Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Word of the Lord which engages us this morning comes from our Epistle lesson (2 Corinthians 8). ����������������

A wealthy Texan liked to give special, memorable gifts to his dad on Father's Day. One year it was hang gliding lessons. Another year, the son gave him an entire collection of Slim Whitman's hits. But last spring the rich Texan felt he had topped all the previous years. He bought a rare kind of talking bird. Besides speaking five languages, this bird also could sing "The Yellow Rose of Texas" while standing on one foot. The talented bird was very expensive, $10,000, but the Texan thought it was worth every penny for his father. His dad would never forget this Father's Day gift!" ����������������

A week later after Father's Day he phoned his father. "Dad, how did you like the bird?" "Fine" the father responded. "It was delicious." (story from Rev. Henry Simon in Concordia Pulpit Resource, September 2003). ����������������

Like that father, you and I often don't fully appreciate and understand and use the gifts that God has given to us. In the wondrous gift of our Baptism, which we celebrate here with Loren and Janet and Molly, the Lord has placed His Name upon us, calling us and adopting us into His heavenly family. God has made us his Father and we His children through this wondrous gift. But yet we too often forget this gift, neglect it. We forget that in this gift we were each individually united with Christ's death and resurrection (Romans 6: 3-5), the greatest gift the world has ever known. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever trusts in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3: 16) God gave His Son to us as a gift.

His Son, Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, came of His own accord. "Though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8: 9). When the rich Texan gave his dad the $10,000 bird, he was still a rich Texan. But when Christ gave his gift, He gave up his immeasurable riches in heaven and became poor, giving himself into the most poverty-stricken modes of death, death on the cross � for you, for me. ����������������

He continues to give wondrous gifts that we too often look past. In a few moments, many of us will receive the gift of Christ's true Body and Blood. In that gift we receive forgiveness of sins, life and salvation (Small Catechism). In my role as your pastor I have had the privilege of privately administering this wondrous gift to numerous people who were either near death or knew they had been near death recently. It is with those people that I have seen the truest appreciation for this gift that you and I can so easily look past, not fully appreciate. I have had people well up with tears after being touched by their Lord Jesus in this way, when they knew with tangible confidence of their Lord's forgiveness, life and salvation for them. They have thanked me profusely for bringing them the gift, even though I am only the delivery man, not the gift giver himself. ����������������

The Macedonian churches understood and appreciated the gift of grace that God had given to them in Christ. Paul used them as an example for others, the Corinthians. In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians he had instructed them about a special collection for the poverty-stricken Jerusalem churches: "1 Corinthians 16:1 Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem."

Apparently this collection had not gone as well among the Corinthians as Paul had hoped. He writes to them again in our text (2 Corinthians 8). Paul tells the Corinthians that despite their trials, the Macedonians to their north had welled up with overflowing joy and rich generosity. Paul noted that they had given as much as they were able, even beyond their ability, entirely on their own. They even pleaded with Paul for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints, the poorer Christian brothers and sisters who lived in Jerusalem. Paul doesn't command the Corinthians to give more, even though that may have been within his Apostolic authority to do so. Instead, he reminds them of the grace of their Lord Jesus, how for their sakes he became poor so that they might share in his eternal spiritual riches. Paul urged the Corinthians to match the spirit of grace and giving that the Macedonians had, not so they too would become poverty-stricken, but so their plenty could supply what Christians in another country needed. Paul wanted there to be equality among the Christian churches, the well-to-do supporting the destitute. ����������������

I don't often preach about financial giving. If you're a visitor or newcomer, I hope you'll believe me and check that out with regular members. I am pleased that when I compare the earnestness of Immanuel's love for her Lord with that of other similar congregations, at least when measured by financial giving as Paul is doing here in our text, our earnestness does surpass that of many. One pastor friend of mine was bemoaning the earnestness of his congregation members, how their giving each year was just over half what ours at Immanuel is. Despite living in a moderately affluent area, he said he had only one family giving more than $4000 per year. We have a dozen. He feared that he had very few families and individuals giving proportionally near 10%, especially after one of his church leaders volunteered to double his giving � to $600 per year or about 1% of his income. Probably around half of our regularly attending members give around 10% or more and another large portion give between 3-6%. As a congregation we give back to missions more than 20% of what is collected, at least if we include our Early Childhood Center ministry giving alongside our giving to local and foreign missions. ����������������

I don't often preach about financial giving, about stewardship with our earthly wealth, but if the appointed text for the day highlites it, I would be remiss in my pastoral duties to avoid it. While we compare well with our similar churches, I am certain that Paul would also still urge us (but not command us, v. 8) to excel in this grace of giving. He would urge this, not so we can make our budget, but so the earnestness of our love can be seen by ourselves, by others, by our Lord. Our Lord has given us not only the riches of spiritual gifts in Christ, but He has also blessed us with abundant earthly gifts. Even many poor people in our country are quite well to do by the standards of the rest of this world. If you or I are in a family that makes $25,000 or more, we are in the top 1% of income in the world. In the eyes of other people, we are rich. In the eyes of people who lived 100 or 1000 years ago, we would all be rich. To show our thankfulness and earnestness for His gifts of grace to us, we may want to give like the Macedonians. ��

While we are above the American Christian norm in our giving, I have yet to have anyone, including myself, "urgently plead for the privilege of sharing" even beyond our ability. ����������������

After one pastor had given a Stewardship sermon one Sunday, he was invited to have dinner with one of his parishioners, a successful businessman-farmer. After the wonderful meal, the farmer took the pastor on a tour of his farm � a large operation, beautifully maintained. Returning home, the farmer and pastor sit back in easy chairs to let the dinner settle. The pastor suspects that his host has something on his mind, and after a period of silence he learns what it is.. "Now Pastor", says the farmer, "you've seen my property and all I've done with it. I grant you, God should be thanked for all that's out there, but wouldn't you agree that I'm the one that made it what it is?" The pastor thought for a moment and said "Ask me that again in 100 years." (from Rev. James Arle, Concordia Pulpit Resource, July 2003) ����������������

In 100 years, how will we all wish we had used and spent the earthly gifts of money, time and talents God has given to us? We have received the same eternal riches that the Macedonians and Corinthians had received. When we truly realize that the riches we have, spiritual and earthly, have been entrusted to us by God through his grace, then we comprehend that we have become stewards, managers of what is his, not ours. May we use these gifts wisely, day-to-day and at life's end. Our dear friend Dr. Oswald Hoffman closed a sermon once this way "I'm not afraid to talk about money and giving. All we have belongs to God anyway, including eternal life bought through the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." And to that we say "This is most certainly true."

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4: 7)