November 19, 2006

The Cost of Commitment
 

by Rev. Dr. Jim Carlson

1 Corinthians 8:1-5

Opening Illustration

Paul wants to keep the Corinthians energized. How do you energize a group that may not completely trust you?

Paul used example of others. Macedonian church – gave despite poverty. Example of Christ – became poor so that Corinthians could become rich.

What do we know about this offering?

What was it? (slide) 1 Cor. 16:1-4 – To be collected over time, as Corinthians prosper. To be taken to Jerusalem by appointed representatives.

Galatians 2:10 – Only requirement under agreement with Jerusalem church: remember the poor.

Why did he want to collect it? (slide)

Romans 15:28 – to gain support from Jerusalem church for mission to Spain. Churches can exchange riches (Romans 15:26-27)

2 Corinthians 8:14 – Equality. Use of Manna image in Exodus 16.

Today as we consider this passage and as we prepare to make a pledge regarding our support of the congregation’s ministries next year, I want to ask you to reflect on one of the images Paul gives us here. He says the Macedonians gave themselves first to the Lord. And then they gave the money to Paul for the offering.

I want you to think about what that image means. What were talking about this morning is not simply writing a check, or promising to write checks next year. The question we’re really asking is whether or not each of us will give of ourselves to the Lord in the coming year.

Rather than simply putting a check in the offering plate, would you be willing to step into the offering plate yourself and present yourself as an offering during the next year? I know we don’t have offering plates that large, but if we did, and if you stepped into the plate and offered yourself, what would 2007 look like for you?

Our passage for today would lead us to believe that you cannot really talk about making a pledge to the church if you have not already given yourself completely to God. Well what does that mean? What happens when a person gives themselves completely to God?

I would put it this way: the person who puts themselves into the offering plate is allowing God’s spirit to influence every part of their lives, not just the parts people see on Sunday mornings. Stepping into the offering plate means offering up your prejudices, your personal baggage, your fears, your hatred, your anger, your busyness, your selfishness, and all of the other things that prevent you from being the kind of person God knows you can be.

There are lots of people out there who can write checks to their church without giving their entire life and being to God as an offering and a sacrifice. Paul tells us in another passage the God calls us to offer up ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.

What gets in the way of us offering ourselves as a living sacrifice? One of the things that happens to people is they lose awareness of how they are managing their lives and resources.

The New York Times had an article a number of years ago about a self-proclaimed mystic who would walk the streets of New York dispensing wisdom to passersby. He referred to himself as the “Man-Sun”. While not everything he offered was wise, I’ll share something he said which applies to our discussion this morning.

He once said, “The majority of people are moving through life on autopilot; the subconscious is in charge, the real brain is asleep at the switch.” Now you can interpret that to mean many things. But I think it says a lot about the way we look at our God-given responsibility to manage our money and our time and our talents in a sacrificial way.

How many people do you know whose lives look the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow? When you place yourself in the offering plate, you stop saying, “I will give this year what I gave last year and the year before that.” Or “I will put something in the offering plate if I have some small bills. If not, then maybe the next time.”

This is autopilot stewardship. This is stewardship from the comfort zone of our lives. We cannot be on autopilot next year and still be the kind of congregation God wants us to be. We have to recognize that it is our turn, not someone else’s, to give ourselves to God in our entirety.

Joyce Landorf in her book Balcony People wrote about an encounter in the airport a number of years ago. She was waiting for a plane and decided she had time to run into a gift shop to pick up a card or two.

She writes: “The clerks were frantically busy. But I eventually reached the counter and gave the cashier my money. After she had counted back my change she immediately turned and waited on someone else, forgetting to give me a bag for my cards.

“Since she was already busy ringing up the next sale, I held up my cards to another salesperson standing in front of me. ‘I’ve already paid for these’, I explained, ‘but I need a bag.’

I’ll never forget the look of disbelief on the clerk’s face. It was as though I’d asked her to give me the keys to her car. She just shook her head ‘no’ and, making no move to he bags, which were within easy reach, she cryptically said, ‘It’s not my shift yet.’”

Folks, while we have life and breath it is our shift. On this day of pledges and commitments, we have the opportunity to do as these Macedonians did and offer ourselves first to God, and then to the ministries of this church.

Today we prefer convenience to commitment, but the people we admire the most are the people who have made great commitments. We don’t admire every politician, but we do admire the ones who show a deep commitment to the welfare of the people they represent. We don’t admire every parent with children, but we do admire those who show an untiring commitment to the responsibility for their child’s nurture and development.

We don’t admire every person in business, but as consumers we admire those business people whose commitment to their customers requires them to be excellent in whatever they do or sell.

These people understand the phrase, “point of no return”. That phrase comes from the early days of transcontinental flights. In those days there was a point in the trip when the plane could not turn back because it only had enough fuel to go forward. The plane was committed to its destination and there was no turning back.

When we put ourselves into the offering plate, we signal that there is no return. Just as we would never stick our hand in the offering plate and take back something we already gave, in the same way we must be willing to say to God, “I’m yours, and there’s no turning back.” We have a chance to say that to God this morning.

I’m going to ask Karen to play the music to the hymn of commitment this morning. And I want you to take some time and think about the example Paul mentioned, those Macedonians who gave themselves to the Lord first and foremost.

What does that mean for you this morning? I want you to take some more time and consider whether the kind of pledge you have planned to give is really a way of putting yourself in the offering plate next year. Then, as you feel led, come up front, bring your family if you have them with you or a friend if you don’t, and make your pledge to God for next year.