Stewardship Sermon, October 12, 2008
Prayer:
Gracious and loving God, we this day pray your blessings on
all those who in some way need to know your healing touch in this
time in this nation. We pray that we may find comfort in Your hands
and that in the goodness of Your hands we might take comfort that
you go before us and walk beside us in whatever troubled times we
might live. We pray for all of those who are in need today, the
least and the lonely and the lost, for the gift and sacrament of
baptism and the gift and joy of music.
We pray these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scripture:
Matthew 22: 1 –
14. The kingdom of
heaven may be compared to a king who gave a banquet for his
son He sent his slaves to those who had been called to the wedding
banquet to tell them to come to the feast, but they would not come.
He sent more slaves, with this message for the guests," My
feast is ready now. My
fatted oxen and the prized calves have been slaughtered and
everything is ready.
But the invited guests paid no attention and went about their
business-- one to his farm, another to his business, while others
grabbed the slaves, beat them and killed them.
The king was enraged. He sent
his troops to their lands and burned them and killed them.
Then he said to his slaves, “The wedding is ready, but those who
were invited are not ready.
Go therefore into the streets and invite everyone you find to
the wedding banquet.” And so
the servants] gathered all the people that they found, both
good and bad, so the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when
the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who
was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him,” Friend, how did
you get in here without a wedding robe?”
And he was speechless.
Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot
and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth for many are called, but few are chosen.”
Pastor Tim:
Let the words of my mouth and the
meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Thy sight.
May we hear Thy Word, and may we understand it in these days
and these times. Through
Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
Well, this is an unsettling scripture
for me. As I
thought about it this week,
it’s not really the kind of scripture that easily applies
itself to
my understanding of
the kingdom of God, which, you
who you are regular attendees here know, is a kind of open,
inclusive invitation to the kingdom of God.
I, then may have some trouble in the text.
First of all, a king throws a wedding banquet, and the people
he invites, his friends, it appears, are too busy to come, and so
the king sends out his entourage to gather them and they mistreat
them, kill them. So the
king persists and sends his entourage to gather anybody they can to
come to the wedding banquet.
Okay, I like it. It’s
inclusive. It’s the gospel.
But then, this odd twist at the end,
the strange person who didn’t dress right, didn’t have the robe on,
and the king throws him not just out of the party, but into that
place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
That’s not a good place, and the king throws him there, and
then comes the line that we sometimes remember, “Many are called;
few are chosen.” There is a
problem in the text, but maybe it is reflective of a problem in our
lives. Maybe we too easily think of Christianity as something that
we have tamed, that it’s enough simply to invite people to come to
the party.
Indeed, we live in a time and in a community when we talk about evangelism, inviting people to the party, but the downside to this is that, if you’re on the evangelizing side, then it’s always someone else who needs to be invited to the party. And even if we do a good job with evangelism, it’s not enough, because the party of the Kingdom requires more than you just being there. The party of the Kingdom requires more. It’s not just a frat – fraternity – party where you go and you . . . I’ve only heard this, by reputation . . . that there is drinking on American college campuses and there are wild parties. This is not the kind of party where you (why am I looking at you [the visiting choir from Emory and Henry laughs]?) This is not the kind of party I am talking about.
How you dress, what you say, the
clothes you have on all matter, because this Gospel is that junction
where evangelism and stewardship meet.
In the Christian life, the end of evangelism is the beginning
of stewardship. How you
talk and how you dress and how you sing and how you act at the party
matter deeply.
As
I was studying the scripture this week I was reminded of Aslan, the
king of Narnia. Who is
familiar with Aslan?
Aslan is a Christ-like character in C. S. Lewis’s book, The Lion,
The Witch, and the Wardrobe from the Chronicles of Narnia.
Aslan is a talking lion,
son of the emperor over the sea, wise, who is wise compassionate,
mysterious and beloved. He is the creator and guardian of
Narnia. Although he is
gentle and loving, Aslan is also powerful and dangerous and not a
tame lion.
Too often, we want to make God a puppy
or a lion cub, and that’s not the God we serve.
You and I have been given a Soul at
birth, and that Soul is something that we carry through life.
