THE READINGS (THE MESSAGE)
First Reading: 2 Corinthians 8: 9-11
You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us—in one stroke he became poor and we became rich. So here's what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart's been in the right place all along. You've got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can't. The heart regulates the hands. This isn't so others can take it easy while you sweat it out. No, you're shoulder to shoulder with them all the way, your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your deficit. In the end you come out even.
Gospel Reading: Luke 19: 11-26 (portions)
Reader Two: While he had their attention, and because they were getting close to Jerusalem by this time and expectation was building that God's kingdom would appear any minute, he told this story: There was once a man descended from a royal house who needed to make a long trip back to headquarters to get authorization for his rule and then return. But first he called ten servants together, gave them each a sum of money, and instructed them, 'Operate with this until I return.' "When he came back bringing the authorization of his rule, he called those ten servants to whom he had given the money to find out how they had done.
"The first said, 'Master, I doubled your money.' “He said, 'Good servant! Great work! Because you've been trustworthy in this small job, I'm making you governor of ten towns.'
"The second said, 'Master, I made a fifty percent profit on your money.' "He said, 'I'm putting you in charge of five towns.' "The next servant said, 'Master, here's your money safe and sound. I kept it hidden in the cellar. To tell you the truth, I was a little afraid. I know you have high standards and hate sloppiness, and don't suffer fools gladly.' "He said, 'You're right that I don't suffer fools gladly—and you've acted the fool! Why didn't you at least invest the money in securities so I would have gotten a little interest on it?' "Then he said to those standing there, 'Take the money from him and give it to the servant who doubled my stake.' "They said, 'But Master, he already has double . . .' "He said, 'That's what I mean: Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag.
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God, You welcome us into Your kingdom. Show us, step by step, exactly what that means. Open our eyes and our hearts to hearing You. Teach us to love each other, all the each others, now and to come. Amen
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Some of you may be wondering how our scriptures fit into our theme of God’s wide and wonderful welcome. Some of you may have heard the Gospel lesson and said, “Here it comes, she’s going to talk about money and giving”, and you would be right, except that I believe that by combining our ongoing theme of God’s wide and wonderful welcome with a new understanding of what it means to participate fully in the reign of justice to which we are being welcomed, that we will come away with a new, much more useful way to look at all these things.
Let me assure you of one thing—there are few, if any, pastors who strive to live authentic, transparent, God-driven lives who like to preach about that dreaded word “money”. And while some of that is because we know that many folks in the congregation will shut down and turn off the minute they figure out what the pastor is up to, it is mostly a reflection of our own conflicted relationship with money in our lives. Philip Yancey, a contemporary Christian author expresses our dilemma rather well. He says, “I feel pulled in opposite directions over the money issue. Sometimes I want to sell all that I own, join a Christian commune, and live out my days in intentional poverty. At other times, I want to rid myself of guilt and enjoy the fruits of our nation’s prosperity. Mostly I wish I did not have to think about money at all.” And, on that point, I agree.
The problem with that approach is that Jesus said more about our relationship to money and material things than he did any other single issue. So, if I fail to speak to you of such things, I fail to follow the example of the one who made the way into God’s wide and wonderful welcome so very plain and clear. So, I am going to trust you, my friends to not turn off and tune out, while I speak some of what I have learned about money and “things” along the way.
First, I have learned that it might be easier to talk about money when you don’t have any. When I have no money, I am much more able to speak about what others should do with their money than what I should do with my little mite. And many of you, are getting along on not very much money—let me be clear and upfront about that. However, If you walk away from this sermon, feeling guilty or ashamed or ‘less than’, I will have failed to correctly communicate what I believe God’s word says to all of us—from poverty stricken to wealthy to “I’m doing all right for now”. I pray that we will allow God’s Holy Spirit to show us the deeper truths and send us from here rejoicing in what God has given us for this day.
Scripture is clear about money—it, along with everything else we enjoy—comes from God. We are entrusted to use if for the right purposes, and there will come a time when we must account for how we have used all the generosity of God in our life.
