About a year ago, toward the end of July, I placed one of these up here on the pulpit as the visible sermon for the day. Remember? Do you recall what we called that Sunday? Right: we called it "catch-up Sunday" …catch-up Sunday … and the idea was that if we were behind in our giving, if we as a church had not measured up to what we had committed ourselves to do financially, then it was time to catch up.
And I said, in using one of these bottles, that my father used to shake the old stubborn ketchup bottle and recite a little piece of doggerel to describe what happens to you when you try to get the red stuff out. He would say, "Shake and shake the ketchup bottle; none’ll come and then a lot’ll.”
And my closing comment a year ago was that that’s what we were doing on our catch-up Sunday: shaking the old vessel known as Takoma Park Baptist Church in hopes that a lot’ll come forth.
Well, it did. Or rather you did. Or rather God did. On that Sunday in July last year we received a very substantial offering, and it seemed as though things began to pick up and to continue, and a year later, things are so different that the metaphor of the ketchup bottle is no longer appropriate. I am just going to put it away. No more ketchup.
Instead I have another visible sermon. And that is this bowl of blackberries. Plump, ripe, juicy, abundant blackberries. These blackberries came out of my backyard. They were grown on vines which were started in a small way by my wife just two or three years ago, and they didn’t produce much at first. It hardly seemed worth the effort.
But last summer, just about ketchup bottle time, we began to harvest a pretty good crop of blackberries. Not overwhelming, but not a bad year either.
But, folks, this summer has surpassed anything you can imagine. The vines put out shoots in every direction. I keep putting up more fencing and my wife keeps trying to train the vines where we want them to go, but they are thriving beyond our ability to contain them.
And more important, the berries. Just look at them. This is just one day’s harvest. There are so many that we have to harvest every day or we will be overwhelmed. There are so many that the backyard resembles the aviary at the zoo; the birds love these goodies. There are so many that we are eating them, cooking them, baking them, freezing them, giving them away, threatening to thrown them away. There are so many blackberries that it’s hard to keep up with them at all. In fact, next week, if the communion juice tastes a little different …
But the blackberries are my visible sermon this year, because they speak to me of the abundance of our God. They remind me how good our God has been to us. When He shook us last year, the results were spectacular. The berries are like our church, in that we have been blessed with what we need, and now we are going to move into a time in which we will have to think creatively about what to do with our resources. Like these blackberries, signs of God’s willingness to bless something that has been carefully and lovingly tended, our church faces a new era and new challenges, new struggles.
It’s a happy problem, but it is a problem, it is a struggle. And the prophet Hosea, who has spoken so wonderfully to us several times this summer, who has addressed the human struggle at several key points, has a word for us about this kind of struggle too.
For thirteen chapters the prophet Hosea has told the nation Israel about what is going to happen to them if they do not repent. He has forecast failure, he has declared doom, he has talked of terrible things. But now in the 14th chapter, as he comes to the end of his word, he speaks of God’s ultimate intention. He speaks of what it is that our God really wants to do for his people. And thus he speaks of healing and of flourishing. What God always wants to do for us is to heal us or our hurts and to give us abundance. Listen:
Hosea 14:4-8
Just listen to the images of abundance; just listen to the generosity of our God. Israel shall blossom as the lily … he shall strike root as the poplar … his shoots shall spread out … he shall be like a beautiful olive, he shall flourish as a garden ... what a glorious garden our God is planting. What a God who is always interested in making the desert blossom like a rose and who showers abundance on his children. What a God who can take scrawny little vines in a backyard in Silver Spring and produce all this.
But then that’s what God wants to do. If we do not share in some ways in God’s bounty, it is because we have not been where he can heal us. If we do not find ourselves blessed in some way or another, it is because we have not been willing to let him heal our wounds and our hurts.
I said on Anniversary Sunday that no longer would I refer to or speak about the time of troubles that you went through five or six years ago. And I intend to keep that promise. But maybe I can just refer in passing to those days and to what our God has done for us since then, because those were desert days. Those were lean days. And the records will show that in 1983 and 1984 and 1985 we did not do too well in bringing in Kingdom resources. Those were desert days.
