"The Grace of Giving"
Sermon Transcript for March 30, 2003Scripture Reading: II Corinthians 8:1-12
By Rev. Mike Beck
If you were here for the Children’s Musical last week, you heard this line from Stacia Winteregg. She even accentuated it! She said, “It’s even worse than a three-hour stewardship sermon.” Cindy Winteregg when she got the musical, she came to me and she said, “Do you think that line’s appropriate?” And I said, “Cindy, by all means, don’t leave it out. In a Capital Campaign we need all the humor we can get.” And I promise you this morning it won’t be three hours.
I want to say before we get to God’s Word a few comments. First of all, you need to know the extreme need for this campaign. If you only come on Sunday morning you may not be aware of that. But if you would compare Grace Church to other churches of our size and then look at the classroom space, you would realize we are woefully deficient. Every time we go to program planning and we have an idea of something we would like to do, we invariably hit the wall because we have to say, “But where would we put that?” There is tremendous need for additional classrooms.
I am quite confident that we have had people that have driven in, this usually happens when the preacher goes over, planning to come to the 11:00 a.m. service. And they get here about 10:45 a.m. and they drive around the parking lot twice and they cannot find a single place to park; and they go to lunch early. That happens.
I want to say also this is not the most ideal time to be doing a Capital campaign. The economy is soft; we know that. And now a war is going on! But we cannot afford to wait! The space we need was needed three years ago! And isn’t it true that in our lives we usually find a way to do what we really want to do. So I pray that God is placing within you a desire. In fact I would make this bold statement, “I believe that we can do the entire project that you saw in the brochure that you received this week debt free if we truly caught a vision of what God wanted to do in and through this church and were willing to sacrifice to make it happen.”
In the brochure you got this week, you saw some plans that had been developed over several hours of work by the Building Committee. They’re as fine a group of people as I’ve ever worked with. We didn’t spend a lot of dollars on architects early. That was by intent. We wanted to be good stewards of God’s resources. What you got there is a very good rough draft of what we believe Grace Church can look like five to ten years from now. But as you look at the posters in the Narthex and you look at that brochure, if you are saying, “Well they ought to move this there”, and “Is that going to be the color of the outside of the building?” you are way, way ahead of where we are. We’ll get there and all of that input will be welcomed and needed. You’ve got the dream; not the details.
But surely the persons who took the bold steps of faith to move from a beautiful downtown building, and when they had the tour of churches a few years ago I got to go in to the old Grace Church and I saw those beautiful windows and I said to myself, “What a step of faith that they were willing to leave that because they were dreaming bigger dreams for the future.” When those saints of God purchased eleven acres of ground out in a swampy field, didn’t they do so for such a moment as this? So in a very real sense, the baton of faith has now been passed to our hands. How will we respond?
Let’s pray, “Lord let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts together be pleasing and acceptable in your site. Speak to us not through my lips of clay but through your Holy Spirit that is present with each of us here. We’ll give you the honor and glory. In Christ’s name, Amen.”
Again, have your Bibles open there in the New Testament to page 227, II Corinthians 8. We want to talk today about the “grace” of giving. The word “grace” is important. In fact I would like for you to have this image in mind as I preach the sermon. When the Winter Olympics come on one of the favorite events that most of us like to watch is the Women’s Figure Skating. We see a thing of beauty, of effortlessness as that skater glides over the ice. That’s what God wants to see when He looks down on our church in terms of our giving—something that’s flowing so beautifully and naturally and something so graceful. In this basketball time of the year, the year’s that I was athletic director, the referees I liked to hire were the ones that you didn’t even know they were on the floor. They just went out and quietly did their job and you hardly even knew they were there. But what they were doing was letting the game progress so naturally and freely. That’s what God wants to see here at Grace in this Imagine Grace Campaign.
I want to look, now this passage of Scripture will preach itself. And so I just want to lift up some parts of it this morning. In Verse 1, Paul says, “We want you to know WHAT GOD’S GRACE has accomplished…” This is about us, but yet it’s bigger than that. It’s what God wants to do through us. When we gather for the special event two weeks from now, it’s going to be a great time of celebration. There is going to be a sense of awe when the Advanced Commitment total is announced. We are going to feel such a sense of pride when we see 70 or 80 of our children up on stage at one time. But as we are planning that service, here’s how we are ending it that day. We are ending it focusing on the cross for it’s in the cross of Christ that we glory; not ourselves. So when Paul talks here about giving, he says, “I want you to know what God’s grace has accomplished.” You’ve heard Dan and I say often, “Look for where God is at work and join Him in His work.” It’s not what we’re doing; it’s what God wants to do through us.
