The inspiration for our Season of Lent sermon series comes from a little paper-back book that my mom had in the house during my childhood. The title of that book intrigued me then and continues to do so, “Disciples are Made, Not Born.” It was written by Walter Henrichsen and Howard Hendricks.
The mission statement of our church uses this same language. Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transition of the world. Emphasis on the word, “make.” Disciples are made.
If someone wants to excel at being a painter or a pianist or a baseball player or a welder or whatever it may be, they need to practice and learn from those who have mastered that activity. If you want to learn to be a great cook, find someone who is great at cooking. If you want to be a great violinist, take lessons from a skilled and experienced violinist.
It’s like that old joke where someone stops at a gas station in New York City and asks how to get to Carnegie Hall. And the person behind the counter responds with, “Practice, practice, practice.”
To be a disciple of Jesus involves practice; daily practice, weekly practice, and in our case during the season of Lent, 7 full weeks of practice!
Little known fact about me… I played trumpet in high school. I started playing trumpet when I was in elementary school. My brother who is an accomplished musician likes to remind me that in all the years we grew up together, he never remembers me bringing the trumpet home from school.
I don’t want to brag or anything but if I would have practiced my trumpet with any consistency, I would have been a decent trumpet player! When I was in the 4th or 5th grade, I didn’t even bring my trumpet home for that long summer break!
But my brother practiced the piano in the living room of our home EVERY SINGLE DAY. It drove me crazy! But, my brother developed into an incredible pianist. I’m sure he was born with a natural talent to play the piano, but that didn’t mean anything without all of that practicing.
During these 40 days of Lent covering seven weeks, we have an opportunity to practice, practice, practice at being a disciple of Jesus.
We began this series last Sunday by looking at being hope-filled. Our Leadership Board members presented a hope-filled vision for our church. The reason we are hope-filled is because we have an Easter faith, a faith that is rooted in the good news of Jesus’ resurrection.
During these Sunday mornings, we are invited to practice our faith as we learn about 8 essential areas of discipleship based on our appointed scripture readings.
Today’s focus is on being generous. Next week, we’ll focus on what it means to be worshipful. And for the remaining weeks, we’ll practice on being grace-filled, Jesus-centered, faithful, servant-like, and on Easter Sunday, we’ll look at what it means to be faith sharers.
Let’s look at today’s essential area in being a disciple and that is being generous. For this, we begin with our Old Testament reading today from the Book of Deuteronomy which is one of the first five books of the Bible.
These first five books give us the story of how Israel was formed as God’s people. And here in the Book of Deuteronomy, God is leading the people through the wilderness after having freed them from slavery in Egypt.
We are told that the Israelites were in the wilderness for forty years. The forty years of this story is one of the reasons why the season of Lent is forty days. It is to remind us that we are never done growing in what it means to follow God.
During those forty years in the wilderness, God gave the Israelites commands to follow in what it means to be God’s people. As people of faith, we continue to be shaped and molded by these commands.
Which brings us to today’s scripture reading from Deuteronomy 26. God is preparing the Israelites for when they will finally be able to enter into the Promised Land after their long time of being in the wilderness. Listen again to verse 1 on our scripture reading:
When you have come into the land (that is the Promised Land) that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.”
Of all the things that God could have focused on as the Israelites were getting ready to enter into the Promised Land, God chose this topic of being generous. Being generous with the resources God has given us, the giving back of the first fruits as the Bible calls it, is what helps us to remember that God is the source of all our blessings.
Listen again to the first part of verse one in our scripture reading: “When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance…”
God is reminding them that all that they have is from God. And if everything we have is from God than that means that we are to be good and faithful stewards of these blessings. And the way that we are good stewards of these blessings is by sharing what we have with others.
One of the most basic ways that we honor this command from God is through our offering time in the service. Whether we give online or place our offering in a plate as it’s being passed through the pews, this is a little reminder to us that all that we have belongs to God and we are simply returning a portion of what God has given us.
