God loves a cheerful giver, as other translations read. However, the Greek translation for the word “cheerful” has the same root as our word hilarious. So we could read this verse as “God loves an hilarious giver”!  Isn’t that wonderful? Quite a different image of giving, don’t you think?  Cheerful is one thing, but hilarious giving brings a much fuller picture to the word cheerful.

The Scripture is clear: we have to make up our own minds, but Paul gives us guidelines: Don’t give reluctantly; don’t give out of compulsion and I would add don’t give out of guilt or another’s expectations. This is because God wants us to delight in our giving. The act of giving is meant to bring a joyful hilarity to our lives.

What a strange concept you say. How can we be generous, never mind hilarious, when we have limited incomes, bills that are predicted to escalate this year, goals and needs that are unaddressed, and catastrophes happening around the world?

But the call to giving is not about what we, or the church or even the world needs from us. It is about our relationship with God and who God is calling us to become, that is at stake.

Well, how does our giving help us become. You and I don’t just drift into good giving habits; it is something we learn. We learn how to save; we learn how to set priorities for our giving; we learn how to give first, not what is left over. We learn that God is not dependent upon us for our giving, but rather we are more dependent on learning how to give to God. We learn that God is either a priority in our lives, or not.

I would like to suggest that I think God has an order and a purpose for our giving.

1^st, we give out of gratitude to God. When we realize what wonderful things God has done in our lives, how lavishly God loves us, it is then that we know God is Lord, and we are not. When we look for the ways God is involved in our lives, we know when God is present in the hospital room; we know when the gift of love walks into our heart; we know that  the birth of a child is a miracle; when the desert bursts into bloom, that it is not our own doing. It is then that our thanks and praise burst out of us.             

Second, we give to receive. Giving is for the giver. It is through our giving, I think, that we are protected, shaped and recreated. Our preoccupation with money can create unhealthy behavior and attitudes; grasping, conniving, cheating, and addictive behavior. Not a week goes by that we don’t read of someone, not unlike us, who has misused funds, stolen from employers or killed for pocket change. Our giving then, is a kind of protection, from becoming self centered and uncaring about others. It is an investment in our relationship with God.                                                    

But giving to receive seems a bit selfish doesn’t it? Aren’t we supposed to be giving to others, instead of ourselves? Therein lays the paradox. We live in the richest country in the world; rich in resources, rich in beauty, rich in freedom, rich in opportunity. We are people of means, with possessions we don’t even use, let alone need.

We’ve never had it better…..and evidently, we’ve never felt worse about it, claims one study. Our houses are bigger, our incomes have increased, we are living longer and the environment is cleaner.  So what’s our problem?

Gregg Easterbrook, author of The Progress Paradox, suggests some reasons why we feel rotten in the midst of having so much; how it is, that we live in the paradox of being healthy and unhappy at the same time.                    

One reason he says, is that bad news sells. Disasters keep us glued to the TV, while it depresses us at the same time. We know this after following our own personal Tsunami, with Katrina and Rita blazing across our headlines.

A second reason we are unhappy is Americans are sleep deprived. We sleep three hours a night less than people a century ago, and that can make us cranky! 

Third, we are full of envy. Stories of the fabulously wealthy inaccurately point to our inadequacy, even when we are quite comfortable.                            

Fourth, a solution to one problem seems to create another  problem. For example, the intended convenience and safety of cell phones now has us scared of being killed on the freeway, by an inattentive driver. Or inventions of new medicines may kill us with the side effects; or new cures are being discovered that we may not be able to afford. So, Easterbrook, claims, we are feeling bad while living better.

Paul is saying to the Corinthians and to us, that we are happier by generous, yes, hilarious, giving. We receive the most, from giving the most. Habitat for Humanity operates under this principle. Instead of a paycheck, volunteers donate vacation time, personal funds and their own skills and labor, in exchange for the great satisfaction of providing housing for those who cannot. This is hilarious giving, wouldn’t you say?

Years ago, my first trip to Egypt with my church, opened my eyes about giving. These people were the poorest I had ever seen; unemployment was high; salaries of the working could not support their families; cows were kept in their homes of dirt floors, to protect them from the burning sun; their best hospitals were places neither you nor I would use.  

Yet, despite all this, they were happy giving people. Upon our arrival we were greeted with Coca Colas and small gifts, so happy were they to see us. We were embarrassed, knowing they could not afford this extravagance, but they were joyful in their excitement of welcoming us into their homes and hearts. It was for me, an example of hilarious giving. We were struck between the disparity of their generous hearts and our cautious protection of our checkbooks back home. Their poverty did not prevent a joyful practice of giving in gratitude to God. It was a moment of truth for all of us.

We had journeyed far from home with a plan to help others. But instead, it was we who received so much more. Their gift of hilarious giving was contagious and we began to recognize a different poverty within us. It is a gift I will carry with me always.

This reciprocal relationship has continued for over 25 years, enabling us to support a school for the mentally handicapped in their village; to educate an Egyptian teacher in the U.S. to return to their village, and to receive a deepening faith, that money could not buy. The giving of these Egyptian Christians astounded and humbled us.

