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I know two stories about
$50,000. The first is about a minister who stood in front of
his congregation one Sunday and said, “I have bad news and
good news and bad news. The bad news is the roof leaks and
it’s going to cost $50,000 to fix it. The good news is we have
all the money we need to fix the roof. The bad news is the
money is still in your pockets.”
The second story is of the man
who was informed by his physician that he had only a few weeks
to live. He called a minister to his house. “Reverend,” he
said, “I have not lived a very upright life. I certainly have
not spent much time in churches. My doctor tells me that I do
not have long to live. Do you suppose if I gave $50,000 to the
church I could get into heaven?” The minister thought for a
moment and then replied, “Well, I don’t know, but it’s worth a
try.”
We need a $50,000 offering. It’s
not about a roof. It’s not about a free pass to heaven. It’s
about being the church I believe God wants us to be.
We have a vital ministry here,
and we need some pooling of resources to meet a need.
My text for today is from the
book of the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah is a gloomy book for
the most part. It is not a cheery read. If you are going to
start reading the Bible all the way through in one year, I
would never suggest you start reading with the book of
Jeremiah.
But there is one very bright
spot in Jeremiah. I think it’s a word spoken directly to the
church. In part it says, “I know the plans I have for you… to
give you a future and a hope.”
During the past 24 years of my
ministry here we have had three “catch-up offering” efforts. I
was reminded this week that two of them were called
“Hand-in-Hand” and “Footsteps in Faith.” We began to call
these offerings “body parts offerings.” 2004 is one of those
times when we need this kind of offering. It’s too important
to ignore or neglect. We think we can do this. I believe we
can. Let me tell you why I am confident.
THE LOCAL CHURCH IS GOD’S
INSTRUMENT
I believe the local church is
God’s instrument. Caroline Marshall, who is the retiring
secretary of the General Conference (after four quadrenniums),
said recently, “Nothing that happens here at General
Conference is important unless it makes a difference in the
local church.” I’m sure she’s right.
I was blessed with a heart for
the church since the time I was a child. When I was about to
graduate from seminary, I was encouraged to consider going on
for a Ph.D. and perhaps doing some teaching at the seminary
level. A few years ago I was invited to put my name in for a
general agency of the church in Nashville. I was also
encouraged to be a candidate for bishop. (I think I got 6
votes out of 271 needed for election!) Eighteen months ago I
was invited to retire early and teach at a seminary—to teach
leadership and administration.
Each time the Spirit prompted me
otherwise. (The Spirit was admirably assisted by my wife
Elaine!) I heard a voice saying, “The local church is where
God wants you to be. The local church is where God does God’s
best work.
That being the case, I don’t
mind talking about money in the church. I don’t mind raising
money for the local church. I have never shied away from this
part of ministry.
I had a friend a few years ago
who got up the week before a financial effort in his
congregation and said something like this: “Next week is the
annual stewardship effort. I am telling you now in case you
want to plan for a root canal or elective surgery this
weekend.”
I remember when our daughter was
a member of a small church in Virginia. She was elected to the
Church Council by virtue of her being in charge of the Nursery
program. She said to me one time, “Dad, why is it that every
time we talk about money at the Church Council meeting, the
minister hangs his head?”
I don’t apologize for talking
about money in the church. This is the place of God’s best
work. An investment in the church is a solid investment.
Someone once wrote, “Where
America spends its money has a great deal to do with whether
we have a future or not.” I agree. I am fully committed to an
investment in the local church. “I know the plans I have
for you, to give you a future and a hope.”
THE DIFFERENCE WILL BE MADE
RIGHT HERE
If a difference is to be made,
it will be made here in the local church. The difference will
not be made at the General Conference level, and it will not
be made by grand pronouncements. The difference will be made
here. Here is where faith is shared and encouraged. Here is
where children hear the stories of Jesus—repeated over and
over, as they should be. Here is where youth find a tradition
which endures for a lifetime. Here is where single adults who
feel isolated find community and hope. Here is where
seekers—those who desperately want to believe but cannot do
so—can be nurtured and fed. Here is where young adults can
talk openly about faith issues—especially in the last few
years. Here is the launching pad for youth and young adult and
other adult mission teams. Here is where 4 or 5 different
styles of worship are offered each week. Here is where people
turn when tragedy strikes and we need a place to hold on
tightly. Here is where babies are presented for baptism and
ceremonially walked down the center aisle of the church.
