You Are Enough
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Paul, in his second letter to the church in Corinth, wrote, “Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness…we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.”
The generous undertaking Paul is talking about is related to his fundraising efforts to the Christian church outside of Jerusalem, often established along wealthy olive oil trade routes and consisting of many communities with means, to share resources with Christians in poverty who remain in Jerusalem.
In particular, Paul’s letters throughout the New Testament, including 2 Corinthians, hint at a large fundraising effort scholars call the “Jerusalem donation” collected in response to a devastating multi-year famine that occurred in Judea and Syria and the multiple years of hunger and poverty that resulted, especially in Jerusalem. Paul wasn’t the only one seeking to provide help. A Jewish historian named Josephus wrote of a queen and her son who also provided dried figs and grain to Jerusalem during this famine from their wealth. This famine led to widespread death and devastation.
The word “enough” takes on a different meaning during a crisis, doesn’t it?
In the context of famine, Paul idealizes a reality where “the one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.” Economically speaking, many people might look at that statement in 2024 and cry out “Communism is evil! People should have what they have worked to gain!”
That might be a completely different discussion topic and places of famine today for us in the US seem far away. But hunger is (and has been) constantly present in our communities today. Crises abound. But crises vary so profoundly and occur so frequently that it can be overwhelming to consider them all. How can we be people of faith who are generous and seek to serve when there are too many crises to respond to?
The fact of the matter is, we have great abundance in our community. We have a congregation that excels in many things. We have a facility that can help us accomplish important and impact ministries.
But I think it can also feel like we are also not enough. That we don’t have enough resources. That we aren’t young enough. That we aren’t energetic enough. That we don’t have enough people in our congregation.
It is so easy to look at ourselves and say “I am not enough.”
But that is not what God says. And while this part of 2 Corinthians is pretty clearly an appeal of Paul to fundraise, I also hear another important message buried within what he is saying: “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.”
We are enough. Whether by the fact that we are inherently worthy children of God, or through the redemptive work of Christ—we ARE enough. And there is something each of us has that can rise to whatever occasion God is calling us to serve.
Whether it is the crisis of a famine, or impossible social crises that we see every day—God has made every one of us enough to be a part of how these crises turn into opportunities for the hungry to be fed, the homeless to become housed, the sick to become healed, the isolated to find belonging, the church to rise up in joy and vitality.
When you look around and see abundance and “enough” instead of scarcity, what crises-turned-opportunities can you find?
