Reflections on "No Scripted Outcomes" 2 Corinthians 9: 6-12

the third and final stewardship sermon this fall.  I'm not sure that the "wrestling with resources" theme for our steardship series turned into powerful sermons.  I enjoyed the theme and had some fun, but the sermons did not turn out as well as I would have liked.

“No Scripted Outcomes”, October 27, 2024; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; 2 Corinthians 9: 6-12

⁶The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. ⁹As it is written, “He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” ¹⁰He 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. ¹¹You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; ¹²for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.

Introduction:    Spoiler alert - if you do not want to hear some of the inside stories of professional wrestling, then tune me out for the next couple of minutes!

Professional wrestling has scripted outcomes.

they map out a wrestling match so that they know how long the match will be - I suspect this is to make sure they have time for commercials to keep the advertisers happy.

And they know who will win the match, at least most of the time!   they had an issue a few years ago where one of the wrestlers missed his cue to make a certain move and in the confusion, the referee did the 1,2,3 countdown and the wrong wrestler won.  the referee was fired!

Not every move in the wrestling match is planned.  There is some improvising taking place, but the climactic sequences are scripted as is the ending.

A few years ago, they had a problem with the scripts for the wrestling matches being leaked to the public. There was quite an uproar as people discovered that the scripts being leaked actually were accurate and that the matches they were seeing were not exactly a sporting event with the next play and the outcome unknown.  https://theweek.com/articles/447375/heres-what-prowrestling-script-looks-like#

(Pause)

When the stewardship committee asks us to wrestle with resources, both our individual giving and our church’s use of resources, there are no scripted outcomes.

Let’s take a few moments to reflect on what it means that our stewardship has no scripted outcomes.

Move 1:  First of all, that means there are no scripted outcomes for your commitment or your pledge.

a.  the stewardship committee does not sit around and go, “Leslie and Richard Culp should give so much in 2025” and then send a letter to my wife and me telling us what commitment they have scripted for us.

1.  I think that is part of what Paul is telling the Corinthians. 

2.  ⁷ Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

3.  no one tells each person what they should give.

4. no one if forcing us to reach a certain goal.

b.  Each of us may have different ways of approaching how we determine our giving.

1. For some of us, determining our pledge is mainly a mathematical question.

1. figure out a % you choose to give.  That’s why the biblical model of a tithe is an easy target.  the giving may be challenging, but the math is pretty simple!

2. Or, you determine how much you want to increase your pledge over last year and plug in the numbers.

3. Or, you look at your income and your expense, so some adding and subtracting, and then you arrive at your giving.

4. for some of us, giving is more of an emotional response.

5. we hear a moment for mission or something from a sermon and it moves us to make a financial commitment.

6.  or, maybe you have another approach.  

c.  Regardless, there is no scripted outcome given to us as we plan our giving, but we are asked to prayerfully consider what God might be calling us to give.

1.  to recognize that the giving of our time, the giving our talents, the giving of our financial resources are all part of our discipleship response.

2.  Paul builds on this by telling the Corinthians, by telling us, that God gives to us in abundance so that we can respond by sharing in that abundance. 

No scripted outcome, but a call to recognize how our giving is a faithful response to the God of abundance who has already given to us.

move 2:  We have no scripted outcomes to our stewardship because we want to stay open to the new possibilities God has for us, both in our own personal giving, but also in the way the congregation uses it resources.

a.  the prophet Isaiah reminded the Israelites in their time of challenge that God was a good full of possibilities.

1.  God was at work creating a new heaven and new earth

2.  what they could see, 

what they could understand as the possibilities they could make happen,

paled in comparison to the vision God had for them and for the world.

b.  We have no scripted outcome in our stewardship because we follow a God of endless possibilities.

1. Today is what we call Reformation  Sunday, a day we remember our heritage and how we are linked the Reformers like martin Luther and John Calvin, who ended up breaking away from the Catholic church.

2. The Reformation had lots of specific theological insights, some of which were mentioned in this week’s newsletter, but there was also a fundamental shift in understanding the church to be “reformed and always reforming.”

3. Always reforming - not because we like change.  

using change and church in the same sentence can sometimes seem oxymoronic!

4. But always reforming because God is always at work, responding to what is happening in our world and calling us to new insights and new ways of living.

5. We are continually being reformed by the God of endless possibilities.

c.  A story that comes out of the Presbyterian church experience in OH, including the church I served.

An adult SS class in FPC, Troy, OH had an elderly member who had grown ill and found herself nearly depleted of funds. The SS class helped her out, but also thought this was a problem they should try and solve for others as well.

