Sermon 11-15-09
Exodus 20: 3-17 Mark 10:17-22
“For Better or For Worse”
Last week Rev. Dale Hempen talked about “the Fruit of the Spirit.” Notice that fruit is not a plural but a singular word. “The Fruit of the Spirit” are nine and you can’t have one apart from the others, because they are all related and interconnected. We can’t love our neighbors if we don’t love ourselves first. Joy is felt and shared; kindness is learned and taught; patience takes time; and generosity can’t happen without self-control because generosity is about commitment.
In the words of William Green: “Generosity is not one aspect of life apart from the rest of life. It’s a way of living, not only a way of giving.”
PRAYER
“When we look at the church, “there is no “me” without “we.” We find our identity (as Christians) as part of the wider world of others. Our baptismal vows… and
(The Big Secret of Giving: Hidden Treasures in Life and Church, by William Green. Pg. 5).
Often the Bible acts as a mirror, throwing back to us reflections of ourselves or of our culture in the characters and conversations on the page. The questions asked, the attitudes exposed, the priorities held seem amazingly
modern... We can take ( today’s gospel text) traditionally called the rich young man story… and easily be dressed in contemporary garb and re-present (anyone of us). His religious heritage, his prosperity, and his sincerity are admirable qualities…
The rich man…in coming, he kneels before Jesus and raises an existential question. (What must I do to inherit eternal life?). When Jesus asked him about his commandments, his answer: (“I have kept all these since my youth,” in other words, I know the law and I follow it). (He was) straight forward and need not be taken as an arrogant or presumptuous reply. In no way does Jesus’ treatment of the man challenge or mock his integrity. The key is 10:21: “Jesus looking at him, loved him.”
(“Texts for Preaching,” Brueggemann. Year B, pg. 546-547)
Jesus loved him as he was, and where he was in his spiritual journey at that moment. “Seeing him clear through, Jesus does not rebuke him or discipline him, but loves him… and he said to him: “You lack one thing…
What was lacking in the life of the rich young man? Commitment!
Jesus would say to us today with the same love: “CSCC you lack one thing? Commitment!
Jesus said: “…go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven; then come and follow me.” Following Jesus means that we have to be committed to him and to the church. It means that we have to look at ourselves closely and ask: What are my priorities in life, where is my heart, what do I need to let go of to follow Jesus.
Where is your treasure, what possessions are you unable to let go of?.
What takes priority in your life? How do you balance your life between: entertainment, sports, education, retirement, investment, family and God.
I know that your job sustains your life style; that you have ambitions, dreams and desires for yourself and your family; your children’s future is important, their educational funds, and your retirement plans, investments and the like. What other things take priority in your daily life, what takes the place of answering God’s call? Soccer, hockey, basketball, baseball, softball or football, you name it, or cheerleading, ballet classes, piano lessons, and other things that take away, the money, the time and the talents that God has given us to share as a “we” in this community of faith. Our culture conflicts with our Christianity constantly, often clouding our priorities.
Who has time, talent or money for the church?
“The rich young man knew what he needed to do; he just could not do it.
Are we standing in the same place as that rich man?
Wholehearted discipleship cannot take place until the ties to the human possessions are broken, ties so intense and so enslaving that he can only hang his head and walk away grieving.” (Brueggemann, pg.547)
“…for he had many possessions.” (v. 22b).
William James said: “The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.” (W. Green, pg. 11)
Why don’t we always have time for church and quality time for God?
What are we missing that we can’t find in the busyness of our lives?
Could it be that our commitment to Jesus’ ideals and
Commitment is like a marriage, you are in it for the long run,
“for better or for worse,” for richer or poorer. When we are married we compromise, we struggle together until we find the solution to a particular situation or problem.
In contrast statistics show that people who live together are not as committed to each other. When there is no commitment it’s easier to leave because it just doesn’t work out.
We as members of the church are as if married to the church thereby committed to stay together. We don’t “walk out” or “leave,” we don’t withhold our pledges or not pledge at all, we work conflicts out! We’ll work until we find common ground; yes! we compromise; yes! we give a little and take a little. Compromising is like sharing an orange you can just cut it in half and break even. If we intentionally collaborate and truly hear each other, then, we will discover that one would like to use the peel of the orange in a recipe and the other would like to use the pulp to make juice.
As we look at next year’s budget, we are really encouraging you the members and friends of the church to consider pledging in earnest! The way we have done the budget the previous 15 years is no longer working for us. The way we always have done it, is eliminating our reserves, we are running out of that endowment money.
The challenge this year for us is to pledge and to work with a budget based on the pledges received. I invite you to go home and talk with your family about committing to a certain amount for next year’s budget, then you will receive a pledge card next Sunday, and we will bring them forward as Christ’s body and an offering to God and this church. The Stewardship and Trustees boards of the church, would like to work with the pledges received. As we evolve to become better stewards of our resources, endowment funds and money, we need to change our course. We need transparency! We need to work with the real numbers not with “hoped for numbers” in order to continue the ministries we have. I believe we can do it! They believe we can it! We can do it! It will take commitment, the same commitment that Jesus expected from the young man, and expects from us.
This is a challenge and a leap of faith, faith does not happen by itself, faith is shown in action. I invite you to commit yourself to giving generously.
BENEDICTION
Let us go out of this place willing to look at our priorities,
willing to come back and pledge in faith to the commitment
that we have with God and with one another.
Receive God’s blessing, Jesus’ love and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
