Giving Ourselves to God
Proper 20 Year C Luke 16:1-13
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 19th, 2010
Written by Fr. Brett Backus
Delivered at 8am by Fr. Brett, at 10:30am by Fr. Rob
Giving Ourselves to God
“For the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation
than are the children of light.”
Today's message is about Christian living.
It is about our very real need as Christians
to struggle constantly
with the giving over of ourselves to Christ
in order to make room for God in our hearts.
You know, one of my favorite things
about taking people on mission trips
is being provided with the opportunity
to witness the people we have taken
grow before our very eyes.
Being able to provide people with life altering experiences and having the chance to see
how each individual responds to challenges and changes
as a result of the various challenges that come along
with mission work is both a blessing and a privilege.
One of my favorite challenges,
which presented itself on both the trips to Bolivia Ascension has supported and taken in the past two years,
is the challenge that comes from the realization
that there is a lack of resources.
So, there you are,
working on some type of construction project,
trying to hammer two pieces of wood together
or saw something in half,
or maybe you are just trying to paint a wall.
Regardless, the inevitable reality is,
you do not have the proper tools to accomplish this task.
Not only do you not have what you need,
but you also do not have the foggiest idea
as to where to begin looking for what you need.
What you do have though,
what you do know without a doubt,
is that you have an important task in front of you.
Something that is important to someone else.
Something that means quite a bit to the people
you are trying to serve,
and something that you must accomplish.
So, what happens? Action.
You deal with it.
See, the thing that I love to witness
in this type of situation while doing mission work,
the amazing thing that happens every time
as a result of this type of challenge
is that people make it happen.
They just do it.
Despite the challenge,
and regardless of whether a somewhat better tool
can be searched out and purchased or not,
the people somehow recognize the seriousness
and importance of their current situation
and the meaning of their service to others,
and they do what they must
and in the best way they can
in order to accomplish their task.
They act, and to witness this is amazing.
To watch a group of normal everyday people
band together and care so much about something
that they take such an energetic initiative
and act with such persistence in order to succeed
is astonishing.
It truly is a sight to behold,
and it is a perfect example
of a kind of authentic Christian living,
where individuals successfully give themselves
over to God in order to serve others in His name,
and it is a shame that it is not something
we have the chance to see, experience,
or participate in everyday.
That is what I believe Jesus is talking to us about
in this morning's Gospel;
the way we choose to act as Christians.
Now, if you were paying attention
while Deacon Amy was reading this morning's Gospel lesson to us, then the appropriate response
that you should be having right about now is,
this is absolutely insane!
This is crazy, it does not make sense,
I do not get it, what in the world is Jesus talking about?
Boy, I sure feel sorry for the person who
has to write a sermon on this one!
You are right.
Actually, even to this day, scholars debate
about what in the world the actual point is
that Jesus is trying to get across in this Gospel lesson.
Of course, I cannot pretend to have the answer
to that question or the solution to this age old debate today. However, what I can do,
is speak to you all about what I heard this Gospel saying to me as I prepared to preach to you this morning.
I hear Jesus calling us to Christian action,
to Christian living.
See, the dishonest manager in today's Gospel
is commended for acting shrewdly,
and while I somewhat agree with the many
who believe that this passage is intended to teach us
about how to deal with or use our money and possessions,
I also think that Jesus is pointing us to a lesson
that lies just a little deeper than that.
As I see it, the dishonest manager
is not being praised for the way he handled money,
or for how he treated his boss's debtors.
He is being praised because he acted.
He took care of it.
The reason that the dishonest manager in this morning's Gospel is lifted up is because he fully appreciates
the importance and urgency of his situation
and he takes an energetic initiative and acts prudently.
This is what I believe Jesus wants us to see
in today's Gospel.
“For the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.”
You see, Christian living, a commitment to living
for Christ as His disciples,
seems to have lost its prominence or importance
in the lives of present day Christians.
Granted, we find ourselves in a very different situation
than the disciples of Christ's day.
We do not fear persecution
and we do not typically hold the belief
that Jesus is going to come back any minute now.
But we do struggle
with giving Christ the prominence in our lives
that He should have.
In other words, we place many things of this world
and in our lives before God.
This, I believe, is why we,
the children of light,
are being compared with the shrewdness
of the children of this generation. In a way,
we are being told to take notes
and apply what we learn to our Christian living.
To begin to give more importance to Christ in our lives
than other things,
and to be as resourceful and prudent
in our Christian dealings or actions
as the dishonest manager was in his dealings with money. Today, Jesus calls us each back
to being Christ-centered people.
People who place the utmost importance
on obeying the teachings
and spreading the message of Christ.
People who commit to living in a way
that becomes an example for others.
People who actually care about ushering in
the reality of Christ,
even enough to put Him before all other things in their lives.
But how is it possible to actually do this?
Sacrifice.
Oh yes, that dirty little word
that makes us all cringe to hear.
Sacrifice.
Now, I promise that I did not originally intend
on this being a stewardship sermon,
and it really is not at it's heart,
but it is almost impossible not to see how closely
the two subjects are related in today's Gospel.