Like good Presbyterians, they petioned their presbytery to establish a home for the aged in central Ohio as a better option for those in similar situations.   They even provided some seed money.

Other presbyteries were encouraged to join the effort and eventually approached the Synod of Ohio (synod is the next higher level in the Presbyterian system. in this case, it covered the geographic area of OH.

Two towns up from Troy in Sidney, OH the minister was Rev. W. Blake Love, who took on this cause.

Rev. Love had a young daughter, Dorothy. She was beloved by many in the congregation, but especially by the Russell family. The little girl had enchanted them all, but especially Moses, who was also a ruling elder in the church. Moses Russell was so charmed by Dorothy’s joy and innocence he determined that, when the time was right, he would sell the bulk of his property to fund her education.

When Dorothy Love was fatally struck by a car in May of 1921, the entire congregation was shaken, but none more than the Russell family. Ruth Ann Emmons, who knew Dorothy and the Russell family well, later said, “When Dorothy was killed, it almost killed the Russells too. They loved their farm and church, but they wanted to remember Dorothy, so they gave away everything and moved off the farm.” Moved with grief, the three Russell siblings donated a 294-acre tract of land to the Synod in Dorothy’s honor. They only proposed one caveat to the project Rev. Love had spoken of so passionately: that the Synod build not only a home for the aged on the donated land, but one for homeless children as well.

The proposal was accepted by the Synod, who began to move forward researching the feasibility of the project. 

This research showed little need for a home for children but an increasing need on behalf of seniors, so with the articles of incorporation, the mission returned to its original scope.

They returned to the Russell family with the suggestion that the need in the area was not for an orphanage or children’s home, but for a home for the elderly.

the family agreed to change how their gift could be used, and the Dorothy Love home was established in Sidney, OH.

It now is part of the Ohio Presbyterian Retirement System, which has grown through the years to thirteen facilities serving 90,000 homes. (https://info.ohioliving.org/1922-dorothy-love)

Generous stewardship + a God of new possibilities at work.

c.  As we live into the future to which God calls us, we may find some surprises along the way.

1.  Surprises in what God is calling us to give.

2. Surprise in how God call us to use resources.

Conclusion:  You know why professional wrestling went to scripting its outcomes.

because the matches were becoming too long and familiar.

in other words, long and boring.

Stewardship is not scripted because no script could contain the God we serve, the God who calls us to new places and new ways to give and use our resources.

 

Reflections on “Sabbatical Snippets: Stories that Shape Us” Matthew 26: 26-30; I Corinthians 11: 23-26

I read through my sabbatical journal to see what reflections seemed worth preaching.  This topic of stories that shape us, which also relates to how we share the stories we tell, was very interesting to me.  When I saw the Lost Cause exhibit at the museum in VA, I was overwhelmed by the intentionality of those who wanted to tell the story in a way that seemed to move away from the truth.  I also discovered that some of those stories had infiltrated my own learning about the Civil War.   

It seems really important that the church find a way to articulate its story of God's saving grace for the world today.  how we tell that story matters.  

“Sabbatical Snippets: Stories that Shape Us” World Communion Sunday, October 6, 2024; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; Mark 26: 26-30; Matthew 26: 26-30; I Corinthians 11: 23-26 

I Corinthians 11: 23-26

23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, ²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ ²⁵In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ ²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Introduction:  This fall, with the exception of the next coupled of stewardship sermons, my sermons will grow out of some insight or reflection I had while on sabbatical.  You may wish you had never let me go on sabbatical it’s all said and done.  

Move 1:  How we tell our stories and how those stories shape us.

a.  I spent about a week of my sabbatical in Richmond, VA, visiting my daughter Caitlin and her husband Charles.

One of the days, I went to the Virginia Museum of History and Culture and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

the Museum of History and Culture is a fairly small museum, but had some pretty cool exhibits, including a traveling exhibit about the chef Julia Childs and an exhibit about al th different regions of VA.

I had made my way through the museum and was about to leave, when I saw a door I hadn’t gone into.  Turns out it a coat closet.

But, next to it was another room that I had noticed.   I went in and found a small, but turns out, fascinating exhibit called the Lost Cause.  it was new to me, I learned the Lost Cause is a name for the efforts by former Confederates to tell the story of the Civil War from the Confederacy’s perspective and to glorify the Confederacy.

The Civil War became the “war of Northern aggression.”  

The role of slavery in the conflict was replaced by the issue of states’ rights. 

