2 Corinthians 9: 6-15 (links validated 11/11/25a)
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The "S" Word
In one of his sermons, the Rev. Dr. John Ortberg told of M.I.T. professor who did a fascinating study on the happiness level of Olympic medalists. After an event is completed, the gold medalist performed the best, the silver medalist did the next best and the bronze medalist ended up third. The question posed by the professor was this: “Who do you think was the happiest athlete in that competition?” The obvious answer is the gold medalist. But the answer to the next question is not so obvious. That question was: “Who do you think was second happiest?” You might think it was the one who came in second, but that’s not right. The second happiest person was the bronze medalist. The study showed that the athlete who won the bronze medal, compared himself or herself downward to the one who came in fourth and thought, “Wow! I almost didn’t get a medal at all. I’m so grateful for what I got when I could have had nothing.” On the other hand, the silver medalist compared himself or herself to the gold medalist. They became obsessed with thoughts like these: “If only I could have shaved a tiny sliver off my time, I could have won. Then I’d have been happy.” So the silver medalists are actually less happy than the bronze medalists. Thinking about that study, Ortberg believes that it has something very real and deep to say about the human heart. Among other things, he says that same tendency applies to the way most people look at money. Here’s how he explains that, “Money will say to you, ‘Keep looking at people who have more than you do. And just think how much happier you’d be if you had what they have.’” He adds, “One of the biggest lies […] is that what is keeping you from being generous is just lack of funds and that more money will make you more generous. That you really have a generous heart. The only reason you’re not giving now is ‘cause things are really tight, but one day you’ll have more money and then you’ll be more generous. [However, t]he reality is one of the most consistent findings in the field of finance is that people with lower incomes give a higher percentage of their money than people in higher income brackets — averaged over the general population. That remains true year after year.”...
Resources from 2017 to 2024
Sowing Generously
Harvest Festival tells us to look around and realise that there are other people in the world, who are no different to us, no more or less deserving, no more or less loved by God, who need us to pass on what we’ve received, to live as generously with them as God does with us. Some of them are in our Poverty and Hope leaflets today. There’s Moussa, in Burkina Faso. A small gift to him of goats, chickens and sheep from Christian Aid and it has turned his life around. The sheep pay the children’s school fees, and provide his family with a financial cushion if the harvest isn’t good. That means the children don’t have to work underground in dangerous mines – their only other option. They can get an education which will unlock all sorts of opportunities for them, their families and their community. A little bit of generosity, a small seed, landing in the right place in Moussa’s life has transformed not only his life but the lives of many others too...Stone Soup
A traveller came to a certain village, and asked for some food, but none of the villagers would help him. So the traveller said to them, “never mind, I’ll make myself some soup, using my magic stone, and then there will be plenty for us to share.” He produced a stone from his pack, and asked if he could borrow a pot. The villagers were intrigued, so someone fetched him a pot – a large pot – which he filled the pot with water. He built a fire, and set the pot over it, and then, solemnly, dropped the stone into the water. Now and then he stirred the water about a bit, and eventually he took a sip from his spoon. “Is it ready?” asked the curious villagers. “Hmm” he said. “It is tasting good, but it would be even better if I had an onion to put in it.” One of the villagers happened to have an onion – she’d had a glut in her vegetable patch that year - so she fetched it and gave it to him...Your Money and Your Life
One of the biggest stories relating to giving recently, at least around here, is the Carson King story. You probably know who I am talking about. A guy holds up a sign during the College Gameday broadcast from Ames several weeks ago saying “Busch Light Supply Needs Replenished” and the way to give. It was caught on camera, and people actually sent money. He just did it for laughs, but when money came in he decided to donate it to the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. And it went viral. It became a massive story that had a number of twists and turns and controversy, but in the end people donated $3 million to the hospital. A guy makes a joke about beer money on national TV and the hospital gets $3 million. It was really amazing...