This is the sixth in a series of reflections offered as part of my service with the Stewardship Ministry at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Hickman, Neb., where Anne and I are members.

In his ministry, St. Paul often shared news of one congregation with the members of another. So, in his writings to the people in Corinth, he told them about the ministry of their fellow Christians in Macedonia. He said,

We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part (2 Corinthians 8:1–2, New Revised Standard Version).

In this short passage, Paul points to several truths that speak as much to us today as they did to our ancestors in Corinth. First, the grace of God is a gift. Paul said that grace was granted to the Macedonians. Nobody but God can give that gift of grace. Second, this gift comes during times of affliction. God wisely blesses his people in their time of need. Third, grace leads to generosity flowing both from joy and from poverty. Grace is not a gift that awaits times of abundance to yield fruit in the lives of Christians. Rather, it creates abundance out of extreme poverty in the midst of lives energized by the joy that comes from God’s grace itself.

So, for us, this means that when we are afflicted—whether with extreme poverty or perhaps only with uncomfortable and inconvenient need—God’s grace can bring forth a “wealth of generosity” that flows from our joy in the midst of our need. The wonderful and amazing thing is that God’s grace takes away our excuses. We might be tempted to say we cannot give because economic times are tough, because resources are tight, because our needs closer to home are more urgent, and so on. But St. Paul lifts up the Macedonians and reminds us of how the grace of God works his divine wonders in their lives for the sake of others. Is our poverty more extreme than theirs? Are our afflictions more burdensome than theirs? Does God withhold his grace from us? The answers to these questions all call out with a resounding “No.”

We can pray that God will stir up in us the gift of his grace, so that his servants will say to one another, “We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the church in Hickman; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part!”