By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
June, 30, 2024
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2 Corinthians 8:7–15 (ESV)
7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also. 8 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 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 by his poverty might become rich. 10 And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. 11 So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. 12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness 14 your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. 15 As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”
Last week we spoke about grace. I mentioned that in the pagan world grace was seen as a blessing from the gods. Those that had wealth, power, or the things that hold value in this world we signs that you had grace. This is a common theme throughout most cultures. Various groups like focus on these seemingly blessed people as their leaders, chosen by the hands of the gods. Even within the church there are remnants of this philosophy.
It is a philosophy that runs deep within our human nature. We see that there are people that have more than others. We desire to be like them. We watch what they do how they act. We mimic them because we want what they have. This idolization of humanity that is at the core of this philosophy drives us to assume that the actions of the ruling, celebrity, academic, sporting, spiritual, what ever class of people we want to resemble, hold the key to divine blessing.
We need to be careful though. It is not inherently wrong to respect people. It is not a sin to recognize the skill or wisdom people have. It becomes a sin when we equate those people with God. When I was younger I loved the writings and the teachings of Ravi Zacharias. I thought he was a powerful man of God, he had an ability to speak, he was convincing, and could speak right into the very heart of the questions I had. A few years ago it was revealed that this man was not what he seemed. He spoke eloquently about faith, but it was revealed that his actions did not reflect the words that he spoke.
This shook my faith. I began to wonder if all I believed was some sort of manipulative lie. I questioned things because that is how he lived his life. He used the mask of faith to obtain his own desires. He manipulated people to do things contrary to the faith that he taught. He did this because within his mind because he was doing so much for God, he deserved it.
That grace is not the grace of which Christ grants. The grace of which Paul teaches is not to make our own lives better. It is not to give us power over people, or wealth. It is not even there to give us some secret knowledge or wisdom. Grace is life. Grace is the divine power to live within a community where there is mutual benefit to all involved. Grace is the strength to live a life loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the of Christ with others. Grace is loving God with everything that we have and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
This is what Paul taught. He challenged the teachings of the Hellenistic philosophies that were dominant within that culture, and he pointed out that he did not experience what the world would call grace. Instead he faced suffering. He faced hardship, and hunger. The world taught health and wealth, but Christ did not teach that. Christ instead said, love your enemies, do good to those that persecute you. He taught blessed are the poor, the meek, those that sorrow. They are blessed because they understand something that the world’s philosophies do not or cannot teach. Life goes on.
Life continues even if the blessing does not seem to manifest. Life continues even when the journey seem hard. Life continues. How do we live in this life? How can we live when for the vast majority of people the blessing or grace of the gods does not come near?
We live through repentance. This is an important theological concept. For most of my life I have been taught that repentance is merely a confession of faith in God, where we tell him our sins and ask for his forgiveness. This is part of repentance, but it is not the whole.
Repentance means to turn again, or return. The idea behind the theological concept of repentance is that we recognize that we have been traveling a path through life that is contrary to God, and we return to the proper life and lifestyle. Repentance is more than a spiritual confession of our wrong doing, it is a complete change, a turning of our mind, body, soul and spirit. Every aspect of our life should adjust away from what we did prior and return to a life with God.
Paul tells the people of Corinth, “but as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you – see that you excel in this act of grace also.”
I like excel. I have learned to use that program designed by Microsoft in a ways that have allowed me to advance in my career. I actually like that they named their software excel because it is a good word. Paul, of course, is not speaking of a program that was developed nearly two thousand years after he died. He is speaking of the ideal of excel.
The concept of excel is an overabundance, or a superabundance. It is something that exceeds the expectation. This is the life of grace of which Paul speaks of, a life that is overabundant. We hear a great deal about this type of life. But Paul does not tell us that the excelling grace within our life is the riches of this world. Instead he expresses that grace is a life and lifestyle where terrible pain and suffering can occur, and through it all those that have grace have joy, and become a blessing to those around them.
As you excel, he says, in everything. Paul then lists areas of life, in faith, speech, knowledge, earnestness, and love. I want us to stop and consider these areas of life. He is encouraging us to live our lives sharing abundantly.
How do we excel in the area of faith? If we were to look up the definition of faith, it would say that faith is the trust and hope in things not yet realized. Faith, like grace, is often misunderstood. Some regard faith as blind. Some regard faith as superstition. Some even consider faith to have some psychic style of magical power. But what is faith? What is faith lived out where people can see?
