BLOWN AWAY BY GOD by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Patti Lusher)

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Today we are celebrating commitments. We are giving thanks for the times when God’s spirit has been so amazing we have been blown away by God’s love.  We’re asking the Holy Spirit to come to us, once again, like a powerful wind, and to sweep us off our feet, so we might live as disciples filled with passion to serve God.

So, first of all, will you tell me, if you were here last week you received $5. We asked you to do something generous with it.  What did you do?

·      Some of you put it in the offering plate last Sunday; that is fine. We will use it to care for our Village kids and to provide for great music to feed us in our worship

·      I gave mine to someone who asked; I put it with my own money and gave to fight arthritis for a child who has arthritis

·      Jamie is going to give to the 6^th grade trip at the school he is not even going to next year. I think that is really generous for 10 year old.

These may all seem like simple things but remember we said “being generous is something to practice.”  With each act, being generous becomes a habit.  We learn how to say “yes” to generosity and “no” to holding on to what we have. We begin to feel lighter and more free. It’s a good feeling.

Well, in our scripture for today, it says that the first followers of Jesus practiced generosity by taking care of one another’s needs.  “They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.”  This is not really something that many Christians practice to the extreme anymore, although you will find groups of people living in Christian community here and there.  I run across these people every now and then.

Such an idea sounds appealing to me right now.  Kurt and I live in the Old West End, in a house that is a little more than 100 years old.  It is fun to live in a house with so much history.  Until it comes to the repairs.  On Thursday, I had a masonry expert come look at the foundation on our porch.  Kurt and I have been watching it for a few years now.  The huge set of stone steps is dragging the rest of the porch down. The brick is bowing out.  Matthias came and measured.  He talked with me about what he would need to do.  He said he would email me over the weekend with an estimate.  So now we are waiting for the bad news.  We will be blown away, if by some miracle, the number he gives us matches the number that we have in a savings account we have set aside for home repairs.  Or, we would be equally blown away, if, when we get the number and we don’t have enough money, we lived in a world where people who had more would help those who live in 100 year old houses, and just spread the money around so that we can all take care of our houses. That would blow me away. 

But you know, here at The Village, we actually are doing just such a thing for one of our families, a family where they really do need help, way more than Kurt and I. And I would much rather donate to this project.  Yesterday, 7 people put in a total of 55 people hours working on Rock and Beth’s house as a part of our R and B Blues project.  In fact, so far we have put in 455 hours total; we’ve raised about $3500.   

We’ve been fixing a whole house from top to bottom.  The house had no insulation.  Yesterday, the volunteers put in 2 new windows because the rain had been coming in.  And, there is so much more to do.  Sometimes, we dream dreams so big only God can make them come true.  Back in January, we thought, “We have people in this church who know how to fix things,” but it has gotten harder.  We don’t have any money left in the fund.  But we have done so much.

I think this is how the disciples felt on that first Pentecost.  I think they probably felt like they were not sure they could really do the task that Jesus had put before them. 

Here is how the story goes:  It was about 50 days after the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Lots of Jewish people traveled from countries all around, to their religious center, in Jerusalem, to celebrate a Jewish festival called Pentecost.  So on this day, Jerusalem just happened to be filled with a high number of visitors speaking many languages.

The disciples were sitting in a room, secluded, and still a bit stunned by the death and resurrection of Jesus, not sure how to carry on the mission of the church without their leader.  They were pretty discouraged.  Then something amazing happened.  You see, Jesus had promised that the spirit of God would come to guide them and give them what they needed.  And on that day, it happened. SOMETHING happened.  Witnesses described it like fire and wind, a power like none other. They were blown away. 

Have you ever had an experience that blew you off your feet, literally or figuratively?  Maybe you have been in a tornado or a strong wind.  Or maybe God has done something to really get your attention. 

That day in Jerusalem, SOMETHING happened. The Spirit of God filled the disciples.  With every breath they took, they were filled with God.  Actually, the word in Greek for breath is the same word as spirit so it is as if every time we breathe we are breathing in God’s spirit.  We’re told they went out into the streets and started preaching in every language of all the people who were there from all those countries, even though they could not possibly have known those languages. That’s the Pentecost miracle.  Peter stood up to preach about Jesus and 3000 people were converted. They were baptized and joined the Jesus movement.  It was a revival, like no revival you’ve ever seen!

