The Generous Church: What has been accomplished and what will be required

10/28/18 Matt 19:16

  Matthew 6: 19-21

“A Generous Church: What has been accomplished and what will be required”

I’m currently knee deep in preparing for an upcoming confirmation class that is being offered with our parish and Trinity United Methodist Church. Confirmation is a time with young people learn about the Church and decide at the end if they would like to become members. Whether you go through confirmation or join the church as an adult, you take the same vows, to support the church through your prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness. 

I was recently talking to another pastor about what membership vows mean. We often think about vows at big times in our life - like when we get married, or the vows that sponsors of children make at baptism. A vow is this promise that is being made to uphold something powerful, something weighty. Additionally, as Christians we realize that we cannot begin to uphold these vows on our own - that it has to be the good work of God within us. 

The same is true when we join a local church. I often explain the vows in this way, we join a local church because we say that this, right here, is where I want to put down my roots and be part of the community of faith. Adam Hamilton once said that when folks ask what they get out of membership in the church, in other words what their personal benefit will be. Instead, its about saying that this is where I am going to serve the Kingdom of God.

And at its heart, my friends, that is what stewardship is. It’s serving God. Serving God with our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness. 

Sometimes we get caught up in the idea of stewardship like a to-do list. We read this morning a piece of the scripture often referred to as the Rich Young Ruler. This person comes to Jesus and asks this weighty question - what must I do to inherit eternal life. In other words what steps do I need to take to ensure that I make it into heaven. And Jesus said, keep the commandments, which he goes on to list. “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

And the Rich Young Ruler replied - Great! I’ve done all of those. So I’m all set right? To which Jesus added one more thing - sell all you have, give the money away, and come and follow me. 

The Rich Young Ruler, like so many of us, are looking for a check list. If I do this and not that, I’m all set right? But friends, being a Christian isn’t about a set of rules or obligations. Its about having a heart that is set on the Kingdom of God, not the Kingdom of self. Its about using the entirety of our being to chase after the heat of God and to make God known to the world, because the light of Christ dwells deep within us!

What would it look like for this to be in action? I think it would look like using our unique spiritual gifts to serve the world. Do you have the gift of talking to children and families? What would it look like to use those gifts to help with the Halloween Hospitality Table this week? Do you have the gift of hospitality? Join the wonderful ladies who help with our funeral meals. Do you have a heart to teach? Start a small group or Bible Study. Do you love kids? Talk about helping with VBS this coming year. There are so many places to serve within this church and if you don’t find one that fits you, we can talk about creating new opportunities. 

But the reality is, like the Rich Young Ruler, giving of ourselves totally, is often not on our agenda. As much as we bemoan talking about stewardship in terms of money in the local church, we would rather donate money than time, because time is so precious and finite to us. When I look at what is sometimes hardest on the list of vows, its presence - showing up, because it requires of us giving of our time, which seems to be slipping through our fingers.

We want a list of rules that we can feel good looking at - saying well I did that or didn’t do that, so I must be okay, instead of realizing that until our heart is focused on God’s Kingdom first, we are missing something. Until we long, yes long, to let the light of Christ shine through us, we may be holding on to what we treasure the most. 

In the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus points out just that - asking where our treasure truly is, because that’s what our heart is going to be focused on. For the Rich Young Ruler, Jesus was able to look into his heart and see what he desired the most - and that it wasn’t really the Kingdom of God. 

Yet, we are all asked to take what we treasure the most and see how to compares to the treasure we have in Heaven. It is not lost on me that the Rich Young Ruler is asking how to inherit eternal life, but in the end the current desire of his heart out weighted this question that was on his lips. 

Once again, practically, what does it look like to store up our treasures in heaven? It looks like giving it to God. And friends, that may not be money. That may not be time. It may be other things for each of us. We are uniquely created and have unique passions. Whatever it may be for you, and however different it may be from others gathered in this place this day, know that giving can be hard for any of us, especially if it is deeply rooted in our hearts. To give away, means to not have any more. And yet, as we give away we make space in our lives to be channels of God’s grace and love that we have received. 

