Giving our Treasure Back to God

Rev. Harriette Cross First United Methodist Church of Wilmington October 28, 2018 Matthew 6:1-6 Giving your Treasure back to God Stewardship sermon based on the Treasure stewardship program At the Core By Lois Parker Edstrom OBJECTS SUGGESTED: Object suggested: An apple. An apple for each child if appropriate to your situation. Don’t you just love to hold an apple in your hand? This one has smooth skin and a nice round shape. It is a beautiful red color. If you were to crunch into it would taste sweet and juicy. Did you know there is a secret hidden inside an apple? Let’s cut the apple through the center this way. (Cut the apple horizontally rather than from the stem to the blossom end.) Now look at this beautiful design. See the five-pointed star hidden inside this apple?We call this part of the apple the core. Would it surprise you to know that you also have a beautiful,secret core? It is called your spiritual core and it is the place where you connect with God. Jesus says, “…when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret.” That doesn’t mean you can’t also pray with your family around the dinner table or at church. Jesus teaches us that you pray to make aconnection with God the Father. When you pray there may be other people around, but your thoughts and words are private, between you and God. As you eat an apple and hold it in your hand think about itsbeautiful inner design. God has also created us with a beautiful inner design, a spiritual core that links us to God the Father. Scripture quotations from the World English Bible Copyright 2009, Richard Niell Donovan Sermon #3 “Giving Your Treasure Back to God” OUTLINE Matthew 6:1-6 “Be careful that you don’t practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Whenever you give to the poor, don’t blow your trumpet as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may get praise from people. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that you may give to the poor in secret. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you. “When you pray, don’t be like hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people will see them. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.” Outline We are headed toward the end of our fall stewardship initiative. We have had three lessons on thinking about where our treasure is. We have looked at where our treasure is, in the things of this world, or the things of God. We have been encouraged to put God first in all that we do. And our lesson for today is giving or treasure back to God. how do we do that , why do we do that. There are three things for us to remember about why we give our treasure to God. I. Something Bigger Sometimes you’ll get the chance to be part of something bigger than yourself. Your name may not be mentioned, and you may not hoist the trophy on the stage; but as the confetti falls, you will know that you played a role. It won’t matter that you’re not getting the glory; the glory is knowing that you were a part of it. I felt that way recently at my church. Tens of thousands of dollars were raised for a clean water project in a Nicaraguan village. My contribution was significant to me and my family, but it wasn’t very big when compared with the total money raised. In spite of that, we were a part of it, and that felt good. It’s a powerful thing to know that my life can play a role in something bigger than me. Jesus’ Way to Give A. This Is Not a Performance Jesus warns that when you are trying to do good, be sure that you don’t make a performance of it. Your actions might be a good show, but God won’t be cheering. When you do things for someone else, don’t call attention to yourself. Jesus begins his warning with the phrase “be careful.” Most of the time, we use that phrase because we think there’s a good chance that someone could get hurt. If I tell my kids to be careful, it’s usually because it appears the thing I’m warning against will happen soon. Jesus gives this warning because he cares about our hearts. He knows that if we seek credit for the good we do—if our actions become a performance—then our hearts will suffer. If we start thinking it’s all about us, then we miss out on God’s amazing benefits of being and doing good. Yes, we will get our credit, but it pales in comparison with what we receive when we give humbly before God. We will miss out on being a part of something bigger than ourselves, which is much better than anything we can achieve on our own. B. Spend Time with God Jesus links giving to the poor and spending time with God. If we truly want to be generous givers and experience life more fully, we have to be people of prayer. We will never give in extravagant and sacrificial ways if we are not abiding with God. We need secret places where God can speak to our hearts. No one gives in amazing ways just because there is a great need; extravagant, sacrificial givers do so because their hearts have been changed by spending time with God. C. Respond by Giving Extravagantly and Sacrificially If we want to experience life more fully, we must respond to all that God has done for us by seeking to participate in what God is doing in the world. We have considered how we are investing our lives. Our goal should be to invest our time, money, and energy in the things of God, things that are so much bigger than what one or two of us can do on our own. We get to be a part of things that only God can do. We stand in the confetti, finding joy and meaning in the knowledge that we played a part. God is calling us to sacrificial giving. D. Our Final Week Since next week we will celebrate all saints day, this will be our final week of talking about