Taste and See: Treasure

Scripture Readings

WWTW- Me again!

Introduction- An uncomfortable topic!

A little while ago I came across a study which asked non-Christians what they thought of us, the church.

The top three words that folks came up with…didn’t exactly flatter us.

Judgemental.

Isolated.

Selfish.

This is most likely because there are a whole bunch of TV evangelists out there who seem to spend all their time asking folks for money.

Not for nothing those folks also seem to have a couple of private jets and big huge homes...

So we tend to get lumped in with them, and folks view the Church as selfish.

Which makes preaching about money a tricky proposition.

And yet, we have to.

Jesus spoke about money…a lot!

So we owe it to ourselves to take a look at our relationship to money, and how we can be good stewards of it.

Mark’s Gospel

We’re at the temple

This story takes place between Palm Sunday, and Jesus’ death on the cross.

And he’s taken up residence this week, during the day at least, at the temple in Jerusalem.

The center of religious life for the entire nation.

We don’t really have anything to compare this to.

There were lots of little local synagogues, but one centralized temple.

Families would make an annual pilgrimage to the temple, so long as they could afford it.

They would make sacrifices, and make sure that they were on solid footing with God.

There were layers to the temple.

There was a court on the outer most wall where Gentiles could gather.

Then there was the court of women.

Then a place for Jewish men to worship.

Then a place for the priests and Levites.

And finally at the center, the Holy of Holies, where only one priest could enter, because that’s where the Spirit of God dwelled.

At the outer most level there were places to drop your offering.

They had these big metal buckets that were attached to tubes.

Sort of like a spiritual wishing well.

They were located at the court of women, where the most Jewish pilgrims could gather.

So during a pilgrimage, much like Passover which was quickly approaching in this story, folks would drop cash in these metal buckets.

They didn’t have paper cash like you and I do today.

So you would know exactly how many coins someone dropped in.

They’d make sure of it.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

Jesus Sets Up Shop

He’s out with the riff raff.

What I like with this story is that Jesus sits down.

He pulls out a lawn chair from the traveling cart and takes up residence.

If he can see the treasury, those big metal bowls, he’s out in the women’s court.

It’s worth noting that Jesus, who could take up residence in the Holy of Holies by right, stays at one of the outer most layers of the temple.

He takes up residence with those that are most excluded.

He’s noticing things about money.

At first, Jesus is just taking it all in.

What does all of this money have to say about people’s spirituality?

What kind of people are giving large sums?

What are they wearing while they do it?

What kind of look is on their face?

How loud are their offerings hitting the buckets?

That’s how he sees the widow.

He hears just two coins hit.

Clink. Clink.

And he calls his disciples toward him to point out something beautiful about her.

But first...

What might we observe about our own relationship to money?

Debt is up

In 2022, Americans held $16.9 Trillion in debt.

This is not the National Debt that those politicians are always screaming about.

This is personal debt.

$16.9 Trillion.

This was up $2.75 Trillion since 2019.

In just three years, we spent $2.75 trillion we didn’t have.

$986 Billion (with a B) of that debt is credit card debt.

Because a credit card by nature means spending money you don’t currently have, it’s not surprising to learn that 18.3 million people were behind on the credit card payments in 2022, by 30 days or more.

Giving is down

Americans gave $499 Billion in 2022.

This was a 3.4% decrease from the year before, following a declining trend that’s been happening for about 20 years or so.

Only 27% of that $499 Billion went to a religious organization.

Once again, this kind of follows our declining attendance numbers, but this has been true for a little while.

Slight upbeat news: giving among mainline protestant denominations has been ticking slightly up the last 4 or 5 years, which is great!

But still, Churches are facing a financial crisis across the country.

Pastors and staff are leaving in droves for higher paying jobs because churches can’t keep up with the rest of the labor market.

In fact we heard at a training seminar here at Beulah recently that more than half of the PC (USA) churches in this country, whether they know it or not, are on their last full time pastor.

Scarcity is the way.

What so much of these numbers point to, what we can observe about the American economy, is a scarcity mindset.

There’s only so much to go around, so I better put myself in debt to make sure I get it!

There’s only so much to go around, so I can’t possibly give to the church right now!

There’s only so much to go around, so I better look out for number one before I look out for anyone else!

The widow that Jesus saw didn’t have a scarcity mindset at all, did she?

Why did this widow give it all?

She believed in what God was doing.

You would have to, right?

You would have to have a relationship with God that is built on trust to put those last two coins in.

