November 17, 2024 ~ 26th Sunday after Pentecost
Stewardship Series: Releasing God’s Blessings
Rev. Beckie Sweet
Several years ago, around Thanksgiving, radio commentator, Paul Harvey, shared a story about a woman and her frozen Thanksgiving turkey. Now, quite a few years ago, the Butterball Turkey Company set up a telephone hotline to answer consumer questions about preparing holiday turkeys. But one woman called to inquire about questions she had concerning preparing a turkey which had been sitting in the bottom of her freezer for 23 years. Yes, 23 years!! Well, the Butterball representative told her that the turkey would probably be safe to eat as long as the freezer had maintained a temperature of zero degrees over these years. But the Butterball representative warned her that even if the turkey was safe to eat, the flavor would probably have deteriorated to such a degree that she would NOT recommend eating it. The woman said, “Yah, that’s just what I thought. I’ll just give the turkey to the church!”
As I asked last week, how many times do we give in that way to God through the church, only giving what is left over, or no longer of use to the giver? Those are NOT the times that we would be identified as a cheerful giver!
During my second year in seminary, Drew University was in a situation where they needed to significantly increase tuition charges for all of the seminary students. The UMC/denomination had made some changes in their budgeting so that they no longer were contributing as much for the education of current and future pastors. That meant that the amount I owed Drew for two semesters of education and the commuter room which I occupied a couple of nights each week, was exactly equal to the amount I was being paid as a half-time student local pastor at two lovely churches.
I only qualified for an education loan of $1000 each semester. That meant that I had to carefully budget that money for gas to commute weekly from the southern tier of NY to Madison, New Jersey. I also needed some money for food and living expenses, not to mention charitable giving. With a lot of intentionality and research, I learned that the best value for a meal on campus was the $1.00 breakfast at the snack bar. It consisted of two eggs, toast, two slices of bacon, grits and coffee. Eaten mid-morning as brunch, this generous breakfast covered two meals. Then an 89-cent package of flavored noodles with the addition of tuna or a portion of frozen vegetables made an adequate supper. And I even had popcorn grown by my grandfather for a snack.
And I often found the most amazing thing when I returned home to my parsonage on Fridays. Almost every week someone had sneaked in and placed food in my refrigerator! I never did learn who was doing that. But the difference they made in reducing financial stress in my life was amazing. On top of that, I then experienced the joy of being able to contribute some resources to the church for its ministry.
BLESSED! What does that mean to you? The language of blessing can be tricky because it can lure us into the belief that people with material wealth are more favored by God than those without an abundance of financial resources. Even more disturbing, we could be led to believe that material wealth is solely for our enjoyment. This is not what Christ models for us, nor is it how Christ spoke of blessings.
Today’s scripture text from 2 Corinthians 9 invites us into relationship with God, each other, and with our community by putting our trust in God. We need not wait for the perfect year or the perfect dividend check. It moves us from a fear of scarcity to believing that God will provide for our daily bread. A reluctance to share with a generous heart suggests a refusal to trust that God is all sufficient and gracious. Last week we heard about knowing who we are (living into our legacy). This week’s focus is on knowing whose we are, those who belong to God and therefore can give freely from that relationship because we don’t rely on ourselves – we are not self-made.
So, when we hear that we are “blessed to be a blessing,” we acknowledge that we are blessed so that we may bless others, and so share God’s love and hope. You may have heard the saying, “hurting people hurt other people.” Blessed people bless other people, too! Out of God’s blessing, we are called to BE a blessing to others. The more you give, the more you receive. This is NOT about a transaction formula to “get rich”; it is about an overflowing and multiplying of blessings through faith in what God can and will do. When we give from a position of trust in God’s provision, our “harvest will increase” in ways that can be surprising and fulfilling beyond the financial. Generosity itself enriches, blesses, gives delight!
All that we have and all that we are is a gift from God. This text calls us to share. No matter what we sow, God is going to bless it and multiply it beyond our wildest imagination.
Think for a moment about the blessings that you have received from God in your life. These might be gifts of love, time, abilities, relationships, resilience, space, or material items, such as belongings or financial resources. How are you sowing these seeds of grace?
Are you sowing as if you will run out, or are you sowing as if God will continue to provide for every good work? Do you hold back because you don’t believe that God could use your gift, or do you trust that God can take your mites and make them mighty?
What is your God-sized vision for 2025? What if we were to sow abundantly, trusting that God will continue to provide the seeds of grace and bless and multiply the faithful planting of those seeds by the community of faith? What would change for us and for those we serve? God WILL continue to provide individuals with the resources they need and multiply the resources that are faithfully shared with others! Are you willing to invest in God’s future? God has invested in you! How will you invest in the church as the Body of Christ reaching out to those in need? Our God loves a cheerful giver.