stewardship. Stewardship is an ongoing conversation, because we have to keep the lights on every Sunday. So I try to give a short stewardship message every Sunday. But this is the time of our intentional stewardship drive. Everyone should have received a pledge card in the mail. I wanted to make sure that you had it while we were having this conversation. So you could listen to these messages. Many people have returned their card in the mail. If you have not, then you can bring it back next week. When we collect them all, the finance committee can look at them to make plans for how we fulfill our mission of being the church in this community. Maintenance of the building, supporting those who work in the church, giving and being in mission to others, programs that help us to grow as a Christian are all a part of our church budget. Many people wonder why we ask ahead of time to pledge for the year. Our ability to be in mission is based on your relationship with God. I wanted you to have the pledge card ahead of time, so that you can spend that time alone with God, praying and listening to what God is calling you to do. That is the final part of our stewardship initiave. For you to have a chance to talk with God. To pray in private, and to respond with God. Our money is a thing that we treasure. It is also a resource that provides for ministry. When we become a part of the church, we promise to support it with our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service and our witness. When we come to church, we are not just seats in the pew – we are disciples – those who do the work of God. What is God calling you do do? For additional commentary and articles on this theme, please go to MinistryMatters.com/Treasure.

The Problem with Two Masters

October 13, 2018 Matthew 6:24 Year B The Problem with two masters (based on the Treasure stewardship program) Children’s Sermon: PREPARATION: This lesson can be given with no preparation OR you can cut a heart out of "fun foam" and attach a magnet to the back. (At a craft store you can buy strips of magnet with sticky back that you can cut into strips.) With a sharpie, write, "Jesus wants my heart" on the heart. LESSON: There is a story in the Bible about a rich young man. He came to Jesus and wondered what he needed to do to get into heaven. Jesus told him he needed to follow the 10 commandments. The young man assured Jesus that he had always done that, even since he was a child about the same age as some of you. Jesus loved this man very much. He could tell what was in his heart--what he treasured most. Jesus told the young man there was only one thing left. He should sell everything that he owned and give the money to the poor and then he would have treasures in heaven. The young man went away very sad because he had many possessions and he wanted to keep them. Now, Jesus wasn't telling the man that his possessions were bad. Jesus was telling the man that he wanted him to love him, Jesus, above everything else and then he would give the young man the free gift of heaven. Jesus wanted his heart. Jesus wants our hearts too. He wants each of us to love Him more than anything else because that is how much he loves us. If we love him most of all, we will get to go to heaven with Him. [If you have hearts for the children, pass them out now and say, "This is a reminder for you that Jesus wants you to love him most of all."] PRAYER: Dear Jesus, Help each of us here to give you all of our heart - to put you first in our lives so we can go to heaven. Thank you for loving us so much. AMEN Sermon #2 “The Problem with Two Masters” OUTLINE Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Outline I. A House Divided Perhaps you have seen the license plates that show the phrase A House Divided accompanied by the logos of two rival college football teams. This phrase often reminds people of Abraham Lincoln’s famous speech in 1858. Lincoln was speaking about a nation divided on the issue of slavery. What many people don’t know is that the line was not unique to Lincoln but that instead Lincoln was quoting Jesus. Jesus said, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand” (Mark 3:24-25 NRSV). Jesus is telling us, in other words, that competing allegiances in a kingdom, a house, or a heart will lead to destruction. Division leads to war in which either there is constant strife or one side wins out. II. A Reminder about Heart Investment Last week we were challenged to consider where we are investing our hearts. If we look at where we spend our time, money, and energy, we will see where our hearts are invested. One easy way to check this investment is to look at our budget or our calendar. In doing so, most of us would find that our hearts indeed are divided. We have said yes to too many commitments, signed too many contracts, and swiped too many credit cards. Now we must work to pay off a bunch of stuff that doesn’t make us happy. I want us to look at this short video on serving a master…. Who is the master of your life? is it God or is it the cares of the world. Today I thought rather than dwelling on the problem of living a life divided, that I would talk about the solution. The solution is to put God first, front and center of everything that we are and that we do. As we talk about stewardship this week, all of us can’t help but to ask the question of why. Why should I give. What is the point of spending 4, 5 weeks talking about such an uncomfortable topic. We talk about it because the bible talks about it. We talk about it because the jews learned that tithing was one of the best kept spiritual secrets in the universe. Money is never really about the green stuff that we have in our pockets. Money, and