10/20/02 - Stewardship Sermon

Rev. Christa von Zychlin

Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Hartland, WI

October 20, 2002;  Pentecost 22

Based on I Corinthians 9:6-8 and Matthew 22:15-22

“Render Unto Caesar the Things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s”

“Remember this saying

‘A few seeds make a small harvest, but a lot of seeds make a big harvest.’

Each of you must make up your own mind about how much to give.  But don’t feel sorry that you must give and don’t feel that you are forced to give.  God loves people who love to give!  God can bless you with everything you need, and you will always have more than enough to do all kinds of good things for others.”  -- 2 Corinthians 9:6-8

“Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God… Tell us, then, what you think.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”  But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?  Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.  Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?”  They answered, “Caesar’s”  Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”  When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away. Matthew 22:15-22

100% God’s

And Jesus replied to them all: take out your dollar bill.  Whose picture & name is on it?

And they said, why it’s George Washington, and who’s he? he’s the Father of our Country!!!!!

Turn it over, and what inscription do you read there in the middle?

In God We Trust

And who is God?

God is the one in whose picture and name we ourselves are made.

WE belong to him 100%.  All that we do all that we are, all that we worry about, all that we get happy about, all our time, all our talent, all our money belongs to God. Not 2% or 5% or 10% which is a tithe, but 100% belongs to God.

Of this 100%, God calls us to lay aside 10% for our local church use.

Not because he needs it, but because God knows that we need it.  We need to give 10% of our income to & through the local church, because God wants you and me to be deeply invested in our local church community, which God has anointed as the hope for the world.

And the people were amazed,  says the Scripture.  The people were amazed when Jesus talked to them like this.  Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s…yes.   but give unto God the things that are God’s!   … and some walked away.

++++++++++++

Years later, but in the Spirit of Jesus, St. Paul used four key phrases when he was writing in the letter we just heard to the Corinthians about their tithes and offering

I.                  THINK BIG when you give to Jesus through the Church

II.                 USE YOUR MIND when you give to Jesus through the church

III.                HAVE FUN when you give to Jesus through the church (actually he said be cheerful, but I think have fun is a good paraphrase!)

IV.                HAVE FAITH that you yourself will have more than enough when you give to Jesus through the church.

1                      

Let’s go over those again:

II Corinthians 9:6  Think BIG when you give to the church.

“Remember (says St. Paul) that a few seeds make a small harvest but a lot of seeds make a big harvest.”

 Think BIG when you give to Jesus through Our Savior’s Lutheran Church because

God has big things planned for Our Savior’s Lutheran Church to be doing!

  When Wayne and I were asked to interview at Our Savior’s we almost didn’t come.  We didn’t want to come to a little Mom & Pop congregation that just wanted a church that was good enough to get by.  Good enough to make it.  Big enough to be able to pay a pastor’s salary and a church mortgage all at once.  

 But the interviewing committee blew us away.  They said, we want two pastors because we have a big job to do at this church.  We want pastors with missionary experience because we have people in this congregation right now who are excited about doing missionary work.  We want pastors with experience in service projects & youth programs because we want to be a church that educates our youth & adults Biblically & spiritually & then sends people all over the Greater Milwaukee area & all over the country & all over the world, and at the same time we want a church big enough to worship with gusto and also a church big enough to give to those in need right here in Hartland.

 Wayne and I looked at each other & we said, there have been lots of seeds planted at this church.  This could be big!

 And tonight when it comes to promising our giving to Jesus’ work through Our Saviors, if we don’t all think big enough and give big enough to do big things, how will they happen?

 But if we do all move towards contributing 10% of our income to God’s work at Our Savior’s, WOW will we have fuel for some exciting Spirit-led stuff!!!!

  Think big when you give to the church, says the Bible, because a few seeds make a small harvest but a lot of seed make a big one.

