No Giving, No Life

Luke 14:25-35

October 16, 2011

There is no doubt that it is hard to be a Christian in today’s world.  We live in a culture that is constantly trying to convince us that we do not have enough.  Success is measured by the size of our paychecks, the make and model of our cars, the location and style of our homes, the name brand on our clothing, the extracurricular activities our children are involved in, the quality of the assisted living facility where our parents live.  We are bombarded daily with advertising that encourages us to upgrade, to buy more, to live beyond our means.  Our children are almost blinded by their desire for the newest all too graphic video game, ridiculously expensive shoes, or a chance to see the latest concert.  Our culture is constantly telling us that “he who dies with the most stuff wins” – and while we see the fallacy of this, we still tend to measure our success by earthly standards.  And we always come up short.

And then Jesus turns to us and says, “None of you can become my disciples if you do not give up all your possessions” (33).  Certainly Jesus is exaggerating, isn’t he? He can’t mean it when he says, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple” (26).  Jesus is just using hyperbole to make a point, right? We aren’t meant to take these statements literally, are we?

Henri Nouwen writes, “The pressure in our culture to secure our own future and to control our own lives as much as possible does not find support in the Bible.  Jesus knows our need for security... [but] we cannot find security if our heart is divided... We have to make a choice whether we want to belong to the world or to God.”[1]  Jesus is not exaggerating when he tells us we must give up our possessions if we want to be his disciple.  Jesus is speaking the truth when he tells us we must turn our backs on our families if we want to be his disciple.  We have to make a choice whether we want to belong to the world or to God.

The first disciples literally gave up everything to follow Jesus.  They left their nets and their boats, their livelihood and their families – they left everything to follow Jesus (Matt 4:22).  The first Christians, filled with the Holy Spirit after Pentecost, sold everything they had and held everything in common, and there was not a needy person among them (Acts 4:32, 34). 

Saint Francis of Assisi was the son of a wealthy merchant who lived a carefree life of excess until his conversion. When he took a vow of poverty and began to care for the poor, his father took him to court.  In the courtroom, Francis actually removed the clothing he was wearing and gave it back to his father, leaving the courtroom and his family to follow Jesus. Francis literally took nothing from his old life with him as he set out to follow Jesus. 

Let me share another story by Michael Murray, in this month’s Alive Now. He writes:  “The American Dream was my dream. I had always believed that money and possessions were a guarantee of happiness.  One day... I was reading the New Testament story of the young man who asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus said, ‘Go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ Despite the fact that I was familiar with this story, I was struck in a new way by the brevity of Jesus’ response. He told the man quite plainly, no giving, no life...

The story opened up a space in my heart. I felt that God was telling me to follow what Jesus had advised... After about ten minutes of doubt, I experienced a desire to go through with it and knew that God would help me. Once I made up my mind, I felt a strong sense of peace throughout my body. That summer, I gave away about ninety percent of my possessions...

Since that experience over a year and a half ago, my life has changed completely. I live pretty simply now. I don’t make much money. I pay my bills and usually give the rest away. I have never been happier. My relationship with my mother and sister has improved dramatically... My relationship with God has grown... [Jesus] will always be enough for me.”[2]

Jesus’ words ring in our ears: “None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”  These stories tug at our hearts: disciples, Christians, saints, ordinary people who gave up everything to follow Jesus.  This truth resonates in our being: No giving, no life.

Now as good Wesleyans I am not suggesting that we should all leave this place today and give up everything to follow Jesus, turning our backs on our families and getting rid of our stuff.  Of course, if you feel God calling you to do this, then answer that call!  But John Wesley provided a more pragmatic approach in his sermon on The Use of Money: “Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”[3]  Wesley calls us to honest work – earn all you can without harming yourself or others.  Use your God given gifts to make the world a better place, earning a fair wage for your work.  There’s no harm in making money – as long as the money is made honestly and fairly. 

Wesley also calls us to save our money.  Don’t waste money just to satisfy your desires, as all that does is increase your desires – the more you spend, the more you want.  Don’t throw your money away on things you really don’t need – save it instead so that you have it when you need it.  You never know when you’re going to need it – think of the Good Samaritan who had the money to care for the man at the side of the road.

