Rev. Cary M. Richert
22nd Sunday after Pentecost (Series A)
Stewardship Emphasis, Week #3
October 16, 2005
The Spirit of Giving
Matthew 26:6-13
Preaching the 3rd Sunday of a stewardship series poses a bit of a challenge! As I prepared today=s sermon, a line from one of our well-known hymns came to mind: What more can He say than to you He has said! [How Firm a Foundation, TLH 427, v. 1]
The challenge? To say something about stewardship you haven=t already heard ... and not to sound like a nag! The past two weeks Pastor Schlak focused on ...
... the nature of Christian stewardship: offering all we are and have to God.
... the act of Christian stewardship: making our offering to God intentional.
Pastor Schlak set before you the Lord=s clear word about the sole source of all our earthly blessings, the real Owner of what we think is ours, and the main thing our Lord observes in us as we worship Him and make our offerings.
Our focus today is on the SPIRIT of our stewardship as God=s people. As you can see from the bulletin cover, we give an offering to the Lord as an act of Praise to God. The spirit that underlies and motivates our giving is critically important to God. Without the right spirit motivating our giving, our gifts aren=t acceptable to the Lord ... even though they help pay the Church=s bills!
Today=s Gospel Reading demonstrates by example what characterizes the right spirit in our Christian stewardship. It tells of a woman who anointed Jesus with very expensive perfume. The apostle John identifies her as Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, the man Jesus raised from the dead. It also tells of Jesus= disciples, who judged her act to be wasteful and unnecessary.
Jesus clearly accepted Mary=s unusual offering. He commended her for it, indicating that: wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her, [Matthew 26:13]. Like the poor widow, whose meager offering was commended by Jesus because of the spirit in which she gave it, the Lord saw in Mary the same spirit. So we ask today, AIn what spirit did Mary make her costly and acceptable offering to the Lord?@
First, Mary presented Jesus her offering in a spirit of true faith and trust. She believed that Jesus was the Messiah ... God=s promised Savior. She=d listened carefully to Jesus= teaching, [Luke 10:39]. She trusted Him for the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection from the dead. Mary had no way of knowing, that soon after this dinner party Jesus would be arrested, beaten, crucified and buried ... and that her act of worship prepared Him for what was to come. But, she still believed He was worthy of her worship ... even the unusual way she worshiped Him.
The faith that drove Mary=s action was a gift from God, [Ephesians 2:8], as is the faith that you and I possess today. Only by faith can we receive all the other gifts of God=s grace: the forgiveness of sins, new life and salvation. Scripture reminds us that, without a spirit of faith and trust it=s impossible to please God in the matter of our worship and stewardship, [Hebrews 11:6]. It=s faith that makes stewardship ... Christian stewardship. Our stewardship begins with a spirit of true faith and trust.
Second, Mary presented her offering in a spirit of sacrifice. It=s obvious from the text and from the comments of Jesus= disciples that the perfume Mary offered Jesus by anointing Him with it ... was very expensive. Ancient Versacci . Ancient Chanel. Her perfume has been valued at over 10 months wages for a common worker. Wow! Truly a sacrificial gift. And Mary offered it willingly ... lovingly ... without a thought for herself or the earthly value of her offering.
A spirit of sacrifice, best seen in Jesus, who offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, [Hebrews 9:11 ff.]. Out of the purest love for condemned sinners like you and me ... Jesus, the Lamb of God, sacrificed His blood ... His life ... that we might be His own and live under Him in His kingdom.
When it comes to money and material possessions, the spirit of sacrifice is often missing. We=d more likely sacrifice important things ... like faith, family and friendship ... to acquire money and material possessions, than sacrifice money and material possessions to have the higher things in life. Remember the rich, young man who went away from Jesus sad, because he lacked the spirit of sacrifice ... which ultimately kept him from enjoying the true heavenly treasures? [Matthew 19:16 ff.] Christ-centered stewardship is built on a true spirit of sacrifice.
Third, Mary presented her offering to Jesus in a spirit of reverence and humility. From Matthew and John, we learn that Mary poured her expensive perfume both on Jesus= head and His feet. John records that she wiped Jesus= feet - an act reserved for the lowliest slave in the household - not with a towel, but with her hair. Uninhibited by the other guests at the party, Mary wasn=t afraid to humble herself in service and worship of the Lord Jesus. Are you???
Jesus often criticized the pride and arrogance of the Pharisees. They purposely did things in a way that brought attention to themselves, [Matthew 23:5]. While they kept outwardly the letter of the Law ... inwardly, the spirit of the Law was nowhere to be found. Their lack of true inward faith, reverence and humility ... made their outward Law-keeping unacceptable to Jesus.
Through the apostle Paul, God calls each of us to reflect a spirit of true reverence and humility in our worship, in our relationships, and in the stewardship of our lives and earthly blessings ... humility best reflected by our Lord Jesus, who humbled himself and became obedient to death??even death on a cross! [Philippians 2:8] Christ-centered stewardship flows from a true spirit of reverence and humility.
Finally, Mary worshiped Jesus with her costly offering in a spirit of thanksgiving and praise. Oh, it wasn=t a Astand-up-and-clap-your-hands-for-Jesus@ kind of praise and thanksgiving. And, while there=s surely a time and place for this kind of praise and thanksgiving, Mary=s praise was quiet and faith-filled. It honored Jesus as the Son of God ... the promised Messiah ... her Savior. She was overjoyed that Jesus had done so much for her, raising her brother Lazarus from death ... and so many other blessings. Just as He does for you and me! And so, the expense of her unusual offering paled for her in comparison to her devotion to Jesus.
The same spirit of thanksgiving and praise that characterized Mary=s act of worship and stewardship ... characterizes all Christ-centered stewardship. Today=s Old Testament Reading from Psalm 96 is reflective of many Psalms full of thanks and praise to God for countless blessings poured out upon His undeserving people.
We truly have much to be thankful for! Much to praise God for! May we honor God by being His faithful stewards ... with a spirit of true faith and trust ... with a spirit of sacrifice ... with a spirit of reverence and humility ... and, with a spirit of thanksgiving and praise. We pray today, with King David of old: Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me, [Psalm 51:10].
God grant it for Jesus= sake. Amen.