All of Me Matthew 22

11.16.03 - All of Me (Matthew 22:15-22)

All of Me
Matthew 22:15-22
November 16, 2003
St. John United Methodist Church
David Beckett, D.Min.

The story is told of a certain grandfather who was in poor health. So when the family discovered that he had won a magazine’s ten million dollar sweepstakes, they worried that the shock of so great a winning would result in a heart attack that might kill him. Knowing he had to be told, though, they decided to ask the preacher if he would go and break the news quietly to the man.

The pastor entered the room, sat down and proceeded to engage Grandpa in small talk as they often did at the beginning of the visits. At a pause in the conversation, the pastor said, "I got another one of those sweepstakes entries in the mail today." "I'm getting them all the time," said Grandpa.

"They sure do offer a lot of money," the pastor went on. "Yeah, and I guess every once in a while somebody wins," Grandpa said.

"What do you think you would do if you ever won one of those things, Grandpa?" asked the pastor.

"Well, pastor, you and the people of the church have been so good to me since I haven't been able to come to worship services, that I believe I'd give half of whatever I got to the church." At that point Pastor Arnold had a heart attack and keeled over.

I’ve heard folks joke about what they would do if they suddenly received millions of dollars. Some of them actually believe that they might win someday. Not only that, there are people who have already thought about how they would spend their fortune if they win. A TV millionaire game show hosts asks each contestant what he or she would do if they won a million dollars.

Perhaps there are even pastors who dream that someone will give a large sum of money to the church and all their problems will be solved. It’s a dream I haven’t had yet, and I’m not sure I would want it to become reality. Most of the churches I know who received a large sum of money and kept it for themselves are experiencing various degrees of decline.

How do you feel about talk about money in the church? My own experience has been that church people are sensitive about the subject. Maybe this is one reason why there are so many jokes about tithing and giving. What we can’t talk about, we tell jokes.

For example, a certain church received their offering after the sermon, and had a pastor who preached long sermons. One Sunday a young boy got restless as the pastor preached on and on. He turned to his father and whispered, "Daddy, if we give him the money now, will he let us go?"

One year the pastor of a church felt he had to take some drastic action to get a more generous response from the congregation at stewardship time. So he called in an electrician and had him wire the pews. The next day, when the time for the offering came, the pastor announced to the congregation, "This year all pledges will be made publicly in the worship service." There was a murmur in the congregation, and he went on, "All those who will pledge 20 dollars per week, stand." At that cue the electrician threw the switch that sent a current through the wires in the pews. The response was immediate--about half the congregation jumped to their feet. The ushers started taking their names and pledges, and the pastor said, "Now, all those who will pledge 50 dollars a week please stand." The electrician upped the voltage and sent a second, stronger shock through the pews that caused more people to get out of their seats. The process was repeated several more times, and each time the amount to be pledged was raised and so was the voltage. The ushers had to work frantically to get all the names and pledges written down.

Meanwhile, the pastor and the Stewardship Committee went out and were busy adding up the totals and congratulating themselves on the great success of the campaign--until one of the ushers appeared at the door and said that four parishioners had stubbornly remained glued to their seats and were electrocuted.

So many of us have grown up in churches where the subject of money was taboo. You just didn’t hear much talk about it in some churches while in others it was a topic you heard about all the time. I don’t quite understand our reluctance to talk about our faith and our money. Jesus never shied away from it. One-sixth of the gospels, including one out of every three parables, touches on stewardship. Jesus was not a fundraiser, but he dealt with money matters because money matters. For some people, though, it matters too much.

In our scripture lesson for today Jesus is confronted by a bunch of self-righteous religious types called Pharisees. They are trying to trap him with a money question. "Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?" In the eyes of the law, it was forbidden to sell the land of Israel to outsiders. Land belongs only to God. Thus, from a strictly literal view, Caesar, as an illegal occupier of God's holy land, is clearly not entitled to collect taxes from God's people.