When we take vows to serve the local church through our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness, we are saying that we are investing with all we are in the work of the Kingdom of God. That we would lay it on the line so that others may come to know our Savior. And that take trust. Trusting God with what we have. Trusting God with what is to come. And for out longings to be for the name of God to be made known. And that, my friends, is transformative. Not just for those who will be reached by the love of God, but for us as well. 

Friends, we love and serve a God who wants all of us. Not just part of us. I’m not sure where you are in your faith journey today, but if you have yet to know the love of a Savior, we would love to talk to you about Jesus after worship today. If you have accepted Christ, but you are at the place where this God thing is more about do’s and don’ts then longing for the Kingdom of God, we would love to pray for you today. And if you are giving of yourself for the sake of Jesus, may we encourage you today to keep going on. Let us, Grace United Methodist Church, be a place of stewardship of our lives, so the joy of the Lord may be made known. Amen. 

“The Generous Church: Claim it for the Kingdom” 1 Timothy 6:10

Most people and in turn most churches, do not relish talking about money. We’ve been taught that talking about money is taboo and we would like to avoid it any way we can. Most people. Except perhaps a wonderful woman in my last parish. This particular woman and I were talking one day and we were brainstorming ways to celebrate what the congregation was doing. And ultimately she decided that each week she or someone else would get up before the offering and talk for a minute or less about what our offering supports. In other words, “do you know what your offering dollars actually go towards and how lives were being changed?” For 52 Sundays, week after week, we had these mission moments, very rarely repeating themselves. 52 Sundays of lives being changed in our community and beyond. Friends, that is what it looks like to claim something for the Kingdom of God. 

But for this particular woman, living as a generous church wasn’t just about money. There were programs of the local church that were deeply transformative that did not cost us anything. Sometimes generous came in the form of talents - right as I was leaving one of the ideas floating around was hosting a mentorship program to share skills and talents with local high school and college students. And other times generosity comes in the form of time - spending time weekly at a local nursing home leading a worship service based off of a taping of the morning worship service so they could feel connected and loved. Generosity spills forth from so many places when we claim it for the Kingdom. 

So why, if time and talents and money can be used for so much good do we find verse like 1 Timothy 6:10 in scripture? Why would Paul say that money is the root of all evil? First, that isn’t what Paul actually says, is it, when we read the scripture. Paul says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. When we love money for money’s sake, sometimes it can block us from actually being generous.

For example, sometimes we can become so weighed down by our possessions that we cannot express generosity. We have a lot of stuff as Americans. It’s packed into our homes and overflows into storage units. As a push back to having a lot of stuff we have had the tiny house movement pop up. Have you seen these? They are super small compact houses, sometimes so small that they can literally be moved from place to place. Now I am not saying that we need to be tiny house people in order to be generous. Nor am I saying when we have a lot of stuff that we can’t be generous at all. But when our stuff starts to define us, that’s when we need to be careful. When we start to confuse wants and needs, making our desires into necessities to the point where it ties our hands in being generous, our stuff may be blocking what we could be doing for the Kingdom. 

Another thing that may get in our way is when our financial lives get out of control. 46 percent of Americans give no money to charities of any kind. My guess is that most of those people feel passionate about certain non-profits and other organizations doing good work, but they just don’t have the financial resources to give at this time. They may want to be generous in the future, but for the time being there are mounting bills and credit card debt and other things that need to be paid off that feel like a chain around the neck. When we don’t have financial margin in our lives, it can be very difficult to feel free to be generous. 

Still another hinderance can be when we are so concerned about our own personal welfare that it is hard to think about other people. Church folks, we may be a bit to blame here. Somewhere along the line, it has been communicated that our life is divided into what we spend on ourselves and what time we have for ourselves and what we give to God. This creates a sense of a fractured life and guilt arises. But the truth is that all we have is from God and all that we give we offer unto God. That’s true about the food we feed our families as much as the money we put into the offering plate. When we start to see everything we have as being offered unto God, we want others to have those blessings as well, and we can become more generous people. 

Church, the best indicator of being generous for the sake of the Kingdom of God is this - what role does Christ play in your life? Is Christ so important to you that he is the true North in our lives, giving us direction and purpose. Or are we finding ourselves pulled every which way, finding it hard to be fully committed to Jesus?

