Holy Covenant United Methodist Church - Luke 11:1-4 "Lesson of the Saints"

Luke 11:1-4 "Lesson of the Saints"

Written by Rev. Don Lee
Saturday, 04 November 2006
Prayer: God, we love you, we thank you, all of our resources come from you. We rejoice in your presence. Amen. What is a saint? In the past I’ve thought of a saint as someone who epitomizes grace and faith. But these days I find my definition of a “saint” radically expanding. It’s been 2 months since my friend, Beattie Anne passed away. In accordance with her will, her body was cremated and as pre-arranged with Restland, her ashes combined with those of “Crissy Bell,” her beloved cat. Legalities held up the inurnment until last week. Monday, I arrived at Restland early, and spent the time sitting on a bench next to the chapel remembering and praying. It was a warm, breezy day. Some of the trees have already begun to change and drop their leaves. And I watched them dance playfully along the ground and over the scattered markers. If you want to put your life into perspective, spend some time at the cemetery. With the words “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” my friend was finally laid to rest. Beattie Anne was one of the “saints” in my life…albeit a flawed saint, but a saint nonetheless. In fact most of the saints in my life have been flawed. Of course, that doesn’t make (these shining stars) any less a means of grace for me. It simply makes them more real. I think we do our saints an injustice by making them out to be something more or other than what they really are. It’s simply dishonest and doesn’t fool anyone. Besides, they’re in great company. All the giants of faith in scripture were flawed, some fatally. All Saints Sunday is a day the Church celebrates those saints, past and present who’ve touched us deeply by their sincere love of Christ and neighbor. Their faith is embodied in the generous way they give “significantly” of themselves to God and others. My son, Chris has been studying vocabulary words for a UIL competition. Earlier this week, over breakfast, his mother quizzed him on the meaning of the word significant. When he hesitated, she responded, “it means it’s important.” Giving significantly of yourself means its important. It’s the saints in my life who have taught me what GOOD STEWARDSHIP is. 1) Stewardship is a commitment to live a GENEROUS life. “Give us this day our daily bread.” I’ve prayed those words a thousands of times…at church, in worship, at home, at weddings, and at hospital bedsides. I spoke those words over my friend’s ashes that breezy Monday afternoon. “Give us this day our daily bread…” is both a prayer and an affirmation that God provides. But given its “original context in the biblical narrative” it actually has a much broader meaning. Jesus is responding to his Disciples’ request that he teach them to pray and he teaches them to pray communally, “Give US this day OUR daily bread.” Jesus is teaching his church to pray! Which begs the question, “What is the daily bread of the church?” My best answer? It is the “stuff we need” to do the ministry God calls us to collectively! When we pray the Lord’s prayer we are not just praying for personal need, we are praying for Jesus’ church! And the irony is, the very thing we pray for, “Our Daily Bread” is the very thing we as members of the church are expected to provide! Our presence and prayer, our faith, financial giving and serving, are the brick and mortar of God’s Kingdom come. God has generously blessed us. And to whom much is given, much is required. You should feel good about what you place on this altar before God. If you don’t, ask yourself “why?” You may be giving for the wrong reasons! Stewardship is a commitment to a generous life. Earlier this month 8 members of our church traveled to Orange Texas, about 20 miles out of Beaumont, to repair, scrape, and paint a home damaged by Hurricane Rita. Christiana has lived in a FEMA trailer parked on her property for over a year while repairs to her home have been made. After Chris’ husband died, this elderly widow was left to raise 5 children on her own. I can’t imagine trying to raise 5 children on my own. I have enough trouble with two, and I’ve got help (or as my wife would put it, she has help…). Chris stated several times she believed God had sent us to help finish her home and that throughout her life, even in times of loss, God had provided for her needs. But she had run out of time. The City of Orange had ordered the removal of all the FEMA trailers from the city limits. Her turn was the very weekend we were finishing repairs to her home! We were the answer to her whispered: Give us this day our daily bread. Why should our members travel hundreds of miles to help a total stranger? Stewardship is a commitment to live a GENEROUS life. 2ndly) Stewardship proclaims God’s faithfulness. There’s a wonderful story about God’s faithfulness in Exodus 16. (If you have your Bibles, turn with me). Israel is wandering in the wilderness, hungry and desperate. Vs 4, Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather [only] enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instructions or not. Now scan down to verse 20. But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul. The moral of the story? God provides. Can we trust God to do this? Stewardship proclaims God’s faithfulness. We proclaim our trust in God by sharing significantly out of our resources. My saints; their generosity and presence of our saints are my “daily bread.” And they are teaching us how to be daily bread for others. By the way, in my mind the word “presence” means more then mere physical presence. That’s way too narrow a definition. Did any of you watch last Sunday’s Cowboy game? I like how a local newscaster described Tony Romo’s performance. He said of the Cowboy’s new starting quarterback, he really “showed up” for the game! Being “present” in my mind means being “fully engaged.” It is bringing ALL your resources to the table and sharing them generously. Any United Methodists here? When we made our covenantal vows as UM, we were promising God, ourselves and each other, more then just physical presence. We were promising to “show up.” Romans 12: 1 says, Therefore, I urge you, brothers [and sisters], in view of God's mercy, to offer yourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- which is your spiritual worship. NIV Here’s a prayer we could all benefit from. “God, help me to recognize and carry out what I need to do today to be a faithful steward.” When to pray this? How about every time you don’t make it through the “orange light” on your way to and from work! That’s a lot better prayer then some of the things we mumble in the frantic race to the office! By the way there’s another way to translate, “Give us this day our daily bread.” It can also be translated, “Give us our bread for tomorrow.” Most bibles provide this alternate translation as a sub-note to the more familiar version. It can be translated both as a request that the daily needs of the Christian community be satisfied, and as a prayer for the food of the messianic banquet, “when God’s Kingdom is fully realized and humans love and do justice to each other and to all of God’s creation.” The alleviation of poverty, of racism and hate crimes, of intolerance and armed conflict answer the prayer, “Lord, Give us this day, our daily bread….” Stewardship is a commitment to live a GENEROUS life And our Stewardship proclaims God’s faithfulness! I want to close by reading you a quote from the Lifestyle Stewardship Bible Study Series. “The Old Testament required numerous offerings be made to God. Among these were burnt, drink, fellowship, freewill, peace, grain, sin, thanks, trespass and wave offerings. The wave offering provides an example of the spirit in which offerings were to be made. The worshipers, gathered in praise and worship, would lift their hands filled with grain [or] bread…and begin to wave their offerings before God. The wave offering was public demonstration of gratitude, praise, and worship and demonstrated a people celebrating a love relationship with God. It was a joyful and symbolic way of saying, 'God, we love you. We thank you. All of our resources come from you. We rejoice in your presence.' I love the image of the church doing “the wave” in celebration of God’s goodness! It is the church living out the prayer: “Give us this day, our daily bread…” Pray with me, “God, we love you, we thank you, all of our resources come from you. We rejoice in your presence. Amen.”