The Church of the Good Shepherd, Richmond, VA
24 Pentecost, October 30, 2005, Proper 26, Year A
Stewardship Sermon 2005
Micah 3:5-12; Psalm 43:1-6; 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13, 17-20; Matthew 23:1-12
We Give Because We Must
My sermon is a bit different today. In part it is because it is not taken directly from today’s Gospel - and in part because I want to talk to you about giving to God today something other than our minds and souls and bodies—but rather about giving our money to God. Now that will either grip your attention, or cause you to have a quick coughing spell that will require you to step outside during the rest of the sermon. But let’s plunge on—
Remember our Gospel from two weeks ago, the one in which the Pharisees sought to trick Jesus regarding the question of taxes . . .
And Jesus said: Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar,
and give to God what belongs to God.
As long as this bit of scripture has existed, commentators and preachers—including me—have spent a great deal time over this passage - mostly talking about either how Jesus avoided the trap set for him by his enemies, or about what things are Caesar's, and which are God's.
But there is yet another cut on that gospel story that takes a different tack—the one that notes that it is about the attitudes and the actions of those who refused to believe in Jesus and about giving - or - as the old King James version of the bible so delightfully puts it - about rendering.
Render unto Caesar," said Jesus, "the things that are
Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.
Now, in doing the calculations involved in that statement, you can be sure that the IRS will calculate how much we owe to Caesar. The question I want to pose for you today is this - What do you and I have that belongs to God?
And I want to get very personal about it this morning - and talk specifically about money and what it is that we owe to God.
Why would I do this?
Because Jesus talks about money not just here in this passage, but in many of his dialogues and parables; and because talking about Christian discipleship without talking about one of the prime manifestations of that discipleship simply makes no sense.
Some clergy try to find creative ways of dealing with this subject of money. In one church, where the minister often indulged in thirty to forty minute sermons, announced that if his congregation reached a certain pledge goal, he would permit them to place a clock on the pulpit. If they exceeded their goal by $1000, he would let them plug the clock in. If they exceeded the goal by $5000, he agreed to look at it!
That's one way of dealing with money.
“Render unto Caesar," said Jesus, "the things that are Caesar's;
and unto God the things that are God's."
What are the things we owe to God?
Well, first of all notice that our Gifts to God are a payment on a debt, a kind of "paying it forward" as it were—rather than a bribe or a down payment on a ticket to ride the train that is bound for glory!
We don't give our gifts to God in order to get something back.
We don't give to God because we hope to receive special favors in return.
We give out of gratitude for what God has already done in our behalf.
We return to God only a small portion of what he has given us.
There is a trend among many Christians today, especially in our current society, to be self-indulgent. Many of the so called 'successful' churches are packaging Christianity to fit people's wants, not their real needs.
For example, there are some churches that foster the idea that if we give a lot to the church, then God will make us prosperous in our homes. In short, if we sow lots of money, we will get lots of money back. This is the standard pitch among some of the more notorious televangelists - but it can also be heard in many churches throughout the country.
In order to see how misleading such theology is, all we have to do is look at what happened to the Disciples. Surely if a group of Christians deserved to prosper because of their devotion, it is them. If the “give and get” standard prevailed, surly each of them should have retired in a Roman villa somewhere overlooking the Mediterranean.
Is that how the story turned out? No! Here is how some of their stories ended
Matthew suffered martyrdom by the sword in Ethiopia.
Mark died at Alexandria after being dragged through the streets of
that city.
Luke was hanged on an olive tree in Greece.
John was put into a caldron of boiling oil, but escaped death and was
banished to Patmos.
Peter was crucified upside down in Rome.
James was beheaded at Jerusalem.
James the Lesser was thrown from a pinnacle of the Temple and beaten to
death below.
If I were to tell you that God will prosper you because you give your offerings to this church - or to any other church or charity, I would be guilty of the worst kind of self-serving subterfuge. Our gifts are a debt not a bribe - A debt of gratitude - of recognition that in the end everything we have comes from God and belongs to God..
Second - We need to recognize that God doesn't need our money. But we need to give.
There is an old story that goes like this:
There once was a wealthy man who was determined to take it with
him when he died. He prayed and prayed until he convinced the
Lord to let him bring his wealth inside the pearly gates. There
was one condition: He could only bring one suitcase of his
wealth with him. Therefore, the rich man filled his suitcase with
gold bullion.
Then one day, he died. St. Peter greeted him at the gate and told
him he could come in, but his suitcase would have to be left.
"But I have an agreement with God," said the man, "to bring one
suitcase to heaven."
"That's very unusual," replied St. Peter. "Let me look inside
that suitcase."
The man opened the suitcase to reveal the shining gold bullion.
St. Peter was amazed. He asked, "Why in the world would you
bring more paving stones to heaven?"
There is nothing we have that God needs!
And God certainly does not need our money.
It's easy for us to have the misconception that God must have our resources to fulfill His plan. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When we give our gifts to God it is not because God needs anything. It is we who need to give!
Why do we need to give?
I can think of at least one good reason—to combat the overwhelming power of materialism in our lives.
There was a young man who was desperately in need of a job. He
asked God to help him find employment, and when he secured a job
that paid $100 a week, the young man was so overjoyed that he
promised God that he would always give 10 percent of his income
to the church. He began by giving $10 a week, 10% of his $100
income.
As time passed, the young man moved on to a higher paying job.
Now he was making $500 a week, and he dutifully put $50 in the
plate each Sunday. Eventually, he earned $1,000 a week, and
while he still put $100 in the plate, it had become a grudging
duty.
Finally, he hit the big time -- earning $3,000 a week. He could
not bear the thought of putting $300 into the plate each
Sunday, so he sought out the pastor. "When I made that promise,
I only earned $100 a week," he said. "My promise made sense back
then, but now things are different. Would you please release me
from my promise to give 10% of my income to the church?"
The pastor thought about it for awhile and then replied, "My son,
I cannot release you from a promise you made before God. But I
would be happy to pray that your income be reduced back to the
original $100 a week!"
There is no more deceptive and deadly power in our lives than the power of materialism. It is an grip upon us as strong as any addictive drug we can imagine. It works like this:
The more material goods we have, the more we feel we need. Luxuries become necessities; what was once extravagance becomes an essential. And, even worse, the more we have, the more we feel we deserve until the power of materialism separates us from our neighbor and ultimately from God. That is why Jesus had more to say about money than any other subject - not because God needs our money but because we need to give. It is the only way to break the cycle of material need.
Our gift to God is not a bribe but a debt.
We give not because God needs it but because we need to give.
We need to show that it is God who rules our lives, not greed.
And there's one more thing that needs to be said: Our giving to God is supposed to come off the top, not from what we have left over. The oft offered response is "Don't ask me to pledge to God's work. I will give as I am able." The idea is that I will give if I have enough left over after satisfying my needs and desires.
There are many Christians who practice this kind of giving - who give from what is left over rather than from what they first receive - and so their offering is but a token gift - a token gift that often reflects a token faith.
Finally, let me leave you with some good news, and some not-so-good news.
The good news is that we have more than enough money here in Good Shepherd to meet all of our needs and those of others. The not-so-good news is that the money is still in our pockets. When you offer your prayers this morning, pray that the person next to you will pledge and give generously in this Stewardship campaign.