In Pursuit

“In Pursuit”

The Rev Jen Van Zandt

September 25, 2022

(Rev Jen Sings: “It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year…” It really is! It's my favorite time of year and those of you who know me, know why I love this time of year. What is it? pumpkin spice latte? No…. Football? No, but very close, very close. (I know that the reason why we have such poor attendance today is that the Jets are playing at home). That's true--some of our parishioners literally couldn't come to church today, because they're getting ready to tailgate. Quite a number of our other parishioners are actually not here, because they're already down on Main Street setting up for Boonton day, which is an important part of the life in the ministry of this church.

But the reason why I love the fall is that it's stewardship season! That's my favorite time of the year! The problem is is that not every pastor really likes stewardship season. I have a colleague who told me one time that he hates money. He hates the sound of it. He hates talking about it and even physically hates to touch it! Yikes! Maybe that’s why he never has any money, but I'm not sure. But a lot of pastors don't like stewardship…(and speaking of the things they don't teach you about in seminary)--many pastors don't preach a thing about stewardship). But I love stewardship! The problem is…if people don’t value stewardship and don’t have a good relationship with money, then they do bad things with it—even in the church.

You may have seen the headlines in the last month of a pastor who, in the middle of church, was robbed by one of his own parishioners and all sorts of jewelry was stolen. And it went away for a while. And now, this last week, he was literally pictured choking that same woman in the middle of church! I think that's what the writer of 1st Timothy is getting at. I decided to choose the version “The Message”, because the NRSV is just so intense and harsh and therefore really hard to get at. But the one thing that is stated plainly in the NRSV is a phrase that we all know…that the whole world knows, which is “Money is the Root of All Evil”.

The writer of Timothy has a lot to say about this. In fact, the writer of Timothy has so much to say that it's really hard to let all of this sink in, in this passage, from hearing and seeing it only once. So, I actually want us to look at this passage together, but also individually. But first we're going to pass around the offering plates for the first time and see how much we can gather. We're going to do this three or four times until we get enough to cover our deficit. (Kidding).

What I'd like to do is look at the text. And, if you have a pencil or pen handy, I want you to circle one or two of the portions of the text that really speak to you.

There's a lot there, isn't there? Okay, so let's hear what you like. What really speaks to you in the passage. Just shout it out.

To do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous.

Great…

“Rich simplicity of being yourself before God”.

What about the rest of you?

“Life of wonder, faith, steadiness”

Others?

“A devout life brings wealth”

Great. Who else?

“Be extravagantly generous”

Yes! What else?

Money's here today and gone tomorrow

Great. Anyone else? What else are you moved by or touched by or startled by?

“Gaining life that is truly life”

Indeed. Who else?

Eternal life you will call it sees the eternal life that you were called to

What else?

He'll show up right on time

Indeed! How about the rest of you?

Run hard and fast in the faith

Right! Anyone else?

“To be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life”

Great. Thank you all. Okay, here's what's interesting. Of those of you who spoke up, none of you highlighted the text: “Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money.”

So, I have some good news and I have some bad news. The good news is, is that I thought I had solved all the problems--the financial problems--of the church. A few weeks ago, I shared with you that I was going to my high school reunion soon. I reconnected with a number of my friends before the reunion and many of my classmates have been extremely successful but one of my mates from grammar school, is close to being a billionaire. Literally. So, I thought “hmmmm, $250,000 is roughly our annual budget. What's $250,000” to him?” He’s known to be very generous and after a catch-up and having dinner together I could ask him to write a check. It would go like this: “Good to see you, again! Congrats on your success! Can you spare a few bucks to help out my church?” That was my plan. Here's the bad news. He didn't come!!

I have no idea what his theology is and I don't know whether he's obsessed with money or it just pours into his pockets because of the business that he's in, which is a good, honest and healthy business. He's the nicest guy and the kindest guy and he's a generous guy. So I'll get back to you if I can get a check from him. (kidding) But the fact of the matter is we all know people who are extraordinarily wealthy but how they use/spend their money says a lot about who they are.

A number of years ago I read an article that outlined the stories of all of the people who have hit the lottery and how their lives changed. 90% of the people who have hit the lottery have gone on to lives of utter tragedy. Marriages split apart. Addictions pick up. Family relationships are fractured. Many people who hit the lottery end up penniless, because they don't know how to manage their money. Unfortunately, there are many suicides. It's just tragic.

