Mark 10:46-52
Throughout the month we have received a Minute
for Missions from various church committees.
These announcements were given to help you consider your financial
pledge to the church this year. We run a
very low key campaign. I have been instructed
by the Stewardship Ministry Group to preach four stewardship sermons a
year. I bet you can’t remember the first
three. This week I have been asked to be
a bit more obvious and so I shall try.
For many of us a stewardship sermon is
not necessary. Our families taught us
the importance of giving at an early age.
I got my first allowance when I was in the fourth grade. Each week my father gave me 60 cents. To be more exact he gave me 12 nickels. At the beginning of each month when my father
was paid he would get rolls of nickels. Each
Saturday morning my allowance was disbursed.
Fifty cents for me and ten
cents for Sunday School. Dad also gave
me a five dollar bill once a month. That
was to be placed in my monthly envelop for the church service. When I reached the seventh grade Dad gave me
$2.40 at the beginning of each month. Do
the math. It was still 60 cents a week. He wanted to see if I could be responsible
with my allowance over a period longer than one week. In other words he wanted
to see if I would put ten cents back for each Sunday. When Deb and I got
married over thirty eight years ago, I discovered her father had a similar
system. So there was never any question
concerning the importance of our gift to God.
It still remains the first check we write when we pay our bills.
Not all of you had my experience. For many of you giving to the church is
something new. Some folks give to the church if all the other
bills and expenses are covered. When the purse strings get tight, giving to the
church is not a high priority. Since giving
to the church is something I have always done, and something I seldom question,
I had to go out and find a resource that addresses many of the questions folks
have about giving their hard earned money to the church.
Presbytery sent out an e-mail suggesting
every minister read a book titled, Not
Your Parents Offering Plate, a New Vision for Financial Stewardship by J.
Clif Christopher. I purchased it and read it on the plane
coming back from Haiti. It had some interesting suggestions. Did you know that in America today
there are over 1.8 million non profit organizations, each trying to solicit
your dollars? In 1985 religious groups
received 55% of all charitable donations.
Last year that number was down to 31%.
Part of the reason for that is the number of non profits over the past
twenty five years has risen by 600,000.
There are a lot of folks out there asking for your money and Mr. Christopher
says people want to give to something that changes their lives. I could not agree more.
Mr. Christopher gives three reasons why
folks give. Number one is that folks
have a belief in the mission of the organization. WHAT IS OUR MISSION AT ROCKFISH PRESBYTERIAN? I believe it is to change lives for the sake
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let’s
quickly look at who we are and how we are known. Last year you adopted a motto that declares Rockfish
to be a Light in the Valley. What
perfect words for this congregation. No
church in this area does more for the folks of Nelson County
than Rockfish. No church in this area
has a more diverse congregation. No
church in this area has a better music program.
Like everyone we have room to improve but from the day I arrived nine months
ago I was immediately overwhelmed by the caring, the nurturing, the humor, the
generosity that defines Rockfish as a church.
Believe it or not we are known throughout the Presbytery. Last week, while in Richmond, I told someone I was the minister at
Rockfish. The immediate response was, “What a blessing to be there. I hear
nothing but good things about your congregation.” Your contributions allow us to continue to
feed souls, feed minds, and feed the hungry.
Christopher says a second reason people
give is because they have a high regard for the leadership. Truth is you hardly know me. I have been here less than a year so I am
going to suggest you give me a pass and wait till next year to make your
evaluation. Let’s look at you
session. What an honorable group of
people. Look at the back of your
bulletin and marvel at the folks you have chosen to lead this
congregation. Look at the folks who lead
our worship through the outpouring of music. Go downstairs and looks at the folks teaching
the bible to our children. Go to Senior
Citizen lunches, Habitiat, the Food Pantry, BRIM meetings, CASA meetings, The
Wood Ministry, or any other activity serving the folks in Nelson County
and you will see your fellow church members.
Who is the leadership of this county?
You are! Who is the leadership of
this church? You are. Let me say as someone who has just arrived,
you are doing a mighty fine job.
Finally Christopher says people don’t
give to sinking ships. According to
Nancy Neville, and she should know, our membership has reached an all time
high. We have had 17 new folks join us
this year. There are a lot of you who
attend regularly but still want to hold on to your love of a former
church. I admire your loyalty. But I am more thrilled we worship together on
Sunday and work together rest of the week.
Your membership might be elsewhere, but in heart and spirit you are part
of the Rockfish community. Now a lot of ministers would use this time to tell
you how bad things are. They would try
to make you feel guilty. If I told you
something like that I would be lying.
Each morning when I drive into our parking lot, I feel the energy that
comes from a vibrant, faithful people, who serve God and who serve the folks in
this community.
I appreciate these insights made by
Christopher. They are excellent points
but I have to say Christopher is suggesting nothing new. I have graduated from one college and three
graduate schools. About this time each
year all of them wants to solicit money by informing me of their mission, their
leadership and their success. I fully
expect United Way,
the Cancer Society, the Heart Fund and a slew of other organizations to send me
request for money. They too will brag
about their mission, their leadership and their success. The formula suggested by Christopher has a
good track record in the private sector.
It works for organizations because most folks want to place their money
where they know it will be used well. I say AMEN to that. But the church is and has always been more
than an organization. In fact I might be
so bold to say when the church only views itself as an organization it takes a
mighty big risk of losing its heart and soul.
Please pay special attention to this
week’s text from the Gospel of Mark. Jesus
and the disciples were walking up the road from Jericho.
They were surrounded by a large crowd of people, all trying to figure
out who this Jesus of Nazareth might be.
On the side of the road was a beggar named Bartimaeus. When he heard that Jesus was passing by he
exclaimed, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” Folks sternly ordered him to simmer down but
he kept crying out, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” Jesus stopped turned to the blind man and
said, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Bartimaeus replied, “Teacher, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Your faith has made you
well.” Immediately Bartimaeus regained
his sight.
There are plenty of miracle stories in
the gospels but I think this is my favorite.
Thousands of folks, thousands of folks with good eyesight, flocked around
Jesus every day. Yet only this man, this
blind man, recognized who Jesus was and what Jesus could do. To often the work of the church revolves
around programs to run, bills to pay and buildings to maintain. Those things are important, after all we are
an institution. When we come to our stewardship campaign we want to impress you
with how well we run the programs, pay the bills and maintain the
buildings. But Blind Bartimaeus wasn’t
interested in any of that stuff. He
believed in a power that transcended slogans, leadership and good track
records. He wanted, he needed a miracle
and the only person capable of giving him sight was standing right in front of
him. Bartimaeus recognized God in
Christ. He knew, he believed, something
was about to happen that was beyond the scope of his human imagination.
A good friend of mine Gary Charles
wrote, “What would it mean for the church to trust not in successful
stewardship for its future, trust not in the most dynamic preacher for its
future, trust not in the most appealing music for its future, trust not even in
its spiritual piety for its future but trust first in God, believing God’s
mercy and grace will always be with us.”
That trust is what makes us unique from
other institutions. That trust is what
allows me to willingly participate in our stewardship program. I trust God has plans for us we have not even
imagined. We may not see them with our
physical eyes but my spiritual vision tells me God is in the process doing the
miraculous here in Rockfish
Valley. How do I know this? I have witnessed God’s hand in my life for as
long as I can remember. I am still that young kid with $2.40 in his hand the
first of the month. By the end of the
first Saturday, $2.00 was usually spent on useless stuff. But I saved the forty cents, and spent it two
nickels at a time, one Sunday at a time, because I believed God works
miracles……I still do……I suspect I am not alone. Amen.
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