Say Yes

A Vision for Giving

January 7, 1996

I Corinthians 13:3

In a famous poem by James Russell Lowell, a Knight of King Arthur's Round Table, Launfel, set out as a young man to give his life to a high and noble service of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sir Launfel spent his life in a search the world over for the Holy Grail, the cup that Jesus used during the Last Supper.

Though he searched the world over, Sir Launfel never found the Grail. In bitter disappointment, as he was coming to the conclusion that he would never find the Holy Grail, he was confronted by a hungry man asking for alms. Launfel shared what food he had with the beggar, and gave him a drink from his own cup. And then, to his amazement, that beggar became the Lord Jesus Himself.

The last few lines of Lowell's poem:

"Lo, it is I, be not afraid:
In many climes without avail,
Thou hast spent thy life for the Holy Grail;
Behold it is here— the cup which thou
Didst fill at this streamlet for me but now;
This crust is my body broken for thee,
The water his blood that died on the tree;
The holy supper is kept, indeed,
In whatso we share with another's need;
Not what we give but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three—
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and Me."
-James Russell Lowell

Giving is important. This month we begin an emphasis on giving. But there is something more important than giving. More important than giving itself is WHY we give.

Giving is good. But just giving is not quite enough. God's kind of giving means putting LOVE into our gift. God so loved that he gave. We, too, can give because we love. I am speaking now of God's kind of love, agape' love.

I. A LIFE-CENTERING LOVE

  1. Life-centering commitment is a requisite for world-class success in any endeavor: When people FOCUS their lives and living THINGS HAPPEN! People can "AGAPE'" ANY NUMBER OF OPTIONS: I John 2:15— this warning:

    "Love (agape') not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any one love (agape') the world, the love (agape') of the Father is not in that person!"

    The same word for love, "agape'"— but different life-centers.

    Winners, people going for success in any field will have this life-centering kind of drive. Most people simply life from paycheck to paycheck.

  2. World-class Christians have a life-centering commitment to Jesus! It is as simple as that! Life-changing Christians— are people who build their lives around ONE center— a love totally abandoned to God in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. These are the kinds of GIVERS that make a real DIFFERENCE in their world.

Transition: I am assuming that YOU are with me— in that we want to be the best Christians we know how to be. We want to have this AGAPE' love for God— and have it working:

II. UPGRADING OUR LOVE — BETTER REASONS TO GIVE

  1. Giving for any reason but love simply does not impress God. It certainly can and does impress me! I might not be able to tell the difference. I am simply amazed at any kind of sacrifice. But the Bible tells us people can make amazing sacrifices that in God's eyes are totally wasted. Nothing!

    "Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love (agape'), it profits me nothing." -I Cor 13:3

  2. Agape' love for God keeps seeking the best ways to LOVE, and to GIVE:

    Did you know that the Bible shows there are "good" and "better" and "best" ways to love?

    1. There is the Old Testament standard of love: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy" Do not do to anyone else what you would not want them to do to you. This world would be a better place if just that level of love were put into effect.
    2. There is the Golden Rule, from the New Testament: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Most people think that this is the very best we can ever hope to do.

      But did you know that Jesus has called his disciples to even an higher standard?

    3. The Great Commandment: "Love one another as I have loved you!" Beyond doing as we would have others do— we are to love as Jesus loved! Can we ever begin to come close? HOW?

Dorothy Day is considered a major "force" in shaping Christian, particularly Catholic, social work in our country. But she was well into her adult years before she became a Christian. She had been active in social concerns in an almost atheistic, certainly a non-religious way. She had an AGAPE', certainly— but God was not in the equation. The story of her conversion is dramatic— too long to tell here. But in the last 40 or so years of her life she GAVE out of sheer LOVE. She saw individual needy people as persons of great worth— she saw them as God sees them.

Her testimony has had an impact on ME! I want to spend the remaining years of my life GIVING— not just CONSERVING, HOARDING ENERGY to make life last as long as possible!

