raising wheat. One day the church treasurer resigned her position and everyone wondered what was going to happen to the church. She had been the treasurer for years and the church had appreciated all her hard and dedicated work, but the day she resigned everybody began to wonder, “Who’s going to do that work for the church now?”

Finally, the church officers asked the manager of the local grain elevator if he’d be willing to serve as treasurer.  He agreed, but on two conditions. First, the congregation had to agree that no treasurer’s report be given during the first year he served as treasurer.  Second, no questions would be asked about the finances of the church during that year. 

The people were a bit taken aback by his request, but since no one else was willing to serve and since most of those wheat farmers did business with him at his grain elevator and trusted him, they agreed to his conditions. 

That year, everything at the church seemed to be going great. At the end of the year, it was time for the annual congregational meeting.  All and the year-end financial report.  The treasurer stood up an gave the following report:  

• Outreach giving has been paid over 200% more than last year.

• Our programs of faith formation for children, youth, and adults are fully underwritten and all the Christian Education rooms, including the Nursery, have been renovated.

• We have such a surplus in our Operating Budget we’re able to underwrite an additional mission trip this summer.  

• There are no outstanding bills.

• The cash balance is 20% higher than it’s ever been.

• The church’s mortgage has been paid in full. 

“Wait a minute,” someone said. “How’s that possible? Where’d that money come from? What did you do?  Rob a bank?” 

The treasurer then quietly answered: “All of you bring your grain to my grain elevator.  Throughout the year, I simply withheld 10% on your behalf and gave it to the church in your name. You didn’t even miss it. Do you see what happens when we give the first fruits of our fields to God who owns it all but entrusts it to us to use in ways that honor God and bless others?”

This is all to say that whether it’s a church in Western Kansas or Bible-times Macedonia, miracles happen when God’s people “first give themselves to the Lord.”         After Paul tells the Corinthians of the Miracle in Macedonia he writes, “Just as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge – see that you also excel in this grace of giving” (2 Corinthians 8:7). May God help us excel in the grace of giving this Stewardship Campaign.

And why wouldn’t we excel?  It’s a New Day Broadway! That’s not just the theme of our Stewardship Campaign. It’s the truth! It’s a new day around here. New pastoral leadership. New staff.  Renewed enthusiasm. New worship services being planned.  New people visiting and joining. The ‘ol Broadway spirit is burning brightly once again. And get this, 2/3 of our Board members, elders, and deacons have already turned in their pledges “begging earnestly for the privilege of sharing.” Jennie and I filled out a pledge card for 2024-2025.  We won’t be here, but you will and we believe in you and your ministry and want to be a part of it with part of our tithe.  I wouldn’t ask you to do anything I don’t do. We’re in.  Join us!    

The way I look at it is this:  If the Red Sea can part, if water can be turned into wine, if Boone County cast-off stuff can be turned into Habitat Houses, if miracles can happen in Macedonia and Kansas, why not at 2601 W. Broadway? It’s a New Day Broadway! May God help us excel in this grace of giving. Mail in your pledge card this week. (Sniffing pledge card) Smells like a miracle to me!

And all God’s people said, AMEN.