Let’s go back to the text. At least three of you said you like this idea of the “rich simplicity of being yourselves before God”. Three more of you like to text about “extravagantly generous”. So many of you are halfway home to understanding this passage. I know friends, you are all very generous. While I want you hear the claim (one of them) which is “Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. “ I also want to hear Stop Worrying! Stop worrying about money. Stop worrying about where that next dollar is going to come from to pay for your medical bill or to fulfill your church pledge. Stop worrying about the future of this church and any other church. Stop worrying about if you're going to be able to afford to give that lovely gift to that grandchild or to a spouse or for a graduation, because God will provide those things, because you are already extravagantly generous.

More deeper than that? I want you to look through God's eyes at your generosity. Imagine how God is looking at you in the ways you serve this church and care for this church and for the people who are extended family of this church and all the things that we do to care for those who are literally trying to make ends meet, that don't have enough food for their children or school supplies for their children, the ways in which we prepare meals and serve hot meals for people in town and in the greater Morris County Community. All of these things are part of your extravagant generosity. And all God is asking us to do is to continue to be generous--extravagantly generous--and in the end… not worry about where the money is going to come from.

We've all probably had experiences through our lives where it was just down to that last dollar and all of a sudden a check comes in that you didn't expect. I remember many years ago I was living hand to mouth. I just bought a condominium. I was, you know as I say, house poor and I literally couldn't pay another bill. And I got this check in the mail for $750, because the car company realized they had overcharged me. Now what car company do you think would catch that error and admit they overcharged me? (Especially because at the time I was driving a BMW!) I think God saw that I was, also, fulfilling my pledge to the church as well as teaching Jr High Sunday School (not an easy class!) while also not having enough money even to pay my own bills.

God, through the writer of Timothy is saying to us “don't worry about it!”

In the end you and I both know It's the simple things in life that are truly valuable anyway, even if we can afford ALL the things we want, we can find a way to fund all the things we NEED.

I saw a story a couple of days ago in the news about a 35-year-old floating in his pool. He’s 35 and a millionaire. He is proud of having arrived at that and yet he also said, “Now that I'm retired and enjoying all of my wealth… I don't know what to do with myself.” Hmmmm.

On the other hand, I saw a beautiful story--and you may have seen this too, it was in the headlines this week: Yvon Chouinard, who is known as a “crazy, eccentric rock climber”, is also the founder of the company, Patagonia. He's dedicating all of the profits of the company, which is about a hundred million dollars a year, to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land from being developed. Now that's a really, really, really big initiative and commitment! He clearly is not floating around in his pool looking for what to do with himself and his wealth!

Now I know not many of us will have that kind of opportunity in our lives. But I wonder even in small ways when we open our wallets, how we spend our money is something that we might want to look at even more closely. And that's the other part of this text. We want to look more closely at the way we value money and we value things and look at how we want to be extravagant, not only to individuals who can't make ends meet, but even to shore up Mission and Ministry for the future. That means caring for this enormous building and church plant. It means caring for staff and giving them increases that they definitely deserve. It means making sure that the parking lot is paved so that no one rolls an ankle. It's making sure that we can afford to take care of these beautiful stained-glass windows.

So as we begin our stewardship campaign for the fall, I encourage you to start thinking through how you can be extravagantly generous. Maybe stepping away from things that you've got your mind on or your heart on, but also making sure that we shore up the church's finances, so we can continue to grow.

I've often thought about what would happen if I won the lottery. What would be the first thing I would do for the church? Anybody got an idea? “The elevator!” Yes, thank you (John Crozier)! Absolutely! I have to first start playing the lottery, though that part I haven't gotten to yet. But, friends, we need to run hard and fast in our faith. We need to trust that God is seeing all the good things that we're doing; that God will give us enough for us to make ends meet; that God will continue to honor the ways in which we care for others; and that God will give us riches that, maybe, are not in our bank accounts, but in our faith and in our life and giving us hope even beyond hope. I pray that that happens for you and for me and for everyone we know and love and especially for those that no one loves. May it be so. Amen.