Wising Up

Robert E. Hall
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

October 29, 2006

Matthew 6:19-21

THE DILEMMA OF FREEDOM
Why does anyone voluntarily give away that which they consider valuable? Why do you or I make a commitment to give regularly, over a period of time, money that could be invested elsewhere, spent on ourselves, or which might earn interest or dividends for us? There are bills we must pay. Who knows what tomorrow might bring? Will we have enough to meet our needs as a family? How much is enough? Can you or I ever have too much wealth? After all, we must secure our own future?
 
BALANCING NEEDS AND WANTS
These questions occur to me every year about this time. How about you? I wrestle with how to balance our personal needs and wants with the needs and wants of the church---as well as other agencies which do kingdom work. Unlike my vendors, the church does not send me a bill each month. If I get a reminder of my commitment, I can put it in the bottom drawer. Not so with the mortgage payment or the cable bill.

GUT CHECK
Commitment time is a “gut- check” time for you and for me. Because I am free to decide what I will plan to give, I have to return in my soul to ask some basic questions---questions that no one else can answer. (I know there is the “tithe” as a guide to how much.) Questions such as: Who is worthy of my worship, my ultimate devotion? Looking at what I treasure most----indicated by the investment of my time, talent and gifts----is my god the God of Jesus Christ? Or am I worshipping success, escape, diversion, comfort, the past?. Am I piling up treasures in heaven by doing acts of justice and mercy? Am I trusting that God will see me through whatever comes my way, or am I anxious about my future, living as if I can secure my future by my own resources?

“THEY WANT YOUR BLOOD!”
A true story: A couple came into the sanctuary early. They have a seat in their favorite pew; the man opens his bulletin and the insert falls on the floor. As he picks it up, he grumbles, “What kind of special offering are they asking for this time?” His wife looks over the flyer and says, in a voice loud enough to be heard several pews away, “Oh Henry, stop complaining; they don’t want your money this time, they want your blood.”
(It was Blood Drive Sunday.)

GIVING PATTERNS? LIVING PATTERNS!
Commitment Sundays, at their best, are not just times to ask us to examine our giving patterns; it is a time to prompt us to ask about our living patterns. God invites us to trust our very lives into his hands, not just our pocketbooks. The basic question: What are our hearts really devoted to?

AN IMAGINED CONVERSATION WITH GOD
God says: “I have created you and redeemed you, at great cost. Give me your life and all that you have.”

“Everything? What happened to the 10% rule?”

“Don’t be a legalist. I want total commitment, not just 10%.”

After I say YES!--- and commit my life to God, God says:

“ Now, you are mine forever. Trust me. I will never forsake or abandon you.

 NOW, I am giving you your transformed self back to you, and all that you have given up. Manage these for me; do something for my kingdom with the talents you have and the resources you have at your disposal.”

“How? What are the rules?”

“You decide. In your church, within your family and community, wherever you have influence--- you decide. In all of these make me proud. Make me glad I created you! Serve in making the world more just and peaceful, as I want it to be. Remember, I will be with you always.”

MY THOUGHTS
If my whole self belongs to God, and if I am trusted by God to be a steward of all I have, then how does m financial commitment to the church fit into my devotion to God?

Here is how I have thought it out for myself.

COMMUNITY
Though God can be met anywhere, I need to be with others who are intentionally seeking God’s presence. I forget who I am and what is most important in life. Here, with you, we pray, listen, sing, commune, discuss, share our joys and our sorrows. I want to give to keep the church alive and thriving because there is no other community dedicated to hearing the word read and proclaimed and where the sacraments bring us into the presence of the living Lord. In the church, I am reminded of what real treasure is, and what it really means to be happy. Here, I hear and taste and see grace, even when I do not want to, BUT NEED TO.

I want this community to be alive so that the generations coming up, the children and youth, can be exposed to true wisdom, in a world so inundated with garbage passing as wisdom.

COMPASSION
Caring, sharing, giving, loving, serving, supporting. Here, I see the ancient practice of almsgiving updated and being lived out. I see neighbors reaching out to people in all kinds of needs---in our community, across town, in other states and other countries. I rub elbows with people who conscientiously seek to apply the great commandments in their daily lives, in workplaces, neighborhoods, in state government, and in advocacy for peace and justice. Tarrytown and the larger United Methodist connection is committed to ministries to the left out and the left behind.

WITHIN THE FELLOWSHIP
I see love being extended to those who come into this fellowship as members of smaller koinonias (places where we read our lives together), groups of caring: SS classes, choirs, work groups, youth fellowships, teams, mission trip. I want to give to make such a communities of compassion thrive and grow. I want new disciples to know the love of Jesus and be prepared for lives of passionate  God-sharing.

BRUCE BLAKE’S STORY
Bishop Bruce Blake tells of going to worship recently with his 5 year old granddaughter. As they arrived and took their seats, they noticed a woman three pews up who was weeping. The little girl asked what the woman was crying about. Bishop Blake said that the woman’s husband had died and she was sad.  When it came time for the passing of the peace, without hesitation-----and before the bishop could stop her---- she climbed over the three pews in front of them and put her arms around the woman who was crying.

I want to give to a church where this kind of ready compassion is happening all the time.

COMMITMENT
I want to give to the church, not just when I feel the spirit, or when I am in the mood, but as a “long obedience in the same direction.” (Eugene Peterson) I give because I said I would.

MY DAD
Growing up in Palo Pinto, Texas, my Dad would do two things every Sunday morning. He would take a broom and sweep the house. And, before we left for church, he would take out a little envelop from a box, with the date printed on it; he would write a check and place it in the envelope, seal it and put it in his pocket. He was ready for the offering.

FREELY……AS A SIGNAL
The offering was not a fee, not a ticket for admission. It was an act of worship. It was as if my Dad was saying: “The world may try to squeeze me into its own mold, telling me what I must do with my money; but I will freely give to my church as a sign of my commitment.”

SAINTS…MY TURN
Today we have remembered the saints who have gone before. Many of them gave generously in days when they did not have much to give. They invested in a cause that has outlived them. I am inspired by their example, to do my part, now that it is my turn.

TRENDS: SUSPICION
I have been told that the values of my Dad’s generation are fading away, that the distrust level among most adults is so high that they won’t give, motivated by something as ordinary as commitment or duty. Trends become our fate----and our excuse. But I also know that the love of Jesus can so turn our lives around that we will eagerly sign on the dotted line for the joy of giving to the church which spreads this love to others.

SUM: WINNING CAUSE……SERVANT-MINDED….PURE OF HEART  (Single-mindedness)

You and I are part of a winning cause. Not by worldly standards, but by the fact that we participate as a servant-people in the Kingdom of God:  the active, loving, moving, persistent, gift of new life and a new world. It is among us and it is coming. We pray in confidence for this kingdom, to come, “on earth as it is in heaven.” In the meantime, we work for a better world, for an end to needless suffering among all the creatures of God’s earth. We will struggle and suffer. And Jesus said, “I will be with you always.”

I want to be a faithful steward of all that God has given me, both with my time and talents, and with my gifts. I can think of no other enterprise more important than magnifying the love of God and neighbor with all I am and all I have. This is God’s farm; I hope to be a good hand for him. I hope that you do, too.