Lent II - On The Grace of Giving

Lent Series - Lent 2

Feb 25, 2018

Fr. Phil Eberhart

on the Grace of Giving

Last week we talked about the nature of the treasure;  ... for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also!"

We have to admit that treasure has a way of attracting us, of attracting our attention ...  our eyes naturally go toward things that glitter or are shiny and bright!  The "bling" of life - the movie stars and sports figures -- the politicians and famous ones -- those who are 'larger than life', who catch us up and away from the mundane, trivial details of our day-in-and-day-out.  We find ourselves longing for fame, for glamour, for wealth, 

if for no other reason than to simply be comfortable and have our needs met.

Jesus was clear about this principle:  "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."   

We explored a bit of the truth about the value of the Kingdom of God - "the treasure hidden in a field ... the pearl of great price..."  and looked at the revolutionary fact that WE may be like that treasure to Jesus - we ourselves, His People, that He came and sold all for - who are hidden in Him now - are His treasure and His inheritance!  What is the value that God places on you?  Consider that as you receive the sacramental bread and wine!

Let's look for a moment at what God gave!  You are of course familiar with John 3:16 ... say it with me...

For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever beliefs in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

For God so loved the world that he what?

HE GAVE

He gave his most precious treasure -- His one and only Son.  God gave first!  God gave graciously!  God gave hugely!  Sacrificially (really sacrifically!)  Why would he do that?

For God so... LOVED.

The GRACE OF GIVING is a thing with God because it's about love and it's about your heart!  

Giving as a principle is NEVER EVER about the amount!

It's about LOVE and it's about your HEART.

Those are the things that God is concerned with - period.

We seem to want to think that God somehow needs our help.  And we seem to have a propensity for confusing the Almighty God with the "almighty" dollar!  We have a severe case of "source disorientation."  The very fact that it's known as the "almighty dollar" is telling in itself.  Jesus warned us of the fact that wealth itself could be a stumbling block - the dollar likes to parade itself in masquerade, trying to look like God - trying to demand allegiance from us... trying to "lord is over us."  And this is constantly going on up here (head) and down here (heart).

Our "source disorientation" comes when we confuse the dollar for God - our ACTUAL SOURCE.

"I am the vine, you are the branches... apart from Me you can do NOTHING."

Like the word "all" which means __?___ (all!), the word NOTHING means ___?___ (oh!  NOTHING!)   Got it?

God Himself is our actual source!  in Acts, Peter tells us that "in Him we live and move and have our being."  Further Peter, later in his 2nd letter to the churches, wrote these words...

3 Everything we could ever need for life and complete devotion[f] to God has already been deposited in us by his divine power. For all this was lavished upon us through the rich experience of knowing him who has called us by name and invited us to come to him through a glorious manifestation of his goodness.[g] 4 As a result of this, he has given you[h]magnificent promises[i] that are beyond all price, so that through the power of these tremendous promises[j] you can experience partnership[k]with the divine nature, by which you have escaped[l] the corrupt desires that are of the world.  (2 Peter 1:3-4)

So let me talk a moment about the GRACE of GIVING.

We have a line in our morning prayer office, in the General Thanksgiving:  We thank you for "the means of grace and for the hope of glory".

Go with me here for a moment to consider that our giving is a 'means of grace.'  If giving isn't about the amount, then what IS it about?  I've already said it is about LOVE and it is about our HEART.  So the Grace of Giving is about the inner work of transformation that Paul talks about in Romans 12:2 -  he warns us that we should not "let the world press us into its mold."  But that we should think differently from the world - we should be "transformed" by a different mindset - a "renewed" mind, Paul call it.

Giving is also about our FOCUS.  What are we primarily looking at ... ourselves or others?  God in His Word consistently commends an outward focus to us who claim Him as LORD.  If He is on the throne of our lives, then we have no need of worry - the witness of the New Testament writers is unanimous from Jesus to all the letters --

Our focus should be His focus - Our mind should be HIS MIND...  and God so LOVED that HE GAVE!

