Deuteronomy 8:2-10

Times are tough. Unemployment is SC is at 11% That's 4% worse than this time last year. Interest rates are down and credit is tight. There is talk of furloughs and lay offs. Talk of closings and foreclosures.

It is even worse when it is personal. The statistics are bad enough. But when it is a friend or a family member or yourself who is unemployed or taking a pay cut it gets personal. It's not numbers. It is people who are suffering.

But they say things are getting better. The recession is over, we have hit the bottom of the curve, but the upward trend has not yet started. Unemployment is actually down from a high of 12.1% in June. But times are still tough.

Israel had some tough times. They were in the desert. They had no water or food. They were hungry and thirsty. But God used that to teach them. God gave them manna from heaven and water from a rock.

But what was God trying to teach them? God was teaching them to learn to depend on Him. God was teaching them who was the source of all their blessings. They couldn't claim to have made the manna or the water so they would know when they had farmed the land and dug wells that God was still the source of their bread and water. God was also teaching them that we do not live by bread alone, but by the Word of God.

God was helping them set their priorities. They would enter a land of riches again. And this time they would not be the slaves. They would be the masters. They needed to remember that it is not the bread that fills the stomach that really matters. What matters is the bread that fills the heart and soul. Jesus would later identify himself as this bread come down from heaven. God was using the desert to teach Israel to trust and to set their priorities.

We are going through a desert; an economic desert. They call it a recession. That means that the economy has slowed down over a period of time. Perhaps God can teach us something here. You know when the economy is bad people take stock of their lives. They cut out the extraneous and unnecessary things and find out what is essential. They often learn what really matters.

We may not have as much money. But what we do have is important. We have family and friends. We have love. We have a Father in Heaven who cares for us and brother in Christ who would give his life - did give his life for us. We have grace and forgiveness and peace and hope even when things seem hopeless. We have the Holy Spirit of God and life eternal in this life and the next.

This is a stewardship sermon so I am supposed to relate all this to stewardship. What has God given you? He has given His word and His love and His forgiveness and grace. As good stewards of God's gifts we should first acknowledge and value those things. And then learn that we do not live by bread alone but by the Word of God.

Oh, I am also supposed to tell you to tithe or give 10% of your income to the Lord. The good news is that, if you are making less, that's much easier. 10% of less income, is a lower figure.

But this desert will not last forever. It took Israel 40 years in the desert to learn the lesson and even then they often forget. I think you all are faster learners than that. The economy will get better. Many of the unemployed will find new jobs. Interest tares with come up and unemployment will go down.

But let's not forget the lessons that the desert has taught us. When we enter the promised land of an expanding economy let's not take credit for our newfound affluence. Let's give God the glory for what we have. And when we have plenty of bread on our table and in our banks, let's not forget that we don't live by bread alone. There are more important things in life like Jesus the bread of life, the Word of God.

Let's continue to practice the values we learned in this desert. And let us thank the Lord. Remember that God is the source of all you have, even your breath. Strip away all the extras and make Jesus first in your life. Then let us keep him first in our lives.

Mark 12:41-44

I imagine a lot of us feel like that widow in our reading must have: with fuel costs rising and talk of recession and depression in the air. Some of us have been hit hard by the recent economic news. Some have lost money. Others have lost jobs. And those who haven't been hit yet are just waiting to see what will happen next.

Times are sooo tough � (How tough are they?) Times are so tough that I used to have a 401K, but now I have a 101K. I heard a recent retiree saying, "The government fixed my income and now I'm broke." Times are so tough that I know this guy who decided to sell his car because gas prices were driving him bankrupt - get it driving him � well. Someone was looking at it and asking his questions. How many miles does it have on it, how does the engine run? Finally the guy said, "Do the brakes work?" The guy shrugged his shoulders and said, "Don't know. I never used the brakes. They only slow me down."

We may think times are tough, but the widow in the Bible story today didn't have much, not even a 101K. First she was a widow in an age when a woman didn't have the legal rights that they do now. She was also poor. She only had two of the smallest copper coins used back then. And she gave them both to the temple treasury.

Jesus was watching as she was doing it. He called his disciples' attention to her. He said "she has given more than all the others. But people had put in large bags of gold and silver! Yes, they had, but she put in all she had.

Please don't misunderstand what I am saying here. I am not suggesting for a moment that those living in poverty should give all their money to this church or any church. I don't believe Jesus is suggesting that either. You remember he is also chided the scribes and Pharisees for "devouring widow's houses." I think Jesus is commenting on the woman's faith. The others gave what was left over, she gave everything.

I imagine this widow waking up one morning and realizing that these two coins are all she has. As she looked at those two coins she knew that they could not sustain her. But she knew that God could take care of her. God after all is the champion of the widow and the orphan. So she gave herself to Him entirely.

You see the coins were just a symbol or expression of what was happening spiritually in this woman. She had put her total faith in God and given of her self entirely into his care. The others had not given themselves entirely to God. Their faith was in their wealth or their power of their status. So Jesus commended the woman for her faith.

Sometimes we all feel like that widow. It may not be a matter of not having enough money to live on but it can be other things. I know sometimes I don't seem to have enough time to do all that I have to. I look at my list of appointments and things to do and I don't know how in the world I can get it all done. How do I make time for God?

For some people just living seems to take up all their energy. They don't seem to have enough energy to live. It takes all they have to just make it from day to day. How do you give some to God?

And for some people it is the money. There is too much month left and the end of the money. Some are buried under a pile of debt that they can't get out of. And they wonder how they are going to live.

Jesus knows how we feel. And so does the widow. Like her we need to give ourselves entirely to God. I am not talking about the money now. I am talking about giving our hearts our souls our lives to God. I am not talking about putting two copper coins on the altar but putting ourselves on the altar for God.

I know, today is Stewardship Sunday. I am supposed to tell you to tithe or give 10% of you income to the church. OK, you should give 10% of your income to the church. If we all did that then the one step chart would look a lot different and this church could do a lot more.

But I am talking about something more important than money. I am talking about your life: your time, your talents, your heart, your soul� Give them all to God. Surrender yourself totally and trust Him to care for you. After that money will not be an issue.

Oh, by the way, I know I said that many of us feel like the widow, but in reality very few of us are like her. Sure times are tougher than usual. Some of us may move down the chart this year and still be tithing. But most of us have more than two copper coins to live off of.

So give yourself to God: your time, your talents. Pledge your heart to Him entirely. Times are hard but God if good. Put your life in his hands.

Then let Him tell you what to do with your money.

The children of Israel were out in the wilderness. They had left Egypt in a hurry. They only had a little unleavened bread and that was about it. It wouldn't last them very long in this barren land. They needed to find food and find it fast. Or they would starve .

So God gave them bread. Bread from heaven - Mannah we call it. But they didn't know what it was. They say it and said "What is it." But Moses told them, "It is bread from heaven which God has given you to eat."

But God gave them more than just something to eat. God gave them a lesson in faith. God directed them to gather an ohmer of bread for each person. Some gathered more either out of greed or ignorance or both. But in the end God leveled it out.

The lesson was two fold. Lesson one was that God would provide. They would have enough if they would simply trust and put their faith in the one true God he would feed them in the wilderness. The second lesson was that God intended that things be leveled out. God did the leveling on this occasion, but in the future the people were supposed to do it. God's people were to share their resources, which God had supplied in plenty, for the good of the community. And these lessons would continue to apply even after they left the wilderness and entered the promised land. God would supply for their needs. And they were called to share their resources. And in the end they would learn to trust in God.

This lesson of trust was not lost on the children of Israel. God continues to supply in the land and even when they had been carried away from the land into captivity. And 1,400 years later God's people, the early Christian church, were continuing to learn and practice this lesson. The book of Acts (11:27-30) tells us that God revealed to the Christians that there would be a famine so the Christians in Antioch determined to send aid to Jerusalem to help the believers there. They knew that God had provided enough for them and that they should give to help others. Throughout his life Paul carried on this ministry of collecting offerings to help the church in Jerusalem.

That is what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 8. He wrote "Now as you excel in everything -- in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in your love for us -- see that you excel in this gracious work also." The gracious work he is speaking of is the offering for the saints in Jerusalem. Like the Christians in Antioch and elsewhere God had given more than enough to the Corinthians and now they should give to help others. And in giving they would learn faith - trust in God.

