Download Sunday 04 May 2014 - St George`s Church

Empowering people to be Christ’s followers in the world….
Sunday 04 May 2014
Theme
Pressed down, shaken together and running over
PREACHER
Martyn Day
READINGS
Deuteronomy 26:1-4 ● 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 ● Luke 6:38
VERSE
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down,
shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.”
Luke 6:38
09 520 5652 • www.stgeorgesepsom.org.nz
Today is a special thematic day in the annual calendar of St George’s. We call this day First Fruits Sunday and it’s the
annual moment when I speak about the topic of money and how we give financially to God. Some Vicars don’t like
to ever teach biblically about money, because they say it’s too personal a subject. However did you know there are
2,350 verses in the Bible about money and possessions, so if I am not to talk about this topic, then I would be choosing
to ignore around 15% of the Bible.
God must think the topic of money is very important to have so many verses about it in the Bible. So this is why I believe it’s very important that we focus on this once a year and share this journey together.
We call today First Fruits Sunday because the term First Fruits is a biblical term that is used in two ways. In the OT it
means the first part of your harvest that was offered to God out of gratitude to Him. The first fruits of the harvest was a
guarantee that more of the same was to come. In the NT Paul uses the phrase as we’ve heard in the last few weeks
in relation to Jesus’ resurrection. His resurrection is said to be the first fruits of our own resurrection. In other words Jesus’ resurrection is the pattern for the future resurrection of God’s people. In other words, more of the same is to
come. So we have linked these two uses of the term first fruits as a title to help us think about giving to God and we’re
doing this in Easter season, the season of resurrection.
So far in our Easter sermon series, we have been learning that God has a glorious future in store for His people.
One day, when Christ returns, God will renew the earth so that it’s a place of perfection and God’s people will live
with Him there with new resurrection bodies, like Jesus’, which never wear out or die. This amazing future hope impacts us in the present because we are called to anticipate that future hope by building for God’s kingdom, putting
the values of the kingdom like justice, love, compassion ,etc into the here and now.
In line with this, the main point I want to make today is this: in the realm of finance, we can sow generously for the
building of God’s kingdom in the here and now, because God’s generosity towards us will always be greater than
ours towards Him. [Repeat this]
I want to unpack this main point with reference to the verse we heard from Luke’s Gospel.
“Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured
into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
The context of this verse is Jesus teaching about attitudes towards others. He is teaching about not being judgemental and about being generous in the way we forgive others. It follows the section where Jesus teaches us to love our
enemies.
So lying behind Jesus’ teaching about giving and measures is the need for us to exercise generosity in our dealings
with others, because this is how God relates to the human race. As Jesus reminded us in Matthew’s Gospel, “God
causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good.” Matt 5:45
But Jesus uses this proverb about measures in a way which closely parallels other passages which deal with the way
we relate our faith and our finances and it’s these principles I want to speak about today. It’s the principle that if we
sow generously, we will reap generously.
The proverb which Jesus uses relates to the way that people in His day would measure dry things, like wheat, when
they went to the market. A person selling wheat would have a container which was a standard size and people
would buy a container of the wheat. Today things are sold by weight. If you buy a packet of breakfast cereal, when
you open it up and shake the contents, you find the packet is not nearly filled to the top.
In Jesus’ day if you had a generous market seller, when they measured out your portion of wheat they would do the
following:
They would first fill the container
Then they would press down on the grain
Then they would shake the container to ensure the grain was filling all the space
Then they would pour more grain on the top until it overflowed the edges
That would be a generous portion!
How would the market seller give you your generous portion? Well, Jewish people wore a long loose robe down to
the feet with a girdle around the waist. You could pull up the robe above the waist, so that a large pocket could be
formed by the folds of the material. The market seller would pour the wheat into the pocket of the robe and you
would walk home clutching the wheat close to your chest.
Jesus used this very common marketplace practice to teach us something about the generosity of God. Jesus says
that God is like the generous market seller:
“A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Jesus taught that the more generosity we exercise, the more we will experience the generosity of God which always
outclasses us.
Now please hear me carefully at this point. I am not preaching what is sometimes called a “prosperity gospel”. I am
not saying that to be a Christian implies that God will make us materially rich. Neither am I implying that God is some
kind of functional slot machine – if I give some money to God, then I get money back in some kind of automated spiritual transaction.
In our Bible verse Jesus does not specify the way in which we will experience the generosity of God. He simply says we
can experience it.
This time last year I explained to the church my own practice of financially giving to God’s work through St George’s. I
want to briefly repeat this because we have quite a number of new people since then and I want to share my own
testimony, both to illustrate God’s generosity and to make it clear that I will never expect anyone in the church to do
something that I am not prepared to do myself.
I seek to give financially to give in a prioritised, planned and proportional way. For a long time now, I have given a
monthly gift to the church where I am. I choose to give 10% of my monthly salary before tax is taken off. The gift goes
out of my account on the first day of the month, just after I have received my salary at the end of the previous month.
So my giving is prioritised and planned – I give to God as soon as I have my monthly salary and it’s proportional, because it’s 10% and if my salary goes up, my giving will increase by the same percentage.
