Rainbow in the Morning

A rainbow in the morning is a rare event. Usually you see rainbows in the afternoon. It takes the right combination of sun angle and rain and person locale to make a rainbow visible. The person has to be in the right place between the sun and the rain for the rain to make the spectrum visible to the observer.
In scientific terms the sun light is refracted by the rain revealing the spectrum of light to the observer.
So, let's us refract this lesson into Christian teaching; you have to be between the Son (Jesus) and the rain (the situation) to see all the colors of Christ sorted out in an organized pattern. How many storms of life, life experiences, can you thin back on and see where Christ as a different color in the spectrum of Son-Light?
Most of the time the storm passes, the sun comes out and we can see a rainbow. Son behind us, storm behind us and Christ is revealed to us. Weather patterns in Upstate New York predominantly move west to east. The sun moves east to west. We usually see rainbows to the east of where we stand. To see a morning rainbow we look west with the sun in the east. This means the storm is still to be experienced. What a gift to have the colors of Christ displayed before the storm hits, a reminder that God will be with you!

Without Fear

One of the messages repeated over and over in the Christmas narrative is that of do not be afraid. In Luke 1:13, Zachariah encounters an angel in the Holy of Holies; the most holy place in the temple. The angel tells Zachariah “do not be afraid”. In Luke 1:30, the angel visits Mary and says, “Do not be afraid”.  In Luke 2:10, the angel greets the shepherds to announce to them the birth of Christ and greets them with the words “do not be afraid”. Yet fear is a basic instinct necessary for survival. As a father I always felt that it was part of my responsibility to give my children a dose of fear for things in their life. Things like electricity, fire, and drinking or texting with driving being involved with either one of those activities.

Fear is important to ministry. I believe that the life of a church should be measured with fear, anxiety, joy and gratitude being the high points or spikes of the heartbeat for the worshiping community. There is no ministry that I have been involved with that has been without fear. Ministry is, and should be, about confronting the principalities of darkness that rule the world and, a good healthy dose of fear should accompany the tasks of ministry. Fear keeps your wits about you; fear should not be something that we are afraid of rather, fear should be a trusted and respected companion on our journey of faith. Fear is that companion that accompanies the fireman as he walks into a burning building as everyone else is running out. Fear accompanies the cowboy when he gets on the back of a bronco or bull at the rodeo. Fear should be the companion of the bear hunter and the farmer who dares to place himself between a mother and her newborn calf. Fear should be the companion who sits right next to confidence and a driver on slick road. Fear is the companion to joy as many new parents await the birth of a child. Fear is my companion every Sunday morning when I prepare to lead worship, my best friend when I visit people and a companion for most every situation I go into in ministry. When I don’t have fear, that

my friends, is when I am most afraid.

Yet, Jesus calls us all to a ministry without fear; a calling where we are focused on what we are called to be and called to do. A ministry where issues and people who are troublesome do not keep us preoccupied from doing what God has called us to do.

Fear is something to be overcome. It is an instinct that tells us that what we are dealing with is not comfortable, or that what we are dealing with is dangerous. Seventy-one years ago, President Roosevelt told a nation “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Which meant to the nation that if we live in fear of what the future holds we will always be in fear. Like Jesus, our leader wanted us to live a life of hope, not a life of fear.

Today we have much to be fearful, full of fear, of; the economy, the changing culture of our nation, the changes of technology, nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, terrorists attacks, the fiscal cliff and the list goes on. I am asking you to respect your fear and to move beyond it.

It is good to ask the questions that need to be answered before ministry moves forward in the faith community. Fear of something new or unknown should not paralyze our response. We should recognize our fear, acknowledge our fear and just like the farmer, the driver, the fireman or any other person in ministry, do what is needed to move beyond the fear. That entity that gets us beyond fear is hope.

For two weeks now we have heard Paul talk about being able to stand before God pure and blameless; last week it was 1Thessalonians 3:13, this week it is Philippians 1:10.  You can’t be pure and blameless on your own. Romans 3:23 states that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It is only through God’s grace, it is only through hope, that we are able to stand at the Day of Judgment. Hope is one of the virtues that Advent teaches us to hold dear, one of those values that Christ exemplified by his life and by his death.

Hope is that thing that helps us sleep at night and gets us out of bed each morning. It tells us that tomorrow will be a better day or that today for some reason will be worth getting out of bed for. Our faith fuels our hope, both of these are virtues of a life centered around Christ.