Plus, I didn't think that our Stewardship committee
would really mind my mentioning the subject!
The reality is, and just as our Gospel today points out,
all of us try to serve two masters
(and that might be putting it mildly),
and this is precisely what creates one of the main problems for us as disciples of Christ
trying to live Christ centered lives.
Our love of material and worldly things
divides our hearts between Christ and our possessions.
The truth is, that this is why pledging and tithing
are so deeply important for all of us.
They help us avoid the pitfalls
which lead to serving two masters,
the main thing which prevents us from truly adopting Christian action, Christian living.
They are the blessings which, when used,
help us to lessen and even defeat the false masters
which we unfortunately have come to serve
at the very core of our hearts.
They help us to clear out the formerly crowded space
in our hearts and enable us to make room
to be filled with the presence of God.
Unfortunately, in our day,
stewardship has come to be viewed as a burden.
People think that they should give
of their time, talents, and money
because it is needed for the church to run,
because it is commanded,
because it is just the right thing to do,
or because they view it as a form of repayment
for the services that the church has provided them.
But this misses the entire point of such powerful
and necessary spiritual practices.
When we give, we give for none of these reasons.
When we give, we give of our time, talents, and money,
the things that are most precious to us,
in effect, we give of our very selves
in order to successfully reorient the core of our hearts
around Christ.
We give in order to put Christ before all things in our lives,
in order to be able to live Christ centered lives.
With truly sacrificial giving,
the kind that makes you wince
when you look at how much you give,
you experience the true connection to Christ,
that action for Christ I was talking about earlier.
You see, in the end, this is what today's Gospel
is really all about, at least for me it is.
It is about reaching true Christian living,
Christian action, through the sacrifice of ourselves.
Only by giving up those things
which we are most attached to,
the things that hurt to give away,
can we finally make the space necessary
for God to take first place in our hearts.
Only then can we really place the highest importance
on Christ and the real focus on Christian living
that Jesus as Lord deserves.
Only then can we truly adopt Christian action.
Only through such intentional sacrifice can we,
the children of light,
finally be as wise and prudent in our dealings with God
and God's creation as we currently are
with our material things.
We cannot step into the light
until we let go of all that is holding us back,
of all that is weighing us down,
of all that we are holding onto with all of our strength.
When we finally figure out how to do this,
then we will be able to begin
trying to reorder our lives around the only One
that deserves all our efforts,
all our focus, all that we are.
Christ.
“For the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation
than are the children of light.” Amen.
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 19th, 2010
Written by Fr. Brett Backus
Delivered at 8am by Fr. Brett, at 10:30am by Fr. Rob
Giving Ourselves to God
“For the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation
than are the children of light.”
Today's message is about Christian living.
It is about our very real need as Christians
to struggle constantly
with the giving over of ourselves to Christ
in order to make room for God in our hearts.
You know, one of my favorite things
about taking people on mission trips
is being provided with the opportunity
to witness the people we have taken
grow before our very eyes.
Being able to provide people with life altering experiences and having the chance to see
how each individual responds to challenges and changes
as a result of the various challenges that come along
with mission work is both a blessing and a privilege.
One of my favorite challenges,
which presented itself on both the trips to Bolivia Ascension has supported and taken in the past two years,
is the challenge that comes from the realization
that there is a lack of resources.
So, there you are,
working on some type of construction project,
trying to hammer two pieces of wood together
or saw something in half,
or maybe you are just trying to paint a wall.
Regardless, the inevitable reality is,
you do not have the proper tools to accomplish this task.
Not only do you not have what you need,
but you also do not have the foggiest idea
as to where to begin looking for what you need.
What you do have though,
what you do know without a doubt,
is that you have an important task in front of you.
Something that is important to someone else.
Something that means quite a bit to the people
you are trying to serve,
and something that you must accomplish.
So, what happens? Action.
You deal with it.
See, the thing that I love to witness
in this type of situation while doing mission work,
the amazing thing that happens every time
as a result of this type of challenge
is that people make it happen.
They just do it.
Despite the challenge,
and regardless of whether a somewhat better tool
can be searched out and purchased or not,
the people somehow recognize the seriousness
and importance of their current situation
and the meaning of their service to others,
and they do what they must
and in the best way they can
in order to accomplish their task.
They act, and to witness this is amazing.
To watch a group of normal everyday people
band together and care so much about something
that they take such an energetic initiative
and act with such persistence in order to succeed
is astonishing.
It truly is a sight to behold,
and it is a perfect example
of a kind of authentic Christian living,
where individuals successfully give themselves
over to God in order to serve others in His name,
and it is a shame that it is not something
we have the chance to see, experience,
or participate in everyday.
That is what I believe Jesus is talking to us about
in this morning's Gospel;
the way we choose to act as Christians.
Now, if you were paying attention
while Deacon Amy was reading this morning's Gospel lesson to us, then the appropriate response
that you should be having right about now is,
this is absolutely insane!
