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Sunday October 25, 2009 "Extravagant Generosity" 1 Timothy 6:18-19 |
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Location: Blogs Brad's Blog |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 11/2/2009 1:59 PM | Many of you saw the title of this sermon in the Midweek Missive, or on the sign out front and said to yourself, “It’s time for the annual Stewardship sermon.” And you are right. But, we need to take some time to remember that there is a difference between stewardship and our annual pledge campaign to underwrite our budget.
As a congregation, we must be mindful of the fact that we are called into a certain kind of ministry and that ministry needs all of our financial participation if we are to carry it out. You will hear more about this as the weeks go on. Each of us needs to take the time to prayerfully consider how we can financially support the ministries of Brookhaven Christian Church so that we can continue to do the work that God has given us here at the corner of Peachtree and Lanier. It is important work and so requires important and meaningful prayer and thought. It requires each of us to ask what we have been given, how we can best use what we have been given, and how we can best honor God with what we have been given.
So do take the time to consider how you can help. Make that pledge when asked, then, step back and watch what we can do together. In the midst of tough economic times, the work of God needs each and every one of us.
When we talk about underwriting the budget, we are only talking about a small part of what the term stewardship is all about. In the larger context, Stewardship is about understanding all that God has given us and what we do with all we have been given. Stewardship is about being thankful for what we have and seeking ways to share what we have with other. Stewardship is about each of us recognizing the Extravagant Generosity of God and finding ways to honor that generosity and make it part of our very being as we move into the world to honor and glorify God.
But to truly understand this concept, we must think about all that we have been given.
As we talked about two weeks ago: we have been given each other. We have been given trusted and loving companions for our journey. We have been given family and friends to share with, to laugh with, to grieve with. We have been given a community of faith with which to share our journey together.
As we talked about last week: we have been an ability to help others through our service, if only we will overcome our fears and concerns and step out in faith. We have been given the ability to learn, to grow, to become the servants to others that Jesus would have us be.
We have been given a relationship with God through Jesus Christ that allows us to stride confidently into the future, knowing that if God is with us, we need not fear. We have been given the opportunity to share that relationship, to show others what we have been given, to help build God’s kingdom here and now.
We have been given resources unheard of in most of the world. We are more well fed, more well cared for, much more comfortable, than 95% of the people in the world.
And we have been given loving hearts. Hearts that lead us to want to share what we have been given with others. To my way of thinking, these loving hearts, touched by God’s grace, are the most important factor in seeking an understanding of Extravagant Generosity.
Because you see, extravagant generosity is not about your money; it’s truly about your heart. Extravagant generosity is not just about the support of this church; it’s about doing the kingdom building work that God has put before us.
In today’s scripture lesson, we heard some good words that can guide our thoughts about stewardship and extravagant generosity, but needs a little bit of context to flesh out that guidance.
This letter is the first written by the Apostle Paul to his trusted colleague, Timothy. Paul has served as sort of a mentor to Timothy, a father figure in his spiritual life.
From a far distance, Paul writes to his spiritual heir in order to share what he has learned in his years of ministry. In his second letter to Timothy, the sharing becomes even more personal and poignant, possibly because Paul is near death at the time of the second letter, and he wants to make sure he leaves Timothy well prepared.
In this first letter to Timothy, Paul at one point warns against the problems that can befall people who seek to be rich above all else. As Paul writes in the 10th verse of First Timothy, “For the love of money is the root of all evil, and in their eagerness to be rich, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.” Notice he does not write, “Money is the root of all evil….” Rather, that “THE LOVE of money is the root of all evil.” Paul earlier agrees that poverty is not necessarily a virture and that, in fact, he writes that “there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment…” He then goes on to hint that being comfortable is not a problem in and of itself. To be content, to be comfortable are good things. But when we seek to be rich for the sake of being rich, we run the risk of running into problems.
In the verses just before the ones we heard read this morning, Paul acknowledges that indeed, there are rich, faithful people in the world. People who were rich before they came to the faith. And Paul instructs Timothy to instruct them to simply be careful, not to be too full of themselves, but to put their trust in God who provides us with everything. This is important for the people Paul was worried about back then, and for us today: be careful, put our trust in God who is the provider of everything that is good.
