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10.19.08

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

WHAT GOD DESERVES

ECCLESIASTES 11:1-6; MATTHEW 22:15-22

• Whose Money Is It?
• You Can’t Take It With You
• There was a man who had worked all his life and had saved all his money
• He loved money more than just about anything
• As he approached his death, he said to his wife, “Now listen.  When I die I want you to take all my money and put it in the casket with me.  I want to take my money with me to the afterlife.”
• He made her promise with all her heart that she would do this
• When he died, he was stretched out in his casket, with his wife sitting there in black and her friend was sitting next to her
• When the funeral service was finished, just before the casket was closed, the wife called our, “Wait a minute!”
• She had a box with her, and she came forward and put it in the casket
• Then the undertaker locked the casket and they rolled it away
• Her friend said to her, “Girl, I know you weren’t fool enough to put all that money in there with your husband.”
• The wife replied, “Listen, I can’t go back on my word.  I promised him that I would put that money in the casket with him.”
• “You mean to tell me you really put that money in there with him?” asked her friend
• “I sure did,” said the wife.  “I wrote him a check.”
• Owners or Managers
• We have all heard the clichés “You can’t take it with you,” and “There are no luggage racks on hearses,” and there is truth in those words
• What we have we’ve been given to use in this world to do as much good as we possibly can
• We can’t take our money or the possessions we’ve accumulated with us when we leave this life for the life to come
• We won’t need it over there, for God has designed an afterlife for us that’s so grand and glorious that all our needs will be abundantly supplied
• So many of us have the misconception that what we are able to amass for ourselves in this life we’ve earned through our own hard work
• And since we have earned it, it’s ours to keep
• Yet, this belief is contrary to the teachings of the Christian faith, the faith we claim to profess
• Our faith teaches us that this world is not our home
• We are pilgrims on a journey, nomads wandering through the wilderness of life seeking our final destination
• So the best way to travel is to travel light, to get rid of all the unnecessary clutter so we can make our journey with ease
• Our faith teaches us that we own nothing because we have earned nothing
• What we have in this life is not the product of our own efforts but the gift of our loving and generous God who is able to supply all our needs according to God’s glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19)
• Therefore, God is the owner of all that there is since Good is the creator of all things and we are stewards of all the gifts God gives us:
• Stewards of the time we are given each day to live life in this world God has created
• Stewards of the talents and abilities God gives us to use
• Stewards of the treasures God blesses us with
• A steward is a manager, one who is entrusted with something that belongs to someone else, and who is given the responsibility to use it according to the owner’s wishes
• We have been chosen by God to be good and faithful stewards of all the gifts God has entrusted to our care
• We are to be faithful stewards of the earth and all it’s resources, using them wisely and preserving the planet for future generations
• We are to be faithful stewards of the children God has blessed us with, loving and caring for them, teaching and training them to be compassionate and caring people who are faithful to God and loving to others
• We are to be faithful stewards of our time, using it to do God’s work in the world
• We are to be faithful stewards of our talents, using them to minister to the needs of others
• And we are to be faithful stewards of our treasures, not hoarding them for ourselves but generously sharing them with those who need
• Stewardship isn’t just about money; it’s about what we do with everything we’ve been given
• How well we manage and what we do with what we’ve been given is a measure of our faithfulness to God
• Giving Back to God
• Casting Bread on the Water
• In the 11th chapter of Ecclesiastes, we hear Solomon’s challenge to us to “Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.”
• This is a call to be generous with all that God has given
• Yet, we must be careful not to interpret these words as meaning that we ought to be generous so we can reap a reward
• That would be contrary to the spirit of generosity
• That would be like counting the slices of bread in your loaf to determine if you can afford to give one slice away
• True generosity doesn’t give with the intention of receiving anything in return but simply because it’s the right thing to do
• This passage reminds me of the story Jesus told about the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46)
• The sheep were the ones for whom generosity was a way of life, and they gave never expecting anything in return
• Yet, their generous giving brought them the favor of God and a heavenly reward because their giving was motivated by love
• The goats, however, were the ones who were always asking the question, “What’s in it for me?”
• If they had known that being generous would have gained them something, they would have given more freely, not out of love or compassion for the needy, but in order to gain as much as they could for themselves
• Solomon goes on to make the point that there are some things that are beyond our control and we never know what any day will bring us
• If we’re waiting for a clear sign to come or for God to make it perfectly clear what God wants us to do, we’re going to have to wait a long time
• Solomon’s point is that today is all we really have and we need to make the most of the opportunities God gives us to be generous with the blessings we’ve received
• That’s the best way to have no regrets
• So we must do what we have to do and do what we can do—now

• Giving What God Deserves
• The Pharisees and the Herodians came to Jesus seeking to trap him on the issue of paying taxes to Rome
• To the faithful Jew, paying this tax was idolatry since the coin required to pay it bore the image of Caesar
• Yet, Rome required the tax and refusal to pay it was insurrection
• To answer yes to their question, Jesus would have lost faith with his Jewish sisters and brothers, and to answer no would have made him guilty of treason
• But Jesus would not be trapped
• So he asks, “Whose image and inscription is this?”
• “Caesar’s” they replied, to which Jesus responds, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
• With these words, Jesus makes it clear what God deserves
• For Caesar, who is not God, the most that he deserves is to have his coins returned to him since that was the only thing that bore Caesar’s image
• But God’s image is found in all of creation, and God’s image is upon every person, so loyalty to God in all things must take priority
• What God deserves, Jesus says, is the very best of everything we have to offer
• Stewardship Lessons
• The stewardship lessons here are obvious
• Since God is the Creator of all things, God is the owner of all things and nothing we have is ours to possess
• God has entrusted us with abundance and expects us to use it according to God’s purposes
• Since the image of God is on our life, then it belongs to God, so we must be willing to give the whole of our life and all of the blessings we’ve received for God to use so that God’s will might be accomplished in this world through us
• Stewardship is about so much more than giving a few dollars to the church here and there to help the church meet it’s budget
• Stewardship is about doing the best we can with everything God gives us
• It’s our loving response to the grace of God; it’s one way we can thank God for all the things God has done for us
• The question we must ask ourselves isn’t “How much can I afford to give?” it’s “What is God’s love and grace worth to me?”
• Your motivation for giving, whether it’s time, talents, or treasures, ought not to be “What’s in it for me?”
• Your motivation for giving ought to be “How can I best thank God for all the blessings God has given?”
• That’s why Paul was able to write in 2 Corinthians 9:7: “Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
• When our giving is motivated by true thanksgiving, it’s easy to give cheerfully and generously
• At a Wednesday evening church meeting, a very wealthy man rose to give his testimony
• “I’m a millionaire,” he said, “and I attribute it all to the rich blessings of God in my life.  I can still remember the turning point in my faith, like it was yesterday.  I had just earned my first dollar and I went to a church meeting that night.  The speaker was a missionary who told about his work.  I knew that I only had a dollar bill and had to either give it all to God’s work or nothing at all.  So at that moment I decided to give my whole dollar to God.  I believe that God blessed that decision, and that is why I am a rich man today.”
• As he finished, it was clear that everyone had been moved by this man’s story
• But, as he took his seat, a little old lady sitting in the same pew leaned over and said: “Wonderful story!  I dare you to do it again!”
• That’s what God deserves, but the question is: Are we willing to give it?
• Are we thankful enough to God to give as God desires?
• Do we trust God enough to believe that our God will supply all of our needs according to God’s glorious riches in Christ Jesus?