Sermon for Stewardship Sunday

“For God All things Are Possible”

Matthew 19:16-26

Rev. Elizabeth Aguilar

Community Congregational Church of Chula Vista, UCC

 

Isaiah 43:19- “I am about to do a new thing now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

Friends, today is the culmination of a month- of Stewardship focus. You’ve heard from Rev. Victoria, Ruth Jones, and myself, preach about various teachings of Jesus about money and giving. It has been mentioned that money was the topic that Jesus spoke about the most. It has been reminded to us that placing our trust in God to provide for all things including our every day needs allows us the space to trust God with our money. Ruth reminded us that indeed where we have our treasure there is our heart.

Today’s scripture reading is a very well-known story of Jesus with a young rich man. I chose it b/c I have always found it to be a challenge. And b/c I’m a sucker for challenges…! Here we are!

The part that always stumped me was that this rich young man had already done many things that the Jewish law would have required of him, as a good Jewish man.  I imagine that when Jesus lists all the things that is required and the young man is saying, “yup, been there done that”, that if I were him, I would have felt quite proud of myself. After all, some of us like lists that we can check off. Don’t we?

But Jesus knew that this young man needed to be challenged further and so he says, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me.”

You see Jesus knew that the young man hadn’t actually put his faith in God first. He knew that the young man had been approaching his faith as a series of litmus tests that he had to pass. Not as a way of life.

Jesus reminds us this morning that putting Him first pays off.

We read also that it wasn’t just the young man who was perplexed about possessions and priorities… In fact, Jesus went on to say that it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples go to Jesus with a follow- up challenge, (whether out of dismay or out of wanting to understand) and say, “Then who can be saved?” And then Jesus famously answers, “for mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

And you see, friends, there is the good news. Jesus wasn’t in the business of discouraging people. He was in the business of Encouraging people, instead!

He is saying, do what you can. Try to put me first and when you feel it is impossible, let God take care of it.

We are people of faith. And 129 years ago, this church was founded when a group of Christians wanted to have a place of worship. It seems to me that they certainly had their priorities straight.

We’ve just heard the names of those who have been members here for 50 years OR MORE! They certainly knew where to put their priorities, as well.

This morning, we are reminded that when we put Christ first, all things come into right order.

This does not mean that all of our angst goes away. All of our questions about life and death, about relationships, and our crazy world all go away. No, the questions remain. The struggles remain as well.

However, what ALSO remains is Christ’s presence with us. We are NOT in this ministry work alone. We are Not in the thing called life, alone, either.

Christ walks with us, encourages us even now, reminds us of our priorities, reminds us of HIS love and then calls us to still follow him.

The theme for this month’s stewardship campaign was Isaiah 43:19- “I  am about to do a new thing now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” The prophet Isaiah was encouraging the people who were held in captivity in Babylon, away from their home land, that God WOULD make a way for them.

As we move forward into our 130^th year of existence here in Chula Vista, God tell us that God will make a way for us. God is still active and alive. God is still reminding us to put God first. God is still lovingly challenging us to follow Him b/c indeed it is worth it.

This morning, as we are about to collect out offering and then place our pledge cards into the basket. May it be done as an act of faith. If you are giving for the first time- then God bless you. If you have increased the amount of giving, God bless you. If you have decided that you want to serve and re-commit yourself then God bless you.

God is and wants to do a “new thing” here, through you and me. Not just in this sanctuary and in the various rooms of our lovely church, but in our lives and in our homes and in all the places we find ourselves. Because we are modern day disciples, we are called to serve and service includes giving!

May we give joyfully this morning as an act of faith. May we be reminded that God DOES make ALL things new and that indeed what we may think is impossible, isn’t for God!

Let us stand on these promises and as a way of giving God thanks for being a God who comes through on His promises let us respond to God generously. Amen.