This is the first reported case of a relief mission. This is the birth of the kind of relief ministry that is carried on today by our United Methodist Committee on Relief or UMCOR. Apparently the church in Corinth had pledged to help out in this relief effort. Paul wrote, "And in this matter I give my advice: it is best for you now to complete what a year ago you began not only to do but to desire, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have." (10-11) Paul was simply urging them to follow through on the obligation they had made to him and to God.

But what is really important in this passage is not the fact that Paul is not ashamed to tell the Corinthians to pay up. That is significant because many pastors are afraid to speak so boldly to their congregations. But what is most significant is the reason he gives them. He said, "I say this not as a command," So he is not ordering them around. He says they should do it "to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine." He continues "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich."

Paul is pointing to the example of Christ. Jesus was rich in all things. He was a part of the creation of all the gold and jewels of the world. He was there at the creation of all the bounty of the land and sea. And all those things were his and at his command along with all the angels of heaven.

And he gave all that away. Why? To save a wretch like me. He lived in heavenly palaces but he became a poor homeless refugee for our salvation. He had heavenly robes of gold and scarlet and white, but he allowed himself to be stripped bare and hung naked on a cross. Jesus had command of heavenly armies and all the forces of nature yet he allowed himself to be bound and beaten and killed for me and you. If Jesus could part with all that for the Corinthians' salvation certainly the Corinthians could part with a few gold coins for the needy saints in Jerusalem.

2,000 years later the lesson still applies. And it is a lesson of grace for Grace. God will provide! This is something that takes a lot of trust. Too often we look at our checkbooks and our wallets and we wonder if we have enough. God provided for the Children of Israel in the wilderness, God provided for the saints in Jerusalem and Corinth and Antioch and God will provide for you.

The second part of the lesson is that God calls us to give for the common good. Like Corinth we too have made a commitment to Christ. Every Sunday we repeat that commitment. We say our mission is to know Jesus and to make him known to others. How has this congregation helped you to know Jesus? Think of all the ways that we help in making him known in our community and the world. We have made a commitment to God and to ourselves to continue those efforts.

The question is will you trust him. That is where tithing or percentage giving comes in. It is a lesson and exercise that teaches us grace and trust - to help us grow in faith. The Bible lifts up the tithe as a standard of giving for God's people. By tithing or by growing toward or beyond a tithe we exercise and grow in faith. Its all about a lesson in grace and faith.

I do not command you to do these things. That would be too heavy handed. But I urge you by the example of Christ who gave himself for your salvation. I urge you to follow through on your commitments to know Jesus and make him known to others. God has given you all you need and more. Give where it can be used to serve God and your neighbor.

Mark 10:35-45

One day a rich young man came to Jesus seeking eternal life. He said, "What must I do to get eternal life. Should I endow a seminary or hospital? Should I slay a dragon?"

Jesus said, "Give all that you have away to the poor then follow me." The man went away sad because he was rich and did not want to part with his riches. Jesus told the disciples it is harder for a rich man to get to heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.

One disciple said, "Then who can be saved." Jesus said, "Right, who could? People can't do it, but God can!" But Peter commented, "We have left everything for you. Does any of that mean anything?" Jesus said, "Anything you have given up you will get back over and over again, and you will be persecuted. But in the end you will have eternal life."

I guess all this got James and John thinking. They had given up so much to follow Jesus. They had left their father and a successful fishing business to follow Jesus. And Jesus said they had a reward coming. Certainly it must be a good reward.

So they decided to prime the pump a little. They had certainly given up more than anyone else, so they should get a better reward. Maybe they should have the chief cabinet positions when Jesus became King: to sit at his right and his left when he came into glory.

But they didn't know what they were asking. They thought they would be on thrones next to Jesus with people waiting on them hand and foot, and living in palaces on the same street with Jesus. Well, in eternity they will. But in the short term Jesus' moment of Glory would not be on a throne. It would be on the cross. And those on his left and his right would not be chiefs of state. They would be two thieves.

So Jesus told James and John that they would drink of the same cup that he would drink. According to church tradition both James and John were martyred. But to sit at his right and his left was not his choice to make. Providence would make that choice for him.

The other disciples got wind of this little conversation. They were infuriated. How dare Jesus cut a deal with the Zebedee boys without consulting them! They had theirs coming too. They had given up a bunch for Jesus! After all wasn't Peter the chief apostle; hadn't Matthew given up a profitable tax collecting franchise!

But Jesus explained that it doesn't work that way with his followers. In the world the leaders rule over the others. They make them do their bidding. The leaders rule and the people serve.

But among Jesus' followers it's the other way around. Among Jesus' followers the leaders serve. The greatest are those who humble themselves to do for others. And of course Jesus is the prime example of this. He is Lord yet he came not to be served but to serve.

If James and John really want to be great they need to change their attitude. They should not seek the glory of sitting on thrones and being waited on hand and foot. They should seek the glory of waiting on others like slaves. They should not set their minds on the reward they will receive for sacrificing now. They should set their minds on the privilege they have to serve along side their Lord.

Today is the Sunday before Consecration Sunday. Next week we will be asking people to fill out "Estimate of Giving" cards that declare how much you plan to give to the church next year. So I am supposed to tell you that you should tithe or give a tenth of your income to the church because that is the Biblical standard for faithful giving. Well, you should tithe or give a tenth of your income because that is the Biblical standard for faithful giving.

But I can't help but notice that no where does Jesus say that. Jesus never told his disciples to tithe. The closest he gets is when is criticizing the Pharisees. They tithed even their spices but ignored justice. Jesus said they should tithe but more importantly they should not ignore justice.

Jesus never says that the disciple should give 10%. He seems to say over an over again that they should give 100%. He doesn't speak in percentages. He does speak of leaving all to follow him.

In the end that is what matters. You may decide to give 10%, 15% or even 50%, but it means nothing if you have not given your life to Christ. That is a commitment we don't make just one time but daily. We have to say each day "Lord, today I give you 100% of me."

Now when a preacher preaches on stewardship we expect for the preacher to say what we will get for giving to the Lord. And you will be rewarded! You will receive a hundred times what you have sacrificed in money and time. But Jesus told his disciples that persecutions would come with that. In this life they experienced the persecution, and according to tradition even died for the faith.

Don't get me wrong. There are rewards to giving to the Lord in this life. There is the reward of knowing you have been faithful to the one who gave his life to save you. There is the satisfaction of seeing the church use those gifts, monetary and non monetary, to spread the gospel of God's love. There is the deepened faith that comes from responding faithfully.

But there will also be troubles. Simple math may make you wonder how you will make ends meet. That's where faith comes in. Your dedication may put you on the "wrong" side of issues and attitudes with your friends. If you give 100% to God, you will suffer.

But so did Jesus. If you want to sit on a throne and be waited on hand and foot in this life, then you are in the wrong place. But if you want to be great in the Kingdom of God, then follow Jesus' example. He came not so that others could wait on him had and foot. He cam to serve and to dies for others. In the same vein we should give ourselves 100% to him.

John 6:1-14

The people were hungry. They came from all around because they hungered for the Word of God and Jesus was proclaiming it. They hungered and thirsted for righteousness and Jesus offered them a way. He taught about God as if he really knew what he was talking about and not like the Scribes and Pharisees. They also hungered for healing of the body and soul. So the multitudes came out to the wilderness.

But they were also hungry physically. There was no food in the wilderness. And the people had been there all day feeding on Jesus' teachings. So Jesus was sitting there with the disciples when he turned to Phillip and said, "How are we going to feed all these people."

Phillip said, "It would take three year's wages to buy enough food for all these people!" But while they were talking about how they couldn't feed the people, someone was busy. Andrew came to Jesus and said, "here is a boy who has some bread and fish."

I have this mental picture of this boy and his mother. "Mom all the guys are going out to the wilderness to see this Nazarene fellow. If I don't hurry they will leave without me." "If you can go all the way out the wilderness to see the Rabbi you can wait long enough for me to fix your dinner. It won't do you any good to learn from him and then faint from hunger on your way home." So she gathered some salted fish and barley loves and wrapped them in a cloth.

But wait a minute! What good can a few lox and bagels do when you need to feed 5,000+ people! This is just one boys dinner. That wouldn't even feed Jesus and his disciples.

