Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship · October 30, 2005

Prayer of the Day

Giving God, warmed to action by the love-light of your infinite generosity, we open our hearts to you in this hour of worship.  Fill us, we pray, with your gracious Spirit, that we might know anew that we are yours, and that we are here to fulfill your purposes.  Amen.

Scripture

II Corinthians 8:1-9

And now, my friends, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Christians in .  Although they were going through hard times and were very poor, they were glad to give generously.  They gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability, simply because they wanted to.  They even begged us to let them have the joy of giving their resources for God’s people, and they did more than we could possibly have hoped.  They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, just as God wanted them to do.

Titus was the one who got this process started, so we begged him to have you finish what you had begun.  You do so many things so well.  You have strong faith.  You speak well.  You know a lot.  You are eager to give.  You love us a lot.  You must now also excel in this grace of giving.

I’m not ordering you to do this.  I’m simply testing how real your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of others, for you know of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he become poor, so that through his poverty, you might become rich.

Message

Step Up, Step In

Rick Frost

As you know, it’s been a year of severe weather for lots of folks.  You’ve seen the stories.  I’ve heard the stories.  They abound about the people who have dealt with the hand that’s been dealt to them. 

How many of you were around in 1993?  Remember that great flood, of course, here in the Midwest ?  They talked about it was a once-in-five-hundred-years kind of thing.  It swept through this part of the world.  Remember the rivers, and the levees, and the sandbagging, and the bridges? 

I remember that flood, but I had forgotten what caused it.  Do you remember what caused it?  It was caused by three-feet of snow every week for six weeks across the Great Plains that year in the winter of 1993.  Temperatures dropped to 60 degrees below zero in some places.  The winds blew.  Drifts were high and deep.  People literally were stranded in their homes across the Great Plains .  It was awful.  It was so grim; in fact, the Red Cross flew across the plains in helicopters looking for survivors who were buried in their homes.

On one of the missions, the team spotted a little spiral of smoke coming up out of the snow.  They reportedly landed the helicopter, made their way to the smoke.  Sure enough, there they found a chimney and below it a roof.  After hours of digging, this team cleared the way all the way to the front porch.  If you’ve every worked in the snow, you know it’s really hard, exhausting work.  When they shoveled the snow away from the door, exhausted but determined, the leader of the team rapped on the door.  Slowly it opened, and this wonderful, elderly, little lady poked her head out.

“Madam,” said the captain, “we are the American Red Cross.” 

The woman hadn’t seen much outside.  She adjusted her eyes and sort of squinted in the bright sun at these men who were before her, and she said, “Well, fellows, thanks for coming by.  But it’s been a pretty rough winter, and I just don’t think I can give anything this year.”

We’ve grown so accustomed to being asked to give that even when someone comes to give us a hand, we think they want something from us.  We’re confronted with appeals, as you know, from every side.  Let’s just say it: “School projects, cookie sales, bell ringers, fund raisers, and a hundred other charities right here in this community every year.”  Then the Gulf Coast gets hammered.  is shaken to its foundation.  The tsunami washed over Southeast Asia .  And guess who foots the bills?  You do, and I do.  People like us, not just us, but people like us all over the world foot the bill.  We give, and we give, and we give.  It’s outrageous!  It’s a bottomless pit.  There is no end in sight.  It is unbelievable.

Sooner or later, everyone one of us knows, because we practice it ourselves.  There comes a point when we have to make some choices.  We have to set some priorities.  Let’s just say it up front.  All these things are good causes.  They are important.  But the fact is, sometimes some things are more important than others, and the question that we are struggling with as a community of faith, or hopefully we should be struggling with, is how do we decide?  More to the point, how do those of us who follow Jesus decide?

Well, in the second letter to the people in Corinth , St. Paul describes another form of outrageousness.  As a way of getting at what he says, I want to ask you to think about four things with me today.  I want to offer you four different views of outrageous giving that are found in American churches today. 

You may not know this.

The first one, and this is the one that shocks you.  It shocked me.  The research actually shows that over 20% of all church members in think it’s outrageous to give money at all.  Did you know that?  One in five persons in the community of faith in think it’s outrageous to give at all.  When it comes to giving, they stop at nothing!  Literally, “nada.”  Over 20% give nothing.  I didn’t know that.  It’s sort of like some kids that you and I know.  They just never made the connection between what they want, on the one hand, and what it costs.  They just know what they want.  They are people who don’t give.  They just take.  They line up.

