RVCC Pastor's Sermon

Sermon - October 25, 2009

“The Annual Stewardship Sermon”

By Rev. Nancy Foran
Mark 10:46-52

A man had successfully been in business for many, many years. However, with the economic recession, it was all going down the drain. His life was falling apart, and he did not know what to do. As a last resort, he went to his Pastor to seek advice.

He told the Pastor about all of the problems stemming from the downfall of the business and asked the Pastor what he should do. The Pastor said, "Take a beach chair and a Bible and put them in your car and drive down to the edge of the ocean. Go to the water's edge. Take the beach chair out of the car, sit on it and take the Bible out and open it up. The wind will rifle the pages for a while and eventually the Bible will stay open at a particular page. Read the Bible and it will tell you what to do."

The man did as he is told. He placed a beach chair and a Bible in his car and drove down to the beach. He sat on the chair at the water's edge and opened the Bible. The wind rifled the pages of the Bible and then stopped at a particular page. He looked down at the Bible and saw what he had to do.

Three months later, the man and his family came back to see the Pastor. The man was wearing a $1,000 Italian suit, the wife was all decked out with a full-length mink coat, and the child was dressed in beautiful silk.

The man handed the Pastor a thick envelope full of money and told him that he wanted to donate this money to the church in order to thank the Pastor for his wonderful advice.

The Pastor was delighted and asked him where the Bible had fallen open and what advice in the Bible had brought this good fortune to him.

The man replied: "Chapter 11."

Now I am not suggesting that anyone go into bankruptcy in order to support our church. Actually, I share that little story with you because this is the annual stewardship sermon, and we all know that the annual stewardship sermon always begins with a joke.

“Oh, no,” you might be saying. “This is the Sunday I meant to stay home. I hate it when we talk about money and finances in church.”

Now I can respect – even if I do not totally agree with – that perspective. I can not deny that talking about money and stewardship makes us all a bit nervous as we sit here before the Almighty. And because I do not want to discomfort any of you, I have thought long and hard about what to tell you – my somewhat captive audience – about money and stewardship this morning.

However, before I begin, let me remind you that here at RVCC, what at this time of year we call “stewardship” is defined in a very broad sense. At this time of year, “stewardship” does mean money, that is true, but it does not mean just what we pledge to the church because not everyone here chooses to pledge for a variety of reasons.

Here at RVCC, financial stewardship is not only what some of us pledge to the church, but also what others of us will simply plan to give to the church. In addition, here at RVCC, financial stewardship also includes the commitment of those of us who are only willing to overtly state that we will give – not a specific amount – but simply as we are able.

Let me repeat that – even though we are talking about financial stewardship, we are not talking about pledging. We are talking about a financial commitment to the church – in whatever way each one of you chooses to make that commitment.

Now, back to what I am going to tell you this morning….I could talk about faithful stewardship as the mechanism by which we are called to share our time, talents, and treasures and the fact that our willingness to do that sort of sharing is perhaps THE critical marker for Christian discipleship. And that is probably true – but I am not going to go that route this morning.

I could talk about faithful stewardship as the key to experiencing the fullness of the Christian faith. After all, God calls us to be active participants in life, not just spectators, and making a financial commitment to the church is an opportunity for deep and participative belonging in a meaningful community. But you already know that, so I am not going to reiterate something that you already know.

I could talk about tithing and the fact that tithing has become the benchmark of Christian giving. If you give a tenth of your income to the church, God is de facto pleased with you. But I am not going to go down that path because I agree with William Martens when he says that “for many people, tithing falls into the same category as bungee-jumping and sky-diving: something that may show courage but seems pretty extreme and is something they would never, ever want to try!”

I could talk about faithful stewardship by reminding you that it sits in the craw of most people to think that anyone would participate in the life of any organization – let alone the church - and allow everyone else to pay the bills. That would be like going to a picnic empty-handed and eating out of everyone else’s picnic basket. But that would be pretty harsh, so I am going to set that topic aside.

I could talk about the transition from being a taker to being a giver and the fact that when you are a giver, you are freed from all the selfishness that pervades our lives these days. If your hands are open, the “gimme’s” fade away. But that is not rocket science and you know that already, so I am not going to talk about that this morning either.

I could exhort you and perhaps even guilt-trip you into believing that God cares more about your financial giving than any of the other ways you might give to this institution. However, I suspect that is not the case – and I am certainly not going to put words into God’s mouth or try to second guess the Holy of Holies. So, I am not going to talk about that.

On the other hand, I could assure you that no gift is too small to please God and that we need every pledged and planned contribution and every dollar given as one is able to maintain and expand our ministry here in Raymond and throughout the world.

