6 The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7 Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.
9 As it is written, “He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
11 You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us;
12 for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.  2 Cor 9:6-12 (NRSV)

God wants us to give, but he wants us to give as he gave: freely out of his abundant grace and love.  This is what it means to be part of God’s “New Creation“.  We sow the message of reconciliation and new creation and reap the harvest of a wider circle of reconciliation and righteousness.  “God loves a cheerful giver” – the spirit in which we sow is vitally important – why is this . . . so?

 I’m reminded of a sermon Jim McCormick delivered a few years ago about the Parable of the Sower.  Most of the time we consider the parable as it was explained by Jesus: comparing the seed to the Word of God and the various types of terrain on which it fell as the various types of people who heard the Word.  But Jim asked us to consider the parable from the standpoint of God – the Sower.  He scatters the seed with wild abandon, in all directions, on all types of soil, terrain and conditions.  And that is how God’s grace is – extravagant, poured out with joy in faithfulness and steadfast love for us. God calls us to join him in that same spirit of grace and love – to a ministry of generosity through which we accomplish his purpose.

So we must give in that same spirit – not grudgingly – not holding on to even one string, but in the realization that we are not giving what is ours, but sharing that which comes from God.  That is the way to God’s Kingdom come on earth.

     I looked at our lesson for today, Service, and wondered how I was to make a connection with the above story.  Let’s say that the table that is being set is “God’s church” and each piece of “service” represents individuals and what gifts they bring to His church.  No two pieces are the same and each piece serves an individual purpose.  All are necessary, but all are different. We are given instruction and proper placement of our “service” through God’s Word.  If we come to the table without “service” it would be extremely difficult to partake of the feast before us.  The same is true of God’s church, in that, if we come to His church without “service”  we can not truly call ourselves “servants of Christ”.  Maxie Dunnam writes:  “To be a Christian person, one fully alive in Christ, is to be one whose life reflects the life of Jesus.”   Paul writes -  “ we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the life of good deeds which God designed for us.”  (Ephesians 2:10)  “and it is he who has given some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip God’s people for work in his service, for the building up of the body of Christ…” (Ephesians 4: 11-12) – Karen

     Maxie Dunnam quotes Second Corinthians 9:10 – “Now he who provides seed for sowing and bread for food will provide the seed for you to sow;  he will multiply it and swell the harvest of your benevolence, and you will always be rich enough to be generous.”  What a promise that is!  Our giving back to God what He has freely given to us is of such importance that it is a much written about subject in the New Testament, see, Matthew 6:21; Matthew 7:6; Matthew 10:8, Matthew 22:21; Luke 12:48; Luck 16:10-12; Acts 20:35; 1 Timothy 5:8; 1 Timothy 6:6,7; and, 1 Timothy 6:10.

     The subjects of stewardship and tithing are ones that can be uncomfortable to discuss in an open forum.  I believe that is why we are given our church packets and asked to take them home and open our hearts to Him through prayer.  There, we can ask for His guidance and have trust in our Father that, when we give with a generous heart, He will accept our gifts and, as He assures us in Second Corinthians 9:10 – “add a little something to it!” – Karen

     Worship is not optional, it is a commandment. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” Exodus 20:8 – This is not to say that we are only to set aside one day for worship, but rather it is the opportunity for the church to celebrate together and gather strength and support in one another’s arms, praising God and saying “Hallelujah” and “Amen” together.  It offers Christ the opportunity to walk amongst us loving us as a whole body, His body.   I believe that when the early churches read Paul’s letters that they actually felt his presence amongst themselves.  Do you feel the presence of our Savior when His Word is spoken from the pulpit?

     Consider this…what if the day you decide to not be present is the day that God has a very special purpose for your life and the life of His church?  We all have reasons to be absent from our church worship service from time-to-time – but do we take the time, when absent in body, to become united with our church family in worship and prayer during our scheduled worship services?  

     Maxie Dunnam asks – “Have you ever experienced a deeply moving worship service?” – I say – “Let’s share!” – Karen

 But born to do what?  That is the question left unanswered too often.  That is the difference in what we believe and what others believe.  To what purpose do we die?  For what purpose are we “born again”?  For me, the answer is to live our lives as if Christ were in us.  And that focus is on “us” — not “me”, but “us”.

 ”We” are the Church — the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church — the Bride of Christ.  We not only serve as Christ would serve individually, but corporately as the Church.  Sometimes we forget this in our frontier society attitudes toward the “rugged individual”.  True stewardship recognizes that we bring our gifts, our prayers, our service together.  In the Adult Bible Study Series for this quarter I was struck by today’s Daily Bible Study scripture, which is from Acts:

44 All who believed were together and had all things in common;
45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.
46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts,
47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.   Acts 2:44-47 (NRSV)

What a wonderful description of the early Church.  We forget sometimes how much the Church is the focus of the New Testament.  Think about this for a minute — how many of the Epistles are directed to individuals?  How many to churches?  How much of Paul’s concern was for what the churches were doing as it was for what trouble and dissension was being caused by individuals?  Maybe “losing our lives” means not doing so individually so much as surrendering our individuality in voluntary service for the greater good.  How do you square this concept with what you might think about the American ideal of the “rugged individual”?  But is this really an “ideal” in our heritage; or did the founding fathers (and mothers and brothers, etc.) really make the same argument that it is through “hanging together” that we achieve true freedom?

 I know some of you have thoughts on this . . .

“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.”

This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t work to clothe, feed and house ourselves — it doesn’t mean that we should live recklessly and not try to exercise and maintain a healthy diet:  that would be to adopt the philosophy of the “rich fool” in the parable immediately preceeding our lesson scripture who was so focused on worldly comfort and security.  Remember what his goal was?  It was to say to himself, “[Y]ou have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink and be merry”.  The true meaning of last week’s lesson scripture is that we should place God first and the world second.  Think about this for a minute.  Ten years from now, what are you concerned about?  In twenty years?  What about fifty years from now?

Maybe your answer to the last question is that you’re concerned with your children or grand-children, or with your legacy in the community . . . maybe your concern is the well-being of the very planet itself.  Okay, now what about your concerns for two thousand years from now . . . or two million years?  You can see where this is heading:  What are your concerns with an eternity?

Yesterday’s key verse could have as well been the last verse of our lesson scripture, Luke 12:34:

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”.

The message is really about prioritizing, isn’t it?  The message isn’t, “Don’t worry, be happy” — it’s “Don’t worry about trying to control things in this world that won’t last no matter how hard you try . . . worry about that which is eternal.”  The verses following our lesson scripture are worth noting:

“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.”  Luke 12:35-36.

If that is our priority, and not the world, then do we become monks: withdrawn from this world and waiting on the next?  Our next lesson has something to say about that.  Read the lesson scripture now(Luke 10:1-12, 17-20), and then think about (and blog about) it through the week to see what difference it might make next Sunday.  The key verse is:

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Luke 10:2

That verse alone should be sufficient for in-depth comments and discussion.

I know many of you are in leadership positions, whether you admit it or not,  and I wanted to share the following email devotional I received with you. It summarizes servanthood leadership at its best.  Enjoy.  

The qualifications for being a leader do not consist solely of sitting behind a desk and barking out orders for others to accomplish. If that were the case, life as we know it would come to a standstill, with lots of talk but no action. Successful leaders are able to delegate duties to others but are also willing to perform them if necessary.

I know of one grocery store chain where the CEO and his team of vice-presidents attend the grand opening of each new location. Instead of simply basking in the spotlight of another success, they get to work, helping the new staff. They can be seen stocking shelves, performing price checks, helping customers, and bagging groceries. They even gather shopping carts from the parking lot. Talk about setting an example for the new employees to follow!

