Blessed to Be a Blessing

Genesis 12: 1-2 & 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11

Roger Lynn

November 25, 2018

(click here for the audio for this sermon)
(click here for the video for this sermon)

The turkey and dressing have been put away. The table has been cleared. The guests have all gone home. Some of you have been over the river and through the woods, and have now returned safely. In short, we have counted our blessings and expressed our gratitude. We are thankful people.

And now we have a choice. We can sit back, relax, and maybe take a little turkey-induced nap, basking in the warm glow of being abundantly blessed. Or we can ask the all-important theological question – “So what?” What does it all mean? Where does our gratitude lead us next? What do we do with our blessings? And when we take such questions seriously, and look deep inside of ourselves for the answers, we discover what Abraham discovered all those thousands of years ago when he heard God calling him to set out for the Promised Land (the life of blessings). The message he heard from God was this, “I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” The whole point of getting in touch with our blessings is to recognize the part we play in the whole grand abundant flowing river of blessing which connects us all. When we take such questions seriously we discover the truth which Paul shared with the church at Corinth. “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” What we begin to recognize is that we experience our gifts most fully and we are enriched by them most completely when we find ways to share them. That’s when we really begin to shine.

Alice Walker, author of “The Color Purple”, wrote a children’s book called “Finding the Green Stone.” In it she says what I set out to say in this sermon, so I decided to just let her say it. I invite you to sit back and listen to the story.

[read “Finding the Green Stone” by Alice Walker]

May we use our gifts to help each other find our gifts. May we recognize that we have been blessed to be a blessing to the world. May God’s love shine in us and through us. Amen.

Grateful Giving

Deuteronomy 14: 22-29 & 2 Corinthians 9: 6-10

Roger Lynn

November 11, 2018

Stewardship Commitment Sunday

(click here for the audio for this sermon)
(click here for the video for this sermon)

“Previously, in this sermon series. . .” If this were a television show, that’s how this sermon would begin. This is part two in a two-part series focusing on the theme of stewardship. So, it will be helpful to spend a moment reviewing what we covered in part one. To sum up in one sentence what it took me about ten minutes to say last week, “We have been abundantly blessed by God.” Well, OK, it’s not quite that simple. But almost. Recognition and celebration of the fact that we are the recipients of God’s abundant and ongoing grace forms the foundation upon which our stewardship responses are built. As I said last week, “I am convinced that in all matters of faith, and that includes stewardship, our actions are in response to the primary action of God. We are encouraged and empowered to give because we have first received.” So, hopefully, you have spent some time this week reflecting not merely on your finances, but on the “grace-full” nature of your living. 

Awareness of our bounty, however, is only the first step. In order for a gift to be fully appreciated, and, indeed, for it to be fully used, there must be some kind of response of gratitude on the part of the recipient. It is how we human beings are put together. Because we have been created in the image of God, we have, built into the core of our being, a need to give. I know that there are those for whom the whole business of stewardship is an uncomfortable subject. There are some pastors who avoid the topic, or try to soft-pedal it, or apologize when they absolutely can’t get out of it. There are some church members, or even outside critics, who complain that all the church ever does is ask for money. But I am here to tell you that I am neither uncomfortable nor ashamed about being a whole-hearted supporter of the idea of stewardship. It is important. Indeed, it is a vital aspect of faith. It is about so much more than just money – it is about giving ourselves away in grateful response to the God who fills our lives with abundant grace.

Grace-full Living

Deuteronomy 14: 22-29 & 2 Corinthians 9: 6-10

Roger Lynn

November 4, 2018

Stewardship Emphasis

(click here for the audio for this sermon)
(click here for the video for this sermon)

“She is such an amazing athlete. Her moves are so graceful.” “His graceful dancing is a delight to watch.” “The lines of that building are so graceful and elegant.” Graceful is a word we use on a fairly regular basis, in a number of different settings, and yet we mostly fail to recognize the potential of its meaning. We associate it with elegance and poise and beauty. But we don’t always remember the theological roots of the word. That’s why, in case you hadn’t noticed, I took the liberty of modifying the spelling when I used it for the stewardship theme this year. To experience graceful living is to experience a life which is full of grace. When defining grace, the dictionary has this to say: “a) Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people. b) The state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God.” A life full of God’s love is grace-full living. And the good news is that everyone everywhere has the possibility for such a life because God is fully present in every time and every place and every person. The question then is not whether our living is full of grace, but whether we pay enough attention to allow such grace to become manifest in our lives and make a difference.

This is a stewardship sermon. It is, in fact, the first in a two-part series. I hope that by the time I’m finished preaching both sermons we will have explored some of what it means to be a giving people. So, towards that end, it was a very deliberate decision to begin by focusing not on giving but on receiving. I am convinced that in all matters of faith, and that includes stewardship, our actions are in response to the primary action of God. We are encouraged and empowered to give because we have first received. That is, by the way, the theological rationale for placing the offering after the Lord’s Supper in our order of worship. As the bulletin reminds us each week, “Having received the gift of God’s grace, we are invited to respond by sharing our time, our talents and our treasures.” We are able to give because we are truly wealthy people – in more than merely a financial sense. It is appropriate, then, that we begin our consideration of stewardship by reminding ourselves of the many countless ways in which we have been abundantly blessed by God.