But Jesus took the loaves and fish and blessed them and multiplied them. And the multitudes were fed! And there were plenty of leftovers for people to have seconds!

Are you hungry? Just like the people back then, people today hunger for the Word of God. Our world is spiritually malnourished. They have lacked real spiritual sustenance for such a long time that they don't even know good food when the see it. People are literally dying for want of Love and grace and peace and hope and Joy. They are in need of healing and new life.

So we have gathered here with Jesus and he is speaking to us. How are you going to feed these people? How are we going to feed them. We are starving ourselves. We are in need of healing. We hunger for love and joy and grace and peace, etc.

How can we feed them. Do you know how many Make Him Known Sundays it will take to reach all the people how need an invitation to God's house. Do you know how many Bible studies it will take to teach all the people who need to know the world of God. Do you know how many services in nursing homes it will take to bring hope to people who feel trapped by their age and health? Do you know what it will take the feed the hungry? More than we could ever do in a lifetime!

But the people are still hungry. And Jesus has called us to feed the hungry. That calling has taken the form of an effort to expand our physical plant able to house a growing Sunday School and other ministries at Grace. A place where people young and old can feed on the Word of God. A place where Bible Studies can learn God's Word. A place where committees can plan the ministries of this church. A place where people can fellowship and learn and grow.

It seems such a small effort in the face of the problems of the world. It's a mere drop in the bucket. But remember that one boys offering. A few lox and bagels seems like so little. But Jesus blessed and multiplied those loaves and fish to feed the multitude.

In the same way Jesus can bless and multiply our small efforts and make a difference in this world. Jesus can take out small efforts and multiply them. And those who are spiritually malnourished can be fed.

I know that we have all been thinking about what we will give to the capital effort that culminates today. We know that we need pledges of about $500,000 to be able to raise enough to be able to borrow enough to build this building. Sometimes it seems that our individual efforts are just a drop in the bucket. We could sit around and talk all day about how we can't do it. But remember that while Jesus' disciples were doing just that, one of them was looking around.

Andrew found a boy with five loaves and two fish. It seemed so small in the face of the hunger of the multitude. But Jesus blessed those loaves and fish and fed the people.

Jesus can take our gifts no matter how small and do the same. Bring what you can to Jesus. He will bless your offering and multiply it. Then we can begin to feed all those hungry people.

2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 12-14

This is a story of grace. Paul was writing to the Christians in the city of Corinth when he said, "I want you to know about the grace that God has given to the church in Macedonia." Theirs was a story of Grace. The church in Macedonia was poor and the economy of their region had suffered. But when they heard of the need of the Christians in Jerusalem they gave freely from what they had to help those people out. In fact Paul says that they gave according to their means and even beyond. He said their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in generosity!

It reminds me of a story from the gospels. It says that Jesus was sitting the temple near the place where people made their monetary offering to the temple. As Jesus watched rich people came by and gave bags full of gold and silver. But then a widow came by and put in two copper coins. Jesus called the disciple attention to her and said, "This woman has given more than all those rich people put together. They gave out their abundance but she gave out of her poverty even all that she had.

Another story of grace: A boy was given ten dollars for his birthday. His favorite thing in the world was matchbox cars - small model cars. They cost about a dollar each so he had enough to buy 10. So he asked his mother to take him to the store to buy 10 matchbox cars. On the way to the store they passed a children's hospital. After he bought the ten cars he asked his mother to stop at the children's hospital. The boy went to the desk in the lobby and gave the receptionist 2 of his cars for the children in the hospital to play with.

O.K - Time out. That last story was just a little too sappy! But they are all true. I witnessed the boy, Jesus witnessed the widow, and Paul witnessed the church in Macedonia. What compelled that boy to give away his cars, the widow to give away her coins and the Macedonians to give out of their poverty? No one was twisting their arms. They didn't have a Stewardship Campaign or a preacher or anything trying to get them to give. They just gave freely and openly. In fact Paul says that the Macedonians were joyful in their giving!

What leads people to that kind of joyful giving? I think the answer is in part of what Paul said. He said that the Macedonians "Gave themselves first to the Lord." This was the grace that freed them for exceeding joy that overflowed into abundant generosity. The Corinthians could joyfully give even out of their poverty because they had first given themselves to God!

As well the widow wasn't just putting her money in the offering plate. She was putting herself in it. She too had given herself to God. Have you ever noticed that when I do the prayer of dedication after the offering I say "Accept these offering as a token of our giving of ourselves to you?" God has no need of money. He already has all the gold and silver in the world and he can create a million times more. It is our hearts that mean something to Him - that is what God values most.

It's a story of grace. One day God was just bursting at the seams with love for the human race. And he sought some way to bestow his grace on his children. He had already given them the trees and the plants and the animals. God had given them the rain and sunshine and the rainbow. God had given them the sea and the mountains and all the wonders of nature. God had given them the stars and the sun and moon. God has even given them the Law and prophets to guide them.

But that wasn't enough. Those were all things that God could create in infinite abundance. Somehow God desired to give more. So God chose to give the one thing he could not replace. He decided to give himself by sending his one and only begotten son.

But even that wasn't enough. One day Jesus stretched out his arms and was nailed to a cross. And he gave his life as a gift of the Father's infinite and unfailing grace. God didn't do it because someone was twisting his arm. God did it because He loved you. God gave himself to you. In response give yourself to God.

And that is not just another sappy story!

Matthew 22:15-22

It's not about money. You see, the Pharisees knew that Jesus had their number. Jesus had been teaching his disciple to beware the leaven of the Pharisees. Their brand of religion was like a bacteria that would invade and consume, or as Clete would say, "Like kudzu." They were blind guides that led others astray. Instead of serving God they served themselves. Instead of helping the needy they fed off of orphans and widows. And if his teachings were not enough, there was the whole cleansing of the temple thing. Jesus clearly had no respect for their authority!

So the Pharisees decided to attack in self defense. They came to him and pretended to be asking a sincere question of faith. "Should we pay taxes to the Romans?" The question was a legitimate one. After all the Romans were pagans and their government enslaved people all over the world. Should God's people support such a government?

Of course Jesus saw right through their question. It was a trap - a catch 22. No matter what he did they would get him. If he said they should not pay the taxes then they would go to the Romans and have him arrested for treason. If on the other hand he said they should pay taxes they could use that against him. They could say that he did not have enough faith in God, or that he was little more than a tax collector in religious clothing.

Jesus turned the question back on the questioners. "Show me the coin used to pay the tax." It was a Roman coin with the name and image of the emperor on it. So Jesus said, "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's," or "If it has his name on it give it to him." He could have stopped there because he had answered the question. But he went on to say "and render unto God the things that are God's"

That is the point of this passage. Everyone repeat after me: "Render unto God the things that are God's." You see, that is what the Pharisees were not doing. They were not giving God His due. They were serving themselves and not God.

The question then is "what is due to God?" Now this is supposed to be a "stewardship sermon." So at this point I am supposed to say that God is due one tenth of your income. In other words that you should tithe or regularly give 1/10th of the money you make to the church. That tenth or tithe belongs to God. That is why the bulletin says "God's Tithes and Our Offerings."

When I first decided to preach on this passage that is what I thought I was going to say. I thought "Give unto God the things that are God's," that means "Give God the tithe." Then I got thinking. Did you know that the Pharisees tithed? In fact they were probably the best tithers among God's people. Jesus said that they even tithed mint and dill and cumin. (Matthew 23:23). Does anyone here have an herb garden? The why don't you give a tenth of what you grow in to the church? What about your vegetable gardens? I love fresh corn and tomatoes!

So the Pharisees were really good tithers. And yet Jesus told them they still needed to render unto God the things that are God's. So Jesus was not talking about tithing.

Don't get me wrong. You should tithe, but ultimately this passage is not about something as meaningless as money. Coins and taxes are involved in the story, but in the end Jesus is talking about much more than mere money. If we are to render unto God things that are God's, we would give everything to God. Again I am not talking about money! I am talking about giving our entire lives to God.

Let me illustrate what I mean. Everybody take a deep breath with me: In --- and out. God gave you that breath. If God had not given you that breath you would be turning blue right now. Every single breath you take is a gift from God. So every breath we take is due to God. We should use every breath to serve God.

How many of you woke up this morning. Assuming I didn't put you to sleep you should all have your hand raised. God gave you this day. So if we render unto God the things that our God's then this day should be dedicated to serving him. And tomorrow, if you wake up, then that day will be a gift from God and it should be dedicated to God.

