Reflections on "What If I Didn't Give to the General Budget?" Matthew 25: 14-30; Psalm 76

This is the last sermon based on the question:  "what if I didn't give..." This sermon series has forced me to reflect in some new ways about stewardship. It has given me new insights.

 Perhaps the newest insight for me is the link between giving to the church and the church's role as the body of Christ.   I am indebted to my colleague Rev. Karl Travis for making that connection in a conversation we had earlier in the fall.  I find it easy to make the argument that we should give back to God because God has given so much to us.  But, it gets complicated when we start to dig into the particulars about how and to whom we should give back.   I am fascinated by the assertion that we need to support the church because it has been called into being by Christ and tasked with the role of being the body of Christ in the world.

"What If I Didn't Give to the General Budget” November 2, 2014; FPC, Troy; Stewardship series; 2014; Matthew 25: 14-30; Psalm 76

Introduction: Next week, we dedicate our gifts to God and celebrate that we are in fact people who give back to God.

This week, we ask for the last time, “What if I didn't give...” with the focus on the the church budget – “What if I didn't give to the church budget?

Of course, this week has the obvious trump card. If we did not give to the church budget, we would not have the church programs – no ministries; no utilities to keep the building running; no Christian education

Likewise, we also have the trump, trump, card – if we ceased to exist, God would find other people to do the vital things this congregation does. We might not be a part of what God is doing, but that does not mean God is going to quit being at work in this community and our world.

I am not going to play either trump card this morning, but I do have three reflections for us.

Move 1: First of all, If I didn't give to the church budget, I would not affirm the church as the body of Christ.

a. I sometimes hear explicitly, and often feel it implicitly, a challenge to giving to the church.

1. it goes something like this: how can the church make the claim to be the place where I should give my money if I want to give it back to God?

Or, like this: I am going to give back to God, but why does that have anything to do with giving to the church?

2. For some, those questions might just be a rationalization for not giving, but they also provide an important an important challenge for the congregation and its leadership.

4. As a church, we are held accountable to using the funds given to the church to engage and support what God is doing in the world?

b. But something more is also at stake – the affirmation of the body of Christ in the world.

1. If we believe that Christ did in fact call the church into being as his body, then we must support the church in its role and work as the body of Christ.

2. we have to be careful not to believe that anything and everything the church might do is automatically representative of the body of Christ – we know that the church, like each of , fall short of what God desires of us.

3. But, we have been called into being by God.

4. We have a critical role to play in the world.

5. WE have been given the task of being the body of Christ in the world.

6. When we give to the church, we proclaim that the body of Christ is alive and present in our midst.

Move 2: If I did not give to the church budget, I would be hiding my treasure.

a. In the passage we read from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells a story about the owner leaving money with three servants.

1. Reminder – talent was a measure of money. Eugene Peterson in his translation The Message tells the story with the first servant being given $5K; the second being given $2K; and the third being given $1K.

2. The one to whom he gives the most money, risks it and doubles it. Not sure how the economy was working then, but I suspect doubling the money took quite a it of effort and some risk. No hedge funds – had to literally put the money to work. When the owner returns he rewards the servant by giving him more money.

2. the one to whom he gives a little bit less, invests it and doubles it as well. Not as much gained, but percentage wise still a remarkable gain. He too is rewarded by the owner.

3. The servant who is given the least is worried about losing the money, so he buries the money in the ground.

4. He proves true the adage, “nothing ventured, nothing gained” to be true.

5. but he did not lose anything.

6. at some level I see myself in him. He has this gift from the owner that he values so he does not want anything to happen to it.

7. How does the owner respond to his safe storage of the funds? With anger – he wanted to the servant to put the money to work; he wanted him to risk; he

b. Likewise, God gives us resources.

1. Think about your own life. How many blessing you have.

2. We have a tendency to look at others and notice that they have more. Maybe that's what the servant in the Jesus' parable did – he saw that he had less, so he decided he didn't have enough to do anything with so he buried it.

3. My point – don't look at others, but lay claim to the many blessings you have.

4. Blessings not be buried in the sand.
5. Blessings that are not be hoarded.

6. Blessings not to be spent all on yourself.

7. Blessings God wants us to put to work.

8. To give away so that ministry can multiply..

The church's mission as the body of Christ makes it the place where we invest our treasure in God's work.

Move 3: what if I didn't give to the church budget – stop there – don't give to the church budget. Give to God.

a. The church budget is just a vehicle to put our gifts given to God to work serving God's purposes.

1. God has a claim on your gifts; the church budget does not.

2. Three kinds of churches: churches that just take up offerings have people on average give the least; churches that ask people to write down pledges to the budget do better; churches that ask people to give the percentage of their income that they believe God is calling them to give do the best. And its' not really close. herb Miller, Consecration Sunday(5,6), taken from Money Matters

b. Did you notice the words of the psalmist in Psalm 76?

1. the Psalmist suggests that we give gifts to God because God is awesome.

2. Indeed, God is. Amen.