You see, giving, not just of our resources, but of ourselves, is closely tied to our faith. If we neglect our faith we are vulnerable to being tossed about by the wind, following friends, new ideas, the majority, anything, other than God. We even run the risk of saying, we don’t need God, and when we do, we can find ourselves blowing with the wind, misdirected and spiritually bankrupt.

It happened to Private Lynndie England. Only 22 years old, she was blown by the prevailing winds. Involved in the prisoner abuse, in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, her picture was flashed around the world. She was sentenced to 3 years in prison, along with a dishonorable discharge. At the trial, she blamed her boyfriend, for what happened, saying, “I was used by Private Garner; I trusted him and I loved him.”  Led by her boyfriend instead of God, Lynndie England is paying a stiff penalty for her involvement. What set out as giving to her country, resulted in her being taken. 

In all the hopeless sounding news, I would invite you to not allow it to snuff out the examples of hilarious giving; for it is everywhere. Last May I visited a church on Stewardship Sunday. The congregation had just moved into their beautiful new building only 4 months earlier, and this day they were kicking off a multi million dollar building campaign for phase two. There was a feeling of excitement as the people sang out their songs of praise, greeted one another in joy, and enthusiastically participated in the worship that day. It seemed like there was a generous giving of themselves in each part of the worship service, and it was contagious.

I was taken with the enthusiasm and the sense of celebration all around me. As I sat quietly, as visitors do, observing the excitement in the air, the other visitors in my row, asked where I was involved in the life of this church. Others welcomed me, introducing me to their friends and inviting me to attend the Stewardship dinner. It was clear they knew they were the church and not the new building. They spoke of themselves as a family where there is always room for one more. Everywhere there was an infectious sense of belonging.

But the most meaningful part of the service, for me, occurred with a member sharing part of his journey with us.  He had been a member only a few years, but in that time his life had been changed dramatically. Several years ago he found himself at the hospital with his wife who was having a chemo treatment. There had been several previous treatments, but this time she suffered an adverse reaction and began to slip down hill.

The doctors were unable to explain how, what began as a routine treatment, had slipped into something quite different. Alone, he decided to make a call; not to the church office, nor to one of the pastors, but to his Disciples Bible Study small group. He asked if one of them could come to sit with him and to his surprise, all 15 of his small group showed up. They took shifts through the night, until his wife unexpectedly died the next morning. It was an example of the group’s hilarious giving.

He went on to say, “I’m grateful when its stewardship time in this church, because this is the time I can thank God for this place, for these people, for the worship, for the programs and fellowship here. This group was my church family; they cared about me and walked through this dark night with me. I don’t have to give; I want to support what happens here in this church.

He shared his pledge amount, that one might call an hilarious gift, and went on to say, “This is a stretch for me, but I have decided to use some of my retirement portfolio to invest in this church.  “Please don’t be impressed with me;” he continued, “Instead be impressed with what God has done in my life and in this church. I am so grateful to God for this church and maybe my giving will make a difference in someone else’s life, like theirs did in mine.”

I was moved by his story; by his faith that had him investing in his relationship with God. His experience paved the way for this cheerful giver to become an hilarious giver.

But I was moved even more, as I recalled what God had done in my own life. I knew the truth of what this stranger was saying, because it has happened to me. I know it has happened to you too. Wonderful stories have happened here in this church, and will continue to happen, for God is in this place too. God has called us into membership and opened the doors wide to all who visit here. There are hilarious givers among us!

Over the last weeks we have been stunned with the effects of hurricane Katrina and Rita. We have watched with horror at the stories of looting and shooting at medical personnel seeking to reach the wounded; of people being left to die. But we have also watched stories of hilarious giving. One of these stories came from a merchant in my area I have gotten to know.

He left his business for ten days to drive down to Louisiana to rescue a friend and his family. He rented a U Haul and trailer and drove with his 15 year old son along, because, he said, “This is a learning of a lifetime, and I want my son to be part of this.  When my friend called, I had to go. It felt so good to get them out of there to a place of safety.” The drive back was one of trauma and mourning. The merchant gave the family $2,000, a place in his home to stay, connections for housing and employment leads. This was not reluctant giving; this was hilarious giving; the kind of giving that makes a difference in us.

This season of stewardship is an opportunity. It invites us to be on the team; to stretch and grow. It is an invitation to invest in our faith as we support the ministry and mission of this church. It is deciding to be a partner with God in guiding the youth of this congregation; of putting food on the table for those who are hungry; of providing shelter for homeless but hopeful people; of having worship and education that bring us closer to God, and fellowship that makes us family.

Telling and hearing stories of hilarious giving are important for us. They have me thinking about my own giving and I hope it does the same for you. You see, for all of these examples, the church member who became a widower, the Egyptians who gave when they had little to give, the merchant who gave freely when called; sacrifices were made in giving of themselves. Each of them knew that hilarious giving is both about resources and letting out what is good and beautiful inside us.

God asks us to invest in a holy generosity, not for those it will benefit first, but for us. When we say no, God is not the loser, we are. Hilarious giving is like a boomerang; it turns right around and blesses us! That’s why God invites us; so we can be blessed. And so we are.

Amen