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Stewardship II Today is the 5th Sunday in your Stewardship month I note with interest that you have chosen a month that has 5 Sundays in it. Maybe Charmaine just wanted to be sure that you got the message As I said last week it would be extremely presumptuous of me to come in here as a visiting priest and start to tell you how , or what you should do with your money. All I can do is to point you to the word of God and let the Holy Spirit do the rest. It’s interesting that when you start preparing a sermon very often in some of the reference books written by prominent preachers there always seems to be a joke. I don’t normally tell jokes but a couple of them have amused me. Two men were in a small aircraft that crash landed in a remote area and remarkably they were not injured, after they climbed out one of the men became hysterical and kept saying that they would die. The second man said “I am a prominent member in my Church”, to which the other man said “What difference does that matter when we are lost”. The second man said, “I give over $10,000 every week to my church”. The first man said again, “What difference does that matter we are lost”. The second man said, “We won’t be lost for long, my vicar will be organizing search parties right now”. Giving to God , or living for God, is sometimes seen or thought of as, paying our dues, or fulfilling an obligation., when we should be looking at What should our attitude be toward giving, ….what is the right way to give, and how do we go about giving. The first thing we need to understand is that giving is an act of worship….. It’s an act of gratitude to a faithful God for all his goodness to us. …. Giving is not just a response to the needs of a church… it’s a response of gratitude. The question often arises: How much should I give………..To answer these questions let me point you to the scriptures. The Old Testament talks about the TITHE and in the Book of Leviticus it was set down as 10% of everything they owned. The law of the tithe was among one of the earliest laws of the Israelites. I have to confess I do have some misgivings about the tithe; it was in fact a tax that was enforced. On the other hand they had worked for their food and money, and it was God who blessed them with abundant crops and good herds and it was expected out of their abundance that they were to return to God 10% . As I said last week, it’s a pity that some churches expect the tithe as a condition of membership …. and where giving is a requirement and an imposition on people, then it’s not given with a spirit of willingness or joy. And the blessing of giving is not experienced. Well! that the Old Testament, What does the New Testament have to say , Tithing is not even mentioned in the New Testament, The new Testament standard for giving is not the tithe, the New Testament has a totally different pattern for stewardship from the Old Testament. To understand the new Testament concept of giving we have to look at the story of the “Rich young Ruler” in Matthew 19 let me read it to you…….. What was Jesus saying to this young man… I believe he was giving him the New Testament principle of stewardship and that principle is this : Where the Old Testament taught that 10% of everything owned belongs to God The New Testament, and particularly Jesus, is teaching that all we have belongs to God. The Old Testament showed us that God had a partial claim, the New Testament shows us the full extent of the claim God has on us. You may have noticed when I accept the offering and dedicate it, I say We give you but your own What ere the gift may be All that we have is thine alone A trust O Lord from thee This is the first verse of a hymn that was in the hymnbook of our church when we lived in Canada and was always sung after the offering was presented. To acknowledge this, and to live this way is an act of worship. Last week we looked at the poor widow who gave all that she had - 2 small coins, while those around her were giving large amounts of money, because they could afford it. Her gift was very small, but how big it was when we consider it was all she had. The point is not literally whether you will give away all that you have, but whether you recognize Gods complete ownership of everything that you possess. Here we are talking about an entirely new attitude toward life. This is true worship and true stewardship. Another point is this Giving tells me where my heart is. Jesus always demanded everything from his followers, and there were many who were not willing to pay the price, just like the young man in Matthew’s Gospel. Peter said to Jesus “We left all we had to follow you” and Jesus replied No one who left home for the sake of the Kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life. Unreserved commitment results in unrestrained blessings. When you hold nothing back from God he holds nothing back from you. One of the dangers of living in our materialistic society is that we will start to value material things more than spiritual things. One has to wonder when we see through out our country churches closing and congregations that were once vibrant amalgamating with other churches so that they can survive, what is going wrong, one thing I believe is that the churches are failing to preach the Gospel with passion. I thank God that Holy Trinity is not like this, and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is still central to its mission. Generally in society there is not much thought given to God and to things of his Kingdom, while in Korea, Africa, and South America, the churches are growing at an amazing rate because they have a passion, and an enormous spiritual hunger for the things of God. Their worship is enthusiastic and vibrant. Why is that generally not the case here in New Zealand? and in fact in many western countries, the reason I believe is that materialism has blunted our spiritual desires. Isn’t it interesting … The more we have the more we want, and the less grateful we become…The more we have the more likely we are to keep it for ourselves. Jesus told a parable in Luke chapter 12 Let me read it to you I think we all need to understand that giving is an indicator of how much we trust God. Friends we are assured that God is aware of our needs and will take care of us and we have to believe that in other words have faith. The first verse of our reading from 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 9 says He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and he who sows bountifully, will also reap bountifully. You know that almost all the Bible has to say about money is negative unless it’s talking about giving it away. The Bible is also positive when it says in Acts 20 v. 35 “It is more blessed to give than to receive”. And its also positive when it says in 2 Corinthians 6 verse 7 “That each person should give what they have decided in their heart to give not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver” ……. No one will ever ruin their character by being too generous, but many people have ruined their character by being greedy, and their love of money. God does not expect us to be irresponsible when handling money, but what he teaches in his word is that Money is not to rule our lives. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 “Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasure in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. When we have the privilege of giving to God and his work it reminds us where it has come from ……. For where your treasure is there may your heart be also….Where is your treasure? Is it invested in yourself or is it invested in the Kingdom of God. AMEN Its been a real pleasure and privilege to be able to share your worship these last 2 weeks, its not finished yet however; I will be leading the Wednesday Eucharist this week and also the Choral Evensong next Sunday evening and I promise the sermon is not about money or giving. It’s about the Children of Israel crossing the Red Sea. |
