Isaiah 45:1-7
Psalm 96
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
MATTHEW 22:15-22
Sermon October 16,
2005
Then Jesus said to
them, Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperors and to God the things that are Gods.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
People are funny, they want all
kinds of services like good schools and roads, garbage pickup at their house,
police and fire protection but, they complain when taxes go up. Yet, they want fair pay and raises. Maybe it has always been this way or maybe
the cost of everything has gotten so crazy within each lifetime that it is hard
for people to have a perspective.
For years teachers salaries
were terrible, because school boards and town councils were unwilling to raise
taxes. Now they are better; parents
entrust the school system to do and provide dozens of aspects of
education. Yet people say, I dont
have children in the system, why should I pay. Well, someone paid for the public education of each of us.
It is the same basic idea with
church and our relationship with God.
But the Bible is very specific; the Old Testament tells man to tithe, to
give 10% of everything. Today, I am
going to talk with you about offering our time and talents as part of the
treasure we bring to God and this church.
During my discernment and study for ordination, there were many times I
was charged to look at who I am and how I got here ordained as a vocational deacon.
Remember, I am not a transitional
deacon on the way to the priesthood. I
was called to the special ministry of servant-hood. A part of my ordination vows, found on page 543 of the Book of
Common Prayer, states that I am to serve all people, particularly the poor, the
weak, the sick, and the lonely. All
priests take these vows when they are ordained deacons, but those vows are my
specific calling.
I frequently mention the fact
that I process and hear things literally; it takes a lot to move me from the
literal. So when I was first in Sunday school and sang
Jesus loves me this I know,
for the Bible tells me so,
little ones to him belong
they are weak
but he is strong.
I believed those words and still
do.
When I became a Girl Scout as a
Brownie, at the age of seven, over 50 years ago, we were encouraged to do good,
to help, and to give. I believed it
then and still do.
When I started to really study
the Bible, I came to understand that
each of us is very special. We are who
we are, because God wanted us to be that way.
God asks us to be the very best person we can be.
God also wants us to give to
others what is due them that may mean being responsible to our family, our
towns, our state, and our country; that also means being responsible to our
church and to the world.
Being able to give time and
talent means we can collect money for the CROP walk, we can take time to
participate, and we can give to CROPs outreach throughout the world.
Being able to give time and
talent means when we shop for our family; we can pick up additional items for
the food bank, the womens shelter, or those affected by the hurricanes. And if we really use our resources wisely,
we can use our shopping vouchers and provide even more benefit.
Being able to give time and
talent means we can work at the soup kitchen, at the overflow shelter, or at
the baseball game; without spending our own money.
Being able to give time and
talent means we can work upstairs on the construction, we can work outside
mowing, weeding, raking, or cleaning; without spending our own money.
Being able to give time and
talent means we can sing in the choir, volunteer for Sunday school, help with
the youth group, serve on the altar guild, support coffee hour, or help
decorate the church with flowers, greens, and pumpkins. We can do all these without spending our own
money.
Being able to give time and
talent means we can offer to God our time and talents, the things we do well,
without spending a dime.
Being able to give our time and
talent means finding ways to support this church and its missions in this
community and the world any way WE can.
It may mean joining local rescue squads or volunteer fire
departments. It may mean working on the
African mission team and supporting, even going to, the SARAH project in Kenya.
Being able to give time and
talent doesnt mean we dont support this church financially, it means we give
in many different ways.
Let me share two life lessens I
have learned on my journey. You have to
have BALANCE in all things and the most important thing you have to give is
your TIME.
Ask anyone the important times
in their life and they will tell you about times that another person did and
shared their time with them. For me
some of those special memories are when my Mom was my Girl Scout leader, when
my husband went through childbirth classes and actively participated in the
birth of our children, when a teacher took personal time to encourage me, when
my step-father would stop to listen to a teenager overflowing with things she
wanted to share, when a mentor assessed my skills and supported my efforts,
when a priest listened to my thoughts and encouraged my call, when a pastoral
care director of a hospital agreed to my residency. All those people gave me their time and encouraged me to use my
God-given talents.
Each of us needs to look at our
lives, assess what we are doing, and evaluate our time and talents to see what
we can offer to God. Each of us has 10
% of ourselves that we can give to God. Think about it and join me.
Deacon Barbara A.D. Jensen
St.
Barnabas Episcopal Church, Monmouth Junction, NJ