November 13, 2011
"Grace, Giving, Gain"
Jason Crosby, preaching
Click arrow to listen
Philippians 4:10-20
I do not believe that money is the root of all evil as some say. Before money, people bartered. They exchanged goods. They would bring grain or corn, a cow or goat, a bowl or clothing to a market place and swap items of equivalent value. Money, coins, currency developed because the barter system presented a major problem. Often, a person could not find another good that he or she needed that was of equal value to what that person brought with them. Money was created to help resolve this problem. Money developed so that people could more efficiently exchange goods. Money developed in order to give people a uniform tool they could use to better acquire the goods necessary to live. Following the advent of money, the bowl-maker no longer had to find the chicken-seller who needed bowls. Money enabled the bowl-maker to sell those bowls to several different buyers and then the bowl-maker had enough money needed to purchase that chicken. Once a uniform monetary system was in place, it didn’t take too long for folks to learn that one can use money to make money. It didn’t take long to figure out that one could lend someone else money and charge interest on that loan. Money is a symbol and tool, like language, that allows people to enjoy a better quality of life. Loans enable people who may not have the available resources to take an idea and develop it into a needed service.
Money may not be the root of all evil, but it certainly can be used to perpetuate evil. In the wake our most recent financial crisis we are all keenly aware that lenders often use loans to exploit the vulnerable. Our modern financial systems may possess the capacity to enhance everyone’s life, but far too often are used by the powerful to acquire more power at the expense of the powerless. When people begin to worship money and greedily hoard it away, money begins to destroy one’s spirit and inflict pain on others.
Money ensnares us and precludes us from being who God created us to be, rather than be a useful tool, when we fail to see that every penny we possess is a gift from God. Psalm 24 reads “The earth is Lord’s and everything in it. The world, and all who live in it.” Sure, in a free market society one may maximize the money one possesses via hard work, investments, or a certain career path, but the ability to work hard, invest, and pursue those careers is all dependent on gifts freely given to us. In a world where we are repeatedly told that hard work will result in financial security, it can be difficult to remember that ingredients necessary for hard work to take place like fresh air to breath, clean water to drink, hands and minds to create and produce, are gifts from God. In a world of complicated financial systems and investment portfolios that can consume us and cause us to lose proper focus, it can be hard to remember that that people took the time to nurture us as infants, teach us as children, and love us all the days of our lives, all of which are unearned gifts.
One reason we gather in this place week after week is to sing a different kind of song. When we sing the Doxology – “Praise God from who all blessings flow” – on the heels of collecting the offering each week, we remind ourselves that as God’s people we are not to be entrapped by the pressure to call money, God. We remind ourselves that our lives, our money as well as our time and energy, talents and skills, are abundant blessings that flow from God to us all.
Recognition that all blessings come from God is only a first step we are asked to take, however. The next step God asks us to take is to give abundantly as God has given to us. As creatures made in the image of an all-giving God, we are made to be all-giving people. Therefore, we are not created to be possessors. Rather, we are to be stewards. Stewards do not possess what is in their control. Stewards manage what has been given to them. As stewards of God’s goodness, our task, then, is to effectively and efficiently share what God has given to us with others. Stewardship takes place on both an individual and communal level. Individuals are charged by God to manage their personal finances in a way that effectively meets the needs of others. As a church, collectively, we construct a church budget in order to be good stewards. Sure, some budget discussions and corresponding decisions are difficult, but a church budget is fundamentally a stewardship plan that expresses how a people will share its bounty.
This two step process, recognizing that all gifts flow from God and striving to share our gifts with others, are the principles on which God’s divine economy is constructed. The precepts of the divine economy stand in sharp contrast to those espoused by the free market economy. The divine economy is based on giving lavishly and abundantly. Adam Smith built capitalism on the belief that people will seek their own self-interest. While much good has come from out of the free-market, it is still based on self-interest, which inevitably ends up ruining many lives and enslaving many people.
However, when we commit to live our lives in accordance with God’s economy, beautiful and wonderful miracles happen. When we recognize that all gifts come from God and strive to give to others as God has given to us, lives are changed for the better, and sometimes lives, literally, are saved. When I look at some of the ways that your gifts to Crescent Hill Baptist Church have been put use just in the last few months, I see God’s economy at work. While we are not perfect stewards, no one, is, we are striving to live according to God’s economy. God, then, is taking our best efforts and transforming people’s lives in incredible ways.
- Because of your gifts, your financial gifts and the gifts of your time and talents, we coordinated an academic academy last summer for refugee children. The objective of the academy was to help the students maintain educational advancements made in the prior academic year. Reading and math skills assessments were conducted at the beginning and conclusion of the program. Not only did most of the students maintain their reading and math skills, most enhanced their skills and were better prepared to begin school this fall. The academic academy changed lives for the better.
