Guarding Against Greed

Luke 12:13-26
Gratitude Season #3/ All Saints
Elizabeth M. Deibert

Sometimes we have to station an adult near the snack table at church to guard the children against greed. What does greed look like at the snack table? The kid version is racing to the table and piling a plate full of snacks, with no regard for whether there will be enough for the rest of the people. The adult version is more covert, a lingering by the table or returning with regularity. Or giving into the compulsion to finish what was left behind by everyone else, even when you have had enough.

Guard against greed. We can be greedy with time. My time’s more important than yours. At least we behave that way. Perhaps your Sunday morning relaxation is more important the five or six people who arrive here each Sunday at 8:30 to set up this worship space for you. Greed with time. Do you manage to keep yourself looking busy when your spouse or someone could use a hand with the dishes or the yardwork or the kids. Do you greedily dominate the conversation by your tone or talking.

Greed is the desire to have more than I really need. It is the propensity to put self ahead of others, to buy more than I can really afford, to cling to more than I need, to think that I deserve more stuff than others. Greed can be expressed in so many places and so many ways.

Jesus says, “Be on your guard against all kind of greed. Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” He says this in response to the complaint of a brother, presumably a younger one, who wants his older brother to share the family inheritance. This is something we would consider only fair, but in Jesus’s time inheritance was heavily weighted toward the first born son. So he had the option to be generous or greedy. Jesus says, “Be on your guard. Be careful. Be alert. Greed will creep in gradually and take over. Your life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

Hear the word of the Lord to us today from the Gospel of Luke:

Luke 12:13-26

Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." ¹⁴ But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" ¹⁵ And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." ¹⁶ Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. ¹⁷ And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' ¹⁸ Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' ²⁰ But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' ²¹ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God." ²² He said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! ²⁵ And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? ²⁶ If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Did you know that in the 1950’s the average size house was half the size of the average size house now? Social research tells us that the same number of people reported they were very happy in the 50’s as in our decade. Here’s what is even more surprising: there were no self-storage units in the 1950’s. Now there are nearly 50,000 such companies in the United States. Not many in other countries at all. So with our houses twice as large as in 1950, we still cannot find enough space for all our stuff. We have a problem, folks. It’s called greed.

We encourage the greed of children on Halloween. Do you know Americans are projected to spend nearly twice as much on Halloween as we spent in 2005? And we’re in a recession? We will spend 6.9 billion dollars on costumes and candy for a holiday which started as the Eve of All Saints Day, a time to remember those who have died. All Hallows Eve. Halloween. 6.9 billion. Can you imagine how much that is? It’s actually a dollar for every single person on the face of the earth. On the other hand, if you divide that 6.9 billion by 307 million Americans, it comes to $22.50/person. That’s doesn’t sound so bad, unless you have a family of six. (That would be me.) But let me suggest this: if we gladly spent $22/person buying candy, costumes, and pumpkins, we can certainly put in an extra check this Sunday or next for 22 dollars per person for the Manatee Food Bank to feed people with real food.

We encourage greed in our culture. We celebrate overconsumption of food, alcohol, clothing, entertainment, and stupid knick-knacks. We countenance the overpayment, the monetary greed of certain professions -- movie stars, athletes, CEO’s, specialized physicians, just to pick on a few. Of course we all expect the well-educated, high-achieving CEOs to make much more than the average employee. But listen to this: the ratio of CEO to average worker went from 40:1 in 1960 to 500:1 in 2000 and is now about 300:1. I’m not going Occupy Wall Street, but I do think that it is unethical for the person at the top to make that much more than the person at the bottom. It does not seem right to me that the top 1 % of our country’s population would control 30-35% of the nation’s wealth. And that we in North America, with 1/20 of the world’s population would be consuming 1/4 of the world resources. All this is to say we are the rich ones who have built bigger barns. We may not feel very rich in this season of recession but we still are.

One bit of good news is that in the last four years, the average American went from saving 2% to saving 5%. If only we could all save 10%, give 10% to God, and live on the other 80%, then life would be in balance. Of course, there are some who can live on less than 80%. You could give away more than 10%. You have the opportunity to make a big difference. I dream of being the pastor of a church where people take tithing seriously, where they actually do it, lots of people. Call me an idealist, but I know tithing is possible for most of you. It’s a matter of deciding to be rich toward God and building on your commitment.

It has been my pattern over the years to be very honest with you about money. Money should not be such a taboo subject. It was a frequent topic of Jesus’. So I need to tell you that your giving is not a secret from me, your pastor. It is not public knowledge either. I will do my best not to judge you by your giving, just as I do my best not to judge you by what I see of your kindness or faithfulness, your worship attendance or involvement in Lively learning or ministry teams. Plus I will be honest with you about what we Deiberts are doing. We’ve been giving $200 /week for the last couple of years, although we are little behind this year, I’m sorry to say. Just in case your wondering, my salary is public knowledge. I make approx. $73,000 plus benefits. When Richard completes his 6 month provisional Florida medical license period and can earn an income again, we will increase our giving to Peace. Our finances are not stellar. We waste money. We have not been good savers. We’ve been going into some debt with college expenses these last two years. But it is our conviction that God comes first, then everything else. Despite some strain, we are trying to hold to our commitment to be rich toward God, and fulfill our pledge of 10,000 this year. I know if we cannot quite make it, it will be okay, but we’re trying. Whatever you’re giving, I hope you can say that it is challenging you, stretching your faith in God. If not, then well, maybe you need to re-evaluate.

