A second of four sermons in our stewardship series. the weekly video offered different ways people can give to the church using technology, plus the traditional snail mail or showing up in person to church.
If I preached the sermon again, I would tie in how technology can help us become more disciplined in our discipleship, particularly in the area of giving. I might also talk about the value of becoming a "patterned" giver and how technology can help us achieve that.
“Innovative and Indebted” Stewardship series; October 18, 2020, SAPC, Denton; Dr. Richard B. Culp; Exodus 25: 20-29
Exodus 35: 20 Then all the congregation of the Israelites withdrew from the presence of Moses. 21 And they came, everyone whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and brought the Lord’s offering to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the sacred vestments. 22 So they came, both men and women; all who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and pendants, all sorts of gold objects, everyone bringing an offering of gold to the Lord. 23 And everyone who possessed blue or purple or crimson yarn or fine linen or goats’ hair or tanned rams’ skins or fine leather,[a] brought them. 24 Everyone who could make an offering of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord’s offering; and everyone who possessed acacia wood of any use in the work, brought it. 25 All the skillful women spun with their hands, and brought what they had spun in blue and purple and crimson yarns and fine linen; 26 all the women whose hearts moved them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair. 27 And the leaders brought onyx stones and gems to be set in the ephod and the breastpiece, 28 and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. 29 All the Israelite men and women whose hearts made them willing to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done, brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.
Introduction: Continue reflecting on stewardship in a time of pandemic.
I hope you saw the stewardship video this past Tuesday. Had some ideas for us to think about for the ways in which we give. In our changing world of technology and our world of pandemic that has forced us to change how we interact, the stewardship committee thought it might be helpful to highlight different ways in which we can give.
this morning’s sermon is not a follow-up tutorial on those different ways, but an invitation to reflect on what is behind the desire to offer different ways for us to engage in our giving.
Move 1: first all, let’s reflect for a few minutes about stewardship and innovation
a. At the heart of stewardship innovation is the desire to make it possible for all of us to give as best we can.
1. We read an interesting story in Exodus.
2. It sounds like simply a list of things people gave to build up and supply their place of worship.
3. But if we dig deeper, we see a story about about everybody giving in the best way they can.
4. Everybody gave from what they had or through a skill they possessed.
5. If they could offer silver or bronze, they did; if they had acacia wood to give, that is what they gave; if they were skilled at spinning beautiful yarns and linens, they gave those.
6. It was not everyone giving the same thing and in the same way; instead, it was everyone giving how they can of what they have.
7. As one commentator notes, “No contest ensued over who gave what or who gave more. “All have a part in building the sanctuary for YHWH, and, without each playing his or her peculiar part, it cannot be completed” (https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/exodus-35/).
8. Giving was the act of the whole community, each in their own unique ways.
b. Way back in the 2nd century, Bishop Clement of Alexandria, preached sermon titled, “Can a Rich Man Be saved?”
1. Sounds like a pretty interesting sermon. Wish it had been live streamed so we could pull it up today and see it!
2. in the sermon, Bishop Clement suggested that money was morally neutral.
3. He likened money to being an “instrument” to be put to “good use by those who know how to play the instrument skillfully” (kitchen Table Giving: Reimagining How Congregations Connect with Their Donors, Willam G. Enright, 57).
3. Our stewardship committee is inviting us to consider new ways for us to play our instrument of money; to consider new possibilities for how we can play out or giving.
1. KD story - the church I served in OH had a long history of emphasizing the privacy of one’s pledge and one’s giving.
Not a single annual campaign or capital campaign went by without a public statement announcing that no one saw your pledge or the amount of your gifts, except the treasurer. it was a huge deal for them every year.
Ironically, I learned a lot about the giving patterns of members because they told me themselves! they seemed very free in telling me about how much they gave or what their pledge might be for the coming year. Sometimes, it was shared as we discussed a job change or job loss and how that might impact their giving. Sometimes, they would just tell me for no particular reason what they gave to the church.
I remember one member coming up to me one year and telling me, “I gave a whole lot more to the church last year that I thought I did.”
“Huh,” or something like that was my brilliant reply.
“you want to know why?” he asked.
“Sure.” (i was on top of my game that day).
“Well, I switched over to using my bank’s bill pay. Twice a month a check gets sent to the church’s whether I show up or not. You know what I learned about that?
I wanted to say “you learned that some months your check showed up more than you did,” but I went with “What?”
“I learned that the bank is more consistent about sending checks than I am about showing up sometimes. So I gave more than I ever have before. You know what else I learned?”
“nope.”
“i didn’t even notice that I was giving a lot more this year. I might even tell the bank to send more next year.”
2. All the stewardship sermons through the years had done little to get him excited about his giving or to even notice his giving.
3. But using technology to give - made his excited about giving and had him considering giving more.
4. As we consider innovative ways in which we can give, it is an invitation to reflect on giving and change our giving patterns.
Move 2: Innovation may be an invitation to consider new ways of giving, but it still takes us back to our fundament understanding that we give because we are indebted to God for all we have.
a. Recently, I was reading a book, and the author cited a study that showed out 80% of people who give did not know why they gave the amount they did or when they decided to give that amount. [Interestingly enough, even though they could not tell why they gave what they gave, they knew they did not want to give more!] (Creating Congregations of Generous People, Michael Curall, 21)
1. as we hear the invitation to consider the way in which we give, it is also an invitation to reclaim why we give.
2. to remember the many ways in which God has given to us.
3. God has given us the gift of life itself.
4. Images of God breathing the breath of life into us.
5. As our own denomination’s statement on stewardship theology tells us: “…neither we nor the resources belong to ourselves. We are not just managing surplus for the good of humanity. We understand that all resources are God’s and that they are to be used for God’s purposes (213th General Assembly [2001] statement on stewardship theology as found in Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don’t Give Away More Money, Christian Smith, Michael Emerson, and Patricia Snell, 224)
6. God making us stewards over creation, not because creation is our, but because God calls us to share in responsibility over creation.
7. In his letter to the Corinthians we read this morning, Paul makes it clear that God has given us the gift of Jesus Christ out of God’s love for us. We did nothing to deserve it or earn.
8. So we respond by giving back first fruits and more from the gifts which we have been given, by sharing our talents in service to God.
9. All in response to our indebtedness to God for the gifts God has given to us.
b. As we ponder new ways in which you might give, we are invited to reclaim the theological underpinnings of our giving.
Conclusion:
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