- Because of your gifts we offer space to and support the Hope Academy, a school for older Karen boys in need of a unique educational opportunity run by Steve and Annette. Some of those boys will be able to get a diploma because of your support. Hope Academy changes lives for the better.
- Because of your gifts we are able to offer a very affordable meal for everyone on Wednesday evenings as well as opportunities for fellowship and prayer for adults. For some folks that is the only time during the week when they have a chance to eat dinner and be with others. Our Wednesday evening activities for adults change lives for the better.
- Because of your gifts we are able to offer Sunday School classes and small groups where people grow in spiritual maturity and develop meaningful, intimate relationships. I witnessed a concrete example of how these gatherings change lives for the better recently. The week between Nancy Howard’s death and her funeral, her Harmony Sunday School class prepared a meal for Nancy’s family every evening. Before leaving town, Nancy’s family expressed their deep appreciation to us for all our congregation did for them during their time of grief, and how valuable that was to them. Our small groups change lives for the better.
- Because of your gifts, we are able to offer pastoral care to those in hospitals and nursing homes and many others, which for many people reminds them that they do not face their struggles alone. Our ministries of care change lives for the better.
That’s just a sampling of how your gifts work their way into the divine economy here to change the lives of those intimately connected to this congregation for the better. But wait, there’s more.
- Because of your gifts our youth took a Mission Trip to Nada, KY last spring and did significant service work in Macon, GA while at Passport Camp. Your gifts changed lives in Nada and Macon this year.
- Because of your gifts we are able to provide space to and support for those recovering from divorce every Sunday evening, and for adults trying to learn English most Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.
That’s just a sampling of how your gifts to this church are changing our local community and beyond for the better. But wait, there’s more. I have yet to mention how money given to the church by the late Betty Ann Potter has been used in the last few months. Last spring the church received a sizable gift from the estate of Ms. Potter. Instead of spending those funds internally, the church decided to use the vast majority of that gift to serve others.
- $20,000 was given to Choices, a organization that provides transitional housing for homeless women and their families, so that they could finish constructing a common room for the women and children they serve.
- We gave $6,500 to United Crescent Hill Ministries so that they could purchase a new walk-in refrigerator and better meet the needs of the hungry in our neighborhood.
- A group of folks in the church used $25,000 to purchase and are now renovating a home on Payne Street that will soon be rented at an affordable rate to a family in need.
Because of your investment in the divine economy through Crescent Hill Baptist Church, lives are being changed. Lives are being saved.
God calls us to give abundantly and lavishly as God gives for another reason, however. God doesn’t just call us to give for the sake of others. At the conclusion of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, Paul thanks them for a recent gift they gave to him. Paul is grateful. However, he informs that Philippians that such a gift was not necessary. Paul possessed the strong belief that God would provide his every need. Paul goes on to say that those who really benefitted from that gift were the givers themselves, the Philippians. Paul was glad the Philippians gave, not for his sake, but for theirs.
If we unpack this a little more, I hear Paul saying that our gifts do change others lives, but at the end of the day, God has the capacity to meet every need that anyone may have. Ultimately, our gifts change us more than anyone else. In other words, a giver never can give more than the giver receives in return. This does not mean that if we give X amount of money to God that we will get X back with interest. It means that when we invest in the divine economy that God will give us fullness of life. It makes perfect sense that people created in the image of an always giving God, must give in order to live.
I hope that you will continue to give generously your financial resources to this place so that God’s economy will continue to change our lives and others for the better. God has done some incredible work through this place in recent days. Right now, however, we are behind on our offerings to our budget for 2011. Anything you can do to help us close that gap will ensure that we are better able to participate in the divine economy in the days ahead. Also, we continue to collect pledge cards as we shape our 2012 budget. If you have not already done so, please take a card and prayerfully consider what you will give to God through this place in 2012. Not only do I hope you will continue to offer your financial resources, I hope you will explore other ways you can participate in the divine economy here. Not only is our money a gift from God, our time and talents are gifts from God too. If you have been changed for the better by your involvement here, that is a wonderful God-given gift. Share that gift by telling others what God is doing through Crescent Hill Baptist Church. Take one of the letters you will find at the exits today to invite someone to join us as we journey. Or, you can give by agreeing to teach a children’s Sunday School class, for instance. That is an immediate need. Or, perhaps you can invest yourself by joining our hospitality team, social justice team, by driving a van, or singing in the choir. The gift of your time, energy, and talent is just as valuable to this church and to God as your money.
Above all else, in whatever ways you are able, here and everywhere invest yourself in God’s economy. Put God’s ways before all others. Realize that God is that source from which all blessings flow. Give your gifts as God has given to you, abundantly and lavishly. Reap the joy that comes from watching the lives of others be changed for the better. And, through your giving come to see what living is all about.