This reminds me of the story of the man who was in a diner eating breakfast one day. A stranger came up to him while he was eating and said to him, “Here, this is for you.” The man opened the envelope and was surprised to find a $100 dollar bill inside. A $100 bill! The man was so grateful and thanked the stranger as he left the restaurant.
The following week, same day and time, the man was in the diner again eating breakfast. And this stranger came to his table and said, “Here, this is for you.” The man was given another $100 bill! 2nd week in a row. The man was so grateful and thanked the stranger as he left the restaurant. He always wanted to thank him for this undeserved gift, but the stranger would leave before he could.
This same thing happened the following week, and then the week after that. Every single week for the next several weeks, this stranger would come to his table while he was eating breakfast in that diner and give this man a $100 bill. The man always felt so grateful and thankful for this incredible gift.
But then one week, same day, same time, the man was sitting there at his usual table eating breakfast like every other week, but noticed that this stranger was late this time. Just then, he noticed the stranger walking toward his table, but this time, he walked on by without giving him an envelope and then walked over toward the door to leave.
The man, who was now depending on that weekly gift from the stranger, shouted angrily, “Hey, you! Where’s the $100 you owe me?????”
Like the stranger in the story, God blesses us with more mercies than we can ever imagine. “New every morning are your mercies, O Lord,” the psalmist says. And like the man in the story, we can easily forget that these gifts are based on God’s grace, not upon if we deserve them or not.
One of the best ways that we can be the generous people God has called us to be is, to be the disciples of Jesus we are called to be, is by always remembering that all we have is from God. And one of the ways that we can practice at remembering that all we have is from God is by offering our first fruits back to God so that we can be a blessing to others.
The Apostle Paul talks about being a cheerful giver. In his letter to the Romans from today’s New Testament reading, Paul writes, “The same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.”
To be made into the disciples God is calling us to be involves growing in what it means to be generous just as God is generous toward us.
And here is this this story about practicing being generous that comes from the book, “Disciples are Made, Not Born.”
One spring, a family of five was driving through Georgia in a Volkswagen. It was late at night and raining so heavily, they could hardly see one hundred feet down the road. As they were inching their way along, they noticed a man and woman walking along the highway in the pouring rain. They pulled over, asked if they could help, and noticed that the woman carried a baby in her arms.
She said they lived in a town several miles back, but the electrical storm had caused a short in the wiring of their house, starting a fire that burned it to the ground. They had barely escaped with their lives and were walking to the next town some seven miles away to stay with her sister and family until further provision could be made. Feeling sorry for the destitute family and realizing there was no room for them in the VW, the man reached into his wallet, pulled out $20, gave it to the woman, and drove off into the night.
A couple of miles down the highway, he stopped the car and asked his family, “How much money do you have?” Their pooled resources came to a little under $100. He drove back to where the couple was still walking. “Do you have the money I gave you?” he asked.
Quite surprised, the woman said, “Yes, we do.” “Then please give it to me.”
Perplexed, she reached into her pocket, pulled out the $20, and handed it to him. He combined it with the money he had and handed it all to her saying, “Here, our family would like you to have this.”
The author of the book concludes with this thought: “When I first heard this story, I thought, What a beautiful and precise illustration of how God treats us. Our Lord gives us so many wonderful gifts, then God comes to us and says, “I would like to have them all back—every one of them.” God does this so He can combine them with His unlimited resources and give them all to us.
Discipleship is our opportunity to tap into the infinite resources of God. It is our opportunity to give our lives to significance rather than mediocrity. In discipleship, we are not doing God a favor; God is doing us a favor.
During these forty days of Lent, let’s practice at being generous with the many blessings that God has given us.
The Making of a Disciple: Generous
Merciful One, your ways always lead to life. When our faith falters and when we forget the promises you have made, remind us of your steadfast love. When our strength fails us in the wilderness of life, and when temptations threaten to lead us astray, remind us of your faithfulness. When our world seems imperiled by forces beyond our control, remind us that you are our refuge and strength. When we forget our many blessings, remind us to be your grateful and generous disciples so that we may be a blessing to others. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment