Sermon – November 13 2011 – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Matthew 25:14-30
From his book, Extravagant Generosity, Bishop Schnase says, “Giving helps us become what God wants us to be. Giving is not merely about the church’s need for money but about the Christian’s need to grow in generosity. Generousity is a fruit of the Spirit, a sign of our spiritual growth. God uses our giving to change the world for God’s purposes, and God uses our giving to reconfigure our interior lives and to change us!
We are stewards of the earth. We are stewards of those things entrusted to us, inherited by us, and earned by us. WE are stewards of our wealth and possessions and physical bodies. Stewardship, Generosity is an aspect of character. It focuses on the spiritual qualities of the giver.
Fundamentally, we either consider the material things in our life as owned by God and belonging to God, and we manage them for God’s purposes, or we view them as owned by us. If they are owned by God, then our tithes and offerings represent our returning to God what belongs to God. Do you manage God’s resources to honor God? Or yourself?
John Wesley taught extensively about the use of money, the danger of riches, and the important in giving. For Wesley, all things belonged to God. This changes how we perceive the manner by which we earn money and save money, causing us to do so in appropriate ways. And it changes how we spend money, making us more responsible, and shapes how we give money. Do you realize that there are no stories from Scripture that tell of people living the God-related spiritual life while fostering a greedy-self-centered, self-serving attitude? Can you name a person that you admire because of all the KEEP for themselves? Knowing God leads to generosity.
Let’s look again at the parable. The first two slaves took the gift from their Master and used them. Not only did they receive responsibility for more, but they also were given more joy. There is joy in the giving.
The third slave was scared of his talent and buried it. He took the opportunity to serve the Master and simply buried it. He took the easy and comfortable way out. And what happened to him? He showed his unfaithfulness and it resulted in a lack of joy, a loss of opportunity to build in the kingdom of God.
These three men took what God had given them. They were given different talents, one got five, one two, and one one. However, once again, two of them used their talents. They were called “good and trustworthy” and were put in charge of many things.
Paul in 1 Thessalonians, reminds us of who we are as God’s children. He tells us to remember that we are children of the day. We have the opportunity to wear the breastplate of faith and love and a helmet of hope of salvation. HE reminds us to encourage one another and build each other up. No matter what our gift is, we can encourage one another and build each other up because we are indeed Children of the Light. We must encourage one another, not break one another down. Sometimes this is hard because we think we have all the answers, but EVERYONE is a gift from God and have gifts to offer. Sometimes we have to let people, let others do what they feel God is calling them to do, whether we think it’s right or not.
These two men in the parable gave everything back to the Master. We talk at various times about how everything we have is from God, but how do we return thanks? How do we thank God for everything that we have? Do we give back to God? Do we give of our time, our talents, our gifts and our service?
Do you tithe? To tithe is to give means to give a tenth, and involves returning to God ten percent of income. It’s simply concise, and consistent. Why don’t we tithe? Sometimes it’s because our hearts and minds are more powerfully shaped by our affluence. We find it harder to give because our society’s values shape our perceptions more than our faith’s values do. Again from Bishop Schnase’s book, “the practice of tithing provides a concrete way for us to take the words we speak, god is the Lord of my life, and put them into practice. Our giving becomes a way of putting God first, an outward sign of an inner alignment. Tithing challenges us to ask ourselves, is my giving generous? Do I only give for practical reasons? Or for spiritual ones?
The practice of tithing is not merely about what God wants us to do, but about the kind of person God wants us to become. Tithing requires prayer. What would God have me do? Are there things God would want me to give up in order to tithe? No one tithes accidentally. It requires soul work, deep conviction, a maturing spirit. Tithing is not merely a financial decision; it is a life choice to rearrange all the furniture of our interior lives. Tithing blesses us.
How to tithe? Give. If a tenth of your income seems out of reach right now, give a little more next year back to God than you gave this year. Begin the practice of tithing. Teach children to spend wisely, to save consistently, and to give generously.
At some point, we followers of Jesus must decide who we serve, whether we will listen to the wisdom of the world or to the wisdom of God. We need to continue to give in faith. Not only our tithe, but our time, our talents, and our service. It doesn’t matter the size of our talent and service, or the “glory” of the job, what matters is that you give back to God in thanksgiving for all the gifts that he has given you. It is the true and faithful way in which we give it. It is your turn as it was for the servants to put on your breastplate of faith and love, and your helmet of hope for salvation and give back.
It is your turn to take the opportunity that God has given us and give everything back to God in order to be a “good and trustworthy” servant, and not be the one who buried God in the dirt and thrown into the darkness for all eternity.
Remember, that giving from your abundance misses the point of giving. Gifts that don’t cost us, are not worthy of God. For the cost to God was his Son on a cross. Giving what we won’t miss is hardly a faithful act of a good and trustworthy servant. Remember, don’t just say or agree, but truly remember that everything we have is a gift from God, so let us all strive to find our gifts, give our tithe and use them to the glory of God so that we all can be called “good and trustworthy” servants of the living God. AMEN
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