Have you thought about giving to God in your death? Statistically speaking, many of us will be gone in 20 years. What about setting up an annuity to take care of your end of life needs and make an immediate gift to God through the church? Mark Shoemaker of the Presbyterian Foundation can help with that. What about endowing your pledge? Multiply what you are giving now by 20 and make a plan now – before something happens – to ensure that the church doesn’t suffer when you are gone. What about tithing in your death, even if you never fully tithed in life. Surely the kids could be content dividing 90% of your estate. There are many ways to be rich toward God in estate planning.

Guard against greed. Be rich toward God. In the Renaissance period, people built massive cathedrals, which took more than a generation to build. A stone mason and his son could spend their whole life-time working on one cathedral. By comparison to the house they lived in, the cathedral was unbelievably majestic and large. Some might call them a waste of money, but those cathedrals have endured for centuries. Their sheer size and beauty speak of the glory of God. I’ll never forget little four year old Rebecca walking into the the Ely Cathedral and saying, “Wow!” Compare that with modern day church and society. Shopping malls and country clubs, hotels and sports arenas, bank buildings and some houses are much more glorious in size and architecture than nearly all of our churches, especially in Florida. Houses of God look like barns around here, and some of them are pretty small ugly barns. Something is wrong with that picture.

Will we have a hard time next year when we begin to talk of raising capital funds for a church that costs about the same amount as 5-10 of our houses? I sure hope not.

Will we lose our home here at MAR? I sure hope not. I wish we had 3 or 4 people who could step forward as a private investor group and buy this building for 900,000, and lease it back to Peace and MAR for the next four years while we prepare to build.

Will we be able to give increases to hard-working part-time staff? I sure hope so. I hope we can increase the hours of Pastor Tricia and of Director Gia, because they both put in many more hours of ministry than we pay for. The shopping mall, the baseball stadium, and the restaurants will continue to be fully staffed. Will the church?

Will we be able to meet again our goal of being a 20% benevolence church, contributing as we intend to Mission Beth-El and to Family Promise and other valuable missions, because we are rich toward God and care about suffering people. I hope so. We were not able to make that goal this year, but we did tithe, giving away at least 10%.

But here’s the real question for you to answer in your heart of hearts: Are you being rich toward God, or are you giving God your leftovers? When you die, will God be happy with the way you used your money? Or will God remind you of your foolishness in spending on frivolous or selfish items?

I know many of you are trying to downsize, to simplify, to scale back, to live on less, because less is truly more fulfilling. But it is a constant battle in our culture to guard against greed.

There are multiple ways to simplify, but it begins with a commitment to be rich toward God. God gets the top 10, right from the beginning. Then you have to try to live on what’s left. Peace will not send you a bill, but if you make a pledge, it helps you to keep your commitment to God. “You cannot serve God and wealth.” Jesus declares. “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your reward.”

Jesus challenges his followers at the beginning and he comforts them at the end. He names the sin of greed and through the parable names us all fools, but he reassures us that God will take care of us. So, whether I am up to my ears in medical bills like the Tuite family, or whether I am struggling month by month to pay all my bills or whether I am trying to change a lifetime of living too comfortably to begin to be sacrificial generous, I can become rich toward God. No matter the economic circumstances, God is telling us to trust, to not be discouraged, and to keep reaching further in giving, in being be more generous than we think we can. (singing) “Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come?” Jesus says “Do not worry about your life – food, clothing, or anything else. Look at the birds. They don’t have bigger barns, BMWs, boats, or bank accounts, but God takes care of them. Jesus loves you and will care of you too. “His eye is on the sparrow. And I know he watches me. I sing because I’m happy. I sing because I’m free. For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.

Lord Jesus Christ, give us the courage to trust you with our pocketbooks, our lifestyles, and our bank accounts. Lead us, Lord to make investments in your heavenly treasures, the ones that last, where no thieves can break in and steal. Give us the will to live more simply so all may simply live. Take our lives, our hearts, our budgets and let them be consecrated Lord to you. Amen.

Guilt+ Grace = Gratitude

Ephesians 2:1-10
Gratitude Series #2
Elizabeth M. Deibert

Give me, O my Lord, that purity of conscience which alone can receive your inspiration. My ears are so dull, that I cannot hear your voice. My eyes are so dim, that I cannot see the signs of your presence. You alone can enable my hearing and clarify my sight, and cleanse and renew my heart. Teach me to sit at your feet and hear your word with gladness, and full resolve to be more faithful, through Christ our Lord. (adapted from John Henry Newman, 1800’s)

Today we elect elders and in my twenty years of experience with elder nominating committees, there is always at least one persons who says “no” to the call to serve as elder or “yes,” with great hesitation because they feel unworthy. “I’m not good enough to be ordained, to be seen as a leader in the faith I’ve not always lived.” And they are speaking the truth. Elders about to be elected, you are not good enough. There is no one good enough, no, not one. Not I, not you, not Mother Teresa, not anyone, apart from God’s grace. That’s one of the essentials of our Christian faith that is often lost in most modern church thinking. Total depravity is the official doctrine, which dates back to St Augustine in 4^th Century. In modern parlance “We’re all jerks.” Oh sure, we are created in the image of God, but that image is distorted by our propensity to sin. We are not capable of loving God fully, but rather are inclined to serve our own will and desires.

We had an interesting debate about this in one of our worship reflection classes recently. What does it mean to be human? There are two answers. To be human is to be created in the image of God. To be human is to be depraved and far from the image of God. Both are correct and so it becomes a matter of emphasis. Catholics and Protestants in the West have emphasized our depravity, our inability to live as we should and Orthodox Christians from the East have seen thought this doctrine leads to widespread pessimism. Even though humanity has fallen, the potential for divine vision remains intact in the innermost soul. And the power of the resurrection of Christ can shine through in abundance, if the disciple gives obedience with generosity of heart. (John Anthony McGuckin)

But all Christians would agree that our aim as followers of Christ to regain our best humanity, is to be truly humane, to be like Jesus, living fully as God intends. All would agree that we simply cannot achieve that, least not of entirely of our own volition. We are in desperate need of God’s grace, but even with it, and because of it, we cannot stop striving to become the faithful people we are intended to be.