You would have to have had experiences where God caught you, where God provided for you, where you realized that it’s not about scarcity in God’s kingdom, it’s about abundance, to be in her shoes.

You would have to see what God is up to in the world.

You would have to observe the goodness of God.

You would have to, on some level, know how wide and how deep and how wonderful is the love of God for you to be able to put in those two coins.

She knew that we are blessed to be a blessing.

This woman was very clearly versed in a Jewish understanding of the world.

In our OT lesson, we hear Abram called to leave everything he has, everything he knows, and follow God.

No pressure.

At the very start of the journey, God gives Abram the mission statement.

I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

Whatever blessing God has given to us, from the very beginning of this story, has been so that we can bless others with it.

And so for this widow at the temple, it just made too much cents (pun intended if you’re awake with me this morning)

If God’s given me two copper pennies, then away they go.

May they bless someone else.

If God’s in the blessing business, this widow decided, then she should be too.

She wanted in.

She’s been awake to what God’s doing in her life.

She’s seen God at work.

She trusts God.

And in spite of whatever reasons anyone could possibly give her to the contrary, she wants in.

She wants to bless others the way God has blessed her.

She wants to take a step in the Kingdom of God.

She wants to be a part of what God is doing.

Why should we give?

We believe in what God is doing.

If you had to, what kinds of things would you notice that God has done in and through Beulah Church?

Here’s just a preliminary list of things that I’ve seen in the last year that I’ve been here:

We had an offering goal last year.

MOST had a holiday offering, and set a matching goal of $2,500

We actually raised $4,531, which with the match gave us a total of $7,031.

All of that money went to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, which helped victims of natural disasters, war, and poverty around the world.

We have seen kids get a job that wouldn’t have had the opportunity otherwise.

Part of the ministry of summer camp is that Alex is able to hire the counselors who work with us.

Sure, it’s nice to be able to give these young people a paycheck!

But for a lot of them, it’s their very first “real” job

(I don’t know if working in ministry actually qualifies as a real job, but go with me)

It’s the first time they had to fill out a time card.

It’s the first time they had to have a boss.

It’s the first time they had to manage their time and put in vacation requests.

And even just in my first year of being here, there are a few young people who were able to turn that around and land another job out in the “real world”

Based on our recommendations

And their experience working for the camp.

That’s something we’ve done together.

The GAP ride

A few of our MOST team were at a mission event with Pressley Ridge, where they learned about 8:Fifteen, a ministry to foster kids.

8:Fifteen was advertising for a 150 mile bike ride in just three days.

And these mission folks thought “Pastor J could do that!”

Sometimes I worry you have too much trust in me...

But we raised funds, once again raising nearly double what we needed.

I did the ride, made a movie (which I promise will be coming out soon!), and got to meet some of the kids that the program 8:Fifteen benefits.

Because of us, there are kids out there who had absolutely nothing in this life who are going to be able to get good jobs, have a place to live, and the education and training needed to make it in life.

After the forgiveness series, we’ve seen people who are experiencing growth and healing.

We do a lot out there in the world, but we do a lot in here too.

A few weeks ago I preached a three week series on Forgiveness.

We talked about how forgiveness has way more to do with us than it does with the other person.

We talked about how some people are toxic, and even spent a bit of time discussing domestic violence, which is a topic many churches shy away from.

(Which by the way, I still feel like saying if you’re in a spot where you or someone you love is the victim of abuse, please come see me. We can help)

We talked about how we’re able to forgive because Christ has forgiven us of so much.

Church, I have never recieved as much feedback as I have from that series.

Folks who were brave enough to share their own stories of abuse and trauma, and how they got out.

Folks who wrestled deep in their own souls to forgive those who have wronged them.

Folks who have finally finally opened themselves up to the forgiveness that Christ has on offer.

We have seen tremendous growth as a congregation here in these walls, haven’t we?

Family Night

A few weeks ago we started family night.

Every Wednesday (except this one! Don’t come on Wednesday!) we gather together to eat a meal as a church.

Kids. Youth. Choir. Emergent Band. Adult Bible Study. Men’s Group.

Peggar and her team prepare a delicious meal, meaning that a few families are able to join us and not worry about what food to put on the table that week.

And it’s an evening that spans both services, so folks that might not see each other on Sundays are able to get together and share fellowship in the middle of the week.

If this is starting to sound like an advertisement…it is!

And so much more...