Paul is beginning to construct a picture of what love is. Paul is challenging us to recognize what it takes to love and be in love. Love is a verb, it as an action word; it is not passive; love is work. It requires faith and hope to love. Love is the catalyst for a unified community. You will not find love or the unified community without first finding hope and faith.

Blame is the anti-hope. I said in one of our recent baptisms; if you are going to believe in the power of God and all the good that God represents, you also have to recognize the spiritual power of evil and the grip of sin that represents evil. I think the grip of fear should also be included. So many good ideas never come to be because we don’t know how to move beyond fear. One of the major fears that must be overcome is the fear of blame. Too many of us will not let our dreams become reality because we are afraid of blame. We are fear filled with the idea that someone is going to hold us accountable for our actions. We must work to change this by placing blame in the context of love. In the context of love, blame becomes accountability and, accountability is a good thing. Accountability is a great expression of love. It says “I love you so much that I will support God’s call in your life by doing my best to make sure that you are…ready for this…pure and blameless; in God’s call in your life of ministry.

Love produces knowledge that produces a clearer sense of what is important which ultimately purifies a community. But, hope is one of the key elements that leads to love. Still struggling with this? Think about the people that you love in your life; can you love them if you have no hope in them? Even if that person has done some very bad things in your life you can love them. But, you can’t love unless you have hope.

Jesus teaches that love is the greatest of gifts. We will talk more about love next week. Without love we are clanging gongs and banging cymbals. We cannot love without having faith and hope. I believe we all want to love more. If we work at having more hope, I believe we will ultimately find more love. Hope begins by moving beyond our fear and living as Jesus taught us to live in the example of his life.

Be Thankful

Bishop Webb of the Upper New York Annual Conference opened his Thanksgiving message with the question “What if you woke up tomorrow morning and all you had were the things you had given thanks for?” I challenge you with the same question and use it for the basis of my thoughts for my message today.

            The words of the Eucharist, the service of Communion, or the Great Thanksgiving begin with a call and response that invites the Lord to be with us and acknowledges that it is right to give God our thanks and praise. Theologian Karl Barth says that mans basic response it that of gratitude to God. C.S. Lewis adds this observation about people: The humblest most balanced people I know praise God; the cranks, misfits and malcontents praise the least.

            In the story of the ten lepers being healed, only one returns to say thank you. I am not convinced that Barth is right about his observation of people’s basic response to God being thankful. I don’t know about you but I shake my head at most of the celebrities that come to stage to accept awards and first thank God for their talent and ability. Especially when they were in the paper a week or so ago for drug use or abusing their spouse or ex spouse during a custody battle, or for beating a paparazzi or other behavior that plays directly against behavior that reflects the words they said.

            I also acknowledge that sometime it is difficult to give praise to God. When you’re sick from chemo or throwing up from a virus or in pain after surgery; it is difficult at that moment to be thankful. We all have days, weeks, months and sometimes even years where we feel forgotten or abandoned by God; seasons in our lives where thankfulness is at the least difficult to find.

            What I know from my life experience is that it is in those seasons that we need to intentionally practice gratitude. In our culture of instant everything, including instant gratification, we have lost appreciation for what we have. We have so much, all we can do is want more. We have made it difficult to find gratitude for what we have. This is one reason I support our mission work through the church. When you step away from what is ordinary in your life, you get a glimpse of how extraordinary your life is.

I agree with many others, including C.S. Lewis; much of life is determined by your attitude. We were designed to give thanks and praise to God. Without praise and thanksgiving, life can seem miserable. Indeed, I believe that some of us are so concerned with a life after this one, we have forgotten to live and enjoy each moment of this life we have been entrusted with. Imagine how different the world would be if everyone lived a life thankful for what they had rather than coveting what someone else has. Thankfulness and gratitude can change the world. 

For those of you who walk the line between science and religion; there is proof that grateful people life longer and are happier than those how have the perpetual grumpies.

            We baptized Ava this morning. With her, another generation and another person, comes into the Body of Christ to be nurtured by this community of faith. This is a privilege and a responsibility for us. It is something we thank God for. The garden and the produce we harvested from it is something to be thankful for. The relationships that are developing because of the work of those involved in and through the garden is something to be thankful for. The shower trailer and the relationships that are nurtured and developed through that are something to be thankful for. The relationships developed through our service in the Karing Kitchen is something to be thankful for. The money that was earned through the Harvest Supper and the Bale Sale on Election Day are things to be celebrated and thankful for.

