020 Riemer, Privileges Come With Obligations

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Privileges come with obligations

The apostle Paul on ecumenical aid G. Riemer

Ecuminicity is missio-logical

It was the apostle Paul, Paul, the

missionary,

who first stated the casefor ecumenical aid

i

and

recruitment

of sponsors which demonstratesfrom the start how much mission and ecuminicity are in line with eachother. Ecuminicity is missionary. Churches were not and are notplanted in the isolation of their native areas and then left to their owndevices within their tribal or national boundaries. Churches are plantedwithin the wide expanse of God’s world, in his

oikoumene

, connectednot only with Christ but with his body all over the world. Localchurches do not hide in a local culture. Neither do they bask in theglaring sun of Self and all its variations

ii

. They nourish themselves inthe sun of God’s righteousness which connects everyone to everyoneand everyone to everything: Corinth greets Jerusalem… Jerusalemgreets Antioch… Antioch greets Thessalonica!

A Logical Pattern

Nowhere does the Bible present this connected-ness as a problem butrather as a logical pattern in the life of the early church afterPentecost. Each new church becomes a part of the infrastructure thatis needed for the spread of the gospel, the growth of the churches inthe world as well as their preservation.This spatial connected-ness is at the same time a connected-ness intheir daily circumstances. When there is a need in Jerusalem, a plan isput in motion to fill that need by drawing from the abundance of otherchurches. The

recently planted

churches of Achaia and Macedonia aremade aware of their ecumenical task by Paul, resulting in the startupof an aid program.Isn’t kind of ironic that today it is usually the older churches whichneed to assist the younger ones? In Paul’s days it was the other wayaround.Paul, in 2Cor 8, 9, does not need many words to map out theresponsibility this world wide connected-ness brings with it. He beginsby pointing to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ who “for your sakebecame poor, so that you might become rich.” The Lord expects acts

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Missionsandmoney.euof charity, service, willingness, eagerness, generosity, joy, and sincerefaith. All these words point to a right attitude, spirit, and empathy – inthe footsteps of Christ.

Motivational language of the Kingdom

To motivate people to provide ecumenical aid, he uses words like

equality, righteousness

,

and obedience

– words with a serious tone, akingdom tone. Do these words still carry enough weight today to spurus to ecumenical action? To answer that question, we will pay someattention to each, and in the process arrive at another much used (andmisused) term in the scope of ecumenical relationships which Paulcalls

reciprocity

. Following that, we will bridge the space between thenand now to obtain a clear and emphatic picture of our ecumenical taskand the problems associated with it.

Equality

In 2Cor. 8:14 (KJV) we read,But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may besupply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supplyfor your want: that there may be equality;” The word ‘

equality

’ challenges us. That ‘by an equality….there may beequality.” The first equality insists upon the second equality. Thesecond equality overcomes an observed inequality, i.e. the abundancehere and the shortage elsewhere

iii

. The first equality could point to ‘being equal in Christ’, the equality of people who have acceptedChrist, the equality also of church communities in relationship to eachother. Christ causes the meeting of people and groups of people whoare very un-equal. That is not like people meeting on De Dam wherethey walk past each other with hardly a glance. Christ brings ‘un-equals’ together in his Kingdom. He grants them equal status. Hemakes them citizens of the same realm.These privileges bring obligations. The aforementioned un-equalitydoesn’t just disappear in this common realm. But it does mark thebeginning of a movement from the one to the other. The equality inChrist causes a movement towards equality on other levels so that theplenty of the one will supply the need of the other. Equality in Christdoes not allow un-equality at the level of basic human andecclesiastical needs.The movement towards ‘becoming equal’ is evident immediately afterPentecost as we can read in Acts 2. The realization of being equal inChrist makes people willing, helpful and generous. It forms the rightfoundation and creates the right atmosphere for mutual aid.

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Missionsandmoney.euThe financial support for Jerusalem will not be in doubt. But it takesPaul to set things in motion and urgently bring it to the attention of the people. And that he does.

Righteousness

Paul uses the word

righteousness

for a reason. Finding the rightbalance, an honest division and allotment of God’s gifts, a responsible

sharing of resources

iv

is not only a matter of love and charity, but alsoone of justice and righteousness. In Chapter 9:9 and 10, Paul calls thegiving of aid among churches a matter of ‘righteousness’. “He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousnessendures forever. Now he who supplies seed to the sower andbread for food will also supply and increase your store of seedand will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.” Paul likes that word ‘righteousness’; it is a hard hitting word, also in anevangelical setting. It confronts us with the consequences of our faith.Following in Paul’s footsteps, we too had better emphatically classifyecumenical aid as a matter of righteousness. In Romans 6 Paul says, “…set free from sin, you have become slaves to righteousness…so nowoffer the parts of your body in slavery to righteousness leading toholiness.” Aid between churches is a matter of righteousness and entitlement. Alocal church can justifiably nurture expectations because it has beenincorporated in the worldwide body of Christ. Jerusalem has a justclaim on you, Macedonia and Achaia!

Obedience

Although Paul dresses his message in kind words (“I am notcommanding you…no pressure”), there is an undertone that leaves oneno choice: ‘righteousness’, ‘testing of the sincerity of your love’, ‘generosity’, ‘whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly’, ‘don’tembarrass us ’. One would have to be pretty thick-skinned to react bytelling Paul, “Sorry, brother Paul, but not today.” And even more sowhen Paul ties ecumenical giving in with Christian obedience, acommand that we as God’s adopted children cannot avoid. In 2 Cor.9:13 he calls this aid an identifying mark of ‘the obedience thataccompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ,” because that ishow the aid was interpreted by the recipient. In the way of, “At leastthey understand what the gospel of Christ is all about…”

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