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    Oct 25, 2015

    Treasure 3: Giving Your Treasure Back to God

    Passage: Matthew 6:1-6

    Speaker: Rev. Vivian McCarthy, Pastor

    Series: Treasure

    Category: Discipleship, Stewardship

    Keywords: giving, heart, pride, stewardship, treasure

    We've been talking this month about our "treasure" and how to invest our time, energy and money in the things that really matter to us. This week the Scripture reading gives us a gentle warning from Jesus to be careful when we do good. We shouldn't parade it in front of others or try to impress God. Jesus tells us that by finding quiet times to pray and be still before God,. the focus will begin to shift from us to God. Being part of a God-celebration (when God gets the credit) is better than when we celebrate ourselves!

    Many of you are sports fans, and I think that what I am about to say directly relates to what it’s like to be in that huge, screaming or moaning crowd in the stadium.

    It was the very first Leadership Day that I had worked on, and it had been a bear to organize.  No matter whether it’s the local church, the PTA, or the Cabinet-level leadership of an organization, including the annual conference, change does not come easily!!!  And those of us who planned Leadership Days had been asked to be creative in how we handled this leadership training.

    Up ‘til 1994 or 1995, leadership training had been handled by the districts, with a piece carved out by the bishop.  When I came on board in 1994, the bishop told me he wanted it to be a little bit different.

    So, he got what he asked for – but it was quite a challenge getting others to come along.  After all, we wanted the district superintendents to do some of the teaching.  Let’s just say that District Superintendents don’t always like to do what program staff ask them to do – even when we did our dead level best to ask nicely!

    You know I don’t mind a bit of chaos.  After all – God created this beautiful cosmos out of chaos, and God did a pretty amazing job!  I thought the chaos of the first round of Leadership Days – without any computer program to help get several thousand people registered in three different events and about 30 class sessions so that they weren’t sitting on each others’ laps!!! – well, I thought it was going to kill me!

    But we persevered.  And then the sound bite came – I think it was at Catonsville High School.  I unintentionally overheard a leader from a small local church as she entered the auditorium.  The crowd had already begun singing hymns together, and the music was beautiful.  Her eyes were wide with wonder as she turned to her friend and said, “I just can’t believe it!  These people are all leaders in their own churches!  All of a sudden I feel part of something huge.  And just listen to how we sing together.”

    I didn’t quit.  (pause)  After all, don’t they say that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!?!  I honestly hadn’t thought about the effect of that day on people, especially those from churches with 20 people in worship who rarely got to sing in that kind of worship experience or feel the connection with a thousand other people whose hearts were engaged in leading God’s people.  That one comment fueled me and our team’s creativity to move forward with where we needed to go from that first event to many, many more.

    Now notice where today’s scripture lesson takes us.  Giving back to God is not a performance – and if it is, there is something flawed about it.  I remember another time when I went to an fundraising event for one of the ministries I was assigned to work with – one that was constantly in trouble in more ways than one.  Their biggest concern was always money.

    They found a separate organization that agreed to raise money for them, and I went to their event.  I don’t remember a single thing about the event except when it came time to actually collect the checks.  A group of people got on the stage.  They began to tell everyone how they had written checks – one after another – each check got bigger.  The crowd cheered and the givers actually strutted across the stage.

    Then people started getting up from the crowd, bringing an actual check forward and telling everyone what they had given.  It was very ostentatious and pride-filled.  To me, it was awful.

    Let’s read together the first verse of today’s scripture:

    Be careful that you don’t practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.  

    Jesus warns us – “Be careful.”  Most of the time, we use that phrase because we think there’s a good chance that someone could get hurt.  If I tell my grandson Tommy to be careful, it’s because it appears the thing he is about to do could hurt him.

    Jesus gives this warning because he cares about our hearts. He knows that if we seek credit for the good we do—if our actions become a performance—then our hearts will suffer. If we start thinking it’s all about us, then we miss out on God’s amazing benefits of being and doing good. Yes, we will get our credit, but it pales in comparison with what we receive when we give humbly before God. We will miss out on being a part of something bigger than ourselves, which is much better than anything we can achieve on our own.

    Now read with me the rest of the scripture text:

    Whenever you give to the poor, don’t blow your trumpet as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may get praise from people. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that you may give to the poor in secret. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.

    When you pray, don’t be like hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people will see them. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.

    These verses go together.  Order and context in scripture is important.  So the verses about giving and the verses about prayer are not accidentally placed together.  Jesus links giving to the poor and spending time with God. If we truly want to be generous givers and experience life more fully, we have to be people of prayer. We will never give in extravagant and sacrificial ways if we are not abiding with God. We need secret places where God can speak to our hearts. No one gives in amazing ways just because there is a great need; extravagant, sacrificial givers do so because their hearts have been changed by spending time with God.

    Finally, if we want to experience life more fully, we must respond to all that God has done for us by seeking to participate in what God is doing in the world. We have considered how we are investing our lives. Our goal should be to invest our time, money, and energy in the things of God, things that are so much bigger than what one or two of us can do on our own. We get to be a part of things that only God can do. We stand in the confetti, finding joy and meaning in the knowledge that we played a part. God is calling us to sacrificial giving.  So, let’s listen to Jacob Armstrong’s story of a truly extravagant gift that he received.

    (On Sunday, we viewed the program video for this week.)  Armstrong tells the story of his deep desire at about 10 years of age to obtain the 1989 Upper Deck rookie card for Ken Griffey, Jr.  As is often the case for 10-year-old boys, Jacob Armstrong yearned for that one, special card to complete his extensive baseball card collection.  

    One day as they got together to trade cards, Jacob found out that the coolest kid he knew, his 15-year-old neighbor Nathan, had THE card.  He offered his whole collection for that one card -- without success.  He asked for the Ken Griffey card for Christmas, but Jacob did not expect to receive it, and it was not among the gifts from his family.

    But as the family was opening their gifts on Christmas morning, Jacob heard the unmistakable sound of a 4-wheeler pull into his driveway.  Nathan had come on Christmas!  And when they greeted each other, Nathan gave Jacob a white envelope.  I'm sure you've guessed what was in it -- the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey, Jr Rookie Card!  With exuberance, Jacob hugged Nathan who seemed somewhat perplexed -- whether with the gift or the response, who knows?  Nathan must have somehow realized the power of giving away our treasure.

    What is God calling you to give away?

    You may watch the entire video (only about 6 minutes) on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=JACOB+ARMSTRONG+TREASURE 

    This series is based on Treasure: A Stewardship Program on Faith and Money, written by Jacob Armstrong and published by Abingdon Press, 2014.