spending money is always a matter of where our spirits are. When we are able to make a plan to give God the first 10% of everything that we earn – we learn to have a sense of purpose and intention for our lives, we learn how to have discipline, we are able to clearly see the gifts that God gives us in return for putting God first. We learn that not only can we put God first in our bank accounts, but we can put God first in everything in our lives. If the Jewish society was anything – it was full of purpose, and order. They organized their whole society around the concept of purpose and order. We have all heard of the word Shalom. We have heard that shalom is the jewish word for peace. But shalom means much more than that. Shalom means that in a community where there is justice, there will be peace, and where there is peace, there will be wellbeing and wholeness. And where there is peace, justice, and wellbeing for the community. There will be justice, peace, and wellbeing for the entire society. But the only way to have a shalom – a whole society is for the society to be centered around the presence of God. Shalom means to put God into the center of everything that you do. (show the shalom center). The funny thing about a community centered around God – is that it looks like a circle. In a circle- you will notice that there are no sides. And there is only one center. God is the glue that holds everything together. When you are in the shalom circle – then it is harder to attack, define and separate yourself from others – because if we are focused on God. we are all facing the same direction – the center. When we are standing in a circle, and God is in the center of that circle, not only do we have a focusing point, but we also have a purpose and a uniting point. The one thing that I remember that Adam Hamilton said at the Leadership Institute at the Church of the Resurrection, was that the church had a mission statement. And that mission statement was read every Sunday in church, it was said at the beginning of every church council meeting, at every event. It was read together for everyone to remember their center. And their purpose for coming together in community. Not just in any community – but in Christian community. When Englewood and Rust Methodist churches merged they too developed a mission statement. I would have them read that mission statement every Sunday as a way of centering us together for one purpose. Now I had a program where if a child could remember and recite the Lord’s Prayer in front of the congregation they would get a $10 gift certificate to the restaurant of their choice. All of my kids – even the two year olds know the Lord’s Prayer. For the adults – if they could remember and recite the mission statement in front of the congregation they too got a $15 gift certificate. The adults were not as successful. But the point is that I wanted to keep that mission statement in existence – by saying it all of the time. It was a centering point. Why is it that we deal with people that we really can’t stand in any other setting? Why is it that we come to meetings and take trainings when there is so many other things that we could be doing, why is it that we sins corny songs every Sunday, why is it that we give our money to church- when there are so many other things to spend it on. In order to support our common mission. Our reason for being a church. First United Methodist Church does have a mission. This week it is printed in the bulletin, to inform some and to remind others of why we are here in the first place. I want us to read it together now. Our mission is based on putting God in the center of our community, which means putting God in the center of our lives. Our mission challenges to follow the mission of Jesus Christ to witness to grace, to love others and to life as followers of Christ. It is our purpose for living in a shalom circle, where there is only one center and no sides. If we choose to stand in the shalom circle it is impossible to serve two master, because there is only one center. Where are you in the circle? What is your place in the mission? Who is your master? Let us pray….. Amen. The rest of the sermon that I did not use…… III. Serving One Master A. Two Is Too Many Jesus says in Matthew 6 that no one can serve two masters. A person trying to do so will inevitably like one master and hate the other, be to devoted to one master and despise the other. Jesus says that we can’t serve both God and money. As we examine our lives, we may see that we have many more than two masters calling for hearts! B. Our Hearts Are Hurting When we are serving two, three, or ten masters and are dividing our hearts among them, we are not living as God intends us to. I think this may explain why we resent or even hate the things that pull us away from our intended treasure. We end up hating our job or our boss, because they have become an unintended master in our lives. Does this mean you can’t make money? No! Does this mean you can’t have a healthy relationship with money? No! It does mean that you can’t serve God and money. They can’t both be your master. You can’t live under the lordship of God and the lordship of money; you must choose. C. Jesus Has to Be Lord God doesn’t want shared allegiance. God doesn’t want a piece of your life. God wants to be everything to you. If you make Jesus Lord and Master, the other allegiances will find their proper place. You still will have to work and be committed to other people. But you will not have a heart or house or life that’s divided. You will be standing on firm ground. For additional commentary and articles on this theme, please go to MinistryMatters.com/Treasure.

