BLESSED, TO BE A BLESSING

Dr. Richard J. Henderson November 9, 2008

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Psalm 111(responsive)
Luke 11: 33-42

Introduction

Each Sunday when she went to church, a woman took her offering envelope with her. Once a year she planned what her giving would be as a percentage of her income. Then every week she brought her offering and put it in the plate; week after week, year after year.

A man moved into the community and he began to attend the same church, but very sporadically. When he was there, he occasionally put in a few dollars. Then one year at Christmastime this man announced that he would make a donation to the church of $35,000.

There was a great celebration about his gift; he was publicly honored, an oversized check was given to the church, and everyone thanked him for his great generosity.

During this celebration party it occurred to the treasurer that the woman who brought her offering every week had actually given more than this man who was receiving so much fanfare.

I

We're not comfortable talking about pledge campaigns in church. That's ironic because the Bible has no problem talking about money. It comes up all the time in the New Testament. Jesus talks about money with people over and over again. New Testament scholars tell us that one out of three verses in the gospels refers to money.

Jesus is clear that money can be a great help or a serious danger. It can lift people up and provide them with what they need or it can destroy them. Greed, of course, is a terrible sin.

What we do with our money makes all the difference. How tightly we cling to it or how generous we are says a great deal about us and our faith. What we give is an important sign of what we believe and how firmly we believe it. Giving tends to separate the talkers from the doers, the image from the reality.

II

In the service on Sunday morning, when we come to the offering, we say, "Now we continue our worship of God as we bring our expressions of thanks for God's gifts." Our giving is part of the way we worship God. Our offering is one of the ways in which we worship God and show the strength of our belief.

Several years back one of the Detroit newspapers carried a story on pledging and stewardship drives in churches. In the article they referred to it as a "necessary evil."

It is necessary, but there is nothing evil about it. Our giving is what drives most of our ministries. Without your giving, we couldn't buy the curriculum for the Sunday School classes, we would have no LOGOS, there would be no bulletins for worship, no hymnals, and no accompaniment. Our offerings allow us to do ministry in Christ's name. Stewardship is not a necessary evil; it's necessary and it's good!

The bottom line is that our giving is an expression of what we believe and what we stand for. Someone said, "Stewardship is what you do after you say, I believe." It is putting our words into action.

III

Stewardship comes from a root word that means "the management of a household, usually on another's behalf." So stewardship is about what we do with what we have been given.

Money is an important part of stewardship, but it is about far more than finances. Stewardship relates to how we manage our time and talents, as well as what we do with our treasure. Do we keep all of our time for ourselves, or do we offer it for others? Do we only use our talents and abilities for our own gain, or provide them for other people? Do we keep our money for our own comfort, or do we share it with people in serious need? Do we restrict our caring to our own lives and those of our family, or do we provide it for those who are struggling? These are stewardship questions.

We are given gifts from God - gifts of time, gifts of ability, gifts of financial resources, and gifts of compassion. In thanks to God, we give back from what we have received. We share our gifts for the ministry of Christ's church and for the needs of God's people.

IV

Stewardship comes from a root word that means "the management of a household, usually on another's behalf." So stewardship is about what we do with what we have been given.

Money is an important part of stewardship, but it is about far more than finances. Stewardship relates to how we manage our time and talents, as well as what we do with our treasure. Do we keep all of our time for ourselves, or do we offer it for others? Do we only use our talents and abilities for our own gain, or provide them for other people? Do we keep our money for our own comfort, or do we share it with people in serious need? Do we restrict our caring to our own lives and those of our family, or do we provide it for those who are struggling? These are stewardship questions.

We are given gifts from God - gifts of time, gifts of ability, gifts of financial resources, and gifts of compassion. In thanks to God, we give back from what we have received. We share our gifts for the ministry of Christ's church and for the needs of God's people.

V

It's obvious that we are facing difficult times right now. The stock market plunged and we hope it is slowly making its way back. People are being laid off; houses are being foreclosed every day.

If you have been laid off, if you are going through a tough time, or if your job has been cut back, we understand if you have to reduce your pledge. That goes without saying.

If you are doing well, and not too badly hurt by this economic situation, then it is even more important to help. If we are fortunate then we can help other people. If we are blessed during this difficult time, perhaps we are blessed to be a blessing to others.

Conclusion

In Mitch Albom's column last Sunday he wrote about how those who are surviving this time can be a blessing. Marilyn Mock went to a foreclosure auction with her son because he was bidding on a house. While he was filling out the paper work she went back into the auction and sat down next to a stranger, Tracy Orr. Marilyn is friendly, so she began to talk to the Tracy: "Are you bidding on a house?" Tracy didn't answer but began to cry. She pointed to the paper on her lap, and choked out, "That's my house."

Tracy bought the house for $80K four years ago. Then in this terrible economy she lost her job, couldn't keep up with the house payments, and the bank foreclosed. She came to the auction as a way of saying good-bye to the house she loved.

Marilyn Mock listened to her experiences, saw her tears, and before long raised her hand to bid on Tracy's former house. Marilyn kept bidding and finally got the house for $30,000. She turned to Tracy and said, "I did it for you." Marilyn isn't a wealthy woman; she had to take out a loan against her dump truck to get the $30,000.

The two women worked out a deal where Tracy can live in the house and pay the smaller rent until she pays it off. There is nothing in the deal for Marilyn except that she was able to help a person in pain. In the process the two women have become best friends.

Marilyn realized that she had been blessed. She used that blessing to provide a blessing to someone else.

Amen

© Richard J. Henderson 2008