Answer the Call: Overflow With Thanksgiving

2012-11-18 2Cor 09 06-12
James McTyre
Lake Hills Presbyterian Church
Stewardship Dedication Sunday


2 Corinthians 9:6-12 The Cheerful Giver
6The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9As it is written,
"He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever."
10He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

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Last Sunday in worship we observed Veterans Day with some amazing music. Thank you, veterans and your families. Thank you, Carla. Thank you, choir. Thank you, handbells.

We celebrated a record number of Operation Christmas Child donations with the Leaning Tower of Shoeboxes, that almost made it to the end of worship.

This week, we're jumping ahead a few days to celebrate Thanksgiving. We had a cornucopia of abundance at last Wednesday's Thanksgiving Dinner, and thank you to the Church Events committee for cooking, and cooking, and cooking.

There are so many reasons to give thanks today.

For instance, there's only one more game left in football season. It's Kentucky, and they're 2-9, so, you know, it's a toss-up.

The Lady Vols started their season. Won by 53 points at the home opener.

There are so many reasons to be overflowing with gratitude. Today's message is about overflowing with gratitude as we "Answer the Call."

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This year's theme for stewardship season is, "Answer the Call." I want to thank Jim Williams for doing an awesome job as chairperson. We've had personal and inspiring talks about answering the call by Blake, and Mark. Linda even brought her cell phone. As always, she was, "Wonderful."

Speaking of phones, last Sunday, during the sermon on, "Answer the Call," someone's cell phone went off just as I was making the thematic point. I want to thank whoever that was for the subtle addition. I resisted the urge to say, "Answer the call."

I like the theme of, "Answer the Call," because whether he was talking about money - and Jesus talked about money a lot. The only person I know who talks about money as much as Jesus did is Dave Ramsey. If I preached on money as often as Jesus did, you'd say, "Um, can we just narrow this down to, like, November, and get it all over with at once?" Which is how Stewardship Season got invented.

But whether Jesus was talking about money, or becoming a disciple, or loving your neighbor, he called people. Jesus worked by calling, not by arm-twisting. He never said, "Love your neighbor as yourself. Or you're gonna burn."

Jesus walked by the sea, he called apostles. Jesus walked through town, he called the poor, the sick, the outcasts that nobody else would call, not even maybe. Jesus walked through foreign countries where holy people weren't supposed to go, and he called Samaritans, some pretty good ones, too.

Jesus worked by calling, never by arm-twisting. And he called people to give, never to get. Jesus didn't need apostles. Jesus didn't need followers. Jesus didn't need hungry, dirty people following him around. He could have done it like a rock star. There's an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical about that. But that's not his style. That's not his purpose. Jesus was never about getting. Jesus was all about giving. So he didn't twist arms; he called.

Stewardship in the church isn't about arm-twisting. It's about calling. It's about asking you to answer the call. We could probably get more money if we arm-twisted. There are churches that demand to see your tax returns. And it works. It's very effective. I do not criticize them. Presbyterians tend to be more, I don't know, subtle. We rarely lock the doors and pass the bucket repeatedly. But I'm not above it.

Stewardship is about calling, not arm-twisting. Of course we need the money, but the money's not the point. Of course the church needs money, but more than that, the church needs, the community needs, the world needs, YOU need - Jesus. It's not about the money coming in. It's about the ministry going out. It's about the love and justice going out. It's about what the Apostle Paul wrote in today's scripture, it's about "overflowing" in many thanksgivings to God. That's how this church talks about stewardship. That's our style.

It's what the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: "For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints (that is, the church itself) but is also overflowing (overflowing - spilling out, to homes, to communities, to the world) in many (many) thanksgivings to God."

Answer the call. Overflow with thanksgiving.

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Because of the weird way Presbyterian government works, I'm not even a member of this church. Did you know that? Kristen's a member. Emily's a member. Anna's going to be a member as soon as she goes through Confirmation. I'm a member of Presbytery. So, I'm not really a member of any church. I'm like a permanent Visitor. Which means I get the good parking space.

In Biblical terms, You're like the Apostles. I'm more like the ones they searched the hedgerows and alleyways and compelled them to come in. And I am thankful every Sunday that you still invite me back.

Over the past weeks, church members have offered their thanksgivings for this church. Blake, Mark, Linda, and Jim Williams, have had the chance to offer thanksgivings.

As someone you keep inviting back and who's never going to officially "join," as someone who's never going to have my name on the roll up yonder, in the big book, above Patty's desk, as someone who has answered a call to this place, I'd like to add my thanksgivings to those who have spoken from the heart about Lake Hills Presbyterian Church.

Last Sunday marked my anniversary with this church. The first time I stood in this pulpit was 18 years ago, last Sunday. The second Sunday in November, 1994. I had brown hair, one chin, and a size 32 waist. Michael Gant and the Nominating Committee (which has always been one of my favorite bands) found me sojourning in Alabama. They showed me the beautiful sanctuary. They showed me the neighborhood. They showed me the walking path. They showed me the tennis courts. And I thought, "What am I going to say to all those rich people?" You know there are churches in Alabama where the walking path is to the bathroom? Who don't even have ONE tennis court? And yet their football team does rather well.