As a pastor I am still fairly young, but I have seen many things in my life. When it comes to faith the first thing that comes to my mind is not what most people think of. When I am asked what is faith my mind goes to the hymn, “It is well with my soul”.
That hymn was written by Haratio Spafford. He was a successful lawyer in Chicago. As his success grew, he invested his profit in real estate. Just when he began to think everything was perfect in his life, the great fire of Chicago sparked and he ended up losing his investments, and his four year old son died from scarlet fever. For a couple of years he continued to work hard and was able to again invest, this time the Panic of 1873 wiped him out. His family faced unimaginable financial and personal losses, yet they did not despair, they continued to live the lifestyle of faith. After such losses he decided a change of scenery would do them all good. He planned a vacation, and his wife and their four daughters boarded a ship for Europe while he remained in for a while finish some business at home, with the plan to meet them in England soon. His family did not reached their destination. The ship had a collision at sea and sank. His wife was one of the few survivors, and she sent a telegram to her husband that said, “Saved alone. What shall I do?”
Five children lost in death and an ocean separated this husband and wife. Horatio immediately boarded a ship to join his grieving wife. The captain of the ship was aware of the loss Horatio had suffered and when they came to the place of the tragedy, he meet with the heartbroken father to let him know where his daughters died.
Horatio listened to the captain, he faced the loss, the suffering, the sorrow. And in that moment words filled his heart.
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll-
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to know.
It is well, it is well with my soul.
What is faith? It is hope when facing tragedy. It is moving forward into the hazy future, not knowing exactly what will happen but trusting that no matter what you will find, that you will remain in the grace of a loving God. Faith is not magic, it is not blind acceptance in something impossible either. Faith is an expression or attitude that no matter what happens, we will adapt and continue. I know that faith, I have experienced that grace.
And my family sang that song together as we said our final farewell to my little sister twenty-seven years ago. Life is not easy, and faith does not come easy either. But when we have it the grace that God extends to us is abundant.
Paul speaks of abundant faith, excelling faith and he continues, by saying we also excel in speech. We often have an almost fairy tale view of what the early church was like. We read through the Acts of the Apostles and we begin to think that everything within those pages were happening all the time in everyday life. I firmly believe that miracles happen, I believe that the words of scripture are true, I also know through the study of history that life in the early church was ordinary. When Paul writes about the excelling grace within our speech, he is not saying that we are speaking in tongues or uttering prophetic words every moment of the day. He is saying that the grace of God is seen or heard in how we converse with people. Words of hope and kindness. Words of encouragement and comfort. He is saying that the people with excelling grace in their lives are people that we trust to share our hopes and fears with because they will respond appropriately.
How does this look in life? I again draw from my own experiences. Twenty-six years ago I was a anxious young man that had just found out was going to be a father. I had to tell my parents. My father was the clerk of the meeting. And the clerk of the meeting among Friends is the person within the religious society that holds the most weight or respect within a meeting. Basically the clerk is equal to the pastor. I was scared. What would people think of me, and my parents. What will they do?
I told my mother what I had done. I knew that I had to tell her, because there was no hiding the reality. I expected yelling, screaming, and possibly a need to find a place of my own. But that was not what happened. My mom remained calm. She expressed her disappointment, but as she expressed this she assured me that I was loved. She then helped me develop a plan moving forward.
Her words and actions in that moment, provided assurance to my life. She let me know that I was loved, and forgiven, while at the same time not removing the reality that my actions had consequences. Her excelling speech contained grace, truth, and love. And her words were accompanied with action. The response of my dad and mom, compelled me to be honest with myself and the church, and the church responded the same way. They did not turn away but encouraged me to excel. I am a pastor today because a little church in the middle of nowhere excelled in speech.
Knowledge goes along with speech, but it goes deeper. We need to continue to learn and grow. We need to continue to understand the world around us, so that we can speak truth into ever changing situations. And we need to know when we should not speak. My educational background prior to entering into ministry was based primarily in science. In my mind the way God was calling me to minister in the world was to help make crops that would feed the hungry. It never occurred to me that I would eventually become a pastor.
It is important have knowledge, to be curious and to study. Scripture urges us to reason with God. It tells us to observe and discern. These are all areas of life that speak of using and developing our mental capacities. We should grow in knowledge and as we grow we should inspire those around us. This is what the people that started this church did. The early Friends believed that knowledge was important, and that it should be available to everyone. They started schools for indigenous people, and they would often send their own children to learn along side them. They started schools as they moved west. And most of the meetings or areas within our Yearly Meeting had a school.