Jesus says we should render unto God the things that are God's. That means that everything we do should be done for God. Our entire lives should be dedicated to God. Every breath and every waking moment should be rendered unto God. This is not about giving a tenth of your income to God. It is about giving you entire life to God!

You see this is a stewardship sermon after all. Stewardship is ultimately not about money. It is about giving your life to Christ. Ultimately how much you pledge to the church next Sunday or give to the church next year will not change your standing before God. I don't care if everybody in the church pledges to tenth or not. It would be nice though. What would really make me happy is if everyone in this church vowed to render unto God every day and every breath to serve him. And I assume that if we all did give ourselves totally to God, it would have an effect on many things including our offerings.

Christian stewardship is about recognizing that everything we have is from God. And as Christians we are called to seek to use everything we have and everything we are to serve God. That means our time our talents - everything. We will be asking you to turn in an estimate of the money you will give to the church and we will use those figures to construct a budget for next year. But ultimately that doesn't matter - that is just an administrative necessity. Ultimately what's important is not how much money you give, but who you serve each day.

Jesus said "render unto God the things that are God's." To do that, we have to give ourselves to God. Have you given your life to Christ? Have you asked Jesus to forgive your sins and come into your heart? If you haven't, then forget about pledging or tithing or any of that stuff. That is not important - for you. If you haven't given your life to Christ, then do that today before it is too late. And if you have given your life to Christ, then dedicate everything you have - every moment of every day to His service.

Mark 8:14-21

Jesus and the disciples were in a boat. We have seen the disciples together in a boat together before. There was the time that they were in a storm and in fear for their lives. Jesus was in the boat with them and he spoke to the storm and calmed it. Another time they were in the boat and they were struggling against the wind. That time they saw Jesus walking on the water.

Jesus' disciples had seen a lot by this time. They had witnessed the calming of the storm and Jesus walking on the water. They had seen Jesus heal the sick, and cleanse lepers. They had seen Jesus give sight to the blind and make the lame to walk. They wad even seen Jesus raise a girl from the dead.

Just before they got in the boat they had seen Jesus feed the four thousand. A great crowd had gathered and Jesus didn't want them to try to go home and faint on the way. All they had was seven loaves, but Jesus blessed the loaves and fed all four thousand with seven baskets left over. But that wasn't the first time! Before that there were five thousand in a similar situation and Jesus multiplied five loaves and two fish to feed them all with twelve baskets left over! And Jesus' disciples had seen it all.

So the disciples were in the boat with Jesus. And Jesus decided that since they had seen so much he would try to teach them something. So he said to them, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." This was a profound saying. Leaven was a corruption that would grow. Jesus was saying to be careful that the ways of thinking and the attitudes of the Pharisees and of Herod didn't corrupt their hearts and minds.

The disciple might have seen everything, but they must not have remembered any of it. They heard Jesus talk about leaven and they noticed that they had only one loaf of bread. O.K., now lets get this straight. Jesus and 12 other people are in a boat. That makes 13 people, right.

Pop Quiz! Close your Bibles and take out a pencil and paper. Let's do the math, a little Biblical algebra. If it takes Jesus 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed 5,000 with 12 baskets left over. And if takes Jesus 7 loaves to feed 4,000 people with 7 baskets left over. Then how many loaves does it take Jesus to feed 13 people? Begin now. Times up! What's the answer? "1"

The answer is rather obvious. But the disciple couldn't see it. They were blinded by their own needs. All they could see was that they didn't have enough for dinner. They were thinking the way the world thinks. 1 loaf divided 13 ways isn't much. Hey, where's mine! But when God's Son is doing the dividing, there will be plenty left over.

Perhaps this is the leaven of the world that Jesus was warning them about. That is the way the world thinks. Instead of focusing on Jesus, the presence of God in the mist of us, the disciples focused on what they had or didn't have. What if the early church had thought like the world? There they were a small group of believers. And they were under thumb of the biggest and most powerful empire of all time. If they thought like the world they would have given up. But they realized that Jesus was with them so they persevered and outlasted the Roman Empire by millennia.

What if Martin Luther had thought like the world. He was just one priest with 95 theses. The Roman Catholic church was a huge organization with power and much to loose from Luther's radical ideas. But God had called him so he posted his theses and took his stand.

What if John Wesley had thought like the world. He faced a society entrenched in spiritual lethargy, literally asleep. All he had was a handful of lay preachers and a calling to spread scriptural holiness and his parish was the world. Why bother, but he knew that God had called him and that Jesus lived in his heart so he set about transforming society. The result is a worldwide network of Methodist related churches still spreading scriptural holiness and reforming lives centuries later!

We need to remember that Jesus is in the boat. We may only have one loaf, but with Jesus to multiply it, that is enough. Jesus was right; we must beware the leaven of the world. If we had thought like the world we would not have embarked on the current building program. This church had been at a stand still less than a decade ago. We were over $300,000 in debt. But we knew God had called us, and look at how far he has brought us.

The same thing is true of our personal lives. We are each of us adrift on the sea of life and we see how little we have. We feel called to serve God but we wonder, "How can I do anything with this little bit?" What can my one loaf do in the face of the hunger of the world? What can my little contribution do to spread the Gospel?

By the way this is supposed to be a stewardship sermon. Stewardship is all about how we use the gifts God has given us for his work. Sometimes we seem to have so little. And that makes us think like the world and want to hoard and preserve what we have. But remember, Jesus is in the boat with us. He can multiply the one loaf we have.

Beware the leaven of the world. Instead trust Him who is in the boat with you. Remember the 5,000, they were fed with 5 loaves and 2 fish with 12 baskets left. Remember the 4,000, they were fed with 7 loaves with 7 baskets left. What can he do with your one loaf? Anything he wants! Don't believe me? You do the math!

Leviticus 2:11-16

"First Fruits Sunday:" the idea didn't originate with Cargil and Associates. It comes from the Bible. Back in the Old Testament, even before Israel had arrived in the Promised Land, God commanded that the Israelites bring the first fruits of the land to God as an offering. It was a time of celebrating the abundance of what God had given them.

But the symbolism of the first fruits offering went beyond just giving thanks. It was a deeper reminder of who they were as God's people. They were the chosen people who recognized that all they had was a gift from God. The giving of the first fruits was a way of saying all the fruits belonged to God.

This concept even went to their first-born sons. When a woman had her first son that son had to be redeemed. In essence they were bought back from the Lord with a special sacrifice. That is what first fruits is all about; recognizing that all our fruits, all our blessings, are from God.

But of special interest among the kinds of first fruit offerings is the grain offering. I read some of the specific directions about that offering this morning. First is says that this offering must contain no leaven. Leaven was a symbol of corruption. You remember Jesus warned his disciples about the "leaven of the Pharisees."(Matt. 16:6) So the offering brought must be free of corruption, not just physically but free of the spiritual corruption.

And it must also contain "The salt of the covenant." Salt was the opposite of leaven. While leaven corrupts, salt preserves. Salt also purifies. This was a reminder that the covenant God made with Israel was one to preserve them and make them holy.

We carry on that legacy. Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth.(Mat. 5:13) It is our job to be a purifying and preserving influence on the world. And that's what this capital funds campaign is all about. It is to enable us to continue to carry out and expand the ministries by which we spread the Gospel.

But there is more to this first fruits grain offering. If the first fruits offering was grain it had to be crushed. For Christians through the ages this has served as a reminder of Jesus. He was the first fruits of the resurrection.(1 Cor. 15:20) He to was bruised or crushed, just as the grain was, to become a perfect offering for us.

Now if Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection, who are the later fruits? We are! Like him we too will rise. Jesus is the first fruits of all who will rise to eternal life.

Remember how the first fruits represent the whole. The first fruits were given to God to represent the belief that all the produce of the land belongs to God. The first part was given to God to sanctify the whole harvest. In the same way Jesus offered himself as a first fruits sacrifice that we may be sanctified. And through him we have been sanctifies or made whole through forgiveness and the Holy Spirit.

So what does all this mean to us? We are offering the first fruits of our Capital Funds Stewardship campaign today. But let us beware of offering it with leaven. Don't offer it with the leaven of selfishness. Leave out the leaven of doubt. Be sure your offering does not contain the leaven of worry.

