Giving our All, Year A, Pentecost 21, Mark 10:17-31,

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.  Amen

There are two readings from the Gospels that make me very uncomfortable, and always leave me trying somehow to work my way around them.

The first, and probably the most difficult one, is the judgment of the nations found in Matthew 25.

That’s where Jesus says that the Son of Man will come in glory, and judge the nations, dividing the people into two groups.   One group will inherit the Kingdom prepared for them from the beginning.  The others sent to the eternal fire prepared for the devils and his angels.

The difference between the two groups is how they treated the least of these. 

for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. '

When did we do this—or not do this??

And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. '

Yup, that one makes me nervous.  Uncomfortable.  And perhaps it should.

And today’s Gospel is no easier.

“You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

A few years back, when I preached on this text, one of my members was quite upset after the sermon.

“Pastor, my husband put his Rolex watch in the offering plate this morning!”

OK, well I wasn’t expecting that.

What can we say about this text?

First a few comments:

An interesting shift occurs between the question that the young man asks Jesus, and the answer that Jesus gives.

The man asks what he must do to inherit eternal life?

Jesus responds by talking about the kingdom of God.

Are they one and the same?  Or not? 

Is it possible Jesus is dismissing the man’s concern about heaven and eternal life, and instead focuses on the Kingdom of God as a present reality in this world? 

Secondly, the Gospel tells us that the man went away grieving for he had many possessions.

Was he grieving because he couldn’t give up those possessions and as a result inherit eternal life?  Or because he did do as Jesus commanded and gave up everything?  We don’t know what happened to him.

And thirdly, one of the questions we ask is “was Jesus speaking just to that man or to us as well?”  Or we might ask if we are the ‘rich’ Jesus was speaking to, or did he mean those far richer than us.  Compared to Bill Gates I’m not rich nor are you.  So are we off the hook?

And finally, was Jesus’ intent actually that we should give up all that we have, and follow him?  Or was his actual point that it was impossible for any of us to do anything to inherit eternal life—but what is impossible for us, is quite possible for God.

In this case we can entirely dismiss Jesus’ command to sell all that we have and give it to the poor, and then take comfort in the unconditional grace of God by which we are saved—apart from any action on our part.

What makes me uncomfortable is that in order to do this we have to dismiss Jesus’ own words, in favor of an easier interpretation of them.

And dismissing what Jesus’ says should make us uncomfortable.

Jesus says:  for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. '

Jesus says:  “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

Do we simply ignore Jesus?  Dismiss him?  Or seek to do as he instructed us?  And what is the consequence?

How will we be judged?

Will we be saved because we fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, cared for the sick, and visited the imprisoned?

Are we saved because we sold what we have and gave the money to the poor?

Now here, we can interject another couple of observations.

·         Some might suggest that Jesus is being unrealistically idealistic.  His command to sell everything and give it to the poor is just not sustainable.

·         Furthermore, if we did sell all that we have and give it to the poor all that would happen is that they’d now be rich and we’d be poor.  Wouldn’t that in turn mean that they should do the same for us?

That said, at the end of the day I’m left with the thought that we basically have two options:

Either we are going to find some basis for ignoring Jesus’ words and doing our own thing, or we take Jesus at his own word, and then become really uncomfortable.

Back to the matter of the Rolex watch.

I was faced with a dilemma.  What to do?

Should I accept this man’s gift, sell the watch for what I could get, and give the money to the poor?  The problem I had with that is that I’d only be able to sell the watch for a fraction of what it was worth.

Or should I have rejected this man’s gift, and basically told him that I didn’t mean THAT.

What I decided to do, was to give it back to him with the admonition that he could continue wearing it, but that he should remember that it was now God’s.  And not only that, he should let it be a reminder that everything he had was God’s—and he was but a steward of these possessions.

“We give thee but thine own, whate’er the gift may be; all that we have is thine alone, a trust O Lord from thee.

“May we thy bounties thus, as stewards true receive.  And gladly as thou blesses us, to thee our first fruits give.”

That’s the hymn we sing as we bring our gifts to the altar.

One of the ways we can take Jesus’ seriously is to offer ourselves and all that we have to him as faithful stewards.

We have been blessed with an abundance of riches.

We are called to be stewards, not owners.

Yes, with those riches we need to care for ourselves, we need to provide for our own food, and home, and all the other essentials of life and living.

But we are also responsible for other things as well.

One of the least popular responsibilities we have is to be responsible citizens, pay our taxes, and by doing so support all that our government is responsible for doing.

We are called to respond to the poor and all in need with compassion and mercy.

And for certain, we all called to offer our first fruits for the sake of the Gospel, and to provide for the ministry of the Church.

The stewardship question is this:  Given all that we have been entrusted with, how would Jesus have us distribute it?  How much should I spend on housing?  On food?  On other things like cars and toys, and travel?  And how much should I give to the church?  And what about the food bank?  Or offering things such as these quilts to help those in need? 

In the Old Testament we are instructed to tithe, to give the first 10% of our income to God.

In the New Testament, Jesus raises the stakes and expects us to offer 100% to him, managing all we have as stewards.  