Communion Meditation for Nov. 3, 2019

Month of Stewardship, Week Two

“Placing Our Trust in God”

Matthew 6: 24-33

Rev. Liz Aguilar

Community Congregational Church of Chula Vista, UCC

 

 

Matthew 6:24-34 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?  ²⁸ And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ ³² For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

 

There are many reasons why I love Jesus. Someone once said, and I believe it was theologian, Dallas Willard who said it- that Jesus was the smartest man that ever lived. I agree. But not only was Jesus the smartest man that ever lived, he was also the wisest and most practical as well. He loved generously, was compassionate, caring, forgiving, radically embracing of those considered to be unclean and sinful. Jesus was awesome!

Those are just some of the reasons why I love Jesus. Today’s scripture passage points to Jesus’ wisdom and practicality. Also to His compassion for others.

This is our second week into a month of sermons focusing on the teachings that Jesus shared regarding money. To remind you of why I chose to focus on His teachings this month is to remind all of us that the topic that Jesus taught about the most was actually about money. Therefore, it must have been a pretty important topic to Jesus.

But why? Was it because he was about selling some phony “make yourself rich” scheme? Was it because he thought money was THEE most important thing in the world? No, it was because He knew that we needed to keep it in its rightful place. We needed to put it in right perspective.

In today’s scripture portion we have some of Jesus’s most famous sayings. Some of these verses must have sounded very familiar to you. Therefore, if we were to set each verse apart, we could easily spend a whole sermon on each verse. However, today I want us to look at these verses as one whole periscope/ one whole portion, that weaves itself into one main point.

And what is that point? Simply- that we must trust God. NOT putting our total trust in God means that we WILL worry about every else. It means that we WILL make money to be the most important thing in our lives. It WILL also become what we worship the most; what defines us, what keeps us up at night, and what eventually can enslave us.

Jesus knew what the most important commandment was, which was to love God with ALL of our hearts, minds, souls. And then to love others as we love ourselves. Therefore, He understood that putting anything above God would not bring us true happiness and joy. And remember, Jesus wanted us to live abundant, joyful lives.

In this scripture portion, Jesus first tells us not to be anxious, and then provides the rationale:

• God provides for the sparrow, who works but does not worry.
• God, who gave us life, will provide for our needs.
• Our worry is futile; it does not accomplish anything.
• God clothes the flowers beautifully, even though they are of minor importance compared with humans—God’s sons and daughters created in God’s image. Jesus argues from lesser to greater—a common type of reasoning among the Jews of his day.

So, was Jesus saying to me and to others who are not poor like me, don’t worry be happy because after all you don’t HAVE to worry?

No, not at all. Jesus was not wealthy himself. Nor were his disciples. Jesus had been a carpenter. Some of the disciples would have made decent lives working as tax collectors and/or successful fishermen. And yet, they left everything to follow Jesus.

Jesus was reminding those around him then and us today- that no matter what your station is in life you and I must place worship to God first. When we don’t, we allow worries including our worries about money, consume us.

Now, Jesus isn’t saying, that we shouldn’t care at all and be irresponsible with what we have. No. He was saying that we need to put God first. TRUST God first. Trust that God WILL provide for all of our needs.

There were indeed times when I was not sure how I would pay my rent or my tuition bill. My parents did not pay for my undergraduate degree or graduate degree, after all.

There were times I lived on rice and beans and canned soups. But, I can tell you that despite not having money I was fine and I knew I would be fine later on.

Did I worry, yes. BUT, I never allowed the worry to consume me.

Do I get anxious now- yes. I am human. We all do. However, those of us who put God FIRST and therefore place our full TRUST in God know that when we lack something it does not mean that we will always be lacking. It does not mean that God has abandoned us.

God has proven to you and to me that God is FAITHFUL. That no matter how much we may doubt God, no matter how many times we forget that the God we worship and serve is an all-loving, all generous God- that nothing can or will stop God from providing for our needs. Ever!

Therefore, when we take a step back and look at our lives from the perspective of placing our faith IN God, it is then when we no longer  need to fear as much.

It is then, when we can also understand that we can indeed give God the portion that corresponds to God in the offering plate. We can indeed give to the poor and needy. We can indeed go to sleep knowing that God will give us the means and the ways to pay our bills.

I once had a professor who used to tease us students and remind us that while we may wonder how we can pay for tuition or how we can put money in the offering plate that somehow when it was time to go to the movies or go on a date- somehow, we always found the money.