Rather add the salt of the covenant. Salt your offering with hope for the future when we will be able to better serve God and the community. Salt your offering with faith - the faith that God will take our gifts and do great things with them. Salt your offering with joy - the joy that we are being faithful to God and shining his light for all to see. Salt your offering with love - love for the people out there who need to hear the good news. Salt your offering with thankfulness - for all that we have was a gift from God.

And as we make our offering let us remember what it's all for. It's for Jesus the first fruits of the resurrection. Who offered himself to be bruised and sacrificed for our sins. We all belong to God because of him. He sacrificed himself for us, so we today begin sacrificing for others!

Matthew 6:19-21, 24-34

Jesus said "Consider the birds of the air, they don't worry about food so don't you worry none." Well that is just fine if you're a sparrow. They don't even know how to sow or reap so why should they worry about it. They don't have car payments and house payments. They don't have college loans to pay off. They don't have to pay for medical insurance and such.

Then Jesus says, "Consider the flowers of the field, they don't work or sew." Well, that's fine if you are a dandelion. They don't have to worry about their children. They just send them off on the next breeze.

The birds and the flowers may not have anything to worry about, but as for me I have plenty. I have bikes and braces and broken arms and college expenses to plan for. I have payments and insurance and taxes and such. I have a family and responsibilities galore. I can't be carefree like the birds of the air and the lilies of the field!

Of course Jesus is not saying that we should be carefree. He is not saying we are or should be like the birds or the lilies. That's impossible. We have brains and God expects us to use them. God gave us the ability to sow and reap and gather and plan for the future. God doesn't expect us to just turn those abilities off and return to nature, or pretend we have no responsibilities.

It would be irresponsible to act like the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. It would be unfaithful for us not to plan for the future and work toward it. We have to toil and work and plan because we have been called to do that. God wants us to use our God given abilities responsibly.

So what does Jesus mean when he said "consider" the lilies of the field and the birds of the air? The point in considering the birds and the flowers is that God cares for them. They are unable to think and plan ahead. So God in his infinite wisdom cares for them. The birds can't grow their own seeds so God provides seeds for them to eat. The flowers are incapable of producing clothing so God clothes them marvelously.

And if God cares for them how much more will God care for us. This is one of the cornerstones of Christian Stewardship. I know you usually think of "Stewardship" as giving. But "Provision" is a part of Stewardship too. If God provides for birds which are a dime a dozen and wild flowers that wilt and die with the first frost, then our Heavenly Father will certainly care for us who are created in his image.

That doesn't mean we don't think and plan ahead. We still have to act responsibly. But we don't have to worry. Not because we are oblivious like the birds or the flowers, but because we know that God will provide. We plan and work but we don't worry because we trust in God's provision.

That's a liberating realization - I can think of the future but I don't have to worry about it! It may be liberating, but it is not easy to come by. I was sitting with a group of pastors one day. We were discussing church finances. One of the pastors expressed concern that offerings had gone down at his church. He was concerned because his salary came out of those offerings.

Then one of the other pastor's asked, "Is that offering really the source of your salary?" We all agreed on a theological level it wasn't. God is the source of provision for all our needs. Sure on paper the money that was used to pay the preacher might have come out of the funds placed in the offering plate, but ultimately God is the one who provides what we need. That's easy to say, but a little harder to live by. All us preachers could agree that this was the truth, but it is still hard not to worry.

God, who cared for the birds and the flowers, will provide for our needs. It may appear on paper that it's the company you work for or whoever it is that sends you a check every week or month that provides for your needs. But ultimately that employer or those investments are just the vehicle God uses to provide for your needs. God is the one who provides. We can all agree with that in our heads, but it is a little harder to affirm it in our hearts - even for preachers sometimes.

Which brings us back to something else Jesus said. He said "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth ... but store up treasures in heaven." If God, and not the bank account or job, is the true source of our provision, then shouldn't that be the place we invest ourselves. I'm not just talking money here. Shouldn't our hearts and lives be invested in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus points out that what is invested in this world will pass away. In this world moths and rust and the whims of the market can take our investments away. But what we invest in the Kingdom endures for eternity.

When you give to the church you are investing in the Kingdom of Heaven. Don't think of what you pledge as an amount of money you are giving away. Think of it as an investment in the furthering of God's kingdom. It will go into the programs and ministries of the church or into the expanding of the facilities that host those programs and ministries. So let us all, without worry, invest in the Kingdom of Heaven!

Like Jesus said "You can't have two masters - You can't serve God and wealth." If you serve wealth you will always be worried about what you will eat and what you will drink and what you will wear. But if you invest your life in God, he will provide for you just as he provides for the birds and the flowers. It's your choice. Will you invest in God or wealth.

Matthew 21:33-46

One day Jesus told a parable about a vineyard owner who was having labor troubles. But let's back up a minute. To understand this Parable we have to know its context. Where was Jesus and who was he talking to when he told this parable?

Jesus spoke this parable in the temple the day after he had cleansed it. If you remember Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday with the people singing "Hosanna" which means "Save us!" When he got to the temple, Jesus threw out all the money changers and sellers. And he said, "It is written, 'my house shall be a house of prayer,' but you have made it a den of thieves."(Matthew 21:13) These people were using the worship of Almighty God as an opportunity to make money and they were cheating the people in the process. And the religious leaders were charging these money changers and sellers for the right to sell in the temple. Needless to say the religious leaders didn't like Jesus for throwing these business men out and calling them thieves. It was cutting in on their profits.

The next day Jesus came back to the temple and people took notice. Here was the Prophet who the day before had called God's house a den of thieves. When Jesus came to the Temple he began teaching the people. Teaching the people was the job of the Scribes and Pharisees. Who was this Jesus to take over their jobs in the Temple. So they challenged Jesus, "Who gave you the right to teach in the temple?" Jesus responded, "First you answer my question, Was John the Baptists' authority from God or from man?" They could not answer. If they said from God he would ask why they didn't listen to John. If they said from man then the people would be angry because they saw John as a prophet. They said, "We are currently studying that issue quite diligently and hope to be forthcoming with an answer soon" or in other words, "We don't know."

It was in this context that Jesus told a parable that went something like this. Once upon a time there was an business man who decided to go into the wine business. He bought some land and planted a vineyard. And he fixed it up real good. He put a wall around it to keep animals out. He installed a winepress so that the grapes could be processed on the spot. And he set up a security system to keep out any grape rustlers.

Since this business man was a busy man he found a manager to watch over the enterprise for him. Then the man went off to see after his many other business ventures. After a while he sent someone to the vineyard to audit the books and get his profits. But when the manager saw him coming they made sure that this auditor disappeared. So the owner sent some more men and they were mistreated too. So finally the owner sent his son thinking they wouldn't dare lay a finger on him. But the manager said, "Here's the heir lets get rid of him and the place will be ours."

When Jesus finished telling the parable he turned to the people there including the Scribes and Pharisees and said, "What do you think that man will do to that manager when he gets his hands on him?" They said, "He will put that man to a miserable death and find someone else to manage his vineyard." Then Jesus said, "Don't you read your Bibles? God will take the Kingdom away from you and give it to someone else who will serve him. At that the Chief Priests and Pharisees knew he was talking about them.

Once you know the situation the meaning of the parable is rather clear. The religious leaders of that day had been using the Temple and worship of God to their own advantage. They were supposed to be serving God but instead they were serving themselves. They were like the tenant or manager that refused to give the profits to the owner. The Temple was God's house and Israel was God's people; they were God's vineyard meant to produce fruits of love and justice for God. The Priests and Pharisees were using God's Temple and people to their own political and financial advantage.

They were like the people in Jesus' parable who mistreated the messengers. The religious leaders in Jerusalem had rejected God's messengers the prophets over and over again. Sometimes they even put them to death because their messages did not benefit their personal political and financial goals. That's what happened to John! So God had sent His Son, Jesus, to bring them the message that they had better give glory to God. But in the end they would eventually play an important role in having Jesus killed.

And what would become of them. They would be replaced. Worship of God would be placed in the hands of others. The leading of God's people would be placed in the hands of others. And in 60 AD the temple was destroyed and worship of God was placed in the hands of the Christians and the Synagogues.