This paradox is seen most clearly in the verses of our text today, especially in the last three verses. Hear the word of the Lord:

Ephesians 2:1-10

You were dead through the trespasses and sins ² in which you once lived,

following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air,

the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.

³ All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh,

following the desires of flesh and senses,

and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.

⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy,

out of the great love with which he loved us

⁵ even when we were dead through our trespasses,

made us alive together with Christ -- by grace you have been saved—

⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him

in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

⁷ so that in the ages to come he might show

the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith,

and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God

-- ⁹ not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

¹⁰ For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works,

which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (NRSV)

You were dead. You were lost. You are a wretch, a loser, a child of wrath, a sinner. These things used to be preached in church revivals, but we’re not hearing such slams of our character much anymore. We are in a culture of praise and affirmation. Don’t tell me “I’m bad.” Tell me I’m good and maybe I’ll actually become what you say. It’s true that I do good things on occasion, though even in my good, I am often puffed up with pride, thinking wrongly that I deserve God’s blessings. People are motivated more by affirmation than criticism, that’s for sure. But guilt is guilt. And grace always follows, but let’s not presume upon God and act like God doesn’t care that we sin, or that there are not natural consequences of sin. What bothers me is that we are so quick to accept our tendency toward sin, that we begin to ignore the guilt and take for granted the grace. Grace is no longer amazing when we blithely assume it will be there. It’s always there, just as sure as the sin.

Some say that messages of guilt were too great, too destructive, not helpful, and I can see at times what they mean. But it seems to me it is worse when we lose our remorse for sin. We do not even recognize the deathliness it creates. If you’re only seeing salvation as your ticket to the afterlife, then you might not appreciate the way sin is deathly even now. Excuse the sin and have no need for grace. No need for grace and there no gratitude. No gratitude and the world’s a mess, everyone blaming, no one accepting responsibility.

Why cannot we get back to real and honest acknowledgement of our sin? Don’t wallow in guilt but realize that in fact, you are a jerk sometimes. Furthermore, when you’re not being a pain in the patooty, you certainly have not achieved perfection as a child of God. And not only that, you are caught up in complicated systems that mistreat people – sin of a global nature. So we begin with sin, with guilt, but we do not ever stop there. No, once we’ve appreciated our fallibility, our flaws, our faults and our foibles, we can appreciate even more what it means that God is there offering gifts of grace, goodness, and generosity.

If you’ve never done anything wrong, or if you have all kind of excuses for why you did wrong that end up putting the blame on other people, or if you don’t think God has high expectations of you, then grace is kind of a ho-hum thing. Oh, grace, that’s nice, but it doesn’t really hit home. But if you know you’ve screwed up in some pretty bad ways or you let God down significantly because God has the bar pretty high up there, then you are really grateful to know that there’s this free gift of love that you do not deserve and cannot earn, but still have. It is the gift of God, not the result of works. Nothing you do can achieve God’s favor, but it is given nonetheless. Hallelujah, it is given through the gift of God’s life, death, and resurrection in the person of Jesus Christ.

So we cannot stop at guilt, but must go on to grace, and we cannot stop at grace but must proceed to gratitude. The last verse of our text makes it clear. You cannot just read verses 8 and 9 and be done. (slide) God’s given me the gift of grace and that’s all the matters.

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith,

and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God

-- ⁹ not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

¹⁰ For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works,

which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

No, we are created in Christ for a purpose and that purpose is to please God with our good works. So we move from guilt to grace to gratitude. And our gratitude is to try to live more like Christ.

The Heidelberg Catechism in our Book of Confessions is oriented around two opening, “What is your only comfort in life and death?” That I belong – body and soul, in life and in death, not to myself but to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me….(it goes one to describe that freedom) Question 2 is this – How many things must you know that you may live and die and the blessedness of this comfort? Three. First, the greatness of my sin and wretchedness. Second, how I am greed from all my sins and their wretched consequences. Third, what gratitude I owe to God for such redemption.” Three things – Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude. That’s what we need to know.

When my kids were little, I think they learned rather quickly that there’s nothing that makes mom madder than refusing to apologize. If you cannot say “I’m sorry” then you’re in more trouble than you thought. If you start with “I’m sorry, then we can have a productive conversation, no matter the problem.” If you cannot find a way to see that in some small or large way, you are part of the problem – whatever the problem is – then we do not have a starting place. Refusing to acknowledge your faults is what’s called an unrepentant heart. I am going to venture to say that unrepentant hearts are the causing more problems in today’s families, churches, communities, countries than any other problem.

The world would be a better place with more repentant hearts, because people who say they are sorry and mean it, are at least taking the first step toward more graceful, grateful living. And the guilt + grace = gratitude life multiplies the goodness everywhere. This is what God intends. You know this to be true. When people acknowledge their own guilt, there’s room for grace. When grace is received with gladness, the glad heart works hard to please God. We are made for good works, good works which are the fruit of grateful hearts. Grateful hearts are generous toward God, eager to please God, zealous for God, and full of goodness and grace toward all the people God has made.

To conclude this sermon, I have written a rhyme, a rap, a poem of sorts.

When you’ve built up guilt from the trend toward sin,

then it’s time to embrace the goodness of grace.

