“Supporting the Ministry of the Church through the Giving of Money, Time, and Talents” was preached at First Presbyterian Church of Allentown, PA on October 16, 2022. You can hear/watch this sermon here, starting at 35:34.
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Scripture Text:
Luke 16:19-31
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Aside from the kingdom of God, Jesus talks
more about money than just about anything else.
I’m not sure how that makes us feel. While
we are well aware our church needs to raise money to do good in the world like
we are called to do, let alone even function or exist, we tend to tiptoe around
stewardship in the church. Or we make jokes to cover the awkwardness and
discomfort of talking about money.
For example, my very first sermon at my previous church, so my very first sermon as a pastor, was about money. I was
there just under a month, and that Sunday’s sermon already had an assigned
topic: living by faith… with your money. I wasn’t supposed to preach that
Sunday, but the Head Pastor at my previous church fell down a flight of stairs,
did major damage to his knee, and was out of commission for awhile. So within
weeks of starting as a new pastor, I took the scripture texts and topics he
assigned himself to preach on as my scripture texts and topics to preach on. In
the sermon, I told everyone who would listen, hazing in the church looks like
giving the new pastor the sermon on money.
The awkwardness of talking about money in
the church has never really went away. Just this week, while talking to a
friend about my job as a pastor, he asked, “So do you get paid by whatever is
in the offering plate that week?”
The question had both humor and curiosity
in it. This friend, who grew up going to church, wanted to know how pastors get
paid… and don’t worry, I explained it’s a little more complex than that, but
the answer to his question is… essentially yes. I get paid through the
donations of others.
And that can be a little uncomfortable to
talk about.
But Jesus talked about money a lot. And
his ministry as a traveling teacher and prophet along with disciples must have
been built upon the generosity of others. Because even Jesus relied on the
generosity of others, he approached the topic of money pretty neutrally. Jesus
doesn’t really care if we have money; he is more concerned what we do with it
if we do. And he did preach over and over again of caring for those who do not
have money.
Taking a note out of Jesus’ book, we also
talk about money in worship every week. Following the sermon, we are given an
opportunity to respond to God’s Word and part of that response time is the
consideration of the giving of our money, time, and talents. We urge this every
week, and because we are currently asking members to commit to their pledges
for next year, there is a special emphasis on the topic of giving and money.
Even if it is awkward or uncomfortable or we try to cover it with jokes. But we
do this because as one of our marks of membership as found in the Book of Order
and the topic of today is “Supporting the Ministry of the Church through the
Giving of Money, Time, and Talents.”
And we shouldn’t dismiss the topic of
money or the giving of our time and talents within the church because Jesus
didn’t dismiss the topic of money, rather it was the focus of several of his
parables. Including this one today.
Nestled in between stories of inclusion,
mercy, kindness and forgiveness is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
This Parable found in chapter 16 immediately follows parables of radical grace
as found in the Parables in chapter 15, which includes the Parable of the Lost
Sheep, The Prodigal Son, and the Lost Coin, with the latter of the three being
an example that Jesus does in fact often talk about money. So following these
parables in which God’s grace is extended to everyone, including the rich, we
have a parable that serves as a warning. It’s a healthy reminder, even.
Each of us is given grace. Grace. Grace.
Overflowing, abundant grace. But the grace we are given does not mean we can
ignore our faults or the faults of the world we live in. The language of this
parable is strong and direct, and it offers a glimpse of God’s judgement. But
this is good because God’s judgment in the Bible is restorative, making something
right. Therefore, God’s judgment, even as found in this parable, is not about
condemnation but grace. Grace. Grace. Overflowing, abundant grace.
In the parable, there is a rich man who
loves his money. So much in fact, he could see only his wealth, his fine linens
and sumptuous feasts. What he couldn’t see was the man in need right outside
his gates. He was so blind to this that he couldn’t see even what the dogs
could see. He couldn’t see Lazarus. And because he couldn’t see Lazarus, he
couldn’t see that Lazarus needed help. And because he couldn’t see that Lazarus
needed help, there was no way the rich man could help Lazarus. Distracted by
his wealth, the rich man remained ignorant to an opportunity to love his
neighbor. And because he could not love his neighbor, the rich man couldn’t see
the transformative grace that is found in God when we do love and serve our
neighbor.
To be honest, no matter our own economic
status, we are more often comparative to the rich man than Lazarus. We are
good, honest, generous, faithful people… living in a country that we are so
blessed to live in. But as Americans, we enjoy economic comfort, and our
culture gives us plenty of ways to indulge ourselves. And we do. Now as I said
earlier, Jesus is pretty neutral about money and doesn’t care so much if we
have it, and I’m pretty sure Jesus is also neutral about our nationality and
doesn’t care so much that we are blessed by economic comfort as Americans.
Jesus cares more about what we do with this comfort.
What comforts, or even blessings, in our
lives distract us from seeing our neighbors in need? Is it our love for money?
Is it entitlement? Is it selfishness? Is it a “serve me first” mentality? Is it
“give me what I want and then I will give you my money”? Is it fear, anxiety,
inflexibility? Is it a fixation on one particular issue or conflict? Is it
politics? Is it disagreement? Is it a refusal to worship because we didn’t like
a sermon or two? Is it our past, our history, our image? Is it anything other
than Gospel and the Good News of Jesus Christ?
If we only give to this church and this
ministry when it benefits us first, we have warped the very concept of grace.
If we only give because we like the pastors or the pews or hymns or because the
sermon that day made us feel good, if we only give then, then we have created a
chasm that refuses God’s grace, healing, and transformation. And that chasm, as
we learn from the rich man, is not where we want to be.
God’s grace covers us despite all the ways
we have fallen short, despite all the things we have done to upset God, despite
all our faults, despite that we constantly miss the mark of what God intended
for us when we were created in God’s image. God’s grace crosses over the chasm
to transform us from brokenness into wholeness, into redeemed state where our
lives strive for generosity, kindness and mercy to be extended onto others.
I have benefitted from your generosity,
kindness and mercy. I try to live every day in gratitude, and I have so much to
be grateful for. This community of faith is part of the reason I am so grateful.
I am grateful for this community because it is marked by fellowship, love, and
grace.
So I do feel comfortable talking to all of
you about money because there is nothing wrong with having money. And it should
be normal talking about money just as Jesus so often did. But if we let our
money become our focus, or if we let our own desires become our focus, we have
cheapened the very grace God has given to us and we have created a chasm.
But we won’t let that happen, will we?
Because we remember this: the grace of God really is sufficient to cover all
our faults. The one who will bridge the chasm is not us; it is and always has
been God.
We don’t give to this church – money or
otherwise – because it benefits us first. We give because we believe in grace.
Grace. Grace. Overflowing, abundant grace.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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