The mistake that the religious leaders of Jesus' day made was they thought that the temple was theirs to use as they wished. People today make that same mistake with the church. Some church people think they own the church. And some preachers and church leaders think the people belong to them; that the congregations are there to serve their needs. I know it is common for people to say "My church" or for a pastor to say "My congregation." But in truth they are God's church and God's people.

Christianity - the church - the people of God are all here to serve God. They are God's creation and God put us here to manage and maintain the church with his help. And at the end of the day the honor and glory for what we do should go to God alone. This is God's vineyard and its produce belong to God.

But people are always trying to used the church for their own gain and advantage. I cringe when I hear the name "Christian" attached to a political party of group. Too often the attitude is that Christians ought to support and vote for everything that they stand for. This being an election year you will hear politicians using the name Christian and the Church to their own political advantage. Some of them may very truly be trying to serve God. But some, on both the left and the right, will be serving themselves.

And there are plenty of individuals who try to use the church and Christians to their own personal ends. What about people who only go to church or contribute so that they will look good? Did you know that there are actually people who join a church just so that they can say they are members of a church. They are using God's church to make themselves look good. And there are people who come to church just when they feel like it or when it is to their advantage. They don't give to the church of their time or money and yet when they are in need they eagerly ask for help.

Whose vineyard is this anyway? We had better be careful. You know God took leadership away from one group and God could do it again. If the church today will not produce fruit for the kingdom then God will make a new church that will. Isn't that how the Methodist church got started. The Church of England in Wesley's day was not reaching the masses. So God moved Wesley and Whitefield and others to take the Gospel out into the streets. And they brought forth fruits of the salvation of millions. The established churches in Wesley's day were silent in the face of slavery. But Wesley and others preached against it. The result was an eventual end to the practice. They brought forth fruits of justice and mercy.

Who do we think we are to come and sit in our comfortable pews and expect to be served. We don't own the church. It belongs to God. We are simply the hired hands here. We are supposed to produce not just consume. We are called to give and not merely take.

We are blessed by being here and God's Holy Spirit does comfort us. There is nothing wrong with seeking the guidance of God and the help of fellow Christians. But we must keep in mind whose house this is. This is God's vineyard. We may partake of its fruits as we need. But we must also produce fruit. God can always find new workers so let us be faithful to the One who gave us this glorious opportunity to serve God in the church.

Matthew 25:14-30

There are Talents and then there are Talents. The way that this parable is written in English often confuses people. In common English a "talent" is and inborn ability or gift for doing something. A good pianist is said to have a talent for music. Or a good basketball player is said to have a talent for athletics. But that is not what the parable is talking about, at least on the surface. In ancient times a Talent was a measure of weight. In this case it is obviously the weight of Gold of silver. Each talent was probably about a thousand dollars

On the surface this parable is about a rich man and the three servants who look after his money while he is gone. But it has a deeper meaning. The Parable begins, "For it is as if a man..." What is "it"? "It" is the return of Christ. So when Christ returns it will be as if a person had gone away and entrusted his servants with money.

This is a story about our Lord and those who serve our Lord. Our Lord has given each of us gifts. And he will return to see what we have done with those gifts. But the talents of money in this parable represent more than our talents of being able to paint or keep the churches books straight. They include every thing that God has so graciously given us. They include our life and health, our money and family, and even the gift of salvation itself.

Another aspect of this parable needs to be clarified. It is the nature of the trust that was given to the servants. It says that this master summoned his servants and entrusted each of them with portions of money. To one he gave five thousand dollars to another he gave two thousand and to a third he gave one thousand. It says, "He gave each of them differing amounts according to their ability."

Ability to do what? The man did not want these servants to just protect the money until he came back. If that had been the case this rich man would have put all the money in safe and entrusted each of the three with a sword to protect it. They were supposed to do more with the money than preserve it intact until he returned.

The ability mentioned here must have been their abilities to handle money. This man did not acquire his money by making bad investments. The first servant was the type that had a Masters in Business administration. That servant knew about finances and was good with the stock markets. So the master gave that servant the largest amount hoping that he could make more. The second servant was the type who had done a little investing for his great aunt so that she would have enough to stay in the home indefinitely. That servant knew a thing or two about money market accounts and Certificates of Deposit. So that servant was given a smaller amount than the first. The last servant didn't know much about money. He was the type who just had a savings account at the bank. So the master gave this last servant the smallest amount. As a result if one of the three made a bad investment the other two would probably do better. He was making sure he did not have all his eggs in one basket. In Financialeze he had a diversified portfolio. The man's actions show that the whole point of this exercise of giving each servant money was to put his money to work for him while he was gone. The master did not want his money to be merely safe. He expected his servants to invest those funds and try to get the best return they could.

Well the man left and two of the servants went about their business trying to put their master's money to work. When the Master returned he gathered the three together and asked them what they had done with the talents he had given them. The first one, the MBA type, replied: "Well, I invested in high risk junk bonds and I made five more talents." And the Master said, "Well done good and faithful servant, you have done good with little I will entrust you with much." Then the master asked the second what did you do with yours. He replied, "I put it on a C.D. which came due yesterday with a yield of two talents." And the Master said, "Well done good and faithful servant, you have done good with little I will entrust you with much."

Then the Master turned to the third and said, "What about you?" Now the third servant hadn't done anything with his Talent. He had buried it in the ground so that if would still be there when the master came back. But he had not even tried to put it in the bank to earn interest. So in response to the question he tried to fast talk his way out of the problem. He said, "Oh, master, I knew you were a hard man and that if I lost your money you would be mad at me and the last thing I want is for you to be mad at me, so I hid your talent in the ground so that I would not lose it through bad investments."

This infuriated the Master. And he said, "Take that talent away from him and give it to mister Junk Bonds over there." And as for you, you knew I intended for you to use that money to better my interests, but you didn't even put it in the bank. Throw him in the outer darkness.

We have been given so much in this life. If we truly realize that all of it is a gift from God we will want to give thanks for these gifts. God has given us life. The very breath in our bodies is a gift from God. In America we have an abundance of food and all the other necessities of life. For these things we want to give thanks. We even set aside a national holiday for doing just that. God has even given us the most precious gift that a Father could give. God sent his only child to come a suffer death on a cross to give us salvation from our sins and eternal life.

God has given us much to be thankful for. But God didn't give us all this just so that we could sit there and mouth thank-yous in lip service to our Lord God wants more than fancy talk out of us. God gave us all these gift for a reason. And the more we have the more is expected out of us. God gave us salvation, but God expects us to respond with faithful devotion.

Too often we take our salvation and bury it in a hole hoping to preserve it until Christ comes again when we can use it to buy our way into the Kingdom. But there will be a day of reckoning. When Christ returns he will ask each of us what we have done with all our gifts. And some will say, "I preached to millions and brought them to a knowledge of your saving grace." Some will say, "I helped other Christians deepen their spiritual life by leading them in study of the word and praise." Some will say, "I took the love you showed me and showed it to whoever came my way." Some will say, "I took that little child you gave me and tried to teach her that 'Jesus loves me.'" These people will be able to say to their lord, "We took the light you gave us and we took it into the darkness of the marketplace and of people's lives and we let that light shine." But then there are some who will say, "Lord we knew you were coming back some day to account for these gifts so we buried them in the ground and saved them because we were afraid we might lose them and then you would be mad." And Jesus will say to those, "I gave you those gifts for a reason. Take them away from them and give them to those who were faithful."

God has given us much to be thankful for, let us not waste what we have.

Genesis 2:4-9, 15-17

Long, long ago: before there were microwave ovens and laptop computers, before there were 401K's, Junk Bonds, or money market accounts, before there were cars and houses, there was nothing. Now, when I say nothing, I mean nothing. When most people hear "nothing" they think if a desert or wilderness. But that would be something. I mean there was nothing but dirt and a mist rising from the ground.

And God reached down and grabbed up a handful of red clay. Then God threw the clay on a potter's wheel and began shaping something. Finally when God finished shaping it he looked at it and sighed a deep sigh and breathed on it and it came to life. And God clapped his hands and said, "Ha Adam" which roughly translated is "Dusty, my man!"

God realized that Dusty, or Adam as we know him, needed a place to live. So God planted a garden on the earth. The garden included every kind of plant that God could create: mosses and herb, fruits and vegetables, and flowers of every sort and color. There was even a tree of forbidden fruit, but that is the subject of another story.

