What is My Life? Stewardship and the Call to Conversion
Rev. Jimmy Moore, preaching
Luke 12:13-21
What are your most powerful stories? We tell stories every day, and whether we realize it or not, those stories don't just describe us. They empower us, or weaken us, for the tasks at hand. We tell stories about how our families are doing, about how we came to live where we live and do the jobs we currently hold, about how our country is doing. In the stories we tell, we explain how we got ourselves into the pickles in which we find ourselves, and in our stories, we reveal whether or not we see that there is a way through those challenges. And in our faith, we tell stories about who we believe God is, and what God is up to in the world.
Many of the stories we tell are about money, and the role it has played in our lives. Many are fond of the movie, "It's A Wonderful Life", which tells the story of one George Bailey, who was "forced" to abandon his original life dream, and to stay in his home town to manage the family business. Some of his friends succeeded financially, but George was much less able to climb the money ladder. When a particular financial loss occurs, George realizes that he does not have enough money to dig out from under the financial burden, and his nemesis points out to George that he is "worth more dead than alive." But through divine aid in the person of an angel, and the gratitude of his community, George is able to get what he needs and more, and learns deep lessons about the very meaning of life. In the movie, George's story that he tells himself changes before our eyes.
Of all the stories that Jesus told and lessons that he offered, an astounding number were about money. In one of the stories (Luke 12: 13-21), a rich man was a successful farmer, and when his crops produced an incredible abundance, he determined to build bigger barns to store all of excess grain. In the story, the man hears from God that this was a foolish course of action, and that life does not consist is storing up treasure, but in being "rich towards God." The invitation to the fellow was to be converted to a better set of stories.
Many congregations are in the "Season of Stewardship", and this is true of St. Mark's United Methodist Church. Obviously stewardship involves determining, with God's help, what we shall give financially to the Church and to other philanthropic endeavors. But at its heart, stewardship invites us to be converted to a better set of guiding stories, stories which help us learn who God is, who we are, and what kind of lives we live in the world. The sermon for Sunday morning is titled, "What Is My Life?: Stewardship and the Call to Conversion". The chancel choir, led by Gerry Sousa, will lead us musically. We hope to see you on Sunday.