Because of God’s grace, which in Christ gives you space,

have an attitude of gratitude, giving thanks for your place,

Bless the Spirit each day for your brand new face

in the wonders of Jesus’ amazing grace. There’s not a trace

of that old sin, that ugly sin that you were dead in,

that deceptive sin, a rubbish bin, falsely claiming to be your friend.

So have an attitude of gratitude. It is no platitude

that you will not wilt, your heart riddled with guilt. Go on, full tilt,

in this race of full of grace, always ever seeking Christ’s face,

never willing to step out of pace, working for God,

with God conquering sin, ready every day to do it again.

Gratitude: Bedrock of Faithfulness

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Gratitude Season at Peace – 1
Elizabeth M. Deibert

Today we begin a five week series on gratitude because without gratitude, one cannot live a faithful Christian life. You might avoid many acts of evil. You can attend worship weekly. You can work diligently to please God, but you cannot be truly faithful to God, without gratitude. Gratitude is the bedrock of faithfulness because gratitude is the most fundamental and appropriate response to the love of God which is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord. Gratitude grows in a heart that trusts in and loves God, no matter the circumstances. And from an attitude of gratitude spring all kinds of wonderful fruits. It is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratitude that makes us joyful.

Have you ever noticed that people who have more, inevitably want more? We live with the illusion that thanksgiving comes when we get what we want. But I’m guessing that actually the opposite is true. Gratitude is more profound and evident when we do not have what we want, but trust and thank God anyway. Look at the dispute between the NBA players and owners. Do any of them really need bigger salaries than they already have? It is a lose-lose argument when everybody is greedy.

Consider all the political debates over the economy. When will people on both sides acknowledge that it is a complicated issue, which requires more of us than playing the blame game. This mess we are in -- it is not entirely Wall Street’s fault. It is not entirely the fault of politicians in Washington – certainly not the exclusive fault of one political party or another. We have all participated in a system which ran amuck because we wanted more than we could afford, and for a while, we had more than we could afford. I am no economic strategist, but I know that fixing the problem is more complicated that cutting government spending or raising taxes or creating jobs. It is some combination of all of the above.

It is a complex system with all kinds of variables, and I’m tired of hearing simplistic arguments and fierce blaming. I believe if we all worked on gratitude, we would be much better off, whether the economy improves or not.

If you drive north of here on Lakewood Ranch Blvd, you will see the site work being done in preparation for the new dental school LECOM is building. They’ve been doing site work for weeks and weeks. Got to get the foundation right. What happens when you build on an unstable foundation? Building falls down or cracks or is damaged by high winds. We need the solid foundation of Christ, with our a bedrock of gratitude to sustain us in a storm. I am saying that the bedrock of Christian faithfulness, the foundation upon which all Christian attributes are built is gratitude for your life in Christ. And gratitude is not merely being thankful for what one has, but trusting in the love of Jesus Christ, who shows us God is with us, God is for us, and God is beyond us – so we can trust in God, no matter the circumstances.

This gratitude is seen in the earliest words of the New Testament. The first letter to the Thessalonians was written by the Apostle Paul in 52 AD, about twenty years after Christ died and was raised. Paul begins this letter with gratitude to God for the faith, hope, and love of the Christians in Thessalonica. Paul established the church there among mostly Gentile households, but then he was forced to flee. After his own attempts to return were thwarted, he sent Timothy back to check on them, and having heard a positive report from Timothy, he writes to encourage them to continue to hold fast to the God they have come to know in Jesus Christ, and not to return to the idol worship of their former days.

Hear the word of the Lord:

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. ² We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly ³ remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵ because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. ⁶ And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, ⁷ so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. ⁸ For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. ⁹ For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, ¹⁰ and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead-- Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

(NRSV)

Note that Paul thanks God for their faith, and does not just pat them on the back. Gratitude expressed in general or to others is good, but the heart of our gratitude should arise as an expression of thanksgiving to God, who is the giver of all good gifts. If all I express is gratitude for a person or group of people, then I am in essence putting my ultimate trust in them, not in God. That’s why, friends, the healthiest relationships are ones where a mutual gratitude to God is in the center of the relationship. Mutual gratitude to God leads to gratitude expressed for others, but the reverse is not always true. Mutual gratitude expressed to one another is largely dependent upon not disappointing one another. When I disappoint Richard or he, me, I can still be grateful to God for him, even if I am not feeling gratitude toward him. I can handle the disappointment better, if I know my life rests not in Richard’s care for me, but God’s care for me. If I am overly dependent on Richard, or he, me, then our marriage becomes idolatrous. Your job, your colleagues, your family, your lifestyle can become an idol, when you expect to be completely satisfied by them.

Another reminder of our sermon 2 weeks ago on the commandments – first two commandments of the ten – love God first. Don’t put other things before God. Or as Jesus summarized, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.” How do you love God? Primarily with a grateful heart.

Did you know that the word Eucharist means “thanksgiving” so our weekly communion is a weekly expression of gratitude to God. To have communion with God is an expression of gratitude. And when we pray at the table, the prayer called the “Great Prayer of Thanksgiving” we are thanking God and rehearsing again each week what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. When you give thanks at your meal time, it is primarily an expression of gratitude, an act of loving trust in God.

The best gratitude is gratitude to God for blessings, not just gratitude for blessings. Our gratitude is to God, who gave us this place to worship, not gratitude for this place of worship. Do you see the difference? I am grateful to God for the house I live in, instead of being grateful for my house. You see, if I am just grateful for my house, then I have every right to grumble now because my house is worth half of its value back in 2005 when we moved in. No, it is crucial that my gratitude belongs to God, and is misplaced if my gratitude is for my house. My house deserves no praise, no trust should be placed in my house. It is just a house, and a rather dirty one sometimes. No, my gratitude is for the God, who provides a place for me to live.