That’s the stewardship answer.

Another way to respond to these words of Jesus, is to focus on the last words of Jesus’ command:

sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.

This is a matter of discipleship.

Jesus said:  " 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. '  This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it:'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. '

Here we might ask the question:  “What part of the word All don’t you understand?”

All your heart.

All your soul.

All your mind.

And yes, all your possessions.

The point is that Jesus will not settle for anything less than our “all”.

Jesus wants all of you, not just a part of you.

To follow Jesus is to give our entire life to him.

Nothing less.

We are called to be both stewards and disciples.

OK.  But back to the original question.

“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Here I’m going to leave you with a thought.

How much did you do to deserve to be born?

Obviously, there’s nothing we could possibly do to deserve to be born, as we simply didn’t exist prior to that.

Life is a gift.

And if life is a gift, eternal life is as well.

There’s nothing you can do to earn it.

“For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

May this peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Amen

Year A, Proper 24, Matthew 22.15-25, “To God the things that are God’s”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen

“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Jake was the husband of the matriarch of my congregation in Thompson Falls.

Though Elsie never missed something at church, Jake never darkened the door of the Church.

He did, however, like pastors.  He would take us fishing.  He would enjoy having us out to the place along the Clark Fork River for dinner.

In short, Jake was a good guy, just not a church goer.

But Jake taught me  something about generosity that I’ll never forget. 

“Pastor,” Jake said, “Pastor, there’s one thing I’ll never understand about people.  They’re constantly complaining about having to pay taxes.  I just don’t understand it.”

“You know, one year I had to pay $25,000 in taxes.  Imagine that, just me and my Cat building roads in the forest, and I had to pay $25,000 in taxes.”

“There were other years that I didn’t have to pay any taxes at all.”

“Pastor, the years I had to pay a lot in taxes were a whole lot better years than when I didn’t.  People should be grateful to pay taxes, because it means they had a good year.  They shouldn’t complain.”

Gratitude.

That’s what Jake’s comments were all about.

Gratitude.

Whether it’s paying taxes, or making our offerings, we should do so with a grateful heart.

What a blessing it is to have received enough to be taxed, or to be able to make an offering.

Gratitude.

One more word about taxes.

One theologian remarked once that if we consider all that is God’s, there is little left for the Emporer.

How much should we give as an offering to God?

That’s the question for today.

And why should we give?

That’s another good question.

Giving has an interesting history, and the Church has done a variety of things throughout the ages to meet its financial obligations.

In the Old Testament times, God’s people were expected to bring their tithes, the first fruits of the harvest and offer them in gratitude to God.  It was straight forward.  10% up front.

Since then, many Christians have adopted this as a mandate for their own giving.

My mother and father-in-law told their story from when they were first married.  They were going to Church one Sunday morning, and between them they had only $1.  Could they give anything?

They prayed about it, and came to the conclusion that they’d give a dime.  10%.  And that they did throughout the rest of their lives. 

Many Christians have found this to be a rich discipline, and have reported many blessings from doing so.

One of the best pieces of advice  I’ve ever heard, and one that unfortunately I’ve not been able to adopt, was to give 10%, save 10%, and live off the rest.  If I had my life to live over, I’d like to do that.

At any rate, many Christians have answered those two questions of how much we should give and why, by saying that we are to give 10% of all we have received, and do so both out of gratitude and obedience.

One of the problems with these answers is that they can become a legalistic burden.  Sometimes, 10% is too much, and at other times 10% is far too little.

Pastor Herb Knutson, whom I knew in Montana, was deeply concerned about viewing our giving from such a legalistic point of view. 

His father experienced all sorts of guilt because he didn’t feel he was able to give as much as he was required to give.

Herb studied the scripture in depth, and realized that the Old Testament tithe, actually funded BOTH the Church and the State. 

It was a flat rate that covered everything, both giving and taxation.  Actually, when you think about it, submitting to a flat tax of 10% that supported the entire government and the Church would be quite desirable to many in our age.  Wouldn’t it.

But before we go there, there is another part of the Biblical witness to bear in mind.

In the New Testament, specifically in Acts, the early Christians were expect to give, not 10%, but 100% to the Lord. 

In Acts 2.44 & 45 it is written:

“All who believed were together and had all things in common;  they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”

And again in Chapter 4 it is written:

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.

This was a radical concept.

It was radical in its day, and especially radical for us today as our entire culture is built around private ownership of things, from the land we live on to the money we have in the bank.

Many will say, “Well, that’s communism, and it’s been proven it just doesn’t work.  It didn’t work for the early Christians, and it won’t work now.”

Maybe so, but there is a truth that this points to, and that is this.

Our whole lives are lived as Stewards, caretakers of all that God has given to  us.

What we do with our lives, and with all that we have, determines whether we are good stewards or bad.

Yes, it is our responsibility to provide for ourselves and our families, food and clothing, home and shelter, transportation, health care, and all that is part of living today.

But support for the mission of the Church is also part of that responsibility that we as Christians have.

And, to put it bluntly, if one owns a $500,000 dollar home, two $50,000 cars, an RV or two, and countless other things, yet only gives as much to the Church as they might as a tip to a waiter following a fine meal out—well, that says something.

