Giving to the Lord - The Offertory
Why is it so important to give back to God? Why does the church talk so much about money? Why does Jesus talk so much about money? Why is tithing and generosity so important through the Old Testament? I’ve heard it said by many people that churches just want their money, yet this fails to see the point. Instead what we need to realize is that, between money and God, it is absolutely important where we put our faith. We need to understand what we are giving true worth, what we serve and what we are working towards shapes our moments and where our lives go. As Jesus reminds us, where your treasure is, there your heart is also.
So today as we look at our moment of offering in the service where we give of our wealth and ourselves to God, we are going to look at 3 important questions:
Have we let wealth become our master?
How are we growing in faith through giving?
How can giving become sacramental - a vision of God?
So first, have you ever noticed how much Jesus talks about money or giving? You might think about the richman who wanted to have eternal life and yet was unwilling to give up his wealth, or the unrighteous stewart, or the parable of the talents, the day workers, or the forgiveness of the servants debt, or the discussion on paying taxes or tithes to the temple, or the widows might, the sacrifices at the temple, the gifts of the magi and so much more. Why does Jesus talk so much about money?
Jesus talks about money, because he knows that money and giving is a spiritual issue. Money for most people becomes something more than just a tool to facilitate a transfer of skills and items. For a lot of people, money becomes something they worry about, something that they can’t have enough of, something that is their goal, something that they sacrifice for. Sadly, it is far too easy to make money our master.
A very simple question to ask yourself is: “Have you ever made a decision primarily for financial reasons?” Of course we have. It seems like a very practical thing we do. Yet, if money is our primary reason for making a decision, don’t you realize what is happening? You have made money the most important thing. You have put finances ahead of everything else, including the people, including God, including you and your life. You have made money your master, even if just for a moment. This is a big spiritual concern, especially because it is so easy to do - and it is so easy to convince our mind that this is essential. Everytime we do this we are teaching ourselves and others that money is more important - and sadly our minds, spirits and bodies are far too easily convinced.
There is a fine line here. We are called to work and be good stewards of what God has given us, as he asks us, as he does with the parable of the talents, “What have you done with what I have given you?” In a sense, God has loaned us everything we are and everything we have - this includes all talents, capacity, skills and materials. It may be a free gift from God and yet God expects us to use it wisely. As good stewards though, there is a big difference between using what we have given for Jesus, our master, our boss and just doing it for the wealth and everything that wealth pretends to give us. Think about it in a worldly way, we all need to work and make money, Paul says this, but there is a big difference between working for the money and working for the people or a mission you believe in. And there is a big difference working somewhere when you know you have something important to use the money on. Where our treasure is, there our heart is also. When our heart is on wealth, we can become pretty fickle people.
Jesus tells us something important about masters - servants are no better than their masters. So again, it is really important to ask, “who are we serving?” If we are serving money, “what does that make us?” Money used to be made out of precious metal, at least back in Jesus’ day it had some intrinsic value. Yet, we want to be more than something that’s worth is based on how it can be traded or worn. Now, making money our master is even worse, as currency has no intrinsic value, even our bank accounts don’t. A currency is literally based on what the government decides - sure there are things taken into account like the amount of physical or digital currency in the market, the strength of the economy, and the trade value in the global market, but the government still determines it. Sadly, our lives and worth often follow a similar reality, we see our worth as others value us. This is no way to live. It is fickle and fleeting. It should be no surprise that people are looking for their moment of fame, or feel like they need to show off what they eat, or their trips, their activities, families and more - with money as our master this is a natural consequence.
There are plenty of better things to serve than money, but all of them, no matter what they are, will make us less than human, because at best when we serve humanity, we are still less than our master, or serving our family, we are still less than a family. Where there is only one person we can serve, where we can become more than human, more than a family, more than our purpose. God is the only Master, who in serving him, we become more than we are and not less. So in our lives, we should want to give everything to serve him - our wealth, our purpose, our family, our social life, our mind (all of it) - so that we can become more too.