So, 18 years ago last Sunday, I stepped into the pulpit for the first time. Before that, I'd been kind of a youth pastor. That's because I used to be kind of youthful. Before that I'd written software. I was scared to death. I had no idea what to do or how to do it. And yet, you took me in.

You took us in. Ken Rymer built us our first house. You rejoiced with us when Emily was born. And then came the night when Kristen called Gail at 3 in the morning and said, "Can you come over and watch Emily, because I'm going into labor?" I'm pretty sure she broke some traffic laws getting to the house. You adopted us. We overflow with thanksgiving for you.

We overflow with thanksgiving for all our partners in ministry here. Especially for the ones who are on staff. Carla shares her heart and soul every single Sunday through her music. Scott is like a brother. The younger, crazy one, who does all the stuff you could never get away with. Patty is the blessed caretaker of the absent-minded pastor. And Cheryl. Her title says, "Christian Educator," but that doesn't begin to cover what she does and who she is for this church. She is truly a blessing, to me and to this congregation, in ways that words aren't adequate to describe.

This is such a healthy church because I think we're all partners in ministry together here. Too often a church's health gets reduced to numbers. How many come to worship? What's your budget? Did you meet your budget? Thankfully, the Holy Spirit is not an aggregator of numbers. There are larger churches, sure. And there are churches larger and smaller that are fundamentally unhealthy. You can feel it when you walk in the door. Something's just not right.

This church feels to me like the kind of place that's far more concerned with what God can do, than what people shouldn't do. I think you - and never ever forget, you are the church, not the building - I think you are more concerned with getting ministry done than keeping everything unsoiled by human hands. Do not ever take that for granted. Because there are a lot of churches more worried about doing things absolutely, inoffensively right than just going and doing them in the name of Jesus Christ.

We laugh. We laugh loudly. We have awesome meals. We take meals to people who are hungry. We build houses for people who need shelter. We treat kids like guests instead of tiny criminals who break things. And we say, You know what? You don't have to be an expert to give something a try. If you want to teach, if you want to work with Middle School Students (and God bless you if you do), if you want to sing, or ring, or show love for living things... bring it. We're kind of a laboratory for spiritual gifts, where you never know what's going to bubble up and overflow.

So, as I begin the 19th (19th!) year of being a partner in ministry with you today, I want to say, thank you. Thank you for having me another week. Thank you for being a family to our family. Thank you for overflowing in so many thanksgivings to God.

For, as the Bible tells us so, "For the ministry of this service is not only (about) supplying the needs of the saints but is also (about) overflowing in many thanksgivings to God."

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This was Paul's stewardship sermon to the church in Corinth. And they were not the healthiest church in the world. They had lots of little cliques and factions. They fought over who got to take Communion first. They got drunk on Communion wine and ate like pigs at the table. They couldn't have worship without people shouting over each other. Men were having affairs with their fathers' trophy wives. And the women would not keep their heads covered. Probably wore pants to worship, too.

And Paul didn't have a solution. He didn't have the ministry expertise to say, "Oh, here's what you do." Instead of imposing a solution, he extended a call. Paul's call (not a solution) Paul's call to the church in Corinth was to become generous. Generosity produces thanksgiving. Which is odd, because most people think it's the other way around. But it's not. Generosity produces thanksgiving. Because when you're generous, you're concerning yourself with other people. And when you're concerned with other people's concerns, you give thanks. You see beyond yourself. You see the people around you. You see your neighbors. And it makes you want to say, "Thank God. Thank God I got called here."

When you realize how lucky you are, you overflow with thanksgiving.

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It's our turn to Answer the Call and overflow in Thanksgiving. We've got pledge cards. I wish they were called, "Thanksgiving Cards," because that's the point. It's an expression of thanksgiving. It's a sign of dedication to a cause. It's not your "dues" because, you know, we've gotta keep the lights on, people.

The church is not a building, but we take care of our building. The church is not a collection of programs and services, although we work together to accomplish those. The church is not the organization, or the Presbytery, or the state-recognized non-profit, tax-exempt corporation.

The church is you.

You are the church.

The church is your community thanksgiving. The church is you, expressing your gratitude, experimenting with your ministries, applying your devotion to the idea that all the community of God deserves justice, care, and compassion. That all God's children deserve love.

The church is you. The church is you saying that you want to do more than you can hold in your own two hands. That you want to overflow with many thanksgivings to God.

Make this day the beginning of a new set of days for you. If you have it in your finances to give one dollar or a million dollars. If you can give 2 percent or 50 percent. Don't JUST fill out a pledge card today. Make this day the commitment to a pledge life. If you've been here 55 years, or 18 years, or just one day... begin today - begin again - to overflow in thanksgiving, overflow so much in thanksgiving that you just have to share it. Answer the call. Answer the call to live a generous, thankful life all of this year. And the next. And the next.

And, thank you. Thank you for having us. But thank you infinitely more for having the Holy Spirit. Share what you can. And let your thanksgiving flow.