Wesley s Words of Wisdom: Philanthropic Advice

Transcription

1 Rev. Joan Pell Sierra Pines United Methodist Church Sermon: 10/18/2015 Scripture: Mark 10:17-22 Wesley s Words of Wisdom: Philanthropic Advice <Mark 10:17-22 CEB> As Jesus continued down the road, a man ran up, knelt before him, and asked, Good Teacher, what must I do to obtain eternal life? Jesus replied, Why do you call me good? No one is good except the one God. You know the commandments: Don t commit murder. Don t commit adultery. Don t steal. Don t give false testimony. Don t cheat. Honor your father and mother. Teacher, he responded, I ve kept all of these things since I was a boy. Jesus looked at him carefully and loved him. He said, You are lacking one thing. Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me. But the man was dismayed at this statement and went away saddened, because he had many possessions. There s a legend about a rich old man who visited a rabbi. The rabbi took the rich man by the hand and led him to a window. "Look out there," he said. The rich man looked into the street. "What do you see?" asked the rabbi. "I see men, women, and children," answered the rich man. Again the rabbi took him by the hand and this time led him to a mirror. "Now what do you see?" "Now I see myself," the rich man replied. Then the rabbi said, "Behold, in the window there is glass, and in the mirror there is glass. But the glass of the mirror is covered with a little silver. No sooner is the silver added than you cease to see others, but you see only yourself." 1 We got another letter this week from John Wesley! To: God s beloved sons and daughters in Byron and East Contra Costa County, California. I m writing to you all again to explain the last part of my 3-fold statement on the use of money. This week I want to tell you to give all you can. I ve already written to you about earning all you can but to not to do so in

2 ways that would diminish yourself, the lives of others, or the integrity of God s creation. In my last letter I shared with you an event in my life that profoundly changed the way that I thought about spending money. When I had just frivolously spend my pay check and had nothing left to help the poor chambermaid who came to clean my room I was so ashamed. That gracefilled moment led me to re-organize my life and to always think carefully about what I really needed, as opposed to what I wanted. And so as I told you, Save all you can. But there is a the third rule and it is that rule that gives meaning to the other two, which is what this letter is all about today. Let me share with you what I preached on this back in 1760 in my sermon on The Use of Money. 2 I said this: If you stop at gaining and saving all you can then it is nothing if you do not go forward. You cannot properly save anything if all you do is lay it up. You may as well throw your money in the sea or bury it in the earth. Not to use it is to effectively throw it away. You need to add a third rule to the two preceding. Having first gained all you can, and secondly saved all you can, then give all you can. 1. First, provide things that you need for yourself food and clothes and things to preserve health and strength 2. Provide these too for your spouse, children, servants and others in your household 3. Then do good to those of the household of faith 4. Then do good unto all men If you have doubts about expenditures then ask yourself if you are acting as a steward. Look at what scripture says and examine your 2 John Wesley, The Use of Money in The Sermons of John Wesley

3 conscience. Render unto God not a tenth, not a third, not a half, but all that is God s by employing all on yourself, your household, the household of faith and all mankind in such a manner that you can give a good account of your stewardship later. If I follow this way of living then by giving all I can, I am effectively secured from laying up treasures upon earth. I am secured from either desiring or endeavoring as long as I give all I can. I believe that excessive wealth, absent of effective stewardship and radical charity prevents you from growing in grace and creates sinful actions and attitudes. Stewardship that centers on the poor is a means of grace. I used to tell people that if I die with more than 10 pounds in my possession then I would consider myself to be a thief. I also directed my friends that after my funeral service they were to take down the draperies used for my service and sew them into clothing for poor women. Now giving all you can is not intended to be a hardship. It is to be a source of joy. So, earn all you can, save all you can, but then remember to give all you can. Yours in Christ, John Wesley. Wesley s advice, his giving standard is radical, inspiring and deeply frightening to many. It is the same thing as Jesus told the rich man in the scripture we read, and it frightened him too. Listen to this story told by Susan Andrews. A husband and wife were traveling around the world. When they were in Korea, they saw a boy pulling a crude plow while the old man held the plow handles and directed it through the paddy. The husband took a photo, and later showed it to the missionary who was their guide and interpreter. He was told that when the local church was being built this family wanted to give something. They had no money so they sold the only ox they had and gave the money to the church. This spring they are pulling the plow themselves. The tourist husband and wife were silent, and the wife said, That was a real sacrifice. -3-

