Jump on the Bandwagon!

 

Read 2 Corinthians 8

Oh great! It’s more offering scriptures. Here comes the money talk again.

So, the tithe is ten percent. Tithe means tenth. I have heard or read The Money Message a few times.

Paul tells us that we should each give as we have decided in our hearts, not out of fear or compulsion or any other "have to do" reason. The Lord loves a cheerful giver.

We are to be the master of our money. We tell it what to do. The amount is much less important than the relationship. We are master of our money.

Some of that money is meant for giving. We are to be generous. We are givers.

In fact, we should embrace the paradigm that giving is part of living. You might say that there are plenty of people around who are not givers. They are living entirely for themselves.

They are not fully living. You cannot fully live until you give. Giving is important. Giving reveals our true intentions.

You can listen to the best sermon ever. You can listen to a dozen podcasts every week or every day. You can watch videos on YouTube and Reels on Facebook that talk about God, love, giving, hope, despair, joy, peace, and so much more.

But nothing expresses our true theology like giving. Will we give of what we have? That’s what Paul asks of us, and that’s what God asks of us.

We are not all required to tithe $15,000 or $20,000 per year. We should tithe ten percent of what we have, even if that works out to $100 a year.  We should tithe joyfully.  We should give beyond the tithe joyfully as well.

Paul is talking about this offering that is beyond the tithe. This was a special offering for the Hebrew believers in Jerusalem. Many had been ostracized for their professions that Jesus is Lord. Many had suffered loss. Many were just poor. All were believers and now brothers and sisters in Christ with every believer of every age and geography, including the Jewish believers of that First Century who lived in Jerusalem.

The churches in Europe were putting together a special offering. Titus had been a big part of this. The Macedonian churches were on board and excited about making this offering for God’s people.

All believers were God’s people, but this was a chance for those who had been regarded as Gentiles, pagans, and aliens but were now brothers and sisters with believers among God’s Chosen People to really connect and really show their love.

Paul noted that the believers in Northern Greece didn’t have much, but they gave from what they had and were excited to do so. This offering generated excitement.

Paul wanted all the churches in Greece to have the same excitement, especially in Corinth. This could connect believers not only in Greece and Jerusalem, but also among the churches in Greece. They could be a connectional community.

Paul talked a lot about being a new creature and saying goodbye to who we were. He told us to keep our eyes set on what is unseen, that is of God. He affirmed that we are to walk by faith not by sight.

The old is gone is new is come. That’s good counsel and we should strive for be holy as God is holy, but it’s not tactile. It’s not kinesthetic.

It’s purposeful but hard to get our heads around sometimes.

Hey! We are helping some believers who need help. That’s hands-on stuff right there. It comes with a rallying cry, and we can get behind it.

That’s a bandwagon to jump on.

When we say jump on the bandwagon today, we are usually talking about endorsing someone’s diatribe that degrades someone else. We see a lot of that these days.  We are beating up people who believe this today. Jump on my bandwagon and help me.

But we can jump on a bandwagon for good reasons. Helping the poor and afflicted is always a good reason, and we need a few causes like this to be vital in our discipleship.

Do you remember going to Moore, Oklahoma with supplies and helpers a few years ago. People were excited to help. But we don’t have to look back to find something to be excited about.

As it turns out we have a really big one happening today. It’s our backpack ministry. We are helping those who need help and live right here. The supplies help but they will be gone in a few weeks or months.

It’s the connections we make that should excite us. We should jump on the gospel bandwagon. People are coming to us. We need to share our faith with them. We need to be excited about it.

This next piece of counsel comes from Mr. Rogers. He said that when bad things happened, he would look for the helpers. Who is helping?

Instead of rubbernecking to see the gore of the accident or the demolished structures, look for who is helping. Who is helping?

Paul told the church in Corinth, "You started something good. Now, finish it. Let’s do this right, and let’s get excited about doing it right."

We should trust God.

We should profess that Jesus is Lord.

We should love one another.

We should desire to be the servants of all.

We should take the gospel to the world.

We should do all of those things, but sometimes, something just takes hold as an act of mercy, compassion, giving, or extreme kindness, and we want to jump on the bandwagon.

That’s fanning the flames of the Spirit that lives within us. That’s passion. That’s living life to the full.

Be a passionate part of what we have this afternoon or passionately part of something else that brings glory to God, but find something to be excited about in your discipleship.

We are not just waiting this thing out until Jesus returns. We are passionately putting his words into practice, and sometimes, we find something to be very excited about.

Amen.

 

Pick Your Pronouns

 

Do you remember all the hubbub surrounding picking your pronouns? I think those days are gone for a while, but who knows? What is it to picking a pronoun?

He

She

It

We

They – I am they. I remember long ago, Louis Wilson, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, once said, “I am they.” It was in response to Marines saying, “They say do this. They say do that.”  Wilson said, “I am they.”

Why stop at pronouns? There’s more action in verbs. I think the Christian might be more interested in verbs.

Go

Make

Baptize

Teach

Pray

Study

Believe

Trust

Obey

Give

Live

Love

If we have eyes to see, we will have a verb or two for every situation we encounter. We will put his words into practice.

But I can’t leave out the nouns.

Faith, hope, and love are good ones, though they have some verb blood in them as well.

Peace

Joy

Patience—though the adjective form—patient—let’s us combined it with some of our nouns. Let’s try hope. We have patient hope.

Suffering. That’s never a favorite, though after last week’s message, maybe it should be if it brings us to godly repentance.

And then there are those words that seem to cover more than one category. They are qualities. Let’s start with trust.  It’s noun and verb but it is essential to our growth. Trust!

When coupled with obey, it’s a great hymn and a powerful combination. What other qualities?

Kindness.

Gentleness.

Compassion.

Teachable. It’s an adjective, but it is also a quality we must have to continue our growth in grace. We must be teachable.

Worthy. There’s a good one. Only Jesus was and is worthy. He is worthy, but we are to live a life worthy of the calling that we have received.

Holy. We are to be holy as God is holy. It is our target. Be holy as God is holy.

I’m going to put two regular words together and make them extraordinary.

I am.

I am. Take that simple pronoun and add a very short verb, and you get a powerful sentence.  How did God tell Moses to identify who sent him?

With the words, “I am sent me.” I am. Remember, Jesus rebuking the self-righteous religious leaders.  Before anyone that you hold in high esteem in your history, “I am.”

Who sent you? “I am sent me.” Two powerful words.

Did you know that when you introduce yourself to someone, God’s name precedes yours?

I am Joe. I am Sue. I am Billy Bob. I am woman hear me roar. Sorry, Hellen Ready kept coming on the radio this week.

This was a fun little rabbit trail but I hope you take this away. We don’t spend a lot of time picking our pronouns. We choose all of our words wisely—nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and more.

No, we will not diagram sentences this morning, but don’t give up hope. That might come before the end of the year.

Choose your words. God chose you to be his own. Now we choose our response to that love. Part of that response includes the words that we choose and the words that we use.

We are closing in on the part of Paul’s letter where he tells us to take every thought captive. For now, be deliberate in choosing your vocabulary, especially that which you share with others.

Amen.