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Sermon - October 25th, 2009
Let Me See Again
Rev. Gwen Drake
Scripture: Mark 10:46-52
Prayer of Preparation: We give thanks, O God of sacred stories, for the witness of your word today. Through Scripture you challenge our assumptions, increase our awareness, nurture our imaginations, and touch our feelings. Bless the hearing of the word today. Speak to us and grant that by the power of your Spirit we may be hearers and doers of your word. Amen.
Talking about money in church is a “hot topic.” It’s meddling. It’s about the church asking for money AGAIN!
When I was in seminary, I visited one United Methodist Church during their stewardship campaign. I wish I had stayed home, or gone to a different church. It was a sermon for the insiders. I was a visitor. It was a sermon about the church’s budget. I didn’t want to know about the church’s budget; I wanted something spiritual. So, here I am, 23 years later, preaching a series of sermons about money. Believe me, I do it with some fear and trepidation and great humility.
Adam Hamilton, the author of the Enough Program says, “Many people today are on a treadmill of consumerism, and that treadmill just keeps going faster and faster. But the day will come when either we are going to break down or the treadmill is going to break down, because we cannot continue to go faster and faster in our passion to consume.” This last year, all of us have taken a closer look at our passion to consume. It has been a good time to take stock, evaluate our relationship with money and material possessions, and change our ways. It is a good time to make a commitment to become better stewards of our God-given resources. It is a good time to have our eyes opened, to really be able to see. Are we changing our ways? Are we learning from our mistakes?
The story of Bartimaeus is a story about the restoration of sight, among other things, a story about one man who wanted out of his own personal darkness and did everything in his power to live in the light. We have been following Jesus and his disciples as they walked through the gospel of Mark. The disciples were only understanding half of what Jesus said. They thought he was headed for success and to the very throne of Israel. Except Jesus was saying crazy things to them, talking about dying, rising, being last, being a servant. They were on the way out of Jericho with half the town following when they passed the blind beggar. Someone said, “Oh, that’s Bartimaeus. He is always in that spot begging.” As they passed him, they heard him cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The disciples stopped immediately realizing, that it was the first time anyone except a demon or a disciple had called Jesus by that title, Son of David. How did a blind beggar recognize what no one else could see?
The crowd dismissed the beggar. Bartimaeus cried out again, “Son of David, have mercy on me.” That got Jesus attention. “Call him here.” Jesus said. And the crowd change their tune, started encouraging Bartimaeus, “Take heart!” they said. Bartimaeus did more than take heart. He flung off his cloak, sprang to his feet, rushed toward Jesus who asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Now that has to be a rhetorical question, doesn’t it? Everyone would know, including Jesus, what Bartimaeus wanted! Jesus wanted to hear him tell him in words. So Bartimaeus said, “My teacher, let me see again.” And Jesus replied, “Go; your faith has made you well.” No mud, no spittle, not even a touch. Just words. It was enough. Bartimaeus could see again. One thing, though, he did not “go” as Jesus commanded. Bartimaeus chose to follow Jesus all the way to Jerusalem.
It is a perfect story, full of courage and compassion, complete with a happy ending. It is a story that we want as our own story: to encounter Jesus, to be called to him by name, find the words to tell him what we want, and receive it. Sounds great, doesn’t it, to trade in whatever blindness we have for sight, so that we can see—see ourselves, see our world, see Jesus clearly, without a cloud or shadow. That is what we all want, isn’t it?
I’m asking a metaphorical question, of course. We all have our places of darkness that are safe and secure. It is the way we cope in this world. Not many of us have the courage to ask God to let us see clearly, to live fully in the light. We would rather stay with what we know. No sense getting our hopes up. Jesus gives us that choice, just like he gave Bartimaeus that choice. We can stay where we are. We can sit in our familiar darkness, where all the edges are round so we will not hurt ourselves, where we need only concern ourselves with what is within our reach. After all, we wouldn’t want to make a spectacle of ourselves, appear crazy, or try something that wouldn’t work for us anyway. We may as well stay with what we know.
What is your life about? Why do you exist? What is your vision? Do you play it safe in the dim light? Or are you one to take the risk of seeing in the light? That is what Jesus asks us through Bartimaeus. What can Jesus do for you? What is your life purpose and are you spending your time and your money in a way that is consistent with your purpose? Or are you wasting your money on impulse buying, consumerism, materialism? Would you throw off your cloak, run to Jesus if he called your name, and follow him all the way to Jerusalem?
I have done a lot of wasteful living in my life. I have been a great consumer. I have been a pathetic giver. I am asking God to help me be better. God calls all of us to do better at living generous lives according to our resources and our gifts. I finally heard God calling my name when I was 29 years old. I answered that call (not without some kicking and screaming, though). God has continued to call me throughout my ministry and there are many times when I just wasn’t listening very well. I can be a little dense. I can be stubborn. And I’m very good at denial.
There is a lot in the Bible about God’s call and how people responded. God’s call is one of those core stories in the Bible. God called Abraham and Sarah to pack their bags and herds of animals and move. God called Moses back to the land where he was wanted as a murderer. God called the prophets, one of the world’s most despised occupations. God called Mary to do the impossible. God called the Apostle Paul to stop persecuting and start preaching the good news. God didn’t stop calling people at the end of the Bible either. God calls everyone, to a reason for being alive. The playwright George Bernard Shaw wrote: “This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” We are alive for a reason and what greater joy than to know what that is and to do it before we die. What greater joy than to know our calling and to use everything that we have to fulfill this calling.