4 They didn t call it that. said the missionary, they thought it was fortunate that they had an ox to sell. 3 I called this sermon Philanthropic Advice which is to do with the humanitarian distribution of our assets and generosity with our wealth. That is partly what Wesley was talking about. But in his 3- fold formula he is also talking about stewardship and about managing the resources of another. We are all God s stewards. It is not just about us. We have been placed here in a role of great trust and responsibility for the earth and all of creation. God owns everything and we are invited to be in the world as recipients but also as means of grace. We become more like Christ as we practice the spiritual discipline and gift of generosity as we become generous people whose lives are shaped in the image of an extravagantly generous God. Wesley understood this. His rules were not about fund raising for the church nor about making us feel bad. Wesley saw generosity as a spiritual issue as a way of having a right relationship with money, as a way to look at the glass and see through it rather than seeing only our own reflection. [And yes, you will soon be receiving a letter asking you to think about your pledges to the church so that we can plan together for the mission of this congregation.] I m glad we were able to listen to Wesley s words this morning. The thing that makes the difference between Wesley preaching this to you and me preaching this to you is that Wesley actually lived it out to the letter. When he began as a preacher, he was poor and most of his salary went to supply basic needs. He was able to give away only a couple of pounds a month. But as his income grew, the amount he spent on living expenses never grew. All the extra income was given away, and that grew to be quite substantial. Because he was living on only what he needed, all the money that rolled in from his publishing and other efforts went to start hospitals and orphanages and women's work cooperatives. But Wesley practiced what he preached. When he earned 1400 pounds per year he kept 30 pounds of it for himself and gave the rest away. That means he kept 2% and gave away 98%. Wouldn t that be something for our politicians to think about! Well into his 80's, Wesley brought meals to widows, trampling through the slush and snow in worn boots with holes in them. That gave him the pneumonia that finally ended his life. To the very end, he earned all he could, he saved back every penny that wasn't necessary, and he gave every bit of what he saved up for the work of God's kingdom. In 1791, he was carried to his grave by 6 paupers who were paid one pound each which was all he had left. 3 Taken from a book that I can t find right now! -4-

5 That's why I let John Wesley preach this sermon. Now Wesley should have spent something on new boots to walk through the snow. If he had followed his own advice, he would have taken care of his basic needs. Even Wesley was fallible. I know my own life is still too cluttered with things I don't need for me to preach this message with total integrity. And yet I know he is right. We are on a journey of faith together. Yet, I do try to live into it. We each have to wrestle with what it means in today s society where we need to save for our children s college education and for our own retirement, and wrestle with what is a want versus a need. Where do mini Ipads OR eating out in restaurants fit in? Some years ago, Adrian and I, calculated the percentage of what we were giving away <tell story> and that brings me/us a lot of joy. What are you spending your money on? How much are you giving away to the church or other causes that bring the Kingdom of God here on earth? We are still being perfected. I know God loves me and is patient with me. I also know that God expects me to do better, and with God's help, I will. Will you? Let s finish with a few quotes: John Bunyan ( ): You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you. Walt Whitman ( ): The habit of giving only enhances the desire to give. Sir Winston Churchill ( ): We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give. Ann Frank ( ): No one has ever become poor by giving. John Wesley ( ): Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can. Thanks be to God. Amen. Let us pray. O God, we confess that often we earn all we can and save all we can but forget the giving bit. We forget that everything in heaven and on earth is yours. We forget your love for everything that lives, moves and has being. We forget who we are; your beloved stewards. Help us to remember, so that our lives may be abundantly-living channels of your steadfast love poured out for all. Pour your grace on us as we live into Wesley s wise words to earn and save and give all we can. Amen. Resources Grace and Gratitude: A Four-Week Worship Resource for Exploring Christian Stewardship in the Wesleyan Tradition. Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church