Sermon prepared for Messiah Lutheran Church—traditional services—

10/15/00 

by Gregory S. Kaurin, Associate Pastor for Spiritual Care and Development

 

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Text: Mark 10:17-31

 

Beginning of service:

 

The emphasis of today is Stewardship.  This is especially for our members, but if you are visiting, I hope you will hear a message today that you can take back to your own church or apply to your own sense of charity.  This is also the first in a series of three worship services in which we are focusing on our servanthood.  Today’s specific topic is about “Giving All.”  I hope that this message brings you hope, excitement and encouragement as we discover what it might mean to “Give God Our All.”

 

The Sermon--

Giving God Our All

 

The rules of mathematics for Christians are a bit odd.  Pastors’ mathematics are downright atrocious.  In our Christian math a little, or a portion, can mean all, or everything.  On the other hand, in our Christian math a lot, or even almost all, might equal nothing at all!

 

I am sure the rich fellow in our Gospel lesson was willing to do, and willing to give up a great deal.   Look at him!  He runs up to Jesus, gets down on his knees and breathlessly says, “Good teacher (Rabbi), what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  (Now, you see the word “inherit.”  I think, given the context, you can hear the word “earn.”  What can I do to be worthy; what task can I take on to get written into the will?)

Jesus answers, “Why call me good?”  In other words, “I’m not the author.  Turn to God: what does he say, what are his commandments?”

With that the rich fellow begins to smile.  “The commandments?  I’m already there!  I’ve known and followed these since I was a boy!”

 

What happens next reminds me of a scene in the Star Wars trilogy.  I apologize to those of you who haven’t seen those movies, but there is this moment when young Luke Skywalker is talking with Jedi Master Yoda.  Yoda tells Luke, “When gone am I, then the last of the Jedi warriors you will be.”

Luke’s eyes widen, “Then I truly am a Jedi.”

“Ahh!” says Yoda, “Not yet!  One thing remains.  You must confront Darth Vader.”  You must confront the one darkness that yet stands in your way.

 

In the same way, the rich fellow had one thing that yet gripped his heart.  Wealth.

Jesus told him to “Let go!” of everything—not just your savings and liquid assets.  Sell everything at once!  Give it away!  Invest your heart in the treasures of heaven!  And, finally, follow me!”

Everything?  Total dependence?  Total trust?  Trust.

Or, how about this word: priority?  First and central priority: God.

 

You notice, Jesus didn’t stop at asking for the Old Testament rule of 10%, the old tithe.  That’s an old word you still hear in our liturgy, when it comes time to collect our tithes and offerings.  But Lutherans have a tough time saying that word out loud anywhere else.  We’re not always sure how that fits with us.  Some wonder if that isn’t one of those rules that we’re freed from.

Before we dismiss it, let’s look at the tithe for a moment.  Both the English and old Hebrew words for “tithe” literally mean “10%.”  So when you hear someone say that we should “tithe 10%,” they are being a bit redundant.

But when you scan the laws, there is a spirit behind the giving of the tithe, and first fruits, and all the offerings.  It is that spirit that I want you to hear and hold onto!  Throughout the Old Testament, the giving of tithes, first fruits and any offerings were all tied to the fact that God gave everything.  God’s prophets and the psalms all reminded the people that we owe God everything.  We owe everything!

(Last night I read one pastor’s sermon off the Internet.  He said it this way: “It’s not that God wants 10% of what you own.  Instead, God allows you to have 90% of what he owns and gives to you.”)

Once again, in generosity, God doesn’t demand everything, every possession, life or child.  Instead, in replacement for that everything, God asks for the first fruits and the tithe.  The tithe and all offerings are meant, then, to represent our everything: our entire devotion, our entire thankfulness and our whole hearts, all our joy and hopes and expectation, all our priority to our faith.

Without that spirit, following the law is not good enough.  There have been times in the history of God’s people when they dutifully performed the right rituals of the law—even the tithe and more, and yet they were rejected.  They were doing them out of duty and formula, but forgot the spirit.  They forgot thankfulness and generosity; they forgot the heart and soul behind it.

