Talk given by the Rector on 4 November 2007Bible Readings: 2 Chronicles 31:2-10 and Luke 21:1-4
There
was once a rich man who was near death. He was rather upset because he
had worked so hard for all he had acquired and wanted to be able to
take some of it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might
be able to do just that. A passing angel hears his plea and, somewhat
unusually, comes down to talk to him. "Sorry," he says, "but you can't
take it with you." But the man begs the angel to have a word with God
and ask him to bend the rules. A few minutes later the angel reappears
and informs him that God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase
with him when he dies. Overjoyed, the man gets out his largest
suitcase, fills it with bars of pure gold and places it beside his bed.
Soon afterwards he dies and shows up at the gates of Heaven to
be greeted by St Peter. Seeing the suitcase, Peter says, "Hold on, you
can't bring that in here!" But the man explains that he has permission.
Peter goes off to check and comes back saying, "You're quite right. You
are allowed one piece of luggage, but I'm supposed to check its
contents before letting it through." So Peter opens the suitcase to
discover what it is that the man found too precious to leave behind. He
takes one look at the gold and exclaims, "You brought pavement?!!!"
If
you've had a look at the enclosure in this week's newsletter it will
come as no surprise that the pavement of heaven is our subject today. I
need to come clean right from the start and freely admit that part of
the agenda for today is to urge us all to consider afresh the financial
needs that we have here at St Nicolas. We don't talk about money very
much - partly because most of us are so English about it. Things tick
along without money being mentioned very much at all. As if there were
an underground tunnel between the bank and the church down which flows
a regular supply of cash to meet our needs. And so, from time to time,
it's right to think about money and giving. I want to do so this
morning by asking three questions. First, why should I give my money
away at all? Secondly, why should I give anything to the church? And
thirdly, how should I give?
First, WHY SHOULD I GIVE MY MONEY AWAY AT ALL?
It's
a good question, isn't it? After all, it is my money. Money which I may
well have worked really hard to earn and hold onto. So why should I
give it away?
Well, it's here that we need to consider a word
which, as far as I know, is generally only used in church circles. It's
the word 'stewardship'. It's a word that reminds me that what I call my
money isn't really mine at all.
The story is told of a man who
was wondering about becoming a Christian and was thinking about those
words of Jesus in Luke chapter 9: 'If anyone would come after me, he
must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me... What
good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit
his very self?'
That night the man had a dream in which he saw
Jesus. He knew it was Jesus because of the love in his eyes and the
prints of nails in his hands. Jesus was going through each and every
aspect of his life and asking him to hand them over to him one by one -
his wife and children, his family and friends, his job and career, his
house and car, his hobbies and interests, his money and possessions. He
was rather concerned about this - to put it mildly! He realised that
Jesus had given up everything for him - but could he really respond as
Jesus deserved by giving up everything for him? And then he saw Jesus
taking all the things that he had handed over and returning them to
him. 'These are all mine,' said Jesus, 'but it's alright. I'd like you
to look after them for me - until I ask for them back...'
This
is what it is to be a Christian disciple. Someone who has heard Jesus
say 'These are all mine - but I'd like you to look after them for me -
until I ask for them back.' Our lives, everything about us, everything
we have - none of it belongs to us anymore. We are stewards of what now
belongs to him instead.
The consistent message of the Bible is
that God allows us to look after what he has entrusted to us but
requires us actively to give back a proportion of what is his anyway.
He may sometimes ask for the whole lot - we call that martyrdom. More
usually he asks for just part of it - we call that Christian giving.
The
Bible introduces the principle of something called 'tithing' to guide
us in how to do this and we heard an example of how it worked in
practice in today's first reading. It's what was going on in our second
reading too, as first the rich and then the poor widow put their gifts
into the temple treasury.
So then - why should I give my money away? Quite simply because it's not my money!
My second question is this: WHY SHOULD I GIVE ANYTHING TO THE CHURCH?
Most
people recognise the need to offer support for those less well off than
they are. Events like 'Children in Need' and 'Comic Relief' raise many
millions from ordinary members of the public - not just those who pay
attention to the God dimension of life. That's fine. But what about the
church? Why should we make a priority of giving to the work of the
church?
I'm aware, of course, that I should probably declare an
interest at this point - since a proportion of what churches receive
from their congregations goes towards supporting their ministers! But
again, all I need to do is to pass on the teaching of the Bible. As he
writes about the need for churches to honour their leaders, the apostle
Paul quotes the Old Testament principle, "Do not muzzle the ox while it
is treading out the grain". And then, just in case his meaning is not
entirely transparent, he goes on to say that "The worker deserves his
wages".
