Thursday, December 9, 2021
Readings:
Isaiah 12:2-6
Amos 6:1-8
2 Corinthians 8:1-15
2 Corinthians 8:8-15
8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
10 And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, 15 as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”
Take a second and read the first 7 verses of 2 Corinthians 8. Today we start by looking at verse 8. You know the saying, “Jesus is the reason for the season”? Have you ever thought about that? I mean really thought about that. The reason for the season would really be…. we needed it. “Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor”. Now, I’m not one to ask for help. I don’t want to put my burden of needs on anyone else. But, in this circumstance, there’s no way out of our dilemma. We need a savior. Talk about a true gift.
Remember that gift you got last year? You know the one. The one you had no clue how to use? The one you just stuffed in the closet. You know what I’m talking about. You know that grace is a gift. It is freely offered up to us. But it’s our choice on how to receive it. We, good Methodists, hear a lot about God “wooing” us. God is searching for us. This gift is offered. How do we use this? What do we do?
I challenge you, friends. Open the gift. Accept the grace, offered. Extend it to others. Finish your work. Welcome the stranger, for we are all brothers and sisters of Christ. Make room at the table. There’s a gift for them, too.
Come, Emmanuel.
Charles Morrow
Director of Music Ministries, Huntersville UMC