It’s a treasure in earthen vessel.
I want you to imagine the task of
being given a six- million-dollar vase, and that your job is to
deliver it to, say, Mexico City.
Think: you can’t
do FedEx, you can’t do UPS.
You have to carry that vase all of the way from beginning to
end. You and I have to
hear the message that how we sing, and how we dress matter in this
party, in this banquet, because of the One who invites us and His
majesty and his love.
There is a problem here:
how we dance, and how we talk, and how we sing are the ways
that we make choices in our lives, the use of our time, our talents,
and our treasuring.
Already, financial anxiety has grasped this country.
We as a church and a congregation have the “good luck” of
doing a Stewardship Fall Campaign in the midst of the most difficult
financial situation to grip our country since the Depression!
Wow. Thank you!
Already I have people say to me, “You know, it’s going to be
a tough year. We don’t
know what we’re going to be able to do for the church.”
And I think, I say, “I understand that.”
I try to be nice.
But what I think is really, you’ve gotten yourself into financial
trouble because you gave to the church?
This nation has reaped this result because of generosity?
There are thirty-five to thirty-six million hungry people in
this country , and that’s because we have thought of the common
good? The bridges are
falling down on Minneapolis because we’ve cared for the
Infrastructure? Social
Security tinkers on the brink. We still have a health system that is
broken, and who gets the money?
The bankers. $750
billion dollars. We are
applying the curse and calling it the cure.
[silence]
Do I hear an Amen?
Are you there?
Eleven per cent of our senior citizens
choose each whether they’re going to eat enough or pay other bills.
Eleven per cent!
And we’re saying, “We’ve gotta cut back! We can’t be as generous.
We can’t be as giving.
We can’t be as concerned for the common good.”
You know, last week, In the Old
Testament we read about the Ten Commandments, and Exodus.
This week, the lesson which I was tempted to use was what
happened immediately following the giving of the Ten Commandments.
Moses hangs out with God on Mt. Sinai, or Horeb, and the
people get worried, they get anxious.
So what do they do?
They build a Golden Calf!
They gather up their financial – their gold and silver – and
build a Golden Calf, an idol of gold. The mud from the Red Sea is
still on their shoes! This
isn’t a time to be afraid; this is a time to know that we have been
blessed in a magnificent way, and we live in a land and go to a
banquet of abundance. Of
abundance.
Though we may not fully understand why
this person got tossed out of the party, what I’m saying to you
today is this Gospel is a matter of life and death, of comfort and
well-being, because it challenges us to say, “Where do I finally
find my security? Where
finally do I place my trust?
Is my heart where my treasures are, or not?”
Evangelism and Stewardship begins in the Christian . . .Stewardship
is not so much something we do as an auxiliary thing we do to
raise money. Stewardship
is the Christian life style itself.
It’s the
caring of Creation.
It’s the belief that we have been entrusted with everything
we have, including our life by a God who desires good for us.
And though God desires good for us and though God love us,
God is not tame.
Augustine said that Sin is its own
punishment.
This is a perilous time in the life of
our country, and in your life and in my life.
I would invite you to think about the Banquet of Heaven, and
already align yourself and your values, your identity and who you
are, with that Kingdom.
That’s how you care for your Soul.
That’s how the vase makes it safely, this thing that has been
entrusted to you -- your very self – who you are and what we might
be together in the Kingdom of God.
Pray with me:
Dear Lord, we are a thankful people for the bounty of the blessings that have been bestowed upon us. Help us, Lord, this day, to trust more fully in You. We pray for those in need and the less fortunate. We, dear Lord, seek to be instruments of your concern and your compassion in our world today. We give you thanks this day for this community and for the opportunities that You give us of courage and of strength, the opportunity to offer others hope, the opportunity to offer others vision of a future that rests in You. We ask and we raise these things in the name of the one who taught us all to pray, “Our Father, . . . .”
--Dr. Tim Gerde
Youth Service Sermonette
February 24, 2008
Matthew 25: 40b "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
Why are Gifts and Talents Important?