Finally Wesley calls us to give generously.  If all we do is save our money, we might as well throw it into the sea.  It won’t do any good sitting in the bank or hidden under the mattress.  Give all you can because God has entrusted you to be a steward of this earth and its resources.  Give all you can for the building up of the kingdom.  Give all you can, remembering everything you have comes from God.  In giving we find life, and we find it abundantly.

Let me share one more story – my own story. About ten years ago my life was forever changed by a 34-week Bible study called Disciple I.   Through daily readings and weekly meetings, I read seventy percent of the Bible and asked tough questions about discipleship.  For the first time in my life, I truly understood that worship is about God – the God who has given me everything I have and everything I am – worship is about God, not me. I knew with absolute certainty that the broken piece of bread pressed into my open palm was an extraordinary gift from God.  And I realized that I had been incredibly selfish – accepting all these gifts from God and giving very little back.

That year I sat down and really looked at and prayed about what I had been giving to the church.  I thought I’d been pretty generous with my money, but the truth was I was giving less than one percent of my income back to God.  I thought I’d even been pretty generous with my time, but in truth I missed committee meetings and I rarely volunteered to help with special events, because other things came up.  And on Sunday mornings when the choir wasn’t singing... well, a warm bed or a mug of coffee or a long walk seemed like an equally good use of my time. 

I wondered how this God who had given me everything and blessed me so abundantly could continue to love me when my possessions and my family and even my life were a higher priority to me than God.  The first really dramatic step I took was to begin to tithe.  The first year I went from less than one percent to five percent.  The next year I gave ten percent.  It meant completely reordering my priorities and putting God first.  At first it was very hard, because I had terrible spending habits.  And I really struggled with giving money to the church and trusting the church to spend it wisely.  There were times when I was tempted to use that tithe for other things.

But an incredible thing happened.  I discovered that when I set God first in all things my life became infinitely richer.  I discovered that I had a huge family – the family of God – a family I wanted to share my life with.  I discovered that true joy comes, not through money and possessions, but through giving all that I am and all that I have to Jesus.

On this third Sunday of our Stewardship Campaign, as we focus on gifts, let me ask you: How are you using your God given gifts?  What are you giving back to God?  Where is God on your list of priorities? Are you giving the first tenth of every paycheck back to God?  Is your first act every day an act of prayer and devotion?  Is worshipping God the first thing you do every week?  How is your life a witness to our awesome and gracious God whose love knows no end?

Response: Wesley’s Covenant Prayer (UMH 607)

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[1] Alive Now (Sept/Oct 2011), 26.

[2] Alive Now (Sept/Oct 2011), 19.

[3] John Wesley, Sermon 50: The Use of Money (http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/50/)

On Presence: Why Are We Here?

October 9, 2011

Hebrews 10:19-25

Why are you here today?  Why did you show up? If I took the time to let each of you answer, we’d probably discover a lot of different reasons.  Perhaps you’re here out of habit – you’ve gotten up and come to church every Sunday for so long that being here is just in your blood.  Perhaps you’re here because you were dragged here by a parent or a friend.  Perhaps you’re here because you like the music and you enjoy the fellowship.  Maybe your reasons are more spiritual: It’s been a rough week and you need to hear a word from God.  You want to encounter God and be challenged to grow in your faith. Or maybe you just want to praise God.

This week, as I’ve reflected on why we show up for worship each Sunday, I’ve realized that there are many reasons why we are here – reasons that may vary from week to week – and even reasons why we sometimes skip church to do other things.  This made me realize that wondering why we show up may not be the right question.  The deeper question is, why does our presence in worship matter? Why does it matter that we showed up today?

I think the answer is simple: It matters that we showed up because God showed up first.  If we go all the way back to the beginning, when the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, a wind from God – the Holy Spirit – showed up and swept over the face of the waters (Gen 1:2). Before anything else existed, God showed up. 

And when the Israelites were oppressed and enslaved in Egypt, God heard their cry and showed up – revealing himself to Moses in a burning bush (Ex 3) and then leading them through the wilderness as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Ex 13:22).