There is, of course, more to the church budget than
staff salaries! We express what we're about here at St Nicolas as
'Sharing the Life of Jesus Today'. We've described the aspects of
'life' that are important to us, that characterise the DNA of St
Nicolas, as loving God, involving everyone, finding faith and enabling
growth.
The Church Council is going through an exercise in
which we're wanting to plan exactly what we should be investing in in
the future so that we do these things effectively. In recent years we
have focused on five particular approaches to how we share the life of
Jesus - in our worship, in our pastoral care, in our evangelism, in our
encouraging of discipleship through small groups and in our work with
children and young people - and we're exploring a possible sixth one as
we put more emphasis on our relationship with the local community.
These are the things that matter to us as a church. These are what we
are invited to support and invest in. With our gifts and talents - more
of which next week. And with our money - our subject this week.
Incidentally,
if you're the sort of person who finds guidelines helpful, the Church
of England's suggestion is that we aim to tithe a tenth of whatever we
reckon our income to be and give half this amount to our local church
and divide up the other half between the other missionary and
charitable causes we feel called to support.
Which brings me to my third question for this morning: HOW SHOULD I GIVE?
My short answer is this: I should give in a way that fills me with joy.
I
really like the story of the widow's mite, don't you? I think it's the
way it reveals something of God's rather unusual approach to what used
to be called arithmetic and is now known as numeracy! First we have the
wads of dosh coming from the seriously wealthy. And then we have the
two coins - copper coins, small copper coins, very small copper coins -
from the poor widow.
And what does Jesus say? What principles
of accountancy does he apply? "I tell you the truth," he said, "this
poor widow has put in more than all the others." How does he work that
out? Because "All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth;
but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." She gave
everything. She didn't have to. She just did.
The truth is that
no-one can be manipulated or enticed into giving that is truly
Christian. From my point of view this morning, that's very liberating.
It's not my job to try and cajole anyone into being generous and giving
more. For, first and foremost, our giving as Christians is to be a
spiritual activity. It's primarily a matter between us and God. And
yes, it is a duty but, like so much about our lives as Christians, it's
intended to be both a duty and a joy.
Paul puts it like this
in 2 Corinthians 9:7: 'Each of you should give what you have decided in
your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves
a cheerful giver.' Being able to give like the widow did, in a way that
was sacrificial and costly, is itself a gift, a gift from God, a
spiritual gift of his grace, something which his Holy Spirit invites us
to let him bring about within us, a gift which enables us to do for
others on a small scale what God has done for us on a grand scale.
Here's something quoted in David Watson's book Discipleship (p.229):
'The
first Christians did not start to share their goods in a full and free
manner till after the bomb of the Spirit exploded in their souls at
Pentecost. Before then, they would be morally incapable of this free
and joyful sharing. The acquisitive habit is one of the deepest rooted
habits of the human race. To say, "this is yours, not mine" and to
carry the words into effect, is as much a miracle of God as raising of
the dead.'
Christian giving is characterised, first, then, by
a supernatural cheerfulness brought about the Spirit and is something
for which we should continue to pray. And, secondly, Christian giving
is characterised by common sense. The apostle Paul's instruction in 1
Corinthians 16:2 is that we should give as we receive: 'On the first
day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in
keeping with his income, saving it up...'
For many people, the
best modern equivalent of this is a standing order set up to transfer
an amount each month or each quarter from their bank account. Others
find it more convenient to use the envelope scheme. At the beginning of
each year, or at whatever ever point during the year you decide to join
the scheme, you receive a box of envelopes, dated for each week of the
year, into which you place your weekly offering. When accompanied by a
gift aid declaration, both these methods of giving enable the church to
claim back the tax we have already paid on our gifts - which makes a
big difference.
One final point. Gifts of money are certainly
not the only resource we have to give to the Lord in response to his
goodness to us. There is the gift of our worship, the gift of our
openness to God's Spirit to be used by him, the gift of our other
talents and abilities, the way we can invest not only our money but
also ourselves in the life of heaven. I hope to make a few suggestions
about this aspect of things next week so that we don't see our Gift Day
on November 25th as just about money. Someone once put it like this.
God is the ultimate highwayman. With him it's not 'your money or your
life' but both. Let's together stand and deliver! Amen.
© 2007 David Stone |