Do you see why so many Americans are angry? They have been worshipping their possessions, their lifestyle of comfort, their privileges as a wealthy, super-power. Those of us who can re-direct our gratitude away from those things to the God who sometimes provides those things and sometimes provides other things, even some hardships which make us better people, will find ourselves on a better foundation. Our world is not crumbling because our world is the One God is in charge of, not this world of being the rich and powerful.

The Gospel Paul shared with the Thessalonians was not a comfortable, easy Gospel. The people were persecuted for the exclusive devotion they gave to the God of Jesus Christ. This faith put them at considerable risk in a Roman imperial society, but they held to their work of faith, their labor of love, and their steadfastness of hope in Christ, because they were so filled with gratitude for the powerful message of the Gospel.

This message filled them with faith, hope, and love. They received the Word with joy and with conviction. The Holy Spirit empowered them and their gratitude was the foundation upon which their faithful living was built.

My friends, everything else in life is going to be stripped away. In the end it is going to be you and Jesus. Nothing else will matter. It will not matter what you did to make money or what you wore or drove or where you lived or even who your family is. Your accomplishments will likely be forgotten in a generation. Your name will be forgotten even by most of your family members in a few generations. They might find you on ancestry.com but they will not remember you. How quickly can you name your great grandmother or great grandfather? What will matter is your life with Christ, which is endlessly full of love and purpose. Will there be a group of Christians still giving thanks to God, because you laid a foundation of gratitude to God here in this place. Will your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope empower the next generations to continue to trust in God?

I want to end with the stories of two persons who became quadriplegic, paralyzed in both legs and arms in their late teens. The first one was the son of our congregation members in Alabama, Paul and Carol. Karl Blake died just a few years ago. He was in his forties. From the time of his accident, life was difficult. He lived with his mom and step dad, who had helpers who came in to care for his daily needs but for the most part, Carl was not a happy man. Though he was a Christian, he was bitter about his life’s limitations. The other person is Joni Eareckson Tada. After her initial struggle with despair during the first two years of rehab, Joni found gratitude -- the bedrock of faithfulness. She found gratitude for her life with its limitations. She wrote a book about how her Christian faith sustained her in the struggle. Joni then became mouth artist, holding the paint brush in her mouth. She was a popular Christian speaker, and went on to write over forty books. Joni talks about giving thanks in everything (as in 1 Thess 5:18) but also giving thanks for everything. (Eph 5:19-20)

Joni says most of us are able to thank God for grace, comfort, and sustaining power in a trial, but we don’t often thank God for the trial, for the problem. “What feels like manure turns out to be fertilizer.” (Mary Schmich, Chicago Tribune, Thanksgiving 2010) Now I am not recommending that you go out and rashly remind all your struggling, despairing friends that they should be grateful for their struggle. That’s a conclusion they need to reach without undue pressure from us, but when someone like Joni expresses gratitude for her struggle, it speaks louder than words. When the Thessalonians held onto to their faith in the midst of persecution, it was a beautiful witness that inspired Paul’s gratitude and faith and because he recorded it, it has inspired many Christians after him.

Joni Eareckson Tada says that many decades in a wheelchair have taught her to thank God even for her quadriplegia. It’s a gift wrapped in black she says. It is a bruising of a blessing, the shadowy companion that walks with her daily, pulling and pushing her into the arms of Jesus. And that’s where the joy is. (from the forward by Tada in Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss) The joy is in being filled with gratitude in all circumstances. Rejoicing in the Lord, no matter what. If you can do that, you have a foundation of faith which is unshakable.

Sins, Debts, and Trespasses

Matthew 6:9-15 & Luke 11:1-4
Ordinary Time
Elizabeth M. Deibert

One of the most frequently asked questions by newcomers to Peace is, “Why do you say the Lord’s Prayer that way?” Quite a few of you actually appreciate the move away from the Old English language. We haven’t been reading the King James Version or praying with thee’s and thou’s for number of years. after all. My usual short answer is that the ecumenical version is a compromise between debts and trespasses. How many of you spent most of your life saying “debts” What about trespasses?

Well, I asked my personal resident theologian to do what he loves – Biblical, theological, ecclesiological research. Yes, two or three weeks ago when I decided to preach on this, I asked Richard, who had already begun his new medical practice in Arcadia, if he would pull together a little info on the different versions of the Lord’s Prayer. It was a Saturday morning. About eight hours later he emerged from the study with an answer to my question, “Sins, Debts, Trespasses: Why the Differences?”

So the first thing we learn is that Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer includes the Greek word translated “debts” in the prayer itself, but in the verses after the prayer, the word “trespasses” is used to further guide the followers of Christ as to the vital importance of forgiving others when you pray to be forgiven by God.

Hear the Gospel according to Matthew, a portion of the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 6:9-15

⁹ "Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. ¹⁰ Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread. ¹² And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ¹³ And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one. ¹⁴ For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; ¹⁵ but if you do not forgive others,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

So Jesus gives His disciples this model prayer, then immediately clarifies what He has just taught. It’s a Jewish way of teaching by paralleling or repeating, using different words for beauty and emphasis. After giving the prayer, Jesus elaborates that forgiveness of “debts” actually means forgiveness of “trespasses.” He shows that these two words are large enough to be used interchangeably. He does not really explain any other portion of the prayer in that way, which says something of the import of that charge to forgive others.

Now in Luke’s Gospel, the words in the prayer are different. Luke uses the Greek word for sin, and then the word for debts. “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those indebted to us.” Luke also leaves off the “Your will be done on earth as it is heaven.”