And when Elijah became discouraged because the Israelites had forsaken their covenant with God, God showed up in a still small voice on Mount Horeb.  And when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the firey furnace, God showed up and delivered them from the fire – there were four people in the furnace that day (Daniel 3:25)!

And when the people of God were feeling utterly abandoned – “a day when sin was as black as could be, Jesus came forth to be born of a Virgin, dwelt among men, my example is he” (Glorious Day). Our God is a God who shows up!

So as the people of God, we are a people who show up because our God loves us so much that God showed up first.  Showing up matters. But showing up is only the first step. We worship this God who has constantly sought to be in relationship with us – first through Moses and then through the prophets, and ultimately through His Son Jesus Christ.  Our presence in worship matters because through our worship we strengthen our relationship with God and God’s people – we strengthen the most important relationships we have.

Let me share two of the many ways that we strengthen our relationships with God and one another by showing up on Sunday: First, our presence in worship helps us to remember the story; and, second, as the gathered community it gives us time to encourage one another.

First, we gather each week to tell and remember the stories of the Bible. Remembering is so much more than recalling.  Remembering the story is more than just hearing the story told again. Remembering is this active process where we both recall a story and reflect on the implications for our lives today. Much of what we do in Sunday School and preaching reflects this kind of remembering – we remember in order to be challenged and changed.

Our passage in Hebrews today is an example of this kind of remembering: “Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh)... let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (10:19-22).  Notice the “therefore” – it should make us wonder what came before.  Why are we confident to enter the sanctuary?  Because God promised to make a new covenant with us through the prophet Jeremiah, and that covenant has been fulfilled through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Through the blood of Jesus our sins have been forgiven. At his death a new and living way was opened for us when the curtain of the temple was torn in two. This curtain separated the main part of the temple from the Holy of Holies where God was most powerfully present.  When the curtain was torn, we were given direct access to the Holy of Holies; through the flesh of Jesus Christ we enter into the very presence of God. 

We remember the story of Jesus each Sunday through our music, our creeds, and through hearing the word read and proclaimed.  We remember in order to become a part of the story – the story of the people of God – the story of a God who is powerfully present with us.

Perhaps the most powerful remembering comes as we gather at the Table.  In the Great Thanksgiving we pray: “On the night in which he gave himself up for us, Jesus took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples saying, take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.  When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples and said: Drink from this all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

This remembrance – called the anamnesis – is more than remembering the events of two thousand years ago.  Through our prayers and our actions at this Table we gather with Christ today in the same way the disciples gathered with him on that Passover night, and in the same way Christians have done and will continue to do for generations to come. Sharing the bread and the cup is a powerful act of remembering that invites us into the story that has gone on since the beginning of time, and will continue until we feast at His heavenly banquet with all the saints.  Our remembering leads to repentance because through our remembering we come to know the One who loved us first – the one who is so powerfully present in the bread and the wine. As a forgiven people we affirm that we can “hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful” (Heb 10:23).

So we gather in worship to remember.  But we also gather to encourage.  The author of Hebrews is clearly writing to a church that is weary and perhaps discouraged. Listen to his words: “And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (10:24-25).  Do not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some – we need each other!  Your presence matters! Don’t fall out of the habit of being present in worship. Meet together so that you can provoke one another to love and good deeds.  The word “provoke” means to incite, stir up, enrage.  Worship is a place to shake things up! Pester one another, hold each other accountable. Get into one another’s business in order to build up the kingdom. Have the courage to speak the truth in love.  Don’t let a brother or sister in Christ sit idly by – push them to love and good deeds as this is a faithful response to the One who became flesh for us.

Provoke one another, and encourage one another.  We need encouragement, because living as a Christian in today’s world is hard.  We are surrounded by temptations on every side, and challenged by people whose beliefs are different from ours.  We may be afraid to stand up for what we believe, or uncertain about the correct course of action.  As the body of Christ, we must encourage and provoke one another so that we do not fall into sin.  

