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Thanks Be to God! A personal story that is important to me happened when I was about 10, one summer evening as we were sitting down to supper. A man came to the door selling subscriptions to Life magazine… and my father told me to tell him, that we would not be able to buy a subscription. But when I came back to the table and explained that the man had an artificial arm, my dad could only say he was sorry. There wasn’t enough for that extra cost right now. But I couldn’t let it go. As a youngster I was only able to see the likely hood of the man’s potential to earn a living if we and other people bought the magazine. After several minutes my father got up from the table and said he was going to look for the man. I don’t know if he went to pacify us, because his heart was touched by the man’s need for work, or both. Dad never said, nor did he complain about having to tighten the budget. What I witnessed in that small exchange was the personal cost of sacrifice. This story would be added to many others as I grew up. My Dad left us with the belief that personal sacrifice- doing things beyond what we think we are capable at the time- is a way of life. And, with sacrifice comes joy in giving. What I didn’t realize at ten, but know today is that the simpler life we lived out of necessity growing up would serve me well much later on. Whether one has much or has little in the way of possessions is secondary. Wealth doesn’t bring freedom from anxiety any more than living modestly frees us. Kierkegaard writes, “… riches and abundance come hypocritically clad in sheep’s clothing pretending to be security against anxieties and they then become the object of anxiety.” And, for those having to live modestly there is no guarantee of living fully if the love of money is still an issue and one is anxious about never having enough. Whether one has much or very little is not what makes us secure and free. Freedom from anxiety comes from trust. And, trust develops because the Spirit of God has entered our lives and we are able to put ourselves in his hands, no matter what our circumstance. Our topic today is what happens to grateful hearts when they have been touched by the spirit of God. I have chosen an alternative gospel lesson to the lectionary because this is the second week of stewardship and I believe this story of an unnamed woman exemplifies the response of one heart ignited by the love of Christ. We don’t know very much from Matthew’s description but she is obviously a woman who knows Jesus, trusts him, and needs to express her adoration and devotion to him. Since there are no details of their connection and what her personal story entails, we are left to fill in the blanks with our own imagination or look at the significance of the moment only. We are told, however, several things in her one action. First, she was bold with conviction. She was determined to get to Jesus that night. Whether invited or not she went to Simon the Leper’s house. Either she was a woman of means, or she had spent all of her money on ointment which was very costly. She had one purpose in coming, and maybe that is why the author does not identify her or draw attention to her background and story. The woman desired only to show her gratitude to Jesus. Her heart was so full! No doubt he had received her in compassion, in forgiveness, and brought new life to her. Whatever mending went on in her life, the woman was humbled by Jesus, and his words of saving love. In anointing Jesus she is showing him her adoration! What a profound exchange between the two of them! When the disciples complained about her waste and the needs of the poor, Jesus commended her. She was doing the right thing to honor him, the One who would go to the cross for all of them, and be buried. In reality, she was giving Jesus the treatment she would have given her own loved ones in their death. And, Jesus would not receive this anointing after his death as was the Jewish custom. The woman’s gift would go down in history. Why? Because when all is said and done, she offered the only thing we can give back to Jesus- whole lives that have been touched by the mercy and grace of the Lord who loves us completely. No wonder she poured the rich perfume on him. Nothing was too much. She would have made any personal sacrifice for Him. The woman newly blessed was confident with inner strength and a new trust for her life and future. So it must be with all of us who have been saved by God’s grace. Forgiveness of sin, day by day, year after year and the knowledge that we are free because of God’s gifts brings us to deeper faith. We have been set free to freely give of ourselves to God and to others. There are questions for us to consider today? Do we truly live out of grateful hearts for what God has done for us? Or do we suffer with the burden of covetousness our society calls ambition? Do we give back to God with abandon or do we hold tight to our wealth and privilege and call it prudence? Is God alive in our lives to the extent we present ourselves to him with open hands to use us, our time and resources for his own glory? Or, are our schedules and hands closed fisted? When God is not in the center of our lives our need for security leads us to an attachment to things and control. Our society lusts for affluence, and we crave things that we neither need nor enjoy. We buy things often just to impress people we may not even like. Ads and fashion experts make us feel out of it if we wear old fashioned clothes. Thanks Be to God when we reach the point of being so secure and free that we take pleasure in our Christian life whether we rise to society’s expectations or not. When I think over my own life and remember the great cloud of witnesses that have shown Christ to me through sacrifice, devotion, and joy, I know that they have been the builders of my faith. I think of stories of Norm’s parents who served as