October 18, 2020
Hope Lutheran Church
Rev. Mary Erickson
Sermon Series: “Faithful, Hopeful, Loving”
Psalm 145:1-9; Philippians 1:3-11
Faithful, Hopeful, Loving
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the past several weeks we’ve been exploring our fall stewardship theme, “Faithful, Hopeful, Loving.” Grounded in the steadfast love of God, our faith guides us each and every day. And we can face the future in hope, knowing that God is with us through all things. God’s future is filled with abundant life and mercy, and God will overcome all things.
Each week we’ve reflected on a passage from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. I chose this letter for a couple of reasons. First of all, Paul had such a warm relationship with the Philippians! You can feel the bond of affection they had for one another. And secondly, Paul writes to them in such a confident tone. Even though he himself is in prison, he knows that all is well in the hands of his crucified and risen Lord. He tells the Philippians, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Today we hear the beginning portion of his letter. In terms of the structure for an ancient letter, this is the section known as the Thanksgiving. It was common practice the letter writer to share a word of gratitude at the very beginning of the correspondence. And Paul is effusive in his praise to the Philippians!
“I thank God every time I remember you!” he writes. He’s so grateful for the friendship they share and their partnership in mission. He ends this Thanksgiving section with a prayer:
“This is my prayer,” he writes, “that your love may overflow more and more.” It’s a prayer of abundance. He prays that their love may teem forth in copious amounts. And it will bear two fruits:
• The first fruit is discernment. This abundant love will direct their wisdom and understanding. What does that mean? He prays that love, the love of Christ, shall be their North Star. Through all the winding pathways of life, this overwhelming divine love inform and direct their decision making. They will look to Christ’s love for their bearings.
• And secondly, their lives shall bear an abundant harvest of goodness. Jesus depicted himself as the vine. We are the branches, he said. When we’re tapped into the abundant love of Christ, our lives will bear the fruits of his goodness.
Paul’s prayer for the Philippians resonates with us today. We pray that our lives may also be shaped by this divine abundance. Paul depicts an image where our very lives become an offering. Life isn’t segmented into different and unrelated sections. We don’t pigeonhole our lives. This abundant love from God pours down over ALL of who we are – over all of the multiple hats we each wear, our varied responsibilities, all of our relationships, our interests and cares. This love from above transforms our entire life into an offering. Our life is an offering given in faith, hope and love.
This morning, I’d like to spend a little time focusing on one of these portions of our being, our financial selves. I’ve found that my check register tells me a lot about who I am. When I go to balance my bank account, I review all of the payments I’ve made in the previous month. Or when I get ready for tax time, that scope takes in an entire year. A year’s reflection on “where did my money go?”
How I spend my money tells me a lot about who I am, and I always find it very enlightening to look at the big picture. You know, there have been purchases I’ve made that I’ve ended up regretting. If I could have done it over again, I would have avoided that impulsive splurge. But I’ve never once regretted a gift I’ve made to help others. I’ve never lamented the money I’ve given to my church or to a food pantry or a Bible camp. When I’m viewing my check register and my eye rolls over those expenditures, what I feel inside is joy. I feel joy in that gift.
And that spark of joy tells me something very important. I need to give! A lot of times we look at the giving picture from the opposite angle. The organizations we give to need our gifts. And they do. Our congregation definitely needs our gifts. It’s what fuels our mission here. Without the gifts of our members, we couldn’t proclaim Christ’s love or act in service.
But even more importantly, I need to give! Giving opens me up. It opens me to God and to my neighbor. Giving is naturally outward in motion. It’s tied to that overflowing love in Paul’s prayer. Giving ties me into abundance. Even when I have very little, when I share what I have, I live out of abundance.
Something very different happens when we’re limited in giving. When we don’t give, when we’re not generous, something happens to our heart. It closes in. It tightens along with our fist.
Long ago St. Augustine came up with a term for this: in Latin, "Incurvatus in se." It means a life curved in on itself. Our vision, our decision, our action, all curl inwards, like a roly poly bug. It hardens our heart to outward dimensions. Curled in on ourselves, our world shrinks.
But we weren’t made to live inwards. We were created in love and we’ve been sustained by love. And love is always outwards in its direction! And that’s why we need to give. Giving moves our center. It stretches us out, towards God and towards our neighbor. And in the end, we don’t shrink, we expand!
One of the most humbling moments for me occurred when I was in Malawi about 15 years ago. I was part of a congregational delegation to visit our mission partners in the Blantyre area. We visited very rural villages. In joy, the people of the village would meet our vehicle along they way. Most of them were barefoot. Their clothing was frayed and, in some cases, held together with safety pins.
They led us in joyful procession the quarter mile to their village. They sang joyous songs in Chichewa. We didn’t understand a word, but their song lifted our hearts.
After we worshiped with them, there would always be a meal for us. And it was always chicken. And it wasn’t chicken like you picture. It wasn’t a Golden Plump. It wasn’t plump by any means. This was the village chicken they served us. They butchered the village chicken for us. This poor chicken lived on dusty bugs she was able to hunt and the occasional bit of greens she reaped. There was very little meat on her bones. More gristle than meat.
This chicken they served us lived in the village for the eggs she bore. And when they butchered her, that was the end of the egg supply from that hen.
But giving us the village chicken to eat was their joy. They gave her to us so that we could be nourished in body, as well as in soul through worship. Giving her to us increased their joy.
This is our need to give! Giving opens the heart. In giving away, our joy is increased. We increase in faith, we trust in God’s ability to meet all our needs. Giving expands the concern we feel for our neighbor’s needs. It reprioritizes our concerns.
Paul’s prayer for the Philippians is our prayer. May our love overflow more and more! And we are confident in this: the one who began a good work among us will bring it to completion! Amen.