This brings up another point, about why we give and how much we should give.

Our giving is a witness to what we believe in, and who or what is truly our God.

Giving is an act of worship, with it we are acknowledging that the Lord is our God, and the Lord alone.

There’s a good news, bad news, joke about this.

The good news is that Jesus has returned to the earth.

The bad news is that he’s mad and has brought his accountants.

The point being, that there is probably no truer indicator of what we value in life, than our checkbooks.  And if our giving is merely an afterthought, well, that says something about us and what we believe.

Having said all that, I go back to Jake and Herb.

Jake’s observation is that we should be delighted to be able to pay taxes, and give generously, because it indicates that we have been blessed with a very good year.  Wise Words.

But Herb’s point is also well taken, it is wrong to approach giving legalistically.  The truth is that there are times in our lives when we will be able to give a lot, and at other times, only a little.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians:

“Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.”

That last line, is another point about why we give.

“That you may share abundantly in every good work.”

When we give, we participate in the mission of the Church.  It’s an act of Christian service.

And our gifts make ministry possible.

The Church wasn’t always dependent on free will offerings.

During the Middle Ages the Church owned massive amounts of land and profited off of it, supporting itself.

In Europe, even to this day, taxation supports the Church.

And I remember reading about the first Pastor of one of the congregations my Dad served.

His compensation was $200 annually, plus two offerings of his choice, and, we might add, all of his living expenses were basically covered.  If a farmer butchered an animal, part of it went to the pastor.  Pastors were given free medical care by doctors.  This even continued into my Dad’s ministry.  He paid a total of $35 to have six children, and that only because the obstetrician for one of the kids was Jewish, not Christian.

Today, though, our ministry is dependent on our charitable giving.  Buildings need to be heated.  Pastors need to be paid a salary.  And the wider mission of the Church is dependent on our giving.

The bottom line is that it is through the generosity of our members that our congregation is able to continue its ministry.  That’s simply a fact.

Why do we give?

Because Jesus said “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

In order to do that in today’s world, and today’s economy, the Church needs cash. 

One final story.

There was a wealthy man who had a sense of calling to the ministry.  He was capable of making a lot of money, but felt the need to be a pastor, instead.

As he evaluated his gifts for ministry, though, he realized that what he really was gifted at was making money.  He wasn’t particularly suited for the ministry at all.

After much prayer and consideration he decided that the best thing he could do, was to make as much money as he could, and then give generously to support the ministry of those who were truly gifted as pastors and evangelists.

He decided he would live on just a small portion of his annual income, and give the rest to support the ministry of the Church.

It was a wonderful and faithful response.

We give, in order to support those who have the gift of ministry.

“Why do you give?” and “How much will you give?”

These are two questions each of us must answer for ourselves. 

And however you answer those questions, just remember this:

That whether we are able to  give a lot, or a little, we are always simply giving back to God what he has first given us.

That’s what the hymn we will sing next makes clear.

We give thee but thine own, whate’er the gift may be.

All that we have is thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from Thee.

Amen

Year C, Proper 17, Luke 14:1, 7-14, Exercises for the Soul

Do not sit down at the place of honor, but rather wait and let it be given to you.

Do not give to those who will just return the favor, but rather to those who cannot repay you.

What Jesus is talking about is the lost art of gracious living.  Lost to many of us, at least, and to most of us at least some of the time.  

If we live our lives with the attitude that we deserve nothing, then everything that we receive is gift, and gratitude is the result.

And if we live our lives generously, giving to those who cannot repay, graciousness is the consequence.  In both the giving and the receiving, grace abounds and gratitude rules the day.

Two gift giving moments come to mind.  The first occurred a number of years ago as my siblings and I were gathered at my folks home for Christmas.  We were still in the practice of exchanging gifts with one another.  But none of us were particularly adept at making those purchases in advance.  Thank God, for "Land's End".  It was comical.  We basically passed the Land's End catalog around  and each ordered something for the others.  2 day delivery insured a timely Christmas celebration.  

The second celebration was with our own children.  They had expressed a desire to move toward a 'grown up Christmas', with less emphasis on the gift exchange.  I couldn't quite let go of the gift giving tradition of Christmas, but had the inspiration to use the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's "Good Gift" program.  For each of our children, we offered a gift, not too them, but in honor of them.  Farm animals for third world families.  A doctors visit and vaccinations for the less fortunate.  Water purification tablets.  School supplies.  Each chosen because we thought it appropriate for that child, based on their interests.  Giving such gifts simply felt better.

More difficult, though, is this matter of sitting back and receiving as gift from others.  Particularly, when you simply cannot repay.  It's a humbling experience.  Perhaps a better word would be humiliating.  And yet to be touched by the graciousness of others, and to be in a situation in which the only possible response is to say 'Thank you' is good for the soul.  

The importance of such exercises is that life itself, is grace based.  The very breath of life that sustains us is a gift.  Birth is a gift.  Everything is a gift.  And the more we come to appreciate this giftedness of all life, the richer we become spiritually.