God himself has set both the direction and the pace for us in Jn 3:16-17!

The direction?  THE WORLD - WHOSOEVER -- THE HARVEST FIELD!  The direction is always outward -- remember?  "Jerusalem -> All Judea -> Samaria -> and to the ends of the earth."

And the PACE!  HIS ONE AND ONLY SON!  God gave us his most precious "possession" for our salvation!

Remember... All means __?__ (ALL)!     --- "All to Jesus I surrender, ALL to Him I freely give."---

Friends, giving is a sacramental reality...  "An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace!"

Paul is clear on this when he instructs the Corinthian church about their giving:

2 Cor 8:1-2, 7, 10-12

 Beloved ones, we must tell you about the grace God poured out upon the churches of Macedonia. 2 For even during a season of severe difficulty and tremendous suffering, they became even more filled with joy. From the depths of their extreme poverty, super-abundant joy overflowed into an act of extravagant generosity.  

7 You do well and excel in every respect [of your life together] —in unstoppable faith, in powerful preaching, in revelation knowledge, in your passionate devotion, and in sharing the love we have shown to you. So make sure that you also excel in grace-filled generosity.[b] 

10 So here are my thoughts concerning this matter, and it’s in your best interests. Since you made such a good start last year, both in the grace of giving and in your longing to give, 11 you should finish what you started.[d] You were so eager in your intentions to give, so go do it. Finish this act of worship according to your ability to give. 12 For if the intention and desire are there, the size of the gift doesn’t matter. Your gift is fully acceptable to God according to what you have, not what you don’t have.  

The Grace of Giving is about what's inside your heart, not what's inside you wallet or purse!  

The Grace of Giving is about who's outside and around you, not your own self-centered needs or agendas.

The Grace of Giving is about God's likeness in your life and your partnership with Him in His work, day-by-day.

The Grace of Giving is about de-throning the "almighty" dollar and making you free from its masquerade.

The Grace of Giving is about getting your "source orientation" right!  Orienting to True North - Jesus Christ!

 

Next week we are going to talk about the JOY OF GIVING.  I hope that you are able to be with us, because David's prayer "restore unto me the joy of my salvation" is a key prayer during our Lenten journey together, and we will be looking again at Jesus, "who for the joy that was set before Him, endured..."  

Let us pray together:

Lord Jesus Christ,

You gave all that we might come back with You, to the Father.  Give us the grace that you have in your heart for the whole world.  Give us the love of God in our hearts for those around us.  Give us the power of Your Spirit to give all we have to YOU, LORD.  Grant us grace to see you at work in our lives and in our world.

Help us to take part in the Grace of Giving.  Orient us, Lord, toward you as our total supply.  Teach us to be free from the temptation to put You second in our lives, or even third or fourth!  Take first place Jesus!  Arise to the highest place and take the Gold Medal we place around your neck!  Hear us as we sing an anthem of our allegiance to you...

THEN SINGS MY SOUL, MY SAVIOR GOD TO THEE!  HOW GREAT THOU ART!  HOW GREAT THOU ART!

THEN SINGS MY SOUL, MY SAVIOR GOD TO THEE!  HOW GREAT THOU ART!  HOW GREAT THOU ART!

Amen.

Lenten Series - Claiming the Treasure - Sermon 1... "ON TREASURE"

Fr. Phil Eberhart

Lent 1, 2018

Claiming the Treasure

"ON THE TREASURE"

What is THE TREASURE?

Any of you here watch "National Treasure" - the movie with Nicholas Cage?  One of my favorites!  And the sequel, Book of Secrets,  is equally good!  

Someday there will be a third one, about what was on Page 47!  "Life-changing, Sir!"

This morning I want to talk about life-changing treasure - in the biblical sense.

Treasure has at least two meanings in scripture, of course one is physical, the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, usually in the OT it's measured by the ton!  The King's treasure or the Temple Treasure are good examples.  

Turn to 1 Chronicles 29.  This is home to some very familiar lines:

[1Ch 29:11 NASB] 11 "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.

and

[1Ch 29:14 NASB] 14 "But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You.