But those same records will show that as we labored to give ourselves afresh to the purposes of our God, as we worked at trusting one another and trusting God, slowly but surely He began to bless us. And just as surely the desert began to change into a garden. And in the last few months you have done … no, God has done … an incredible thing. God has led us as his people to outgive any other previous year, to give at a rate that exceeds last year by more than 15 %, that exceeds the previous year by about 23%, and that beats 1986 by an incredible 35%. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Everything points to our giving more money in 1989 to the Lord’s causes through this church than in any … repeat, any … previous year.
The key, if I understand Hosea, is that we are accepting God’s healing, we are letting God do for us what He wants to do. "I will heal their faithlessness; I will love them freely …I will be as the dew to Israel … he shall blossom, his shoots shall spread out … they shall flourish as a garden."
The key, I say, is accepting what God wants to do for us. The key is trusting God and trusting one another. Today I want to pay tribute to those of you whose faithfulness kept us going through those years. I want to thank those who, though they may have had reason to wonder if this church would make it, kept on keeping on, kept on giving, kept on tithing, kept on making sacrifices. And now those who trusted our God are seeing what he will do.
In another Old Testament book there is the story of Jeremiah and his little piece of land at Anathoth. The times were hard, the days were troublesome. Most people thought there was no future, but the prophet Jeremiah, disregarding every banker, disdaining all the advice of the real estate brokers, went out and invested in a piece of land in the village of Anathoth. They said, ’Jeremiah, you’ve got to be crazy. The country is going to collapse. You’ll never be able to use your land. Why invest now?’ But Jeremiah was sending a message: Trust God, invest in God’s future, have faith, and you will not be disappointed.
I am grateful to the Jeremiahs of this church who, when the times were tough, said, "Let’s invest in the future of this church. Let’s trust that God is not is not finished with Takoma Park." And you know what? That trust is bringing more trust. Just this week we received word that one of our members, who prefers to remain anonymous, will be investing in a major way to provide this sanctuary with a complete set of cushions for our pews. Do you understand what that means?
Who was that who said it means we can get a rest during these long sermons? Well, yes, but there is more.
I’ll tell you how I interpret that gift. It means cushions for the pews and comfort for the worshipers, but it means a whole lot more than that too: it means that one of God’s own is willing to put down a substantial investment in the future of this church. It means that a healing God wants to bless us with his abundance, and that we are learning to receive it.
I have said that the issue, the struggle is one of trust. I mean that. I think that is true. Some of us do not trust God to provide; we think we have to be very, very careful about what we give away. Maybe there won’t be anything left for ourselves. And so, although, as you know, I hope, I have no knowledge, repeat, no knowledge of what individuals give through the church, I do have some idea of the statistics. I can figure out what an average gift is. And when I see that the average person is giving about $10 or 12 a week … that’s the average active person, and if we add in all the folks whose names are on the rolls, but that’s it, then the average drops down to less than $3.00 a week … well, I see that we have a long way to go before we are really trusting our God.
Giving our God less than the price of a movie ticket is not trusting Him. Giving God the price of a Big Mac and small fries is just that, small potatoes. We are still waiting for all that God wants to do for us and through us, aren’t we? But we still celebrate his promise today: "I will heal their faithlessness; I will love them freely, they shall blossom, they shall take root, their shoots shall spread out ... they shall flourish as a garden".
II
So why would I say anything about struggling? The good times are rolling in now, so why speak of a struggle? Why worry about what can happen; why not just sit back and relax and enjoy? Why even preach about this?
Because Hosea is a perceptive prophet, and Hosea knows that there is a danger in all of this. The danger is that we will drop back into idolatry. The issue is that we will forget what the desert was like and will just enjoy the garden without remembering who brought us out of the desert. The issue is that we will just enjoy good health and will not recall how a gracious, healing God had to work us over in order to get us to this place.
One last word from our God before Hosea closes his prophetic book, "0 Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress, from me comes your fruit."
One last warning about idolatry, and one last admonition to remember that all that we have comes from God and not from some shabby idol pretending to be the living God.
The historians tell us that the eighth century before Christ in Israel was a time of unprecedented prosperity. At least for the privileged folks, times were very good. Both Israel and Judah collected tributes and tolls from other nations; the farmers were able to sell their crops for a good price, and businessmen were prospering. The good times were really rolling in.
And that is exactly how they got caught up in idolatry. Good times bring with them the temptation to turn to an idol.