Here are some obvious things we are all called to: We are called to care for our families and our children. We are called to love our neighbors, God, and ourselves. We are called to care for creation. We are called to be a blessing. God said to Abraham and Sarah, “You are blessed to be a blessing.”
My life purpose is to care for my family. I have also been called to further God’s kingdom through the local church that I’m a part of, and not just because I am the pastor. I am United Methodist and I love the mission and the theology of this church. And the more I give, the more I treasure the church. It’s like Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there is your heart.”
Last year I did a lot of soul searching during our stewardship campaign. I shared that I had never been a tither and decided to make that my goal. So I figured out where my giving was proportionate to my income and increased it 1%. This year I am hoping to continue with that commitment and increase my pledge one more percent. Each month, my check to the church is one of the first checks I write. And you know what? I have had enough money—all year. Amazing!
We need goals to work toward. I spent many years with no financial goals and a lot of impulse buying. It doesn’t work. Goals are important; and those goals need a plan because the saying is true: A failure to plan is a plan to fail. Having a plan is like living without seeing—living in the dark. We are more prone to impulse buying and wasteful spending without a plan. Make a plan. And if you need help, get some help--from a book or a financial advisor.
In your bulletin are a couple of things to help you think about making goals and a plan. There is a book mark with the Enough Program’s six financial planning principles. Those of you in the Enough class or who have read the Enough book by Adam Hamilton will see that I tweak them a little, changed the order. You can do the same. They are all important. You decide on the order. Discuss them with someone else or in your family.
The first principle is to create a budget and track your expenses. Creating a budget is simply developing a plan in which you tell your money what you want it to do. Tracking your expense with a budget is like getting on the scales: It allows you to see how you are doing and motivates you to be more careful with your spending. I have never like stepping on the scales. I’m not crazy about developing a budget either. You have to, though, or you won’t know how you are doing.
The second principle is Adam Hamilton’s number one. After consulting the focus group I decided to place it after developing your plan. Hopefully your plan will be to “Put God first in your living and your giving.” Adam Hamilton says it this way: “Pay your tithe and your offering first. Make it your number one priority to honor God with what you have.” Rev. Hamilton is a United Methodist pastor and a very effective one in Kansas and yes, he said the word “tithe.” In my 23 years of ministry, I have only known a handful of United Methodists who have given a tithe to the church. That handful have been extraordinary people--not that other people haven’t been extraordinary as well. I see a special quality in people who tithe. They are trusting. They are generous people. They give without fanfare or strings attached. They don’t worry about what the Bible means by a tithe. They just do it. Now, if you look the Bible, and I hope you do, it isn’t all that clear about tithing. We could easily argue that tithing is irrelevant and legalistic or for those other churches who require their members to tithe. I leave it to you to struggle with what it means to tithe. What is important to know is that giving, being generous, and taking care of those who can not take care of themselves is all through the Bible and is relevant to who you are and who God wants you to be. It’s about giving back. It’s about making a difference. It’s about being an example. It’s about trusting.
Third, simplify your lifestyle. This is essential if you are living above your means. This is a discipline and it is critical. Next Sunday’s sermon will be devoted to this principle.
Fourth, establish an emergency fund. I need to do this better. Dave Ramsey recommends to building this to three months’ worth of income. I do not have that much in my emergency fund. I’m going to try to build this up more.
Fifth, pay off your credit cards, use cash/debit cards, use credit wisely. After my divorce, I vowed I would pay off my credit cards every month if I used them. I have been divorced for over 5 years now, and I have kept that promise I made to myself. I hope that if any of you have credit card debt, stop using your credit cards and make a plan to pay them off and stick to it. If you can’t then you may need to do have what some call “plastic surgery”—cut up your cards as you pay them off, close the accounts so that you are never tempted again.
Sixth, practice long-term savings and investing habits. Save, not hoard. Have a purpose in your saving. Save for your wants and your goals. Save for your retirement. That is wise management of your money.
So, these six principles combined are a simple plan to help you become a better manager of your money. It will help you to see more clearly. Most of us do not control how much money we make. But all of us can spend less and simplify our lives. We can choose to change some of our financial habits. We can make a conscious effort not to waste any money that could go to something important. We can simplify.
Adam Hamilton asks these important questions: “Which do you find more admirable in a person—someone who is living at the edge of his or her means and thus cannot do the things that really matter, or someone who lives below his or her means and has a meaningful life of purpose? Do you admire the one who lives extravagantly, or the one who gives extravagantly?
Amen.
Pastoral Prayer:
Gracious, holy God, you have created us in such a way that we long for you. We long for love, for forgiveness, for acceptance, for a calling of purpose. Sometimes we look everywhere but to you to satisfy our longing for you. Teach us to find true satisfaction—in you, in the beauty of creation surrounding us, in our everyday blessings. Teach us to see you in all of life. Give us wisdom and understanding. Show us the path you yearn for us to walk. Lead us in setting goals and developing plans. Help us to find peace in our homes and the way we manage our money. Show us our greater purpose in life. Help us to live into that purpose in everyway and every part of our lives. Teach us—where our treasure is, there is our heart.
The world cries out for our help. We are called to do something, what we can, no matter how small it is, help us to do something. Help us to end the violence, help us to feed the hungry, help us to find shelter for all who desire it, help us to change the systems that are not fair or just, that keep people in the cycle of poverty. Help us to transform the world, one good deed at a time. In Jesus name we pray…..