The defeat of the south was described as the triumph of the Union’s resources - read, impersonal machine without character, over the superior generals and better soldiers of the Confederacy.

part of the Lost Cause’s goal was to control how textbooks were written in the south so that the story could be told from the Lost Cause perspective.

 manifested in different ways over many generations—from history textbooks to street names to various forms of memorialization.  (https://virginiahistory.org/exhibitions/lost-cause)

 The leaders of the Lost Cause knew that the stories we tell and how we tell them shape us.

b. Laster in the sabbatical, on Back to back days, we visited the Whitney Western Art Museum in Cody, WY and the battlefield of Little Bighorn

1.  the  Art Museum had a painting of Battle of Little Bighorn titled Custer’s Last Fight, painted by Edger Paxson.  (https://centerofthewest.org/explore/western-art/research/edgar-s-paxson/)

2. The display with the painting showed how the artist used the painting to shape how the story of the battle was told. pointed out how the painting told the

in the center of the painting was Custer, standing tall, clearly the hero in the battle.

 

on the periphery of the painting and much smaller physically were the native American warriors.

As the painting told the story, it was about the heroic Custer who was defeated by the those who were really not that important.

3. the next day at the Little Bighorn National Park, we saw both the National Cemetery and the battle sites, but also the Indian Memorial, which was added in 2003.  

the Indian memorial brings in the perspective of the Indians who fought in the battle.

its design points to the unity of the 7th cavalry soldiers who died and the Indians who died as they all pass thorugh the gate of death and move into the afterlife.   The monument’s acknowledged theme is “Peace Through Unity.(https://www.nps.gov/libi/learn/historyculture/indian-memorial.htm)

Same story, told differently.

The stories we tell and how we tell them shape us.

c.  That is what Paul is telling the early Christians about the story that had been told to him.

1.  he is shaping the story of Christ’s last Supper for those early Christians and giving it meaning.

2. A story we still tell today.

Move 2:  Of course, out of that story we have the story of World Communion that we tell each year in this congregation - a story that continues to shape us.

a.  World Communion is reflects a big Sunday in the life of this congregation with lots of traditions

Notice how we tell the story and how that shapes us.

1.  multiple voices speaking in different languages.  

not to show off the language abilities of the congregation, but to acknowledge the world wide nature fo the body of Christ.

2. breads from different countries.

3.  we use liturgy from different countries.

4.  we have worship leadership from all ages.

b.  this year the invitation will come to us in all the different language.

1. The invitation to any who seek Christ, and invitation that know no geographical bounds.

2. the invitation connects us to each other in the place and beyond this place.

4.  As you see the many people involved in worship today, it is a sign of the breadth of people who come to our Lord’s Table.

4.  In Christ, we are connected to them.

5. A bond that transcends culture, language, or place.

6.  As you hear the words of invitation, imagine all those around the world who accept the invitation and come to the Lord’s Table.  

We intentionally tell the story so that visually and audibly we are reminded of the global nature of God’s claim and call.

c.  Our story of World Communion has as its centerpiece that story of Christ’s last supper. 

1. As we gather around our Lord’s Table, we remember how that story took place and how Paul shaped the story for the early Christians and for us.

2. The story ties the Lord’s supper to covenant.

` 3. This Table is an extension of God’s covenant and an expression of God’s love for us.

4. The story speaks of Christ’s gift of his body and his blood,

a gift that redeems us and frees us from our sins.

when we come to our Lord’s Table, we come at the invitation of the God whose covenant with us has been lived out in Christ’s death and resurrection.

5.  It comes to us as gift:

a life-changing gift that binds us to all the people in the world Christ has come to redeem.

c.  As many of you know, here at St. Andrew we come to our Lord’s Table in different ways;

sometimes we serve communion in the pews;

sometimes we process forward and have the bread and cup provided for us

sometimes we come forward and take communion by intinction, tearing the bread and dipping it into the cup.

1.  on World Communion Sunday, we always process forward and receive the elements by intinction.

2. This is intentional.

It emphasizes the coming and the going to our Lord’s Table.

3.  The coming in which we humbly move forward to accept the gift Christ has offered to us.

no one forces you to come, but Christ invites you.

4. Likewise, there is no gate on the way for which you have to have some type of key or perfect answer to get through;

As the Spirit moves you, so you come.

But we come at Christ’s invitation because we feel the pull to come to the Table.

4. then we go from the Table

back into the world

Christ’s gift is not for keeping, but for sharing

We go out with our brothers and sisters in Christ to all the world to join with the Risen Christ, who has met us at his Table.

Conclusion:  23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, ²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ ²⁵In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ ²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Listen to the story.  Be a part of the story.