It is important to know how you can serve god! There are many jobs that God needs us to fulfill. It is ridiculous to think that people with the potential to be doctors, scientists, teachers, government officials, artists, or any other occupation may not have a job, or may not be truly happy, because they have not listened to what God has told us to do.
God calls us to be HIS own in service to HIM, but simply sitting in a pew on Sunday is NOT considered a service! When we go with pride onto the battle field of life with the intention of serving God, we are proving ourselves to be TRUE soldiers.
And, mind you, Jesus didn't just put on a show and act holy on Sunday, or in His case the Sabbath. He served God and his people on a DAILY BASIS, and I am here to ask you to at least try to do the same.
Mother Teresa has said, "We feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean, but that ocean would be less without that drop."
Come on ya'll, think about it, the Savior of the Universe died for YOU! No, ew can never repay him, but we cang o forward and do our best. Howeber big or little your actions, all will be recognized by God.
It is time that Christians, MYSELF INCLUDED, listen to God to hear what talents they are blessed with and put them into action.
-- Liz Carrico
Sermon: January 24, 2008
Scripture: John 1: 29-34 “The Lamb of God”:
John the Baptist witnesses Jesus’ baptism and identification by God as His son by the descending spirit of the dove.
John says , ”I myself have seen and testify that this is the Son of God.”
As I deal today with issues with our microphone, I will speak from the pulpit. I really want you to hear me today, and hope that what I have to say is worth hearing. (He chuckles.) I am reminded of the priest who went to the microphone and said, “Can you hear me?” and the people responded, “And with you.” (laughter)
Prayer:
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord, our rock and our redeemer.” Thanks this day for this season, for the weather and its coolness that is invigorating and makes us jump out of bed and race into the day with strength and energy to follow You and to lift the light of Your love to those in our community, those we care about and to those who suffer and who are in need. Today we remember Martin Luther King, Jr., and his words that resonate down the halls of history. We pray that all people might be free at last. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Text:
I want to just read a bit more of the scripture lesson you have heard today. I want to pick up at verse 35 and read the next paragraph.
(edited reading here)
John1: 35: The next day, John again was standing with two of his disciples. And as he watched Jesus walk by, John declared, “Look.
This is the Lamb of God.” Two of the disciples heard him say this and followed. Jesus asked them, “What are you looking for?” James
and Andrew said to him, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw and remained . . . .
Last week we remembered the baptism of Jesus and remembered and celebrated our own baptisms. In the section of the gospel that I read today, John again sees Jesus and points to the Lamb of God, and as he remembers the baptism and identifies Jesus, we hear that Jesus calls his first disciples, and they follow.
What does it mean to follow? What does it mean to live your life with the name “Christian”?
There’s a story told by Zan Holmes, narrator of first video session of Disciple Bible. Zan Holmes was in Korea and needed a suit repaired. He tells the story of going to a tailor and meeting a Korean man named Smitty. “Is Smitty a Korean name? “ he asked.
“No. Let me tell you how I got that name. There was a soldier -- from Virginia -- whose name was Smitty Ransom, and he saved my life during the war. He saved my life. One of the things that we do in Korea is that if someone saves your life, we take their name, so I took his name, for he saved my life.”
Does this story mean for you and me that in our baptism that we take the name of Christian and live a life according to that name? I want to say to you today that I believe that faith and living this life is the means the means of Grace. The means of Grace is the way in which we think and talk about those things that are sacramental, those things which in some a real and manifest way convey the Grace of God to us.
The Christian faith is a manner of living. The living of a Christian faith is a way of life. In our baptisms, we celebrate the closeness we have with Jesus Christ, and it is this relationship out of which bubbles up our calling. Calling, by the way, is our response to God’s initiative towards us primarily in Jesus Christ, but also in creation and in covenant and in the whole story of our salvation. I don’t believe for one minute that God doesn’t speak to each of us. What I do believe is that we have a choice, and that choice is what we do with that voice, that calling.