            Take it up to the conference and denomination level. We need to celebrate the work done on the Gulf Coast, the work done in Joplin, Middleburgh, and Binghamton. We need to be thankful for the ability to help in Vermont, Owego, Red Bird Mission, Georgia and Tennessee where the people of the United Methodist Church have come together in Mission Teams to help friends and strangers in need.

            We need to look at the lives impacted by Africa University and see how that United Methodist sponsored school in Africa is helping to bring peace and knowledge to the continent of Africa. We need to be grateful for the people affected by wells drilled in Sudan and the people whose life has been changed by the United Methodist partnership in the Nothing But Nets program. Did you know that in five years we have helped to cut in half the number of people dying from Malaria? We need to celebrate the lives being changed by the people known as United Methodists and the people known as Christians around the world. We are making a difference. At this celebratory time of year, let us remember what Christ has done through us.

            Faith is complete when we show gratitude. Consider this as you go through your week and as we begin our preparation for Christmas: if faith is not something that we have, rather something we do or a lifestyle choice. Isn’t that our ultimate way of trusting God? Isn’t a lifestyle of faith and gratitude the ultimate way of showing thanksgiving and gratitude to the creator? Let us be thankful for our ordinary lives which are nothing but ordinary. Let us live lives of gratitude for each breath we take.

Stewardship: Being Thankful

Luke 16:1-13 and Ecclesiastes 5:10-20

What are you thankful for today? What do you celebrate today? I think that many of celebrate Dawson’s commitment to Christ that he made this morning. Some of us woke up felling pain somewhere in our bodies yet, we came to church and thank God for this day that we have or, we thank God for the pain because it reminds us that we are indeed alive.

The author of Ecclesiastes has a rather dim view of the world. The word vanity as is used in Ecclestesis refers to meaningless or emptiness. The statement being made in the scripture for Ecclesiasts is that money is meaningless. The pursuit of money just for the sake of having money or material things won’t bring you true happiness. Money used by the caregiver to bring home food for the family, money used to help out those in need, money used to secure housing or contributing to the welfare of others. That, brings happiness to the laborer, money used wisely allows the working person to sleep well at night while the rich person stays awake concerned about making more money or the state of the economy and how it will affect their wealth.

An aspect of stewardship that I have not approached is that of thankfulness. God created humans to be in relationship with God. Humans co-create and to care for the earth as designed by God. For me this comes under the heading of treasure when I think about stewardship being our time, treasure and talent. If we treasured the earth, we would take better care of it. If we treasured our relationship with God more we would do more to nurture it.

The scripture from Luke 16 challenges us in how we manage what we are entrusted with. We see how a dishonest manager manages the accounts so that he will find favor when he is released from his employment. Would you hire that guy if you knew the truth? Is that someone you would want as a co-worker or employee? Many of us are like that in our relationship with God. We play games with what we have been trusted to manage. We strike deals and trade some of the best for lesser things so that we gain favor with others. We under value that which we have been blessed with. We will thank the doctor for saving our life and forget to pass a thank you on to God for the wisdom he gave the doctor or for the healing grace that God bestowed upon us.

The scripture reminds us that we have to choose, true riches or unrighteous wealth.  We cannot serve money and God. I know for many of you here today you come to church and it seems like we are always looking for money for something.  It is true; if you come and ask about where you can spend money I am full of ideas. I will also tell you if you are looking for a place to spend your time or use your talent, I can do that too. Money is one of the tools in our stewardship toolbox available to us to use to glorify God. You can’t serve both money and God. You will have to choose which to serve.

As you fill out your commitment cards today remember these things: Stewardship is a combination of time, treasure and talent. Why not commit yourself not just to treasure but also tell us what time and talent you will commit to God through this faith community? Remember that the tithe is the minimum. Jesus does not talk about tithing because Jesus encourages us to be extravagant in the giving of our time treasure and talent. He encourages us to give more than the minimum ten percent. Consider what it means to put God first and to understand that stewardship is a faith issue. How much do you trust God? What do you trust God with? Also consider that scripture informs us that where our treasure is there your heart will be also. If you want your relationship with God to grow, place your time treasure and talent with God. The church is an excellent place to invest your heart. Bad things do happen to good people but a strong relationship with God through the power of the community of faith is a wonderful way to be able to weather the storms of life. God is a multiplier of blessings. Faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains; just not always in the way we expect the mountains to be moved. Share in the vision; two weeks ago I shared with you some of the places I vision the church being more involved. Continue to be an active part of this community by sharing where you vision this community of faith being involved. You pay me to lead you, not to do the work for you.