And here is what those first 3000 people did: 

·      committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles

·      Shared meals together

·      Prayed

·      Sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.

·      Worshipped together daily in the Temple

This was the result: 

Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.  Everybody wanted the spirit in them.  I am sure they would have taken on a project like Rock and Beth’s house.  If they got discouraged half way through the project, they would have prayed and called for reinforcements, and just kept pressing forward, putting their trust in God, and breathing in the breath of the Holy Spirit. 

2000 years later, this is what we still try to do together as a church.  We have several people who are joining The Village as members today. We are asking them to make commitments. This is what we ask you to do as faithful members of The Village:  Will you commit to pray for The Village Church and will you be present here with this community on a regular basis; will you serve God with us and give your resources to support the ministries of The Village Church in the world? And finally, will you witness to the message of Jesus Christ in the world? 

Some of you have already made these commitments formally.  Some of you will make them today.  Some of you make these commitments informally. This is what it means for us to be The Village Church.

Perhaps we are not as radical as those first century disciples who worshipped together every day, and who sold their belongings and pooled their money in order to be sure that everyone had their needs met. There is always more we could do. 

But we take baby steps to be better disciples. 

We are all here today. That is something.

We can pray any time and I hope we do. 

We all have a chance to make a financial commitment to The Village today. This village church is one piece of God’s work.  It is not the only piece but it is something that we are a part of. Our work together is important.  Many of you wouldn’t be in church in Toledo if The Village Church didn’t exist.  We know that there are people here who did not have a church home before The Village opened our doors.  We have a unique ministry.  It takes money to do this ministry.  We all have some money that comes to us from God. The Village is a good place to give a portion of our money back in order to do God’s work in the world. 

We can also serve together with The Village. There were 7 people at Rock and Beth’s house yesterday, but more of us can help.  You may think you don’t have skills to help.  Jodi and Kelly keep telling us they can find things for those of us to do who don’t have skills.  In January, we committed to rehab this home for two of our members and we are not done yet.  If every one of us gave one Saturday to this project in the next three months, it would make such a difference.  And if we all invited one friend who is not here today, that would make an even bigger difference.  We can change the world.

We can also make a difference by going to the Old West End Festival and the other community festivals this summer.  When we go to these events, we have a chance to talk to hundreds of people about The Village.  You just never know who might be looking for a church home.  It is one of the easiest ways to touch lots of people and just be present in the world and offer some hospitality.  We just go and hang out and have fun and wear our “no perfect people allowed” t-shirts.  When people see us having fun they see that Christians are regular people just like them and they think “Maybe I could give that church a try.”

It may feel like it’s outside your comfort zone to go to a community festival and invite people to The Village, but this is what it means to be changed by the Holy Spirit in a Pentecost sort of way – to be blown away by God.  Nobody has died yet by helping at these festivals.  When we give up a Saturday to go to one of these things, we allow God to change us, to breathe new life into us – and to move us to order our lives around God’s desires for us. 

Will we do it? Today, on THIS Pentecost, will we take a deep breath, and breathe in God’s Spirit and be changed?  I want to be changed.  I want to live more deeply in the way of God.  Isn’t that what we are hoping for?  Let’s be blown away.  Let’s allow God to breathe new life into us.  We will never be the same.  Let it be so!

Generous Hearts by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Kurt Young)

  

            Today I’d like to tell you the story of Sasha Dichter.  He is an employee of Acumen which is an organization that invests money to help solve the problems of poverty in the world.  They  fund people who make less than $4 a day in places like India, Pakistan and East Africa, since 2001; They do what they call “impact investing,” using money to solve social problems like access to clean water, etc.

His friends call him Buzz Lightyear as he is so obsessed with getting home.  At the end of the day he has to catch his 6:20 PM train home.  He has a family and has to get back to via that train. He is known to stop mid-sentence saying got to go catch my train.  One night, on his way home, he rushed past a homeless man, asking for help.  

