ARE YOU WILLING TO SHARE?
Psalm 37: 1-7a & 21
JOHN 6: 1-14
November 26, 2023
David’s words in today’s Psalm make me think of life’s timeline … my journey, our journey from youth to an older age. I have been thinking of how blessed I am and of all that has been shared with me during my 31 years … Perhaps it was being around Dax lately as he does all he can to get everyone to share in his 4-year-old adventures of life or it might have been watching my 90-year-old mother-in-law walk from PATCO’s 8th and Market station to 3rd and Chestnut and then climb the huge staircase at the Revolutionary War Museum while sharing her time, her wisdom, and life in general with her great grandsons, her granddaughter and her husband and us. Or maybe it was hearing the beautiful love story of Sandy and Dick Wagner retold to me with smiles and laughter this week. David declared that the “righteous give generously.”
And, I certainly have been the fortunate recipient of so much giving throughout this journey either directly or indirectly by those who have kept the lights on, and doors open for the churches I have attended through the years, paid for my teachers in the schools that taught me, and supported my family through the salaries I have been paid and the health insurance that has covered Megan and me as well as Donna and Colleen.
And as we approach Christmas I am sure we are all thankful that God generously gave us the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, who came not only to teach us about living our live with a spirit of generosity and giving but who gave His life on the cross for the forgiveness of sins but we all know that death did not hold Him back because that baby born in the manger … He rose from the tomb and HE IS RISEN!! <<He is Risen Indeed!>>
Lately my life has been enhanced because people have shared with me. Shared life stories … shared concern and love … shared get well cards, texts, and messages. Surprised me with shared books and other shared gifts that made me feel better. “Commit your way to the Lord,” David wrote in today’s Psalm. “Trust Him! He will act and make your righteousness shine like the dawn!” And, what do the righteous do that makes their lives shine according to the Psalm? The “righteous give generously!”
Together, we have now moved past a special holiday whose origination is often thought to be found in the generosity and sharing of the native people of America who fed the Pilgrims with food they had harvested and hunted for themselves. It was THEIR food but they SHARED it with strangers from another land who didn’t look nor sound anything like they did. Strange clothing with buckles on their hats … but Massasoit, the chief of the Wampanoags, saw William Bradford and his company … strangers in the land and invited them in. The Pilgrims were not billed for this meal … they were just fed and cared for… a gift from their new neighbors. Actually, the Wampanoags continued to provide food to these pale-faced strangers for a few years until the Pilgrims finally were self-sufficient. It was almost as if this leader of the men, women and children who had lived for generations on the lands that the English had moved into had heard the call of Jesus Christ to “feed the hungry and care for strangers in the land.”
“The righteous give generously!”
Out of this lesson depicted on coloring pages in kindergarten classes in almost every corner of America came our Thanksgiving … an opportunity on the calendar for all of us to share what we have with thanksgiving to God and praise for God’s love … just because it is the right thing to do. To share with and care for strangers … to share caring opportunities with friends … sharing with family … sharing because God has taught us that it is the right thing to do … sharing to keep faith alive through active blessed churches and well … lifting up prayers of thanksgiving that we are blessed to be able to share with others rather than hoarding and storing away our stuff so that when we are gone from this the stuff and funds still are there accumulating dust and rust. The “righteous give generously” at least according to God’s Word.
So, are you known as a person who shares? Are you willing to share from your labors, your stuff, your funds or do you carefully affix your name and label just to make sure no stranger, no friend, no family member or no house of worship ends up with things that you clearly want to identify as yours? Are you always careful not to give too much or to too many because it is your stuff, your money, and your gains after all?
“The righteous give generously!”
Speaking of those kindergarten classes and coloring pages with images of Pilgrims and members of the Wampanoag nation digging into their cornucopia of food … I recently saw an online meme from Robert Fulghum’s book, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” His book is a series of essays designed to remind adults what a better world it would be if … we only focused in on the basic rules or lessons we teach our children. Lesson number one always brings me back to Miss Eastman’s class where that lovely older lady taught us … “share your wooden blocks boys! Let your friends play too.” Fulghum must have read Acts Chapter 2’s lesson from the early Christians when he declared to his readers that life is better when we “share everything!” And, Scripture teaches … “the righteous give generously!”