The average consumer credit card in this country, as you know, has a balance due of over $7,000.  “You don’t have the cash?  No problem!  For everything else there is MasterCard.”  We Americans have expensive tastes, and we want it, and we want it now.  And so, as one has said, “We spend money we don’t have on things we don’t need to impress people we don’t even like.”

Now understand, I’m not talking about average Americans.  I’m talking about Christians.  The result is that many Christians in this, the richest country in the world, give to God last.  They give God the leftovers, and the hard truth is most of the time, there aren’t any leftovers.  Over 20% of church members in think it’s outrageous to give money to God at all, and I think that is simply outrageous.  Where did that come from?

Secondly, the second form of outrageous giving in this country is, what we call, in regular and routine giving.  Many give when they come to church, and conversely, they don’t give when they are not in church.  This would be fine if we came to church every week.  That’s what the Scripture encourages us to do.  It always has.  It asks us to gather for public worship every week, and it also asks us to give every week.  It suggests that.  But according to researchers, indeed our own records here in this church, regular attendance has been refined here in America.  It means once or twice a month.  Yes, it does, and there it is.

The third type of outrageous giving in America is the one that has been around the longest, but in practice, it is the one that is less and least popular.  That is, you know, tithing.  That is the graceful, grateful giving of 10% of what we receive from God, given back to God through the community of faith for the purposes of God.  Interesting, isn’t it, that less than 10% of all American Christians tithe.  That speaks volumes when you realize that we spend more on junk food than we do giving to God and for God’s purposes in helping to develop and nurture people in the way of Jesus Christ.  But that is another story for another day.  But it is the truth.  Less than 10% of American Christians tithe.

Fourth, I think the most outrageous giving by Christians in America today is illustrated by the text I shared with you just moments ago.  Paul tells the churches in Corinth about an amazing group of Christians who live in Macedonia.  They’ve never even met each other. 

Let me give you a thumbnail sketch of these folks in their day.

First of all, the Christians in the Macedonian churches were desperately poor.  They lived in a tough time and in a tough place.  They were desperately poor, primarily, because they were a whole region of people suffering economically under the rule of the Romans.  When entire regions suffer economically, look for the root of that problem in the powers that be.  So here they are in Macedonia.  General poverty prevails.

These Christians come off even worse, however, because on top of being poor, they are also Christian.  In their day, persecution was real.  This is something I don’t think anyone in this room really knows anything about.  Consequently, there weren’t many church members from the upper classes.  Small shopkeepers often found their trade going elsewhere simply because of their faith.  The Macedonian Christians also had a goodly number of slaves as members.  We know that historically and archeologically, as well.  These were folks who are very much on the lower rung of the economic ladder.

But!  Here’s the point.  That persecution and that poverty of those Christians in that day in that community did not close off their generosity.  Paul, their founder – their spiritual leader – was very much award of their situation.  He knew about their poverty, and he knew about their persecution.  He didn’t even ask, at first, the Christians in Macedonia to even take part in the contribution for the project they had.  But when they heard about the project, and they heard about the worthy cause, the good thing that was going to happen for God and God’s people, they said, “Oh, no!  Not another request for money?”  No!  No!  They didn’t say that.  According to verse 4, they begged, they pleaded with Paul, their spiritual leader, to allow them, to let them participate and give.

And get this.  Once they were included, once they were invited to simply, prayerfully consider a contribution, they gave.  (II Corinthians 8:3)  They gave, not merely what would have reasonably been expected.  They gave even beyond their means.  Compelled?  No.  Manipulated?  Not at all.  They gave as much as they were able, it says, even beyond their ability, because they gave themselves first, and then to the project at hand because they wanted to do so (verse 5).

Outrageous!  Here is the spirit of humility.  This is a caring generosity.  What sacrificial love!  This is the difference, folks, between charity and Christian giving.  It’s all the difference in the world.  People give to charity to meet people’s needs for a variety of things, for a variety of reasons.  But Christians give as Christians, because they give first to the Lord.  They give themselves first to the Lord, and then they give themselves to whatever the project might be, and they do it because they want to.

That’s the Broadway Spirit.  I think that’s when we are at our best.  We step up, and we step in.  Like our dear friends who spent part of last Friday praying, symbolized by the candles burning in front of you today.  These were the persons who came, who prayed for what we’ve been talking about.  My prayer Friday night was simply this, and I’m not embarrassed to tell you.  I simply prayed that the people of this community of faith might first give themselves to the Lord, and then to the worthy project for the future of this ministry and mission of tomorrow.  I believe that if that happens, if all the people of this church, regardless of what you have or what you don’t have, regardless of what your circumstances are, if we will just do that, the results will be absolutely outrageous, beyond what any of us might have reason to expect.

