Sermon

Rev. Robert A Kem

Rector of St. Anne’s Ankeny

Consecration Sunday

“Living Is Giving”

Rich Young Ruler

October 15, 2006



How many of you know the Vision of St. Anne’s? “To Transform Lives For Jesus Christ”. This means that we should become disciples of Jesus Christ and follow his teachings and his ways and we should also help to disciple others.



Each year we are given the opportunity to take a closer look at our financial resources, the income that God has given us to manage and ask how am I making the best investments with God’s money? We begin with the understanding that God owns everything and we are given some 80 years to manage His money. One day there will be an accounting and a direct acknowledgement and reward for what we have done.



Let me begin with a story I read in a book written by Randy Alcorn. The year was 1888 Alfred Nobel the Swedish Chemist dropped the newspaper he was reading put his head in his hands and sobbed.



Nobel had made his fortune inventing and producing dynamite. His brother Ludvig had died in France. But Alfreds’ grief was compounded by his surprise. He had just read the obituary in the French newspaper, not his brothers but his won. An Editor of the newspaper had mixed up the brothers names.



The headline read, “The Merchant of Death is Dead”. Alfred’s obituary described a man who had accumulated a fortune by helping people kill one another.



Shaken by what he read of the appraisal of his life, Nobel resolved to use his wealth to change his legacy. When he died eight years later, he left more than $9 million dollars to fund award for people whose work benefited humanity. These are known as the Noble Peace Prizes.



Alfred had the rare opportunity to stop what he was doing and assess his won life before he died. He was given eight more years to change it. Before his life was over, Nobel made sure he had invested his wealth in something of lasting value.



Unfortunately five minutes after we die we will know exactly how we should have lived. But Jesus has given us His Word and teaching in today’s Gospel lesson so we don’t have to wait to die to find out.



Why not spend the rest of our lives closing the gap between what we will wish we would have given and what we really are giving to ‘Transform lives for Christ”?



We are given a chance for a win/win situation. We can make a difference in others people’s lives right now here on earth and at the same time invest our money in treasures in heaven.



When you finally leave this world will you be known as one who accumulated treasures on earth that you couldn’t keep? (a taker)



Will you be recognized as (a giver)one who invested treasures in heaven that you couldn’t lose?



Jesus looked at the rich young ruler with great love and challenged him spiritually to rise up to the level of the Kingdom. He was challenged by Jesus to invest his accumulated wealth wisely in heavenly treasure. He was to invest in the future.



Jesus continued; “you lack one thing; go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me. At this point, his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”



We can all learn a great deal from Jesus teaching with the rich young ruler concerning our accumulated wealth.



1) Although our giving to God is a private matter, we believe, we must agree that giving to God is also a family or corporate matter within the Body of Christ. We can do so much more when we pool our money resources together and make a greater impact on life around us. Don’t however be fooled into thinking that God does not know how much of our accumulated wealth we give for His Kingdom. God grants us rewards for our generous giving, this is what Jesus is referring to in Mark 10:21 verse 21, “you will have treasure in heaven.”



We are investing in heavenly treasure when we give to others here on earth. It is like investing capital in the bank. We receive interest now in our joy to give and ten fold the interest later when we leave this world.



2) “Give to the poor”. Why would Jesus say to give to the poor? There are some reasons for this. We are to give generously to those who have less than us. If we have been blessed by God with food, clothing education plus more, than we need to share that with others who have not. It is the plus more that God wants us to give to those less fortunate. Take what you need and out of your excess and give to others who have less.



Give to the poor” because they cannot pay you back. As we give to help our missionaries this year Hilary in the Ukraine or the victims of Heal Africa with Harper McConnell, or the Little Roses or even the homeless in Des Moines, these are the poor that we are made aware of and they cannot pay us back. That is who Jesus is talking about to the rich young ruler.



This past week a man came to me who has no working car only a part-time job. He asked for $63.00 to have a new starter put on his car. He said, ”I will pay you back on my next paycheck.”



“No,” I said. “I will not give you the money if you intend to pay me back.” You see this poor man is conditioned by the world. If you receive, you must pay it back and most of the time with interest. Isn’t that how these pawn shops work where they will pay you loaned money and then put alien on your car title until you pay them back with compounded daily interest sometimes as much as 30-50% more?



You are not giving if someone pays you back. Giving is giving to God with no strings attached. God has given us so much and all he expects of us is to trust him that he will provide if we will give to others and to further His Kingdom.



Jesus is keeping track of our smallest acts of kindness. When we give something to someone else whether it is a smile, or a compliment or a $10.00 bill I believe it is kept in the record book by God. Matthew 10:42 says this



“If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell youth the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”



God is keeping a record of all we do for His Kingdom. As in Luke 6:22-23 persevering under persecution, Luke 11:13-14 showing compassion to the needy, treating our enemies kindly Luke 6:35 and giving to the poor.



Our giving of our material wealth will also be written in heaven. “A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name” Malachi 3:16



3)Jesus was teaching the rich young ruler that the riches of this world are God’s Possession. As Christians we are giving back to God’s work a portion of what is already His. I Chronicles 29:14 “All things come from you O Lord, and of think own have we given you.”



We are to emulate God who has given us everything we have. We are most like God when we are giving. Come follow me, means come, follow my teaching and be like I am.



4)Jesus was teaching the rich young ruler that money leads where we go and then the heart follows. Where your treasure is there will your heart be also. You cannot have your earthly possessions stand in the way of your relationship with God. You need to invest in heavenly riches by giving to the poor.



Conclusion: Jesus gave to us unconditionally. This means there is no way to pay him back. There was and is no way we could ever make this up to him. He gave everything including his life.

But we in turn can emulate him most when we give to others. We pass on and further His Kingdom by our giving.



Consecration Sunday gives us the opportunity to focus and be concerned with heavenly or eternal treasures. Each person, each family is asked to prioritize their relationship with God by reallocating money and converting temporal things into eternal treasures that will last beyond this lifetime.



Jesus was really looking for the heart of the rich young ruler. Jesus is looking for our hearts as well. He is not looking just for donors for His Kingdom. Donors are those who stand outside the cause and dispassionately consider acts of philanthropy.



Jesus was and is looking for disciples immersed in the causes of His Kingdom. He wants people so filled with a vision for eternity that they would not dream of investing their money and their prayers where it matters most. John Wesley once said, “I judge all things only by the price they gain in eternity.”



This year 2007 we are challenged in the Gospel reading today to put our money where it counts. We need to place our money in heavenly treasures. If we lay up treasurers on earth we will spend our life backing away from God’s treasurers. To this person death is the enemy and is loss.



The disciples of Jesus who lay up treasurers in heaven look forward to the day they will die and to eternity. This disciple is moving forward to eternity. He is moving daily toward his treasurers, his retirement from this world. To this disciple death is gain. It is a time when we begin rally living of the investments we have made in heaven.



In two weeks from now we will hear from Bill Smith, a man who has wrestled with this very question in his own life. He will ask us to make a choice on Consecration Sunday Will you support God’s kingdom her on earth with your money or not? Will we all continue to grow to transform lives for Christ? Or not?



We ask you in the next two weeks to talk about this in your family, pray about his with God and come and rejoice in the opportunity you have to further God’s kingdom as you lay your gift upon the altar and say



“ALL things come from you O Lord and of thine own have we given back to you.” Amen.