Stewardship Commitment Sunday

Reformation, Media

Larry V. Smoose

It all began with my golf swing.  I’ve been having trouble with my golf swing lately and it is really frustrating.  This summer the swing was pretty good and I had confidence in it, but lately I simply am not hitting the ball well.  So as I left for the Bishop’s convocation, I took a little devotional book with me that links the game of golf to life and faith.  I really didn’t know what I might discover, but I had enjoyed the first several chapters and thought maybe it might help. 

The first night I opened it up and it practically fell open to a section called power shots.  That’s what I need, a power shot.  It said, “A swing is the most powerful action that it is possible to create, and is, at the same time, as close to effortless power as it is possible to get.”   The Bible verse that went with it was I Cor. 2:3-5  (SLIDE ONE)  “And I was with you in weakness and in fear . . . and my message was not in words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should rest on the power of God.” 

Then I turned the page and in a portion called “Sources of Power,” it said, “The instant that the sense of feel is lost, or becomes disconnected, our swing becomes disconnected also – and our power evaporates into thin air, . . .”  I thought to myself, that is exactly what has happened – I have lost my sense of feel. 

Then it applied this to life (SLIDE 2) --  “In our life, it is the power of the Holy Spirit that has a powerful and lasting impact.  Receiving and releasing this power requires submission to God.  With God’s power at work in us, we are able to do more than we could have imagined on our own.” 

The verse connected with that golf devotional was Ephesians 3:20-21 (SLIDE 3), “Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”  Suddenly my thoughts were off golf and into life, and today’s Commitment Sunday. 

A devotional that I thought might help my golf game, was revealing the true importance of this lesson in the realm of everyday life.  

Now, to Him who is able – I didn’t need anymore than that portion of the verse.  My mind began to dance through the scriptures in Emmit Smith fashion, remembering all of the moments that remind us that (SLIDE 4) our God is able. 

· There was the time in Matthew 8 when a leper came up to him and said, “Lord if you choose, you are able to make me clean.  And Jesus touched him and said, I do choose, be clean.”   Our God is able!  (SLIDE 5)

· And once, when Jesus and the disciples were trying to figure out how to feed 5000 people, a young boy offered two fish and five loaves of bread.  The disciples said, “what will this do with so many people?”  And Jesus said, let’s bless this gift and see what God is able to do.  Our God is able. 

· Or there is that time in Mark 4, when the disciples were out in the boat and a great storm swept in, threatening the boat and the disciples went to Jesus and said, “Master, don’t you care if we drown?”  And Jesus said to the wind and the waves, “Peace, be still!”  And they calmed down.  “Who is this, that even the wind and the waves obey him?” the disciples asked.  It is God who is able! 

· Then there’s the famous verse we heard a couple of weeks ago, when Jesus watched a rich young man walk away and said to his disciples, “It will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven.”  And the disciples looked at him incredulously saying, “well then who can be saved?”  and Jesus said, (SLIDE 6) “What is impossible for mortals, is possible for God.” 

· And then, as if to demonstrate that truth, just a few verses later is the story of Zaccheus, the rich man who so grateful to be recognized and accepted by Jesus, that he says, “I will give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone, I will give them back four times more. . . (SLIDE 7) – and just like that the camel slips through the eye of the needle!  Our God is able. 

And I could go on and on, but it is not the past that is most important.  What is important is how the reality of these verses, the truth of this scripture is evident in our ministry.  The healing touch of Jesus is evident (SLIDE 8) in the ministry of missionary Michael Johnson, (photo’s) whom we support, and in the  (SLIDE 9) prayer shawl ministry that wraps those in need of prayer with the love of Jesus.   

We help feed the hungry, (SLIDE 10) whether it’s at City Team, or through our Global Mission offerings each month, in which a few dollars (that seems as insignificant as a couple of fish and some bread) becomes $4000 by the end of the year, to help with disaster relief (Slide 11)  and hunger around the world.

(SLIDE 12) We minister to refugee families and partner with a Lutheran Navajo mission.

Buying land that will provide future opportunities for ministry, expanding and renovating our building so that our ministries would have room to expand seemed like insurmountable challenges six years ago. (Slide 13) But we said, “here God, take our offerings, and with your mighty power use them to accomplish your purposes.”  Led by the Spirit – that was our first slogan – Led by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

We sit here today with evidence that our God is able to take what we offer and do amazing things. 

You can see more of this good news on our website, with the Stewardship presentation and other stories of our ministry.  But here is the truth –

• The church is not an organization that you join and then pay dues.
• The church is not a business that you pay for services rendered. (SLIDE 14)
• The church is PEOPLE, people who follow Jesus and see in him a God who is able to do amazing, astonishing things with those who give as they are able, and trust in the power of the Spirit.  Our ministry is part of the evidence of what God can do through you and me. 

There is one final step.  It is summarized in another Bible story, from Mark 9: 20-24.  A man comes to Jesus with his son, who is convulsing and foaming at the mouth.  Jesus asks the father, how long has this been going on?  And the father says, “from childhood, but IF you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help  us.” 

(SLIDE 15) Jesus says, “IF you are able! – All things can be done for the one who believes. (SLIDE 16) And immediately the father says, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.”    That’s it isn’t it.  Lord, I believe, but help that portion of me that is dragged down by unbelief.  Help that part of me that hesitates or is uncertain. 

I guess that’s why the golf devotional on power shots ends with a section called “A Tigerish Lash.” (SLIDE 17)  It says, when the club is on the downswing, about two thirds of the way to the ball, it is then that the player must imitate the action of a tiger:  stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, and go right through with a swish.” 

I translate that to mean that once you are committed, once you are moving toward the point of action, there can be no hesitation. (SLIDE 18) Lord I believe, help my unbelief.”  So that with complete confidence in the source of your power, with complete conviction of the results of your action, you follow through with a swish  -- the sound of the Spirit at work.  (Slide 19)

Paul bragged about a church like that to the Corinthians. “I want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the Grace God has given to the Macedonian church.  Though they have been going through a lot of trouble and hard times, (SLIDE 20) their wonderful joy (in the Gospel) and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity.  And I can testify, that of their own free will they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. (SLIDE 21) They begged us for the favor of helping with relief for the saints suffering from hunger in Jerusalem.  First they gave themselves to the Lord, and then responded to our request for help for others. (SLIDE 22) SWISH – a Tigerish lash for the sake of the gospel, preserved in Paul’s letter.

(SLIDE 23) Tigerish lash – that’s what separates great congregations from the others – a church full of disciples with such confidence in God’s ability to use what is offered, to bless what is given, to astonish us with the outcome, that they stiffen their resolve, summon up the blood, and then swing at challenges with a swish that reveals the confidence in what God is able to do (SLIDE 24) – far more abundantly than anything we could imagine.  The proof is in the ministry! 

(SLIDE 25) Thank you, for trusting God so much that you freely and generously give your time and money.  Thank you for believing that the God who could heal the leper, feed 5000 and change Zaccheus into a philanthropist, is able to turn our offerings it into a ministry that will richly bless many. (SLIDE 26)           Amen.