He got home and he felt something in his heart he could not ignore.  So he decided to post a blog without thinking it through. He decided that for 30 days he would say yes to anyone who asked him for help.  If Someone asked me for money, he said  I’m going to do it, I am going to say yes.  He posted it online and then realized it was not the smartest idea ever.  It was December.  He had just announced a Generosity Experiment: for thirty days saying yes to everyone who asked: every musician, beggar; and every non-profit.  I don’t know about you, but think about how often in December you get hit up for money.  

                Why would he do this?  Well, as someone who thinks the world is broken he wanted to change things.  Now he was already doing it at the macro level, but he wanted to take on a new habit of generosity.  Pretty soon the no’s start to become who you are he says.  So he needed a new “habit.”   So he started it and it became a new habit (source: http://www.ted.com/talks/sasha_dichter.html)

                Several years later, this is what he has learned:  I truly am able (not every time, but often) to give unconditionally – not just money but time and attention and complements.  Unconditional giving brings me so much more joy;  B.  giving abundantly doesn’t happen every time or at every moment.  Old habits die hard, and life is a dance not a set playbook.  But having a wider repertoire is liberating.  He says he thinks He’s  become a better receiver, meaning he’d become better at accepting gifts openly and with gratitude, and I’m more comfortable allowing gifts to be gifts.  He said I’d like to stop giving halfway.  There are few things more limiting than a conditional gift, and few things more liberating than even one small act of radical generosity.  That means there are no strings attached

(source: http://sashadichter.wordpress.com/)

I think the Apostle Paul would Love the Generosity Experiment. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth (II Corinthians for those who follow along on the web) :

7 God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.

8-11 God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it,

God throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon.  Don’t tell my Edward Jones Advisor.  Mind you he’s pretty generous too, but he likes me to plan, not just have my heart tugged at. 

This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. God gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.

12, 15 Carrying out this social relief work involves far more than helping meet the bare needs of poor Christians. It also produces abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God. Thank God for this gift, his gift. No language can praise it enough!

Paul is saying that God gives us what we have so we can be generous.  Giving to the needy in reckless abandon – makes me wonder about all the hoops we use to make folks prove that they need help.  Paul talks about the offering – it does more than help the needy; it makes everyone thankful. Thankful to God for blessings. 

When this church helps through our Good Samaritan Fund people thank me and I see the goodness of God working through us.  I get to help out people in need thanks to the generosity of this congregation.  I get see how much good this does, how a little help transforms lives.   How we get to be the church for each other.  

What keeps us from being generous?  Fear is one of these things.   Children are generous. I’ve seen this before where a kid was given a new coat by his parents.  They had a drive at school for coats for those in need and the kid gives away, wait for it, the new coat.  Because the child said he already had one, but the kids in need had none.  But we unlearn generosity somewhere along the way. Jesus invites us to be like children.

But that fear comes into play.  We don’t want to be made fools of. We don’t want someone to put something over on us, to be taken advantage of.   To have someone abuse the money we give.

Another fear is a fear of lack, we have a sense that there is not enough. We live from a sense of scarcity, but in God’s economy there is always enough.   Now, there are people in this room who don’t have enough.  They really need to hold on to what we’ve got to get by.  But for most of us, there is plenty, we just need to trust in God.

So, what does this mean for us as followers of Jesus who want to change the world? I invite us each to be more generous. Sasha Dichter decided to give money to everyone who asked for a month. There is a FB page for Generosity Day with all sorts of ideas (and we’ll link to it on the Village Facebook page and here’s the link https://www.facebook.com/generosityday?fref=ts) :

a.            paying the toll for the person behind you;

b.            tipping your waiter 100%;

c.             donate blood,

d.            write a thank you note to someone who has touched your life;

e.            stand at a door and open it for people;

f.             mow the grass for your neighbor,

g.            bake cookies for someone;

h.            saying thank you to everyone you see today for something,

i.              volunteering at a food bank;

j.             taking someone to lunch without expecting anything in return. 

So we tried a little experiment at the Village today.  We got a donation to do this, so don’t worry, it didn’t come out of the church budget.  We gave everyone who showed up a $5 bill to give away this week.  We’re asking you to share (and you can do it on the Village Facebook Page or on this blog) what you did with yours.  How did you change someone’s day or life?  How do you feel being generous?  Let us know what it was like and how this could be a habit for us all.