The beautiful thing is that when we give something over to God, it too becomes more in him. While we sing the offertory hymn, I will usually be preparing the table or like today preparing the font - while donations are gathered to be brought forward. In the bread and wine and the water, we are giving God simple everyday things, and what does he do with them? He makes these three things (water, bread and wine) into something that transcends our understanding. He makes them into physical substances that communicate his glory in effective ways. They become outward and visible signs of God’s grace that is literally being poured out through them. They are sacred or sacramental. A similar thing happens to our finances. When we give of our wealth, sure it goes to keep our building running and to support our ministries, but these become through us a visible sign of God’s grace that is literally being poured out. Yet, even more important, at the moment of offertory, we are called to give of ourselves, wholly. And so we too can become sacramental - outward and visible signs of God’s grace as it pours out through us. And that is one of the things we do at baptism. We promise ourselves to God and for those who have been baptised we recommit to giving ourselves over to his service as a kind of living sacrifice to share his glory and make him known.
Now, I hope it is obvious, but all of this is telling us that giving generously actually shapes us and shapes others. Jesus in between telling us to store up treasures in heaven, where the treasures last and talking about how we can’t serve both God and wealth, talks about light and darkness in our eyes. This placement is important. What Jesus is telling us, is that where we put our attention shapes our ability to see. If we are looking at worldly things, it is like looking in a room with no light - there will be no light hitting our eyes so we can’t see, but if we look at heavenly things, if we are looking to Jesus, it is like being in a room filled with light - we can see, act, help and live. In giving with a joyful heart, we shape our lives to no longer look to worldly wealth, but we look to the very best things that come from God and we gain eyes to see them.
What do we want wealth for anyways? We want it for calm, comfort, entertainment, capacity, connection - yet whenever wealth gives us any of these things they are fleeting. Instead, God wants to give us the fuller more lasting versions of these things - he wants to give us a real lasting peace that allows us to live in any moment without worry - he wants to give us a joy that we can both sit in or be motivated by. A joy that can cause us to pause and a joy that excites and invigorates us. - He wants to give us a love that is about true closeness and intimacy - a love that is passionate, an embrace, a mutual self-giving. We could go on.
Lastly, our giving also can shape others to see and experience the gospel. Oftentimes, we retreat from sharing our faith out of some kind of fear. Yet, giving is an act of trust. When we do it privately it shapes our heart to trust God, even when we don’t know what will come, because we know he will give us what we need. When we give in person, visibly, it shows the person the love of God that already surrounds them, it shows them the power of faith, it shows them our joy which transcends the stuff and so much more.
So remember, giving to God is powerful - both as we give our wealth and our person. When we give with a joyful heart, we are literally overthrowing the masters that would otherwise ensnare us. And as we make God our master in all things, we become more like him - we become more than human. Our hearts are shaped through giving to receive the very best things that God is already trying to give us. And finally through giving the people around us get a taste of what it looks like to have such a great master - and so we introduce them to the Kingdom of God - the place of peace, joy, love, patience and long suffering. So remember as Jesus tells us, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you”. AMEN
Children’s Story (Bring in some small bills)
What is money?
A tool of trade - buy and given for work or selling - its symbolic of worth (otherwise it is just paper and plastic)
Why is money important? - helps us to do some of the things we want and need
Food, clothing, housing, transport, entertainment
Why is serving and giving to God more important?
What does he give us? Can he give us?
Money? Food? Shelter? Peace? Joy? Family?
Can we always see what we need? No
Do we always want what is best for us? No
But God does!
Why does the church talk so much about money? Actually, even more importantly, why does Jesus talk so much about money? If wealth isn’t the outright topic of Jesus’ message like in the parable of the talents, or who we serve, or his discussion on taxes, it often has a central part to play like with the prodigal son or with the good samaritan. Jesus discusses wealth, because he knows it is a spiritual issue - a faith issue.
We can far too easily make wealth - and what we believe it brings our master. We can let it determine our choices, and the way we live. Yet, in doing this we slowly become no better than the fickle, fleeting and symbolic currency that we carry. By giving we trust in him and so we see his faithfulness all around us. By giving to God we make him our master, who is the only one that can make us far more. In fact, in serving and giving to God, we become a kind of sacrament - an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. God’s grace becomes known through our giving. Join us Sunday as we look at the moment of offering (or offertory).
