God loves a hilarious giver
Rev. Nancy Gammill, Special to The Gazette
Friday, October 16, 2009
This is the time of year when most churches find themselves having to talk about money with their congregation to insure that the church will survive for another year. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if giving were such a part of our inherent nature as Christians that it wouldn’t even be an issue, and we could concentrate on the mission priorities instead?
So it seems to me that we need to think of our giving as a mission as well, because it is indeed one of the ways we grow in our spirituality. A number of churches in this area and across the country have been participating in the Dave Ramsey seminars, “Financial Peace University.” We have done it twice in our church and will probably offer it again, as Mr. Ramsey offers many wise ideas and helps for managing money that make a lot of sense, even while they are somewhat difficult to put into practice.
But one of his greatest assets is that he is a very Christian gentleman himself and he comes at his subject from that standpoint.
He asks us, “Does God need our money?” and “Does the church need our money?” We are more likely to answer “Yes” to the second question than to the first. After all, God is God, and as Ramsey says, he is the owner of every thing and we are merely his stewards, the caretakers of all that God owns, the managers of God’s assets.
So our calling is to be about the ministry that God asks us to participate in, and certainly one of those ministries is learning how to give so that we grow in our own spirituality and discipleship and become “cheerful givers” as the apostle Paul calls us to in his second letter to the Corinthians.
Did you know that in the Greek, the word cheerful is translated as “hilarious?” Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t see people laughing hilariously as they give of their monetary gifts on Sunday morning; in fact, during that time of the service, when the plate is passed, I see more solemn faces than at any other time of the morning. It’s almost as if we are sorry that we have to let go of that money and let God have it.
We surely know better how that money could be used than God does, don’t we? At least we think we do, right?
What if we intentionally tried to make that offering time a time of sharing, a time of laughing, a time of cheerfully being in conversation with one another as we pass the plate, rather than making it a quiet, morose time where usually we simply sit and listen to the piano or organ being played?
Suppose we really tried to be “hilarious givers” and remembered that it is the attitude in which we give, rather than the actual amount, that makes the difference for God. And don’t forget, our children and our grandchildren will be watching us, and watching to make sure we put something in that plate. Wouldn’t it be wonderful for them to see joy on our faces?!
We may give a tithe or tenth of our income to the church, or we may still be striving to meet that goal, but whatever we are able to give, we are called to do it with joy, because we are people, especially in this country, who are blessed with abundance, and it is ours only because it is God’s first, and it his pleasure to let us manage those gifts for him.
So when you are getting ready to decide where you want your money to go or how you want to see it used, just remember to think, “ How does the owner of this money want it to be used for his purposes?”
In Malachi, written after the people of Israel have been brought back to Jerusalem from exile, the prophet says to the people of Israel, and to us today, speaking for God, “Bring your whole tithe into the storehouse” (the church today?) so that there may be food in my house (for the hungry?) and see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”
God is the creator and owner of all that we have; we are simply his stewards. Thanks be to God.
• “Sunday Sermon” is a forum for Emporia area ministers to share their sermons, thoughts and observations. This week’s sermon is from the Rev. Nancy Gammill, pastor at Emporia’s First United Methodist Church.