When Christ is the one guiding our lives, it becomes easier to see what Christ is doing in our lives. One of the reasons I think the woman from the beginning of the sermon found it so easy each week to stand up and give testimony to how what the church gave was changing lives, was became she saw the fingerprints of Christ’s blessing all around her. For her that translated into good news. 

So Church, what is our good news? How are acts of generosity involving time, talent, and money proclaiming Jesus through us? Grace, the week I’m working on this sermon, I still am hearing stories from community members about kids and their families talking about VBS. Claim it for the Kingdom! Ohio, I sat with a shut in this week who has not been able to come to church for years, but was telling me about how the Church, you, the people of God, continue to bless her life. Claim it for the Kingdom! Every year at annual conference we get to hear stories of people who received scholarships to go to college, because that is part of our shares of ministry, Church. Claim it for the Kingdom! Ohio that baskets we have been donating towards have been going out into the community to welcome new neighbors. Claim it for the Kingdom! Ohio and Grace, prayer shawls have been going out to people near and far to let them know that they are not alone no matter what they are facing. Claim it for the Kingdom! 

The truth is there are so many ways that we are working together for the Kingdom of God. We are a generous people, if only we take time to stop and think about both what we are doing and how it is impacting lives in the name of Jesus. Yes, vital ministry does require time and/or money. But let us give and give boldly, my friends, because we are making a difference. Let us not let ourselves get distracted or wonder away from the faith. Rather let us continue on in the love of God.  All for the sake of the Gospel. Amen. 

“The Generous Church: Plan As if For God” Proverbs 3:9

As the Church of Jesus Christ, and as disciples who follow a Savior, I think we can often have an uncomfortable relationship to money. On the one hand, we have the world whispering into our ear that we have earned everything we have - that its by the sweat of our own brow, by the work of our hand, by showing up day after day, sometimes at places of work that we would rather not be, that we have earned a paycheck. But on the other hand, we have scripture that teaches us that all we really have is first from God, and we are called to be stewards of what God has entrusted to us. Enter today’s scripture verse from Proverbs.

We are now in the second week of our sermon series about what it means to be a generous church, and yes, while this sermon series most certainly addresses the topic of material wealth, about money, it is my ultimate hope and prayer that it also serves to be a call to be generous with all we have and all we are. For it is through our generosity, opening our lives and hearts up to others, that we can share the light of the good news of the Gospel. 

Proverbs 3:9 invites us into a marriage between the idea that yes, we have earned what we have in terms of wealth, however, we are to honor God with it. Its not ours to spend on anything and everything we may want, but instead we are to ask ourselves if we are using what we have in a way that honors God. 

But what does that practically look like? First and foremost, its a change in perspective that starts with our heart. When I look at my paycheck, I know the work that went into that. I know the hours and the hard work. So common sense would say that it is mine. But I also know that I was called to this work by God. That I was given the opportunity and gifts to be here and do this work amongst you, therefore, it is God who needs to be glorified in and through me. Both with how I show up to do my job day in and day out, but also with how I spend the fruit of that labor. 

The thing is, that’s not just a perspective I have because I’m a pastor, working for the Church. Its a perspective I have because I’m a follower of Jesus. But that doesn’t mean that it is always easy. It is so hard to invite God to be part of every area of our lives, including and perhaps most trying our finances. We are used to money being “ours” to do with what we see fit. So a change of heart needs to place as we surrender our finances to God. 

Therefore, when we embark on that journey towards surrender, some of the questions and attitudes that we have must shift. No longer can we say that we want to know if our  money is well spent, so much as we want God’s money to be well spent. One of the ways that we do that as a local congregation is by looking for God’s vision and funding not necessarily our own preferences, but where God is calling us to go as a congregation. What does God want this church to be about? What are we building with God for the sake of God’s Kingdom? What do we value? And how does our budget and spending reflect those Kingdom values?

But there is also a second part to Proverbs 3:9. Honor God with what? With the first fruits of your produce. This, friends, is the tithe. The first ten percent of what we have produced. Back in an agricultural society that may have been the first part of their crop or their herd. Or money from selling their goods. For us, its the first ten percent of our paychecks. Which is something else that sometimes we don’t want to talk about as modern day Christians. 