Then God said, "Dusty needs something to do: a way to make a living." So God handed Dusty a hoe and said, "You are my chief gardener. You will tend my garden and care for all the plants I have created. And you may eat of the fruits and the vegetables except for that one I told you not to." And the world was perfect and life was wonderful - at least for a while.

All of Christian doctrine has its roots in the book of Genesis. That is why when I wanted to talk about stewardship; I started with the second chapter of Genesis. We talk about "Stewardship" in the church but most Christians don't know what we mean. When people hear the word "Stewardship" they think about giving money or more specifically tithing, or giving a tenth of one's income. Now that is all part of stewardship, but stewardship is much more. In a sense tithing is a symptom of good stewardship not stewardship itself.

Put simply stewardship is the belief that all we have came from God and belongs to God and we are merely caretakers or stewards of things. Dusty, better known to us as Adam, didn't own the Garden of Eden. It was created by God for Adam to live in, but it was still God's. Adam was merely its caretakers. He was supposed to tend the garden, but he was also free to take whatever he needed from it.

Stewardship is more than just a concept. It is more like a state of mind. Good stewardship is a discipline. It is not achieved over night but one grows to it by steps.

The first step toward good stewardship is to acknowledge that everything belongs to God. In other words we have to surrender all claims of ownership. For instance most of you came from homes this morning and drove to church in cars. That house and that car don't belong to you. You might say, "Yup preacher they belong to the bank, I just make the payments." But even when you have that loan paid, it's still not yours. You might have some cash in your wallet or pocketbook. It's not yours either. You might have a checkbook. The money in that account isn't yours. That is a radical paradigm shift for most people.

The second step is to recognize that we have been given the privilege of using and caring for God's things. If we stop before this step, then we would all have to take a vow of poverty. But God has all this stuff. We look around and there are neighborhoods full of houses. Look out in the parking lot. A lot full of cars! Feel in your pockets: change! God can't just leave us all homeless and penniless. So God let us use God's stuff. We drive God's cars and use God's money to feed our families and live in God's houses.

They are ours to use, but they really belong to God and we are supposed to take care of them. So good or bad stewardship is a function of how we use and care for all the things God lets us use. How do we use our cars and houses and money and time? If we use it in ways that honors God: meaning if we support God's work and do God's will, if we use them to love God and love our neighbor, then we are good stewards.

There are several outgrowths of this. One is how we treat the environment. We as Adam's descendants live in this Garden we call the Earth. It belongs to God and God lets us live here. We have the power to do whatever we want to with it. We are capable of polluting it or preserving it. Some people call this environmentalism, but I call it Environmental Stewardship.

Another outgrowth is how we use our income. This is where tithing, or giving a tenth of your income to the Lord, comes in. You notice good stewardship comes first and then tithing is an outgrowth of it. If I gave you ten dollars to hold for me and I say that you can use it as you need. Then I come to you and say, "Can I have one back?" It would be rude for you to say "No!" After all I gave you ten and you are still keeping nine.

For Christians tithing is a standard, an ideal, not a law. It is a way of expressing our devotion to God. God freely gives love and grace to all whether they tithe or not. And for some people it may be hard to suddenly give 10% Especially those who have recently experienced an economic setback. But it can be a goal to work toward, and beyond. If the amount you have been giving is only 5% then see if you can move up to 6 %.

But let's not forget Dusty, uh Adam. He is a model for God's plan for our place in this world. God made each of us from the dust of the earth and breathed into us the breath of life. In fact the Hebrew word "adam" or human is closely related to the word "adamah" or earth; hence the translated name "Dusty." God has placed us in a garden so we could live and grow. Sure our garden is different from Adam's: We have some of the same things: flowers and fruits and vegetables: even some forbidden fruit. But we also have microwaves and laptops and cars and houses.

God lets us use these things. But the bottom line is that it's all God's. We are only the caretakers of God's possessions. And the earlier we acknowledge that then the easier tithing and stewardship and all of life will be.

Mark 12:38-44

Everyone swore the woman was crazy. She lived in a nice little house. It was a Victorian style two story cottage. Upstairs was an apartment and downstairs were four rooms just the right size for a widow like herself to live in. It was even in a nice location just across the street from a little Methodist church. She owned the house outright, yet she said that it belonged to Jesus.

There in lies the roots of her insanity. Now if that were the whole story people would have called her "spiritual" or "religious," but they knew the rest of the story so they said she was crazy. You see she and her husband had lived in that house for years. After decades of marriage he decided to run off with a younger woman. So he abandoned his wife and took up with a younger woman and filed for divorce.

In the settlement she got the house. The judge had decided and the courts of the state declared it was her house. Yet she insisted it was Jesus' house. But that�s not the whole story. If the story had stopped there, people would have understood.

You see this ex-husband of hers who had abandoned her and cheated on her got cancer. He was dying and he had no money and no one to care for him. Seems right after all he did to her. And there she was sitting in her home, excuse me, Jesus' home with an apartment upstairs. So what does she do? She takes the cheating adulterer into her, that is Jesus', house, puts him in that upstairs apartment and nurses the little cheater until he dies. And that is why everyone swore she was crazy.

I guess that is what people thought about that widow in Jesus day. When Jesus came to the temple he looked around and saw all the religious leaders walking around in the long flowing robes. They liked the position of honor and power that they possessed. They enjoyed the greetings from the people in the market and the invitations to all the best dinners. But Jesus saw their hypocrisy. They devoured widows' houses for their own personal gain and then made long pretentious prayers to make themselves look righteous.

Then Jesus saw this widow. She didn't have a long robe. In fact her clothes were obviously worn and patched. And she put two coins in the offering plate. The only two coins she had.

I am sure people thought she was insane. To give her last two coins into the care of the very people Jesus accused of devouring widow's houses. But Jesus praised her. She realized that these coins were not hers. They were God's. God had given them to her and she could do little with them. She could not feed herself for long with these two coins. Maybe the God who rained down bread from heaven could make better use of them.

This is a lesson in true religion. This is what it means to have faith in God. To truly surrender it all to God. The Pharisees had so much and made a show of their devotion to God. But in reality they had given nothing to God. This widow on the other hand had given all she had because she trusted God.

But that is all fine and dandy. We should all go around saying that our cars and houses and bank accounts belong to Jesus. It sounds a little strange, but that is acceptable. We are Christians and supposedly we have given our lives to Jesus so all we have belongs to him.

If you do that people will call you "religious" or "spiritual" and even applaud you. But that is not enough. That is just a pious show like that of the Pharisees. People will applaud you and ask you over to dinner if you do that. That is false religious, God wants; no, demands more.

Let me get more concrete. It is fine to say that you car belongs to Jesus. Like I said that is a little different but it is socially acceptable. It is quite another thing to loan your car out to your neighbor when theirs is broken. People will say, but what about the insurance? It is also another thing to loan it out when it means that you and your spouse have to share your other car or when you don't have another car to share.

It is fine to say that your house belongs to Jesus. People will accept that as a statement of faith and applaud it. But God asks more. It is another thing to open your house to those in need; even when they are perfect strangers. Even to open your home to the very people that hurt you in the past.

It is nice to say that all you have belongs to God. And it looks nice when you put that extra money you didn't spend last month into the offering plate or to give some extra time to serving God. People will say, "Isn't that a religious person." But it is quite another to give your two cents to God. That is crazy!

This is the lesson in true religion. What most people call religion is the kind of thing the Pharisees did. The world says you are religious if you go to church every now and then and give some extra income and time to the church. They say you are religious if you look religious. But true religion is quite another thing. True religion is sacrificing everything for God's glory. True religion is giving you home, your car, your very life for the will of God.

You want to know what true religion is. It is Jesus the Son of God, the author of life and Goodness, dying on a cross. That's crazy! A sinless person giving their life for a worthless wretch like me! That's insane! The author of life dying for a race of ungrateful creatures like us! Giving his body to be broken and his blood to be shed to pay for my sins!

But that is true religion. Don't just say you have given it all to Jesus. Really give your self totally to God. Be sold out for Jesus. People will say you are crazy, but Jesus will point to you in that last day and say, "This poor child has given more. This one was sold out for my kingdom."