I want to propose to you something that I think is incredibly important spiritually. I’ve never had anyone speak of being happy or unhappy and do so in a way that might not upon further examination speak about their closeness and their relationship to God. I don’t know of any unhappy person that would describe themselves as close to God. Indeed, I believe that real happiness, true happiness, comes from the integration of our calling and what it is we seek, what it is we look for in this life -- what it is that we are about. And through our jobs, through our homes, through our lives, we bring that calling and that closeness of God to visibility. If you want to be truly and deeply happy, you need to be about listening to that voice of God. One of my spiritual laws is that the answering to our calling and our happiness are bound together.
Secondly, what I am talking about it is a manner of living.
Jesus lived a particular kind of life. The ethics that Jesus lived on earth and that we are called to follow are the “table manners” of the kingdom of God -- the table manners of the Kingdom of God. The framework out of which we make choices and decisions , the habits that become our character and become the virtues by which we live, are for us a way that we make visible the table manners of God. And on this weekend, I would be remiss if I did not recall that Martin Luther King reminds us of those table manners of inclusion, of welcome, of hospitality, and of freedom for of all God’s children. We as United Methodists believe in the atonement’s being unlimited, that the power and work of Jesus Christ on the cross were intended for all people, and that God’s love is made manifest by the power of that saving grace . Our ethics, our morality, our manner of living are the table manners of the kingdom of God. A lot of times, these table manners, these ethics, these values, are about people.
Something happened at your church staff meeting last week that upon reflection was quite remarkable. At the church staff meeting, we, like other committees I suppose, began to calendar and make sure we were on track. But this week, we talked about things that are happening here. Through a painting class on Monday in the underground, a reading group that is being formed, people are being connected to their calling, and the faces of those people who were here participating in those groups showed it.Before you can “program” your way, you have to love your people; you must “people “ your way into the kingdom of God. You must love your people.
Christ’s call to his first disciples was not an invitation to a better, more comprehensive program; it was an invitation to come and see. No parable, no story, just “Come and See.”
In the scripture today that admonition is tied into the “Kyrie elison; Christe elison” – “God, have mercy, Christ, have mercy“ that you heard in the anthem. That mercy leads us to a way of living that is a means of grace -- the manner of living that puts people first. In it, one seeks to know one’s calling and talent and gifts. And in order to do that, we need to know each other, to be in places where we can be transparent, be in places where we can be risk-takers with one another. Think of the risks Jesus took, the risks the disciples took.
Finally, then, this living, this faith is a way of life --yet I am struck pastorally. Some of us regard this way life much as we regard a grandfather clock in our home –it’s a prized possession , something we would never give a way, something we love looking at, but who of us will regulate our lives by that clock? It hasn’t been wound in a long time!
Is your faith, my faith sometimes like that? At one time it was vital and was truly a way of life, but it has become like that grandfather’s clock. Has it never been that way for you? Have you never journeyed that path of faith to hear the voice of Jesus Christ remind you, “Come. See. Follow. You are beloved; you are special “
That mirror that shows our children how special they are (as Susan showed them during the children’s moments) becomes a window into our souls. WE ask, “Am I really held by God? Does Christ really regard me with enough love to call ME, to speak to ME? I must admit that I’m not sure of my own way. I’m not sure where God might be calling ME at this moment. And truthfully, I am not always sure of my direction. In those times, what I need to be sure of and trusting in is the One who does call me, this Jesus Christ who says,“Come. ”
Today, would you consider again what it means to live this life, to follow the way of Jesus Christ so that your life might be a means of grace to you and to others who would come your way, that your life would be a manner of living that unites your calling and your vocation and a way of life that is hope and compassion and peace, that you and I would be a part of breaking down of that distance, that separation, that sometimes we feel from God, and our world feels from God? We would point to Jesus and know from the bottom of our hearts that here, indeed, is the Lamb of God.
Pray with me.
Prayer:
Dear gracious and loving Father, may your blessings be bestowed upon neighbor and friend. We pray that we will taste and see the goodness of the Lord, that we will bring others to Him. We may not know journey’s end, but we do know this day that it is a road of boundless mercy for us to follow this Jesus Christ, to know joy. Help us, Lord, to put people first. As You have loved us into Your kingdom, help us to love each other into a deeper discipleship. For the blessings of this day and the life we share, we give you thanks and pray the prayer Jesus taught us: Our Father . . . .
--Dr. Tim Gerde
