People are Giving Generously

Scripture Lesson:

The New Revised Standard Version Chapter 5

So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not make room for the devil. 28 Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 31 Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. 5 1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Andrew Luck is an outstanding quarterback; maybe even one of the greatest of all time. So you can imagine how it completely rocked the pro football world when he decided to retire at the age of 29, after only 8 seasons of football. It has been difficult for some people to understand why such a gifted person would stop giving their talent to the world of professional sports so soon. But people didn’t see was how much it cost him. This was Mr. Luck’s explanation: “I’ve been in this cycle of injury, pain, rehab, injury, pain rehab, and it’s been unceasing, unrelenting, both in-season and off-season, and I felt stuck in it. The only way I see out is to no longer play football.” In other words, Mr. Luck recognized that there are things in life that are more important than football, and he shouldn’t sacrifice his body on the altar of something he doesn’t believe in. Froma Harrop published an op-ed on Thursday in which she wrote: “I keep telling the football fanatics in my life that whatever side most skillfully moves a [ball] across the field is of no consequence to most of humanity or even to them.” So, the lesson Andrew Luck’s experience teaches us is: If we are going to give ourselves sacrificially to something, then it better be something worthy of such a sacrifice.

I wonder. What would it take for something to be worthy of such a sacrifice? What would it have to be worth? What benefits would it need to provide? Why would we willing to give ourselves to it? Maybe it’s that what it’s worth should be at least equal to what it costs.

The lesson Andrew Luck’s experience teaches us is: If we are going to give ourselves sacrificially to something, then it better be something worthy of such a sacrifice.

The Apostle Paul believed there was only one “something” worthy of such a sacrifice. Well, it isn’t something, it’s someone. It is the one who made us, who saves and sustains us. It is God, our Father. This is why Paul wrote these words: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Prayer

But why did Paul say to give ourselves to imitating God? To me, his opinion is important, because he was one of the most important leaders in the early days of Christianity, maybe even more significant than the original 12 disciples of Jesus. Paul gave his life spreading the message about Jesus throughout the world as he knew it. If you ever get a chance to sit down and read the story of Paul’s missionary journeys, it’s a powerful experience. Start reading in the books of Acts, in the New Testament, the 13th chapter, and continue all the way through the middle of chapter 21. Paul went on three missions in his career as an apostle. Every community he passed through he stopped, built relationships, announced the message of Jesus, and organized churches. Many of these new congregations carried on meeting after he moved on to the next place. As time went on, the churches and Paul began to communicate by sending each other letters, back and forth. Some of the letters Paul sent to the churches have been preserved, becoming the majority of the books contained in the New Testament of the Bible. Paul is an authority on what it looks like to be an imitator of God. I wonder what it would be like if Paul were here today? What if I could have a conservation with the greatest Christian missionary of all time about what it means to imitate God? Maybe it would go something like this...

Me: Paul…wow, um…what do I call you? Sir? Rev.? Holy Father?

Paul: Paul. You can just call me Paul. I’m really of no consequence. I may give my time, my talent, and my treasure to the church, but it is God who gives the growth.

Me: Ok, Mr., um, I mean, just Paul. I’ve been preaching this sermon series on a biblical church,

Paul: Biblical church? You mean, a church where people read God’s word and then really do what it says?

Me: yes, exactly. I knew you would understand. Any who, the last message of this series is that in a biblical church, people are giving generously. You know, their time, their talent, and their treasure, to serve God. After all, I believe the church is the greatest, most important thing we could give ourselves to. You sir,

Paul: It’s just Paul. Just call me Paul.

David: right, sorry sir. You talked a lot in your letters to the church about imitating God, about loving and forgiving others. Can you help us out?

Paul: absolutely I can. When I told the Greek Christians to imitate God, the word I was using is a word you have in your language today: mimic. In my days, there were amphitheaters in every town, and the religious leaders of those communities would put on plays where actors would wear masks that represented heroes and gods, and play as those heroes or gods to their audiences. The crowds would cheer for the actors if their acting represented well the god they portrayed. So what I was telling the church was: we are supposed to live our lives in such a way that our lives “portray a likeness of God,” as one of your modern commentators said.

Me: I see. But how do we “mimic” God well?

Paul: by doing the things God did for us, for others. God gave us love, forgiveness, and sacrifice. We give others love, forgiveness, and sacrifice. The church is the place where we learn how to do this.

Me: Ok, that makes sense. So our lives ought to be lives that show people who God is. But why? Why would we do that?

Paul: Well, I’m glad you asked. One, because God is worthy. And second, it is what God expects of us. Some people may get squeamish about this, but in my day, we didn’t talk about “personal relationships” with Jesus. Instead, we talked about what we ancients called a Covenant. A covenant was a relationship where two parties come to an agreement in which one party, usually the older, wiser, or more powerful one, offers a benefit to the other in exchange for work by the younger, less wise, or less powerful party. I’m guessing you can figure out which is which between us and God.

Me: wait a second, Paul, I thought you said earlier in your letter to the Ephesians that we are saved by faith, not by works? It sounds like you are saying I have to do something for God in order for God to love, forgive, and save me.

Paul: no, that’s not what I said. C’mon, didn’t you go to seminary? God loves you no matter what, and wants what is best for you. The covenant is the agreement we make with God before we ever do a single thing for Him. But once we have entered into this covenant with God, there are expectations. Once we throw in our lot with God, we can’t go back to living our lives for ourselves. We have to start living for God instead. You see?

Me: yes, I see now.

Paul: There are some people who recognized this, scholars and believers over the years who said: we shouldn’t call the two parts of the bible Old and New Testaments, but instead we should call them the First and Second Covenants. The First Covenant was between God and Israel. The Second Covenant, between the whole world through the sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Because that is what the church does: it brings people into a covenant relationship with God.

Me: and with a covenant comes responsibility- the responsibility is both on God and on us.

Paul: yes. I bet you can tell your congregation what this looks like better than me. I’m too old for all of us this anyway.

Me: Thank you Paul. Your words are inspired by God and have blessed a multitude of Christians, even to this day.

Friends, we live out our covenant relationship with God by doing the things Jesus did. Christianity is an imitation game, which is why in a Biblical Church, people are giving generously, their time, their talent, and their treasure, because we are fulfilling the commitment we made to God when we accepted a covenant relationship with Jesus.

When we attend worship, we fulfill our covenant.

When we give God’s tithe, 10% of our income, to the church, we fulfill our covenant.

When we love others even when they don’t love us back, we fulfill our covenant.

When we work together as a church to reach new people, we fulfill our covenant.

When we share the gospel with someone who doesn’t know Jesus, we fulfill our covenant.

When we study God’s word and do what it says, we fulfill our covenant.

Friends, we all need to be reminded from time to time that our relationship with God is a covenant relationship. God made us to be great, to do great things. And with greatness comes responsibility. This is the nature of our covenant with God.

Friends, we work for God. I yearn for a day when the people of the United Methodist Church will remember that the church is our full-time Job. We may teach, tutor, build, lead, or manage during the week, but we do all these things, and give our time, talent, and treasures to the church, for God.

In other words:

It all comes down to what Paul wrote in his letter to the “Whatever you do, do it from the heart for the Lord and not for people.”

Whatever you do, do it from the heart for the Lord and not for people.

At one time, St. Paul UMC had a slogan, a sort of mission statement built around three words: Gather. Grow. Go.

W

On labor day weekend, let’s commit ourselves to work for God first,