Last and most important; if something is worth doing it’s worth giving all of your effort to. It’s worthy of going to God with and it’s worth giving God gratitude for. Let’s make our stewardship about giving thanks to God and let’s be involved with God doing great things through us. Let’s dream big and honor what God has blessed us with. This is my hope for our stewardship this year.

Stewardship: Vision

Genesis 37:1-9

Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

Everyone dreams. Depending on your sleep cycles, you might have as many as nine dreams per night. We don’t remember all our dreams and frequently what we do remember when we wake up is bits and pieces of several dreams which, when reassembled by our awake brain, can be silly or possibly frightening. Dreams are a way for the brain to process and file things that happened during the day.

If you had an accident, a fight or an embarrassing moment, some people relive that in their dreams, sometimes for several nights. Sometimes traumatic events resurface in dreams several months or years after the event because of some other trigger. This leaves us confused about why such things are bothering us or, why they resurface when they have been forgotten for so long. Sometimes the same thing happens in real life; something seems to be forgotten then something triggers a memory and the old feelings are brought to the surface.

Sometimes our dreams are laughable. Like that time I woke up and told Cindy I dreamed I was having problems getting a cow into the milking parlor. She told me “That explains why you were pushing me and telling me to move!” I had dreams as a child that seemed so real I ended up sleeping on the cedar chest in my parent’s room. One of my brothers would wake up screaming, shaking and drenched in sweat from night terrors and remember nothing about it the next day.

Dreams can spark energy and creativity. Read further in Genesis and see how Joseph uses the power of his dreams to shape the future of Egypt. Read and see how God makes Joseph’s dreams reality.

Dreams are powerful. Remember how Joseph, as in Joseph betrothed to Mary Joseph, is told in a dream that it is all right for him to marry Mary when she is carrying the Christ Child? Remember how he wanted to quietly dismiss her? You can read about it in Matthew 1:20. How about the Wise Men being told to go back to their homelands by a different route in a dream? That happens in Matthew 2:12. Then in Matthew 2:13 Joseph is again warned in a dream to take Mary and the baby to Egypt because Herod was plotting the slaughter of the innocents.

Sharing our dreams with others is not an easy thing to do; it makes us vulnerable. Look at the reaction of Joseph’s family when he tells them of his dreams. No one wants to be laughed at, especially if your dream seems so real. For that reason many of us keep our dreams to ourselves.

I believe that our dreams, our visions, are important to our journey of faith and to our stewardship. The Bible is full of people receiving visions that inform them of places they should go or things they should do. I have dreams like that. Dreams that make me more aware of what is going on around me. Dreams that inform me of situations that I am going to find myself in, they don’t give me the right words to say or the right things to do. Yet, when I get to those situations I get this odd feeling that I have been in that place before; it is a feeling as if I am on Holy Ground.

I become more in tune with the situation because I know the presence of God is with me in that place and I must savor the moment and learn from whatever it is that God has to say to me in that space and time.

I am going to do some visioning for you today. I am going to share with you some thoughts and dreams that I have about this faith community. Some of those things you might laugh at.

Other things you will scoff at. What I hope is that these things I say will spark some interest and creativity in you.

Last week Nancy Breen asked us to think about if we would be here, in this place, in 50 years. What would you say if I said I hope not?

What would you say if I told you my dream is to outgrow this place, purchase the property at the top of the hill and build a facility ten times as big as this one? What if I told you about the buildings and activities I dream about for that place? Cold storage for the veggies that we grow in our garden and orchard, an OB/Gyn, doctor dentist and social worker on our PAID staff, a homeless shelter, and the list goes on. Some of you are laughing at me. Just as you were a few months ago when I shared a vision about a train that could transport people, equipment and supplies for VIM workers.

