Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship · November 6, 2005

Prayer of the Day

Lord, we have come together because of you.  We are created and sustained by the power of your love.  We come together because of Jesus.  His example shows us what life means.  We come together because of your Spirit.  Its energy teaches, inspires, and empowers us for good works.  Blessed be your name, O God, from this time on and forever more!  Amen.

Scripture

II Corinthians 9:7-8

Each person should give what he or she have decided in their hearts to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will be able to abound in all kinds of good works.

Message

Knowing When to Tear Up Your Pledge Card

Rick Frost

Here we are, just moments away from crossing the finish line.  Anybody else ready besides me?  We have focused.  We have visioned.  We have drawn up plans.  We have assessed.  We’ve built the case.  We’ve determined the feasibility.  We’ve communicated, challenged, studied, learned, prayed.  Oh, my goodness!

We’ve shared what this faith and what this church means to our families and to ourselves.  We’ve shared how we feel about its future, and hopefully, all of us have gone home and in the privacy of our own space have thought about, talked about, prayed about a number.  A number…  A number or a gift in kind that represents a sacrificial gift, over and above what we regularly give to this incredible effort.

Hopefully, you’ve put that number on that card.  You’ve signed your name to it.  You’ve stepped up; you’ve stepped in.  You have it sealed.  We’re here.  You’re holding it in your hand.  You’re ready to put in the plate.  Then you walked in and read the sermon title for today.

Some folks in our midst are saying, “Have you lost your mind?”  I know it’s running through some of your heads right now.  You don’t have to say it.  I can feel it.  You’re thinking, “He’s snapped.  He’s gone off the deep end.  All this work.  All this investment leading up to this point, all this effort, and he’s asking if we want to consider, at the last possible moment, tearing up our pledge cards!”

The answer is: No!  I have not gone off the deep end, and yes, the message for today is exactly what the sermon title implies.  Before we pass those plates, I want to invite you…  I want to give you clear permission to tear up your pledge card here in front of God and everybody.  Or if that embarrasses you, take it home and do it, if any of the several situations I’m about to describe to you apply to your life at this point in time.

Folks, we don’t want your pledge card, because we believe that God doesn’t want your pledge – indeed, it’s probably time for you to tear up your pledge card – if you believe in your heart of hearts that the Church of Jesus Christ, the community of faith represented right here at Broadway Christian Church, no longer offers what the world desperately needs today.  If you believe that, just tear it up.

If this church is, for you, just another club, just another place to meet, just another time to get together, I want you to consider tearing up your pledge card.  If you believe that what life is all about is being autonomous, is being liberated, is being capable of standing on your own two feet, that your primary purpose in this life is to look out for yourself, then this effort is not for you.

The Church of Jesus Christ is here to enable people to encounter the Spirit of the Living God.  Anybody over the age of ten knows that we do not have the strength we need to stand on our own two feet much of the time in this life.  We know there comes a time when we need to lean on the everlasting arms of God.

The Church of Jesus Christ is here to enable us to encounter that Spirit and to change and transform your life, my life, and the lives of others in ways that lead to new life, new life now, and new life eternal.  The Church is here to remind us that we are only strong when we lean on the everlasting arms, that we’re only liberated when we are free in Christ, and that when we only look out for ourselves, we end up with sort of a hard, crusty, costly, self-absorbed selfishness.  And that is awful!  That is not what we’re about.  The people in this place are about grace and about love.  We’re about forgiveness and about renewal.  We’re about peace and justice, inclusiveness, and hope, and the promises, and the possibilities that God reveals to us through his Son Jesus Christ.  Those things, folks, the world does not and cannot offer you or anyone else.  But with God’s help, we, the community of faith, can offer this and so much more to others.

However, if you believe that the church no longer has that vision… If we no longer have that mission together… If we’re no longer a people who offer to the world what it desperately needs, go ahead and tear it up.