So what is the setting for these familiar lines?

King David is turning the reins of the Kingdom over to his son, Solomon, who has been charged by God with building the Temple.  In this chapter David calls on the people of Israel to offer from their riches the items, the raw materials, that are needed to make the Temple in the days ahead.  Contributions come from every corner of the Kingdom, from the King on down.  There is a spirit of excited generosity that overtakes the nation, and from God's abundance that He has provided, through their generosity, the treasures of the House of the Lord are counted.  As I said earlier, gold, silver, bronze and iron by the TON.

This morning we are talking about what the meaning of TREASURE is for us.   Most of us don't have the kind of "King's Ransom" treasure that David and Solomon had in the Old Testament.  We don't measure our coffers by the ton!  So let's look a little nearer for a few moments.

When I talk about stewardship of the Lord's wealth in our lives, I don't generally talk about amounts.  I joke about calling a yearly stewardship sermon, "The Sermon on the A-mount."  Truth is, that stewardship is a mind set - rather a heart set - where the Lordship of Jesus Christ is applied to our wallets and purses, our banking and savings, our income and expense totals.  According to Jesus, what we do with our finances is one of the leading indicators of our actual obedience and discipleship! Jesus talked more about money than most pastors do!  He was quite comfortable challenging people like the rich young ruler and praising people like the widow who gave all she had!  It has never been about a specific amount, it has always been about a specific mind or heart attitude.

We all know the verse, in fact it was part of our readings last weekend!!  

[Mat 6:19-21 NASB] 19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The concept of treasure here is something that we need to take to heart.  Jesus here is articulating a principle of our life and the struggle that we have, here on earth, with keeping our mind "stayed on heaven."  "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee!"  Isaiah said it clearly there.  The problem is up here (head) and down here (heart.)  And the key is asking the question, "WHAT DO I TREASURE?"

In our theme verse for the Building Campaign, Matthew 13:44, is actually about the relative value of the Kingdom of Heaven.  In Matt 13 Jesus is teaching his disciples about the Kingdom of God and the chapter contains many of Jesus' parables on the subject.  The Kingdom of Heaven is like...

>  a man who sowed good seed in his field

>  a mustard seed...

>  leaven 

>  a treasure hidden in a field

>  a pearl of great price

>  a net cast into the sea

All in Matthew 13!  When you look up the word KINGDOM you find that it dominates the teaching of the New Testament, of Jesus and of the Apostles from Matt to Rev!  163 times in the 27 books of the NT.  But lets drill down just a bit here in Matt 13.

The Kingdom of heaven is people - we are the seed that is sown in the world!  The Kingdom of heaven starts small but ends up huge - the largest of garden plants.

The Kingdom of heaven is like leaven in a lump of dough - a little goes a long way!  You can make big changes in your surroundings just by bringing the Kingdom.

The Kingdom of heaven is worth selling all you have - its value is greater than anything we can amass on earth.  All of our treasure cannot compare to its worth! And finally,

The Kingdom of heaven is made up of all kinds of fish!  Just as creation is diverse, because it reflects the genius of its Creator, so the Kingdom of God is made of "every kind of fish!"

So a Kingdom Mindset is one that understands these things:

I / You are a seed of the Kingdom of Heaven, cast into the soil of the world, to bring forth fruit.

We are a hidden influence in the culture, and a little goes a long way - our power is not in numbers.  Two or three is enough to effect change.

This has infinite value - greater than all our fields, land, possessions, buildings ... on and on we can go!

Every one we meet or see can come to the party!  Everyone needs to know.  Everyone needs to be invited!

Friends, its no mistake or just happenstance that when the Lord began this process He named it "a treasure hidden in a field."  It wasn't just a Lawrence thing or a Jody thing.

The "treasure hidden in the field" is us!  It's more than a building; it's greater than a single church; it's the ultimate possession of mankind!  Let me repeat that - The Kingdom of heaven is the ultimate possession of mankind.  The Ultimate Gift of God to us!  