JOYFUL GIVING by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Patti Lusher)

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I Corinthians 8:1-7 (The Message)

8 ^1-4 Now, friends, I want to report on the surprising and generous ways in which God is working in the churches in Macedonia province. Fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit. The trial exposed their true colors: They were incredibly happy, though desperately poor. The pressure triggered something totally unexpected: an outpouring of pure and generous gifts. I was there and saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could—far more than they could afford!—pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians.

^5-7 This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives. That’s what prompted us to ask Titus to bring the relief offering to your attention, so that what was so well begun could be finished up. You do so well in so many things—you trust God, you’re articulate, you’re insightful, you’re passionate, you love us—now, do your best in this, too.

JOYFUL HEARTS

If you came upon an unexpected pot of money, a big pot of money, and you didn’t desperately NEED anything for yourself or your family, what would you do with it?

Isn’t that a fun game to play? When people win the lottery, you often hear, “I’m gonna buy a house for my Momma.”  It’s fun to dream about all the things you’d do if you had a whole pot of money.  I’d like to think I would give lots of it away.  It gives me joy to think about all the people I could help.

I believe all of us who follow Jesus have hearts that make us want to help other people.  We have generous hearts.  If you remember a sermon from a couple of weeks ago I shared with you after the tragedy at the Boston Marathon, I held up an empty glass of water, and then poured water into it.  We’re like an empty vessel and when we allow God to fill us up with good things, there’s no room left for the bad things.  God’s love and generosity spills over.  If we can open ourselves to the good things of God, they spill over and there’s no room for anything else.

Scripture from II Corinthians tells such a story.  Paul’s offering for the poor in Jerusalem had been a massive project since the beginning of his ministry.  He’s replying to a letter from the church in Corinth.  They must have asked, “How do we do this?  Won’t people be offended if we ask for money?  What if we have new people in church that day? They may never come back.”

Paul replies by giving an example of a church in Macedonia; these folks have had hard times, they’ve had it bad, not like you rich people in Corinth.  Even though they were afflicted, they begged to give to the poor in Jerusalem BECAUSE THEY KNOW HOW MUCH GOD LOVES THEM.

Now, there has been some stress between Paul and the Corinthians so it’s possible he is shaming them into giving; I hope not, I hate it when pastors use shame.  Maybe he is using healthy competition - like when your child’s class gets a pizza party for raising the most money.  But I like to think the best of people, so I choose to believe that Paul is simply giving them a positive example, and giving them the opportunity to choose to respond.  The choice is still theirs.  People want to be generous.  

It is interesting to know that the people in Corinth were better off than the people in Macedonia, so they had more means to give to the poor in Jerusalem.  I am sure Paul wanted to raise as much as he could because he knew the need in Jerusalem was great. 

But this is the tension.  You just don’t know what’s going to motivate people to give.  Sometimes folks give because we hear about a need and our hearts are touched by a story and we want to give.  And sometimes people are motivated to give because we are aware and thankful of our own blessings.  Not just blessed with money, we know that God loves us and we want to do good things to change the world.  We are generous because we know that God loves us, and we want to respond with joyful giving.  We may not give big gifts but we give what we can. And we are glad to be able to give.

They say that people who live on the edge are better givers.  Perhaps people who have less financial wealth may have learned to depend on God.  In any case, they tend to give a higher percentage of their income away. 

This has been proven statistically. One study I found showed that people making less than $20,000 a year gave 4.3% of their money to charity; and other people in 4 other income groups, ranging from $20,000 and up way beyond $60,000 per year, gave anywhere from 2.7 % to as little as 2% on average.  I was surprised by that. Here are some reasons from the study.

·       People with less money know what it is like to live with less money.

·      Some really wealthy people don’t know anyone who is poor.  I can’t imagine what it’s like to be so insulated, but it’s true.  They are far removed from people living in need.  When you don’t see it, you are less prone to give out of compassion.

·      One person in the study, “Herbert Smith, 31, a Seventh-day Adventist who said he tithed his $1,010 monthly disability check — giving away 10 percent of it — thought that poor people give more because, in some ways, they worry less about their money.  ‘We're not scared of poverty the way rich people are,’ he said. ‘We know how to get the lights back on when we can't pay the electric bill.’"