missionaries to Alaska and often received compensation in fresh fish, eggs and milk from parishioners. Maybe that will give you ideas for the clergy here! They never did without and when things got close they never held back their gifts to God. Life was not easy many times but God always provided and they were grateful. When people who know the Lord as Savior and come to realize the depth of God’s love, they know God can be trusted in all circumstances. They are secure and take on a new bearing in their person, a new hope in their demeanor, and a confidence that comes from trust. Those who have not known God as provider and sustainer of life are still wanting and I believe their spirits are unfulfilled- whether they have physical means or not. The image I want to leave with each of us today is what the woman did for Jesus. She declared her love for him because she recognized and knew his love for her. He sacrificed for her, and she in turn wanted to give back of herself. Hers was a sacrificial, sacramental offering. So it can be for you and me! When we examine what we have; our education and skills, time, our finances, our whole person- and believe they are gifts given from God to be returned to him- then our hearts are bent on his work, his church, his mission to spread the gospel of Christ, and God’s desire to make the community of Christ vibrant. When we do this we are using our resources ‘sacramentally’. We give first and foremost out of devotion, and our adoration of what Christ has done on our behalf. Our grateful hearts desire to reach back to the One who saved us, and, when this happens we want others to have the love of God we have been given. Giving to the One we know is worthy is a beautiful cycle of worship. This total giving, or stewardship, is a joy in my life. I believe we can never out give God. Yes, stewardship is about giving a tithe or pledge to God’s church and vision to reach the world with his saving grace. But… devotion goes much further. True devotion brings abandon of hearts poured out to the Lord and hands outstretched to others. It is saying “I trust you God with all that I have, all that I am”. Spiritual Disciplines: Our Door to Freedom William Law, Anglican theologian characterizes a devout person: Law calls this kind of living devotion. Another word is stewardship or living life fully unto God with all that we are, all that we have. Stewardship is living under God’s will, by the spirit of God not the world’s spirit. Stewardship considers God in our decisions, serves God in all things and conforms to God’s way to bring God glory. While the world says riches give us a sense of well being, Christians understand riches are meant to be used for Kingdom work as we put our physical lives and our resources and time under God’s righteousness. Wealth and riches are not inherently evil as some might offer. Possessions are extensions of the self for through them our will and character can extend their range (just as they do through our body parts- the tongue and hands, etc.). Like the body before God redeems it, the wealth of our world often leans toward evil or self centeredness. How we use material resources, and whether we are under God’s direction and will or our own desires, determines the outcome for good or evil (Dallas Willard). In his book Spiritual Disciplines, Richard Foster offers three basic truths for having an inner spirit of devotion and thanksgiving for God’s provision in our lives.
These basics bring us back to matters of the heart- hearts that make for an attitude that frees us from anxiety and desire so that we have freedom to make possessions safe and fruitful to the glory of God. When we are not afraid of sacrifice, and ask God to guide us to accept responsibility for the right use of possessions, then we can see the need for God’s caretakers in our world. Christians who work within important and essential secular environments see what needs to be done and gets it done. Our major emphasis in ministry shows others how to enter the world they live in under God’s rule. How do we care for the neighbor? Do we have a proper sense of justice? Five Talents and other micro enterprises believe in reaching the disadvantaged with the heart of God, but not by applying band aids of temporary care. Rather, they realize that offering them industry and giving the glory to God is a winning combination. We must not abandon the goods of this world to the enemy (illegal means) and those who live only for self at the expense of others. To do so is to fail our responsibility given to us in creation. Yes, we’re to care for the poor in crisis situations, but we are to show a greater good order for them by guiding social and political processes so that the conditions that cause the needy to rely on charity are improved. There are basic truths also to lay foundations for our attitudes in giving. Under the rule of God the rich and the poor have no advantage over each other with regard to well being or doing well in this life or the next. In other words, we are not to idealize the wealthy or poor. There is equality between the rich and poor in God’s eyes. If we are to walk among either we must be willing to honor all people equally. (1 Peter 2:17) We must not idealize poverty that is destitution and helplessness. Poverty doesn’t guarantee spiritual integrity nor does it guarantee freedom from inner desires for wealth. There is nothing holy about not possessing material goods. Also, when poverty is chosen as a life style (St. Francis) and that one excludes others who have wealth from the Lord’s service, this is not being responsible as a Christian witness. A vow of poverty often means that one relies on the wealthy to support their ministry. This is only an idea of poverty, but not the same as the reality of poverty. There are 10 controlling principles for the outward expression of simplicity. They are not rules for piety.
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