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.