 

Much later, St. Paul in his New Testament letters was asking the Corinthians to join in a collection for the needy churches in Jerusalem.  He told them that he only wanted them to join in with a spirit of thankfulness and generosity.  He went on to say, “If any of you would only do this grudgingly—I tell you what—then keep your money, all of it!  I don’t want it and neither does God!  I only want it if it represents all the prayers, thankfulness, excitement and expectation behind the giving!”

There is a proverb in the Apocryphal book of Sirach that says: “The gift of a grudging giver …makes the eyes dim.”

 

So… Jesus didn’t ask for 10% from the rich fellow.  He probably knew that this fellow might be willing to part with 10%, but it would not have been enough.  The 90% left would still grip the fellow’s heart, and he would still be depending on himself to try to push his way into heaven.

 

So, that brings us finally to us.  I said at the start that Christian math is odd.  A part, 10%, or otherwise, can represent everything …when the spirit of the tithe is behind it.  When it is not, then even a lot can equal nothing at all.

I also said that a pastor’s math could be downright atrocious, especially when it comes to mainline church money.  I was at a talk a bit ago lead by Loren Mead.  In his travels and talks with various groups he has asked pastors how often they try to speak of money and giving from the pulpit.  Invariably, they answered, “At least once or twice a year.”

Then he asked the congregation members how many of those once or twice a year sermons they remembered.  Some said maybe one, possible two, but most answered that they couldn’t remember even one!

Loren came to the conclusion that either the pastors weren’t talking about it as much as they said they were, or the congregation wasn’t hearing it.  Loren felt it was probably the latter.  He bet that, while pastors thought they were taking about money and financial support, they were using such veiled and theological terms, that no one really knew that that’s what they were talking about!

Loren Mead finished by saying that we clergy are “brain-damaged” regarding money!  I had to laugh out loud.  It is certainly true for me!  Just ask Pauline, my wife!

The truth is, money is a most uncomfortable subject.  Like most people, we all carry a lot of baggage when it comes to money.  Wealthy or poor, money doesn’t seem to really make us feel good.  And it seems like too worldly a pre-occupation to be talking about from the pulpit.

But, considering how much it occupies our lives, and how much influence it has, it is too important to ignore, because how we use and spend our money has tremendous spiritual significance.  It reflects and involves our selves and our priorities.  It expresses our spirit of thankfulness coming to fruit through our generosity.

 

I was recently talking to another financial advisor.  He said, “Greg, you can’t imagine the number of people he’s worked with who regret that it took them 80 years to finally begin freeing themselves to generosity.”  And as their ready cash began to be passed around, they finally understood what it felt like to be “wealthy,” to have treasures that do not sit in banks: the growing excitement and anticipation and joy, knowing that they were making a difference, an impact. 

Whether great or small, you don’t need to be a rich philanthropist to know what they mean.  It’s probably easier to experience if you aren’t one.  The rich fellow might have been willing to part with enough of his possessions that others could call him a philanthropist.  But Jesus asked for all.

 

Wow!  “Then who can be saved?” the disciples asked.

“Without God?” Jesus answered, “No one.  With God?  Anyone!”

Here’s the strangest math of all.  It isn’t the amount at all, (true the wealthier, the greater the tendency to let money bind and occupy us) but it isn’t the amount that’s key.  It is the spirit of the tithe that is key: the priority of faith, the thankfulness of heart.

When that woman in scripture dropped her pennies in the plate, don’t think for a second that Jesus praised her for putting all her money in the plate!  He praised her because those pennies represented her heart, soul, joy, generosity and thankfulness.  She put herself in the plate and gave God her everything!

It is the person that knows that God has accepted and given them everything—whether great or small, rich or poor—every time that kind of person gives even a portion, they are giving everything, because they have their heart and soul behind it.  Their generosity sings like the choirs of heaven. 

 

It is not the amount.  And really, it’s not the person at all.  It is God who makes all things possible.  He gives us everything: forgiveness, acceptance and eternal life.

We can only respond in fractions, but God makes our fractious thanksgivings into powerful tools for his mission.  And then he heaps all the more blessings and treasures into our already full lives as he frees us for generosity, joy, excitement and unending expectation!

I ask you to feel the freedom that you already have by expressing your heart and joy generously.  Then, just watch what happens next…

 

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