|
A message by
Rev. F. David Throop, Pastor
Thanksgiving/Commitment Sunday
November 23, 2008 Scripture: Haggai
Please pray with me:
Loving and gracious God, as we continue our faith journeys through the mostly unfamiliar and sometimes turbulent territory of these Old Testament prophets, please direct our journeys in such a manner that we will discover even greater truths of Your goodness, and that we will be transformed even more closely to Your will for us through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
The book of the prophecy of Haggai begins with these words: “In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai . . .”
So, when was the last time the word of the Lord came through you? I mean, as we read of these prophets of the Old Testament, it would seem as if the word of the Lord is always being given. Week after week after week we have been reading of how the word of the Lord came to Hosea, and then the word of the Lord came to Joel, and then the word of the Lord came to Amos, and then to Obadiah, and then to Jonah, Micah, Nahum and then to all the rest.
And yet, I feel certain that all of us are in full agreement that God spoke not only to these prophets of Old Testament days, but that God continues to speak to you and to me these days, as well. At least, this is my own conviction.
So, with this conviction, let me ask once again: When was the last time the word of the Lord came to you? And what exactly did you do with it? If the Lord chose to entrust His holy word to you, what did you do with it? Of Haggai, we are told specifically that the word of the Lord came through him. That is, God’s word did not stop with him. God’s word continued through him.
Just what have you been doing with God’s word? Like Jonah, did you run away from it? Or, like Haggai of today, did you act on it? When was the last time the word of the Lord came to you. And what exactly did you do with it?
Do any of you suppose that God has a word for us today? These are difficult, stress-filled times, are they not? And if you would ask around what is the most pressing problem in most people’s lives, I would imagine that you will hear the majority of responses somewhere along the lines of the current calamitous condition of the economy. A few days ago, I heard a financial analyst compare the ongoing widespread economic catastrophe across our nation to like watching a large train wreck taking place in slow motion.
Do any of you believe that God has a word for these conditions in our times? Do any of you believe that God is so deeply involved in our lives both individually and as a church collectively that beyond what the world is saying, God wants us to hear what He has to say? Or, do you honestly believe that God is probably not all that interested in the economic conditions of these times?
Now, consider a question for today: “How can any of you go on living in your beautifully furnished homes with lavish surroundings while at the same time, all around there are others of God’s people living in the midst of such despairing need?” Is this an honest question for these times?
In addition to this question, I’m curious, what would be your thought if someone came into our midst here this morning and said something along these lines: “You people, you people really do need to reconsider your ways. Because in case you are not aware, you have accumulated extraordinary excesses for yourselves, and yet, you seem to grow less prosperous every day. You people certainly enjoy your abundance of food, but in reality you never seem to get your fill, do you? You enjoy your drinks, yet you still seem thirsty. Your closets are spilling over with more clothing than you could ever need, half of which you never even wear. And yet, you continue to go to the malls and stores to buy more. And the income you receive you place into investments which are only diminishing by the minute, almost as if you are putting your riches into bags filled with holes.” Now, what would your thoughts be if someone stood in front of us with these words?
Well, that “someone” just did, and his name is Haggai. You see, these are not my words, and neither are these the words of a stranger in our midst. These are the words of the Lord given to his servant-prophet Haggai, roughly 2,528 years ago today! God’s question given to Haggai and through him to God’s people, was this: “How can you go on living in your paneled homes while My house is in ruins?” (Haggai 1:4)
And then, continuing after His question, God then says, “You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a bag filled with holes.” (Haggai 1:6)
Now, historically, and very briefly, here is the situation: Judah, the Southern Kingdom of what used to be the united monarchy of Israel, had been conquered by Babylon in 586 B.C. Included in the defeat of Judah was the destruction not only of her capital city of Jerusalem, but also of her beloved Temple, a temple built by King Solomon some 381 years earlier. And many of the people of Judah, including her principal religious and political leaders, had been exiled to Babylon itself, roughly 1,100 miles to the east of Jerusalem, to what is present day Iraq.
Not many years later, in about 539 B.C., the country of Babylon was conquered by Persia and the new Persian King, King Cyrus, was moved to allow the exiled people to return to their beloved land of Judah. According to information recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Old Testament, many of them did, with approximately 50,000 of them returning. But when they arrived back in Jerusalem, they saw not only that their holy city of Jerusalem had been leveled but that their beloved Temple lay in complete ruins.
Among those returning was a man by the name of Haggai, who had probably been born in Babylon during the exile. God spoke to Haggai, and through him, God’s word to the people was this: “How can any of you continue to live in paneled homes while My house remains a ruin?”
And then, taking all of Haggai together, God’s message was a reminder that the predominant economic scarcity surrounding all of them was, in part, an indication of God’s displeasure in their self-centered living. Let me repeat this statement: The predominant economic scarcity surrounding them all was, in part, an indication of God’s displeasure in their self-centered living.