Where is Your Treasure?

October 7, 2018 Matthew 6:19-21 Where is your Treasure? Stewardship Drive #1 Year B (taken from the stewardship drive - Treasure Children’s Time…… “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where you treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Setting Up the Treasures in Heaven Object Lesson Prepare for teaching this lesson by gathering these supplies: piggy bank, coins, posterboard cut out of a piggy bank, pushpins, paper coins, marker and tape. Place the piggy bank and coins on a table near your learning area. Next, hang the cutout of the piggy bank on the wall with pushpins. On the paper coins write phrases like, “Feed the Hungry” or “Comfort the Sad.” Put these near the cutout on a table with the tape. Say: “Let’s read this parable together. Everyone stand up on one foot! Let’s read it in our normal voice the first time and then we will stand on the other foot and read it super slow.” (Read the verse twice.) “Some people use a piggy bank to hide their coins. When Mom or Dad gives you extra change, a piggy bank is a good place to keep until you are ready to spend. You can shake it and hear the change in there. That’s fun to do! What are some reasons why you might get some change?” (Lost a tooth, did a chore, had a birthday etc.) “It’s a good idea to save your treasure so you don’t lose it but sometimes things happen. People can find the secret opening and unplug and steal your money. A thief might even be able to break the bank in half and destroy it. That’s bad news!” “Jesus says that when we put our money in heaven’s bank, we never have to worry about losing it. What does that mean? How do we put money in heaven’s bank? We do the things God asked to us to do, kind things, like caring for the sick, turning the other cheek, giving to the Lord. God sees all these things and every time we do one, He drops another coin in our heavenly piggy bank.” (Tape paper coins to the bank.) I encourage you to store up some treasures in heaven. Not only will you have some treasures when you get there but doing so will keep your heart loving God. Sermon #1 “Where Is Your Treasure?” OUTLINE Matthew 6:19-21 “Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat them and where thieves break in and steal them. Instead, collect treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust don’t eat them and where thieves don’t break in and steal them. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Outline Introduction One Saturday, my wife and I packed up everything we owned except for some clothes and a few pieces of luggage and put them in a storage facility. We were in a time of transition between one home and another and would be living with family for a few months. After packing, we found that the contents of our home fit into a 10’ x 20’ storage unit. I closed the door, put a lock on it, and left all my stuff in that unit, next to hundreds of others. All that I had ever saved for, deliberated over, and purchased was stacked in that room. At first I would go by every week or so just to check in on it. Eventually I didn’t do that anymore, and for three months I didn’t need one single thing from the unit. I. What Do I Really Treasure? A. Our Treasure Is Not Found in Our Stuff Turns out the only thing Americans may love more than Big Macs is hoarding. There are more self-storage facilities in America than there are McDonald's restaurants, according to a recent report from the commercial real estate publication REJournals. There were 48,500 self-storage facilities in America at the end of 2014, Curbed points out, compared to a mere 14,350 McDonald's restaurants. (For the record, there were just 11,962 Starbucks coffee shops in 2014, making the number of self-storage spots larger than McDonald's and Starbucks locations combined.) It's no surprise, if you think about it. Americans are documented on television for their hoarding tendencies, and sleek new self-storage startups are only making it easier to squirrel away our belongings. But what's astonishing is the sheer amount of space devoted to self storage: There's an average of 21 feet of self-storage space available for every American household, the Self Storage Association reports. You've got to wonder if all that stuff could just fit in the garage. In fact, 65 percent of Americans who rent a storage unit have a garage, but they rent one anyway. There is 2.3 billion square feet of rentable self-storage space in the United States. We have so much stuff that our homes can’t hold it. But our treasure is not found in stuff. The Treasure series is not an indictment on stuff. In fact, when my wife and I moved into our new home after three months with family, we used almost everything we had packed away. The couches, the refrigerator, the beds all went to good use. What I learned, though, was that those things