I believe in what God is doing here at Beulah Presbyterian Church.

I hope you do too!

We are blessed to be a blessing.

Each of us are blessed, perhaps in different amounts and weights, but still, we’re blessed.

We are blessed with time.

Some of us are working professionals, so maybe we don’t have as much time as we’d like.

But then again some of us are retired, and have more time on our hands than our spouses are capable of enduring

(please don’t make eye contact with your spouse at this point in the sermon)

You have been blessed with time.

How could you use your time to be a blessing to others?

Could you bless the lonely in our congregation with your time by visiting those who can’t be with us on Sunday mornings?

Could you bless the building we call home with your time by volunteering to clean up or maintain our space?

Could you bless the children of our congregation with your time by helping out on Wednesday nights?

We are blessed with talent.

As I said last week, we are the Swiss Army Knife of talented people here.

I know darn well we’ve been blessed with talent in this place.

How could you use your talents to be a blessing to others?

Could you bless the worshipers in this place with your talents by joining the choir or the emergent band?

Could you bless disciples with your talents by leading a small group here at the church?

Could you bless the young people of our neighborhood by offering to tutor at Alex’s afterschool program?

By all means, don’t play the comparison game here.

Your talents are worth every bit as much as anyone who you might think is more talented than you.

We are blessed with treasure.

We are living in one of the wealthiest areas in the wealthiest nation on earth.

While we might have a complicated relationship with money, we sure have been blessed with it.

How can we use our money to bless others?

The treasure that you give helps us to bless the community through our mission and outreach programs, something that we are uniquely qualified to give.

The treasure that you give helps us to bless the disciples that gather here week in and week out by allowing us to afford resources, food, utilities, and all that goes in to making sure that we can proclaim the Good News to our brothers and sisters.

The treasure that you give helps to bless the staff of this place, not because they’ve got their eyes on a private jet or a bigger house, but because these exceptionally talented folks could make more money just about anywhere else they decided to work, but they’ve decided to invest their abilities here. We can bless them with a living wage.

It’s a balance.

Maybe you have more time than you have treasure right now. That’s fine!

Maybe you have more treasure than you have talents. Super!

Maybe you are flush with talents but not much time, so you need to work with us to be creative. We can do that!

Who wants in?

A different kind of pledge card.

Every one got a pledge card as you came in this morning.

I don’t want to tell you how long Stephanie and I fought with Microsoft Publisher to get this right...

But rather than just asking for treasure, we want to ask for all three areas of stewardship we’ve focused on this series.

Of course we want to know what kind of financial contribution you can make this year, because this will go a long way toward helping us understand our budget and make plans for how we can bless the community in the coming year.

But we also want to know, how many hours do you think you can give to this place? How can you pledge some time?

And on the back (because we figured this would need a little bit more space) go ahead and write down any talents you might have to contribute here.

I’m excited about that part...

I have a feeling we’re going to find some hidden talents in this place!

I have a goal of 100% return rate.

If you’re a member here at Beulah, I want a pledge card!

And let me be completely honest: If you’re not in a place where you can give much or even anything financially, that’s ok!

I’d still love to get a pledge card back from you to hear about time and talents, how you think you can bless us not with what you have, but with who you are.

What’s the next step?

Maybe for you the next step in your financial journey is to get to a place where you’re able to tithe 10% of your income. That’s a fantastic step, and we’re rooting you on!

Maybe for you the next step in your financial journey isn’t a tithe, but just to name an amount to give and to commit to it for the year. That’s a fantastic step, and we’re rooting you on!

Maybe for you the next step on your financial journey is to get your debt under control, to pay off those credit cards, and to get to a more sustainable place. And maybe that means you’re not able to give anything to the church right now. Hear me now: That’s a fantastic step, and we’re rooting for you!

Maybe you’re not a member of Beulah, but you’ve enjoyed hearing what we’re getting ourselves into these days. There’s a new member class coming in February, but truth be told if you’re here you’re family, so we’re rooting for you!

We’ve been blessed to be a blessing.

And if this is where God has taken us in the first year I’ve been here, imagine where we’re going next!

Imagine how many more lives will be touched by the gospel because of our working together!

Imagine how many more folks are going to have food on their table this Thanksgiving because of our generosity!

Imagine how many more folks are going to know that God is for them, not against them, because we put actions behind our beliefs!

Imagine what the Church on the Hill can do to proclaim good news to our community and around the world.

We’ve been blessed to be a blessing.

Who’s in with me?