A train that could pull into a community or come close to a community with people, tools and supplies to respond to the needs from a disaster such as Sandy. A train could be an efficient way of providing for the needs of the volunteers without stressing the fragile infrastructure of a disaster stressed area. If you remember that vision, how foolish does it seem now as we look back at the events of the past week? Just imagine the people who could be experiencing the love of Christ from the people known as Methodist’s if we had that train today. Just imagine the impact we could have on making Disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world.

The dream of a new place of worship, the dream that led to this church being built, began in 1943. That dream led to a donation of land with the hope of a new building. That dream led to this land being purchased and this building being built here. There was vision in that; this was where the growth was happening, the vision made sense.

Today I have heard some of you bemoan where we are in the community. We are so far away that working with the poor or others in need downtown is sometimes unrealistic. Folks, we are right where God wants and needs us to be. The problem is that we are like the deer standing outside the fence to the garden behind the church. We are so focused on what is beyond our reach that we can’t see what is under and between our own two feet.

Maybe our mission is not to be in direct contact with the people we think we should be. Perhaps our dream is not the dream God has for us. If we were downtown, would we be able to have the van, the trailer and the garden? I don’t think so. I think God wants us to bloom in this spot where we are planted.

My dreams about a new church campus and a train may be far fetched. Yet I know there are some more practical ways we can bloom in this place where we are planted. Consider the opportunities for ministry within a one mile or twenty minute walk of our church:

To many doctor offices to name, a nursing home, an elementary school, the high school, a day care center, three residential homes for people with disabilities, and the hospital. What are we doing in those places to make Disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world?

We are known in these places; we need to take the next step and be purposeful in our ministry in those places. One of the houses we are committed to helping maintain a garden for. I go to plant flowers or pull weeds, and rarely do I see anyone. I also know the state of many in that house. I can only hope that what I do from my heart makes a difference in the lives of those there. What might happen if I take the next step and actually talk with staff and family there? Is there someone just aching to make contact for a prayer or for spiritual support? They need to know we are there for them. What is the next step in our ministry beyond the once every six weeks that I do a service at the ECF? What kind of follow-up care could we give to families that I meet with when I am on call for people experiencing grief at the hospital? What if we trained people to be emotional and spiritual support for people when they hear good or bad news at their doctor appointment?

People, this is where God planted us and God knows what he is doing. What could we do in our schools? Do you know that there are nights you can’s find a parking place in our parking lot because of sports activities? What if we committed ourselves to going to just one game of whatever sport our young people are involved in?

What difference would it make if we showed up to a concert or drama or musical and there were thirty or forty of us that all had on St. Paul’s tee shirts or lapel pins or some other identifier that told people we were from this neighborhood and we supported the activities of our young people?

If you want the next generation here in church we have to model the love of Christ to them and that mean in action as well as words. What if we encouraged our young people to hold a see you at the pole event and we gathered as a group of adults on the old railroad bed and prayed for and with them when they did that?

What if we started an after school program to provide a nutritional snack and homework help? What if we teamed up with the Daycare center and offered to feed breakfast sandwiches to the runners on the day of their race, just as a community service to another family oriented business in the neighborhood?

So, with all these opportunities that surround us, let’s make some plans that will impact our stewardship. Commit yourselves to a ministry opportunity. I will covenant with you to be ever vigilant about communicating to you the places that I know we can serve.

Commit yourself to one a month; help with some ministry through the church at least once a month, something beyond coming to worship, something that will require you to give of your time, talent and treasure.

We have always boasted of our passion for mission. Yet we have not sent a mission team out to a VIM site other than Red Bird in two years and, in the five years I have been here, there has been only one person who went on an international mission team.

Let’s get passionate about mission again. We should support one international team this year, two domestic teams this year, and a local mission team each month. Think about the things we already do when I say this; this month the men’s group will be delivering a ton of potatoes. Next month we have Karing Kitchen, there are always mission activities around the holidays, think about the concession stand, it’s not as far a stretch to do these things as you might be thinking it is.

Stewardship is a trust issue. The question that you need to be asking is how much do I trust God in this vision. Do not get thinking about the how; God will reveal that to us with each step of trust that we take. We have to take the first step, trust God. And while we are talking about trust and stewardship we need to talk about Shared Ministry. Shared Ministry is the new old name for what used to be called apportionments, now it’s called Ministry Shares. The money we are asked to pass on to conference for ministry in the conference, jurisdiction, and denomination. In the past five years we have not paid more than 32% of our shared ministry. I would like to see us work towards paying100% of our shared ministry in four years. You have told me you wonder what our money is used for when we give into the connection of the church. It is part of our stewardship; it is an issue of trust. Take the first step and give.