Verse 2, “THEIR JOY WAS SO GREAT that they were extremely generous in their giving, even though they were very poor.” I want to ask each of you this question, “What attitude are you bringing to this campaign?” Is it, “Oh my, here they go talking about money again.” Is it maybe even a negative attitude, “I don’t think we need to build new space. We’re just fine the way we are.” Or are you bringing to the campaign an attitude of joy? “God, thank you that we’ve got this need. A lot of churches are dying, but we are growing.” What attitude?
Last Sunday’s Children’s Musical, if you were here, that’s why we are doing this campaign. On the Saturday morning before I was here in my office working and about 20 middle/high school kids joined out here in the lobby. Now, three or four years ago 20 middle school and high school kids would have been all we had. That was about a third of our present youth group. But, do you know what they were here for? They were going on a prayer walk through downtown Franklin to pray for this community. That’s what this campaign is about. Part of our problem is, we so quickly forget. If I had stood here ten years ago, I would have seen a good congregation, wonderful people. But I would have heard people say, “Oh, but we wish we had some kids and youth.” It was mostly gray hair. Our dreams are being fulfilled right before our eyes, which is the reason for the campaign. Are we joyful about that?
Verse 3, it says, “They gave as much as they could, AND EVEN MORE THAN THEY COULD.” There is a phrase; you’ve heard me say it often. I hope you are hearing it loud and clear. Not equal gifts, but equal sacrifice. Please hear the words of David who said, “I refuse to give to God that which cost me nothing”. The number on your card needs to contain an element of sacrifice. You heard me three weeks ago share that Mickey and I, after prayerful reflection, are committing $11,000 over the next three years for this campaign over and above our tithe and our mission giving. And when we were on vacation a couple of weeks ago, we started to reflect that there would have to be some adjustments in our lifestyle to be able to do that. Paul said, “They gave as much as they could, and even more than they could.”
Verse 5, “FIRST THEY GAVE THEMSELVES to the Lord.” That’s critically important. As you consider what God is calling you to do, at some point you may look at your financial portfolio. You may look at your stocks and bonds and real estate that you own. But don’t start there! “First, they gave themselves to the Lord.” That’s so critically important. That’s why we sang this morning, “Mold me and make me, after Thy will. While I am waiting, yielded and still.” It all begins with our personal relationship with God and then it flows from there.
Verse 8, “I am not laying down any rules. But I am trying to find out HOW REAL YUR LOVE IS.” I believe in the Biblical model of tithing, but I don’t want it to fall in to legalism. Every time we become legalistic in terms of what we ought to give, we fall right in to the trap of the Pharisees who want payday. We miss the whole point. When Jesus talked so much in those stories about giving, He wasn’t preaching legalism. He was talking about, “I want to know where your heart is,” because He knew “where your treasure is, there He would find your heart.” After 20 years of ministry, I know almost for a fact, that if God has my checkbook there is a pretty darn good chance that he also has my life and my allegiance. You heard me say in a previous sermon, “We can give without loving, but we can not love without giving.” And so, Paul says here, “I don’t want to lay down any rules, but I am trying to find out how real your love is.”
Verse 9, “You know the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. As rich as He was, He made Himself poor FOR YOUR SAKE in order to make you rich by means of His poverty.” Look at those words. Friends, we often forget how amazing God’s grace is! Or we fall in to the trap of somehow thinking that God love’s me because I am worthy to be loved because of all these good things that I do. And that’s so especially true if we’ve been a Christian all of our life. That’s why you ought to always have some new baby Christians around; they get it! They understand these horrible things I did, God’s forgiven them. Despite the mess I’ve made of my life, God still loves me! And if we have been a Christian a long time we forget that; and we forget the price that was paid to purchase your and my salvation. In the story of Passion Week, that perhaps is best illustrated if we will but realize, the cross on which they nailed our Lord was on the busiest highway leading in to Jerusalem. And our Lord, who was God himself in human form, was stark naked as He hung there. “Amazing love, how can it be, that thou My God would die for me?” The God who was rich made Himself poor for us.
Verse 11, here’s where the Scripture, even though this was written 2000 years ago, Paul might as well have been talking to us here at Grace Church when he said, “On with it, then, and finish the job!” Those of you who have been a part of this church for many years know there is a reason why there is one part of this building on which stone does not cover the block. Because the people who moved out here believed someday there would be educational space in that area. These days get tiring for me and emotionally discouraging at times, but I think about what the writer of Hebrew said. There’s a great “cloud of witnesses” up there in the balcony of heaven and they see me and they see you down in the arena and they are cheering us on. Joyce Flandor spoke of those balcony people. Up in that balcony are some people I never knew. Sara Siebert’s up in that balcony. She’s saying, “On with it then; finish the job!” Laverne Schrader is up in that balcony. I’ve had so many people talk about the strong, gentle leadership of that man. Some people I knew—Bill Burton’s up there, Charlie and Winnie Tyler, Mary Beth Spence. And I could go on and on. And they are saying, “On with it, finish the job.”