Several months ago, as you know, we asked the leaders of this effort to do just that.  We asked them to put this project on their prayer list.  We asked them first and foremost to pray what God would want them personally to do to support and to help build the ministry of this church.  And today, I’ve asked George Garner, a charter member of this church, to come and do a very courageous thing, something that even George isn’t used to doing.  That is to stand in front of you, and me, and God and share a personal stewardship journey, and to do that in five minutes, George.

George Garner

I don’t hear well…

Stewardship was not in my vocabulary for some years, as I’ll explain.  It’s often said that our success depends on the year we were born.  I was born at the start, essentially, of the Depression in 1927.  And things didn’t get any better, that I can remember, in 1934. 

I don’t know what my folks gave to the church.  I know it had to be a widow’s mite, because things were pretty slim.  Mother actually cried for joy when she found a can of corn meal, because that was all that was between us and the cold weather.

I went to high school and got a shock, as all of us did during that period, on my birthday, December 7, 1941.  I was a freshman in high school, and my mind was occupied for some time with that endeavor. 

I went to college for a couple of semesters, and then I went into the Army.  While I was in the Army, after basic training, I was very uncomfortable.  I was homesick, of course, but uncomfortable as well.  Something just wasn’t right.

I went by the chaplain’s office one day, and in discussing my problem, we discovered that what I was missing was church and worship every week.  And so, for the rest of my time I was stationed there, I helped the chaplain hand out books, programs, and so forth, and life became better.  But still, stewardship was missing.

Stewardship did not become a part of my vocabulary and my action until we came here in 1949 as members of First Christian Church.  Dr. Lemon stressed stewardship, and I was surprised that the church had a budget.  I was used to the practice of when there was a need, we just passed the hat.  And so, I had a lot of learning to do.

Part of that training came by pairing young folks with older folks and going out and calling on the membership in an every-member-canvas situation.  We used to do that here for a number of years.  There, the young learned from the old, and stewardship became more important.

Of course, in 1957 and 1958, we were in the formation of this church, and a number of us stepped forward at that time to come out here.  We left the confines of a big, well-financed church to come out here and try our hand in establishing a church.  Stewardship came with it.  With the help of First Christian Church, we built the first unit, and then we built a wing where the education and administration offices are now.  Then came the fellowship hall, and then this sanctuary.  So these sorts of drives have been a part of my life for the past 47 years.

Mildred and I looked carefully at what we might do in this campaign, and we think we can do one of the top-five tiers of giving.  Yes, it will pinch us, but we will pinch it gladly.  Remember, it’s equal sacrifice, not equal giving.

Rick Frost

Let’s say thanks to George.  That was gutsy.  It’s not easy standing up in front of a whole crowd and sharing that kind of journey, and I appreciate the leaders who have been doing that.

In another church, in another state, where people of faith have been doing this kind of thing, in a worship service like ours, there sat a homeless woman who literally had nothing.  When the offering plate came to her, she looked at it for a moment, and then she slowly got up out of her seat.  She stepped into the aisle and very quietly, and reverently, and humbly, she put the plate on the floor, and then in a beautiful act of devotion, she simply stepped into the plate.

It doesn’t get any more poignant or powerful than that for me.  When we come to worship next Sunday, I’m going to ask you to put those sealed pledges in those plates and realize that the dollar amount committed is not the main thing that matters.  It’s the name you print on that form.  It’s the name.  Those envelopes next week are you.  They are me.  They are all of us together standing in the plate.  That is what we are asked to do: “Step up, and step in.”

It’s what Broadway does when we are at our best.  “They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, just as God wanted them to do.”

How incredibly outrageous – absolutely, positively, beautifully outrageous!  Will you step in?  Will you step in with the rest of us?  I just have this feeling that regardless of who you are…  Regardless of what you have…  Regardless of your circumstances…  I just have this feeling that you and I together will step into the plate.

And we all say together… “Amen.”

Benediction

Outrageous God, your extravagant love feeds our spirits, clothes our bodies, and shelters us at all times.  In gratitude, we offer back to you a people who are full, adorned, and safe.  Help us to step into the plate and to put our whole selves in.  Amen.