Acts 4:32-37

Stories to Tell; Gifts to Share.  This is our overarching theme for stewardship this year:  Stories to Tell; Gifts to Share.  Two weeks ago we considered what this might mean for us as we thought about "Graceful Living."  Then last week we heard about "Grateful Living."  Next week we’ll reflect on "Cheerful Sacrifices."  Today, I invite you to think about "Giving to the Church."

Giving to the Church.  I have a new idea for how this might be done.  It’s going to make our stewardship of money a lot easier.  Now, I haven’t run this by our congregation council yet, but I’m certain they’re going to be as excited about this new way of doing stewardship as I am.  And, when you hear about it, I think you’ll agree: this is by far the best stewardship program we’ve ever thought up. 

The idea isn’t mine.  I got it from our stewardship text for today which comes from the 4th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.  I think you’ll be as intrigued as I am.  Listen:

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one

heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of

any possessions, but everything was held in common. 

With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the

resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was among

them all.  There was not a needy person among them, for

as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought

the proceeds of what was sold.  They laid it at the apostles’

feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.  There

was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the

apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means "son of

encouragement").  He sold a field that belonged to him,

then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

So, what do you think?  Pretty neat, huh?  I mean it’s so simple.  We all go out and sell our houses and cars, cash in our stocks and bonds, and bring all the proceeds to the congregation council, and they, in turn, distribute the money so that all of us have enough but no one has too little or too much.  I’m thinking that maybe we should put this up for a vote.

It sounds so silly, doesn’t it?  It would, indeed, be ridiculous even to consider such a thing.  And if I were really serious about all this, you’d be on the phone to our bishop, and I’d be on the street looking for work.

This stewardship plan may have worked well immediately following Pentecost, but, in reality, it didn’t last long then either.  The very next story, in the 5th chapter of Acts, is about a couple, Ananias and Sapphira by name, whose greed got the best of them.  They told the apostles they had sold all their possessions when they hadn’t.  They lied.  They lied to their church leadership.  And they lied to God.  And we never hear of this arrangement again, where everyone sells their possessions and gives the proceeds to the church—not in the Acts of the Apostles nor in any of the letters of Paul.

So, we must ask: is there anything we can take away from this morning’s story besides a bit of silliness?  Anything worthwhile about giving to the church?  Yes, yes there is.

In the first place, notice what prompted this outpouring of generosity.  Luke tells us that what prompted this radical stewardship plan in the early Church was the apostles’ preaching.  "With great power" they proclaimed the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

And isn’t that our foundation too—for stewardship or anything else?  I mean the resurrection of Jesus is so central to our faith and life that the cross on our steeple and the cross at the front of our church is empty, bearing witness to God’s victory over sin, death, and evil.  Christ Jesus lays not in some tomb outside of Jerusalem.  But Christ is risen! we shout.  He is risen indeed. 

It’s been said that Easter is celebrated, not just once a year, but every time God’s people gather for worship.  We gather Sunday after Sunday, and every Sunday is an Easter celebration.  We gather for a funeral or a memorial service, like we did on Friday, and we proclaim in the face of death’s reality: Christ is risen! 

Today is All Saints Sunday when we remember the faithful dead, those who’ve lived and died in Christ.  And we have tremendous hope for those we name today, that Christ’s resurrection is a reality promised to all the baptized.  Paul said it so well in the 6th chapter of Romans when he wrote of the power and promise of Holy Baptism:

For if we have been united with (Christ) in a death like

his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection

like his (6:5).

That apostolic proclamation echoes down through the ages even to us and through us today.  And we’re told in Acts 4, that because of the power of that proclamation, "great grace was upon them all."  And, because of that, two significant things happened.  First, they "were of one heart and soul…."

Does that mean that they agreed with each other about everything?  Of course not.  We know that because there are so many stories in the remaining twenty-four chapters of Acts that tell us of all kinds of controversies.  Yet, they "were of one heart and soul" with each other.  They were going in the same direction.  Their hopes and dreams and aspirations were based on being God’s people whose lives had been transformed by the power and preaching of Jesus’ resurrection.

When it comes to giving to the church, each year our congregation council puts forth ministry opportunities to help inspire a faithful response.  We all know that there are certain financial obligations that the church has: salaries, utilities, office supplies, educational material, mailing expenses, program costs. 

But in addition, we want to invite you to join the leadership of the congregation, to be "of one heart and soul" when it comes to our ministry aspirations for 2008.

The first one is forward looking as we prepare to move into our new building.  We want to hire a part-time business administrator who would be responsible for overseeing the care of our new facility and who would have skills to oversee the finances we receive.  To put it bluntly, we have a lot of money coming into Christ Lutheran Church: roughly $500,000 in our church budget, another $500,000 in our pre-school budget, and the money we receive into our building fund.  That’s a tremendous fiduciary responsibility.  I don’t know how those first apostles did it.  But we need to be as responsible and transparent as we can be, and it’s time to have someone with the skills and abilities to help manage it all.

The second ministry hope for 2008 is a shuttle bus for our youth group.  We owned two vans several years ago, but because we had few kids in our high school youth group, we gave one van to Briarwood Retreat Center and sold the other one.  Well, life has changed here.  Our ministry to junior and senior high youth continues to grow.  Under Scot’s leadership our kids bring other kids, and it’s much safer to let one adult drive a bus than it is to let several kids drive from here to there.

And our third ministry goal for 2008 is to lift up our benevolence, the money we give beyond our walls.  One of these ministries we heard about earlier this fall, courtesy of Sara Hill: the Human Rights Initiative, which helps to bring people into our country who are seeking asylum because they’ve been persecuted in their homeland.  These folks can’t return to their native land for fear of reprisal, even death.  But until they get settled, they need the basic necessities of life: shelter, food, clothing.

And that’s the second thing we learn from today’s reading of Acts 4 when "great grace was upon them all," so that "there was not a needy person among them…."

We’ve been so blessed with so much.  And, there’s no question about it, we’re a very generous congregation.  Very generous.  I continue to be amazed every time we have a need to be met, whether it’s food-for-the-poor on the first Sunday of every month, or whether it’s helping to re-settle refugees from Hurricane Katrina, or whether it’s providing for Mariah Mueller and her family when came here a year ago from Denver for Mariah’s 29th facial/cranial surgery, or whether it’s simply your continued generosity to the overall mission and ministry of Christ Lutheran Church. 

The spirit of Christ’s resurrection lives here.  It lives in the lives of God’s people in this place—in your life, and in yours and yours and yours.  And, as a result, each of you has a story to tell.

Over a year ago, on a Sunday morning during the sermon, I invited you to tell a story about how you saw God at work in your life or in the lives of others during the previous week.  I told you the week before that we would share our stories with each other the following Sunday.  I had no idea how that would work.  Well, it worked so well, that it was a challenge getting you back together so we could continue worshipping!  What amazed me even further, was the number of people who said what a great experience that was and couldn’t we do it again?  So we will.  Next Sunday.  During the sermon you’ll be invited to take a few minutes to share with someone you didn’t come with what next Sunday’s text means to you.  It can be found printed in today’s bulletin:

Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not

reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful

giver.  And God is able to provide you with every blessing

in abundance, so that by always having enough of every-

thing, you may share abundantly in every good work

(I Corinthians 9:7-8).

What does it mean to be a cheerful giver?  What does it mean for you to be blessed in abundance?  Where is your joy in sharing what you have?

For the power of Christ’s resurrection is at work in your life, and in our life together, so that, indeed, we have stories to tell and gifts to share.  Amen.