When Jesus asks his questioners to show him the coin used to pay the tax--that is, a Roman coin, a denarius, they immediately produce one. It was a brilliant stroke of debate. They fell right into Jesus' trap. According to the law people were not permitted to handle a foreign coin. A typical Roman coin of this era would be stamped with the image of the reigning emperor's head on one side, while the flip side would be inscribed with the ruler's title and divine status: "Tiberius Caesar, Son of the Divine Augustus." Jesus asks them to identify the likeness on the coin they show him. He then declares they should "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's". The logic Jesus applies here seems straightforward. Since the denarius is stamped with the Roman ruler's image and scripture, it is clearly his.

But what does this imply about the second half of Jesus' response-- "and to God the things that are God's"? Using the same reasoning, Jesus is saying that all which bears God's image and inscription is God's. In Genesis 1:26, that which bears the image of God is clearly identified—human beings…you and me. And so, "what belongs to God is none other than one's entire self.

AHA!! So the real issue isn’t money. It’s about us! Do you remember the Steve Martin movie, "All of Me?" Martin plays a middle-aged, second-rate lawyer whose dream in life is to become a saxophone musician in a jazz band. Lily Tomlin is a dying heiress who employs a Far Eastern swami who can send her spirit into a new body. Through a freak accident the spirit of the heiress is forced into the body of Steve Martin. The result is two personalities must share the same body. Much of the humor of the movie then focuses on the conflict of these two people and how they fight for control of the one body they share.

Do you ever feel like there is more than one personality inside you...each one fighting for control? It happens to me. There are times when I feel very generous with my money. During such times I realize that everything I have is a gift from God. I can even respond to big giving challenges and give a significant amount of money to a cause that stirs my soul.

But there are other times when a different person seems to take over my personality and my wallet. It doesn’t matter how inspiring an appeal for donations can be. My heart is hard and I will not give what I believe is rightfully mine. I work hard for my money. I’m not going to give it away frivolously.

In the second scenario I live with a closed hand. When a gift is placed there my hand closes and I fool myself into thinking that I really own the gift. I do this not just with my money and possessions, but also with the people I care about.

In the first scenario I go through life with an open hand. Sometimes it is empty. Sometimes it is full. But the difference is--when a gift is placed there my hand remains open. I resist the temptation to grasp it. Instead I am free to simply enjoy it while it is there.

I appreciate the honest talk Rose gave in her sermon last Sunday. It wasn’t easy for her to tell you how much she gives. It’s not easy for me to say that in virtually every church Kim and I have served we have been among the top givers. We are raising four children and most of it has been on one income. Things have been tight but we’ve always had enough. I’ve often wondered if God takes away some of the desire to spend with those who put God first in their giving.

This talk about making a pledge to St. John UMC is not really about money. Yes the church needs money to continue the many ministries happening here. But sacrificial giving is more about our need to give than the church’s need to receive. It is about freedom. It is about an attitude of stewardship that reflects the teachings of Jesus Christ. It is about a way of life where money is freely received and freely given. It is about the decision we face each day. Will God have just a part of us, or all of us?

One Sunday morning a certain pastor encouraged his congregation to consider the potential of their church. He told them, "With God's help we can see the day when this church will go from crawling to walking." This was a church in which people spoke out in church, "Amens" and such, and several responded, "Let the church walk, Pastor, let the church walk."

He continued, with more enthusiasm, "And when the church begins to walk, next the church can begin to run!" And the people caught the enthusiasm and shouted, "Let the church run, Pastor, let the church run!"

The pastor really had a head of steam up now, and said, "And finally this church can move from running to flying! Oh, yes, this church can fly! But," and then he paused, "that's going to take lots of money for that to happen!"

Silence. Frigid silence. And then somewhere in the back, someone mumbled, "Let the church crawl, Pastor, let the church crawl."

Next week we will celebrate Thanksgiving Sunday. It will also be the day when we dedicate to God our pledges, our estimate of giving for 2004. We hope that each family, each child and teenager will take this seriously and make a pledge to the work of Christ in this community. With our pledge we will be casting our vote. Do we want this church to crawl or fly? I don’t know about you but flying sounds a lot more freeing than crawling. May God guide our thoughts and actions as we ponder our future.

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