1.
Grace, mercy, and
peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
and may his Holy Spirit fill your heart and mind in the hearing of His
Word. That Word for today, the final
Sunday of our three-week theme, “Stewards
Living a God-Pleasing Life,” comes to us from 2 Corinthians 9:15 where
Paul, after words with much conviction, commitment, and understanding of the
faithfulness of God toward him, says, "Thanks
be to God for His indescribable gift," and that’s the gift of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. This is the
Word of the Lord. The message is
entitled, “Generosity is the Hallmark.”
2.
Decades ago there
was a man who wanted to come to America, so he got together the money he had
and checked on the price of a ticket to get on a steamship that would come to
America and land in New York. As he
prepared for his journey, he decided that what he would do is take what money
he had and buy a ticket, which he did, but, to save money on having to pay for
the meals which he heard were very extravagant on the steamship, he bought a
supply of cheese and crackers. He bought
what he thought would last him for the journey.
But, as his luck would have it, the damp salty air made his crackers
soft. His cheese got hard and some of it
became rancid, and so he was living in a dilemma. What really put the icing on the cake,
though, was when a steward walked by carrying a tray of the most delicious
smelling foods that you could imagine.
It was those smells from that tray that finally weakened him to the
point that he counted his money again and decided to part with some of it,
whatever it took to sit down in the dining room and have one meal there. When he caught a steward a little bit later on,
he stopped him and asked, "How much
does it cost to go to the dining room and to sit down and have a meal
there?" The steward looked at
him a little puzzled and said, "Do
you have a ticket for the ship?"
He said, "Yes." The steward said, "The meals are included, sir."
3.
How many of God's
people are living as crackers-and-cheese Christians? We're willing to settle for something. We may survive on it, we may get by on it,
but all the while we’re subsisting on crackers and cheese. But, there's also this wondrous feast that’s
prepared, and it’s served up to you as God's people to receive the richness of
God’s grace, forgiveness, and love in Jesus Christ through God’s Word and
Sacrament. For those of you who have
been on a cruise ship, you know what the meals can be like. In fact, I hear a lot about the food when
people come back from cruises - how there was a meal, then a snack between the
meals and pre-meal snack and a meal, an early afternoon snack, a late afternoon
snack, then there's a meal, there's a late night snack. That's the one that really got my attention -
it sounds like they kind of lay it all out there for the nighttime feast, and,
if you still have any room left, you can really enjoy it. Crackers and cheese! Who wants to eat crackers and cheese all the
time? Well, none of us do. They might be good. You might like them. Regardless of that, the point is that God is
a generous giver. He makes a feast for
us every single day, and we can take in all that He has to give to us in the
way of His grace, His love, and forgiveness for us, and so much more, because
He also provides for us in ways that we often forget and take for granted. He provides for us our food and clothing and
shelter, so we can be able to afford those things and take those cruises, right? God provides it all. God truly is the most generous giver of
all. In fact, here's a word from our
theme for today - it is a "hallmark"
of God. He gives so much on a daily
basis in such a way that we can't help but see that He's put it there for
us. This isn’t for someone else. This is for me and I can then share it. There's where the generosity begins - a
spirit of reflecting His light, a spirit of sharing Him with others, a real
sense that God has richly blessed.
4.
Generosity can be
our hallmark also. We have received
everything we need for this life and the next.
We have feasted on His Word and Sacrament. And, so we are able to respond joyfully by
giving cheerfully and generously to those around us. God’s love, seen in His giving, especially in
the giving of His Son, motivates us to show our love through our giving. In fact, the very word grace, charis in
Greek, means underserved kindness, mercy, goodwill. It’s God’s underserved kindness to us that
even while we were still sinners, He sent His Son Jesus to die for us, for the
forgiveness of our sins.
5.
The Israelites
had feasted on God’s goodness. He led
them out of Egypt loaded with the wealth of their former masters. He sustained them through years of wandering
in the desert. Then it came time to
build the tabernacle, and Moses asked for their offerings. The Israelites gave generously as they had
been generously blessed. In fact, their
response was so overwhelming they had to be restrained in their giving. Generosity
became their hallmark. In Exodus
36:6 we read, “Then Moses gave an order
and they sent this word throughout the camp: ‘No man or woman is to make
anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.
And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they
already had was more than enough to do all the work.”
6.
Hundreds of years
later, King David embarked on a similar project, the building of the Temple in
Jerusalem. He set the example, giving of
his personal treasures, and the people followed suit, along with great rejoicing
at the willing response of their leaders and their own ability to give. “The
people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given
freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord.
David the king also rejoiced greatly” (1 Chronicles 29:9). Again the hallmark of their giving was
generosity.
7.
During the time
of Jesus, Zacchaeus was a tax collector who loved money. When Jesus changed his heart, Christ became
his Lord and Master. Rather than hoard
his money, he gave much of it away to those in need. Zacchaeus astounds us with his amazing
generosity, a change so complete we know it’s the work of Jesus. Here was a man whose money was his god. As the chief tax collector, he had cheated
people out of their money. Generosity was the hallmark as he gave
half of his money away to the poor. He
now saw money as a tool that could be used for good. Money was no longer an end in itself. Through his giving, he was honoring and
praising Jesus. His giving was an
outward expression of a changed heart.
8.
Then there was
the Widow who gave all that she had. She
didn’t give like the others from her surplus because she had no surplus. She had nothing left, but she had God’s gift
of faith to trust in Jesus for her next meal.
She relied on God’s promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
9.
Generosity was the hallmark of these responses, and it was made possible because
these givers knew that all they had came from the hand of God. David prayed, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the
majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; Wealth and
honor come from You . . . we give You thanks, and praise Your glorious
name.” Wow! What a prayer! The prayer of those who are committed to
respond as they have been blessed.
10.
TODAY YOU are
going to have the opportunity to make our financial commitments to God through
our church. Through our giving, we
express our gratitude for who God is and what He has done and continues to do
for us. Giving is an expression of
thanks, trust, and love. In the Biblical
accounts about giving that we just discussed, people gave whether they had much
or little. Giving begins with the heart
and reaches to the pocket- book. Giving
for Christians is not an option; it’s expected.
Only by God’s grace can we become generous and cheerful givers.
11.
A story is told
of an irate parent who phoned her little boy's Sunday school teacher. She was very angry. “Is it
true that you told the kids, including my son, that they're crazy?” She demanded an answer, and the teacher gave
one, "No, I didn't tell them that
they were crazy, but I did tell them that they needed to be
committed." Crazy or not, I pray
that of us. I pray that we will be
committed. I pray that we would show
that commitment to Him and to the cross and to His love and His working in our
lives. May we be granted, by the power
of His Holy Spirit, to accomplish His purpose, and may people see that it's the
character of our lives that the hallmark of His work in us is that we are
generous people. Amen
12.
Prayer: Dearest
Heavenly Father, You have told us that we are God's workmanship through Christ
Jesus to do good works which You prepared in advance for us to do. Lord, don't let us miss even one opportunity
to use our time and talents and treasures so that you might accomplish Your
purpose. Keep us mindful that You have
given each of us unique and ordinary gifts—all of which You can and will use
for Your kingdom. Let generosity be our
hallmark, also, as we eagerly give of our time, talents, and treasures. In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen.
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