are not my treasure. B. What We Value in the End Pastors have the opportunity and privilege to be with people in their last days. Rarely in those last moments do people talk about the things they have acquired on earth—the kind of treasure that moth and rust can destroy, the kind that thieves can break in and steal. People in their last moments talk about their family, friends, moments with God, children they have taught, mission trips they have taken. They talk about vacations and laughter, and they share stories that are amusing and meaningful. They talk less about salaries and more about promises shared with God and with people. At the end of the our life, when we sit down and think about it what is it that we really treasure? What is it that is really most important to us? is it our stuff, or is it our family, friends, experiences, and our relationships with one another. Who do we love and who loves us? We have to remember that our primary relationship with God determines the quality of all of the other relationships. II. Heart Follows Treasure A. Jesus Talks about Money This series is about where you are investing your life, but there’s no denying that it’s also about money. That’s because Jesus talked about money. In fact, Jesus talked more about money than about heaven and hell combined. Jesus talked more about money than anything except the Kingdom of God. Eleven of Jesus’ thirty-nine parables are about money. One of every seven verses in the Gospel of Luke talks about money. Why did Jesus talk so much about money? This is the time of year when we talk about money. It is a time that most people dread. Why do we have to talk about money in church. That is what faith is all about. In the bible, there are 500 verses that talk about faith and 2000 that talk about money. 15% of all of the verses that Jesus talks, are specifically about money. Just like all of Jesus lessons, Jesus adds to what is in the old testament. The old testament talks about giving a 10th of what you have to God, In the new testament, Jesus talks about giving to a cause – to help those in need. And he says that if it takes more than a 10th to do that – then that is okay. B. Jesus Cares about Our Hearts In the Sermon on the Mount we see that Jesus is looking at the heart. He cares about the hearts of God’s people. Jesus talks about money and treasure because he knows that they affect our hearts. He knows money stresses our relationships. Money causes division in and among people. Money and its pursuit can be all-consuming and burdensome. Those who have lost jobs or find money hard to find will tell you that it is not just a financial issue but an emotional and spiritual one. Jesus talks about money because he cares about our hearts. C. Our Treasure Shows Us Our Heart We usually think that where our heart is, our treasure will follow. Jesus says that it is the opposite. Where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. This is not just a change in semantics. Jesus knows that the place where we spend our money will become our treasure, whether we want it to or not. Financial commitments require time and energy. They pull our heart in a direction that perhaps neither we nor God ever intended. If you buy a house that requires a large percentage of your income, you have no choice but to spend time and energy and money in paying for it. When you put your treasure into anything, your heart will follow. III. Heart Investment Billy Graham was asked late in his life, “If you could, would you go back and do anything differently?” His answer may surprise you. “Yes, of course. I’d spend more time at home with my family, and I’d study more and preach less. I wouldn’t have taken so many speaking engagements. . . . Whenever I counsel someone who feels called to be an evangelist, I always urge them to guard their time and not feel like they have to do everything.” A. What Do You Want to be Investing In? If you didn’t have your debt or commitments, and if you could choose where to store up treasure, where would it be? B. What Are You Investing In? As you consider where you would store up treasure, take a moment to assess realistically where your treasure currently is? Do you feel your heart divided? C. Treasure in Heaven Jesus tells us we have the opportunity to lay up treasure in heaven. When we are investing our lives in the things of God, we find that our hearts no longer feel disconnected from God but rather are in unity with God. Faith is realizing that that things that we store up here on earth is not our treasure, but what we give to God and what we give to others- our stewardship, or caring for the things that God cares about is our true treasure in heaven. What beginning steps can you take to lay up treasure in heaven? For additional commentary and articles on this theme, please go to MinistryMatters.com/Treasure.  

