Reflections on "Does It Matter - Part 2" Deuteronomy 26: 1-11; 2 Corinthians 8: 1-7

Sermon went okay. Usually the sermon feels like it goes better in one service or the other.  This sermon had a split-decision:  the first part of the sermon felt better in the Sanctuary service; the final part of the sermon felt better in the Chapel service.  Not sure what made the difference.

I took the story of the woman in KY and focused on two aspects of it for this sermon.  I am reminded that a good story is usually multivalent.  In this case, not only can the hearer find his or her own meaning, but I could have crafted the story differently to emphasize other points.

In the final analysis, a sermon with personal comments about my own style of giving and a story from my own personal experience may have to much of "me" in it.

“Does It Matter – Part II” October 30, 2011; Capital campaign series;

Introduction: Last week we reflected on the question – does it matter in the context of a project to repair and renovate a building, namely our sanctuary.

This week, I am asking the same question – does it matter? – in the context of does it matter for each of us to participate in the capital campaign.

Move 1: It matters because we are connected to a community of faith.

a. WE are connected in an historical sense.

1. All-Saints Sunday.
2. Remember those who have come before us.
3. They began this project.
4. They built the sanctuary; they added on to the church building; they (and now the they probably includes some of us) built the chapel.
5. They added on the the new Social Hall.
6. We have been the recipients of their building efforts and financial commitments.
7. Part of being connected to the saints who have come before means taking responsibility for the church in our time, just as they did in their time.

b. We are also connected in the present time.

1. This is our project – a group effort.

1. What you give is your decision. In fact, the basis of this campaign is for each of us to prayerfully discover what God is calling us to give.
2. Whether you give or not is again about you and your prayerful consideration.
3. But, I would urge you to give to be part of what this community of faith is doing.
4. More than your money, we need you to be a part of what we are doing here.

5. When we celebrate the completion of the different projects, we want everyone to feel that it is their project to celebrate. A celebration of the community of faith that worked together to make the project happen.

100. Retired teacher; garage sale after paychecks; no family, except for cousins and “her boys” a older, single woman in the church in KY. She had been sick and in a nursing home and had missed church for a couple of months. She had lots of questions about what was happening at the church, including how the capital campaign had gone.
     She noted that she had missed out on the campaign and on getting visited by someone as part of the capital campaign.
     She wondered if I could take her pledge card back to the church and a check for her pledge. I really do not like taking money from people I visit. I do not want them to think that the reason I came was to get their money, but she really wanted me to take her gift and pledge card.
     As she gave me the card and check, she had tears in her eyes. She told me that she was sorry she could not give more, but that was all she could give at the time.
     I assured her that any gift she gave First of all, she gave me a pledge card for the capital campaign as I assured her that her gift was welcome and she did not need to be upset about not being able to give as much as she wanted. In fact, she did not need to give anything at all.
     As she responded, I began to realize that she had to give – but not because of the amount. She had to give because she wanted to be a part of that project that was important to her church.

Our giving matters because we are part of this community of faith.

Move 2: It matters because we need to be reminded that everything is God's – we just have use of some of it.

a. A biblical principle.

1. All we have God has given to us.
2. The Deuteronomy passage points out how the Israelites are called to respond to being led out of bondage by God and led to the land of milk and honey.
3. As they receive the crops from the ground in the land God has given them, they give the first fruits back to God.

b. I confess to be rather certain at times that money in my paycheck or the money is Leslie's paycheck is ours.

1. No one else's.
2. we worked the hours, right?
3. The money is ours, so we can do with it what we like.
4. That sense of ownership easily extends beyond the money we earn to all the material things we have.
5. How easily we forget that from the very breath we breathe, all we are and all we have comes from God.
7. Perhaps even more than the actual financial commitment, the process of prayerfully turning to God and asking God's guidance for our giving brings us back to that place where we can acknowledge that all we have comes from God.

b. Retired woman.

1. Since she did not have any immediate family, I spent a lot of time with her when she was in the hospital, or nursing home, or even when she was home and not getting around much (in fact, one time when she had been relatively healthy for a while, she told me that was thinking about going back into the hospital because she'd missed talking to me).
2. Anyway, we spent a lot of time talking, and I learned a lot about her life.
3. She had two brothers. She loved them both, but one was the good brother, who held a responsible job and did things right. The other brother did not have that same ambition or desire to work and do things right.
4. None of the three sibling ever married.
5. When the good brother died, he left everything to this woman, in part, because he did not want the other brother to use his inheritance to do stupid things.
6. Her brother had died about 15 years earlier.
7. He had a portfolio.
8. She never touched it.
9. She said it did not feel right to spend his money.
10. Money he had given to her.
11. But money she did not see as her money.
12. AS it turns out, when she died, her estate (which she left to the church) was worth over $850,000. Where did most of it come from? Her brother's portfolio that she had never touched because it was his money.
    
    
    c. God has blessed us with many resources.
    1. God does not demand that we not use those resources.  In fact, God calls us to live fully.
    2.  We are free to spend those resources.
    2. But, we are asked to give back as an acknowledgment that the resources we have come from God.
    2. Our giving matters because it reminds us that all we have is a gift from God.

Move 3: It matters because we are invited to claim the privilege of giving.

a. Fascinated with Paul's comments to the church in Corinth.

1. Paul shares with the Corinthians what the Macedonian church had done about sending an offering for the poor Christian community in Jerusalem.
2. Context of the extra offering being sent to the poor Christians in writes about the "privilege" the churches in Macedonia felt as they "begged" to be able to give to the offering for the poor church in Jerusalem.
   b. you may remember my description of myself as an obligation giver.
   1. I am trying in my own approach to see giving as a privilege.
   2. not simply an obligation.
   3. Not even an opportunity, which sounds sort of like a positive way to spin a sense of obligation.
   c. What does it mean for me to consider it a privilege to give?
   1. In part, it means that I am fortunate to be in a position where I have the resources to give. In tough economic times, Leslie and I are both employed and can make a gift. Even as I say that, I realize that my sense of privilege is still not where the Macedonian churches are because they feel the privilege of giving out of their poverty!
   2. In part, it cuts to the heart of my understanding of call. I believe that God called me to serve this congregation, so I get to join with you in a project that is important to this congregation.
   3. in part, it speaks to my sense of gratefulness for God claiming me in relationship. Only by the grace of God, literally, can I even dare to claim the privilege of giving back to God.
   d. I invite you to consider what it means that you have the privilege of giving.
   Conclusion: Our giving does matters in ways far beyond the actual amount of our gift.