Mark 12:38-44

"Preacher, what do Methodists believe about tithing?" The call came one night from a member of my church. This particular member was one who I thought should have known the answer. He was one of a group of lay people specially trained to teach stewardship. I told him what the Book of Discipline(1992) says. Tithing is the "minimum goal of giving in the United Methodist Church."(p. 157) Then he said to me something that has stuck with me. "In all of my years as a United Methodist I have never heard a Methodist Minister preach that. You haven't preached that."

In the Methodist Church we talk about Stewardship. And of course tithing falls under the heading of Stewardship. Stewardship is the biblical and spiritual understanding that all we have is a gift from God. And as Christians ultimately all we have belongs to God. Our possession, our talents, our time are not our own they have been surrendered to God. We are merely stewards or caretakers of God's property and gifts.

This is a wonderful understanding that grows straight out of the Bible. But unfortunately the issue of tithing tends to get lost in the discussion. We are good at discussing the general ideas but we fail to get to the specifics. We are good at saying we are all stewards but when we get to specifics of how to be good stewards we waver. Preachers get in trouble when they get too specific with telling people what they should do with their money. So we tend to just beat around the bush.

Jesus got into trouble for talking about money. One day Jesus was warning his disciples about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Some people giving gifts to God and Jesus saw the opportunity for an object lesson. He sat down opposite the treasury and wealthy people came by and put large sums of money in the treasury. Bags of gold and silver. Then a poor widow came and put in two small pennies. When the total was added up at the end of the day her two cents would not add up to much. The scribes who did the counting would notice the bags of gold and silver.

But Jesus noticed the woman's offering. "Look," he said, "that woman has given more than anyone else." The disciples started counting on their fingers to figure out this new math Jesus was using. Jesus explained, "The others gave out of their abundance what they had left over, but this woman out of her poverty gave all she has."

What must that poor woman have been thinking? How would she live? How would she pay her bills or buy her food? Because of her action she would probably end up on welfare. Did she think that God would maybe pay her back with showers of blessings?

No, I think she realized that her only hope was in the Lord. She had nothing, except two pennies - and faith. The two pennies couldn't support her, but her faith told her that God could. She wasn't trying to buy a favor from God. She was simply placing her trust in the only one who could support her.

There is a tragic irony in this story. Did you miss it? The real tragedy is not the poor widow who gave away her last two pennies. Ironically the real tragedy is the rich people. They placed bags full of spare change in the offering plate thinking they are doing good. They think they have something when really they have nothing.

The widow is the one who is truly blessed. Because of her poverty she realized that she had nothing. And because she realizes that she had nothing she castes all her hopes and her very life in God's hands, even to the point of offering her last two pennies. When the cold winter comes or the days of hunger, her hope is in the Lord. And after all the Lord is the only one who can ever really meet our needs.

The rich people, on the other hand have placed their hopes and their lives on their wealth. They thought that their money could protect them. But what is money? It is a material thing and material things rust and pass away; they are stolen and degrade in value. When marauding armies come would their money save them? When thieves steal all they have will their money save them? When powers beyond human control prevail will common currency save them? When God demands a reckoning for their life, would money save them? No, earthly treasures pass away, but spiritual wealth, like the faith and hope of the widow, those things are eternal!

That is what tithing is all about. Tithing is not just about giving ten percent of your income to God. It's that but it is much more. Tithing is about putting our trust and our hope in the hands of the Lord. It is about deciding to value the eternal treasures that God offers above temporal riches. It is about a faith that says, "My hope is in the Lord and the Lord alone."

Don't tithe because the church needs your money. News flash! The church doesn't need your money. All the church needs is the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. You might tithe out of mere obedience. That is a good start but there is more.

Tithe because your only true hope is in the Lord. Most of us are like the rich worshippers who give out of our abundance and like them we tragically miss the blessings of trusting whole heatedly in Christ. Many people find it hard to tithe because they think they need that money to live and to prosper. When in reality all we need is Christ to live eternally and abundantly.

If you are not presently tithing, I encourage you to do so. Not for the benefit of the church or ministry to whom you give, but for your own spiritual benefit. Sit down and figure out your income and decided to give ten percent to some Christian ministry. It doesn't have to be this church. There will be some slim months, but trust in God and the blessings will be eternal. Like that widow you will be set free from bondage to material things and you will have spiritual treasures beyond earthly value.

Genesis 14:17-20

What do Methodists believe about tithing? Perhaps it might be a good idea to define what a tithe is. A tithe is 1/10th of a person's income. It is also the Biblical standard for giving to God. In Leviticus God directed the children of Israel to give 1/10th of the produce of the land to God. To this day the tithe is still a standard for Christian giving. So what do Methodists believe about tithing?

I heard a Baptist preacher's wife once tell a Sunday School class that Methodists don't believe in tithing, that is what they always talk about stewardship. To set the record straight historically Methodists believe that: "tithing is the minimum goal of giving in the United Methodist Church." (The Book of Discipline, 2008, p. 407) We talk about Stewardship because tithing is just one aspect of a larger issue. Stewardship is the idea that everything we have, even our lives, is a gift from God. We are stewards or caretakers of the money, possessions, talents, gifts and time God has given us. Clearly what we do with our income falls under that heading. But too often the topic of tithing gets lost.

I have preached on tithing a lot in my 21 years as a pastor. One of the things I have struggled with is how to give people a good reason to tithe. What could convince people to give one tenth of their money to God? Let's consider the origins of tithing.

The first tithe in the Bible is in Genesis 14. And it involved an interesting character: Mel - you know Mel Chizedek. Old Mel Chizadeck is so interesting because he was a worshipper of God. Remember this is before there was an Israel or Moses or the Ten Commandments. He was a priest of the Most High God before Abraham and Sarah had Israel's father.

The story also involves Father Abraham, called Abram in this passage. Abraham had just won a military victory. Abraham's nephew Lot had been taken captive and all his goods stolen by a group of kings. When Abraham heard about it he went and rescued his nephew. With only a little more than 300 men Abraham defeated three kings and rescued Lot and his family.

After this victory King Melchizedek came out to meet Abraham with bread and wine. And Melchizedek blessed Abraham saying, "Blessed be Abraham by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth." And it says that Abraham gave one tenth of everything to God.

So the first tithe was an act of gratitude. Abraham was grateful that God had delivered him from his enemies and had given him the victory. He was thankful that God had blessed him through the king/priest Melchizedek. So in response to God's blessing he gave a tenth of his possessions to God. And that was the first tithe.

So what happened to the tithing concept after that? It didn't come up again until Genesis 28. Jacob, Abraham's grandson, was fleeing for his life from his brother Esau. One night he lay down on the ground and used a stone for a pillow. The fact that he was sleeping out in the open with a stone for a pillow shows the kind of predicament he was in. That night Jacob had a dream.

In the dream he saw angels going up and down a ladder - this is Jacob's ladder that you might have heard of. The dream was a message from God. God was telling Jacob that he was not alone. Even though he had nothing and was fleeing for his life, God was with him. And even as he slept God's angels was caring for Jacob.

When Jacob woke up he anointed a stone and named the place "God's house" or in Hebrew "Bet' El" - Bethel. Then Jacob pledged to give one tenth of all he would receive from God. Jacob recognized that he had nothing and that God was blessing him. He knew that all he would receive would be a gift from God. It was all God's to begin with. Jacob was just returning part of it to God.

But more important than that was the emotion behind the tithe. For Jacob tithing was an act of worship that spontaneously grew out of thanksgiving. Jacob was thankful for the promise from God that his angels would protect Jacob. Jacob was also thankful for the comfort that this angelic revelation gave him the midst of his loneliness and fear.

Has God blessed you? Have you ever received a word of comfort from God? Have you ever felt an assurance that God was watching over you? Do you have enough food and clothing to care for you and your family? Have you ever received an answer to prayer? Have you ever known a great victory in the battles of your life?

God has blessed you! God has given you the victory over sin and death though Jesus Christ. God has given his only Son to die in your place. God has offered you perfect peace that passeth understanding. God has revealed to you that his angels at ascending and descending a heavenly ladder to take care of you.

What will you do? Abraham gave a tenth of all he had to God. Jacob pledged a tenth of all he would receive. Maybe that is a good reason to give! God has done so much for us so we should give as a response of gratitude and thankfulness.

If you need a reason tithe then here it is. Tithe to give thanks to God for the blessings he has given you! Or perhaps intentionally move in the direction of tithing to thank God. God has given us so much. A tenth seems so little to give back, but as a token of gratitude it's a good start!

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