Luke 11:1-4

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." ² He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. ³ Give us each day our daily bread. ⁴ And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial." (NRSV)

Now thanks to St Jerome of the 4^th Century who translated the original Greek into Latin, and to William Tyndale, the English Reformer, who first translated the Bible into English, the debts and sins from the Greek all turned to trespasses, despite the use of different words in the original manuscripts. And twenty-three years later, when the printing press was revolutionizing the world, the first Book of Common Prayer was published and it followed Tyndale’s translation -- trespasses. But the Presbyterians, always trying to studiously do their academic homework in original languages, retained the strict meaning of the Greek word, “debts” while everyone else went on praying “trespasses” as a synonym for “sins” That’s a synopsis of the history. If you come to the worship reflection class, you’ll get the full hand-out on that history, which I have only summarized here.

Now, speaking personally, as one who grew up saying “debts” I always thought “debts” leaned toward financial obligations too far, and “trespasses” seemed like a property issue. That’s why I have appreciated the ecumenical version of the Lord’s Prayer, which follows more closely the most reputable modern translations of Matthew and Luke, “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us” and “Save us from the time of trial” in place of “Lead us not into temptation.” I valued the clarity of that language, and the breadth of meaning with the word “sins” I don’t know about you, but my offenses are not limited to issues of finances and property.

But having stubbornly held to this ecumenical version of the prayer while some of you groaned, I had a change of heart recently, and here’s why: Our youth were traveling with First Presbyterian to Montreat this summer, and had a brief worship service prior to leaving. When the First Presbyterian leaders said, “Let us now say the prayer Christ taught us” they assumed our kids would know the same prayer their kids say. But our kids stumbled a bit with the “traditional Presbyterian Lord’s Prayer.” At that moment, it became clear to me that, as hard as we try at Peace to be ecumenical, to appreciate what is good about Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians, as well as every branch of Protestantism, we should be raising children and youth who can say every form of the Lord’s Prayer with relative ease.

So you will notice in the coming months that we will move from one version to another, always providing words on the slides in in the bulletin. I know that some of feel more confused than ever, but I think you’ll be able to adjust. It might help you to actually reflect a little more on what you are saying. In our noon day prayers every week day in the church ministry center, we alternate quite easily between versions.

Sins, debts, trespasses. What’s the difference? Oh, there’s a difference in those words. But they are all trying to speak of the distance we fall short of God’s glory. We sin against God. We are indebted to God for the free grace we are given.

And despite that grace, and despite our best intentions, we trespass again and again by our stepping outside the helpful boundaries of God’s commands. God has shown us what is good, and what does the Lord require of us but to do justice and love kindness, and walk humbly with God. But we don’t. We go our own way. Looking back at last week’s sermon on the commandments, we do not keep God first. We worship other gods – idols of power, prestige, and personal pleasures. We are not careful to honor God with our words. We do not keep the Sabbath holy. We have not always honored Father and Mother or respected life, marriage promises, the property of others, truth, and been simply grateful for what we have. We fail to love God fully and love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

But God forgives us. For –gives. God offers prior generosity. Calvinists like to talk of irresistible grace while Wesleyans speak of prevenient grace, but let’s not divide into theological word camps again. Before we ask for mercy, God has given it. Before the prodigal (wasteful son) returned home, the father rushed out to welcome him. God forgives us. The notion of forgiveness is sometimes difficult to translate into foreign languages, but here are some of the ways. "Forget the wrong," "no longer see the wrong," "put the wrong behind one's back," "lift the wrong from between us"

God’s forgiveness is always there for us and we are to ask for it and be thankful for it. When we do, then forgiveness toward others should also increase. Remember, we do not pray each week, “Forgive us our sins as we continue to hold a grudge against those who are mean to us.” “Forgive me my sin while I we justify my bitterness toward the one who has hurt me.” “Forgive us our sins as we continue to nurse old wounds and allow hate to creep into our lives like a thief in the night, stealing all our joy.” No, we pray “Forgive us our sins AS/LIKE/WHILE/IN THE SAME WAY AS we forgive those who have sinned against us. Or "Forgive us our guilt as we also pardon each one who has done us wrong."

Some of you have heard the saying, “If you really forgive, then you have to forget.” There are plenty of hurts that I cannot completely erase from my mind. But I can place them in a file labeled forgiven, finished with them. The drama is over. I don’t think we have to develop amnesia to be forgiving. No, you don’t need to forget, but you need to stop dwelling on the offense. Put it away in the back of your mind. Stop rehearsing it. Stop holding it against the person. Stop counting it. God is not counting your offenses, which are many each day.

Work out your hurt in constructive ways, if you’ve been seriously offended. You need professional help to work out deeply broken relationships. See a pastor, mental health counselor, psychologist, Stephen Minister or Spiritual Director. Pray for a changed heart, but most of all, do not allow yourself to live in bitterness. It will kill you – body, heart, and soul. You don’t need to be a doormat for someone who is mistreating you. You do not need to accommodate to the irrational desires of the addicted or mentally ill. You do not need to be manipulated by the immaturity of your children. But you do need to learn to speak your truth clearly and kindly to those who have hurt you and then move on to forgiveness. Hanging on to your hurt will only hurt you.

How can we move on? We can only forgive others well, if we are constantly aware of and grateful for the forgiveness we have in Christ. That’s why the church must continually focus on our need for Christ’s forgiveness. We need to confess our sin every day to God. Sometimes we need to confess to someone else. If we have penitent hearts, ready always to acknowledge our own sin, it is hard to cling the errors of others. If you can remember every time you see the speck in someone else eye, that you have a LOG in your own eye, then you cannot remain in a spirit of unforgiveness.

