Loving and Giving

Stewardship Sermon, October 26, 2008
Scripture: 2 Cor. 8:

Today is the beginning of our Stewardship Campaign. Did you ever look at the word stewardship? There are several small words in that big word. First there’s “stew”—that’s what a congregation can get into after a stewardship sermon; Then there’s war, which is what can take place in a trustees’ budget discussion; ‘ship’ is the third syllable. Like the Titanic, if there’s a hole in church giving, it can sink pretty fast. Finally the word ‘hip’, a reminder that total stewardship is about the whole body!

I don’t know why but somehow Stewardship sermons make me want to tell a joke or two. In these days of economic worries, I want to tell you about a little boy who wanted one hundred dollars very much. He prayed and prayed for two weeks and nothing happened so he decided to write a letter to God requesting the one hundred dollars. When the post office received the letter addressed to “God, USA”, they didn’t know what to do with it, so sent it to the President at the White House. The president was so impressed he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a five dollar bill. “That should look like a large sum of money to one so young,” he said. And indeed the boy was delighted with the five dollars and immediately sat down to write a thank-you note to God, which read: “Dear God, thank you for sending me the money. However, I notice that for some reason you had it sent through Washington, DC and as usual the government deducted ninety-five percent!”

This year the Stewardship Committee chose generosity for the theme. Our poster quotes Proverbs in saying “the world of the generous gets larger and larger.” In our pledge letters we included a quote from today’s epistle from Paul to the Corinthians that points out the generosity of Jesus in becoming poor so we could become rich. Paul links this generosity with love, he says that he is testing the genuineness of the Corinthians’ love by encouraging them to continue their earlier example of giving to the offering according to their means, and even beyond their means. He finishes our portion of the letter by quoting Moses when he was instructing the Israelites about taking just enough manna for their daily needs, “The one who had much did not have too much and the one who had little did not have too little.”

We are all aware of the financial crises in our world at the moment. It’s bound to affect some of you sitting out there this morning. When you think about your financial gifts to the church, you do have to make sure you have enough for your own needs. I believe all we have comes from God in one way or another. 1 Chronicles 29:14 reads, “Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the splendor, and the majesty; for everything in heaven and on earth is yours. All things come from you, and of your own do we give you.” So according to this, God is the owner of all we have, and we are the ower.

When I was in Washington, DC I sometimes attended the Church of the Savior, whose membership commitment says: "I commit myself, regardless of the expenditures of time, energy, and money to becoming an informed, mature Christian. I believe that God is the total owner of my life and resources. I give God the throne in relation to the material aspect of my life. God is the owner. I am the ower. Because God is a lavish giver I too shall be lavish and cheerful in my regular gifts."

So in keeping with this kind of theology of receiving, the first question is not "How much do I give to God of what is mine?" Rather it is "How much of God’s do I keep for myself?" At various times in our life, we may need to receive from the estate that has been entrusted to us almost 100%. At other times in our life, we may need to receive for ourselves from the estate 90% or less. But whatever stage of our life, one thing is clear: All that we have is a trust from God. We came into this world with nothing, and we leave this world with nothing. When thinking about giving back to God remember that our God is an extravagant God. God wants to lavish on us great abundance. In Luke 19:28-30 Jesus promises those who would abandon everything and follow him that they should receive "many times over" (RSV) with respect to their earthly needs and human friendships.

I heard a quote this week about loving and giving that I really like: "One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving." (repeat) Our Gospel lesson has Jesus reiterating what the Old Testament prophets said, "’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ I believe that you who are part of this church want to know and show God’s love. Most of you come because you want to be closer to God, and there is something in this body of Christ that helps you do that. This love of God naturally leads to the second greatest commandment which includes loving and caring for ourself and others.

In the 2 Corinthians passage we see Jesus as the perfect example of one who willingly became poor so that we may become rich. He set aside what could have been much glory and material riches to join himself to broken humanity. This kind of generosity is something that comes from God’s grace and not something we can say we want and immediately get. “Generosity is a quality which will develop in our lives only as we look to the Spirit of Christ to change us from within.”1 It comes as we allow Christ to work in our hearts and souls. The generosity I am talking about is not just giving money, but it is also giving of our time and talent. We don’t all have the same resources, but we all have something to give that this church needs. If any of you are doubtful about that come and talk to me. Certainly, if we are to survive in this society, much of the financial resources we possess have to be used for our own existence. Yet, once Jesus has touched our life, many of us will want to give generously to the church. This reminds me of a minister who wrote to a wealthy businessman, and requested a donation for the church. He promptly received a blunt refusal, which ended with these words: "As far as I can see, this Christian business is just one continuous GIVE, GIVE, GIVE!" The minister wrote the following reply: "I wish to thank you for the best definition of the Christian life that I have yet heard!"