That’s what the word “stewardship” means. When we are a steward, we acknowledge that we are caring for whatever we have been given for the true owner of it all. And I am talking about all of creation—which, of course, is another sermon itself—as well as that which we have been given as individuals and specific communities. Today I want us to look at ourselves—at what scripture says to us as individuals living in community.
We start with our Gospel lesson. It is important to note that in the Gospel of Luke, this is the last parable that Jesus tells—the last teaching story that he uses before entering Jerusalem for the last time to begin the week of his passion, death and resurrection. Even at the end, Jesus wants us to understand this notion of stewardship. Let me summarize the lengthy story that we heard read so well by Linda and Laura. A ruler gets called away. Before he leaves he hands out some money to some trusted employees to invest for him while he is gone. When he returns, he calls them to account for their investments. We hear about the first three he interviews. The first one has invested well and doubled the ruler’s money. The second one did half that well, and the third one let his or her fear of failing keep her from doing anything at all. She wanted to believe that it was enough to simply keep the investment safe. Alas, she was wrong and the ruler was very displeased. The one who had earned the most interest was given the additional money from the one who did nothing. When the onlookers told Jesus that this was unfair, he responded that it was very fair—that we are called to take risks if we expect to reap the benefits. The version we read today is almost humorous in its conclusion: “Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag.”
Are we any different than those in the story? God has given us everything in this life—rich or poor, talented or waiting to discover our talents, living into our gifts or seeking to discover what those blessings of God. Jesus does not let us off the hook because of the amount or kind of assets that we have—we, all of us, will be given the opportunity to show God what we have done with all that we have been given.
And, here is where it gets tricky. Some of you have asked me to explain the Biblical concept of tithing. Tithing brings with it two important concepts: the amount one gives and the faithfulness with which one gives it—equally important, I believe. God, in the Old Testament, commanded that tithing was a simple matter of giving 10% of all that one has. God also commanded, in that Old Testament, agrarian society, that the giving be from the “first fruits”—not the leftovers, but what comes into our lives first. And God commanded that this giving be ongoing and faithful.
Some of you come from families and traditions where 10% tithing was a thing that was modeled for you from a very early age. For the vast majority of you, this concept may seem demanding, even harsh. Please know that God does not intend it to be so. Giving to God, in whatever amount, with whatever talents or gifts, is our response to being welcomed into God’s wide and wonderful welcome. God’s love, God’s grace, God’s love and God’s welcome is freely given and freely experienced by all of us who answer the invitation. Over time, we will explore this concept of tithing further, if you like, but for now, let’s look at it as faithfully giving a certain gift that you dedicate to God every week, without fail—whatever that percent or amount is now or may come to be in the future.
By giving back a portion of what God has freely given to us, we participate in something bigger than ourselves. Paul’s words in our reading today explain all this to the young church in Corinth: Remember how generous Jesus was to all of us—he gave it all away—in one moment, He became poor and we became rich. Here’s a way for you or for us to respond: keep doing what you started, don’t forget what it is all about—you have been doing the right thing for over a year. You know you can finish what you started. All it takes is making a commitment—then you will do all that you can because the hands are controlled by the heart. No one works any harder than anyone else. And what you can’t do, someone else can, and vice versa. It all works out to be even in the end.” Ok, so maybe I changed the words a wee bit along the way, but this is what I think Paul would say to this young church here in Central Florida.
And so we give—as a way of sharing in God’s will for this world and as a way to make a difference. We give of heart and soul, of wealth and talent, of time and energy—not because God requires it of us. We give in response to all that we have been given, as an act of worship, as a way to be a part of what God is up to in this world, as a way to say “there’s more to life than just material things”, as a way of telling the world that God has made a difference in our lives, and, finally, we give because by giving in all these things we grow richer in God’s grace. As we come to understand that by giving our time, our talent, and our treasure in response to God’s wide and wonderful welcome into all that God is about, we enjoy a deeper experience of God as we go about our lives as faithful stewards of all that we have been given. And God just keeps on welcoming, widely and wonderfully, inviting us into a deeper life—deeper than anything we ever imagined, a life that will enable us to participate in God’s very reign, to make a difference in the lives of others and to spread the Gospel here, in this place, and to the world beyond. Amen and Amen
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