2

Second key phrase from  2 Corinthians 9:7 Use your mind when you give to Jesus through the church.   When it comes to any aspect of money, we need to use our brains & our math skills.  Wayne & I are in the middle of refinancing our house, given the good interest rates, and we found ourselves needing to be very precise & calculating when it comes to comparing lenders….  And figuring out actual mortgage rates & fees.  And then I thought, well, Christa, how come you’re so exact down to the hundredth of a percentage point when it comes to figuring out what you’ll be paying to the bank but when it comes to your offerings to God at the church, you’re quite content with some very fuzzy math? 

 How about YOU all -  Have you ever actually calculated what percentage of your income you are giving back to God’s church right now?  To tithe –– means giving 10% of your income to Jesus’ work through your local Christian church community –

 So!  Wayne and I finally sat down and did the calculations, which are really a lot les difficult than figuring out mortgage APR’s… we found out that we’re giving 7.5% of our income back to the Lord specifically at our Savior’s. 

 Not that good of a percentage for leaders in a church, called to teach regularly about tithing!

  So we’re going to raise that % for 2003,  to 9%  at this church. 

 Will you consider using your mind, think it through, listen for God’s voice, & will you join us and raise your promised giving by  calculating very precisely what percentage you currently give and then raising it by 1 or 2%?

3

Third key phrase from 2 Corinthians 9 is Have fun when you give to Jesus through His church –

 “the Lord  loveth a cheerful giver” is the old fashioned version of this verse.  How can I explain this other than to say it can actually be fun to give large amounts of money (amounts that are large for you and therefore large in God’s eyes, whether they are large in other  people’s eyes or not) when you trust that God will use your financial gifts for His purposes

 I met a man in the chapel when I was visiting somebody at the Hospital last week.  His wife has cancer and he had brought her to the chemotherapy session.  She’s dying.  They’ve led messy lives.  These are people who’ve each been divorced a couple of times.  He’s trying to take care of their home & two young step sons.  The grand parents are all dead, his brother is in jail,.  He’s trying to do the right steps in his life now, he’s working through  Lutheran Social Services, and although he didn’t ask for it, I had the privilege of giving him a little bit of gas money,– I loved giving Jesus that $20 bill through the broken man who stood next to me in that hospital chapel.  I loved it.  And I can honestly say, I love seeing our monthly bank withdrawal given to Our Savior’s every 2 weeks on our bank statement with automatic withdrawal.  It gives me a sense of joy, and order to my life, and I know I’m part of a community where I know there are many others, who are giving not just token amounts, and amounts that are significant for you, whatever your income is,

Once you’ve made up your mind to do it, have fun when you give to Jesus through His church.

4

 And fourth & finally, we need to ask God to help us have faith when we give to His Church.  Because it can be downright scary to even think about  our giving.  And maybe some of you tonight find yourself in a very scary financial predicament.  Just before Wayne & I left our parish in Iowa, a woman called me to talk with me.  She had waited until she knew that I was leaving before she could even begin to confide something so hard, so personal, so shaming, as the fact that she and her husband were really struggling financially & had just emerged from some very painful credit counseling.  “Things just got out of hand, “she said to me with tears in her eyes.  Credit cards, my son’s car accident with no collision insurance.  Some redecorating in the house.  I thought God hated me for being so stupid.  And I never put more than a couple of dollars in the offering plate.  I hope that she heard me, I think she did

 as I hope you hear me now, when I say that God doesn’t need your 10% in order to love you. 

 Because you are not 2% or 5% or 10% or 50% God’s, you and I, we have been purchased with a price, the price of God’s own love…. Thru Jesus blood on the cross. You are 100% God’s. And one hundred percent loved, no matter what you put in the offering plate.  Because when it comes to loving you, God loves you big.  God loves you thoughtfully, God loves you cheerfully, and God loves you more than enough, to provide for all your needs.

 May our offerings to God through this church begin to reflect the fact that we are 100% God’s.  AMEN.

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