2nd Sunday in Advent, Populus Zion
December 5, Year of Our +
Lord 2021
Our Redeemer and Our Savior's Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13
Which do you prefer
to talk about, the End Times and the Return of Christ, or Christian
Stewardship? The texts for the 2nd
Sunday in Advent, and normal end-of-year budget questions, converge today to
confront us with not one, but two not-so-favorite categories of Christian
teaching: the End Times and Christian Stewardship. The Return of Christ, as you have just heard,
brings to us warnings of burning wrath and frightening signs, and a necessity
for perseverance in the face of tribulation and persecution. On the other hand, thinking about budgets,
our finances and our contributions to the Church and other good causes often
gives us heartburn. End Times and
Stewardship. Both can create dread in
the hearts of preachers and hearers alike.
We might like to skip these topics.
But be careful. If we do not
return now and again to consider them, to have our understanding shaped by the
Spirit through His Word, Satan will take advantage and fill our heads and
hearts with lies, lies that create doubt and fear in us.
God’s goal in both
our preparedness for the Last Day and in our Christian Stewardship is that we
have peace and joy, so that we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will abound in
hope. And there are similarities between
the way God teaches us to think about the End Times and the way we are called
to think about and live out Christian Stewardship.
End Time readings
have occupied us quite a bit in recent weeks.
And the fundamental point for the Christian is actually fairly
simple: While frightening things are
coming, in fact, are happening right now, believers in Jesus need not
fear. Because, like with everything else
having to do with our salvation, Jesus Christ has already passed through the
End for us. All of the suffering,
frightening events and persecution that are coming to the world have already
been experienced and defeated for us, by Jesus, on His Cross.
Yes, in a
transitory way, we will live through End Time chaos. And we will face suffering. Both of these can scare us. Much like the wind and the waves on the Sea
of Galilee frightened Peter as he tried to walk on the water to Jesus. Peter started out well, but then his eyes focused
on the danger, and fear caused him to start sinking. But fear not.
Keep your eyes on Jesus, crucified and resurrected, for you. Christ Jesus has already defeated every
struggle and tribulation. They cannot
touch you, not in any lasting way, as long as you are with Him. Persevering to the end means staying
connected to Jesus, by His Gospel in Word and Sacraments. Fix the eyes of your heart on Him. Be fed through your ears and your mouth with
His promises. Jesus Christ is your Last
Day, and He is your forever and ever future.
Amen.
Getting to “Amen”
concerning stewardship may prove a bit trickier. But the Lord will bring us through, just the
same.
The first thing to
clear up is the actual topic. Christian
Stewardship is not about your money, not principally. Your money, your material blessings, along
with your time and your abilities, these are all involved in Christian
Stewardship, but they are not the main thing.
Do a deep dive in the New Testament, and you will find Jesus’ big
stewardship teachings are not about you using your material blessings well. Rather they are about the Apostles, and the
Church in total, and individual pastors and people, stewarding the Gospel.
For example, in the
parable of the talents, Jesus is the owner who goes on a journey and leaves
three servants with talents to manage, to steward, until his return. A talent in Biblical times was not an
ability, but rather it was a large amount of silver. In case you hadn’t noticed, the Lord did not
actually leave the Apostles and His Church with any stash of loot to manage, no
earthly wealth at all. So this parable
must be about something else. The
valuable treasure the Lord has given us to manage well is His
Gospel, the Good News of the salvation He has won for all people. The Gospel is our treasure, our most valuable
gift from our heavenly Father.
Each of us, as
members of Christ’s Church, have a part to play in protecting and investing the
Gospel, for ourselves, and for the life of the world. Within the Church and in our daily lives, we
share a stewardship of God’s great gift to us, the Law and Gospel message of
Jesus, which is the Spirit’s tool for saving souls.
So, the first step
in Christian Stewardship is to be filled with this Gospel. After all, you can’t manage or invest
something you don’t have. The Gospel is
God’s tool to give you faith and strengthen it, saving you, leading you to
confess Christ and to do works of love.
So, come and get the Gospel!
Weekly and daily go to the places where the Spirit is dispensing the
Good News, through His Word: in personal and family devotions, and of course in
the regular public worship of the congregation the Lord has made you part
of. The more Gospel you receive, the
more hope you will have, and the more prepared you will be to invest this Good
News in others, during your daily life.
And that is the
next part of Christian Stewardship, investing the Gospel in the lives of
others. Just as you are not being a very
good steward of your money if you hide it in a mattress, so also stewardship of
the Gospel involves getting it out into the world, into the ears and hearts of
other people.
First by
being ready to tell the reason for the hope that you have in your daily life,
Second by
supporting the ministry of your congregation with your time, abilities and financial support, and
Third, by supporting
faithful missions and missionaries in other places.
And all of this is good for you, because through it you will
be in and around and speaking and hearing the Word of Christ, through which the
Holy Spirit will both strengthen your faith and work through you for the good
of others.
