A sermon based upon Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21
In the name of Jesus; amen.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
This season of Lent will be following a theme of stewardship. Now stewardship is considered the practice of caring for the gifts that God has given us. And we will be using a tagline throughout these 40 days: “Walking with Jesus.”
It sounds like a nice fit, we often refer to Lent as a journey; a journey towards the cross and Easter. And who better to walk this journey with than Jesus while we self-examine, repent, pray and fast, give sacrificially, and do works of love, the disciplines of Lent.
And there is something about this season, when we focus on the sacrifice that Jesus made, that should call us to reflect on our stewardship. Often we associate this word, stewardship, with how much money we give to the church, but I want us to reconsider that notion.
Stewardship is not just about money and good stewardship is not just about what we put in the offering plate. Stewardship is walking with Jesus in every aspect of our lives.
Ash Wednesday focuses on two things: our mortality and our sinfulness. Today is meant to take us through a process of recognizing our need for God. We are mortal, we are going to die and we are sinful by nature. There is little we can do to avoid either thing. We can eat right, exercise, be in the best of health and still we die. We can try our best to be good, to not hurt others, to follow the law and yet we are bound to sin in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.
Sin and death are unavoidable, but God recreates our mortality into a promise of resurrection and God recreates our sinful selves into forgiven saints.
This is our treasure; this gift of forgiveness and resurrection are the vessel out of which all our blessings flow. This gift from God is our well-spring from which come all the good things we are given.
It is the gift of forgiveness and resurrection that we are called to be stewards of. We are meant to care for this gift and use it to the best of our abilities. We are meant to share it with others. We are meant to give some of it away, save some of it, and use the rest for daily living. This gift of forgiveness and resurrection is meant to be cared for wisely.
It is a gift that provides for our greatest needs and God gives it to us without a second’s hesitation. We are forgiven and we are resurrected; Jesus made this a certainty in his death on the cross.
It might sound like a strange thing. How do we become stewards of forgiveness and resurrection? How do we give it away, save it, and use it for daily life? I think we do it the same way in which we are stewards of any gift from God by trusting that we will not run out, by trusting that God will continue to provide for our needs. We do it by recognizing that forgiveness and resurrection are resources that cannot be kept in a box up on a shelf, but need to be taken out and used.
We become good stewards of this resource when we realize that God intended it for all of creation. That means that it was not just meant for you or me, but for everyone. God gave us all we need in abundance so that there would be enough for all.
You and I are sinners and we are going to die, but God gives us this grace-thing which provides for a different way of us living life. We become good stewards of all the other stuff… our time, our talents, and our treasures by first caring for the forgiveness we receive and the resurrection we are promised.
This is the first thing, this grace-thing that wipes away the ashes of sin and death and it has been given to us. It is a treasure for our hearts to store and give away.
I’m not saying it is an easy thing; in fact it isn’t easy, but this is why Jesus walks with us. It is why Jesus is a constant presence in our lives so that in the moments when we doubt or despair that there isn’t enough Jesus is there to say, “God’s grace is sufficient.”
We do not need to hoard or store up, but to live knowing that Jesus is walking with us and that every gift comes from God for a purpose.
We have been forgiven for a purpose and we have been promised a resurrection for a purpose. God has given us purposeful gifts, gifts that are necessary, and needful, gifts that are meant to be shared and used.
In these days ahead, as we walk with Jesus, may we continue to find new purpose for the gift of God’s grace.
Amen.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
This season of Lent will be following a theme of stewardship. Now stewardship is considered the practice of caring for the gifts that God has given us. And we will be using a tagline throughout these 40 days: “Walking with Jesus.”
It sounds like a nice fit, we often refer to Lent as a journey; a journey towards the cross and Easter. And who better to walk this journey with than Jesus while we self-examine, repent, pray and fast, give sacrificially, and do works of love, the disciplines of Lent.
And there is something about this season, when we focus on the sacrifice that Jesus made, that should call us to reflect on our stewardship. Often we associate this word, stewardship, with how much money we give to the church, but I want us to reconsider that notion.
Stewardship is not just about money and good stewardship is not just about what we put in the offering plate. Stewardship is walking with Jesus in every aspect of our lives.
Ash Wednesday focuses on two things: our mortality and our sinfulness. Today is meant to take us through a process of recognizing our need for God. We are mortal, we are going to die and we are sinful by nature. There is little we can do to avoid either thing. We can eat right, exercise, be in the best of health and still we die. We can try our best to be good, to not hurt others, to follow the law and yet we are bound to sin in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.
Sin and death are unavoidable, but God recreates our mortality into a promise of resurrection and God recreates our sinful selves into forgiven saints.
This is our treasure; this gift of forgiveness and resurrection are the vessel out of which all our blessings flow. This gift from God is our well-spring from which come all the good things we are given.
It is the gift of forgiveness and resurrection that we are called to be stewards of. We are meant to care for this gift and use it to the best of our abilities. We are meant to share it with others. We are meant to give some of it away, save some of it, and use the rest for daily living. This gift of forgiveness and resurrection is meant to be cared for wisely.
It is a gift that provides for our greatest needs and God gives it to us without a second’s hesitation. We are forgiven and we are resurrected; Jesus made this a certainty in his death on the cross.
It might sound like a strange thing. How do we become stewards of forgiveness and resurrection? How do we give it away, save it, and use it for daily life? I think we do it the same way in which we are stewards of any gift from God by trusting that we will not run out, by trusting that God will continue to provide for our needs. We do it by recognizing that forgiveness and resurrection are resources that cannot be kept in a box up on a shelf, but need to be taken out and used.
We become good stewards of this resource when we realize that God intended it for all of creation. That means that it was not just meant for you or me, but for everyone. God gave us all we need in abundance so that there would be enough for all.
You and I are sinners and we are going to die, but God gives us this grace-thing which provides for a different way of us living life. We become good stewards of all the other stuff… our time, our talents, and our treasures by first caring for the forgiveness we receive and the resurrection we are promised.
This is the first thing, this grace-thing that wipes away the ashes of sin and death and it has been given to us. It is a treasure for our hearts to store and give away.
I’m not saying it is an easy thing; in fact it isn’t easy, but this is why Jesus walks with us. It is why Jesus is a constant presence in our lives so that in the moments when we doubt or despair that there isn’t enough Jesus is there to say, “God’s grace is sufficient.”
We do not need to hoard or store up, but to live knowing that Jesus is walking with us and that every gift comes from God for a purpose.
We have been forgiven for a purpose and we have been promised a resurrection for a purpose. God has given us purposeful gifts, gifts that are necessary, and needful, gifts that are meant to be shared and used.
In these days ahead, as we walk with Jesus, may we continue to find new purpose for the gift of God’s grace.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment