Come On In, The Water’s Fine
Revelation 22:1-6
October 14, 2007
This morning, we are beginning a journey. It is an annual journey; this year it will culminate on November 18 with our Consecration/Thanksgiving Sunday. I am obviously talking about the annual stewardship emphasis. Notice that I didn’t say “finance campaign” because stewardship is about so much more than just money. To be sure, we will talk about money a little bit, but there will be much more discussion on other aspects of stewardship, of how we can live our whole lives as stewards of God’s gifts.
I know that everyone gets nervous this time of year. I think that there are many reasons for that, perhaps as many reasons as there are people here today. But let me offer up a few of the reasons that we get filled with anxiety during the fall.
Back about fifteen years ago when I served up in Crown Point, the church decided to hold its annual stewardship emphasis in the spring. We began our fiscal year on July 1. The thought was that if we got away from the expensive time of year leading up to Christmas, people would feel better. I don’t know if that church is still doing that or not. If they are, I don’t know if they are any more successful than we were back in the early nineties. All I know is that the season of the year for the stewardship emphasis just didn’t seem to make a difference in people’s attitudes. Folks still got antsy. Here are some of the reasons, from my perspective.
• Some of us get angry with the preacher for talking about money from the pulpit. After all, this should be a personal thing, they say, between the individual and God. And what right does the preacher have telling people how much they should give.
• Some of us are embarrassed because we wish we were contributing more to the church, but we’re not.
• Some of us are giving all that we can and don’t know how we are going to give more.
• Some of us have been let down by the church and don’t want to support it.
• Some of us don’t like the some of the ways the church spends money, and we’re not going to give our money just to be wasted.
• Some people just put up with this time of year because they know it is something we have to do, but there is little joy in it.
• Some more of us are uncomfortable because we don’t really understand the larger meaning of living a life as a steward of God’s grace. We think that stewardship is all about money.
One of the things that I hope you have learned from me over the past few years is that stewardship is so much more than just money. It is an attitude of dependence upon God, a recognition of our place in the universe, an understanding that we have been given the task of caring for the world God has given us, a belief that we have the responsibility to nurture all of God’s gifts – no matter how large or how small.
Stewardship is so much more than money. It concerns all of life. Surely our gifts are part of that, but so are our prayers, our presence, our service, and our commitment.
I don’t always do well in those areas. I want to do better and I believe that your presence here means that you want to do better as well, not as a way to work your way into heaven, but as a way to respond to God because of God’s graciousness to you.
My maternal grandparents lived on a farm just a couple of miles north of the Indiana/Michigan state line. They moved off the farm when I was about five or six years old, but I still remember the place. Most of all, I remember that they didn’t have running water. The trip back to the outhouse got pretty cold in the winter, and pretty hot in the summer.
Another thing I remember was the pump. Right inside the back door was a pump for the well. Every time we needed water for something, we’d have to pump it. There was a tin cup hanging there. When we were thirsty, we could fill that cup up with cold, clear water. I still remember how wonderful that water was.
Sometimes though, you’d pump and pump and pump, and nothing would happen. Then you would know that you had to prime the pump. You’d have to pour a little water in the pump itself to get it going.
That’s what I want to do this morning – prime the pump. I want to get us started thinking about the life of stewardship. Let me prime the pump by suggesting four considerations to keep in mind as we move through the next few weeks.
First of all, I hope we will be able to take an honest look at who we are in our relationship with Christ. As I look at you, I know that we have many things in common. We are a lot alike in many ways. People with common goals, common histories, common ethnic and cultural and economic backgrounds, and common hopes and dreams are often drawn together. We are an awfully lot alike here in this church. In a lot of ways, that makes us stronger.
With that being said, I also know that we are different from each other in many ways. Some of us are lonely, dispirited, and spiritually empty. Some of us are thirsty – and we know it. Some are looking for a long, deep drink of the living water which will satisfy our needs, quiet our souls, and restore us to relationship with Christ.
Some of us are just the opposite. Our prayers and devotional lives are strong. We walk in the Spirit and feel Christ’s power each and every day. We have been to the well and have had our thirst quenched by the ever-flowing stream. Those of us who feel this way are thinking that it can’t get any better than this.