So, stewardship is
first and foremost about what we, collectively and individually, are doing with
the Gospel. In fact, when the Bible
actually teaches about money and material things, the main point is usually
that we must be careful not to allow our earthly riches to become an idol. The love of money is the root of all sorts of
evil. Which is of course a big problem
for us today. Many of us enjoy such
abundant earthly wealth; it’s hard not to let our money and things become the
center of our lives. In fact, whether
one is rich or poor, we sinners are prone to worshiping created things instead
of worshiping the Creator who has given us every good thing we have.
We easily become
jealous and miserly with our money and things.
But God is jealous for your heart.
He does not want to lose you. We
who have been called and converted by the Gospel are also called to use our
material blessings in line with this saving faith.
So, how much of
our material blessings are we supposed to submit to God, to His purposes and to
His glory? What percentage does God
want? What do you think?
All of it.
100%. You were afraid I might say as
much as 10%, but I say 100%. But not
that you must give 100% to the Church.
Rather, you are called by God to use all your material blessings, all
your money, all your stuff, all your time, in a God pleasing, Christian
way.
Think of it this way:
using your material blessings for things that don’t please God is to sin. How much sin does God want you to
commit? None. God hates sin. All that we have, all our money and things,
our bodies and our lives, all of these are gifts received from the same God who
gave His Son to save you from sin and eternal condemnation. So of course you are to use all your earthly
blessings in a God pleasing way. Which
is a much broader category than simply supporting your Church.
To use a very
current example, Shelee and I, and our bank, just bought a house. We are happy, and thankful to God. How shall we use our home? Shall we make fixing it up and finishing the
basement and being comfortable our #1 priority?
No. God is pleased to bless us
with house and home, family and friends, food and drink. Of course, we must take care not to use these
for sinful ends. And above all, Shelee
and I must not let our house become more important than our connection to
Christ. And along the way, we should
give thanks to God every day for all He provides. God wants to bless all of us and see our
thankfulness to Him to grow, a thankful life made infinitely sweeter because of
our greatest gift, our Savior Jesus Christ.
O.k. ... But c’mon.
How do we decide how much we will donate to our church? Well, first of all, every Christian should
understand that in terms of charitable giving and volunteer service, the first
priority is your congregation and its ministry.
This is where God is working out His Mission in this place. Nothing is more important. If every Christian focused first and foremost
on supporting a faithful ministry in their own congregation, the world would be
a much better place.
So, since your
church is your first priority, (OSLC: it is helpful to know a bit about our
budget and our financial situation.)
(ORLC: it is helpful to
receive, as you will today, financial data concerning our budget and financial
situation.) How did last year
go? What is the plan, and the budget for
next year? These facts will not tell you
how much you should give, but they will help you understand the situation as
you make your decision. Then, simply
give what makes you cheerful!
O.k., maybe I’m still not being helpful. So, to help you be cheerful, let’s talk about some good ways to consider your personal support of your congregation. I believe we should periodically take some time to pray, reflect and think about this. But not more than once per year. Do not give Satan the opportunity to torment you every week about how much you give. Rather, consider, pray and decide what you want to give next year. Make a giving decision for 2022, and live with it. Unless your economic situation changes significantly during the next year, for the better or for the worse, you should not think again about how much to give weekly or monthly until next year. Just give what you decided: Make it an automatic habit.
Today I will even
provide you with a one-page guide to help you through this process. It goes more or less like this. Over the course of a couple weeks, each
individual or household should reflect on all that God has done for you, most
especially in and through Christ Jesus.
Revel in the richness of God’s grace toward you. And then pray to the Holy Spirit to guide you
in your decision. Talk frankly about
your financial situation, and what level of donation will give you joy. Then decide.
After that, forget about how much you should give, until next year.
The principal
problem we have with both the End Times and Christian Stewardship is
doubt. Am I ready for Christ to
return? Am I giving enough? Will God accept me? Does He accept my meager gifts to His Church
today? Doubt is the enemy of the
Gospel. It robs from us the peace and
the hope that your heavenly Father intends for you. And the solution to both kinds of doubt is
found in the same place: in Christ Jesus.
Draw near to Jesus,
and you will be reminded that His return is a day of pure joy for you, because
He comes to take you home. Draw near to
Jesus, and He will make you into the generous giver He wants you to be, by generously
forgiving and restoring you, day after day.
And in this way the God of hope will fill
you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy
Spirit you may abound in hope. Hope that
can face the turmoil and problems of the End Times, and hope that makes you
cheerful to support the Gospel ministry of Christ, by loving your neighbor,
being ready to give the reason for the hope that you have, and by supporting
the collective ministry of this congregation.
I have hopeful news for you: the End is coming, and the Church needs you
to help with the stewardship of the Gospel.
Rejoice! And rest in Christ,
Amen.
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