Did you know that there are over 2000 verses in the Bible about how we treat the poor and oppressed ?2 You may remember that Jesus says you cannot serve both God and mammon or wealth. You cannot serve God and do whatever you please with your money. In that same discussion Jesus says "Don't be anxious, because everything you need will be given to you." Jesus talks a great deal about the kingdom of God -- and what he means by that is a life reorganized toward caring for each other. To do that, our abundance and the poverty of others need to be brought into a new balance. This process has nothing to do with being Republicans or Democrats, liberals or conservatives, socialists or capitalists. If we have the technology to go to the moon and create all of these small and powerful electronics, we can certainly find a way to share our abundance, showing our generosity to others, just as God shows generosity to us.

I’d like to repeat a story I have shared with you before. One day a clerk in a shoe store in Nova Scotia witnessed a little barefoot boy standing by the hot air register outside the bakery shop next door trying to keep warm. He wasn't sure if he should invite the boy into the store or just what to do with him, when a middle-aged lady came by and began to talk with the boy. About five minutes later, she brought him into the store and bought him new shoes and a pair of heavy woolen socks. He then overheard the boy ask the lady a question. "Are you God's wife?" Her reply was, "No son, I'm just one of God’s children." The boy said "Well, I knew you must be some kin to him." And quickly thanked her and ran out the door.

I believe that the grace of generosity comes from knowing that we are one of God’s children. And just as important it comes because we know that not only are we the children of God, but that all other people, are also children of God, The abundant grace of generous giving arises out of knowing that we can make a difference to someone in need, out of knowing that we can help others, as God has helped us, and that we can be for others the healing hands of God, the giving hands of God, the comforting hands of God.

Generosity arises out of love for our brothers and sisters and out of our love for God, and out of God's love for us. Without financial support, this church could not carry on, providing all of us a place to worship, to receive spiritual nourishment, the availability of a professionally trained minister for pastoral care, including funerals and weddings. Without generous giving this church would not be able to reach out to care for the spiritual and practical needs of the larger community. The miracle is that when we give graciously and openly, with love, we also receive, both individually and as a church. What goes around, comes around and the world of the generous just keeps getting larger and larger. My prayer is that at the end of this pledge season we can stand together in a circle, hand in hand, knowing that we have all given what we could, large or small. May God’s grace and love surround us. Amen.

One in the Spirit

Ukama Sunday, October 19, 2008
Micah 7:14-20; 1 Cor. 12:12-26

I wonder how much you know about the origins of what is now the country of Zimbabwe. I knew that at one time it had been a very fertile, rich place, called the bread basket of Africa. As I did further research I learned that the name Zimbabwe came from the area called Great Zimbabwe, located in the southeastern part of the country. The ruins of this area, which had been a great Shona Empire between the 11th and 15th centuries, were encountered in the 16th century by the Portuguese explorers but never officially confirmed till the 19th century. The ruins of this former city extend more than 60 acres, include a hilltop fortress and walls of stone monoliths. Between 12 to 20000 people lived here. The huge structures at the Great Zimbabwe were a symbol of the power and wealth of those who lived there. The Shona kings became very wealthy and powerful by controlling trade between the southern Africa interior and the East African coast.

From the 1830’s to 1890’s traders and missionaries, including Cecil John Rhodes explored the region. In 1889 Rhodes was a given a British mandate to colonize what was then named Southern Rhodesia and eventually the white minority opted for self-government. From the 1930’s to 1960’s black opposition to colonial rule grew with two black Nationalist groups emerging, one of which was Mugabe’s Zanu group. Ian Smith became Prime minister in 1964 and tried to get Britain to declare the country independent which they refused to do. Finally in 1965 he unilaterally declared independence—of course under white minority rule, causing much international outrage. Yet it was not until the early 70’s that saw an intensification of black guerrilla warfare against the white rule and that extended on till 1980, when British supervised elections named Mugabe as prime minister. Mugabe was then seen as a hero among the predominantly black nations in Africa. Mugabe soon began trying to get rid of any opposition; and economic crises, strikes, and riots filled the next 20 years, getting increasingly worse in 2000 when squatters seized hundreds of white-owned farms. reclaiming what they believe were stolen from them earlier In 2000 Morgan Tsvangirai almost beat Mugabe in elections which observers say were seriously flawed and then we know the most recent election was won by Tsvangirai but Mugabe insisted on a run off election. The opposition party had been so scared by Mugabe’s people who had carried out severe beatings and kidnappings that there was no such thing as a fair election in the runoff. Most recently S.African’s Mbeki has tried to help workout power sharing but it seems that Mugabe is not willing to give up any of his power.

