You know it’s hard to be a preacher in the month of October. October is stewardship season and that means I really ought to talk with you about your money. If that makes you feel uncomfortable, don’t worry you’re not alone. I’m about as comfortable preaching on money as you are listening to a stewardship sermon. But folks, we’re kind of stuck here. I mean what else can we do? Jesus talked more about money than any other topic. Jesus saw an intimate connection between following him as Lord and Savior and acting appropriately with our money.

The first Christians understood this. In The Book of Acts, financial generosity is the most common response to conversion. “All the believers,” Acts 2 tells us, “had everything in common. They sold their property and their possessions placing their proceeds in a common trust. When some of the members were suffering, their response was straightforward. They gave. They gave of themselves. They gave of their money. For them, it was just that simple.

Later, Christian stewardship became more organized. Storehouses of donated money and food were created to care for the sick and the poor. By AD 250, the Christian community in Rome supported 1500 people through their STOREHOUSE. A few centuries later, a bishop named Basil built a HUGE storehouse just outside the gates of Caesarea, where a treasury of money collected from wealthy Christians was kept and put to use whenever needs arose.

This generosity inspired a common vision. As Acts 4 tells us, the first followers of Jesus were “ONE in heart and mind.”

And that’s part of what we’re suggesting when we call our stewardship initiative THE POWER OF ONE. We mean that as members of Asbury First, we share a common STOREHOUSE both literally and figuratively. We mean that we are united by God’s love for us and in our love for one another. We hold these precious gifts in common.

And when realize this, it leads us – just as it did for the first Christians, to ask an uncomfortable question when it comes to our money. Rather than asking, IN LIGHT OF WHAT I HAVE, HOW MUCH CAN I AFFORD TO GIVE? we ask, IN LIGHT OF WHAT I’VE BEEN GIVEN HOW MUCH SHOULD I KEEP?

In response to this uncomfortable question, the letter of 1st Timothy seems almost too straightforward. Reminding us of the folksy wisdom that you can’t take it with you, the author recommends holding back just enough for clothing and food.

Now if that makes you feel uncomfortable, you’re not alone. I live in the suburbs, and I don’t take the bus to work. Every month, I feed my mortgage and my 401K like a hungry lion at the zoo. In other words, I keep more for myself – a lot more I’m afraid -- than the cost of food and clothing.

And as uncomfortable as it is to talk about, 1 Timothy nudges us toward a different path. “Godliness,” says the author, “is a holy contentment” – that rare ability to find value in all that unites us to God and to one another rather than money.

Elisha was a member of my last congregation in North Carolina. She was very successful and liked to reward herself each year with a nice vacation. One of her favorite spots was a tiny, undeveloped island in Greece called Kea. Each morning of her vacation, Elisha enjoyed watching the lone fisherman as he lowered his net from a small, rickety boat, waited patiently; and then pulled in his catch. Each afternoon, Eisha watched again as he rolled in his nets and returned to the shore.

There a long line of friends greeted him. They cheered and hugged the fisherman while holding out their empty baskets. The fisherman smiled broadly as he filled each basket with fish.

After watching this routine for several days in a row, Elisha could finally not contain her curiosity. “Why do you give away so many fish?” she asked him. The fisherman just smiled and shook his head, but Elisha persisted, offering what she believed to be a helpful lesson in small business economics.

“If you took all the fish you caught to the market and sold them, you would have enough money to purchase a new boat. Eventually, you could save enough money to hire an employee. With him, you could catch even more fish to take to market. One day you might have enough money to buy more boats and hire more men. Don’t you see what you’re missing?”

As the fisherman listened to all of this, the smile disappeared from his face, and when Elisha finally finished, he responded crossly, “Stupid, American! I follow your plan so I can do what? Have a new boat and a hired man? What if everything you say is true? At the end of the day, I would go home and have fish for dinner all by myself. If I follow your plan, I will not get to laugh and eat with my friends who meet me at the shore each day with their empty baskets.”

When she returned from her vacation, Elisha told me this story and then she reflected. “You know Mark, I know a lot about making money, but that fisherman .. he knows how to make a life.”

I couldn’t help but notice the resignation – the sadness – in her voice. How could it be otherwise? 1 Timothy tells us that an unrestrained LOVE of money not only leads to evil .. it pierces us with grief.”

As the nineteenth century journalist and preacher, Myrtle Reed, puts it: “We break our hearts … WE BREAK OUR HEARTS .. ALL OF US .. TRYING TO KEEP THINGS THAT DO NOT BELONG TO US.”

That’s the message of 1 Timothy. It really isn’t supposed to be a guilt trip. It’s an invitation to generosity and contentment. And so when one of our members shares with you the video THE POWER OF ONE, I hope you will receive it as just that – an invitation -- an opportunity to recognize the great value of all that you and I hold in common.

If you ever go to the First United Methodist Church of Denver, you will see one of the most beautiful organs in the country. That wonderful instrument was given to the church by a very wealthy man in the summer of 1929. Three months later, the stock market crashed. He lost everything. He wound up living in one-room rental with only a bed for furniture.

Every Wednesday morning, he would walk to the sanctuary and he would PLAY that beautiful organ. That weekly hour of beauty and devotion kept him going. He was once asked, “Do you regret giving away such an expensive gift.” He responded not with resignation, but contentment. “No .. not all,” he said. “What I kept for myself has been lost. What I gave away .. I still have.”

Each October, we talk about money even if that makes us uncomfortable. We do this because what we choose to do with our money REALLY does make a difference. It matters for the vitality of our beloved church and it matters for the quality of our lives. Folks, I really don’t want you to give all your money to the church, but I do hope you WILL GIVE .. FREELY AND GENEROUSLY .. to this GREAT STOREHOUSE of faith and hope and love. Amen.

Notes:

The hardest part about being a preacher in October is that it’s my job to try to convince you not to worry so much about money. That’s tough in a year like this one. And it makes me feel like a hypocrite because especially in October I wake up every morning worried about money. Will we have enough to preserve the excellence of our worship and our music? Can we keep our talented and passionate staff intact? A feeling of dread washes over me each morning as I recalling the painful decisions we were forced to make earlier this year. Will we have what it takes to disciple one another in the ways of Jesus Christ? Do you know we provide only $128 per child for an entire year’s worth of programming in our Children’s ministry. I’m simply amazed at what Melissa and Paula and all their dedicated volunteers do with that small amount but I can’t help worrying that it’s just not enough, that we are not fulfilling our responsibility to cultivate the next generation of Christian leaders. Each morning in October, I wonder can we continue to provide the Mission Infrastructure of our beautiful facilities that make the Storehouse, the Dining and Caring Center, the Youth program and countless other ministries possible?

It feels dishonest to tell you not to worry so much about money when I stay tied up in knots myself. Perhaps, both of us need this sharp reminder from 1 Timothy that an unhealthy preoccupation with money is the root of all evil.

You can tell by my putting that way that I have already begun to monkey with the text. You see, I’m not sure that I entirely agree with the author of this letter. I think our problem is not that we love money too much, but that we don’t love money enough. You might not ever hear that from a pulpit again so let me repeat. It’s not that we love money too much. Our real problem is that we don’t love money enough.

Quotes:

“We break our hearts all of us trying to keep things that do not belong to us.” Myrtle Reed

Illustrations:

Gerard Manly Hopkins: Give alms