Here is a vision of what I know will happen: If you make the commitment to give 100% of your shared ministry you will know how the connection uses the money. Right now you are not very involved in the connection. There is no lay member to conference, only one lay person serves on a conference board from our church, we have no current up to date lay speakers and, we are one of the five largest worshiping communities in the Mohawk District. I know from experience that if you make the commitment to pay the Ministry Shares for St. Paul’s each of these things will change. I know it because Scripture tells me it is true. Where your treasure is there you heart will be also. You start placing your treasure with Christ and your heart will be with Christ. I also know how good and how committed the United Methodist Church is to using your money effectively. You have cut off the Spirit from speaking to you about your connection because you do not trust your treasure to the connection. Therefore your heart is not in the connection.

 The scripture that I read for you today states that those who are entrusted with much, of them much is required. God has entrusted us with a great deal. Tools for mission work, passion for action in our community and beyond our community, knowledge to manage the resources well. It is part of our stewardship to manage these things well. At it’s most basic level stewardship is being a caretaker of the things God has trusted us with.

I want to finish well and hear God tell me well done and, I want you hear God tell that to you too. God has given me visions of how we can bloom where we are planted. I am excited about the possibility of making Disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world in this place where I am called to serve. All of us are called to ministry; I can’t make the visions reality on my own. I need your help.

What actually comes to be in the ministry of this place maybe very different than the vision that I have explained to you; just as Joseph’s dreams were different from the reality he experienced. The dreams of Joseph’s in the scripture from Genesis 37 come true some twenty years after Joseph has the dreams. His brothers come in search of food during a famine. Joseph has dared to trust God through the visions God has given Joseph. Pharaoh trusted in Joseph and the visions and made him manager over the stores of food. Therefore Joseph provided for his family, even through some very difficult and trying times. Joseph trusted God and good things happened. Joseph was a good steward and good things happened.

Look at our faith story as I told it to you through our history as a community of faith. It took eighteen years to make the vision of a new worship space a reality. Further more the realize that the end product of the vision is very different than what was first envisioned; this space was not built on the land donated for the purpose of a new worship space and, this worship space is different than the original vision.

Good things happen when we trust in the vision God gives us.

We need to be good stewards and good things will happen.

But it is up to us to take the first step.

2Corinthians 9:1-12

Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written,

“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
 his righteousness endures forever.”

He 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. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

Luke 21:1-4

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box,  and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.  And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

The scriptures that I chose for today both talk about money.  But, I don’t want you to understand this as message as my “sermon on the amount” this is a message about the spirit in which we give. I do believe that the tithe; ten percent, of our time, treasure and talent, is the minimum God requires of us. I also believe that we should give more than the minimum.

God does not want us to give according to what is written. God wants us to give from the heart. The widow, placing the two coins in the treasury for the temple gives from her heart a gift of extravagance. She acknowledges the blessings in her life and understands that God has blessed her and because she is filled with love she gives extravagantly back to God through the church.

Do you trust in God like the widow? Recognize here that it is easier to preach ten sermons than to follow one. The widow totally trusts in God; she puts all she has to live on into the treasury. I don’t trust God like that! I know some of what God has blessed me with, but I recognize that I have blessings in my life that I am not aware of right now. I admit there is room in my life to grow in my trust of God.

This story of the widow also points out to me the idea that less often is more. The widow lives so simply that it is easier for her to trust God. She is not worried about her clothes, her car payment, the utilities for her house, credit card bills, or Christmas gifts. She lives totally dependent on God for her survival. With out the extras in her life she can concentrate more fully on her relationship with God. Does she know where her next meal is coming from? Most likely not, but she is confident that when she needs nourishment God will provide for her.

Now to walk the thin line between Church and State; I believe too many of us depend on the government to do things for us that we should be doing for each other. Government should be responsible for some basic necessities for the people. Where do you draw the line? It seems to me the more we depend on the government, the less we depend on God. We are very active as a community of faith in this community in reaching out to the hungry. We have taken seriously the needs of the disadvantaged in Oneida and are working with systems and structures already in place to provide healthy safe food to people in the area. Not all churches are doing this and we could do it better than we do. There is room for more involvement and room for growth. What should we depend out government to provide for us and to what extent should we depend on the systems and structure of Government to provide for our needs? When do we stop depending on government and depend on God and each other?