And then there is a third group of people here. These are folks who are moving at such speed that they don’t even know they’re thirsty. I know that there are some of you out there this morning. You can’t imagine how you would find the time to stop for a drink. Perhaps you have read the stories about the saints of God who drink deep. Maybe you feel guilty when you think of them because there is no way on God’s green earth to add one more thing to your day…and adding a devotional life is just one more thing to do. You are so dry that you have no idea how desperate you are for a drink.
With all of those differences, we are still all alike in one way. No matter what the shape of our spirits; no matter what the condition of our souls, we all actually do want more from life than we’ve been getting.
Regardless of how we feel right now, I think that all of us want life to be happier, more fulfilled, more satisfying, and more content. You may be one of those who say that you’re fine, that you’re happy with your life, that there is nothing more you want. But everybody – everybody – wants more. It’s just human nature. Even one of the richest men the world has ever seen wanted more.
John D. Rockefeller owned Standard Oil back in the 1920’s. Today Standard Oil has been broken down into numerous companies, among them: ExxonMobil, Conoco, Chevron, Amoco, British Petroleum, Atlantic Richfield, and Marathon. In 1928, Rockefeller’s fortune was estimated to be $995 million. In today’s dollars, that would be about $6.5 billion.
Someone once asked Rockefeller how much money was enough. He said, “Just a little bit more.” You see, regardless of what we have, we all want a little bit more. Toni and I found a condo down in Fort Myers that we really would like to purchase for our retirement home…if only we had a little bit more.
Still, we all know that money doesn’t make one truly happy. Money won’t ever completely satisfy the longing in our souls. Money won’t ever fill that empty spot in our hearts which seeks true meaning. God is the one who offers us true riches in life, most of all the gifts of love and caring.
So we begin by taking an honest look at ourselves and realize that material things, the gaining of wealth, and the accumulation of “stuff” doesn’t completely satisfy the needs of our souls. A second consideration is that God truly loves us and wants the best for us. God desires to give us true riches, riches that will last.
God doesn’t necessarily want us to “have” more, but God does want us to “be” more – to be the kind of person who knows God to the fullest, trusts God with everything, and sees God in all things. That is the definition of a rich life.
A third consideration to keep in mind as we begin this stewardship emphasis is that if we are faithful and diligent, we will discover our own special and unique niche. We will learn what our specific place in the life of the church and in the Kingdom is meant to be.
Much too often, ministry is left up to the professionals – to the clergy or to the paid staff. But we know, if we have read Paul’s writings, especially the 12th chapter of I Corinthians, that God has given each of us a gift to be used to help in the building of the kingdom. Everyone in the Body of Christ is called to be a minister. You don’t have to have a title on a business card to do that. Ministry is for all of us.
I Corinthians 12:4-11
God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful: wise counsel, clear understanding, simple trust, healing the sick, miraculous acts, proclamation, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues.
All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.
Our ministry is apparent by the way we live our lives, by the ways in which we interact with other people, and by the ways we do the little things that illustrate our faith. Our ministry is visible because of our relationship with Christ; a relationship that guides everything we think, do, and say.
The fourth point to consider this morning is this. Now is the time for all of us to make a commitment or a recommitment. God has already made a commitment to us. It is now our turn. Over the next few weeks, we will be talking and thinking a lot about what it means to be a truly committed Christian. I believe that such a commitment will result in transformed lives and living. We will begin living for God and not simply for ourselves.
I hope that I have helped prime the pump for the next few weeks. I hope that we will all be able to enjoy the refreshing living water of the Spirit that flows. We will indeed do that as we strengthen our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service, in the name of and for the sake of Jesus. Amen.
In the 22nd chapter of the Book of Revelation, the prophet has a vision of a flowing river of grace. It begins at the very throne of God and flows through the streets of the New Jerusalem bringing life-giving water to the desert.
I believe in that picture of our future home, but I also believe that it can become a present reality. God desires nothing more than to cleanse us, refresh us, and quench our thirst. That will happen as we allow the river to flood our souls. That will happen as we come before God and ask to be transformed into the image of Christ. We can indeed become more Christ-like. We’re going to have a great time in the next few weeks learning how. Come on in. Stand under the flowing fountain of God’s grace. The water’s fine.