Yes, Fulghum continued by using the words of people like Mother Teresa to teach readers to “play fair, don’t hit people, put things back where you found them, clean up your own mess, don’t take things that aren’t yours, and say you’re sorry when you hurt someone” but he begins with “SHARING … EVERYTHING. “ And the critics wrapped up in their adult ways called the book trite … the contradictions of the world versus faith … keep it for yourself or share. Scripture teaches, “the righteous give generously!”
Giving is a challenge to some because we live in a land where greed, profit, and wealth are all too often held as goals for the ambitious. As a Christian I think we should find our focus in on the lessons of the boy who gave up his bread and fishes for Jesus.
We heard today that Philip was worried that Jesus wanted the disciples to use their money to buy food that could never feed the crowd. “Philip replied, “More than a half year’s salary worth of food wouldn’t be enough for each person to have even a little bit.” , But then Andrew points out,“A youth here has five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that for a crowd like this?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” We don’t know the boy’s name nor his age … but that Scripture does not say the youth argued with Jesus about giving up his catch … he did not say to the disciples, “get your own bread … this is mine.” What we know is that this young person perhaps remembering his lesson from kindergarten … SHARED what he had … ALL that he had … “the righteous give generously.”
“Then Jesus took the bread. When he had given thanks, he distributed it to those who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, each getting as much as they wanted.”
We can turn to ACTS to read about the early church and how they answered the question of giving and sharing what they had … they heard Jesus’ teaching and witnessed His life. “The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. A sense of awe came over everyone. God performed many wonders and signs through the apostles. All the believers were united and shared everything. They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them. Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity. They praised God and demonstrated God’s goodness to everyone. The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved.” “THEY SHARED EVERYTHING … with GLADNESS … THEY PRAISED GOD … and the Lord added to the community!”
“The righteous give generously!”
Friends, one of the hallmarks of a healthy church is generosity. Those early church members were generous beyond anything that 21st century humans like us might consider an acceptable level of giving. They cared for each other’s needs … they sold their stuff sort of like Jesus’ lesson to the rich man to give up all of his things and pick up his cross to follow Christ. Throughout the years Christians have valued the work and presence of churches both as places where we connect with each other and care for each other but also as the locations in community where we can worship God with a community that then cares for those hurting in the world. Always focused on bringing Christ to the world … making new disciples while growing, preserving and strengthening the church.
Here at St. Paul’s, we truly have established this church as a beacon of faith, love, prayer, and community. We feed the hungry and rescue the lost. Because of the saints of this church this building exists with electricity and heat. Because of the saints of this church children have heard the Word of God. Because of people like each of you who knows the value and importance of giving generously with love we move into a new year almost solvent … unlike so many other churches. “The righteous give generously.”
As we move through Advent and into Christmas and then into 2024, I want each of you to consider how you can keep St. Paul’s United Methodist Church of West Deptford more financially stable. Are you willing to commit to an automatic faithful offering each month from your bank account … many of us allow our creditors to withdraw their billings from our bank accounts but when it comes to church so many are reluctant to make that commitment … same amount every month to reach the intended financial gift at the end of the year. Are you willing to give more next year to help us do more?
I know it is not easy … I know that it costs 10 percent more for a Big Mac in 2023 than it did in 2016 but church costs also go up. Our utility bills are higher. Our repair bills are higher and yes, we want to pay our staff a little more too. But, as we move out of Thanksgiving into Advent knowing Christmas is coming and a new year, what are you willing to share with your church? This church? For God and Christ? It’s your decision but what this community decides will help determine what this church can do in the years to come and whether St. Paul’s is still viable in ten years or fifteen years.
Folghum reminds us to “live a balanced life paint, sing, dance, play and work every day.” He wrote that “warm cookies and cold milk are good for you!”