Sermon for October 29, 2006

WITH GLAD AND GENEROUS HEARTS

4^th in a series on The Next Step of Faith

By

Rev. Dr. Harvey c. Martz

¹ Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.  ² I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

There is a story about generosity that has been around for a while and you may have heard a version of it from one preacher or another. Jane and Stuart Siekmeier reminded me of it a few days ago, saying they heard Rev. Jim Barnes tell one variation some years back. The version I heard and have used before is that a recently ordained United Methodist Minister who had been assigned as an associate minister at a large church was given a wonderful ordination gift from his older brother. His brother had been very successful in developing a new company and sold the company recently and he brought for an ordination gift a new Toyota Prius for his clergy brother.

The minister was out one afternoon making pastoral calls and was walking up to the front door of a church member when he was greeted by the 7 year old boy playing in the front yard. The boy was looking at the brand new Prius—it was black and shiny and really classy looking and he told the young minister how much he liked his car.

The freshly minted preacher was a little embarrassed by having such a nice car when he was just out of seminary and still had some student loans to pay off, so he explained to the boy that he had just received the new car from his very generous brother.

The child thought for just a second and then said, “Gee, I wish I could be a brother like that.” The minister was taken aback and thought he heard wrong.

Surely the child meant that he wished he had a brother like that so he asked, “What did you say?” Sure enough, the same response, “I wish I could be a brother like that!”

From the mouth of a child came the same wisdom that we also heard from the words of Jesus in this short passage from Acts. This is the apostle Paul doing something he almost never does—he is quoting a saying, a teaching of Jesus. Paul did not know the earthly Jesus; he knew the risen Jesus, the resurrected Lord and what Paul mostly does is talk about the meaning of Jesus’ life and death and resurrection instead of doing what the gospel writers do—tell us of Jesus’ teachings.

But here Paul quotes a saying of Jesus that we find nowhere else in the Bible; it certainly sounds just like Jesus!

There is more happiness in giving than in receiving. There is more joy, more blessing, in giving than in receiving.

We have discovered that. Remember a time when you have thought a lot about a gift for someone, a gift that has special meaning or is for a very important occasion and you give it to the friend or loved one and you see the appreciation on their face and you have gotten as much joy out of planning and giving the gift as they have receiving it. Or think about Christmas times when you have picked out just the right thing for a child or grandchild and you see the excitement and the happiness and you have probably gotten more joy then they have out of seeing them treasure what they have received and what you have given.

You can name many other times when you have practiced sharing and giving to others and you have gotten more fulfillment out of that sharing than they have. Talk about a time like that over lunch or dinner today.

Jesus reminds us of the gladness, the blessing, the joy that is ours when we refuse to think life is just about us, when we stop being “gimme pigs” and live lives of generosity and sharing and kindness to others—when we live with open hearts and open hands and not with closed grabby fists.

This is Consecration Sunday for us in this congregation when we make some new promises to live generously and when we make commitments and promises to God and return to God just a portion of what God has blessed us with. 

I want to remind us of how the sharing we will do, how the commitments we will make for next year can help us feel joyful, feel the blessing that Jesus tells us about. 

Judy and I have been listening for the past few weeks to the CD our youth choir made at the end of their nine day choir tour in June—four months ago. They toured the Pacific Northwest and sang in a drug rehab center, a homeless shelter, a halfway house, a nursing home as well as in some churches. They prayed with some of the people in each of those places.

And, most powerfully, they told their own stories of transformation and crossing over a threshold into a new chapter of life. One youth told of taking control of his eating habits and practicing self discipline and losing 60 pounds. Another told about his father recently being released from prison and wondering if he would be able to relate to his father now since he had not seen his father for so many years. Another youth told about coming to terms with her depression and becoming more disciplined about taking her medication regularly and feeling better as a result.

Your giving, your generosity, makes that youth music ministry possible in one of the most active youth programs in any UM church in the whole western US. Do you feel any blessing, any joy, from knowing that? 

Let’s talk about a couple of other youth activities. Last month we heard youth minister Mike Ratliff tell us about the results of our summer youth mission trips where, among other things, we built a new pre school building in Belize and we had some of our youth return with a deeper sense of how lucky we are and how we have so much and one youth came back and went to his closet full of stuff and clothes and started giving some away because he learned that he did not need all of that—and he learned the truth of Jesus’ words that it is more blessed to give than receive and he was able like the older brother in our story to be a kind of brother who shared with someone else and experienced the joy of sharing and giving. 

