"Stewardship Sermon
" Sermon Transcript for November 4, 2001 By Rev. Mike Beck
I want us to think together this morning about our giving to God’s work through His church. Now, if you’re still checking us out, if you are here for the first time today, if you are a Franklin College student, I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to our church family. Some persons argue that all the church talks about is money. Well, if that’s true, and it isn’t, we’re just following the example of Jesus who spent more time talking about this topic than any other. But I would acknowledge with you that no time of the year makes me more on edge than this. And I think it’s because I know when I talk about money I’m at the very core of your being. I’m not on the surface. I’m inside nosing around and touching nerves. But I do know that our giving, more often than not, reveals our priorities in life. That’s why there is so much profound truth in Jesus’ words: "Where your treasure is, there where your heart be also."
This may be an uncomfortable topic for us, but as in medicine, being uncomfortable for a time is often the doorway to health and wholeness. At this time of year I’m also worried that sometimes the persons who listen most closely and lay unnecessary guilt trips on themselves are often the very ones who are already giving sacrificially. There are persons who give $10 a week who are giving far more sacrificially than someone else who may be giving $100 a week. I’m aware that with what has happened in the financial markets, that there are some persons who may need to actually reduce their giving because of circumstances in their life. We understand that! I remember many times visiting with older persons in the nursing homes who with tears streaming down their face apologized for not being able to financially give like they once did. I also realize that finances are tight for many of you. Believe me, Mickey and I have "been there, done that" in terms of living from paycheck to paycheck. But I also know that everyone in the sanctuary is incredibly blessed of God in terms of our material resources. And we have also been given the undeserved gift of the love of God and salvation and an eternal life. So I don’t need to apologize for asking you to respond in gratitude for all that God has done for you.
But I want to begin by saying "thank you". I’m not here to scold you this morning believe me. I want to thank you for your vision and your faith and your obedience as expressed through your giving over the past few years. In 1998 our total giving was $370,000 not counting missions. This year it will be $530,000. That’s almost a 40% increase in four years. I want to thank you for what you are doing in missions. In 1998 our mission giving was $33,000; this year it will be around $73,000. That kind of dispels what some pastors tell my dad when he asks them to consider a missions conference and they say, "We’d like to do that but, you know, if we emphasize missions the other giving will fall off." I invite you to look at those numbers to see the fallacy of that argument. And as I’ve already mentioned, our annual stewardship campaign that we’re in over these next three weeks, is not built on the budget. We challenge you to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ, and then we’ll build the budget based on how much you’ve moved forward.
But as I talk with the Finance Committee and we looked at the preliminary budget two weeks ago, I told them, I said, "I really thought about brining you as bare boned an increase in the budget as I could for next year in light of the economy, but the Holy Spirit shook me and said, ‘Wait a minute. Newcomers are walking through the doors of Grace Church in record numbers. Since September 11, persons are responding to the gospel in ways they haven’t been for years. Is this the time for us to be thinking, ‘Where can we cut back?" In John 4:35 Jesus said, and I don’t think it’s true of us, he said, "Open your eyes and look at the fields. They are ripe for harvest." Grace Church, friends, is one of the most blessed churches in this annual conference. And if we are blessed, as you’ve heard me say on numerous occasions, we don’t need to feel guilty about it. We’ll never answer the question, "Why are we so blessed?" But by golly if we’re blessed, we’d better be a blessing to others. And perhaps in one sense Grace Church is kind of like the Israelites in the story we read last week. We know that God has led us from Egypt to the edge of the Jordan and we’re looking across to the Promised Land and we sometimes wonder, "Can we do it?" The giants over there look pretty big!
I’d like you to read these words with me as we think about what might be ahead. They are in Ephesians 3, Verses 20 and 21. They are up there on the screen; read them with me. "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church throughout all generations. Amen!" To Him who is able to do immeasurably more than what we can even imagine and not in our strength, through His power! In the church we often hear these words, "Well, there’s simply not enough money. We can’t afford to be a generous church." But friends, most churches never have a "money" problem. If there’s a problem, it’s a "giving" problem. And that’s why the areas of stewardship education, that we’ve tried to stress this year, it’s why making disciples is so important. I came across this quote. I don’t really think…I did the math and it’s not true at Grace Church. Again, I’m not here this morning to scold you. Grace Church is much above average in terms of most churches in our giving. But let this be some food for thought. "If every Christian were reduced to welfare income and they faithfully tithed on that amount, many churches would double its receipts!" If every one of their members was reduced to a welfare income but faithfully tithed it.
Tithing is the Biblical model for our giving. The Biblical understanding of giving is this: That everything we have is a gift from God. There are no self-made men or women. That if we have done well, it is because God has blessed us. God asks that we return the first 10% for His work. That leaves you with 90% for which He calls you then, it’s not over, he says then be good stewards of what remains. Healthy and growing churches are not afraid to teach this principle from God’s Word. Healthy and growing churches talk about authentic discipleship and they ask for commitment among their people just like Jesus asked for commitment among His followers!
So there is the Biblical model. It’s not complicated. But if we resort to legalism in terms of our giving, we’ve totally missed the point. When we’re asking, "Do I tithe my before or after income, before or after tax? Does my tithe all have to go to the local church? Which I don’t think it does. Can I stop giving when I reach 10% or when we subconsciously say to God and perhaps others, "I’m a tithing Christian!" Then we’ve fallen into the same trap of legalism the Pharisees fell into who received so much criticism from our Lord. Tithing is an invaluable Biblical principle, but far above tithing is where our heart is at in our "heart" relationship with God that is important. There are three things that ought to characterize your giving in what I’ve entitled, "God’s Way of Giving".