John Wesley understood this, setting up class meetings for the first Methodists.  Class meetings were groups of about twelve people who met weekly to pray, hold one another accountable, and give their weekly tithe.  Wesley’s three rules guided their accountability: First, do no harm; Second, do all the good you can; Third, attend upon the ordinances of God.  The classes would provoke one another to love and good deeds, holding each other accountable, especially when they fell; they would encourage each other to do all the good they could and avoid evil.  They would pay attention to whether their brothers and sisters in Christ were going to church, participating in Holy Communion, and doing daily devotions.  They would pester one another about finances and tithing.  This sounds intimidating! On the other hand, this kind of accountability makes for faithful Christians who love one another and God.  So provoke one another and encourage one another, so that we can hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.

I hope you know how much it matters to God that you showed up today.  Beyond remembering the incredible story of our God who always shows up; beyond encountering Jesus Christ who offered himself once and for all on a cross that our sins might be forgiven; beyond serving a God who invites us to pester and encourage one another so that we might not become discouraged or weary or persist in sin.  Beyond all this, I hope you know how much God loves you.  We worship a God who always shows up.  Our faithful response is to do the same. 

Risky Business

September 25, 2011 / Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Matthew 21:23-32

In case you haven’t noticed, following Jesus is risky business.  Jesus is unpredictable and even dangerous.  He challenges our thinking and turns lives upside down.  He calls us out when we stray and pushes us out of our comfort zones.  In case you haven’t noticed, there’s nothing safe about following Jesus.

The truth is, I suspect most of us haven’t noticed.  We like our safe and comfortable images of Jesus – a baby in a manger, a shepherd with a lost sheep on his shoulders, a gentle man who sits with children on his knees, the one who stands at the door and knocks.  I googled images of Jesus and found hundreds of different pictures of a man whose face is filled with compassion – pictures that conveyed peace.  We’ve all see those images of a Jesus who is gentle and kind – the Jesus who loves us unconditionally.  We like this Jesus.  The truth is, most of us would rather not notice the dangerous and unpredictable Jesus.  If we are honest with ourselves, most of us would prefer to avoid noticing that following Jesus is risky.

And then we encounter Jesus in today’s gospel lesson and discover that engaging Jesus is anything but safe.  I’m fairly sure the elders and the chief priests had no idea just how dangerous their encounter would be when they confronted Jesus in the temple.  The temple was their territory – they were the ones in charge – or so they thought.  And Jesus had invaded their space and was teaching as if he had the same authority they had.  So they asked, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

Now it is worth backing up a bit, because the elders and chief priests are questioning much more than his authority to teach in the temple.  The day before, Jesus had entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey.  The crowds spread their cloaks on the road and waved palm branches and shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David!” They hailed Jesus as their king.  But Jesus didn’t go to the palace; instead he went to the temple.  And as he entered the temple he drove out all those who were buying and selling and overturned their tables and seats, completely disrupting the normal patterns of the temple.  What kind of king is this?  Who gave him the authority to do that?

And then the blind and the lame came to him in the temple – they weren’t allowed in the temple! What were they doing there? And Jesus healed them.  And the children – yes, there were children in the temple! – were crying out “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  All of the usual order of the temple had been completely disrupted by Jesus.  Who gave him the authority to do that?

And in case you’ve missed just how off balance everything has become because of Jesus, the next morning on his way back to the temple, Jesus curses a fig tree and it withers and dies on the spot.  What’s going on here?  Who is this man?  Who gave him the authority to do that?

I don’t think the chief priests and elders expected Jesus to throw them off balance when they questioned him about his authority.  Like a good teacher Jesus answered their question with a question – a question that trapped them.  By what authority did John baptize?  They were trapped because if they acknowledged that John’s authority came from heaven, then why did they choose not to believe in him and be baptized?  But if they denied that his authority came from heaven, they were going against the sentiment of the people – the people who had been baptized by John.  And this would have caused further disruption.  So they answered, “We don’t know.”  A safe answer.  A cowardly answer.  The answer you give when you realize Jesus has turned the tables and caught you in an uncomfortable place.

I’m sure the chief priests and elders were backing away, hoping to regroup when Jesus challenged them: “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They couldn’t answer, “We do not know” because the answer was obvious – the one who changed his mind and went to work in the vineyard did the will of his father.  And yet, they convicted themselves with their answer, for they are the ones who said “Yes” to God and then did not go.  They were the ones who said, “Here I am, send me!” and then spent the day in the comfort of the temple instead of going out to do the work of the kingdom.   They are the ones who saw John come in the way of righteousness and did not change their minds and believe in him.  They must have been squirming to get away – Jesus had thrown everything off balance.