Paul says something very important in the scripture from second Corinthians. “Each one must give from his heart, not reluctantly or out of compulsion. God loves a cheerful giver.” When was the last time you looked cheerfully at your offering envelope? When was the last time you felt blessed to be able to put something in the offering envelope? Giving to the church and the ministries we do through the community of faith should be a blessing. Yet, many of us do not see our giving as a blessing, rather we see it either as the right thing to do or a responsibility.

Further, too many of us believe the only thing we have to do is toss money to the church and that’s “good enough”. God challenges us to go further. Remember Paul tells us that if we sow sparingly we will reap sparingly. What we give matters to God. If we believe that God is everywhere, knows all things, and sees all things. God knows your heart.

Think back to the story of creation in the Book of Genesis. God works six days and takes the seventh for a rest. As followers of Christ this is our model; 5 days to work at our careers, one day of work at home and a day to rest our spirit for the week to come, a day of Sabbath. God worked days one through five and at the end of each of those days God said the work was good. On the sixth day, God creates humankind and at the end of the day God says the work is very good. Do you see the progression? God creates out of the chaos and creates, God seperates light from dark, waters above from water below, land from water, creates plants and animals, and then after God honed a skill set of creating; God creates humankind and humankind is created in the image of God. God was in pursuit of excellence. Even after creation God pursued excellence. Humankind did not move in the same direction as God so God sent the waters of the flood and started over with Noah and his family.  God selected Abraham and made of him a great nation. Good took a nation out of Egypt and set them up in the Promised Land and tried to place strong role models in search of relationships with God to rule the people. Men like David, women like Deborah, people with the skill set to lead. And when these people failed, God sent his son to help us learn and deepen our faith and trust. Now God sets the pursuit of excellence on our shoulders.

God desires a deep meaningful relationship with you. All around us are reminders of God’s faithfulness to us: the fruits of creation, the wisdom of doctors, the knowledge of professors, the strength of leaders and the love of family. All these things and more point to the God who loves us. Each and every one of us fails to give God the recognition of all the blessings in our lives. We catch some of the blessings, we might even admit, after the fact, that a “bad” situation was just what we needed to draw us deeper into relationship with God. Through all that I still believe that we miss some of the blessings God pours out on us.

God says don’t be so stingy, give a little back to me. Just trust me with a portion of what I have given you and see what I will make happen with what you trust to me.

It’s not just money. God says trust me with a bit of your time and a bit of your ability and I will multiply them. Remember that Jesus says we can do things, even bigger than he did, if we just had a bit of faith as big as a mustard seed (Matthew 17:19-21). Further more Paul says, “I can do all tings through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). If we truly believe that and if we really want the relationship with God that our hearts and souls crave, it begins with trusting God with a portion of our time treasure and talent. God has given us all the opportunity to see the extravagance of God’s blessings. The next step is up to us. I ask you to boldly take your next step and trust God with just a bit more than you are right now. See how God uses that, blesses you, and multiplies the gift.

What is Stewardship

1Chronicles 29:1-9

1Furthermore David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the Lord God.

2Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colors, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.

3Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house,

4Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses withal:

5The gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?

6Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king's work, offered willingly,

7And gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents of iron.

8And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the Lord, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite.

9Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

Psalm 54

1O God, save me by your

name,

and vindicate me by your might.

2O God,

hear my prayer;

give ear to the words of my mouth.

3For

strangers

have risen against me;

ruthless men

seek my life;

they do not set God before themselves. Selah

4Behold,

God is my helper;

the Lord is the upholder of my life.

5He will return the evil to my enemies;

in your

faithfulness

put an end to them.

6With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;

I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.

7For he has delivered me from every trouble,

and my eye has

looked in triumph on my enemies.

I know some of you don’t like to talk about money in worship. The facts are that Jesus talks about money about 1 in 3 messages. I talk about money far less than Jesus does. The one out of three Sunday’s would be 17 messages a year!