Verse 12, “If you are eager to give, God will accept your gift ON THE BASIS OF WHAT YOU HAVE TO GIVE, not on what you don’t have.” Here’s where I lose sleep during this campaign over. Ironically, I do not lose sleep about those persons whom I am hoping or praying will write a check for $50,000 or $100,000 or more. They are critically important to the success of this campaign. But that is between them and God. What I lose sleep over is the people that I met at the close of the worship service each of the last three Sundays who have come to me and said, “Mike, I got laid off this week. I don’t have a job.” And I lose sleep over how they are hearing this campaign. I lose sleep over young families who I know are mortgaged to the hilt. They are paying for braces; they’ve got kids ready to enter college; they never know if there’s enough money in the drawer to pay the bills. And I’m wondering how are they hearing this for I’m not wanting them to hear a guilt trip. New persons to our church, I said to a couple coming in this morning, “Realize this is not par for the course at Grace Church. We are in the middle of a Capital Campaign. Hang in there with us for a few weeks.” But I don’t want new people to hear this like those of us who are long time members of Grace.
Having acknowledged that I also need to say this, hear me carefully, every family in this church, every family that calls Grace their church home needs to be involved in this campaign in some way even if it’s as little as $10 per week. Do you know what $10 per week transfers out to--$1.50 a day! No matter what state of life I might be in, surely I can juggle some priorities to do that. For every card that is turned in, no matter how large or small the amount, is a vote that says, “I believe in what God is doing here at Grace Church.” And even though times are tough right now, I’m not going to sit on the sidelines. Count me in in this vision.” There are 450 family units receiving the Capital Campaign mailings. Think of what would happen if every one of those family units gets involved in some way. Don’t stay away from the special event two weeks from now because you don’t have much to give. Or there might be a person who simply cannot make a commitment for some reason. Don’t stay away! Here’s what’s going to happen that day. You are going to realize how big this church really is. You are going to run in to friends here in Franklin who you are going to say, “I didn’t know you went to Grace Church,” because they come to a different worship service. It’s going to be the largest gathering, probably, of United Methodists in Franklin’s history. Don’t miss it!
But because of the unique nature of our congregation… Friends, now I’m talking me. For you see, we’re an oddity as a congregation. We’ve got dozens of young families with children. We’ve got dozens of retired individuals, many of which live on a fixed income. The group that are baby boomers is the smallest group so it is imperative that those of us who are in the position to make larger gifts do everything we can to make the future that God has for us a reality. And some of you older adults, this is a chance for you to plant a tree under which you may never sit but which will provide shade for the generations that will follow you. They will sit under it.
I want to close with Kay Craig’s testimony. A few weeks ago I sent out some letters to persons who are supportive in significant ways of the ministries of Grace Church financially to ask them to share what motivates them to give. Kay is about my age. Some of you know her. She is a registered nurse. She told me when I visited her on Friday, and she gave me permission to share all of this. She talked about when she chaired the Education Committee and some of the activities they were involved with. Kay hasn’t missed a worship service in years for she worships with us by means of our videotape ministry like Kirk is doing back there. More than 100 folks will watch this service by tape this week. Kay is one of them. She told me Friday, she said, “I get my hymnal out. From my bed I sing along with you.” But life hasn’t dealt Kay a very good hand for ten years ago she came down with multiple sclerosis. She has been bedfast for ten years. But here is her testimony. Beulah this is going to be a blessing to you.
“About 25 years ago, Beulah Schrader was the chairperson of the Pony Express which Grace was using at the time for pledges. One Sunday Reverend Howell (some of you remember him) asked her to speak to the congregation about their commitment. We were all spell bound as she talked to us and she ended with saying, “I don’t want you to give until it hurts, I want you to give until it feels good.” (No higher compliment than for somebody to remember something we said 25 years ago. Don’t give until it hurts; give until it feels good.) And that’s what I tried to do—“Give until it feels good.” When I finally realized and accepted that everything comes from God and that He provides everything I need, I knew—I really knew—that everything I had belonged to Him. I started tithing at that time because I knew I was just giving back to God what was His in the first place. I don’t think of this as a sacrifice, but as a joy.”
When I called Kay to ask if I could use her testimony, she blessed my heart again by saying, “I’ve been praying about this Capital Campaign and what I can do.” All the income that she has is her disability check. Sidelight—here’s a kind of sobering statistic. Kay Craig is among the top one-third of the givers at Grace Church. (Some of transcript loss due to tape change.) So she got out a check and wrote us a check for $1,000. Here’s my tithe. And then she said, “But I want to do more. And I’ve been trying to figure how I can do that. And God has shown me as I prayed that my commitment is going to be $2500. Not equal gifts, but equal sacrifice. And she’s doing it with joy because she knows
God’s grace is sufficient; she knows God will provide.
So in a sense, friends, we are “Marching to Zion” and I ask you, “Are you on the march with us?” So let’s stand and sing just one verse of that great hymn together.
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