This is crazy, it does not make sense,
I do not get it, what in the world is Jesus talking about?
Boy, I sure feel sorry for the person who
has to write a sermon on this one!
You are right.
Actually, even to this day, scholars debate
about what in the world the actual point is
that Jesus is trying to get across in this Gospel lesson.
Of course, I cannot pretend to have the answer
to that question or the solution to this age old debate today. However, what I can do,
is speak to you all about what I heard this Gospel saying to me as I prepared to preach to you this morning.
I hear Jesus calling us to Christian action,
to Christian living.
See, the dishonest manager in today's Gospel
is commended for acting shrewdly,
and while I somewhat agree with the many
who believe that this passage is intended to teach us
about how to deal with or use our money and possessions,
I also think that Jesus is pointing us to a lesson
that lies just a little deeper than that.
As I see it, the dishonest manager
is not being praised for the way he handled money,
or for how he treated his boss's debtors.
He is being praised because he acted.
He took care of it.
The reason that the dishonest manager in this morning's Gospel is lifted up is because he fully appreciates
the importance and urgency of his situation
and he takes an energetic initiative and acts prudently.
This is what I believe Jesus wants us to see
in today's Gospel.
“For the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.”
You see, Christian living, a commitment to living
for Christ as His disciples,
seems to have lost its prominence or importance
in the lives of present day Christians.
Granted, we find ourselves in a very different situation
than the disciples of Christ's day.
We do not fear persecution
and we do not typically hold the belief
that Jesus is going to come back any minute now.
But we do struggle
with giving Christ the prominence in our lives
that He should have.
In other words, we place many things of this world
and in our lives before God.
This, I believe, is why we,
the children of light,
are being compared with the shrewdness
of the children of this generation. In a way,
we are being told to take notes
and apply what we learn to our Christian living.
To begin to give more importance to Christ in our lives
than other things,
and to be as resourceful and prudent
in our Christian dealings or actions
as the dishonest manager was in his dealings with money. Today, Jesus calls us each back
to being Christ-centered people.
People who place the utmost importance
on obeying the teachings
and spreading the message of Christ.
People who commit to living in a way
that becomes an example for others.
People who actually care about ushering in
the reality of Christ,
even enough to put Him before all other things in their lives.
But how is it possible to actually do this?
Sacrifice.
Oh yes, that dirty little word
that makes us all cringe to hear.
Sacrifice.
Now, I promise that I did not originally intend
on this being a stewardship sermon,
and it really is not at it's heart,
but it is almost impossible not to see how closely
the two subjects are related in today's Gospel.
Plus, I didn't think that our Stewardship committee
would really mind my mentioning the subject!
The reality is, and just as our Gospel today points out,
all of us try to serve two masters
(and that might be putting it mildly),
and this is precisely what creates one of the main problems for us as disciples of Christ
trying to live Christ centered lives.
Our love of material and worldly things
divides our hearts between Christ and our possessions.
The truth is, that this is why pledging and tithing
are so deeply important for all of us.
They help us avoid the pitfalls
which lead to serving two masters,
the main thing which prevents us from truly adopting Christian action, Christian living.
They are the blessings which, when used,
help us to lessen and even defeat the false masters
which we unfortunately have come to serve
at the very core of our hearts.
They help us to clear out the formerly crowded space
in our hearts and enable us to make room
to be filled with the presence of God.
Unfortunately, in our day,
stewardship has come to be viewed as a burden.
People think that they should give
of their time, talents, and money
because it is needed for the church to run,
because it is commanded,
because it is just the right thing to do,
or because they view it as a form of repayment
for the services that the church has provided them.
But this misses the entire point of such powerful
and necessary spiritual practices.
When we give, we give for none of these reasons.
When we give, we give of our time, talents, and money,
the things that are most precious to us,
in effect, we give of our very selves
in order to successfully reorient the core of our hearts
around Christ.
We give in order to put Christ before all things in our lives,
in order to be able to live Christ centered lives.
With truly sacrificial giving,
the kind that makes you wince
when you look at how much you give,
you experience the true connection to Christ,
that action for Christ I was talking about earlier.
You see, in the end, this is what today's Gospel
is really all about, at least for me it is.
It is about reaching true Christian living,
Christian action, through the sacrifice of ourselves.
Only by giving up those things
which we are most attached to,
the things that hurt to give away,
can we finally make the space necessary
for God to take first place in our hearts.
Only then can we really place the highest importance
on Christ and the real focus on Christian living
that Jesus as Lord deserves.
Only then can we truly adopt Christian action.
Only through such intentional sacrifice can we,
the children of light,
finally be as wise and prudent in our dealings with God
and God's creation as we currently are
with our material things.
We cannot step into the light
until we let go of all that is holding us back,
of all that is weighing us down,
of all that we are holding onto with all of our strength.
When we finally figure out how to do this,
then we will be able to begin
trying to reorder our lives around the only One
that deserves all our efforts,
all our focus, all that we are.
Christ.
“For the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation
than are the children of light.” Amen.
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