The availability of an education for all has been part of who we are as Friends even though we do not believe that God can only use the educated in ministry. Although this focus has dwindled over the years access to education remains important and is why Barclay College sought a grant to offer free tuition to students living on campus. We encourage the excelling of knowledge, but we also encourage ethics within our pursuit of knowledge.
This is where earnestness come in. Earnestness speaks of eagerness as well as goodwill. Grace, as Paul teaches, is not for personal gain. Grace is instead focused on life with God and with our neighbors. Excelling faith gives hope even in the darkest hours. Excelling speech provides truth with love. Excelling knowledge encourages curiosity and a growth of understanding of nature and everything within it. But earnestness speaks of a drive to make our communities better for all. We should be active. We should participate. If we see injustice we should use the knowledge we have to effect change. We do this not because it will bring us personal gain but because it is the right thing to do.
Excelling earnestness, I think can be seen in the life of a man named Johns. Johns was born in 1795 and raised in the Society of Friends. He was a successful man of business and eventually began to lend his excess wealth to others. As a banker he gained even more wealth and influence within the community. This influence allowed him to become a director of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, you might know it as the B&O railway from the game monopoly. During the financial panics of 1857 and 1873 Johns bailed the railroad out of financial ruin to help avert panic in the businesses in Baltimore.
You might say that he was just a regular rich man but Johns was different. Unlike most bankers Johns would offer better rates to young men starting in business and higher rates for those that we wealthier. This practice many would see as upside down but this is the earnestness of which Paul teaches. Johns gave the better rates to encourage the younger generation with the hopes that they would succeed and in turn encourage others. This angered established businesses but Johns continued. He invested most of his wealth to help his community succeed.
Johns tried to figure out ways to encourage others, and since he did not have a wife or children to leave his wealth to, he made different plans. Johns’s family were Quakers and early abolitionists, but they we not perfect. They participated in slavery, but as their understanding began to shift they did what they could to provide reparations for their wrongdoing. Johns left some of his wealth to his surviving relatives, and to three servants that had lived in his household. Johns’s life to this point is impressive, but the reason I bring him up is for something else.
He wrote this to the trustees of his estate. “The indigent sick of this city and its environs, without regard to sex, age, or color, who may require surgical or medical treatment, and who can be received into the hospital without peril to the other inmates, and the poor of this city and state, of all races, who are stricken down by any casualty, shall be received into the hospital, without charge.”
Johns Hopkins, used his wealth to start a hospital and university where people within his community would have access to medical training and healthcare. Johns died of pneumonia on Christmas eve, 1873. Some of his critics said the died because he was too cheap to buy himself a winter overcoat. He was cheap because he gave to his community. And his legacy continues to influence the world today. That is excelling earnestness. It is doing what is good for others even it it costs you. It is putting the good of others, the good of your community, before yourself.
Paul then speaks of love. He says he does not command that we love, but prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. I want us to stop for a moment. And just reflect on the things I have described. Faith, speech, knowledge, earnestness and love. Each of these things are aspects of our life and lifestyle that require a relational participation. We do, or share, these things with others. This is grace.
Grace is more than a gift. Grace is life with God and with others. Grace is more than something we experience in the here after, it is something we live in today. Grace is life. “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 by his poverty might become rich. And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you…so now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have.”
We all want the abundant life. We tend to think if I do the right things, say the right words, get to know the right people I will have all I need. We idolize people in the world, and sometimes we do not fully know who those people are. Do our words and our actions resemble each other?
Paul shows us that grace is more. Grace is life with God and life with those in our community. If we want excelling grace if we want the over and super abundance, we need to stop looking at ourselves and instead take on the life and lifestyle of Jesus. Everything we have in this life is a gift from God, given to us through our relationship with others and should be invested back into those relationships. We might work and earn what we have, but it is still a gift. Work, is done in relationship. How are we living? Are we excelling? Can people see God in how you respond to difficulties, in how you speak, in your application of knowledge? Do we earnestly participate in bringing those within our communities into a better position in life? Are we showing the love of Christ in all we do?
Previous Messages:
Living Stones
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 03, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 2:2–10 (ESV) 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have…
Endure
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 26, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Query 4 (Faith and Practice of EFC-MAYM pg 61) Do you provide for the suitable Christian education and recreation of your children and those under your care, and…
Ransomed to Love
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 19, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 1:17–23 (ESV) 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time…
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