In case you haven’t noticed, following Jesus is risky business. Jesus is unpredictable and even dangerous.  He challenges our thinking and turns lives upside down.  He calls us out when we stray and pushes us out of our comfort zones.  In case you haven’t noticed, there’s nothing safe about following Jesus.

Today Jesus confronts us and asks two questions: Do you believe in me? If so, what are you going to do about it?  Most of us are quick to answer, “Yes, I believe!” Yes, I’ll go into the vineyard. Here I am, send me!  But we get uncomfortable with the second question because it calls us to change.  It calls us to get out of our pews and act.  It calls us to leave the relative comfort of our homes and families and enter into the broken homes and disfunctional families of our neighbors with words of peace and healing acts.  It calls us to take our balanced checkbooks and comfortable retirement accounts and turn them upside down for the kingdom.  It calls us to a faith that can say to a mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,” and it will be done.

This week the pastors of the North Carolina Conference gathered for the Bishop’s Day Apart – a day spent in worship and fellowship – a day spent talking about the church today.  The truth is, for the most part the church in North America is irrelevant today.  The church in North America is having very little impact on the lives of those in their communities.  If the church disappeared, those outside the church would barely notice.  It’s not surprising that people are leaving the church at a startling rate and churches are closing their doors.  Our nation is becoming an increasingly secular nation – soon churches will be little more than artifacts of a former time – historic buildings that have been turned into art museums or restaurants or schools. Or they will simply be boarded up and forgotten.

This does not mean that people have quit longing for God.  Actually, more than ever before people are longing for spiritual encounters and for a deep connection with others.  And more than ever before people want to be able to help others and make a difference in their communities.  And yet, we sit in our pews affirming our belief in Jesus on Sunday mornings and then go on about our daily lives largely unchanged and unchallenged by Jesus.  When Jesus asks us to sell everything we have and give the money to the poor, we are like the rich man who shakes his head and walks away.  We’ll give a little, but it is way too risky to give everything.  When we see someone in trouble by the side of the road, we are more likely to pass by on the other side than to stop like the good Samaritan and help.  We want to help and we help when we can, but often it is way too risky and so we pass by. 

Today, right now, we have the opportunity to take a huge risk for the kingdom.  We have the opportunity to step out on faith and let Jesus turn our lives upside down.  For the past five months we have been working with Loaves & Fishes, exploring the possibilities of a partnership.  For longer than that we’ve been having conversations about what it would look like to open a food pantry in Southern Alamance.  We know the need is great, but so far we have not done much more than stick our toes into the turbulent, unpredictable, and even dangerous current God, through Jesus Christ, has invited us to swim in.  It’s one thing to bring food in and fill our grocery cart.  It’s another to volunteer packing grocery bags and stocking shelves.  But to actually step out on faith and purchase some land and open our own food pantry?  Well, that sounds terrifying.  And exciting.

There’s a piece of land on highway 87 at the corner of Rumley Road, just across the road from where Darrell and Nancy Bare live.  It used to be a store.  It would make a great food pantry.  And it’s for sale. 

There’s a dinner on October 6^th right here at Saxapahaw.  Over one hundred people from all walks of life have been invited to eat a free meal and hear about our vision for a food pantry.  And we need volunteers.

There are people in the community who are ready to get behind us and support us with both their money and their time.  But we are the ones who must take the lead.  We are the ones who must put our beliefs into action.  We are the ones who must step out into that unpredictable current on faith.  If we truly believe that every time we encounter a hungry person we are encountering Jesus – “I was hungry and you gave me food” – if we truly believe this, then it is time to let God change our hearts and our minds and to believe not just with our prayers and our words, but with our hands and our feet and our wallets.

Following Jesus is risky business.  Jesus is unpredictable and even dangerous.  He challenges our thinking and turns lives upside down.  He calls us out when we stray and pushes us out of our comfort zones.  In case you haven’t noticed, there’s nothing safe about following Jesus.  And yet, there’s nothing in the world that is more exciting.