There was another reason.  It has to do with legal and illegal immigrants who send money to family back home.  This one is really interesting to me.  They are getting very low wages and sending money home to take care of people they love.  They are sacrificing themselves here to take care of family.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/05/19/68456/americas-poor-are-its-most-generous.html#.UYQfzMon7Ug#storylink=cpy

That last reason seems the most significant to me.  Immigrants, even though they are some of the lowest wage earners, give a high percentage of their income away, because they are sending it home to people who are even poorer than they are. They are giving because they care about someone.

If I have a family member in need, and I have the means to help them, without putting my own children at risk, I will do that. Won’t you? And if I have plenty, I just want to share it with others. It gives me joy to be able to give some of it away.  When I’ve been able to help somebody, I’m glad when they’re in better shape, and I hope they can help somebody when they’re able.

Kurt told me the most amazing story this week about one of his clients giving with joy.  My husband Kurt is an attorney and represents injured workers in their workers comp claims.  Someone did something kind for Kurt.  He was representing the wife of an injured worker; the worker had died, and it was a complicated claim that lasted several years.  The spouse was eligible for life-time benefits and Kurt  fought hard for those.

They settled the claim and the wife came to Kurt’s office to sign checks.  The woman looked at Kurt and said, “I want to give you a tip.”  She told him he had worked many years for her, and she appreciated his work.  She insisted on giving the tip.  So, Kurt called his ethics attorney.  “Can I take a tip?”  The answer was yes.

The woman came back with cash and asked him to do something for himself and for his firm.  She was thankful for what Kurt had done.  She knew she had been blessed and she wanted to share her joy by doing something kind for the attorney who had helped her.

Kurt gave some of the money to Jobs With Justice, an organization that helps fight for the rights of workers.  He also used some of the money for an upgrade on software that allowed him to give a job to another person.  The joy was spread.

This was not a wealthy woman. This was the last money she was going to see, but it gave her joy to share it.  She wanted to give Kurt a tip because she could, and because she was grateful.  It’s the only cash tip he’s ever gotten.  She wanted to do something beyond what she had to do.

How do you decide how to give your money away?  I went through lots of websites to see what people do with their money.  I found a 25-year-old kid who gave away half his trust fund to charity, a fascinating story.

Once a year we ask you to make a financial commitment to The Village Church for the next year.  We give you opportunities to give your time in service throughout the year.  We have special offerings throughout the year.  But, once a year we have a Commitment Campaign and ask you to consider what your primary giving will be to our church.

Some of us tithe; we give 10% because it is a biblical goal.  Some give more than a tithe; some give less but work toward a tithe.  Some give what is in their pocket on a Sunday.  Many of us don’t carry money.  How many of you don’t carry your checkbook or much cash with you?  I don’t.  A lot of us give online now, so that’s why Russ and Tanner did their skit for us.

I want to ask you to be thoughtful about what you will give, and plan.  We make plans for retirement, or to save to buy something important (like a car); we make plans to pay our rent every month, or to send our kids to college.  So, here at The Village we ask you to make plans to include The Village in your plans, because The Village is important to us, just like having a roof over our heads, and school for our kids, and other important things that we spend money on.   We invite you to make a financial gift to the Village in your monthly plan.

Give on-line if you pay your other bills that way. That way, you can give consistently, and we can expect your gift every month.

We ask you to make a written commitment so we know what to expect from you. This helps us plan our budget.  You’ll be getting a commitment card in the mail.  We’ll ask everyone to bring it back in two weeks, and we’re going to have a free, catered celebration lunch on May 19, when we will also receive our new Village Church members.

The most important thing is this – give with joy.  Give because you love God, and you are thankful for God in your life.  Give because this church means something to you and you want to share in supporting this church to do what we do.  We don’t want anyone to give because you feel pressure. 

Getting back to the question I asked at the beginning of this message, if I suddenly came into lots of money, I would give a big chunk of it to The Village because I believe in The Village and I believe we would do great things with that money here. We would change the world.  

Well, Kurt and I get money every month. To some it’s a big amount, to others it would seem small.  It does not really matter how big it is.  It is what we have. Every month we give a generous portion of it FIRST to this church, WITH JOY because we love this church and we believe in this church.  I invite you to pray about what you are giving and what you will give in the next year.  Whatever the amount, most of all I hope you will give it with a joyful heart!