Week 2: That's in the Bible? - Everyone Whose Heart Was Stirred
October 27, 2019
Exodus 35:4-9, 20-21, 36:2-7
Matthew 17:24-27
“Everyone Whose Heart Was Stirred”
Many of you know that I grew up in the Roman Catholic Church. When I was eight
years old, my family moved to a small town in Michigan where I began to attend a small Catholic elementary school. In the states, Catholic schools are not publicly funded, so every month, my mom put a cheque in the offering plate that covered the tuition.
This was not a freewill offering. This was required and I know that my mom, a single mother of four children, resented every cheque that she had to write to pay for this education. My mom could have sent us to the local public school, but it was important enough to my grandparents that my mom decided that the Catholic school would be where we attended. I don’t believe she ever gave a dime more to that church.
Why do you give to the church? Do you do it out of obligation? Do you feel that you don’t have a choice? Do you do it because it’s tradition, it’s how it’s aways been done and you haven’t really thought about why? How do you determine how much you give? Some traditions require tithing, which is to give 10% from your earnings, which is biblical. How much thought have you really put into why and how much you give? We’ve talked a little bit about stewardship this month, you have heard from different people each week as to why they come to St. Paul’s, and we are invited today to a stewardship luncheon, so I figured today might be the perfect Sunday to grapple with some of these questions.
The second book of the bible, after Genesis, is Exodus. Many of you have just recently read this book with me in our project to read the bible in a year. Exodus is the story of the Hebrew people and their plight as slaves in Egypt, of their deliverance from Egypt, and the beginning of their 40 year journey into the wilderness. It’s a story of a people who are just learning how to be a nation of their own and as part of that journey, there are lots of rules and
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rituals put into place. Some of those rituals were around offerings and the tabernacle, which was their travelling temple until they were able to build a more permanent one.
There is a story in the book of Exodus that Kent read for us today. When I read the story a few weeks ago, I thought, “Aha! This would be perfect for a stewardship sermon.” God had just given Moses instructions on how the tabernacle would be constructed and Moses brought these instructions to the people. Skilled people were found to do the work, and an offering of materials was gathered from the people. Moses said, “Let whoever is of a generous heart bring the Lord’s offering.” And the words we heard Kent say were, “And they came, everyone whose heart was stirred and everyone whose spirt was willing.” And in fact, they kept coming and coming, to the point where Moses had to tell them to stop. Good problem to have, right?
How often have you been asked to stop giving? Stop giving your time, your skills, or your wealth? Ever? And these were people who had recently been enslaved, people who had been hungry, people who had probably had very few belongings, people who had lived with scarcity for a very long time, and, in case you’re wondering from where all these offerings came, the people had plundered the households of the Egyptians before they left. These were people who had no problem giving and giving and giving again, to the point where Moses had to tell them to “Stop!”
Earlier in this Exodus story, God had commanded a temple tax, a half shekel for those twenty and over, to be given upon registration as part of a census. Over the years, after thousands of years, this temple tax changed and now, we leave the Hebrew Scriptures and wrestle with a story from the Christian Scriptures, in the gospel of Matthew. This temple tax is now an annual tax for the support of the temple and its sacrifices. It was not universally accepted and not rigidly enforced.
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In chapter 17 of Matthew’s gospel, we have this story that is actually kind of odd. Jesus and his followers are in Capernaum, which happens to be Peter’s and his brother Andrew’s hometown. Peter, who seems to be off on his own, is asked by the temple tax collectors, who may know Peter personally, if Jesus pays the temple tax. Now we don’t know if these people are challenging Jesus or challenging the temple tax. Peter says yes and then returns home, where Jesus seems to be hanging out. Now Jesus brings up the topic before Peter which implies that he knew about it somehow. Jesus says, “What do you think, Simon?” (Did you know that Jesus never actually calls him Peter?) “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toil or tribute? From their children or from others?”
Now a tribute is slightly different from a tax. A tribute is what was usually demanded by a conquering king or emperor. In those days, all those conquered lands within the Roman Empire, including the Jewish people, would have paid a tribute to the Empire, not, of course, the “children” of Rome. It seems, although it’s not easily understood, that maybe Jesus saw this temple tax more like a required tribute, maybe unfairly required of the children of Israel. So Jesus tells Peter, “However, so that we do not give offence to them, go to the sea and cast a hook, take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me.”
That’s it. End of story. What do we make of this story? Does Peter actually follow these instructions? Does he actually go out and find a fish with a coin in its mouth?
Or was this said ‘tongue in cheek?’ Maybe in our current context, we might have heard it like this: “Simon, go to the forest, find the nearest tree, look at a one of the high branches and pluck a coin off of it, because money grows on trees, right?” Imagine the followers hearing Jesus and having a good laugh.
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Now, I’m only speculating that this is how it might have gone. I imagine Jesus telling stories and sharing jokes with his followers. I imagine that a two days’ wage, mandatory temple tax may have been a topic that he kibitzed about with his friends, knowing it was unfair to ask of a people already experiencing hardship or of a people who had nothing but the clothes on their backs.
So we have a story of generous, stirred hearts and willing spirits giving more than enough and a story of a required, unrealistic temple tax. When you give on Sunday, does it feel like your heart has been stirred to give abundantly or does it feel like a required temple tax? Maybe it’s a little bit of both.
Maybe you came to church on October 6th and heard Matt Foxall talk about the Neighbour Care Network at Kerr Street Mission. Maybe hearing his story stirred your heart to donate to our Thanksgiving Offering, which this year supports this initiative (we’re still taking donations by the way).
Maybe last week you were here and heard Chris and Grace give their testimony of why they chose to come to St. Paul’s. Maybe this stirred your heart to put more in the offering plate or increase your pledge.
Maybe you have been coming here for a number of years and feel this is your home and want to give to continue the ministry here. Maybe you have children or grandchildren who attend our children and youth programs and you give to support those programs. Maybe you lost a loved one or went through an illness and you were loved and supported by this community in your grief. Maybe you came with questions about your faith and found this to be a place that fed you spiritually. All of this and more could be what is stirring your heart today.
Maybe you heard a plea on Sunday morning that volunteers were needed. Maybe you read that there was a projected deficit for the year. Maybe someone tapped you on the shoulder
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to ask advice on a topic in which you have some expertise. Maybe in these instances you felt obligated. Maybe in these instances you felt pressured and maybe you even felt some annoyance. No judgement if that’s where you were; we’ve all been there. But if your heart is being stirred, maybe this is what keeps your spirit willing, even during these times.
Money doesn’t grow on trees; we all know that. In many ways, time is becoming an even more valued commodity than money. It’s not easy to give up either, but if we feel something is important enough to us and our families, if the community and other across the globe are supported by the initiatives here, and if we feel moved by the love, the generosity of spirt, the sense of belonging that we feel in this place, it’s a little easier to set aside those feelings of obligation and pressure, because our spirits are willing.
When you open up your stewardship pledge, and find that you are being asked to give more, search inside yourself and discern the will of your spirit. I am not Moses but I hope that one day, somewhere, I can say, “They came, everyone whose heart was stirred and everyone whose spirt was willing, and I had to say, Stop! That’s enough.”
May your hearts be stirred and may your spirit be willing to give your time, talent, and treasures in whatever way you can, wherever you can. May you feel Christ in all the ways you give and may others see Christ in you. May God bless our abundance and inspire our generosity. Amen.