Just think about this for a moment:   What if we are the treasure - the field is the world - and Jesus is the one who gives all to possess us!  That is exactly the way it happened!

It works both ways!  The Kingdom itself is the treasure, and we are called to value it above all else - to go and sell all we have and buy the field.  Likewise Jesus, knowing that the Kingdom of Heaven is US - YOU AND ME, comes down from heaven "selling all he has" to buy the field (the world in which we live and move and have our being - in which we are hidden like leaven, or like buried treasure).   So what do we do with all this?

SO WHAT?

I think two things come out of this:

1.  Understanding of what Jesus called "the mysteries of the Kingdom" (Mt 13:11)  Jesus prefaced his parables of the Kingdom with this statement.  This is the core of Jesus' message while he was here on the earth!  It is his message from beginning to end!  It was what dominated his thought and teaching throughout his ministry. And it behooves us to tap into this understanding, from the Holy Spirit, of the value of the Kingdom of Heaven and the Part that we play in it.

2.  Commitment to a Kingdom lifestyle rising out of a Kingdom mindset.  Though we are using this verse as our key in the purchase of this property, God's idea here is much bigger!  To quote Isaiah again, "his ways are higher than our ways - His thoughts than our thoughts."  God's vision for the Kingdom of God is bigger than a single building campaign.  Yes we are calling for you to give!  We'll talk more about that in the coming weeks and what that looks like, but I wanted this morning to set all of that against the backdrop of the REAL THING.  I want you to see that what we are engaged in here is a part of a MUCH BIGGER DEAL.  GOD'S DEAL!!  

We are being called to a lifestyle, not to a program or campaign.  What God is doing here is fundamentally changing us - transforming us as Paul talks about in Romans 12.

So I challenge you to engage with God on this - It's not about the Sermon on the Amount!  It about what's going on between your ears and 18 inches below!  God wants to renew our minds - to change the way we thing - the way we see all of life.  

Last Wed evening I was privileged to issue a call to those who received ashes - I want to re-issue that call this morning.  Isn't it amazing that this all coincides with our Lenten observances!  How like God!  So here it is...

The Invitation             

All Stand.  Celebrant         

Dear people of God:  The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting.  This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism.  It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church.  Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.  I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.  And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer. 

Please join me again in the collect for the day on page one of your bulletin...

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

OCT 1 - THE PRIORITY OF OBEDIENCE

FR. PHIL EBERHART

OCT 1, 2017

THE PRIORITY OF OBEDIENCE

Ezek 18:1-4,25-32

get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!

Ps 25:1-14(15-21)

4  Make me to know your ways, O LORD;*     teach me your paths. 5  Lead me in your truth and teach me,     for you are the God of my salvation;*     for you I wait all the day long.

Phil 2:1-13

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,... he humbled himself and became obedient

Mt 21:28-32

Which of the two did the will of his father?”... change your minds and believe him.

Over the past 10 DAYS OF AWE I've had the opportunity to share our three fold stool - our three steps of discipleship ... of action and movement in serving the Lord on a daily basis:

WILLINGNESS

AVAILABILITY

OBEDIENCE

Today I want to talk about the point of the three-fold way: The Priority of Obedience

What's it ALL about?

Jesus said it over and over and over and over ... you get the picture, right?

In preparing for the sermon I looked up the word OBEY and found that Jesus only used it about 25 times, depending on the translation you use. And then I went to Mt 7, the end of the chapter. Turn there with me if you have your bible or your phone.

[Mat 7:20-25 NLT]

20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. 21 "Not everyone who calls out to me, 'Lord! Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, 'Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.' 23 But I will reply, 'I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws.' 24 "Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock.

I stumbled across a Greek word ... I don't often preach on a single Greek word...

Obey only happened about 45 times in the Gospels, but this word happens 579 times in the NT, 290 times just in the Gospels!!

Its the word "DO"

ποιέω

G-4160 in Strong's Concordance

Its the word "DO"

nearly 600 times. Is there a message there?

I want you to DO what I tell you!

