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Life Is a Gift
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Scripture Passage
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Sermon Script
I thank God for everything that I have.
All I have comes from God. Good health, good food, good family, good church, and good life – they all come from God.
In that sense, I will say life is a gift. I see life as a gift.
Jesus gave us a very interesting story. Through this story, he makes a very important point.
There was an owner of a vineyard. Early in the morning he went out and saw people not working. He told them to come to his vineyard and work.
And at noon, he went out again and found some people again. He told them to come and work.
Even one hour before, he went out and there were still people who didn't have work. So he called them to come to his vineyard and work.
At the end of the day, he paid them, starting from people who came one hour before.
Surprisingly, he gave them one denarion, which was one day's full wage. They worked only one hour.
Later, he paid the people who came early in the morning and paid the same one denarion, which was the full wage.
People who came in the morning were upset. I understand why they were upset. I would be upset too.
But one thing was clear.
For people who came one hour before, one denarion was the gift. They went home recognizing that life is a gift.
How do you see your life?
Do you see it as a gift?
If you are able to see your life as a gift, that's wonderful. Not many people do that. It is not easy to see life as a gift.
The abundance we enjoy is a gift. It is a gift of grace.
St. Paul said in the next chapter.
And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)
Don't turn gifts into possessions. There is a difference between gifts and possessions.
If it is a gift, you share it with others.
If it is a possession, you own it. You keep it to yourself.
We don't own anything. Everything flows from God. And returns to God.
Life we have in this world is God's gift. When that life is over, it returns to God. We don't own life. The life we enjoy is God's gift.
Let me read 2 Corinthians 9:8 again.
And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)
You may share abundantly in every good work. That is the conclusion.
When you consider life as a gift, that's what you do. You share it with others.
You share your talents. You share your money. You share your time.
That is what St. Paul said in the beginning of today's passage.
Now as you excel in everything in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking. (2 Corinthians 8:7)
Corinthian church was a rich church. Compared to the church in Philippi, they were quite well off. But they were not as generous as the church in Philippi.
Northern part is Macedonia. And the southern part is Achaia. The church in Philippi belonged to Macedonia and the church in Corinth belonged to Achaia.
Achaia was much more affluent than Macedonia. But it was the church in Philippi which was much more generous.
People in Philippi understood the truth that life is a gift. People in Corinth did not yet understand this truth.
So St. Paul had to teach them about generous giving.
People in Corinth consider themselves spiritual, faithful, and wise. But they didn't yet know how to share.
Read verse 7 again. You see that kind of tone in Paul's message.
Now as you excel in everything in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking. (2 Corinthians 8:7)
They thought they had good faith, and good knowledge of God.
They thought they were good Christians and yet they didn't know the secret of seeing their life as a gift. So they didn't know how to share.
Even spiritual gifts – they consider them as possessions rather than as gifts.
When you read Paul's first letter to them, he mentioned the problem in the Corinthian church.
They were fighting with each other for the gifts they had. They were fighting about whose gift is greater.
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? (1 Corinthians 12:29, 30)
They were divided by the spiritual gifts they had. They turned the gifts of the Spirit into their personal possessions.
They were fighting with each other about who is greater. Whose gift is greater.
That's why St. Paul said,
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:7)
There are just different gifts. They are not your personal possessions.
God gives you gifts for the common good.
So, St. Paul said at the end of chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians,
But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. (1 Corinthians 12:31)
Then in chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians, he wrote the most famous chapter on love.
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
Love is the best gift. The best gift is love.
Love, if it is not shared, what is it? Love is love when it is shared.
In the same way, a gift is a gift when it is shared. When it is not shared, it is only a possession.
When early Christians received the Holy Spirit, they experienced the abundance. They experienced that life was the gift.
So what did they do? This was what they did.
All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. (Acts 2:44, 45)
They shared.
They experienced that life was a gift and so they shared what they had with each other.
That's what the Spirit does to us. It helps us understand that life is a gift.
When you see life as a gift, then your life becomes abundant. Because you share.
When you start sharing, life becomes beautiful. Everything becomes beautiful.
There is a poem by Cecil Frances Alexander. Our choir sang this song a few times.
All things bright and beautiful,
all creatures great and small,
all things wise and wonderful,
the Lord God made them all.
Each little flow’r that opens,
each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.
The cold wind in the winter,
the pleasant summer sun,
the ripe fruits in the garden:
He made them every one.
He gave us eyes to see them,
and lips that we might tell
how great is God Almighty,
who has made all things well.
Jesus showed the ultimate example of how to live your life as a gift.
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. (2 Corinthians 8:9)
That is what we believe about Jesus. That is what we believe about our life.
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