Stephen Baldwin
OT: Genesis 15.1-6
NT: Luke 12.32-41
Making Room for God
Kerry and I
have begun putting the nursery together for little Harrison. As we started rearranging things, I wondered
how long has it been since there was a nursery in this manse? A while, for sure. We’ve got a dresser, a bookshelf for books
and toys and such, a chair, and Kerry has this great plan for artwork from
family members.
We only lack one big thing. Kerry showed me pictures of 4 or 5 different
cribs and asked me which one I liked. I
said, “Any of them.” Apparently, that
wasn’t the right answer.
Making room for the nursery means
making room. That room had been an extra
guest room, but it was mostly filled with things that just didn’t fit anywhere
else or weren’t desired anymore. Do you
have any rooms like that in your home?
I understand Ed preached about
rooms like that last week. Encouraging
us not to build barns to store our stuff, but instead to find freedom in having
less. Anybody go home this week and try
to clean out your stuff? It’s a
wonderful idea. The mental image of an
empty garage or an empty guest room is mighty powerful…but then you go to the
garage or the guest room…and you start doing the work. You quickly learn that it’s not as easy as it
sounds, right? I’ve been talking about
having a yard sale for two years now.
Talking. Haven’t had a yard sale
yet.
This week’s Bible reading builds
upon last week’s. Last week, Jesus told
a parable urging his followers not to build barns to store their stuff. This week, he tells them what they should do
instead.
“Sell your
possessions, and give alms.” When we
hear these words from Jesus, we assume he means he wants us to sell our houses,
sell our cars, sell our clothes, and give it all to the poor. And we say with Peter, “You’re just talking
generally, right Jesus? You’re not
talking literally to me specifically, right Jesus?”
Of course
he was talking to them. Peter was trying
to understand how Jesus’ teachings fit into their Jewish teachings on giving.
In Judaism,
believers were expected to share their resources in a couple of important
ways. They were expected to give regular
tithes to the temple, which was AT LEAST ten percent of what you had. Not just what you made that year, but what
you had. That could include crops,
money, precious oils, or even livestock.
If you think tithing is tough, think about giving 10% of everything you
have to others each year.
Why did
Jews have such a strict system of giving?
Because people needed the help. Poverty was the rule then, not the
exception. Because having to give away
10% of your stuff each year made it easier to get in that routine than
accumulate for a decade and then talk about having a yard sale for another
couple years. And finally, because when
you help someone, you end up being the one who benefits. You feel good about being able to help and
live out God’s generosity in some small way.
Don’t you find that to be true?
For example, this past week we had
a workcamp come from Iowa. They drove
over 800 miles one way just to get here and do flood relief. It was the first workcamp their church had
ever taken. During our closing service
on Friday, they said, “We came expecting to change other people’s lives, but
our lives were changed.” In serving
others, have you ever come to that realization?
Serving others is the reward in and of itself. It is the way of our Lord.
In researching almsgiving this
week, I found something fascinating. In
several writings from Old Testament times, including the book of Tobit,
believers were taught to help “all who practice righteousness.” In other words, they qualified who deserved
help.
In Luke, Jesus puts no limitations
on giving. He doesn’t say only help
those who help themselves. He doesn’t say
only help those who remember to say thank you.
He doesn’t say only help those who will in turn help others. No limitations. Why is that?
For Jesus, the reward is in giving.
You get much more out of helping someone, no matter the circumstance,
than they get from you.
In that spirit, I need you to come
over to the manse and help me get rid of all our extra stuff! You’ll get much more out of it than I
will! Just kidding. We will be making room for Harrison in the
coming months. And as hard as it is,
it’s also a tremendous blessing. We’re
making room for a blessing from God. And
that is exactly what Jesus teaches us all in today’s Bible story. Those who share what they have to spare make
room in their lives for a tremendous blessing from God, because the reward is
in giving.
Amen.
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