I want to spin this around a little. What happens if we don’t give? I don’t know about your experience, but when I don’t give, I feel like I’m not being fair to God. Now there are certainly times in our lives, seasons if you will, when it is really hard to give a full ten-percent. I understand that. But during those times are we at least a.) setting aside a certain percentage of what we have to give God as a first fruit - in other words giving out of what we first have instead of what is left over at the end and b.) do we have a plan to work towards a tithe? In other words, is God part of our financial plan. Is giving to God a priority for us in some way, shape, or form? Because when God is not part of the plan of how we spend our money, it becomes really easy to slip into the mindset of the world that all I have is “mine” and God has nothing to do with it.

Another question I think we need to ask ourselves about modern day first fruits, is not just what happens if we don’t give but also why do we put money in the church plate at all? For some of us, it may be a sense of duty - feeling like we have to give as the plate is passed along our pew. For others, they give because of the immense benefit of the local church to them and their family. And for still others, they give because of how richly they feel that God has blessed them, no matter what they may be facing in their lives. 

At annual conference this past year, we did something a bit different during one of the worship services. We have three major worship services during each annual conference session and during each the offering goes to a designated ministry that is changing hearts and lives. During the ordination service this year, the offering went to the Bishop’s Partners in Mission - which goes to alleviate the debt of Mission Central and the United Methodist mission of Imagine No Malaria. The bishop had just returned from a church that had a several hour long worship service where folks danced their offering forward. It reminded me of a church I attended during college where the plate wasn’t passed, but jars were placed off to the side where you could prayerfully present your offering before God. So the bishop decided we, too, were going to dance our offering forward. Our lay delegate had the check from the charge, and I notoriously do not carry cash, but one of my colleagues leaned over, handed me cash, and said I want you to be able to participate. I want you to be able to dance and give, too. 

Friends, why did he do that? Because of duty? No. Because of the particular mission and ministry? Maybe, but I would venture to guess not. He gave because God has so blessed him and he wanted me to be able to share in that joy too. And that joy became contagious that day. As we danced and sung our hearts out as we gave to a Holy God. 

I think we spend a lot of time thinking about why we can’t give. This isn’t the time in our financial lives to do so. I can’t give a full tithe so I can’t give anything. Its my money and that’s not how I want to spend it. But what shift would we have if we looked at our finances and especially our first fruits as a way to honor God? What would we be able to do as a local church? How could we reach out and touch lives with the Gospel? How could this community be transformed? What are we willing to risk in terms of our finances and spending for the sake of the Gospel as we bless people with the ministry of this church? Amen. 

“The Generous Church: The Generous Church” Mark 8:35 Mathew 25: 34-36 Matthew 28: 19-20

Have you ever just been to a place that does hospitality well? This year, annual conference was held at the Hershey Lodge, and they are a place that is known for doing hospitality well. When you check in there are multiple people to point you in the right direction. When you check in, complimentary tickets and chocolate are waiting for you. And each evening when you return to your room, Hershey kisses are on your night stand. But more important that things, the people at the Hershey Lodge do hospitality well - having people to answer questions, give directions, and help you at ever turn. They are a generous place, because hospitality and generosity go hand in hand. 

Just as there are generous place, there are also generous people. I have several friends like this - people who think about others. I have a friend that ever time I have moved, she has sent me a small gift of encouragement shortly after. She also has an adorable son, who will send me his art projects “just because he was thinking about Ms. Michelle”. When you visit her home, it really becomes your home. Making sure that your favorite foods are there for you, and thinking through everything from the perspective of her guests. 

Friends, it is my hope that as a body of Christ, we are a generous place of worship and a generous people. For the next several weeks, we are going to be talking about what it means to be a generous church. I know for many of you, what comes to mind is finances - financial generosity, but brothers and sisters, being generous is so much more than that. 

