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"Crown him" sermon from 11/22/09

“Crown Him”

Christ the King Sunday 2009

RUMC

This is Christ the King Sunday.  What do you think of when you think of a king?

I came up with a few images:

FROM MY CHILDHOOD:

     - Fairy-tale kings: usually powerful with a wicked queen

     - King of the hill: the game where the strongest pushes everyone else of the hill

     - "king me": checkers king jumps in all directions, taking over and winning

FROM MY ADULT YEARS:

     - "The" King - Elvis Presley - of which no more needs to be said -

     - King crab, king-sized ..., - the biggest, and best

     - King o' the road - a wanderer with no cares 

     - A chess king - one of limited movement and power to protect

      -  Historical kings- Henry the VII, George, you know all the others.

The point is when we say “king” it means different things to different people.  When we say “Christ the King,” it means different things to people in the church as well. 

We might talk about the relationship between our dependence on God and our obedience to God.  We might talk about how we can’t begin to be obedient to the King until we understand that we are completely and utterly dependent on Him.

We might talk about the Kingdom of God.  What is it?  Where is it?  I read a beautiful passage this week that said that the kingdom of God is a triangle.  The three sides are made up of us, our neighbor, and God.  At the intersection of this divine- human- neighbor relationship lays the kingdom of God.  Pretty cool.  We’ll talk about that sometime.

But today it only seemed appropriate to talk about the coming King.

Do you know why?. . .  I have had several people want to discuss with me the movie that has come out called 2012.  First, I have to say I haven’t seen the movie.  I may when it comes to Grundy, or I am sure it will be on TV eventually, but it just does not interest me all that much.  I am therefore not really talking about the movie itself.  I do want to address the premise of the movie, which is that on December 21, 2012 at 11;11 am the world will come to a cataclysmic end.

My answer is maybe, but there is nothing any more significant about that date than any of the other 220 dates on which the world was supposed to have ended, but it didn’t.  There is nothing more significant about 2012 than the years 2016, 2034, or 2047 during which the world is also supposed to end.

Personally, I believe the world will end in 2011.  You see that is the arithmetic mean of all the previously predicted dates for the end of the world; multiplied by Jesus age when he was killed; divided by the weight of the earth in Egyptian debens; times the number of dinosaurs I believe lived on the earth; divided by the number of calories I plan to eat over the thanksgiving holiday.  Further, I predict it will be on April 14^th just to mess with the IRS.

Does that make any sense to you?

I tell you- from a Biblical perspective, my April 14^th 2011 makes just as much sense as December 21^st 2012 or any date you might choose.  I encourage you to take all of these predictions with a grain of salt.

You can watch all the movies you want.  You can read all the books you want.  You can even store up food to take care of your family in time of crisis.  None of that will hurt a thing.  As long as you understand a few things about what God says about the end of the world.

First.  It will happen.  2 Peter 3:8-10 says

do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

The New Testament writers, along with Jesus, believed that someday all of this would end.  Matthew chapters 22-25 contain many words of Jesus regarding the end times. For instance

1Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2"Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

 3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

 4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,[a]' and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.

 9"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

That sounds like the end of the world as we know it right from Jesus’ own mouth.  You all recognize the book of revelation as being a book with the same message. I think the Bible is clear “IT WILL HAPPEN”

Speaking of The Book of Revelation I want to warn you.  Many have gone through the poetic book of revelation and assigned each verse to an historical event or person.  Be careful about tying the poetic verses of Revelation to specific, concrete, recordable, historical events.  Jesus in the verses just after the ones I just read says,

36"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son but only the Father. 

If Jesus doesn’t know the day or the hour, how presumptuous is it to proclaim December 21^st 2012 as the end of the world, or for me to calculate April 14^th 2011.  All of those predictions pretty ridiculous. 

The passage from 2 Peter clearly cautions us that he will come like a thief in the night.  A thief doesn’t write books, produce movies, make predictions and work off a 4000-year-old calendar before he breaks into a house.  A thief sneaks up when you least expect or he isn’t a very good thief.  2 Peter cautions us that the end will sneak up on us.

That is the second thing I want you to know not only First --IT WILL HAPPEN- but second, WE DON’T KNOW WHEN.