Why do we Give?

October 15, 2006 Mark 10:17-31 1 John 4:7-19 Why do we Give? Sunday edition … I struggled with whether to show this clip for a lot of reasons. But my hope is that you all would take it with a grain of salt – and see the humor in it and not take it too seriously. But let’s face it, we live in a materialistic world. Everything in this world about paying for and receiving a service. We hear consumeristic messages everywhere, even in church. I also wanted to point out that this is not a sermon about tithing. It is about pledging our gifts and our lives to God. Tithing is a wonderful practice, and has been a very effective for many people. If you do it, then you know the rewards of it. But every year we are asked to look inside of our hearts, to look at our relationship with God, and to determine what God is calling us to do, to create in our lives and in the world. If you read the messages of Jesus, Paul and even John Wesley. There is not a lot about tithing. Tithing asks you to give 10% of what you have. Yet Jesus says that you probably have more than 10% to give, and that the needs of the world certainly require more than 10%. Pledging is about giving from all that you have and in meeting all of the needs of people. Today I want to talk specifically about money. I am sure that many of you would agree that money is always a touchy subject in church. What does money have to do with faith and worship? Actually, if you read through the New Testament- you would see that according to Jesus, money has everything to do with faith. Many of the parables and examples that Jesus spoke of have an economic basis too them. Some say that there are at least 38 parables in the new testament, 16 of them- almost half are about money or possessions. There is the widow who gave all that she had, the woman who celebrated for finding a con on the floor, the men who stood all day waiting to be hired – and the list goes on. Isnt it interesting in a world where we would rather go to the store and pay $1 for water than use our water faucet, where youth would rather spend $100 for shoes that say Micheal Jordan than go to payless and pay $20 for sneakers that say nothing that the church has been crippled in speaking about money. What better place to learn about healthy money management principles? Money is the core of who we are. How we handle money uncovers what we treasure in life. I could ask you what your priorities are – and you will tell me what you think you should say. But if I look in your checkbook even before you balanced it, I can learn all there is to know about you – your priorities, how charitable you are, your integrity in paying bills, your bad habits. I can learn everything about you. Money has everything to do with faith – because money is a part of every aspect of our lives. And our lives is the arena in which our faith is lived out. Jesus was very much aware of that concept – even way back then. Jesus knew that when he encountered this very sincere man – who asks what he must do to have eternal life. Now this is one of those surface conversations, where the man thought that he would ask the right questions so that he would get the right answer. And he would get the pat on the back for being a good man and he could just go on with his life. What does it mean to have eternal life – to have eternal life- is that an investment in a far off unknown future. Instead of saving for retirement- was this man preparing to make sure that he has going to be comfortable forever? Or is does eternal life start with our lifestyle today. You can buy a comfortable bed, but you can’t buy a good nights sleep. You can buy health insurance, but you cant buy good health. You can buy all of the monitoring equipment in the world, but you cant buy a sense of peace and security. Those things are gifts that come only from our relationship with God. Jesus being God – had the ability to look beyond the man’s words to see his heart, his soul, his checkbook, his whole being- to hear the inner heart question that the man was really asking. Jesus answered out of sincere love - a love that would transform this man’s life. Sell everything that you have and give it to the poor. It is exciting that the Nobel peace committee has started to think above the culture. They gave to peace prize to Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank for doing just that- giving loans to the poor of bangledesh. Poverty is a large part of the lack of peace in the world. Mr Yunus has done just what Jesus calls all of us to do – to give what we have to help others. We can all agree on the importance of helping the poor. But the man in the scripture and even Mr Yunis are rich and they have it to give. What about those who don’t have to give? Those who are struggling to survive, or those who have money – but also have a lot of obligations. Most of us are not rich or poor- we are middle class. We have the money to live- but we have to be careful in how we spend it. The world that we live in is certainly a lot different than the world that