I have preached a sermon with a similar topic before, but most of this sermon was new stuff, specific to St. Andrew. I think of this as more of a niche sermon, but also an ongoing topic as we explore our discipleship in the context of a God who knows us from before we are born and welcomes us to new life after our deaths.
“Extending Stewardship” Stewardship series 2019; SAPC,Denton; September 22, 2019; Psalm 49: 16-20; 2 Corinthians 9:10-16
2 Corinthians 9: 10-16 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.[c] 11 You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; 12 for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. 13 Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
Introduction: We began our reflections on stewardship two weeks ago thinking about how we teach stewardship, that important part of our discipleship.
Last week we thought about living stewardship, how we live out lives in ways that give back to God.
Next week, we will reflect on celebrating stewardship - you might be celebrating that it is the last sermon in the stewardship series, but we will also have an opportunity to return our pledges for our commitment to giving back to God in 2020.
This week, we focus on extending our stewardship beyond our lifetime.
I am reminded of a memorial service I did several years ago.
The service is etched in my memory banks in part because it was the hottest I have ever been in a church….
Jim was the husband of the minister the next town up from where I served in OH. When he
But what I remember most at the funeral was the special music. Jim loved to play and sing bluegrass music, and he had made some tapes of himself singing. the special music was listening to him sing. It was a bit surreal listening to the voice of the man whose life I had just celebrated and for whom I had claimed the resurrection.
But it got me to thinking - what would I say if I could speak to someone after I died?
What would you say if you could speak to people after your death?
Move 1: The Psalmist tells us that when we die they will carry nothing away; our wealth will not go down after us.
a. We know that as a biblical truth and also as a reality we face when a loved one dies.
1. their possessions, their money - none of it goes with them.
2. The executor or the family has to deal with all those material things.
b. Often, the person leaves instructions.
1. The instruction about what to do with our wealth speaks to what we value.
1. We love our children and grandchildren, so we leave much of our estate to them.
2. Or, sometimes we read about a person who left all their money to the cat society or some other surprising group.
3. We may not understand why they chose that group, but we do understand that they valued that group.
4. The instructions we leave for our estate reveal what we value.
b. How many of you knew Ruth Anderson?
1. If you knew her, you know she was a well-respected professor; you might know she wrote poetry; she was a prolific writer of textbooks.
2. If you did not know her personally, you still know that she valued the work of the church doing God's work in the world?
3. Why do we know this? Because she gave the funds to build the elevator for handicapped accessibility to church activities and she gave funds that established the Ruth Anderson fund, which supports a variety of ministries each year.
4. her gift to God that extended beyond her lifetime continues to reveal her commitment to what God is doing in the world.
b. Member of FPC
1. We had a woman in the church I served in OH who I got to know pretty well through the years because she had several surgeries (one of which was caused by a chain reaction of older women falling down the stairs on the way out fo church, but that's another story).
2. I also got to know her daughter family well,. she was an only child, so she would come over whenever her mother had issues.
3. When the woman died, the bank handling her estate informed the church she had left 10% of the estate to the church.
2. 10% - there is that tithe again. She must have listened to a sermon on tithing!
4. The estate was not large enough for the daughter to never have to work again, but it was a good-sized estate.
5. I was a little anxious the next time I met with the daughter. What might she think about her mother giving 10% of her inheritance to the church the daughter no longer attended, having moved away years ago?
6. She brought up the gift.
7. She told me that her mother had reminded her how important she thought the work of the church was.
c. St. Andrew has been blessed over the years.
1. Some sizable gifts.
2. Other gifts of a lesser amount.
3. All the gifts speak to the value the giver places on giving back to God.
c. In his will, the American patriot Patrick Henry wrote, “I have now disposed of all my property to my family; there is one thing more I wish I could give them, and that is the Christian religion. If they had this, and I had not given them one shilling, they would be rich; but if they had not that, and I have given them all the world, they would be poor.” This quote taken from resources provided by Presbyterian Foundation for Wills Emphasis http://www.presbyterianfoundation.org/PresbyterianFoundation/media/PresbyterianFoundation/Wills%20Emphasis%20Program/Sermon-1-WE-2009-new-logo.pdf
1. We cannot ensure that our family members who survive us will claim the faith that we have.
2. we can help ensure that our family knows how much we value our faith and the ongoing work of God in our midst.
Move 2: Those types of gifts speak to the God who continues to be at work in the future with people we do not know.
a. We hear Paul writing to the Corinthians about giving.
1. he is teaching them how giving fits into their new-found Christian calling.
2. This portion of the letter is being written in the context of Paul’s request that they take up a collection for the needy saints in Jerusalem.
b. the collection is important in at least two ways.
1. First of all, the Christians in Jerusalem really need the support.
2. They are struggling and the collection will make a huge difference in their lives.
b. .Secondly, in asking the corinthians to take up a collection, Paul is reminding them of a fundament truth about giving back to God.
1. Giving is not for our own self-serving purposes.
2. Giving is for others.
3. Giving is for God to use for God's purposes in the world.
c. Giving to the future is an act of faith in the God of the future.
1. If God were about to be done, there would be no reason to give for the future activities of God.
2. But we who believe that God is continuing to a new thing, who believe that God has a future, are called to give to that future.
Conclusion: I finish with a final thought - Extending our stewardship even beyond our early lives is grounded in our theology of God's claim on us.
The Brief Statement of Faith, the most recently written confession in our Book of Confessions, begins with this statement: “In life and in death we belong to God.”
In life and in death we belong to God and all that we have, in life and death, is God’s.
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