One way to move toward forgiveness is to imagine all the things in the other person’s life that might be difficult for him or her. Then think about how much better you will feel when you set down the heavy load of anger that you are carrying around. Start treating the person in your thoughts and actions with a calm, respectful dignity. Feelings follow actions.

Acknowledge to yourself that there will be moments when your trigger points are triggered, but you are not pulling out the guns of hatred, you are finding with God’s help, the tender mercies of love. That’s what it means to forgive. It means to decide in advance that you will give mercy when mercy is not deserved.

Talk to Wes and Gertie about the mourners in the village of Nickel Mines, PA and how the Amish Christians forgave the man who killed their innocent little school girls five years ago in early October. The wife of the killer was in a prayer group or Bible study for young mothers in Gertie and Wes’ Presbyterian Church. Many of the first responders were members of their church. Just hours after the attack, an Amish neighbor went to the wife to comfort her with the forgiveness of the Amish families. Did they feel forgiving at that point? I doubt it, but they knew what the right response was, so they mustered it humbly, until the feelings began to follow.

George MacDonald, a Scottish minister whose sermons and novels influenced CS Lewis, once wrote, “It may be infinitely worse to refuse to forgive, than to murder, because the latter may be an impulse of a moment of heat; whereas the former is a cold and deliberate choice of the heart.”

Martin Luther King, Jr, said, “Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.” It is an attitude which we cultivate by humbly remembering how indebted, we are to Christ for our own forgiveness.

“Forgiveness unleashes joy. It brings peace. It washes the slate clean. It sets all the highest values of love in motion. In a sense, forgiveness is Christianity at its highest level.” (John MacArthur)

Let us pray, using Petersen’s modern version of the Lord’s Prayer, freely translated: Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what's best -- As above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. You're in charge! You can do anything you want! You're ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes.

Guarding Against Greed

Luke 12:13-26
Gratitude Season #3/ All Saints
Elizabeth M. Deibert

Sometimes we have to station an adult near the snack table at church to guard the children against greed. What does greed look like at the snack table? The kid version is racing to the table and piling a plate full of snacks, with no regard for whether there will be enough for the rest of the people. The adult version is more covert, a lingering by the table or returning with regularity. Or giving into the compulsion to finish what was left behind by everyone else, even when you have had enough.

Guard against greed. We can be greedy with time. My time’s more important than yours. At least we behave that way. Perhaps your Sunday morning relaxation is more important the five or six people who arrive here each Sunday at 8:30 to set up this worship space for you. Greed with time. Do you manage to keep yourself looking busy when your spouse or someone could use a hand with the dishes or the yardwork or the kids. Do you greedily dominate the conversation by your tone or talking.

Greed is the desire to have more than I really need. It is the propensity to put self ahead of others, to buy more than I can really afford, to cling to more than I need, to think that I deserve more stuff than others. Greed can be expressed in so many places and so many ways.

Jesus says, “Be on your guard against all kind of greed. Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” He says this in response to the complaint of a brother, presumably a younger one, who wants his older brother to share the family inheritance. This is something we would consider only fair, but in Jesus’s time inheritance was heavily weighted toward the first born son. So he had the option to be generous or greedy. Jesus says, “Be on your guard. Be careful. Be alert. Greed will creep in gradually and take over. Your life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

Hear the word of the Lord to us today from the Gospel of Luke:

Luke 12:13-26

Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." ¹⁴ But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" ¹⁵ And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." ¹⁶ Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. ¹⁷ And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' ¹⁸ Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' ²⁰ But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' ²¹ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God." ²² He said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! ²⁵ And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? ²⁶ If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Did you know that in the 1950’s the average size house was half the size of the average size house now? Social research tells us that the same number of people reported they were very happy in the 50’s as in our decade. Here’s what is even more surprising: there were no self-storage units in the 1950’s. Now there are nearly 50,000 such companies in the United States. Not many in other countries at all. So with our houses twice as large as in 1950, we still cannot find enough space for all our stuff. We have a problem, folks. It’s called greed.

We encourage the greed of children on Halloween. Do you know Americans are projected to spend nearly twice as much on Halloween as we spent in 2005? And we’re in a recession? We will spend 6.9 billion dollars on costumes and candy for a holiday which started as the Eve of All Saints Day, a time to remember those who have died. All Hallows Eve. Halloween. 6.9 billion. Can you imagine how much that is? It’s actually a dollar for every single person on the face of the earth. On the other hand, if you divide that 6.9 billion by 307 million Americans, it comes to $22.50/person. That’s doesn’t sound so bad, unless you have a family of six. (That would be me.) But let me suggest this: if we gladly spent $22/person buying candy, costumes, and pumpkins, we can certainly put in an extra check this Sunday or next for 22 dollars per person for the Manatee Food Bank to feed people with real food.

We encourage greed in our culture. We celebrate overconsumption of food, alcohol, clothing, entertainment, and stupid knick-knacks. We countenance the overpayment, the monetary greed of certain professions -- movie stars, athletes, CEO’s, specialized physicians, just to pick on a few. Of course we all expect the well-educated, high-achieving CEOs to make much more than the average employee. But listen to this: the ratio of CEO to average worker went from 40:1 in 1960 to 500:1 in 2000 and is now about 300:1. I’m not going Occupy Wall Street, but I do think that it is unethical for the person at the top to make that much more than the person at the bottom. It does not seem right to me that the top 1 % of our country’s population would control 30-35% of the nation’s wealth. And that we in North America, with 1/20 of the world’s population would be consuming 1/4 of the world resources. All this is to say we are the rich ones who have built bigger barns. We may not feel very rich in this season of recession but we still are.

