19th Sunday after Pentecost
World Communion Sunday
October 4, 2015
Genesis 1:26-31; Psalm 104; 1 Timothy 6:17-19; Luke 12:13-21
(Extravagant Generosity, Week 1)
(or watch here: https://youtu.be/BTzRWFvtm30 )
As we begin the journey toward extravagant
generosity together, let’s
start with a check-up. Can you find your heartbeat? [Demonstrate how to find
your pulse]. Did everyone find a pulse? If we checked our spiritual pulse, what
would we find? Over the next few weeks, we will find some ways to check our
spiritual health. [PG: Some of you have already begun that process by
completing the card sent to you this week, asking what you love about our
church.]
Today
we will consider how Paul begins to address the subject of spiritual health. In his first letter to Timothy, he writes,
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put
their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who
richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to
be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way
they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming
age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
While
the idea of richness has many meanings, the truth is that we in the United
States are materially blessed when compared with the rest of the world’s
population. There are those of us who may be less materially blessed than
others, but the fact is, by most standards, we are extremely well off. It often
seems that the more we have, the more we worry about keeping what we have and
about getting more. When that is the focus of our thoughts, expressing faith in
God becomes more of a challenge.
Paul’s
solution is to put our faith in God. He suggests that we do good things, that
we should be rich in good deeds, and that we be generous and willing to share.
Today we have shared what we love about our church and where we see Jesus in
our church, such as _____________________. There are a variety of ways that we do good
as a church and we are very rich in good deeds.
Then
Paul says that there is a difference between just living in our culture and
living a Christian life, what Paul calls “truly life.” Anyone and everyone can just live and merely
survive. Jesus came that those who
believe in him might have abundant
life.[1] A life where, at the end, God tells us, “well
done, good and faithful servant.”[2] It’s like the Garth Brooks song, “Standing
Outside the Fire”: “Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing
outside the fire.”[3] You can just go with the flow and let things
happen to you and not think about how we do things or why we do things or where
we live or what’s going on, or you can act and you can work to prevent things
from happening that you don’t want to happen and you can take risks and things
that go on in the wider culture, you don’t have to go along with. It doesn’t have to be that way. Paul says don’t be proud. Don’t place your hope in such an uncertain
thing like money. Instead, place your
hope in God, who generously gives us everything for our enjoyment. That’s where our Old Testament reading about
the sixth day of creation comes in. God
says we are to take charge of the fish and the birds and the animals and every
creeping thing. He says he gives us
grains and fruits to eat and enjoy. Our
psalm says God gives us our food in due season; when God opens his hand, we are
filled with good things.[4] We serve a generous God who likes to give us
good things. We are made in his image,
as we read this morning, which means that we were made to also be generous and
give good things. This is why Paul
writes “Do good, be rich in good works, be generous and ready to share with others.” That’s how we get to the life that is truly
life, life abundant.
In stark contrast is our Gospel reading this morning,
often called the Parable of the Rich Fool.
This was one of my favorite story books as a kid (don’t ask me why), and
I can still see the illustrations in my head.
Jesus tells the story of a very wealthy man, the owner of a large
farm. One year it produces a bumper
crop, so large he doesn’t have the enough room to store it all in his existing
barns. Jesus shares the man’s internal
thought process as he considers what to do about this problem. He doesn’t decide to give it away. He doesn’t decide to sell it. He doesn’t consider giving his workers a
bonus. He really wants to keep it all
for himself, and so he decides to build bigger barns to store it on his
property. The current barns aren’t big
enough? He’ll build bigger ones! He thinks this harvest ought to last him the
rest of his life and says to himself, “You’ve done well! You’ve got it made and
can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!”[5] However, as he goes to bed that night, God
speaks to him and says, “Fool, tonight you will die. Now who will get the
things you have prepared for yourself?” And
Jesus adds one final comment to his story, that “this is the way it will be for
those who hoard things for themselves and aren’t rich toward God.” Jesus’ whole point in this story is to “Watch
out and guard yourselves from every kind of greed; because your true life is
not made up of the things you own, no matter how rich you may be.” Your life is not defined by your possessions
and getting to that point where God says, “well done, good and faithful
servant,” depends on what you do with what you have. Do you do good? Are you rich in good works? Are you generous? Are you ready to share with others? This rich fool obviously wasn’t and while he
had a materially comfortable life, it wasn’t abundant life, it was the life
that is really life.
[PG: In your bulletin this morning is a daily devotional
booklet for this week. It was prepared
for use with the Extravagant Generosity program we have begun today. In the Wednesday
reading is a reflection about nests.] One
spring when Bishop Schnase saw various birds preparing to build their nests and
he wrote,
“The
notion of building nests is often used as a metaphor to describe people
successfully providing for their own comforts. If someone arrives at a career
position of some ease and security, friends say, “You’ve built yourself quite a
nest for yourself here!” . . . The word nest often connotes shelter, coziness,
homelike, comfortable.
“In
actual fact, the nests which birds build are not for the birds who build them,
but for their young, for the next generation, for the future of the species.
The hours of carrying straw, sticks, and mud; the days of defensive
watchfulness; and the weeks of endless feeding are all for the benefit of the
new ones, the young, the future.
“Now
consider “nests” we build in our churches. The buildings, programs, ministries,
job descriptions, and services we build—are they for our own comfort and
coziness? Or are they to further the faith and provide for future generations?
Does our giving serve us and our needs or serve God by serving the mission of
the church to reach new people? Vibrant, fruitful congregations focus as much
energy, prayer, and planning on those who are outside the congregation as they
do on those who are already active in the congregation.”[6]
This is kind of like the rich fool. He built those bigger barns to provide for
his own comfort and security. They made
up a “nest,” if you will. However, the
highest praise I have ever heard given to a congregation is that they were
“forward-thinking.” It means they were
planning and designing ministries around and for future generations. It means they weren’t just thinking of the
children, but of their children’s children.
It means that when they built a new building, they had the next
generation in mind, and they didn’t assume the next generation would be just
like them and have the same likes and preferences. It means they planned for their church’s
survival and not just survival, but abundant life, the life that is truly
life. They recognized they’d have to
adapt in some ways, they recognized it meant that things couldn’t always stay
the same, they recognized that it meant that they’d have to give and share and
do good. You see, sharing and good deeds
result in caring ministries, of which we have quite a few here at our
church.
Cowenton: Sunshine Girls, Fun ‘n’ Fellowship, Nursery
PG: feeding the homeless, hosting Friendship Circle, new
Hispanic ministry
There
is much to love about our church, and we don’t celebrate those things enough.
Cowenton: I’d like to start keeping a list, perhaps on one of
the bulletin boards around here, with signs and pictures of some of these
things. I know we love our church, even
if no one was willing to say why when I asked on social media this past
week. We wouldn’t be here otherwise, so
let’s start sharing more of these reasons why, and if you have a tangible
reason you’d be willing to share on a bulletin board, please bring it in. Next week I’ll be asking about specific
people in in the church who have made a contribution to your spiritual growth. So,
come next week prepared to share and to celebrate.
PG: I invite you to join this time of celebration in the
next few weeks and our concluding celebration luncheon on Sunday, October 25th
after church. One thing you can do is use the devotional guide you’ll receive
in the bulletin each week. You can also start thinking about next week’s heart
card, which will ask you to identify a person in the church who has made a
contribution to your spiritual growth. Come next week prepared to share and to
celebrate. Since this was the first
week, I asked our Ad Council chair and worship chair to prepare
a brief reflection to share this morning.
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