Jesus lived in. People are losing jobs, companies who used to take care of employees have stopped, the economies of whole cities is are falling apart. Studies show that People are not giving as much as they used to. Has the world finally succeeded in making Jesus words obsolete? How can we give everything, when we don’t have everything? The scripture always has a word of hope, even in the harshest teaching. Jesus reminds us that the work of God is not dependent on his advice for the man to sell everything. He says that all things are possible with God. That man giving all that he had would not change that. Giving of ourselves is not about saving the church, it is not even about saving the world. Giving is about our relationship with God. It is about showing our love in a tangible way. Love is always from God – not from our pockets. God loved us first, so that we would know how to love others. God has given you not only everything that you have – God has given you everything that God is. God is love, God is creation, God is life, God is salvation, God is the gift of Jesus Christ in our lives – God is everything that there is – and it has been given freely to us all. Good calls us all to give freely – not because we owe it – but because we can. God has a mission to spread love in the deep crevices of pain in our lives and to the far ends of the earth- wherever there are people. God calls us to be partners in that mission. We give not to get- but to be a blessing to others. And when we give- God always returns with a blessing in our lives. That is the function of calling us here together in the church. We come together because we are all on a journey, a journey to the heart of God. In reality, we are all in different places, we give different amounts for different reasons. Here is a drama of some people and their experience of the church….. Each of us has a different relationship with God – we give in different amounts for different reasons. No matter where we are on our journey – God has called us here together. To walk together, to support one another, to help each other grow, to walk away from the past and to enter into the future together as community. Whereever we are, we are called to a deeper relationship with each other, with God and more importantly to the mission of God – to transform this confused materialistic world. When we come together are the church, and we walk together we become true stewards of God’s creation. When we come together as the church we can all be partners with God and not individual owners of our own small domain. We are focused on who we are as a community, not who we are as an organization. We are focused in our mission in the world, not on our budget. We value our relationships, not our membership numbers. And we look to the potential good that we can accomplish, not the on what we don’t have. Each of us here have two hands to help in that transformation. One hand to receive the blessings of God and one hand to give. To give to god wholeheartedly. To give with everything in our hearts, with everything that we have, and with everything that we have. To take your whole checkbook into consideration, not just the 10% . What does money have to do with faith? Everything. How you spend it says a lot about how who you are as a citizen of both earth and heaven. Just as you can’t survive in the world without money You can’t pledge your time, your service, your prayers without it. Your generosity is always the most important sign of spiritual health. My financial planner must work for Jesus. Because I have had that encounter that the man in the scripture had. When I told the financial planner the value of my doll collection- he told me that in order to be happy in the future I had to stop buying dolls. He said that he was not convinced that was a sound investment in the future. My reaction was a lot like the young man’s. First of all you are meddling, and second that is just not ready to think about that. This scripture has been a challenge for me every time in my life that I have encountered it. Sell everything and give it to the poor. What a harsh request in a world that honors stuff. My deepest fear is that there will be nothing left for me. And yet in the midst of our deepest fears, is also our greatest hope. With God all things are possible. Pledging is giving to God out of our whole selves. Jesus is well aware of your situation. And yet Jesus still asks you to give. To give out of everything that you have. To give from your scarcity as well as your abundance, from your fears as well as your hopes, from your past as well as your future. From you debts and your assets, from your barriers, as well as your freedoms. Christ loves you enough to ask for you to give from our whole selves, not just 10% of who we are. We are being asked to have the courage to let go and to trust God full and completely with every aspect of our lives. Out of love, God has given you everything that God has- and out of love he calls you to freely give as you soul will allow? What do you have to give?