“How Much Do We Sacrifice?”

“I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. ⁹ For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. ¹⁰ And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something— ¹¹ now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. ¹² For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have.” 2 Corinthians 8:8-12

“There is no way to avoid the issue. There is plenty of money so that all the work of the church could be properly financed and no undue burden rest upon any. The fact is, there are too many whose love is wanting in that quality which draws out their hearts into the work of God until they are willing to sacrifice for it. It is true that there are many who do love and who prove it by their sacrifices. But it is just as true that there are many others who do not deny themselves and will not even from a sense of duty, to say nothing of making willing sacrifices through the prompting of love.”(C.W. Naylor, “Heart Talks”, p. 257-258)

Most mainline churches today are struggling – struggling for people, struggling for money, and struggling for relevancy in their communities. We are facing a nation, and dare I say a world that is becoming more and more secular. Many persons spend willingly and even lavishly on themselves, and if they do belong to a church, they give sparingly and reluctantly to G-d. They spend more for their goods than they goods they give to charities and their neighbors in need. Some spend more for candy than they give to the poor, the homeless, and the hurting. Some spend more for gasoline than they give to all causes. In fact, some spend so much on their own selfish desires that when a need of G-d’s work is presented they can truly say, “I can not give much.” 

Giving to G-d does not need to be painful – but it can be proportional. Just as it is beneficial to eat proportionally, and to exercise proportionally, and to rest proportionally, it is also beneficial to see your way to give to G-d in the proportion of what G-d has given to you – and I am not just talking about money. We waste just as much talent and time on ourselves as we do money on ourselves. G-d simply asks that we consider G-d and our neighbor in need when it comes to portioning out all that we have – time, talent, and of course, our treasure.

Pastor Dave

“My Dream Message”

“Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; ⁷ for we brought nothing into the world, so that  we can take nothing out of it; ⁸ but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. ⁹ But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.” 1 Timothy 6:6-10

“I dreamed that I stood beside a gigantic wild rosebush. In my hand I held one of the beautiful fragrant flowers. I looked at it and drank in its rich perfume, but I saw a great number of flowers, and I desired more than the one, so I held it in my left hand and began to reach up for others. They were very high, so I pressed against the outer limbs and stretched to my utmost, but they were too high; I could not get them. I stepped back from the bush. As I did so, my gaze fell upon the rose in my hand just in time to see its petals fall to the ground. In stretching for those beyond my reach, I had ruined the one that was already mine. I gazed upon the empty stem in my hand and at the bruised petals upon the ground with a feeling of regret.

The scene changed. I sat at a desk with pencil and paper, and in my dream wrote these words: “If you have but one rose, enjoy it to the full. Do not let its perfume be wasted upon the empty air, and its beauty go unnoticed, while you spend your time in vain longing for the unattainable.” (C.W. Naylor, “Heart Talks”, p. 135-136)

How natural it is for us to forget what riches and beauty we already have while we are striving for the unattainable. Paul says “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil…in eagerness to be rich, some have pierced themselves with many pains.” Contentment seems to be lost today. Everywhere advertisers encourage us to strive for more goods because we deserve it – we deserve the good life. The story that C.W. Naylor shares in our passage today is instructive. While holding something of great beauty in his hands, when he saw more, he tried to grasp at the unattainable, and in the process he wasted what he had. When we look around us throughout our lives, we can see example after example of people who have done just that. Instead of being content with what they had, they tried all they could to get more, and in the process ruined what they already had. As the writer of Timothy states, we came into this world with nothing, and we will go out of this world with just as much – except this: people will remember our generosity and our compassion. Instead of hoarding and grasping for more and more, why not give more away.

Pastor Dave