I remember an autumn Sunday from
many years ago when I sat in the pews of my church, and the pastor stepped into
the pulpit. It was the custom at that
time for the pastor to make the announcements of the church right before the
sermon. He began with an announcement
about the budget. At that time in my
life I paid zero attention to budget matters, but apparently there were some
financial difficulties, budget shortfall, if you can imagine such a thing. I only half listened, but at some point I
noticed that his announcement was running really long.
About 20 minutes later he
stopped talking. He acknowledged rather
sheepishly that he had spent too much time on the announcements and would forgo
his sermon rather than make us suffer through another 20 minutes of him talking.
The congregation laughed, he wrapped up with a prayer, and that was that. But you know what? I always suspected that it
was intentional. His message that day,
disguised in an announcement, was about giving.
Our message today, on this Stewardship Sunday, is also about
giving. But I won’t be so subtle; I will
tell you up front. And I do so with gratitude
to those who have taught me how important it is to speak freely about giving.
There is an old story about two
men marooned on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean. One of them is
frantic, filled with despair. The other is relaxed. He says, “Hey don’t
worry. I know my church will find
us. I haven’t paid my pledge yet.”
There are plenty of funny
stories about the church and money – the idea being that the church is too
fixated on money. Some people think the
church talks about money way too much. But
I disagree. I think we probably don’t
talk about money enough in the church. Given
that the Bible has well over 2,000 verses about money, given that Jesus raised
the issue more than any other subject except the kingdom of God, given that
money is one of the most important aspects of our lives and how we use it
reflects our priorities and our values, I would say, no, we don’t talk about
money enough.
We are afraid we will embarrass one
another or infringe on someone’s privacy by talking about money. We are afraid of offending one another by
asking too much. We have tacitly agreed
to leave the subject of money off the table, as though it had nothing to do
with our spiritual lives.
There is a story about a Sunday
school teacher who asks her class of 8-year-olds, “Who would give a million
dollars to our missionaries?” and all the children cried, “I would!” Then she asked, “Would you give a thousand
dollars?” and they all said, “Yes!” “How
about a hundred dollars?” “Yes!
Yes!” “Would you give just one dollar to
the missionaries?” Again, they cried out
yes – except for Johnnie, who suddenly put his hand over his pocket. The teach looked at him and asked, “Johnnie,
why didn’t you say yes?” Johnnie said,
“Well … I HAVE a dollar.”
We have a harder time talking
about money is because it touches us where we live. But may I say that the gospel is meant to
touch us deeply, in all aspects of where and how and why we live. We see this so clearly in the story of the
widow’s mite.
Jesus is with his disciples in
the temple in Jerusalem, and he watches the wealthy giving their gifts to the
treasury. Impressive amounts,
perhaps. But then he watches a poor
widow putting in her two pennies, which were worth almost nothing. Yet “this poor widow has put in more than all
of them,” Jesus says, for she has given all she had.
I have read that those pennies
she put in the treasury were worth 1/64 of a daily wage at the time. I tried to work out what that means. If we say a work day is 8 hours, then this is
7 ½ minutes’ worth of work. Not much,
and yet, we are told, it is all she has.
That is how little this widow has.
The story reminds me of a
vacation Kim and I took to Mexico City about 30 years ago. It was a time when the Mexican economy was in
ruins. The peso was practically worthless.
And it was this fact that made the vacation possible for us. We didn’t have much money at the time, but the
very favorable exchange rate allowed us to live like royalty for a few days,
staying in the nicest hotels, eating in the best restaurants. It was lovely! But we were surrounded by
poverty. Everywhere we went, there were
women sitting in the streets, head down, hand raised in a begging posture. There were swarms of young children wandering
through the city sidewalks selling chiclets for something like 5 pesos, which
was literally worth a fraction of a U.S. penny.
We bought their chiclets and gave them handfuls of coins. We watched their faces light up as if they
had won the lottery. It made us feel
good. But we knew it cost us absolutely
nothing.
Kim and I were the wealthy ones
who strode into the temple and gave to the treasury enough to impress but not
so much that it would hurt, not one little bit.
The important question is, are
we willing to sacrifice for the sake of the gospel?
We hear in the letter to the
Corinthians that the one who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and the one
who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Paul reminds them that God supplies the seed
to the sower, and that they will be enriched in every way for their
generosity. Paul, too, like Jesus, lifts
up those who have given generously, even through their affliction and their
poverty. And for them the grace of God,
the blessings of God, will be granted in abundance. But do not be left with the
impression that this is a system of rewards for our good behavior.
The point Paul is making is that
the act of giving generously is the evidence of God’s grace in one’s life –
grace that is always given freely. What
does that say, then, about a refusal to give generously? This is why Christian giving is said to
reveal the spiritual condition of our hearts.
Refusal to give, reluctance to give, may be a sign of spiritual ill
health. Spiritually healthy Christians
reflect the generosity of God who is always giving.
Paul writes to the Corinthian
church that they must give as they have made up their minds to give, “not
reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” It may feel a stretch to imagine giving until
it hurts and being cheerful about it, but the important point is that our
giving to God is a free act. The
sacrifice we make is a free act of giving up something good for the sake of
something of far greater worth.
Each of you must give as you
have made up your mind to give. God
gives us the freedom of this choice.
This year our stewardship team has challenged each member to consider
increasing your pledge by 10%. Some of
you recall that last year the stewardship team also asked you to consider
increasing your pledge by 10% and you may be raising your eyebrows at the idea
that they would again ask you to make an increase. Where is the limit, you
might ask.
Of course, the answer to that
question is between you and God. We are simply being asked by our stewardship
team to consider the possibility. Do you have room in your life to give more?
Some of you will say no, because you are already giving sacrificially. Others
will pray and search themselves, coming to the realization that they can
increase their giving, that there is room for more – possibly even more than
10%.
Last year, when the stewardship
team asked us to consider making a 10% increase in our giving, Kim and I
decided that we could, so we did. This year, we considered the request and
decided that we could once again increase our pledge by 10%. I tell you this so
you will know that I would not ask you to do anything that I am not willing to
do. There may very well come a time when we will have to say no. That we will
have to make a smaller increase or even no increase. But we will ask the
question: what has God enabled us to give?
Again, God gives you the freedom
to decide. No one should feel pressured
or guilted into doing more than they feel able to do. As Paul wrote, each of you must give as you
have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a
cheerful giver.
Are you getting tired of that
phrase yet?
For a slight variation on this
verse from Paul’s letter, listen to these words from The Message: “I want each of you to take plenty of time to
think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and
arm-twisting. God loves it when the
giver delights in the giving.”
Today we are invited to bring
our pledges for the coming year and dedicate them to God. We pledge our funds not just to support the
church budget but to delight in the giving.
Out of gratitude for the life that we have in Jesus Christ, and the
Spirit who invites us into that life more deeply every day. Out of love for the world that needs our
ministry of compassion now more than ever.
Let us give thanks to God for
God’s indescribable gift and let us give with glad hearts.
Photo: Chiclets. By Coolshans - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44541577
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