And two weeks ago we had the immense privilege of witnessing the confirmation promises of 34 of our teenagers who stood up here and, in front of God and everyone, affirmed themselves to be disciples of Jesus Christ and to let the life and teachings of Christ help form their internal moral and spiritual compass—guiding them to what is right and ignoring, when they need to, the phrase, “everybody else is doing it”.

We could talk on and on about how your commitment card has helped you be a sister and brother who shares good things with children and youth. Our Children’s Learning Center right now serves 205 young children most of whose families are not church members here. The amazing news is that not only do we serve those families, there is a waiting list of another 130 families who would like for their child to be in our program but we are full. That is the kind of reputation for excellence that our church team has developed—only possible because of your commitment, your generosity, your giving this year and this morning also.

There is blessing in giving—more than even in receiving; can you feel that blessing yet this morning from knowing what we are able to do together??

Let me tell you about another outreach program for children: our Rainbows program for kids who have lost a parent through death or divorce. Right now we have 22 children elementary through middle school in our building weekly learning to grieve and cope and deal with the death or loss of a parent. Most of the kids are not from our congregation; they are referred to us by school counselors around us. They are being led by some of the most caring compassionate volunteers in our congregation who have already seen kids feel comforted and relieved by just knowing they are not alone as they deal with the pain of grief and loss.  Your giving helps that happen. You are being a giving sister, a generous brother, to those kids.

We talked about mission trips, going where the needs are and Keith Winkel filled us in on the most recent mission trip to help support the work of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, one of the most respected relief organizations in the world. UMCOR is one of the first groups on the scene whenever there is a national or international disaster and people have so much respect for UMCOR that three months ago FEMA signed a contract for about $60 million with our agency to do more work in Louisiana because of the reputation for competence that our relief agency has. Your commitment card, your giving makes that happen.

And most of you know about several of the local groups and agencies that we together support with money and volunteers—there is a list of 23 of them! You heard recently about the program of providing housing in our building a week at a time for several homeless families. They get decent meals and a safe place to sleep at night while during the day they are in training programs to help them get work and then get their own place. That has happened already with several of the homeless families we have hosted over the past nine months and our 90 volunteers have stayed in touch with some of those families. Two weeks ago we held a baby shower here in the building for one of those new mothers who is now in a house of their own and we showered her with gifts. Your fellow members did that and your giving makes that possible. Are you feeling the blessing yet of seeing some families get back on their feet and getting, not a hand out but a hand up? Can you feel the joy that comes from giving??

Let me tell you about a couple of other uses of our building during the week. We sponsor and give space to AA groups, Al Anon groups, any other twelve step groups. Most of the folks in that group are not from our church, they are from the community, and they are being helped and healed in those groups. They are turning in a new direction, a healthier direction. We believe in twelve step groups. They work; they provide support, love and accountability. They help people stop behaving destructively and start behaving productively. Your generosity, your pledge card, your giving to God’s work lets you be a sister, a brother who shares and cares. Can you feel the blessing that comes from that yet?

Three other things on my list: you and I sponsored a community forum last week that drew almost 100 people on a World Series night to learn more about two controversial ballot issues on the Colorado ballot. People came from the neighborhood and from the church and it was so important that we had a chance to hear a balanced presentation for and against and could be informed enough to make up our own mind. This is how democracy works—citizens learning, listening, and studying, in dialogue. This building is a resource for us to be informed and engaged citizens. I was so proud of this church.

Let me tell you about other uses of our building. We had a small funeral here last week for Jane Siekmeier’s mom. It is so important for us to provide this chance for families to come together and to remember and to grieve and to be comforted. Our UMW group did its usual splendid job of providing food and refreshments for people to mingle and talk. That experience of a memorial service or funeral is so critical for folks and it is part of the grieving process and we take it very seriously—our whole staff does. Your generosity lets us do this.

And, on a different note, we have had nine weddings here since we started here 19 months ago. That is so important. One of the times I know I am on holy ground is when I stand in front of the altar with two people as they promise to love, comfort, honor and keep each other in sickness and in health. And there are usually tears in all of our eyes as those vows are exchanged. 

Your giving helps that happen so far and in the future as well.

I hope in those examples you feel the blessing that comes from giving to God’s work through this church. I think it is a privilege to make those experiences possible. I think we are doing you a favor by allowing you to fill out a commitment card!

If you are new with us today, we don’t expect you to participate in a few moments as we distribute cards and bring them forward. If you are a member of this church you have promised to participate—we all made that promise when we joined.

And if you have been coming here for a while and you want to be more than just a recipient, a consumer, I encourage you to fill out a card as your next step of faith. For some persons, bringing a commitment card forward for the first time will make possible some other steps of growth in your pilgrimage with God that were not yet possible. Is this THE NEXT STEP OF FAITH FOR YOU??? 

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