This is the place where God is
at work all the time. Remember that quotation I use often:
“The church is of God, and shall be preserved until the end of
time.
I AM INVESTED
I am invested in the church, and
I am invested in this church. I am invested vocationally. I
have spent more than half my ministry here at Christ Church.
Elaine and I are also invested financially. We want to give to
make a difference. We care a whole lot about what happens
here. Even as I grow older I want to cast some lines into the
future.
Countless people greeted me at
General Conference at the Convention Center over those two
weeks. I heard such unexpected and affirming words about this
church—about Christ Church. I was stunned that they knew us
that well. They also were eager to tell others standing nearby
about who we are.
I was reminded of the prayer,
“Dear God, make me the kind of person my dog thinks I am.” I
wanted to pray, “Dear God, make this church the kind of church
people think we are.”
And so I invest hours, and I
invest my best energies. Elaine and I stretch to make generous
contributions through the year. We talked about the “We Think
We Can” offering this past week. What does this campaign mean
for us? How can we do more?
I heard a great stewardship
sermon at General Conference. It was preached by Bruce Blake,
the retiring bishop of the Oklahoma area. The key phrase in
his sermon was this: “We do not give until it hurts, but we
give until it heals. I thought to myself, that’s it.
That’s God word for me at this time.
I have never given so that it
hurts. I cannot recall such a time. But I do know what it
means to give until it heals. That is a positive word about
significant giving. Jesus never said, “Give until it hurts.”
But Jesus offered a healing through the act of giving to
several people.
Someone wrote the poet-priest
Gerard Manly Hopkins for advice. He asked, “How might I learn
to believe?” Hopkins responded simply, “Give alms.” Give until
it heals. Give until you learn to believe.
I’m not talking about giving
until the last drop is squeezed out. Remember the old story
about the circus strong man who had a sideshow several times
each day? He would gather a small crowd around him and then
take a fresh orange in his hand. Slowly he would squeeze all
the juice out of the orange. He kept squeezing until the
orange was nothing but a piece of pulp. At that point he would
ask the people standing around, “Does anybody think they can
get more juice out of this orange?” He offered some kind of a
prize for the person who might be able to do that.
Most of the time nobody
responded. But on one particular occasion there was an elderly
man, bent with age, who raised his hand and said, “I’d like to
try.” The circus strong man thought he would indulge the old
timer, so he called him forward. The old man took the orange
pulp in his gnarled fingers. He wrapped his hand around it
carefully and slowly. He squeezed and squeezed. Two drops of
juice appeared on the heel of his hand and fell to the
ground.
The circus strong man looked at
the old timer and said, “That’s amazing! Nobody has ever been
able to do that before. How did you do that?”
Replied the other; “It’s easy.
I’m the treasurer of the local Methodist church.”
I’m not asking you to feel like
that piece of orange pulp. Nobody is trying to squeeze you to
the last drop.
I do invite you to invest in
something that lasts, and something that matters. There was a
little girl one time who was accustomed to having her father
travel a lot. Each time he returned he would bring her some
trinket from wherever he had been. Usually it was something
small, and usually it was something that did not last very
long. It broke after a short period of time.
One day when the father was
about to go out for another trip, his daughter came up to him
and said, “Daddy, when you come home this time bring me
something that will last forever.”
What we do here matters. What we
do here makes a difference. What we do here honors God. What
we are about here endures beyond all of us. God is saying to
us this morning, “I know the plans I have for you, to give you
a future and a hope.”
I invite you to give today in a
way that brings God’s healing to you. Give until it heals! |