Number Two:  You should probably set aside and tear up your pledge card if giving has become a chore and is no longer a joy for you.  The New Testament makes it very clear that God loves a cheerful giver, a person who loves to give, whose heartfelt gladness is eager to give.  These people are thrilled and happy to be people who give.  This statement means, I believe, exactly what the New Testament says:  Anything less is simply unworthy of being a disciple of Jesus.

Folks, I have to tell you this campaign, for me, has really been fun.  I mean… The kids, the pennies, the tutus (which I’ll have to tell you about later), the leaders who have stepped forward, the images, the testimonials, the sharing, the teaching, the learning, the new members who have joined our church.  Don’t let anybody tell you that when communities of faith talk about stewardship that it drives people away.  We’ve had 12 new members since we started this campaign.  In the last four weeks we have welcomed 12 new members into this community of faith.

People are attracted to… They want to be a part of something that is doing something and making a difference in the lives of people in the world, and they want to do it in a spirit of fun.  It is fun.  It has been fun.  It should be fun, and when our giving ceases to be fun, according to St. Paul , we shouldn’t do it.

If we are not happy inside about giving to this effort, then literally, for God’s sake, don’t give.  If you feel sad about this, if you feel torn, if you feel like you’ve been violated, if it’s been a negative experience for you, then you should probably set your pledge card aside.  Don’t put it in that offering plate today.

For disciples of Jesus Christ, giving is joyous.  It’s voluntary.  It’s done with eagerness.  It’s done as an act of the heart.  Anything more, anything less, is simply not worthy.  Christian giving has to be with a sense of joy.

Third, and finally:  You should probably tear up your pledge card if you are not in a place where the reality of God still has a claim on your life.  If God no longer has a claim, if God can no longer claim your attention, if God can no longer get you to do things that really need to be done in this world, then you probably ought to tear up your pledge card.

I have some hard news for you today.  It’s tough news.  The researchers say that more people than ever in our culture say they believe in God.  That’s the good news.  There are tons of them.  Here is the bad news.  Those same people are giving evidence to the fact that belief in God actually has very little impact on how they go about living their daily lives.  What is the evidence?  I’ll give it to you.  After taxes and adjustment for inflation, the average church member in today earns 31% more income than they did 20 years ago.  Wow!  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that the percentage of income given to God through the church, for God’s purposes that help nurture and develop disciples of Jesus, has dropped 8.5% among those same people in the same 20 years.  My goodness.  That is staggering to me.  That’s outrageous!  In fact, it’s sort of scary in a world where some, out of anger and hostility, are literally sacrificing their lives for what they’ve been sadly led to believe.

Folks, the fact is today, money is a positive instrument in the hands of those who are committed to the Creator and to the ministry and mission of the community of faith as it is revealed to us in Christ Jesus.  You and I, when we are at our best, need to remember that we are part of a religious, spiritual movement.  We are not a charitable organization.  We are not an institution of do-gooders.  We are disciples, followers of Christ, the one we call Lord and Savior and Healer of this world.

So, I ask you today to simply, carefully consider this:  Does the reality of God, the Creator of all that is, still have a claim on your life?  Does that One still hold you tight?  Does it lead you in ways that you and I are to live our lives?  Does it still command a sense of attention and response?  If not, then your pledge card should probably be set aside.

So, there it is.  Three signals.  Three reasons to tear it up.  The best three reasons I can think of.  The bottom line is this is not about where we’re headed as a congregation, but it is about who is the head of this congregation, and will we follow his lead?

Well… there it is.  The moment has come.  It’s time, as a body of believers, as a community of faith, to step up to the plate, to step into the plate, to do so joyfully, eagerly, cheerfully, happily to make our commitments as a beautiful act of devotion and worship in this service.

With that in mind, I’ll ask our deacons to wait upon us, and let us make our offerings and our commitments as we receive our morning offering.

Benediction

God of the Harvest!  We thank you for the bountiful blessings you sow among us.  Thank you for the invitation to be the laborers of your fields.  Thank you for cultivating hearts that open up and make room.  Amen.