4 Pentecost 06 B

Last week I talked about the General Convention and some of the challenges that face us as a member of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. I believe that we should not be distracted from our goal at St. Anne’s church. That goal is that we do what it takes to grow the church. Some might say that the current departure from the historic teachings of the Bible and the Christian faith on the part of the Episcopal denomination is too much of a distraction and an obstacle too high to overcome.

I believe that this really is no different from the times of persecution that the true Church has always gone through. The interesting thing is that quite often the Church grows fastest when it is in times of persecution, when it has its very faith challenged.

As we remain faithful to the faith that was once delivered to all the saints we will find that others will be drawn to that faith because it is true and it is alive. One of the things that are characteristic of growing churches is that the people of that particular church are alive in their faith, and that that faith is founded on the historic teachings of the Scriptures.

Because that faith is founded on those historic teachings faithful Anglicans and Episcopalians bring to those who are not yet Christians a living Word. The Word of God is living and active the writer to the Hebrews reminds us. That living Word brings faith alive in the hearts and minds of people who had been walking around in darkness.

Once faith has come alive in the hearts and minds of Episcopalians the natural reaction is to want to tell others about that living faith in Jesus. There is also something that happens in the hearts and minds of those who come alive in Jesus Christ; they begin to exhibit some of the qualities of Jesus as they reach out to others. One of those qualities is generosity.

We see that in our second lesson today. The Macedonian churches were suffering under great economic and political hardships. They were barely getting by, barely had enough for themselves. And yet, when they heard of the suffering of their fellow Christians elsewhere, their alive faith caused them to want to help in whatever way they could. Listen to how St. Paul described what they did, “We want you to know, brethren, about the grace of God which has been shown in the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of liberality on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own free will, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints – and this, not as we expected, but first they gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God” (2 Cor. 8:1-5).

Let’s examine this for a minute. During times of great affliction the reaction of the Macedonian church was not to hunker down and lay low; it was not to worry and complain about their persecutions, their sufferings; it was not to abandon the church and go off on their own. No, their faith was so alive that joy ruled their hearts; their trust in God was so great that their hearts became opened in liberality, in giving. They saw the need in the church and were moved to give of their resources for the benefit of the church, the people of God (they overflowed in liberality).

What was so amazing to St. Paul was that they not only gave what they were able to give, they gave beyond their means. They were not hoarders of their money, they were givers

A minister was asked to inform a man, Joe, with a heart condition that he has just inherited a million dollars. Everyone was afraid the shock would cause a heart attack and the man would die.

The minister went to the man’s house and said, “Now, what would you do if you inherited a million dollars?” Joe responded, “Well, pastor, I think I would give half of it to the church.”

And the minister fell over dead.

It is such a shock to many when they see people giving large sums of money to other people or organizations. We have been hearing about Warren Buffet giving some of his billions to the Bill Gates Foundation. We subconsciously think, “Well, he can afford to do that. He’s got all that money.”

What was so shocking about the Macedonian church was that they gave beyond what they were able, out of their extreme poverty. True Christian giving is not based on the amount one gives, but rather the spirit with which one gives. In chapter 9 of Second Corinthians, St. Paul said these words, “Remember this, whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should decide in his or her own heart what he should give. He or she should not do so reluctantly, or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” The Macedonian churches decided that they wanted to help by giving even more than they were able.

Back in our Epistle lesson today, St. Paul says that the Macedonian churches gave of their own free will. Not only that but they begged him earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. These Macedonians were cheerful givers.

Do you realize that the Greek word for cheerful giver is the word from which we get the word hilarious? How often to you give at the church or elsewhere hilariously? How often do you beg for the privilege of giving to the work of the Lord?

There is a connection between the spiritual and the material life. The alive Christian balances the needs of the spiritual and the material.

The Rev. David Ousley said one time, “The connection between the material and the spiritual should not surprise us. God uses material things all the time to reveal Himself, as in the bread and wine of the Eucharist, or the water in Baptism, or in the flesh of Jesus Christ. Material things are sanctified by their spiritual context. This means that we cannot divorce our material lives from our spiritual lives if we expect to get very far as Christians. The two must grow together.”

The Old Testament tithes were sacrificial, part of the sacrificial law. The aim of the sacrifices was to maintain a relationship between God and His people. This was to be a relationship of holiness and righteousness, of man’s obedience to God and God’s caring for man. The first characteristic of sacrifice was the maintenance of a relationship between the spiritual and the material.

The point is that man must make his relationship with God of material importance as well as spiritual. It is a sign of his priorities. Is he willing to put his money where his soul is? It is also a sign of his trust in God. He gives the tithe with the trust that the remaining 90% will be sufficient to sustain his life. He does not keep back his tithe to the end of the month, just in case something comes up. Rather, it is his first commitment, and is paid first. It is as essential to his life as paying for food.

The Old Testament tithes give us the model for how we are to deal with our money. The point of our making offerings to the Church at all is to grow in our relationship with God. To grow spiritually we need to have our material resources sanctified within our relationship with God.

A certain Christian once said to a friend, “Our church costs too much. They are always asking for money.” Her friend replied in this fashion: “Some time ago a little boy was born in our home. He cost us a lot of money from the very beginning; he had a big appetite, he needed clothes, medicine, toys, and even a puppy. Then he went to school, and that cost a lot more; later he went to college, then he began dating, and that cost a small fortune. But in his senior year at college he died, and since the funeral he hasn’t cost us a penny. Now which of these situations do you think we would rather have?”

After a significant pause the friend continued, “As long as this church lives it will cost. When it dies for want of support it won’t cost anything. A living church has the most vital message for all the world today, therefore I am going to give and pray with everything I have to keep our church alive.”

The final thing we notice in our lesson today is that they gave themselves first to the Lord THEN to the apostles. All of our giving does not amount to much in the Kingdom of God if we do not first give ourselves to the Lord.

You will show that this church of St. Anne is alive first by you being alive in your faith. You become alive in your faith by first inviting Jesus to be the ruler of your life, and then by asking Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit your faith comes alive much like a boiler fires up after gas ignites the pilot light. Once you are on fire with your faith the natural outgrowth of that faith will be seen in your giving; giving to the church, giving to those in need, and giving of yourself in the service of God through his church and to others. We are called to help those in need outside our walls in order to let them know how much God loves them by the way we love them. We also might have the chance to tell them about Jesus, and in so doing, meet much more than just a physical need. We can meet a spiritual need in them by introducing them to the one who can fill the thirst in their souls and the longing in their hearts.

That, my friends, is what God calls us to be and to do as we seek to be his instruments to grow His church.