Esther Sanger is hardly recognized on a national scale, as is Dorothy Day. But in a very similar way Esther became a "force" in helping shape caring concerns right here on the South Shore! {Just this week I heard father Bill McCarthy speak of Esther as a founding force in father Bill's place beginnings.} Esther was past 50 years old before her AGAPE' found its center in God. She was human, with faults as big as yours or mine. But she decided she would GIVE herself to God, or to "others" through her love for God.

And Esther's life has had an impact on ME! I want to give what I have, and not hold it back to see how safe I can be!

I wonder if churches can catch new vision for giving as well as individuals? I wonder if a church like ours— that gives already to missions and home missions and Christian education and local needs— might not seek new ways to give our love along with our gifts? We could think of giving just in terms of dollars, and praying for the overseas missionaries— and that is important and we have to keep it up.

But can we give ourselves more— along with our giving?

The answer of HOW may be answered in specific ways this month of "Say Yes" as we hear from different kinds of people serving God in different kinds of ways. But if we go to a new vision for giving it will begin with the willingness to let God have all our hearts!

I say let's not hoard our strength! I believe we are a LOVING CHURCH. Let's give ourselves along with our giving. Could I dare say, " ASK NOT "What can God do for me?" but instead LET'S DARE TO PRAY TO GOD "What WILL YOU GIVE THROUGH me?"! THROUGH US! I challenge US to give ourselves, our young people as well as our money to see God's kingdom come and His will be done in earth as it is in heaven! Amen! This is my vision for giving!

It may not rank up there with the world's greatest poetry, but it says it pretty well, doesn't it:

"Not what we give but what we share, For the gift without the giver is bare; Who gives himself with his alms feeds three— Himself, his hungering neighbor, and Me." -James Russell Lowell

As we share at the Lord's Table this morning— will you ask God to make YOU truly WISE? Will you invite HIM to be the center of your life, and make YOU His kind of GIVER?

Let us pray:

January 7, 1996

THE HOLY COMMUNION

[THE TABLE THAT TRANSFORMS: Lord, let no one come to this Table today and not be changed!]

The Law Read and Confession Made

WE HAVE READ OUR CONFESSION OF FAITH Brothers and sisters, let us search our hearts. In silence let us ask God to draw us near to Himself so that we can come to his table with confidence. Shall we pray:

Search us, O God, and know our most private thoughts. Try us, and show unto us the deepest motives, the real state of our hearts. Forgive us where we have been selfish, or insensitive, or sinful in any way. We cannot keep the Great Commandment, and truly love You, O God, with all our heart, soul, and mind unless You in mercy grant to us the grace of Your indwelling Spirit. We cannot love each other as we should unless Your love is shed abroad in our hearts.

We do not presume to come to this table, O God, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your great mercy and grace. Grant us to eat the Bread of heaven, and drink the blood shed for the remission of sins, that we may live in Christ, and Christ may live in us forever. Amen

The Informal Invitation ("This is not my table . . . ")

The Words of Institution:

We praise you for the mystery of our salvation! We truly believe Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

Bless these emblems, O God, and make them to us the Body and Blood of your Son, spiritual food, and spiritual drink of new and unending life in Jesus Christ. And now, together, we pray, as Jesus taught us:

Our Father which art in heaven .. . . AMEN

[Now receive the sacrament - wait and partake together - be in prayer for yourself, and intercession for others ...] HERE LET THE ELEMENTS BE DISTRIBUTED, PRAYERS OFFERED, (MUSIC PLAYED/SUNG) Partaking Together:

Holy and gracious Father; in your infinite love you made us for yourself; and, when we had fallen into sin, and were worthy of death and hell, you, in your mercy sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to You, the God and Father of all.

He stretched out his arms upon the cross, and offered himself in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.

On the night in which he was betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had give thanks to You he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, "Take eat: THIS IS MY BODY, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.

After supper he took the cup and when he had give thanks he gave it to them, and said, "Drink this, all of you; THIS IS MY BLOOD OF THE NEW COVENANT, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink this, do it in remembrance of me: Amen

Now, humbly we receive the Gifts of God for the People of God