(The following is a draft of the message given on November 14th)
Today is o
ur second Sunday in our Stewardship Series. The premise for this series is not to make you feel guilty about what you give or don’t give. Instead, it is more of a celebration about why we give our time and money and our attitude towards God. We also recognize that we give of our time and money because understand Sunrise to be the Body of Christ, living and active in our community and world. And we celebrate what God is doing through us to make a positive impact in the lives of those in our community.
But you know, when we come right down to it, we can be a little skeptical about being good stewards. Our time and money is precious to us and we want to make sure that when we invest these valued commodities, they are going into a safe investment.
Our scripture passage this morning talks about what it means to make a good investment. It comes from the Gospel of Matthew, and it will be up on the screen for you to read along with me.
Matthew 6:19-20
19 "Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or - worse! - stolen by burglars. 20 Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. 21 It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
(Prayer)
Over the last couple of years, I have started watching some show about the stuff people acquire.
Karen and Emily – Hoarding
For some reason, it just makes me queasy
But there are a couple of other ones that I like. For instance, this one:
(Video clip)
Yeah, that’s more my style.
Just Junk.
19 "Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust…
Sometimes though, what appears to be junk or worthless holds a hidden secret.
(Video clip)
Sometimes people are wrong about the value of their procession.
Matthew 13:44 "God's kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidently found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic - what a find! - and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field.
Invest in what’s real, what’s eternal, what is of God.
Invest in what God treasures - people
(Pass out Stewardship Campaign Packets)
Why are we doing this?
Matthew 6:21
21 It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
Let’s get honest friends – stewardship isn’t really about money, it’s about honor, it’s about treasure, it’s about treasuring the one who treasures you.
I want to close out this time by reading you a letter that was shared with me a few years ago by a member of a former church.
On July 31, 1970 my wife, Connie, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. For three years we tried unsuccessfully to start a family, so the joy was great with the arrival of our only biological child. Lance was born before it was acceptable for the father to be present in the delivery room, a fact for which I have forever been grateful. I waited in the hall just outside of the delivery room and at precisely 4:13 I heard the sound of what I will never forget, Lance’s first cry. The nurse emerged with a smile and said, “You have a baby boy.” I could hardly wait to get Connie and Lance out of the hospital and back home. The wonderful glow of fatherhood was dimmed however when I was asked to visit the business office at the hospital. They wanted me to pay for Lance. In fact, it seemed that my wife and child would be held hostage until the hospital bill was settled. I wrote the check paying my expenses, freeing my family and we made our escape. That check turned out to be one of hundreds if not thousands of checks that I would write on Lance’s behalf.
Children are expensive. Formula, food, doctor visits, vaccinations assaulted my bank account. Diapers and toys took their toll and clothes were a constant drain. Just about the time that we built a great wardrobe for the kid, he’d grow and force us to start all over again. As his age and size increased, so did his expense. Soon it was baseball gloves, Nike shoes and uniforms. There were glasses for his eyes and braces for his teeth. And then, disaster struck – Lance became a teenager. Now it was cars and dates and name-brand clothes. Then came college. Lance had always and only wanted to be an architect. Soon it became clear that he would be in school until he was forty. Expenses soared, tuition, books and drawing tools. But of course, like parents everywhere, we were glad to be able to help him. And we did all we could to support his growth and his dreams. Then one day, Lance died. On Halloween day, 1991, we buried 21 year-old Lance in our church cemetery. That afternoon, we walked away from his grave and we never spent another nickel on Lance.
And that’s how I learned it – death is cheap. Death can be sustained without expense. It is living that is costly. It is growth that is expensive. Our dreams and hopes require sacrifice. Death does not. That’s why I will always give whatever I have available to the church. A living, growing, thriving church will always require continual and conscientious effort by its members to give their prayers presence, gifts and service.
Pray with me.
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