I have been blessed to visit many churches over the years, both for worship on Sunday mornings, whenever I’m on vacation, and for trainings. I want you to think back to a time when you visited a church. How did that experience feel? Maybe a little nerve racking if you didn’t know anyone or where anything was located. Maybe a bit more comfortable if you were familiar with them, and had visited before. Have you ever had the experience of having someone turn to you and genuinely say, “I’m so glad you’re here.” How did that make you feel? 

My family and I had the experience a few years ago of going to a Monday evening worship service while we were staying at the beach. The music was good. The sermon was excellent. But what mattered the most was someone turning to us and saying “I’m so glad you’re here tonight. Would you like to stay for ice cream after the service?” Not an announcement made, but a personal invitation. 

We often don’t think about this type of radical hospitality as being a mark of generosity, but it truly is. Because we are to be a generous church with a lot more than our money. A generous church sees people and wants to deeply connect with them, all for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A generous church lavishes its time, compassion, attention, talent, and money. 

In the Gospel of Mark today we find this statement, that whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for the sake of Jesus, for the sake of the Gospel, will save it. We think that applies to those who are martyred for the faith - and that is true, but friends it is so much more than that. Think of the familiar words to the hymn “I Surrender All”, “All to Jesus, I surrender. All to him I freely give.” When we freely give all we have and all we are to Christ for the sake of the Kingdom, that is an act of laying our lives aside for the sake of the Gospel. Its handing our lives over to God and saying, not my will, but thine will be done. May I be lifted high for thee, or laid aside for thee - in the words of the Covenant Prayer written by John Wesley. The problem comes when we still try to hold tightly on to our lives. It is very difficult to be generous with that which you are clutching with a tight fist. 

In contrast, a generous person, a generous congregation, has an open hand, because they want to share the Gospel with all they have and all they are, and are willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. In the words of Rev. Tom Berlin, “When the church is focused on sharing the gospel message so that others will receive salvation, the giving that once felt like a hardship becomes a joy.”

Who are the folks that come to your mind when you think of a generous person? One of the folks that comes to my mind is a wonderful woman at my first church. She and her husband had been displaced by Hurricane Katrina, losing almost everything. Yet, she was still generous to everyone she met. She was usually one fo the first people to volunteer to bring something or serve. She was someone who would pull you aside just to give you a kind word. Her entire demeanor exuded what it meant to be generous to others. Why? Because her Lord and Savior had been so generous to her. For her serving others was a mandate of the Gospel that she wanted to do, because the love of Jesus Christ was central to her life.

Do we live like that? When we look at the Gospel passage from Matthew this morning, do we see it as optional? Or selective? Do we get to pick and choose who we serve in Jesus’s name and if so, is that a mark of generosity? 

Now, I fully realize that we cannot serve everyone. But my fear is that we have used that as an excuse to not serve anyone. Or to serve just a few people, so we can place a giant check mark next to Matthew 25 -saying that we’ve done that so now we can move on to the next thing, when really Matthew 25 is inviting us into a new way of living - a way of living marked by generosity. Because the truth about generosity is that it is both a root - something that is what we are about as the people of God, because God has been so generous to us, but also a fruit - as we grow closer to Christ we desire to be more and more generous because we want other people to know about the love of a Savior. The Christian life is a generous life - generous in love, compassion, mercy, faith. The list goes on and on. 

Which leads me to ask - how as a church are we generous in these marks of a Christian life? How are we sowing and harvesting compassion, mercy, love, faith, kindness, and healing. I actually think that folks are looking to the church to be generous friends. And that sometimes people become frustrated with us when we are not generous enough, especially when we claim that we are generous and that our God is generous. The problem creeps in when we make these beautiful and bold statements about generosity, but mean something else - we mean that we are really only generous to each other. That we are friendly with one another. When that is what we mean and we narrow our definition that far, are we truly living into the great commandment as expressed in Matthew 28? 

The truth is that generosity is a discipleship issue and that is why we are going to spend the next few weeks talking about it deeply. It speaks to each of us personally, but it also helps us examine our focus and heart as a church. A mark of generosity is being outward focused - are we an outward focused church? Do we have a mindset of abundance or scarcity? Are we seeking after God’s vision for us, and do we trust that with the vision, the resources will follow? May we be both generous people and a generous Church all for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Amen.