You see, the very essence of idolatry is self-worship. It’s been called "me-ism" in our time. "Me-ism". The very core of idolatry, the very core of "me-ism", is trusting ourselves rather than our God. And that permeates all of Hosea’s ministry and life and prophecy. You remember how we looked at his relationship with a faithless wife, Gomer; Gomer’s me-ism idolatry said, I’ll have my sexual pleasure whenever and wherever I want. We looked at the people’s temptation to worship the pagan god, Baal; the people’s me-ism said, If Baal-worship brings in the crops, then Baal-worship we will have.
When the good times roll, me-ism says, We’re doing so well that we will trust ourselves, we will decide what we want to do with our stuff, we will keep more for ourselves, and take care of me. We will look out for Number One.
And that’s the struggle. We struggle with the idolatry of me-ism when the good times roll in. Some of us will be tempted to say, Well, the church is doing okay. It doesn’t need the money. The bills are paid, the reserves are there, there’s no crisis. More for me. But, friends, that would be idolatry. That would be me-ism and God says, No. "It is I who look after you, I am like an evergreen cypress … from me comes your fruit."
Our God wants us to know that every dime we have came from Him, and for us to sit on it and hoard it would be idolatry. We’d better struggle with that when the good times are rolling.
You see, our church will have to struggle with the temptation to an idolatry of me-ism when the good times roll. We could so easily fall into the pattern of me-ism.
Suppose we took the good times that our God has given us and we indulged in an orgy of self-congratulation instead of giving thanks to God. That would be idolatry.
Suppose we decided to use our resources just for what we want instead of for the purposes God has laid out for the Kingdom; suppose we decided to build here a fortress against the world instead of an open, caring, ministering community. That would be me-ism idolatry.
Suppose we decided to take our resources and use them to make more money and watch it pile up; suppose we took our buildings and used them to earn for us but did nothing to use them for the needs of God’s children. That would be me-ism of the worst sort; that would be idolatry.
But suppose, just suppose, out of our abundance, out of what our God is leading us to give and to do … just suppose we were to give more and more of it away. Suppose we were to do something solid for missions. I believe that would be a flourishing garden which our Lord could bless. Do you realize that today we are giving only about 6% of our church’s income to missions, whereas some eight or nine years ago we were giving more like 9 or 10%? We need to work back toward the garden. Consider this report: one church in our city gives more to missions by far than any other – something like 38% of its income goes to missions. And they several years ago made a crucial decision: that any time there is extra money, any time there is a surplus, that every dollar they spend on themselves will be matched by a dollar given to missions. They have learned that God wants to bless the garden.
Suppose that we were to make our properties work for outreach; suppose we were to construct a parking lot, not just to make us more comfortable but to make this church building more accessible to the elderly, more attractive to families with small children, more usable when there are weddings and funerals and other important occasions. Wouldn’t that be Jeremiah buying the field in Anathoth? Wouldn’t that be helping the garden to flourish?
Or the five houses we own out here: I am convinced that we are skating close to me-ism and idolatry if we just milk the houses we own for rent money and do not use them for Kingdom purposes. There are proposals floating around to use at least some of the houses for the needs of God’s people, and however it all works out, I believe we must do this. We must do this, or else we will be guilty of me-ism. Those properties are to be a part of the garden, not of the desert.
I’m not prepared to be more specific; no decisions have been made by the responsible committees within our church. But I just know that the time has come for us to get beyond the Salvation Army mentality. You know what I’m talking about? Oh, that old piece of furniture isn’t much good anymore, let’s give it to the Salvation Army or maybe to the church. It’s good enough for the church.
The time has come for excellence in our facilities and in our ministries. I sense that you demand excellence in our worship services; I experience your demand for excellent performance from your church staff. So let’s work for excellence in our buildings, our programs, our outreach, an excellent program for a God whose name is excellent in all the earth.
"0 Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress, from me comes your fruit."
Today we celebrate God’s goodness. We celebrate what he has done in healing us and making life more abundant for us as a church. The good times are rolling.
And we celebrate the possibilities he is laying before us: possibilities of mission and ministry and service and growth and outreach. We celebrate these, even as we struggle with the temptation to do nothing more than take care of Number One.
But today, let us rejoice, and as the scripture says, 0 taste (eat blackberry) taste and see that the Lord is good. (Carry berries to back door ... give out)
