God's Promised Paradox Series

Someone may be thinking "I don’t believe in signing pledge or commitment cards. I don’t think people ought to know what I’m doing, what I’m giving, or my finances. I don’t think that’s anybody’s business. I don’t know if anyone here has ever felt that way. But if someone has, I would encourage you to rethink your position. You see, it isn’t true that our financial situations are secret. We tell a lot of people a lot of things about ourselves.

When Twylah and I.. signed up to enter John Knox Village, we were given a packet of papers to fill out, on which we told most everything about ourselves. We told how much money we had, we told how many debts we had, we listed the stocks we owned. We told those people everything about ourselves financially. We had to, to show we could afford to move into John Knox. Most of us here today have purchased a home. We had to tell a lot of people all about our finances to get a mortgage We told the broker when we filled out the paper work. We told when he looked it all over. We told some secretary in the home office who entered it in the computer. We told the investigators who checked to be sure our financial statements were correct.

Now the commitment card for our Stewardship is different than those financial disclosure papers. But I hope each of us will see this commitment card as the time we can be bold with God as to who we are, responsive as to who God is, and be confident in what Jesus has vowed in our paradoxical promise today.

One final thought: Someone may be thinking, "I don’t want to make a commitment until I am sure the church is going to make it." What we are dealilng with here is a spiritual response to God. The question is, What would God want us to do for him with our posessions? In the book of Acts, the believers who made up that first church of hope didn’t know for sure it would succeed. Christians faced arrest and persecution. They weren’t sure how long the church would last, but they took all they had, sold it, and brought the money to the Apostles for the church’s work. (16) Don’t let hesitation limit the dream of what Hope can become for God, or to block the opportunity to allow God to bring to you the promise of the Lord’s Promised Paradox.

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Let’s Pray.....

FOOTNOTES

(1) Sutherland, Dave, and Nowery, Kirk, The 33 Laws of Stewardship. (Camarillo, CA. Spire Resources, 2003) 46. (2) Matt. 10:39.

(3) Matt. 5:3. (4) Lu 17:33.

5) Matt. 19:30. (7) Google.com - quickmath percentages. (8) Sutherland. Op Cit. 27-29. (9) 1 Cor 16:2-3 NKJV. (10) Timothy 6:7 NKJV.

(11) Southerland and Nowery. Op Cit. 11. (

12) Ps. 50:10, (13) Lu. 12:42-48.

(14) Lev 27:30. (15) Story heard in a talk by Frances Hunter, given at a retreat in Oklahoma. (16) Acts 4:32-35.