Jesus set the perfect example on the night he was betrayed by Judas Iscariot. As the evening meal was being served, he got up from the table, grabbed a towel and basin of water, and proceeded to wash the feet of his disciples. Such a task was supposed to be done by a servant, but Jesus was willing to take on that role. Peter wasn’t sure what to think of this, rejecting the foot washing at first. He had to be convinced. Later, Jesus informed Peter and the other disciples that leadership equals servanthood. It’s not an easy truth for many leaders to apply to life, but Christ’s example that night makes an eloquent case.

So the next time you’re ready to tell someone what to do, think back to that evening meal when the Lord, on his knees, washed the dirty, smelly feet of those he loved—and for whom he later died. That’s leadership in its highest form. How can you follow that example?

There is no question that many who receive a windfall are not prepared to manage the new found wealth and are surrounded by new friends and associates who would like to share in their friends good fortune, but chances are those lottery winners whose consequent misfortune we read about in the paper probably weren’t very good stewards of their prior resources either. We never read about the ones who were good stewards with their prior resources and continue to be with the lottery winnings or other windfall they have received.

The story Jesus tells in Matthew 25: 14-30 is one that I often use as we talk about stewardship of one’s resources. When I think of the story literally in terms of giving each servant a sum of money to protect while he was away, it strikes me that the master was harsh with the one who was simply trying to ensure that he did not lose what had been entrusted to him. However, when I think of it in terms of all our gifts – talents and abilities as well as financial or material resources, I better understand the message of the story. God doesn’t want us to “hide our talents under a basket” out of fear, laziness or selfishness – he wants us to grow and nurture those talents so they can be used to serve Him and help those around us. Likewise, God doesn’t want us to “hide our money in the mattress” for fear of losing it. He wants us to be prudent and “invest” those resources as well so that they can grow and be used to better serve Him.

Many times we face the same fear that the servant did. We fear losing what we have so much that we again cling too tightly and fail to see what could be. With financial resources, we’re so fearful of letting go, that we don’t realize there are dangers with any course we take. That money in the mattress could burn, be stolen or when we most need it, may be worth less or nothing at all (you can’t buy a lot with Confederate money these days). I think this chapter, like the previous one, is all about Trusting God.

We so often focus on the fear of not having enough for our families and fail to let go and trust God to bless us through obedience to him with our resources of money and time. I don’t believe God calls many of us to a life of poverty but rather to simply be good stewards of the resources he’s provided and to be cheerful givers understanding that all we have is from Him. We may foolishly pride ourselves and pat ourselves on the back for working harder or being smarter than someone else, but ultimately everyone of us has had the wonderful fortune and blessing of being placed in a situation that 99%+ of our fellow human beings could not imagine in their wildest dreams. While returning the first portion of what God has given us is an obligation, we have every reason to do so cheerfully with complete trust in Him.    

I pray that I will be more attuned to God’s guidance and willing to let go at those times my faith is not as strong as it should be. – John Mark

As a class, we’ve spoken many times throughout the years about listening and taking advantage of opportunities to serve God by reaching out to others. In reading this chapter, I was reminded of the many generous people in our Sunday School class, our church, and our broader community who give their time and resources to help others in so many diverse ways.

Whether it’s mission work, the funding of educational scholarships for needy students, providing healthcare for the working poor, volunteering at the Helping Hands, and so on, there are unlimited opportunities to do God’s work.  — Karen H.

Fact:  More than that is an offering.

I’ll confess that I should give more — each year I do the same thing we all do at this time — think and prayer and then write down a weekly or monthly number and pledge to make that my monetary stewardship obligation.  Then I try to exceed that number.  So far I’ve noticed that if I take care of my pledge first, I usually can do more.  Sometimes it’s dropping a little cash in the offering plate, sometimes it’s at year’s end.

 It’s hard to remind ourselves that all we have comes from God — including money, possessions . . . life.  I like what John Ed Mathison says . . . “give it a shot”.  I would add that if you fall short of the mark — give it another shot . . .