LOVE: Back in August you heard me use this quote. "We can give without loving, but we cannot love without giving." Mickey and I have been having so much fun watching our youngest son and his new bride. It’s reminded us again about what love is. The day that I stood up here, he handed me that ring and I looked at it, I said, "Mickey, I didn’t do very good." It cost him a bundle but he didn’t consider it a duty. He just loves her so much he wants to do everything he can to let her know it. That’s what’s happening in the ALPHA course. Folks are moving beyond going through the motions of church and coming into a love relationship with Jesus Christ.
SACRIFICE: Sacrifice needs to characterize your giving. In once sense, tithing is an Old Testament principle. The New Testament moves it further to sacrifice. It is never, my friends, equal giving, equal sacrifice. King David in the Old Testament said, "I will not give unto the Lord that which costs me nothing." That’s why some folks who are giving $10 a week are giving far more sacrificially than others whose amount is much more.
JOY: There needs to be joy in our giving. Not how little can I give and get by, but how much can we joyfully give in response to all that God has given to us. I wish you could have set in on the Missions Committee meeting about three weeks ago where we spent some money to fund projects and then we added it up and we said, "We’re not done yet. We’ve got another $5,000 to spend. Who can we help?" And the joy that was present in the room through your mission gifts.
Love, sacrifice, joy – that’s Gods way of giving. But finally, I’ve been under the conviction recently in preaching, you’ve got to do more than just tell them, "This is what God wants you to do it." You’ve got to say to people, "How do you do it?" So I want to close by giving you a very specific way of how you grow forward in your giving.
LEARN: I never really liked the quote my dad used, but yet I know it’s true. He said, "You’ve got to teach them to pay as well as teach them to pray." And our giving is not really paying our dues, but this is why stewardship, education and discipleship are so important. And in the coming weeks, I hope…did you get one of those brochures as you came in this morning? Take time to read the materials that will be put before you. None of them are very long. And ushers, if we didn’t get those passed out, there’s one for each family. Pass them out as we leave this morning.
EVALUATE: And I think this is critical, you’ve got to stop and evaluate where you’re at. You won’t grow forward in your giving unless you go home tonight, and you can do it on your after tax income if you want to, take what you’ve got left after Uncle Sam takes his share, figure your giving, and get out a calculator and see what the percentage comes up to. And compare it with the Biblical model of tithing. That happened to me of all places at Black Mountain, North Carolina at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes National Conference. Where a Baptist lay person talked in my huddle group about tithing and I came home and said to Mickey, "We aren’t even close to doing what we’re suppose to be doing according to God’s word." And we started that day to move toward that goal.
PRAY: Friends, there is no way you should fill out your response card without taking serious time in prayer. And when you pray allow the Holy Spirit to open your eyes and your heart to see what God is doing here at Grace. If I can take a detour for just a moment, I want to share something very personal with you for just a moment. Friends, there are times that I would just love to relax and maintain the status quo here at Grace. This would be about the easiest church in this annual conference to do that. I could just enjoy spending my day visiting with all the good folks out at the United Methodist Community. The changes we have implemented, the new ministries we have embraced, have usually created added responsibilities for me! I had thoughts of how I might begin this message this morning by lying to you. I was going to use this illustration. There was a growing number of newcomers every week. I had come to the conclusion, I’m not going to be able to know everybody’s name in this church; and that’s okay. More people means more need for space and staff. It means we’ve got to find new methods of doing things; the old method doesn’t work anymore. So I was going to share with you that the Administrative Council had approved this recommendation: "Greeters will meet newcomers at the door, take their name and address, and give them a number. And then we will call them when someone dies or moves away and we can fit them into our current way of doing things!"
But you know, sometimes you’ve got to do that to realize how ridiculous it sounds to just say, "Given our blessings, we’re just going to hold our own." Sometimes I feel in my relationship with you like Earl Woods must have felt during Tiger’s growing-up years. Tiger would come home from winning a tournament and I hear his dad would say pretty much, "Great, Tiger, now get back out on the range and start driving some more balls. There’s a bigger tournament next week." But do you think Tiger Woods regrets that prodding today? And the end result within the golfing world is pretty impressive! Friends, there is no greater satisfaction in my life or in your life to partner with God and see lives changed. I played golf with a fellow on Thursday that’s moved up to Fischer that their marriage and those four precious children were saved by the ministry of Grace Church. And it brought incredible joy to see how children and youth getting a Biblical foundation for their lives.
So when I challenge you in this important area of stewardship, I’m simply inviting you to partner with what God is doing in building what the Bible calls the "Kingdom of God" here in this place.
OBEDIENT: But to do that there’s one more step you’ve got to take. We first have to learn; we have to evaluate; we have to pray; then we have to be willing to be obedient. That’s why we sang the opening hymn this morning. "Trust in the way, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey." So I leave you with this illustration. If Christ sat down with you this evening and simply in love said, "I want to talk with you about your giving." If we look around at all the things in your home and out there in your driveway and then He compared them to your offerings, what would it reveal about what’s really important in your life? He wouldn’t scold you; that’s not His nature. But you’d see His nail-pierced hands, and you’d realize how much He really does love you.
Perhaps everything I’ve tried to say today really boils down to these three simple questions. Do I love Him? Really? For some of you like Mickey and I, when I came home from that FCA Conference and said, "We’ve got to move our giving forward." We were already struggling to pay our bills. The second question is, "Do I trust Him?" And then thirdly, "Will I follow Him?" We know what He’s told us. And He says, "Will you follow me?" Let the Holy Spirit speak to you as Don comes to sing for us.
E-mail Comments to: Reverend Dan Sinkhorn