SERMON By Robin Mathews-Johnson                                                                                                  

Luke 24: 36b-48       

“Pass It On”

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for real bargains.  It’s not that I’m a tightwad, but it’s more the principle of the thing.  I like to make sure I’m getting good value for what I pay for.  Most of the time, I enjoy paying less for more.

As one writer put it, “Frugality is learning to share, to see the world as ‘ours.’  Frugality is balance.  Frugality is right use.  Frugality is enough.”[i]

Not everyone shares my views.  Take my kids.  I remind them that money doesn’t grow on trees, and please don’t mistake me for an automated teller.  But do they listen?  When it comes to finances there’s often real work involved, although you can still get rich the old fashioned way—inherit it. 

I guess you better put your money where your mouth is.

Speaking of money reminds me of the counterfeiter who made some brand new $11 dollar bills.[ii]  He wondered what he was going to do with them.  One day he went to a store way out in the country.  He walked in, put an $11 bill on the counter, and said, “I’d like some change.”  The clerk gave him two bills.

The counterfeiter picked them up and went outside.  He didn’t know what he’d gotten, but he figured anything was worth more than what he had before.  He looked down—he’d been given a seven and four.   

Oops.  I guess you get what you pay for. 

We all know that being generous takes practice, at home and at church.  As John D. Rockefeller, Jr. once said, giving is not just a duty.[iii]  It’s a privilege.  Of course, not everybody sees it that way.

The truth is, what we do with our time and money reflects our real priorities.  

It’s like the young man who wrote his girlfriend a letter:[iv] “Darling, I love you!  I love you!  I love you!  I would cross the burning desert to be by your side.  I would climb the highest mountain.  I would swim the deepest river.  I would cross the dismal swamp to be with you, and I’ll be over Saturday night, if it doesn’t rain!”

“It is possible to give without loving, but it is impossible to love without giving.”[v]

I think one of the reasons we don’t like to talk openly about money is that we mistakenly think that if we’re not rich, we’re not worthy and have nothing to share. 

Some of the people I meet here in the neighborhood are ashamed of their economic status.  They watch TV.  They see what the standard is, and it’s high.  Doesn’t everybody want to be a millionaire?  That’s the problem.  They mistakenly believe that the money they don’t have reflects their own worth. 

Unfortunately, sometimes we act that way, too.  But we should know better.  “The be-all…of life should not be to get rich, but to enrich the world.”[vi]  

WHAT JESUS SAID

Jesus proved that.  We don’t just listen to the story of Easter; we do something about it.  Sure, you can say that Jesus died on a cross to save our sins, but that’s not the end of it by a long shot.  “[I]n the resurrection event, God calls us to overcome…the distance between what we say and who we are.”[vii]   

Sometimes, there’s a big, big difference between the two.

It’s like the father who encouraged his son to give up candy for Lent.[viii]  The boy asked his dad what he and mom were giving up, and the father replied that they were giving up liquor.  The boy looked puzzled and reminded his dad that they were still drinking wine before dinner.  The father explained that he and mom were drinking wine but not hard liquor.  So the boy said, “Well, Dad, then I think I’ll give up hard candy for Lent.”

The disciples in that room after Jesus had been killed were frightened.  They’d heard from the women that Jesus was alive—somehow, somewhere—but they doubted what they heard.  According to Luke, Jesus had also mysteriously appeared to two travelers on the road to Emmaus.  But that wasn’t enough proof. 

The bottom line was that the disciples were scared out of their wits, and it showed. 

But then, he came to them.  “Peace be with you,” Jesus said.  Look, and see my hands and feet, and give me some food, I’m hungry.  In other words, Jesus was the glorious risen Christ, but he still was a man, with a mission to convey.[ix]

Jesus reminded the disciples of their real priorities: love, generosity, and service.  He told them not for the first time that they should share the good news, preach the gospel, and do God’s will, knowing that repentance and forgiveness were always part of the package.

And like those disciples so many years ago, that’s our job, too.

WITNESS

It is said that our greatest need and most difficult achievement is to find meaning in our lives.[x]  Yet we know we are called to witness to the risen Christ in concrete ways, and Jesus leads us there. 

As one wiser than I put it, “We must give not only what we have; we must give also what we are.”[xi]  And that’s not always so easy to do, especially when it comes to our time, resources and hard, cold cash. 

You and I know that as Christians, it’s our job to be generous.  Listen to this poem that explains what I mean:[xii]

            You are writing a Gospel, A chapter each day,

By the deeds that you do, And the words that you say.

People read what you write, If it’s false or it’s true,

            Now what is the Gospel, According to you?

Our basic beliefs include knowing that the power of prayer makes a difference, so we pray for our world, our community and ourselves.  We pray for God’s vision for this church and do what we can to make it happen, and we consider a financial commitment, no ifs ands or buts. 

And that’s a very good thing.

A teacher one day asked his students this question: What would you do if you knew that you only had one day to live?[xiii]  As you might expect, there were a wide variety of responses.  Some said they’d get drunk, get a fix, or find a girl.  Others said they’d want to climb a mountain or run away.  Yet others wanted to be with family and friends. 

One student said he would spend time reviewing his photo albums and savoring memories of his life.  An 18-year-old said that she would like to spend her last evening in church alone with God, thanking God for her full and happy life.

Someone once found Francis of Assisi hoeing his garden and asked him the same question.  What would you do if you knew that you only had one day to live?  It is said that Francis replied, “I would finish hoeing my garden.” 

The founder of our church, John Wesley, was asked what he’d do if he knew that the next day was his last.  Wesley replied that he would continue with what he’d planned, including calling on a friend, and preaching that night in a nearby town. 

What would you do?  I don’t know about you, but I guess if I only had 24 hours to live, I’d plan a big gathering for loved ones with lots and lots of food, and then get on down to church to pray.

As it says in the hymn,[xiv] “It only takes a spark to get a fire going, and soon all those around can warm up in its glowing.  That’s how it is with God’s love once you’ve experienced it; you spread [God’s] love to everyone; you want to pass it on.”

“I wish for you, my friend, this happiness that I’ve found; you can depend on him, it matters not where you’re bound.  I’ll shout it from the mountaintop; I want my world to know; the Lord of love has come to me, I want to pass it on.” 

Pass it on, for real, in the name of Christ.  Amen.