So, this year I will give you a choice, 6 weeks of me putting a little bit about finances and stewardship into the messages or I can preach straight finances for the rest of the church year. For the next 6 weeks or so we are going to talk about stewardship. By the way, there are 7 weeks left in the church year and I will be gone one of them, so your going to hear a little something about finances for the rest of the church year.

Much of stewardship has to do with money. If you listen to my prayer of thanksgiving following the offering, you will here me talk about time treasure and talent. These three things make up stewardship; giving our time to serve God, sharing the talents God has blessed us with and, giving some of the treasure we have been blessed with back to God. Stewardship is one way we fulfill our mission statement “Make Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world”

Back up in the story of the building of the temple; 2Samuel chapter 7 talks about David going to Nathan the prophet and asking Nathan if it is acceptable for David to build the temple. Nathan at first says, “sounds like a good idea” but God gives Nathan a vision that night. God tells Nathan to go back to David and tell David that God will decide who and when a house for God is built and “guess what David, you are not the person; and now is not the time.”

If we back up to 1Chronicles 28 we read about David telling the nation of Israel the story about David and Nathan in regards to building the Temple.

David says in 1Chronicles28:3 that God did not want David to build the temple because David was a worrier and had shed blood. God chose Solomon. Think about this: How would you feel if you were David? Good enough to fight battles for God but not good enough to build God’s Temple

How would you react to God after that? What would you do when God comes to you and says I want your son to build me a temple?

David gives his best and encourages all the nation of Israel to do the same.

David puts God first. First rule of stewardship put God first.

Jesus teaches that we cannot serve two masters. We have to recognize money as one of the tools in our toolbox to fulfill our mission of making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Deuteronomy 26:2 tells us that we should give God the first fruit. God deserves our best, not our leftovers. When you get your paycheck, give God the fair portion first. What is the fair portion? The tithe, 10% this is the MINIMUM fair portion.

People this is a matter of trust. What god do you put first in your life?

Do you trust God enough that you will put God first and live into, have faith in God that God will give you what you need? I am asking you to believe in God, not your own wisdom, not your government, not the Lions, Rotary, Moose, Elks, Owls or Kiwanis clubs; but God. These are all groups that do good things, but they are not the Church and they are not the gods we should be worshiping. David gives to God not just the minimum tithe.

David gives extravagantly. David gives willingly; gold and silver and precious stone from his own treasure, over and above. Notice David’s passion for God. Again if you study the scripture you will see that David is described as a man searching for God’s heart. You will also see where David’s unbridled passion gets him into trouble. Where is your passion? David challenges the nation of Israel to be passionate for God and to express their passion by giving to the building of the Temple.

So far our rules tell us we have to put God first that God deserves our best; and the tithe is the minimum, God wants us to give extravagantly of our blessings. We give extravagantly to our passions. I also mentioned that God asks for our time, treasure and talent. Third rule: God values relationship with us; that means more than just money. We need to give our time and our talent as well as our treasure to God.

David challenges the people of Israel with this. He says here is the treasure I give, who is going to put it together? Who has the talent? Where are the stone cutters and the carpenters? Who will give their talent to building the Temple and making a place worthy of God? Who will give of their time to build the Temple?

First three rules of stewardship:

         God first

         Tithe is the minimum

         Stewardship is time, treasure and talent

Fourth rule: Stewardship requires vision. Solomon may have been chosen to build the temple but David had the vision and the plan. Stewardship requires vision. It would be easy for me to just stand here and say, “Give to the church because God says to”.  Let’s be honest, people don’t give to a budget, they give to a vision. David paints a verbal picture of what the temple will be. Picture it: gold, silver, bronze, wood and onyx, and other precious stone; marble in abundance. This is the picture David paints of the Temple, beauty, opulence, nothing but the best.

Our mission is to make Disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world. How are we going to do that? How are we going to do that in Oneida? How are we going to do that as the Upper New York Annual Conference? How are we going to do that as the Northeast jurisdiction?

How are we going to do that as the United Methodist Church? I plan to paint you a picture of how I see us transforming this neighborhood around St. Paul’s.

I hope you will join me in transforming the world through our stewardship.

Over the next seven weeks you will hear about ministries in our church and the places I hope you will join me in going. I hope as we explore these four rules of Stewardship you will grasp my vision and go forward with me and lead me to places of ministry that I do not yet see. This faith community has power; if we use that power we can transform the world around us as well as distant places we may never see.

I hope you will join me.