All of this 2012 stuff is predicated upon the Mayans observing that the axis of the Milky Way and the axis of our solar system have been twisting closer and closer to parallel.  Granted it is amazing the Mayans who existed from 2600 BC  (that’s about the time of Noah) to 250 AD even noticed this.  Let me tell you, however that’s not as amazing as how the  media, the publishing houses and opportunistic businesses who are trying to turn this into a frenzy.  Not to mention how some politicians and religious leaders will undoubtedly profit from it.  DON’T BELIEVE IT.  It is not Biblical, it is not scientific, and it is not even rational.  Maybe December 21, 2012 at 11:11 am will be the end of the world, as we know it.  But maybe not.

So first I want you to know that the world will end.  Second, we don’t know when.  Third don’t worry, just be ready.  2 peter ends with these words.

 14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

 17Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

When you hear me preaching read your Bible, pray, stay close to God.  Grow in faith.  Take risks.  This is the reason.  None of us knows what tomorrow will bring.  But we do know that we will be held accountable for our relationship with God and our neighbors.  It is not something to worry about.  The left behind books, movies and other things you read may scare you about the end times.  But the Bible doesn’t make it something scary it says Don’t’ worry, just BE READY.

So IT WILL HAPPEN, WE DON’T KNOW WHEN, WE NEED TO BE READY BUT NOT WORRY BECAUSE finally- in the end God wins.  Behold I make all things new. 

That brings us back to Christ the King Sunday.

See that crown on the bottom of the cross there.  That represents Christ the King Sunday- today.  It is the last Sunday of the Christian year.  That is why today we talk about the end of time.  We talk about the consummation of the earth because this is the end of the Christian  year.  It kind of makes sense, doesn’t it? 

The final- ultimate- world ending- apocalyptic- most fundamental truth in all of this is- no matter what you believe.  No matter who you are.  No matter what we have done.  No matter where we have failed.  No matter when the world ends or doesn’t end. . . IN THE END, CHRIST IS KING- and GOD WINS.

The near the end of the book of revelation we read,

 1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

 5He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

 6He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

In the end my friends no matter what, God wins and Christ is King- no matter what.

AMEN

"M is for generosity" #3

M IS FOR GENEROSITY #3

RUMC 11/5/09

How many M’s do you use to spell generosity?  I use three.  Motivation, Means, and today we will talk about MATURITY.

Fundamentally, the connection between generosity and maturity is easy to understand. 

·         The more we read the Bible the closer we grow to God. 

·         The more we pray the closer we grow to God. 

·         The more we worship the closer we grow to God. 

·         The more we witness the closer we grow to God.

·          And the more we are generous the closer we grow to God.

That’s really not so hard to understand but I would like to unpack that a little today.

First, we have to recognize that one of the fundamental characteristics of God is generosity.  From the very beginning of creation, God has generously showered good things upon his people.  Consider the beauty and bounty of the Garden of Eden.  Consider the beauty and bounty of the earth.  Remember I told you that one kernel of corn planted, watered, nurtured, when mature yields 150-180 kernels.  Consider the tremendous bountiful variety of God’s creation.  A stingy God would have created a cow, a pig, and a chicken for us to eat.  The rest is from God’s generosity.  How many stars do we need in the sky . . .  none- How many twinkling beauties has God bestowed upon us?  Millions and trillions!  What about the gift of sight- we need to see to survive.  But because God generously gave us two eyes and placed them just so, and gave us the right kinds of nerves, we not only see, but se see stereoscopically, in vivid living color!  

God’s generosity is all around us.  It is in us.  And it is for us.  Consider finally the greatest act of generosity.  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son.”  God loved the world so much; God loves us SO much that he generously gave his son for our sins!

God is an amazingly generous God!

Our purpose statement says that we are to know God’s love in Jesus and to grow in that love.  In other words to be more like God.  We are to know God’s love and grow to be more like God in our love.

That’s what Christian maturity is about.  It is a journey with God.  A journey of knowing God, and becoming more like Him.

A journey of knowing God’s love and growing to be loving like God.

A journey of knowing God’s joy and growing to be more joyful like God.

A journey of knowing God’s promise and growing to be more trusting in God.

A journey of knowing God’s patience and growing to be more patient like God.

A journey of knowing God’s generosity and growing to be more generous like God.

Did you hear that?  Christian maturity includes knowing God’s generosity and growing to live generously like God.

That is what I have tried to say 100 different ways in these three sermons on generosity.  Generosity or stewardship is not about meeting budget.  Stewardship is not about keeping the lights on.  Stewardship is not about who gives more.  Stewardship is not about getting by.  Stewardship is not about conning people out of money.  Stewardship is not about tax deductions.  Stewardship is not about how many zeros are on your estimate of contribution.  Stewardship is not about how much you have left over for the church.  Stewardship is not about your fair share.