Our decisions about how we spend money follows what we find to be of most importance. Sometimes it is the basics- like food and shelter. However, sometimes what we consider to be essential just isn’t.

Jesus was, indeed, the smartest person that ever lived and he knew that we must put God first and in doing so, everything else would follow. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and All His righteousness WILL follow.”

As we approach the communion table. May we re-commit ourselves to placing our complete trust in God. May we give God those things that we worry about the most- whether it is about money or about a strained relationship or even our health.

God IS worthy of our trust and of our praise. May we continue to grow in trust and love for God and for one another every day. Amen. 

 

Confirmation Sunday

October 20, 2019

Ephesians 1:1-6; 13-14

“Choosing Christ”

 

Ephesians 1-6 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful^[a] in Christ Jesus: ² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴ just as he chose us in Christ^[b] before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. ⁵ He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

¹³ In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; ¹⁴ this^[d] is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

 

Friends- today is the last Sunday in our Acts series. Some of you may be happy about that. Its been a good run, sort to speak. Next week we begin a new series on the teachings of Jesus regarding money, spending, and sharing. We do so as we launch our Stewardship month.

But, today, I would like to recap a bit on what we learned from our sermon series on Acts. For those of you who have been here most of the summer and early Fall, what would you say you learned from these scripture verses we looked at together?

Some of the highlights which I learned were the following:

Christian community is important. Sharing generously among the community is most important. (Remember the scirptures that read about how they literally shared “all things in common; food, clothing, sold land to share the proceeds among one another?

Then, we also learned about having authentic relationships, didn’t we? The early church was not perfect. They had power dynamics and arguments among themselves. The leaders attempted to settle matters as best as they could. But there was growing pains for that early church. The good news is that although it was difficult, they survived. We know this because here WE are, after all!

Now, we also learned that some leaders never saw eye to eye and instead wen their own ways. The good news there is that the Gospel was able to go to various parts of the world because of that splitting off that occurred. This reminds me that when people want to serve, they do so, no matter what obstacles comes their way b/c God wants us to spread God’s good news of love and redemption.

Thirdly- we learned about the radical acceptance and love that the early Christians demonstrated. Remember some had a Jewish background, while others did not. Some knew and lived out their Jewish customs and laws to the T, while the other non-Jews weren’t even familiar with those laws. The good news was that they all decided to accept one another and not make distinctions among each other. What was most important through out Acts and the activities of the leaders was that the simple message of Jesus’ life and sacrifice was most central.

This brings us to today. Today, we read from one of Paul’s letter, to the Ephesians. Notice the love that we hear as he addresses this beloved community. Notice too the language about adoption and belonging. Then, notice that Paul highlights that they not only belong to one another but most importantly, they have been “marked with the seal of Christ.” Hear these last verses again. (From verse 13-14)  “In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; ¹⁴ this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.”

Thus, Paul is reminding his church in Ephesus that hearing and BELIEVING God’s truth through scripture and the Gospel of Christ will bring salvation. Not only that- they will be marked by a seal of the promise of the Holy Spirit.

What does all that mean? It means that at the center of our life and belief system as Christians is indeed the word of God. That we are indeed saved by Christ and that by accepting these truths we do belong to the Holy spirit and to on another.

Today, we will celebrate two baptisms and the confirmation of these young people. This scripture indeed reminds them and hopefully all of us that we do belong to God when we chose Christ. And as we choose Christ, we then belong to one another through the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the words of Paul remind us this morning that belonging to a COMMUNITY of FAITH through by believing in God’s holy Word and believing in Christ’s love for us is indeed what brings us salvation.

Today, these young people will choose to follow Christ. Some will live some of that out here. Others will move on to other churches and other cities.

Yet, it is this community in turn that says, back to them, you are indeed a part of this beloved community. You indeed matter to God and you indeed matter to us.

Last week when I met with these confirmands I said (after saying many things) that at the end of everything what exists in a community of faith is love. Christ loved us first so that we may then love one another.

Let us celebrate God’s love by continuing to be beloved community, a community that chooses Jesus over an over again. Amen.