Is it possible, my dear friends, that this might also be God’s message to us today?
In just a few moments, you and I will once again be invited to do what you and I do on this annual Thanksgiving / Commitment Sunday. We will be invited to come forward to place our written faith commitments on the Table of our Lord. In continued preparation for what I believe to be a profoundly holy moment, allow me to reflect from deep within. And I am sincerely hoping that a great many of you who have already filled out your commitment cards for next year will be led either to tear them up and fill out a new one, or that you will be led to cross out what you have already written, and write in something different. How’s that for optimism? Better yet, how’s that for believing that God does want to speak a new word to you and to me today?
As the out-going Chair of the Communication and Church Support Committee of the Presbytery of Los Ranchos, I was asked to address the entire Presbytery this past Thursday. The assignment given to me was to say something which would encourage each of our some fifty-five congregations to remain faithful in their overall support of God’s work here, despite the calamitous condition of the economy, I did my best to beg off from this assignment — I really did! — but all to no avail!
And so, at the scheduled time I came forward to the front of the sanctuary of the St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach and I began to share with the Presbytery of Los Ranchos some of our own struggles here in this church, that our own Budget Committee of this congregation met this past Tuesday evening, and approved a General Operating Budget for the Placentia Presbyterian Church which includes cutbacks in almost every sector.
I shared with the Presbytery that prior to our own Budget Committee meeting of this past week, I met with the Personnel Committee, and I told them that I would kindly request no change in my current salary. For I strongly believe that one of my responsibilities as an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament is to lead by way of example. And in leading by way of example, I want to assure all of you that when Mary and I come forward in a few more moments, our own pledge commitment to our Lord will show an increase for our Lord’s work and ministry through this congregation. And as always, Mary and I will make this commitment with continued joy.
Now, like some or many of you, Mary and I also have some greatly increased responsibilities, or should I say opportunities, to provide needed financial assistance to each of our children and grandchildren. But providing this assistance will never be at the expense of providing any less for the work of our Lord.
As I shared with the Presbytery, the General Operating Budget which will be presented to our Session this coming Tuesday evening will show an overall reduction from the same budget of just one year ago. And, in certain areas of mission support, it will show some rather significant reductions. However, please be assured that once again on several selected Sundays throughout next year we will be providing opportunities for those among you who are interested in doing so to provide additional funding for some of these areas of our mission outreach.
In fact, and by way of example, one year ago, our Session approved a budget of only $100 for the Wheel Chair Ministry of Neil and Pam Donaghue living in Abeche, deep in the heart of Chad, Africa. And do you remember what happened here on Sunday, September 21st, only two months ago, while we were well into this current economic recession, by the way, the eighth official recession since 1983, for those of you keeping track? Do you remember what happened? We took three or four minutes during worship to show you a few pictures of the Donaghue’s ministry in Chad, one of the poorest nations of the world. And then I invited those among you who would like to give an additional amount to do so. Do you remember what happened? Many of us were so touched by the wheel chair ministry the Donaghues are doing on our behalf that we gave an additional $5,000 for their work! By the way, when I shared this with the Presbytery, there was an audible gasp! This church could have said and done nothing. We could have left the budgeted amount of $100 for the Donaghues alone and assuaged any of our guilt by saying to ourselves, “Well, at least we did something.”
But that’s not how Christian people work! And so, on September 21st of this year, only two months ago, well into this current recession, this congregation said through our extra giving that “living in our nicely furnished homes is sinful while the Lord’s work struggles with such need in Chad, Africa.” And together, you and I gave an additional $5,000 in order that the severely physically disabled people of Chad, Africa might at the very least have a way to transport their broken bodies! That is how Christian people behave! And I am simply guessing that none of our day-to-day standards of living were affected one bit!
Again, in terms of our overall Mission Budget considered only two nights ago, we made some deeply distressing decisions, as I also shared with the entire Presbytery, decisions resulting in numerous reductions all across the board. But please be assured that in no case are we eliminating any of the mission ministries we currently support and have been supporting for so many years. The budgeted support for most of our mission ministries will be reduced, and unfortunately, some areas will be reduced very significantly. But not a single one will be eliminated. And also please be assured that through all of next year, we will be providing additional opportunities on many Sundays to ask for and to urge your continued extra support. And as a quick reminder, it is always shown — please here me on this — it is always shown and with no exception, that the only ones who ever complain about these kinds of things are always those who either never give or who aren’t giving what they should be giving. So, please be careful in how you do your complaining!
I also reminded the Presbytery that, yes, these do continue to be very unpredictable times in which we are living. I shared with the Presbytery about our own John and Jan Sink living in a modest but beautiful home in Yorba Linda, and of the fires last Saturday afternoon which came through so quickly and so unexpectedly, causing the Sinks to lose almost everything they own, as they escaped only with their lives, their love for each other, and of course, their love for their Lord. Everything else, as you now know, is in ruins.