Stewardship is about one thing and one thing only.  Stewardship is about your relationship to God.  Are you growing to be more generous like God?

It isn’t a hard question just do the math.

If you asked me, are you growing in your Scripture reading?  I would say.  This year I have almost doubled the amount of time I have spent reading scripture.  What would your answer be?

If you ask me, are you growing in prayer?  I would say, a little I usually pray about 15 minutes a day more than I did last year.  How about you?

Are you growing in service, or acts of love, you might ask?  Though I do an awful lot of little things, I would have to guess that my total hours would be down this year because I spent so much time on floods and tornados last year.  How about you?

If you ask me if I am growing in generosity.  I could easily do the math and say though my income is staying the same, I will be giving 25% more in 2010 than I gave in 2009.  Does that put me up to a tithe?  Like many of you, I am still working on that.  However, I can honestly say I am getting closer and I am growing in my generosity.  I am also going to start putting the check in myself, rather than having it automatically transferred.  Though the transfer is easy, I miss the experience of being generous in worship.  So yes, I am growing in generosity.  Now, how about you?

That is what I will be looking for this year.  I know most of our incomes have not gone up so that makes it easy.  I will be asking Dian for a list of people whose estimates have gone up, so that I can encourage you in your continued growth.  I hope to see all of your names on that list.

Those who aren’t able to increase your giving generosity this year, bless you I know you are doing the best you can and we will work on growing close to God in other ways.

If you are growing in love, if you are growing in scripture, if you are growing in prayer, if you are growing in service if you are growing in generosity, you are surely growing closer to God.

And if we as a church are growing in love, If we are growing in scripture, If we are growing in prayer, If we are growing in service If we are growing in generosity, then we  are surely growing closer to God. 

That’s a pastor’s dream.  That is what God wants.  That is what being a disciple of Jesus Christ is all about.  Growing closer to God.

Now.  It is time to offer our commitments for 2010.  The ushers are passing around baskets of “talents.”  Really, they are talents.  They just look like pennies.  I want each and every person to take some talents that to you represent your resources.  It might be 3 it might be a fist full.  I want everyone no matter what your age or stage in life to take talents that represent what God has given you.  By the way- don’t be shy because you better not leave any of God’s gifts sitting unused in these baskets unused when we are done.  This is free money.  A gift from me to you, just like God’s free gifts to us.

You could simply slip it in your pocket and be a few cents richer when you leave worship today.  If that is what you choose to do that is between you and God.

On the other hand, you have the opportunity to practice generosity in a little way by including some of them or all of them with the offering of your estimate of giving.  There might even be someone who decides to add to what he or she receives from the basket.  That’s OK too.

When I finish and the music starts, I want you to bring your estimate of giving and whatever talents you decide to offer to God, up to the front and put them in the pot- I chose the pot because I want to hear you being generous.

Finally, I know it is just pennies, but remember three things. 

1.       Alone they are pennies, together they add up to dollars, and the dollars add up to lives saved or changed for Jesus Christ.

2.      The widow with the two copper coins gave more than all the rest Jesus said, “Because they give out of their abundance, and she gave all she had.”

3.    Remember the Parable of the Three Servants

 ¹⁹ “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money.²⁰ The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

 ²¹ “The master was full of praise. ‘  Well done, my good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities.  Let’s celebrate together!^[b]’

Ruffling my feathers. . .

Things like this ruffle my feathers.  How long must we endure O Lord. . . 

By Kathy L. Gilbert*
Nov. 12, 2009 | LAKE JUNALUSKA (UMNS)

Bishop John Hopkins gives a report at the 2008 United Methodist General Conference.

For the past 40 years the one “voice” that has spoken for The United Methodist Church has been a 10-day, 1,000-delegate meeting charged with considering mountains of legislation.

Held every four years.

“At times it seems that General Conference is the absent parent of a dysfunctional family,” said Bishop John Hopkins, chair of the Connectional Table.

Between sessions of the General Conference, the policy-making body of the church, there is no mechanism to step in and make quick decisions, stop the “squabbles” and get the church back on track with its mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ, he said.

Finding consensus on a solution, however, has also been difficult. In the past five years, church leaders have formed at least three different bodies, the Connectional Table, the Worldwide Nature of the Church study committee and a Call to Action study committee – to promote collaboration and nimble action between General Conferences. The Council of Bishops and Connectional Table this month approved a plan calling for outside consultants also to weigh in on the church’s future.