I could tell you that in some ways the excitement about who we are and what we are about as the working hands and feet of Jesus can not help but be reflected in the overall level of our giving.

I could tell you that we will meet our budget if we all believe that our little church is capable of making a difference, but, again, you know that already, so I am not going to go in that direction this morning.

Instead, I am going to talk about a blind beggar named Bartimaeus who sat by the side of the road outside the city walls of Jericho, and one day he met Jesus. You see, there was a great crowd following this Nazarene itinerant healer, and, from his spot on the roadway, Blind Bartimaeus heard all the commotion – the voices, the flurry of bodies on the move, the rustling of clothes, the conversation. When he asked what was going on, Blind Bartimeaus was told that the famous Jesus from Nazareth was passing by.

What happened next occurred in an instant. It was like an inner impulse erupted from within him, and Blind Bartimaeus shouted at the top of his lungs. He bellowed out, “Jesus of Nazareth, Son of David, have mercy on me!!!”

Blind Bartimaeus shouted out so loudly that everybody could hear him. Jesus. The crowd. Everybody.

Most everyone either did not like or was embarrassed by the blind beggar’s forthrightness. They called it rude, and so they told him to “shush up, tone it down, keep your mouth shut.”

What did Blind Bartimaeus do? He shouted all the more loudly, “Jesus of Nazareth, have mercy on me.”

That was when Jesus stopped in his tracks and looked at the shouting, rude, embarrassing beggar and said, “Call him. Bring him to me.”

Some folks from the crowd said to the blind beggar, “Take heart. Rise. He is calling you.”

And rise Bartimaeus did. He threw off his cloak and jumped up. You could almost feel the vigor and vitality in his legs and spirit.

Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

We all know that Blind Bartimaeus wanted his sight - eyes that could see. And Jesus said a few words and both immediately and miraculously, Bartimaeus received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.

This story, like so many in the gospel of Mark, is rife with symbolism. Blindness and sight. Throwing off the cloak and abandoning the past. Beggars and other scum shushed by the crowd but invited to come along into the kingdom because in the end the party simply would not be the same without them. And all that symbolism raises a couple of questions for us – as well it should.

Today is Reformation Sunday, and like the early reformers of the 16th century, we are called, as Presbyterian pastor, Susan Andrews suggests, “to look carefully at this institution we call the church and then judge just how closely we are embodying the compassionate and graceful heart of Jesus (as shown by the healing of the blind beggar).

(In addition)…. today we are also called…(to) affirm that we (like Blind Bartimaeus) are being healed again and again (so that we can) see things in new ways, in fresh ways…(We are) constantly being called to jump up, to throw off the comfortable cloaks of the blind past, and to follow Jesus enthusiastically and gratefully into the unknown dangers and the unimaginable opportunities of that which is yet to come.”

In light of this passage in Mark then, today and during this coming week before Commitment Sunday , we are particularly called to look carefully at this church – our church – and decide just how closely we here at RVCC embody the compassionate heart of Jesus.

And if we conclude that our church does a good job when it comes to being the hands and feet of our savior, that it gives us ample opportunities to see things in a new way and to proclaim the Gospel message through our Christ-like ministries, then I would say that this church deserves our financial support.

If this church creates a social fabric and community that enhances our lives but also has the potential to enhance the lives of others in a time when community is less and less even though we need it more and more, then I would say that this church deserves our financial support.

If this church is committed to trying not to shush the beggars and scum but instead inviting them in to be heard or advocating for them, then I would say that this church deserves our financial support.

If we feel that here at RVCC we can throw off our cloaks and roll up our sleeves and do the work of the Body of Christ through our missions and fellowship opportunities, through our education programs and our pastoral care, then I would say that this church deserves our financial support.

But that is YOUR decision, not mine. And I am not going to talk about making that decision this morning except to ask you to read not only the stewardship letter you will receive this week but also the Narrative Budget that accompanies it. The latter is a couple of pages – but there is not a single number in it – and I think it will give you a better idea of what we do here at RVCC.

And I would ask you also to prayerfully consider the ways that this church has healed you and others and the ways that it can continue to reflect that compassionate heart of Jesus through mission and service. And if you believe as I do that we do those things efficiently and effectively, I would ask you to participate next week in Commitment Sunday in the way you feel most comfortable.

You see, our goal is not a financial one. It is one of participation. Walt Read and I and your Church Council believe that if all of us work together with some of us pledging and some of us planning to give, and some of us giving as we are able, the money will come. We think that what is more important is that all of us are part of the process because -in the end - the party simply will not be the same if any one of you is missing or left on the roadway outside Jericho.

Sermon - October 25, 2009

“The Annual Stewardship Sermon”

By Rev. Nancy Foran Mark 10:46-52

By Rev. Nancy Foran
Mark 10:46-52