Then, Paul tells Timothy what to tell those comfortable, faithful people. “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the further, so that they may take hold of the life that is really life.”
You know, there are times when Paul gives me cause for great concern. There are times when his teachings seem coarse and dogmatic. Then, there are times when I think he is tailoring his message to his audience too much. And then, there are times like this when he hits the nail on the head with such precision and force as to almost take our breath away: why should we, the comfortable, contented, well fed, well cared for faithful people of 21st century America practice extravagant generosity in all we do? So that we may “take hold of the life that really is life.”
I need to hear this scripture very regularly. I think all of us living in this time of uncertainty and doubt need to hear this scripture very regularly. Only when we acknowledge all that God has given us; only when we look beyond our own desires and needs; only when we look to the comfort and salvation of others; only when we truly step out in faith will we truly take hold of the life that really is life. Only then will we truly know what it means to live.
This sermon series has centered on the issue of “Being the Church” and just in case you haven’t notice, all these sermons point to the same place: we are most fully and most authentically the church when we can take the focus off ourselves and turn it outward, both individually and as the gathered community of faith. When we turn our focus to the needs of our brothers and sisters gathered here, we become the church. When we turn our focus away from our own anxieties and needs and to the ways in which we can help others feel God’s presence, we become the church. When we practice extravagant generosity with all that we have been given - financial, physical, spiritual – we become the church.
Rev. Gary Bullock, a minister in Florida, came up with an acronym that helps me understand all these points. The acronym he uses is in your bulletin today. It is H.E.L.P. Let’s walk through it together:
H is for HEED the great commandment. Jesus was asked, “How should I live?” and he answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the first act of giving; the first act of extravagant generosity. God has loved us extravagantly; we are called to do the same.
The second letter is E which is for EMPTY yourself so that you might be filled. With extravagant generosity, Jesus emptied himself so that he might become one of us. He gave up his divine privileges so that he might show us how to live. When we empty ourselves and share who we are, we allow room for God’s grace to fill us up so that we might do even more. This is about being generous with our self, our very being, so that others might know God.
L is for LIFT the burden of others. What can we give, how can we act, how can we practice generosity that helps others? Again, it’s not just about money, although, that can surely help. Our very presence, our prayers, our arm around a shoulder, our being the hands and feet of Jesus to help others all can lift the burden.
This past month or so I saw another article that showed how a simple inconsequential act can let someone know that they are not alone. A young boy was suffering from cancer and had been away from school for several weeks while undergoing treatment. Just prior to his return, the teacher told his classmates was that one thing they would notice was that he had lost all the hair on his head. “He might be self-conscious about that,” she said, “So don’t draw any attention to it.” The next day when the young boy returned to class, no one said a word about his hair, but they clearly let him know that he was not alone: every single boy in the class had shaved his head so that their friend would not feel self-conscious. That’s lifting the burden.
P is for PAY the price. The world tells us to earn all we can and give out of our abundance. God tells us to give so that we might live abundantly. As Rev. Bullock puts it: “The life that overflows with joy is the life that gives itself away.”
Again, everything we have talked about the last few weeks have been about thinking beyond ourselves and doing for others because God has done for us. Everything we have talked about has led us to more fully grasp the notion of extravagant generosity in all that we do: our prayer life, our worship life, our service life, in all our life. God has been extravagantly generous with us: we are called to be extravagantly generous in all we do.
There’s a story about a man who one day saw his neighbor, a man in his late 90’s, planting a small tree. The friend went over and asked, “What kind of tree is that?” The old man answered, “It’s a peach tree. I love to eat peaches.”
His friend said, “You know this is crazy. You will never live to see that tree bear fruit. What’s the point?”
The man replied, “I’ve been eating peaches all my life because somebody planted peach trees. And so, I am planting this peach tree so someone else can eat peaches all their life.”
Just as God has been generous to us, we are called to extravagant generosity. It’s all part of being the church.
Let us pray: Lord, we are so grateful to you for all you we have been given. Help us to show our gratitude by sharing ourselves as extravagantly as you have shared with us. All this we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, your greatest gift of all. Amen.
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