One bit of good news is that in the last four years, the average American went from saving 2% to saving 5%. If only we could all save 10%, give 10% to God, and live on the other 80%, then life would be in balance. Of course, there are some who can live on less than 80%. You could give away more than 10%. You have the opportunity to make a big difference. I dream of being the pastor of a church where people take tithing seriously, where they actually do it, lots of people. Call me an idealist, but I know tithing is possible for most of you. It’s a matter of deciding to be rich toward God and building on your commitment.

It has been my pattern over the years to be very honest with you about money. Money should not be such a taboo subject. It was a frequent topic of Jesus’. So I need to tell you that your giving is not a secret from me, your pastor. It is not public knowledge either. I will do my best not to judge you by your giving, just as I do my best not to judge you by what I see of your kindness or faithfulness, your worship attendance or involvement in Lively learning or ministry teams. Plus I will be honest with you about what we Deiberts are doing. We’ve been giving $200 /week for the last couple of years, although we are little behind this year, I’m sorry to say. Just in case your wondering, my salary is public knowledge. I make approx. $73,000 plus benefits. When Richard completes his 6 month provisional Florida medical license period and can earn an income again, we will increase our giving to Peace. Our finances are not stellar. We waste money. We have not been good savers. We’ve been going into some debt with college expenses these last two years. But it is our conviction that God comes first, then everything else. Despite some strain, we are trying to hold to our commitment to be rich toward God, and fulfill our pledge of 10,000 this year. I know if we cannot quite make it, it will be okay, but we’re trying. Whatever you’re giving, I hope you can say that it is challenging you, stretching your faith in God. If not, then well, maybe you need to re-evaluate.

Have you thought about giving to God in your death? Statistically speaking, many of us will be gone in 20 years. What about setting up an annuity to take care of your end of life needs and make an immediate gift to God through the church? Mark Shoemaker of the Presbyterian Foundation can help with that. What about endowing your pledge? Multiply what you are giving now by 20 and make a plan now – before something happens – to ensure that the church doesn’t suffer when you are gone. What about tithing in your death, even if you never fully tithed in life. Surely the kids could be content dividing 90% of your estate. There are many ways to be rich toward God in estate planning.

Guard against greed. Be rich toward God. In the Renaissance period, people built massive cathedrals, which took more than a generation to build. A stone mason and his son could spend their whole life-time working on one cathedral. By comparison to the house they lived in, the cathedral was unbelievably majestic and large. Some might call them a waste of money, but those cathedrals have endured for centuries. Their sheer size and beauty speak of the glory of God. I’ll never forget little four year old Rebecca walking into the the Ely Cathedral and saying, “Wow!” Compare that with modern day church and society. Shopping malls and country clubs, hotels and sports arenas, bank buildings and some houses are much more glorious in size and architecture than nearly all of our churches, especially in Florida. Houses of God look like barns around here, and some of them are pretty small ugly barns. Something is wrong with that picture.

Will we have a hard time next year when we begin to talk of raising capital funds for a church that costs about the same amount as 5-10 of our houses? I sure hope not.

Will we lose our home here at MAR? I sure hope not. I wish we had 3 or 4 people who could step forward as a private investor group and buy this building for 900,000, and lease it back to Peace and MAR for the next four years while we prepare to build.

Will we be able to give increases to hard-working part-time staff? I sure hope so. I hope we can increase the hours of Pastor Tricia and of Director Gia, because they both put in many more hours of ministry than we pay for. The shopping mall, the baseball stadium, and the restaurants will continue to be fully staffed. Will the church?

Will we be able to meet again our goal of being a 20% benevolence church, contributing as we intend to Mission Beth-El and to Family Promise and other valuable missions, because we are rich toward God and care about suffering people. I hope so. We were not able to make that goal this year, but we did tithe, giving away at least 10%.

But here’s the real question for you to answer in your heart of hearts: Are you being rich toward God, or are you giving God your leftovers? When you die, will God be happy with the way you used your money? Or will God remind you of your foolishness in spending on frivolous or selfish items?

I know many of you are trying to downsize, to simplify, to scale back, to live on less, because less is truly more fulfilling. But it is a constant battle in our culture to guard against greed.

There are multiple ways to simplify, but it begins with a commitment to be rich toward God. God gets the top 10, right from the beginning. Then you have to try to live on what’s left. Peace will not send you a bill, but if you make a pledge, it helps you to keep your commitment to God. “You cannot serve God and wealth.” Jesus declares. “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your reward.”

Jesus challenges his followers at the beginning and he comforts them at the end. He names the sin of greed and through the parable names us all fools, but he reassures us that God will take care of us. So, whether I am up to my ears in medical bills like the Tuite family, or whether I am struggling month by month to pay all my bills or whether I am trying to change a lifetime of living too comfortably to begin to be sacrificial generous, I can become rich toward God. No matter the economic circumstances, God is telling us to trust, to not be discouraged, and to keep reaching further in giving, in being be more generous than we think we can. (singing) “Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come?” Jesus says “Do not worry about your life – food, clothing, or anything else. Look at the birds. They don’t have bigger barns, BMWs, boats, or bank accounts, but God takes care of them. Jesus loves you and will care of you too. “His eye is on the sparrow. And I know he watches me. I sing because I’m happy. I sing because I’m free. For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.

Lord Jesus Christ, give us the courage to trust you with our pocketbooks, our lifestyles, and our bank accounts. Lead us, Lord to make investments in your heavenly treasures, the ones that last, where no thieves can break in and steal. Give us the will to live more simply so all may simply live. Take our lives, our hearts, our budgets and let them be consecrated Lord to you. Amen.