Pastor Dan Mangler's Sunday Sermon

Saints and Stewardship

All Saints Sunday

November 5, 2006

Saints and Stewardship

Today we observe All Saints' Day, a day celebrated by the church since early in the fourth century to remember and honor Christian martyrs, men and women who gave their lives confessing their faith during the Roman persecutions. By the 8th century non-martyred Christians whose lives exemplified Christ-like living began to be included. Today the Feast of All Saints has even wider application. As one bulletin blurb noted: "On All Saints Sunday we call to mind all those dear to us who have died. Our hearts remember the faithful departed from our own lives, but we also commemorate the whole people of God, living and dead, who make up the mystical Body of Christ."

There is no single answer to the question "What is a saint?" Saints are well-known Christians, famous for their life of faith, people to whom we look for inspiration in our discipleship. Saints are the millions of Christians, unknown in church and world, who dwell under the canopy of God's mercy and serve Christ in faith and love. Saints are the baptized people of God who gather throughout the world on this day to offer thanksgiving for God's mercy to all generations.

For our church, today also marks the end of several weeks of prayerful consideration about the financial commitment each of us will make toward the work of Christ through the ministry of this congregation for 2007. We will together make our decisions formally at the end of worship this morning by completing an estimate of giving card and placing it on the church's altar as part of and as an act worship. As saints of God, what kind of commitments will those be?

Notice I didn't ask "How much will those commitments be?” Make no mistake, the stewardship/finance committee and congregation council will be keenly interested in how much it will be because they have been elected by you and entrusted by God to the very practical task of seeing that the church's bills and other financial responsibilities are met. But as an act of worship, far more important to God than the amount you give is by what motive you give it and the quality of the gift.

Not all gifts are given with the purest of motives. It seems that some vandals had cut down six royal palm trees along Miami's Flagler Street. Since the palms were very expensive Dade County authorities weren't sure if they could replace them very soon. But then someone donated six more and even had them planted. The old ones had been about fifteen feet tall and provided a nice foreground for a "Fly Delta" billboard. The new palms were thirty-five feet tall—completely hiding the sign. The new donor: Eastern Airlines.

I doubt that Dade County cared what motivated Eastern Airlines' generosity, but God cares dearly what motivates ours. Our offerings to God are first and foremost our expressions of love to him. Just as nothing can stop us from giving gifts to people we love, neither should anything stop us from giving gifts to the God whom we love. God does not want gifts given out of guilt. God does not want gifts given out of duty. God does not want gifts given expecting something in return. God wants our gifts given out of love. These are gifts worthy of God's saints.

Nor is God as concerned about the amount of our gift as he is with the quality of the gift. Is the quality of our gifts worthy of saints of God?

A newspaper reported on the doings at the Butterball Turkey Talk Line. One adviser there says her favorite calls are those from people who leave their turkey out on the kitchen counter all night after the feast and want to know if it's safe to eat the next day. When told it's risky, they often respond, "If we do eat it, how sick will we get?" You can’t be too careful about the quality of the turkey you eat.

But that is nothing compared to the caller who had a turkey that had been in her freezer for twenty-three years, and she wanted to know if it was still safe. The folks at Butterball advised her that if the freezer had been kept at zero degrees and never defrosted, the turkey was safe, but its quality would not be good. "That's what we thought", said the lady caller, "We'll give it to the church."

The quality of such a gift is not worthy of a saint. But is that much different from the way many today decide on their financial gift to God? "Let me take care of all of my own needs, wants, and wishes and whatever is left over, like that twenty-three year old turkey, that's what I'll give to God." Such gifts are not worthy coming from God's saints.

I've heard it said that there are three kinds of givers—the flint, the sponge, and the honeycomb. To get anything out of a flint you must hammer it. And then you get only chips and sparks. To get water out of a sponge you must squeeze it, and the more you use pressure, the more you will get. But the honeycomb just overflows with its own sweetness. The honeycomb is most like the giving of a saint.

Honey is mentioned 58 times in the Bible and almost always in a positive way. It was a staple in the diet of O.T. Israel. And no wonder. Not only was it pleasing to the taste we know today that honey is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including water.

Raw honey simply flows from the honeycomb. If you want more honey from the comb you can warm it. Be careful, however, not to get it too hot because then the comb wax will melt and adulterate the honey.

The think that the Christian saint is like that honeycomb. We are warmed by God’s love and love for God and neighbor flows freely from us. We are warmed by God’s forgiveness and forgiveness toward those who have wronged us flows freely from us. We are warmed by God’s generosity and generosity for Christ’s Church and the world flows freely from us. We are warmed by God’s graciousness and worship for God flows freely from us.

Our financial offerings are as much an act of worship as are prayer, praise, and thanksgiving because our offerings, too, are based on and expressions of our love for God. May God guide you, his saints in this place, in the commitments you will make this morning for the ministry of his church. Amen.

May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.