By giving in this way I am saying the following to God, “God, I am putting you first in my life and that means first in my
finances. I am so grateful for your kindness towards me that I choose to give you the first part of my income. I ask that
you provide for me across the rest of the month.”
And my testimony is that God has always looked after me. I have never been without. I have experienced the generosity of God towards me, His pressed down, shaken together and running over generosity.
Today we are encouraging every regular member of St George’s to prayerfully review their own practice of giving to
God’s work through the church.
At our AGM in March the following budget of expenditure was approved for this year.
Staffing: $499,900
Repairs and maintenance: $42,600
Ministry expenses: $23,700
Admin and equipment: $44,300
Giving beyond the parish: $88,300
Total: $698,800
At the AGM we presented our estimate of what our income was likely to be this year, based on current levels of giving, assuming we would not receive anything extra across the year. We estimated we would receive $634,000.
At the AGM, we therefore took a step of faith and said we would raise our regular giving by $64,800, which you can
see if roughly 10% of the total expenditure. Today is the day when I invite everyone who is a regular church member
to prayerfully review their giving so that together we can each ask what part can we play in fulfilling these commitments for this year. It is our prayer that we can each play a part, according to our own means and circumstances.
The graph on the screen shows the proportions of the kind of regular gifts we receive through monthly automated
bank payments.
22% give $1-50
19% give $51-100
22% give $101-200
16% give $201-350
7% give 351-500
10% give $501-1000
4% give $1001+
Just as in previous years, we hope for increases in different ways: some will be people beginning to give for the first
time, some will be people increasing their current level of regular giving. And for others it will be a special one-off additional gift.
After the service everyone who is on the new church Contact List will have a named envelope at the back of church
to collect.
In the pack is the new Contact List, plus information about the different ways you can give to St George’s. There is a
form you can use if you want to begin to give for the first time or to amend your current level of giving.
We will each feel able to respond in different ways as we pray through our own commitment before God to share in
the building of His kingdom through St George’s.
I really want to encourage you to connect your faith and your finances. We can do that by taking small steps of faith
with God with regard to our giving.
Here’s a very simple idea. Whatever your current level of financial giving, you could decide you will bring $1 extra
each Sunday. In other words you would make a commitment to give an extra $50 a year. That would represent a
small stretch of faith in God, because you would be saying, “Lord, you have looked after me so far, but I want to give
a bit more to you this year. Please look after me and provide for my needs as I do this.”
Do you know, if each individual brought an extra $1 coin when they came to church, we would receive over $20,000
extra each year? By the way, if you wish to make a donation when you come to church, you have two options, you
can place cash or a cheque into the offertory box at the back of church or you can use the EFTPOS machine at the
back to pay by card. We do not pass round an offertory bag or plate at St George’s.
I want to tell you how I am choosing to respond because I believe it’s important you know how your Vicar is participating.
As I said earlier I have been giving 10% of my salary before tax to the church. Because God has always provided for
my needs at the level of 10%, I have decided that as from next month I will give 11%. In real terms that equates to
about $50 a month extra.
That is going to be my step of faith. I am saying to God, you’ve looked after me on 10% - now do it again when I give
you 11%. Do I think God will find it hard to provide for me if I give Him this much? On the contrary, His generosity towards me will always outclass me.
Will you each join me in taking a step of faith with God, to better connect your faith and finances? If doesn’t have to
be a percentage increase, as I have chosen to do. You may want to say, well I’ve been giving $30 a month, I’ll give
$40. I’ll trust God as I choose to give a bit more.
It may be for some in the church that the concept of giving regularly to God is a difficult one because you struggle
with general aspects of money management. As a church we would like to help anyone who would appreciate
some support over aspects of managing your finances.
We have a church member who has just been on a training course to offer this kind of help, so if that is something
you’d appreciate, please speak with me confidentially and we’ll get alongside you with some practical help.
While on the topic of confidentiality, I wish to make clear that as Vicar I do not know any information about who gives
to the church or what anyone gives. That information is only known by our small finance team who process and receipt all the donations.
This is an encouraging time for St George’s. We’ve had an encouraging start to the year in terms of our finances and
new people have been joining across the last year. Let’s step up with God and share together in sowing generously
for God’s kingdom that we will see an increased harvest for His glory. We will never regret whatever we can invest for
God.
The legend is told of a generous King who decided to invite all His kingdom to a party to celebrate his birthday. All
those who came were instructed to bring a birthday present in the form of a container made of gold. Different people approached the request in different ways. Some people didn’t know the king very well and so they decided to
make just a small bowl to give as a present. But some people knew that the king was always generous and they
wanted to express their true gratitude to him, so they made the king a much larger vessel out of gold as a present for
him.
The day of the party came and everyone arrived. As they came through the door they were asked to leave their
birthday gift on a large table.
The party went with a real swing and at the end the king spoke to the party-goers:
“Thank you all so much for coming. It’s been great to have you celebrate with me. And thank you for all the gifts you
have brought me.
I have one last instruction as you leave the party. Each of you must take home the gift you have brought me. But before you leave, take the vessel you have brought and fill it with diamonds from my treasury. Then go home and rejoice with me.”
What gift will you bring to God? Whatever we bring, His generosity will be greater. Amen.