The challenge of coordinating efforts was evident in the November meeting of the Connectional Table.

During a report on the Worldwide Nature of the Church committee, Bishop Scott Jones, chair, was asked by a member of the Connectional Table, Andy Langford, if his committee would be in convergence with the Call to Action Steering Committee.

"No," Jones said. “I'm not committed to convergence.”

His response was met with some surprise. Jones has since said he thought Langford was asking him whether his committee was “committed to reaching the same proposal as the Call to Action Steering Committee? My answer to that was No.” Jones said, however, that his committee is enthusiastic about working with other groups such as the Call to Action committee, and he has written to them asking how best to consult and collaborate.

‘A lot of ferment’

Committees seem to beget committees. Are they listening to each other?

The 2004 General Conference formed the Connectional Table as a roundtable of leaders who could talk about the vision and ministry of the church, Hopkins said. The group was given responsibility for coordinating the mission, ministries and resources of the United Methodist Church.

United Methodist Bishop Scott Jones gives the sermon during opening worship at Youth 2007 in Greensboro, N.C.

The 2008 General Conference created the Worldwide Nature of the Church study committee after the denomination made a step toward reorganizing so it does not appear to be a U.S. church, with satellite locations in Africa, Asia and Europe.

Then in 2009, the Council of Bishops formed the Call to Action committee to make a fresh assessment of the church’s life, to help make the denomination more effective and accountable, particularly in light of the economic climate.

During a report to the Council of Bishops, the Call to Action committee recommended forming a new committee to continue their work. The proposal prompted Bishop Jane Allen Middleton, Central Pennsylvania, to ask, “How is this not just another layer on top of everything else?”

Bishop Larry Goodpaster, chair, said the Call to Action committee recognized there was some overlap between all the groups. “We kept saying there are groups working on this, we need to encourage them and urge them to do this with some immediacy. We can’t put this off.”

Bishops Hopkins, Jones, Goodpaster, and Gregory Palmer, president of the Council of Bishops, sat down with United Methodist News Service to talk about the dreams of each group to revive a denomination that is steadily losing membership in the U.S. and turning grayer by the day in the pews.

“There is a lot of ferment going on with all these different groups,” Jones said. “The key is that there is strong commitment of all the leaders for mutual consultation and collaboration.”

“I think we’re in a process of trying to practice collaboration in such a way that it becomes a habit. … And I mean a positive habit,” Palmer said. “Collaboration is really, to put it in Wesleyan terms, a form of conferencing.”

All four bishops agreed there is a renewed sense of urgency about the mission of the church and how to realign resources to accomplish that mission.

Pieces of the puzzle

Bishop Gregory Palmer addresses the Council of Bishops during the 2008 General Conference.

The 60-member Connectional Table includes representatives from the five ethnic caucuses, 13 general agencies, 21 jurisdictions and seven central (outside of the U.S.) conferences, one youth, one young adult and a member of the Council of Bishops who acts as chair.

“It has the distinct function that’s in the (Book of) Discipline to bring legislation to General Conference about the structures of the church to make them more effective and efficient,” Hopkins said.

“Real-time” conversations go on around that table when different parts of the church need to be in collaboration, he said. The four areas of focus adopted by the 2008 General Conference were developed around that table, he pointed out. The four areas—developing leaders, starting new congregations, eliminating poverty and global health—show the church can rally around good ideas, he said.

“The Connectional Table is not a pure administrative group by any means,” he said. “It’s a table for vetting.”

The 20-member Worldwide Nature of the Church Study Group was formed after a study group submitted 23 petitions to the 2008 General Conference to amend the church’s constitution to allow for a creation of a regional conference for the United States.

“Our mandate from General Conference is to come back to the 2012 General Conference with legislation possibly altering the Book of Discipline so that the United States would be one regional conference out of many within the worldwide United Methodist Church,” Jones said.

Unity of the church is “absolutely important,” he said. “The unity rests in our doctrine, discipline and mission.”

The Call to Action Steering Committee was formed in 2009 by the Council of Bishops to design a plan for reordering the church.

“I think the initiative behind the call to action was done in the context of the economic crisis, but it quickly became apparent to us that it wasn’t the financial crisis that was gonna drive it,” Goodpaster said. “We really focused on the mission of the church and how do we align the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world in our current time with the four areas of focus.”