The history of all this is much more complex than I have time to share with you. There’s an excellent a timeline of Zimbabwe’s historical events if you wish to google it. But now let’s get on with some history of the UCCZ and our Ukama partnership. On October 19, 1893, the Mission Station at Mt. Selinda was established and the United Church of Christ Zimbabwe was born. In 1996 the NH Conference of the UCC and the Zimbabwe UCC established a partnership for the purpose of promoting a deep friendship (Ukama) between the two settings of the United Church of Christ. We have been partners ourselves with the Rimbi church since ? and have enjoyed both Rev. Foroma and Balance Chimbangwa from that church visiting with us. Originally, there was not to be any financial exchange between the two settings or the individual churches, mostly due to how money can often change relationships from equal to one up, one down. Because of the terrible economic hardships in the past five years, there has been a change where donations are very much needed and welcomed. Still the main reason for the partnership is to grow in Ukama (friendship) and be One in the Spirit. The Ukama website lists the different aspects of our covenant relationship. The number one item is “to give and receive spiritual nourishment through prayer, moral support in times of joy, sorrow, hardships, and celebrations. One way we do this is through letters and I urge you to write a letter this coming week so that we can send it with our Conference leaders that are planning a trip there next month. You may also feel called to share some financial gifts with them. There is an insert explaining the Ways you may give if you wish to do so.

One of the things I admire most about our Zimbabwe sisters and brothers is their joy in worship and their great faithfulness. The Micah passage was chosen for today by Rev. Chapola, a Zimbabwean that has been studying at Bangor Theological Seminary for several years and has recently been called to a church in Maine. He chose this passage because of its emphasis on prayer. There is no doubt about it that the UCCZ members are praying people. Micah is imploring God to do again the wonderful things God’s done for his people in the past. In verses 18 to 20 Micah reminds God and the people that God is not angry forever, God is gracious, loyal, compassionate, forgiving, and keeps promises. Just like in Zimbabwe today, the nation was on its knees, both literally in praying and figuratively because they were at a very low point. Micah asked God to shepherd his sheep and to remember God’s promises to the ancestors. The people in Zimbabwe may be asking, God, why is all this happening? Yet they trust just as Micah does that God’s compassion is with them. God is their hope. They do believe that God will provide just as he has done for the Hebrew people in the desert. In Zimbabwe we have so many people hungry, most have only one meal a day and sometimes that is just wild fruit. The hyperinflation continues and cash itself has become scarce. People line up at the bank, starting at 3 am to get their daily withdrawal. One woman calculated the price of goods by the number of days she had to spend in line at the bank: a day for a bar of soap, another day for a bag of salt, and four days for a sack of cornmeal. (NY Times article 10-2 ) The new $50,000 dollar bill, the limit that can be withdrawn doesn’t even pay the transportation to get to the job. Some business owners are trying to give transport tickets daily in order for their employees to come to work; no workers, production stops, economics worsen, more hunger and so forth.

How hard it must be to continue suffering so much and still have faith that God loves them and will never leave them! Our Ukama partnership means that their suffering is our suffering; however, we still eat three meals a day and have relative safety wherever we go. The burdens of our partners weigh heavy on our minds. We must walk with them in prayer and by continuing to encourage them with letters and sharing resources as appropriate. Ukama is a word that means “We are like family”. The Zimbabweans take great comfort in knowing our concern and caring. With them as with so many situations today, I often find myself saying “All I can do is pray.” It is so important that we lift them up to the Spirit. The Rev. Kim McKerley says that “God has blessed us richly over these 12 years of Ukama/Partnership. Through this holy relationship, we have learned, by God’s grace, how much we need each other, and how much we love one another.” As Paul’s letter reminds us in v. 26, “If one member suffers, all suffer with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”

Jesus in John17:21 prays that we may all be one. He prays that we will be one with God, one with him and one with each other. . His prayer for oneness was not about sameness. Jesus is praying that above all else, all of his followers all over the world, for years to come, would be one in their relationships with each other, and with God. As some of you know that same scripture was the spirit that led the UCC to be born 50 years ago from 4 different denominations. But we don’t all have to be one organizationally. Different strokes for different folks! The important thing is that we love and honor each other and God. If we have oneness in purpose, Jesus says that the world will know that God loves us just as God loves Jesus. So I invite you to join with me in opening our hands to pray: Loving God, we are ukama with our Zimbabwe partners. We lift up their burdens and our burdens. We all have difficulties and we all are differently gifted. As Paul reminds us we are all one in the body of Christ. Together we are a whole. Make us one in the Spirit. Let us share each others joys and sorrows as we pray to our brother Jesus and our parent God. Amen