this is the first of three sermons on stewardship this fall. We also had two baptisms in our worship service. I struggled to prepare this sermon, but it ended up being an okay sermon, at least to me. Not a whole lot of feedback or reaction from the congregation.
“Stewardship Questions: Will Giving Make Me Feel Better; Luke 18: 9-14 October 8, 2023; SAPC, Denton; Dr. Richard B. Culp
9He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: 10“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ 13But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Introduction: We take a four week break from sermons on OT sidekicks and will spend three weeks on stewardship and one week, October 22, having our glorious Fall Festival of Faith worship.
Each week of the stewardship sermons, we will reflect on questions people often ask about stewardship.
Within the context of St. Andrew, our reflections on stewardship are tied to making pledges for our giving back to God for 2024.
But, the stewardship questions, the giving back to God reflections, speak to all of us as questions for how we live our lives, not just if we are members of St.Andrew.
Move 1: Question this morning - will giving make me feel better?
a. I have been asked this question directly - although maybe they were just kidding when they asked it;
1. but I have also heard this question discussed indirectly in various classes, committee meetings, or just in conversations.
2. It is something of a cost/benefit question - will I benefit by feeling better if I give of my resources.
3. Sort of the feelings part of the prosperity gospel mantra - give back to God and you will prosper by feeling better about yourself!
b. To begin analysis of that, let’s look at the story Jesus tells us about two people.
a. First, the Pharisee
1. We know he is someone who has succeeded in his life, been recognized as a leader in his religious circles, and has a position of authority and responsibility.
2. Been doing everything correctly.
2. He fasts twice a week;
3. He tithes, which means 10% of what he makes, he gives back to God.
4. he knows the rules of giving and meets the expectations of giving.
b. then, there is the tax collector.
1. By his job, we expect him to be sort of shady.
2. We are not told how much he gives, but we do know that his daily life is not about giving to others, but taking from others.
3. the more he takes, the more he makes.
c. who ought to feel better about his giving?
1. If it were not for the way Jesus finishes the story, the easy answer would be the Pharisee.
choose the tither to feel good because of his giving.
he is intentional and meets the letter of the law.
Every church institution needs and appreciates a tither, an intentional, patterned giver.
and the Pharisee’s comments suggest his giving makes him feel better,
at least better than everyone!
2. The tax collector?
not so much
as he beats his breast, he does not seem to feel too good about anything in his life, much less his giving.
d. As we look at how we might perceive these two people and how Jesus describes them, we suddenly realize - the question is not whether giving makes us feel better, but will our giving transform us.
1. Jesus shifts the perspective - instead of do we feel good or not, the question becomes how are we being transformed.
2. The Pharisee may feel better about himself, including his giving pattern, but he is unchanged.
3. The tax collector is being transformed.
If the goal of our giving is to feel better about ourselves we are led astray like the Pharisee;
if we give as part of our ongoing transformation as disciples of Christ, our giving opens us up to all sorts of possibilities.
Move 2: God calls us to give as part our what it means to be connected to others beyond ourselves.
a. Giving can give us the opportunity to live into our connectedness.
1. I read a study a few years ago put out by Warwick Business School in England.
The report sought to figure out what made countries happier.
They discovered that a happy country had less to do with the wealth of the people and more to do with the people being big givers.
this tied to some other experiments they had been conducting that showed "small-scale laboratory experiments which have shown that when people are asked to spend money on others they feel happier than people who are asked to spend money on themselves. This goes against conventional economic wisdom, and indeed human intuition, that says that spending money on ourselves will make us happier.”
Maybe counter-intuitive to what we might expect. ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/sep/08/good-samaritan-charitable-giving)
2. I suppose I could stop there and say, “See, giving will make you feel better!”
b. But why does giving to help others make us feel better?
1. Because giving changes our lives and calls us to recognize our connections beyond ourselves.
2. Because giving calls us to reimagine ourselves as more than just selfish people only interested in ourselves;
to reimagine ourselves and commit ourselves to joining with Christ in transforming the world.
Move 3: Giving ought to make demands on us.
a. I saw a cartoon with two cars at a stoplight.
One car was a Rolls Royce - obviously a sign of affluence, whose driver was doing quite well be earthly standards
the Rolls Royce had a bumper sticker on it: "If You Love Jesus, Honk."
Next to it was a much older mid-sized car - not a junker by any means, but next to the Rolls Royce it seemed a step or two down the ladder of monetary success.
this car had the bumper stick: "If you love Jesus, tithe. Anyone can honk."
Honk or tithe?
1. A Rolls Royce might make us feel better for the moment;
2. intentional discipleship creates those opportunities to engage in Christ’s work;
b. Will giving make you feel better?
1. the invitation to reflect on our giving patterns invites us to consider how our giving shapes our lives.
2. Are we giving in intentional ways to shape our lives?
3. As noted, the Pharisee was a tither.
But, it appears he was tithing just to check off the list of things he was supposed to do.
4. Tithing is not about a checklist, but about setting goals for our giving that will remind us every time we give our gifts that we are called to be intentional in our discipleship.
5. Making commitments to give back to God calls us to focus on living our lives of discipleship and growing into the new creations God desires of us.
Conclusion: God asks us to give back not because God needs what we have to give, but because we need to give.
Do we need to give to feel better? I don’t know.
But I do know that God calls us to give in ways that transform us,
in ways that connect us beyond ourselves
in ways that help us grow in our discipleship.
Amen.
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