There are at least two more committees appointed by the 2008 General Conference, Hopkins said. The Ministry Study Committee is charged with clarifying the ordering of ministry. The Committee on Faith and Order is reflecting on matters of faith, doctrinal teaching, order and discipline.

Declining numbers

There are currently about 8 million United Methodists in the United States and more than 3 million in Africa, Asia and Europe. In 1968 membership in the U.S. was more than 10 million.

United Methodist Bishops Larry M. Goodpaster (left) and Rosemarie Wenner pray during the November meeting of the Council of Bishops. A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert.

“Far too many of our local churches have become clubs for the benefits of their members,” Jones said. “In broad regions of the church you can presume that half received no profession of faith in a given year. Mr. (John) Wesley is rolling in his grave.”

It’s not just professions of faith that are not happening, Goodpaster said. “In the 1950s we were baptizing over 400,000 people a year. Now it’s less than 150,000.”

“There are many leaders in the church who believe when they’ve held a meeting they’ve done real work,” Jones said. “The fact that the Council of Bishops doesn’t even hold itself accountable for membership and worship attendance trends in the U.S. churches is a sign that we don’t really focus on that much.”

Palmer said when people start separating mission from evangelism, “we’re making a choice that the Gospel doesn’t give us.”

Where’s Jesus?

The institution sometimes becomes the focus instead of the mission of Jesus Christ in the world, Palmer said. “It’s almost like in II Timothy when Paul says, ‘Demas has left me having gone after the things of this world.’ It’s almost like we’ve left Jesus.”

“The numbers have been telling us something for a long time. We’ve been sort of happy just floating along--the institution was running, money was coming in. Then numbers were going down. Now we have a tipping point. Money’s not coming in anymore.Numbers don’t tell us everything, he said, but they are not irrelevant.

“Isn’t that interesting? We didn’t pay attention to the numbers of decline, professions of faith, baptisms, people in Sunday school, etc. But we pay attention to the numbers about dollars.”

(emphasis is mine)

My response to the on line community:

Layers upon layers. And then the story in the UM reporter is surprised that third mile giving is down. How many of our churches struggle just to pay for this oppressive super-structure. Clean up the redundancy. Eliminate committees and boards that don't directly support the mission of the local church both locally and globally (that is after all where the rubber meets the road). Trim those that do support that mission. The UMC needs to be leaner, quicker and more responsive to the needs of our people in the pews or they will continue to vote with their feet, and their pocket books. (We know which one will get the attention of the powers that be don't we?)

November 8 sermon "M is for generosity" part 2

M is for generosity

RUMC 11/8/09

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Last month we talked about the first M in generosity:  

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Motivation.  Does anyone remember what I said? 

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Does that look familiar?  That is our Motivation. We live generously because we overflow with gratitude.

Today I want to talk about another M.  The “Means.”

<< Means >>

By “means” I mean “Resources.” What means or resources do we need in order to live generously?

The first thing you might think of is think that I should have had you all bring your bank statements or tax returns.  That’s exactly why I chose the passage we read from scripture today.  It quickly and easily puts that idea to rest.  The widow came to the temple. She didn’t bring her bank statements because she didn’t have enough money to open a bank account.

She didn’t put in a lot of money because she didn’t have a lot of money.

Yet Jesus said her contribution was greater than all the others.

For Jesus it wasn’t about bank statements, or charitable contributions, or making budget.  It was about living generously. For Jesus it was all about her heart and her hands.

So when I’m talking about having the means to live generously I am not talking about your bank statement.  I’m also talking about you: your heart and your hands.

First I want you to ask “How big is my heart?”

We are coming up to the Christmas season: a season of giving. And the stories are plentiful.  Do you remember Ebenezer scrooge?  He had more worldly means than anyone else in town.  But his heart was cold and dead.  His giving was calculated on an accounting ledger. But it took the ghostly apparitions to get him to look at the size of his heart and begin giving from his heart.

The Grinch is another great example. In the Grinch that stole Christmas, after taking everything about Christmas from Whoville, the Grinch goes back up his mountain and hears, in the distance, the Who’s singing their Christmas song.  And his heart grows three sizes that day.

Think about that: Ebeneezer who had so much the Grinch who had so little, but they both had undersized hearts and therefore couldn’t live generously.  Notice it wasn’t the wallet or the bank account.  It was about the heart.

