Stewardship
Due to circumstances beyond my control, I need to type out the whole speech this year. I usually get up here and just kind of wing it, with a few notes to guide me along the way. And it’s starting to get pretty easy. Once a year for the last 10 years or so I’ve been coming up here to give this little speech. I guess I’m supposed to whip you all into some sort of stewardship “feeding frenzy”. To get everyone so stirred up that they don’t even realize what a huge figure they are filling in on this little card. To get every last penny out of you that I can! And make you happy to do it!
Well, alright. Get ready. Here it comes.
But first a couple of apologies. The first is to any visitors we might have here today. Boy, are you just plain unlucky. We only talk about money around here one Sunday a year and guess what lucky Sunday you happened to walk through the door. I promise that after I get done with my spellbinding money speech, things will settle back down to normal fairly quickly. And if you come back next Sunday, I’ll be sitting out there, NOT wearing a suit and tie and everything will be just fine.
My next apology is to those of you that have sat through this speech once a year for what seems to be a very long time. When my daughter Sarabeth was younger, she was complaining to me about her Sunday school class. It was getting close to Christmas and the class was working on the skit they were going to perform at the fellowship dinner. She said, “Dad, It’s boring. It’s the same story every year” I explained to her that she better get used to it. The chances were pretty good it will be the same story next Christmas also. Well guess what? This stewardship story is going to sound pretty familiar. It’s the same story you heard last year around this time. I’ve got all sorts of reasons that you should make a pledge to your church. Good reasons. But nothing new. No new breakthroughs in the science of tithing. SCIENTISTS DISCOVER LINK BETWEEN CHURCH PLEDGE CARD AND AMAZING WEIGHT LOSS. Sorry. No such luck. No new promises. Same old story.
So, let’s get started with all these compelling reasons to give some of your hard-earned money to the church. I’m going to start off slowly and let the excitement build as we get near the end.
The first reason is the easiest to understand. We need the money. It’s that simple. We have to pay the electric company, the gas company, and the water company. The insurance man, the cleaning man, the mailman. We pay this preacher, the kid’s preacher, and our favorite music teacher. We have to pay the secretary………..and we need to pay for a lot of things that don’t rhyme with secretary. We all understand this because it’s the same at God’s house as it is at our house. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
The rest of the reasons aren’t quite as simple. What if Jack Stapp decides to plant a tree in the front yard of the church, digs a hole and strikes oil? A gusher! We’re rich. The new Beverly Hillbillies. I guess that would pretty much take care of reason #1 wouldn’t it. No need to pass the plate around here on Sundays anymore, right? ………..Wrong. This brings us to the second reason.
Reason number two is a little harder to understand and a whole lot more important. We don’t give money to the church just to pay the bills; we make an offering to the church because God asks us to. This is a gift to show our gratitude and love to a Father that has blessed us in more ways than we can imagine. A Father that has reserved a place in heaven for us. A Father that asks very little in return. The act of presenting this gift to the Lord is as sacred as Communion. We bring these gifts to the Table, the holiest place in the building. Can it be as simple as it sounds, that right after we TAKE communion, we have the opportunity to GIVE?
It IS better to give than to receive. But that doesn’t mean that receiving is bad. Reason three may be what gets you all excited. Whatever you give, you will get back, and more! In Luke 6:38, Jesus says, “For if you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use to give – large or small – will be used to measure what is given back to you.” Jesus is telling us that our gifts are appreciated. That our gifts, given as a token of our love, are blessed. And we too will be blessed. And the Lord will take care of us. But don’t misunderstand what is being said here. You can’t buy your way into heaven. This isn’t like tipping the maitre d at a fancy restaurant to get a good table. Proverbs 3, verses 9 & 10 tell us, “Honor the Lord by giving him the first part of your income, and He will fill your barns with wheat and barley and overflow your wine vats with the finest wine” I think the key part of that verse is the word honor.
I guess I lied to you a little earlier. I really don’t want you to get so excited that you write some big figure on the bottom of this pledge card without really thinking about it. Swept up in the moment as I have this whole congregation stirred up to a fevered pitch………. You know, you people don’t really look to be all that stirred up. Maybe that only works at churches on TV. I guess what I really want is for everyone here to think seriously about the commitment they are about to make. In a couple of minutes, I am going to ask you to put a figure on the bottom of this pledge card and then drop the card in the collection plate. How much? I can’t tell you. That’s between you and God. But I can share a Bible verse with you that should help you come to a decision. Deuteronomy 16, verse 17 has a simple answer. “Give as you are able, according as the Lord has blessed you.” In a moment we are going to have a minute of silent meditation and prayer. During that time, you need to think about all the ways the Lord has blessed you. Think about your life. Your family. Your friends. Your home. Your job. Think about your church and all of the people sitting around you. And think about all the resources available to you. All the money you spend on yourself. Think about your toys. Think about clothes. Think about your hair and your car and your TV and your this and your that and your everything else…….. And think about the God that has made all this possible. And all He gave was his only son.
“Give as you are able, according as the Lord has blessed you.”
Will you please bow your head in silence with me. Amen