I shared with the Presbytery that only one week ago, one of our fire evacuated families, Lary and Mari Atherton, were enjoying wonderful health. That is, until early Monday morning, when Lary suffered a heart attack resulting in his hospitalization, angiogram and angioplasty of this past week.
I shared with the Presbytery of another of our younger families, Eric and Kimberly Schreiner and their two small children, Bryce and Elisabeth, also enjoying what we might call normal living. That is, until Eric was impacted by a stroke early Tuesday morning.
And yes, along the lines of these times being so unpredictable, I shared with the Presbytery that only one week ago, I was in Pittsburgh, PA, participating in the Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, following which time I went to the emergency room of the Washington General Hospital for half a day for what turned out to be a significant kidney stone attack. Life is so very unpredictable!
But, as I also shared with the Presbytery and as I share with you once again, the good news is that in unpredictable times, God’s faithfulness is always predictable! In unpredictable times, God’s faithfulness is always predictable! “God’s compassions never fail,” as we are reminded from the Book of Lamentations. “They are new every morning. For great is God’s faithfulness.”
And yet, what about our own faithfulness to God? As one of God’s prophets under the shadow of Haggai this morning, when you’ve been in ministry as long as I have, you come to learn a whole lot about people and their giving habits relative to money. Believe me when I say that I could write volumes on this subject!
As only one example of many, I am not only amazed but I am mostly appalled that there are some who will walk forward with a pledge card on this annual Thanksgiving / Commitment Sunday with the “caveat” that they will “pay on their pledge only on the Sundays they are in attendance!” In other words, a $1,000 pledge becomes $57.69 if they show up only three times during the year, which is not too far from the truth for some!
Is this the way God works in extending His faithfulness in their lives and in yours and in mine? If this is where any of you are in your thinking, let me help you out and save you some time, along with some footsteps — please don’t come forward with that kind of “conditional commitment card.” The God we worship is a 24/7 God! The God we worship is a God Whose compassions never fail! The God we worship is a God Whose compassions are new every morning! Of the God we worship, scripture declares, “Great is God’s faithfulness!”
I don’t know about you, but the God I worship in Jesus Christ is not a conditional God. His faithfulness is new every morning, His faithfulness is throughout every day, and His faithfulness is all night long. “God never sleeps and God never slumbers,” according to the truth of Psalm 121. God’s faithfulness is not just on Mondays and Wednesdays. God’s faithfulness is not just between the hours of ten and two weekdays only. And neither should our faithfulness to God be given only on those Sundays we happen to be in worship!
As one of God’s prophets under the shadow of Haggai this morning, I want to ask each of you, and with no exceptions — please hear me on this — with no exceptions to bring forward a commitment card. If you don’t think you can make any kind of pledge, I beg to differ. If you honestly believe that you have absolutely nothing to give, can you give just one dollar for this entire next year? That’s two cents a week, exactly what the widow gave in the Jerusalem Temple so long ago. If you don’t believe you can give anything of any worth, can you give twenty-five cents a week? And if you truly believe that you cannot give anything above what you are currently giving, is it possible that you could give perhaps one more dollar for all of this next year? That’s not a whole lot, but it is something, and it says that despite the economic conditions surrounding us, you will not be directed in how you respond in your love of God only because of what is happening on Wall Street. Your increase of just one dollar for next year will shout aloud to the world that despite what is happening on Wall Street, your love of God will still increase. Can you do this? I hope right now a whole bunch of you are beginning to re-think what you may have already written on your commitment card! I am a very optimistic pastor!
Now, having said this, I am guessing that there may, in fact, be some here who are doing the very best you can, but who will need to make a decrease, not because you want to but because you have to. For those of you in this situation, as you come forward, God is still smiling as strongly as ever before. God understands. In fact, the largest reason God will be smiling is because you will, indeed, be coming forward! What I told the entire Presbytery this past Thursday evening as my concluding words were along these lines: “As you plan your giving for this next year, please provide something. Increase your support if you can, decrease it if you must, make a commitment if you have never done so, but please, please, please do not just sit there. Because that’s just not the way God’s people should ever behave!”
To a people whose lives were shaken to the core, God spoke through Haggai once again. And this is what God said this time: “In just a little while, I will once again shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all the nations . . . and I will fill my house with glory. The silver is mine,” says the Lord, “along with the gold. For be assured that the present glory will be greater than the former.”
“And in this place,” He declares, “I will grant you My peace.”
Copyright © 2008 by Rev. F. David Throop. All rights reserved. No part of this sermon may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except in the case of a very brief quotation which will acknowledge the source. |