We live in a time when hearts can be bypassed, ablated, stinted and defibrillated.  Yet we live in a time when most people have the most serious heart defect of all.  There hearts are three sizes too small.  They beat only for themselves.

Ø  Americans spent more on legalized gambling ($2500 for every American) than on groceries.  

Ø  $10-13 trillion dollars in inheritances will be transferred to the baby boomer generation within the next 10-20 years.  Yet less than 10% of those with wills will leave anything at all  to charity.

Ø  There has been a 30+ year decline in the % of income Christians give to their churches On average, churchgoers are giving just 2.52% of their after tax income.  That’s about 1.7% pretax.  If the Grinch’s heart was three sizes too small, that 2.5% is at least 4 sizes too small compared to the tithe.

Ø  20-35% of church attendee giving records are blank

Sure, I’ll be the first to admit we are in terrible economic times.  But you can’t blame these shameful statistics on the economy.  I went back to a survey that was taken 4 years ago when the economy was breaking records.  Those statistics have nothing to do with a recession or unemployment.  They have everything to do with hearts that are three or four sizes too small and beat only for themselves.

The first means to generous living is having a generous heart.  I challenge you to ask today “How big is my heart?”

Second, I want you to look at your hands.   Are they open or closed?  John Ortberg tells a story that when his Grandmother passed away, his grandfather was cleaning out the attic and came across a set of dishes.  He called his daughter and said “I found a set of old dishes in the attic.  If you want them, they are yours.  If not I’ll get rid of them.” Rev Ortberg says his mother went to look at the dishes and they were the most beautiful dishes she had ever seen.  They were each hand painted with a pattern of forget me nots.  The cups were mother of pearl with gold rims.  They were made by a Bavarian china factory that was destroyed during World War II.  They were literally irreplaceable. 

The mystery was that no one in the family had ever seen them before.  Why were these beautiful and valuable dishes packed away in the attic with all the junk?  When they finally chased down the story, they found out that his mother had received these dishes as a gift over a number of years when she was a child.  They were not a wealthy family but the dishes were very expensive, so on special occasions, like a birthday or confirmation she would receive another piece of china.  She would wrap it in tissue and carefully pack it away for a very special occasion.  But that no one special enough ever came.  The dishes sat packed away in the attic for decades.  Since almost no one knew they were there, they were certainly safe.  But grandma went to her grave with the greatest gift of her life hidden away, and never used.

I think that is sad.  But it is a parable about how some people live.

There are people who live like this with both of their hands tightly grasping and protecting and preserving.

And there are people who live with their hands open, offering, and serving.

And again, it doesn’t have anything to do with how much they have. 

You see stinginess, which is the opposite of generosity, is not necessarily the result of greed.  More often it is the result of fear.  Fear that something will happen to the dishes.  Fear that someone more special may come along and we won’t have the best dishes for them. 

Fear keeps us from living generously.

·         We aren’t generous with our time because we are afraid that more will be asked.

·         We aren’t generous with our skills because we are afraid that someone will take advantage of us.

·         We aren’t generous with our love because we are afraid we might be hurt.

·         We aren’t generous with compliments because we are afraid someone will take it wrong

·         We aren’t generous with our hope because we are afraid of disappointment.

·         We aren’t generous with our forgiveness because we are afraid of being a pushover.

·         We aren’t generous with our joy because we are afraid that we will be considered naive or foolish.

·         We aren’t generous with our money because we are afraid that there won’t be enough for later.

·         We don’t generously step out and follow God because we are afraid that God won’t take care of us.

You see I don’t think it is greed or stinginess that keeps us from unpacking and using the dishes.  It is fear.  So our hands are constantly busy protecting and preserving, rather than offering and serving.

How did the widow use her hands in today’s scripture?  She picked up her two coins and offered them.  She unpacked the china and sat down to a fest of generosity with God.  She opened her hands and gave generously.

That is what Jesus loved about the widow in today’s story.  He saw not her two coins, but her generous heart.  He saw not her bank account, but her serving hands.  And he said “She has given more than all the others added together.” 

Today or this week we will all be filling out our estimates of giving for 2010.  But that is not what Jesus is going to be interested in.  He is not interested in how many zeros are on your pledge card.  What Jesus is interested in is whether you have the means to be generous.  What he will be watching is your heart and your hands as you decide on whether you will live with a small heart and closed hands, or an enlarging heart and open hands.  You are not just deciding on next year’s support of the church. You are deciding how you will live.  And that is what Jesus is interested in.    What will he see as he watches you?