Jesus said it would be a primary sign of our love for Him!

[Jhn 14:15-16 NLT]

15 "If you love me, [you will] obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.

James, the little brother of Jesus, said that it is the key to our life

[Jas 1:22-25 NLT] 

22 But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

I want you to DO what I tell you!

Willingness and Availability only take us so far ... Obedience is the point.

Willingness and Availability are the preparation for Obedience!

You have to set your mind to live "according to the Spirit."

We all struggle at the point of Obedience!

We struggle with our own flesh, we struggle with our fears, we struggle with our desires to sin, to do our OWN THING.

Willingness and Availability are the discipline of "setting your mind"

Turn to Romans 8.

[Rom 8:2, 5-6 NLT]

2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. ... 5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

Willingness and Availability are about fixing you "decider" - Obedience is about your "doer."

Be a "doer" of the Word, James said. Not a hearer only!

He warns us about this as the quickest way to self-deception!

Any kind of deception is bad, but Self-Deception is king!

We think we're doing good, but something else is going on! Come back to Matt 7 again.

[Mat 7:20-21 NLT]

20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. 21 "Not everyone who calls out to me, 'Lord! Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.

I want to come back to our readings now for today: Look at the specific phrases, grab a pen and underline them...

Ezek 18:1-4,25-32

get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!

Ps 25:1-14(15-21)

4  Make me to know your ways, O LORD;*     teach me your paths. 5  Lead me in your truth and teach me,     for you are the God of my salvation;*     for you I wait all the day long.

Phil 2:1-13

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,... he humbled himself and became obedient

Mt 21:28-32

Which of the two did the will of his father?”... change your minds and believe him.

Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.

The season of our year that just finished yesterday with the Day of Atonement - Yom Kippur, is a season for the Jews, not unlike our Lent. A time of reflection, of self assessment, a time of repentance and amendment of life. A time to take stock of your self and to seek the face of God.

This morning I wanted to urge you to do just that - our themes across our readings this morning are very lenten! Change your minds... and believe! ACT! Don't just read the Word ... DO IT!

NIKE HAS IT RIGHT... "JUST DO IT!"

It was the instruction of Mary, Jesus' mother at the Wedding in Cana... to the servants...

"Just Do What He Says."

It's there ... right there ... that the simplicity and the beauty of the Gospel hit the road!

Willingness and Availability prepare us to listen to Jesus on a moment-by-moment basis, but if we are not willing to do what He tells us to do... We are No where!

If our willingness is separated from obedience, we are NO WHERE!

If our willingness joins itself to obedience, we move from NO WHERE to NOW HERE!

JESUS IS NOW HERE!

We become HIS hands and feet, his eyes, and ears and mouth.

This week I've discovered afresh how much that one letter shift means, and what His presence can accomplish. I have criss crossed the city, probably over a 1000 miles in these 10 Days, praying in what feels like every church, every ministry, every nook and cranny of the Kingdom! And the presence of God has been with us, tangibly as we have met with pastors and people, with those who minister on Colfax, from East to West and on I-25 from North to South. We have spent this past 10 Days making a giant sign of the Cross over Denver!

I want to close this morning with a commissioning. God is about to move us out! Not just of this worship space but out literally into the world. I want to pray some more! I want to commission you to be willing, to be available and to be obedient.

If you want that commissioning, for your home, for your family, for you workplace, for the places you go and the people you see, come up. We have seen the anointing of God do amazing things this week, and I want to continue that flow here today.

Come quickly as I pray:

Jesus, You are the Lord who did! You came and did the will of Him who sent you and you finished His work! Lord, fill us this morning with that same Spirit that you had, The same mind that you had, to humble ourselves and do God's will, in God's way, and in God's time. Let us be your servants, Lord, in every place You send us. Help us to be willing and available to You, but most of all, help us to be obedient - to do what we Hear you saying - as we go through each day. Let Your kingdom come and Your will be done, on earth as it is Heaven! and Use us, Lord, USE US! In Jesus Name. AMEN.

(Anointing time)