Transcript
Today is pledge Sunday.
I’d like to talk today about giving:
It’s worth asking the question right up front, why do we give? More specifically: why do we give to the Church? Why do we give to the Church of the Good Samaritan? More accurately: why do we give financially to the ministry of Jesus Christ at the Church of the Good Samaritan.
Response
Responsibility
Reconciliation
Christian Giving is a Response
Let me start with John 3:16.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life
Who’s doing the giving in that sentence?
Mark 10:45
Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Who’s doing the giving in that sentence?
Ephesians 5:2
Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Who’s doing the giving in that sentence?
The great preacher and writer Flemming Rutledge once said: “When you preach, God should be the subject of the sentence.”
So here’s the sentence. Jesus Christ gives… for you.
Jesus Christ GAVE himself – in love – for YOU. He gave his body,
he gave his blood,
he gave his life,
for YOU.
He loves you that much.
So when we talk about giving. It means that anything that we give is a RESPONSE to the giving that God has already done in Jesus Christ.
Christian Giving is a Responsibility
We do have a responsibility to give, and to give faithfully.
I knew a couple in my first church in Florida. A young couple with two young children. They were between work and didn’t have much money. I went over their apartment one time to help pay an electric bill. I remember finding out they had made a pledge to the church. I don’t know the specifics but I believe it was something $5 per week. $20 per month. For them, this was a significant amount. They said to me one time, “We have food stamps, and so we are generally good on groceries. We wanted you to know that if the church ever needs extra food for someone or something, We could provide that.”
This couple knew that giving wasn’t really a choice. Giving was part of being a Christian.
2 Corinthians 9:7
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Christian giving is a responsibility – but it’s a joyful responsibility.
We know that The Church of the Good Samaritan has been here for 150 years. It’s our responsibility to make sure it’s here for another 150 years, and beyond.
We know that this church includes buildings, people, programs, missions, outreach, and more. All of that takes money. Just a reminder… (This is Fr. Ellsworth reminding me to remind you.) Church of the Good Samaritan does not have a large endowment. And we are not supported financially by the National Episcopal Church or the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. On the contrary, like all Episcopal churches, we give faithfully to the diocese.
But I digress. Most of the money that you give is used right here at Good Sam. To make sure this place is open for all.
So give because Good Sam needs the money. But also give because you need the blessing of giving.
Malachi 3:10
“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”
My mother is here today. She should be giving this sermon. Because people asked her one time, how did you pay for college for your children Matthew and Sarah. She said, well we were right on the line of just enough money to not qualify for financial aid. So we just paid those tuition bills, and we didn’t go on vacation, and every time I got nervous, we would up our pledge to our church.
One time she got so nervous about money that her eye lid started twitching. We could see it across the dinner table. It was like a little hummingbird, just fluttering away there. One day it stopped. We said, what did you do? She said, I upped our pledge to St. John’s again. And my eye stopped twitching.
So giving, as responsibility, is all about need.
One, the church needs the money.
Two, you need the blessing.
It’s a good match.
Christian Giving is Reconciliation
What is the Gospel really all about? What is Christianity really all about?
2 Corinthians 5:19.
“God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.”
Notice that God is the subject of that sentence.
What does it mean?
In Christ, God was bringing the world into a renewed relationship with him. God desires, in his infinite love, to bring every man, woman, and child, into His saving embrace.
That’s what it means to reconcile.
We are sinners. We put up walls between ourselves and God. We put up walls between one another. And God says, no thank you. I love you too much. I will reconcile you to myself. And then I will help you to reconcile to each other.
What does this have to do with giving? Everything. When you give to the Church of the Good Samaritan, you are participating in the reconciling work of Jesus Christ.
Did you catch that? By giving to Good Sam, you are participating in the reconciliation that God is doing in Christ.
How does it work? Well it works, and it only works, because Jesus Christ made a sacrifice. In love. Jesus Christ GAVE his body, his blood, his life. And he rose again. For reconciliation. He turned sin and death against itself. So that out of sin, comes forgiveness. Out of death comes life. Out of discord, comes union.
Reconciliation comes through sacrifice.
My kids were watching a Disney movie the other day. Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas. It was Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, in an old fashioned story. They lived in a city, and they were poor. They wanted to buy Christmas presents for each other. Mickey knew that minnie wanted a chain for her watch. Minnie knew that Mickey wanted a case for his harmonica. So. (Some of you may recognize this plot from an old story). Mickey sold his harmonica, to buy a chain for Minnie. And likewise, Minnie sold her watch, to buy a harmonica case. They give the gifts, and of course they realize what has happened. They had both sacrificed, in love, so that they could give. (Of course it’s based on the famous story The Gift of the Magi.)
But I don’t want to close with that. I’ve got another 2 minutes. I want to close with the parable of the Good Samaritan. Because we are not church of the Holy Magi. Nor are we the church of Micky and Minnie and Mouse. We are the Church of the Good Samaritan.
So may we always remember, that the parable of the Good Samaritan concludes with a financial commitment.
You say it’s a story of mercy. Yeah, it is. And it ends with a financial commitment.
The Good Samaritan… after he picked up the man who had been beaten, and bandaged his wounds… the Good Samaritan took him to an inn (that’s the church)…
and paid for his stay. With two denarii – two coins. And then he said, when I come back, I pledge to pay for any additional expense.
My friends in Christ, you who wish to WALK IN LOVE. Go and do likewise.
Amen.
