"God Is Doing A New Thing"

(Isaiah 65:17-25)

Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn

INTRODUCTION:

I have always loved this passage from Isaiah. It is filled with so much hope and so much promise. God says, "I am about to do a new thing". And then Isaiah begins to list all those things that God is about to change. Jerusalem will become a place of joy. We shall become a delight to God. Infant mortality and crib death will be wiped out forever. Life will get longer. And God's people will enjoy their work. In other words, God is going to change everything.

Somebody said or wrote: "Change is inevitable, except from a coke machine."

Most of us don't like change. We would rather that everything stay the same. Ogden Nash once said, "Progress might have been all right once but it has gone on too long." (1) Most of us don't like change sothe prospect of the passage frightens us.

Through Isaiah, God says, everything is going to change. How? Through us, the church. The church is God's change agent in the world. And how do WE change the world? Simple. One person at a time.

And it begins with us. The first person that needs to be changed is us. We have to be changed to be like Christ. We have to be changed to have a heart like Jesus. We have to let Christ touch our lives through the Holy Spirit in such a way that we are transformed in change agents. And once we are changed through our faith in Christ, then we can begin the process of changing the world one person at a time through the ministries that we offer and support.

In order to offer those ministries of change, we have to support them. For some that means they have to change their idea of giving. Since we're talking about change, and since we're in the middle of our Stewardship Campaign, I guess this would be a good place to change the title of today's sermon to "The Sermon on the Amount."

I. CHANGE:

A. I want to read a little book to you by one of my favorite authors, Judith Viorst. I have enjoyed her stories of the adventures of Alexander and his brothers. This is another one of them and it's entitled: Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday.

Alexander needs to change doesn't he? He needs for God to do a new thing in his life concerning his understanding and stewardship of money. the Biblical witness concerning stewardship is very simple. It begins with in the first words of Scripture. "In the beginning, God."

For the believer, that phrase puts everything else into proper perspective. It tells us that everything that was and is and will be comes from God. It was created by God and given to us to use responsibly. We are the stewards, the caretakers of God's stuff. And since everything was created by God, it's all God's stuff, including money. The mistake we make is that we think of it as OUR money.

B. Last Sunday at the 9:30 worship service Andy Heinz gave a wonderful stewardship testimony. During his testimony he had the ushers, John and Marcia Boggs, give everyone a dollar. I still have it here. Andy and Michelle had gone through and highlighted the phrase "In God we trust" on every one of those dollars and asked us to do whatever we wanted with that dollar bill but to remember that it's not the money we should trust but God.

Later on, I was talking with John Boggs. He had been reflecting on the event and talked about how easy it had been to give away Andy's money. It didn't bother him at all, and said it was actually fun. It wasn't his money he was giving away. But then it hit him. His money wasn't really his money at all. It was God's money, not his. And then he shared that he wished he could be as unconcerned about and as free in sharing the money and gifts God had given him as he was about the money Andy had given him to give away.

I think the change has already started in John's life and in the life of a many of the members here. But some of us still need to change our attitude toward stewardship, money and giving.

II. THE TITHE:

A. The Biblical witness for giving is the tithe or ten percent. From the very beginning all God has ever asked for is a thank offering. Everything we have and are comes from God and is really God's to begin with, and all God asks is that we return a portion as a means of giving thanks. And God said that portion should be ten percent or a tithe. And that tithe should be from the first fruits not the leftovers.

Here's how that really gets played out in most of our homes. (Cut up an apple and begin eating it. Pass pieces out to some of the folks in the congregation) God gives us so much. Some of it we share with others. Some of it goes to feed and clothe us. Some of it we save it for retirement or emergencies or the things we can't afford today. And some we give to the church. (Place the apple core on the altar.)

Some people don't think it matters which portion they give to God; the first fruits or the leftovers, but it does. The apple core isn't very appealing is it? In 2 Chronicles 31, it tells us that during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when Hezekiah was king of Judah, an order went out for the offering. In verse 5 it is recorded. "As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the firstfruits of their grain, new wine, oil and honey and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything."

God wants us to give but God doesn't want the leftovers. You wouldn't give them to your children or your spouse would you? God doesn't want them either. God wants a tithe of our first fruits.

B. I read a sermon that I was given a copy of at a Stewardship Seminar in Austin put on by the Texas Methodist Foundation. Unfortunately, the sermon didn't have the preacher's name on it anywhere, so I don't know who to credit. In this sermon the preacher talks about going on a mission trip to Haiti. Haiti is the poorest nation in this hemisphere. The second poorest nation in the world. Unemployment is 65%. The average family income is only $190.00 a year. Haiti is filled with staggering problems that are only surpassed by the stunning poverty.

While there, this preacher was invited to attend a local worship service. They went to a one room cinder block chapel on the edge of the jungle. It was filled with wooden benches scattered haphazardly throughout the room. There were 12 mission workers and 30-40 villagers. The service was much like ours, opening prayer, hymns, even a children's sermon. They took an offering and they gave their coins, few as they were. But hen something unexpected happened. After the sermon, the preacher took the collection plates and passed them AGAIN, a second time. (Can you imagine what would happen if WE did that?) And again, these poor people, many of whom own no more in this world than a goat, gave their coins.

The preacher said he sat there feeling embarrassed for the host pastor. He even voiced it by saying, "The poor man forgot that they already took the offering. How embarrassing, especially in front of guests."

The translator heard him and said, "No, this isn't a mistake. This is our custom. You see, here in Haiti, we always take two offerings. The first is for the church. The second, we give to the poor." (2)

Can you imagine. In Haiti, the poor who have nothing give out of their nothing, to help the poor.

That story reminded me of another Biblical truth, it's only when we think of it as ours, that the amount of our giving becomes a problem. When we acknowledge that all that we have and all that we are comes from God, then we can give as easily and as readily as John and Marcia gave the money God had entrusted to Andy and Michelle Heinz. And we can give as freely and lovingly as the poor in Haiti give of the money entrusted to them by God.

III. PROPORTIONAL GIVING:

Tithing is the Biblical standard. Tithing is also an act of faith, faith and trust that God will supply what we need if we get to the point where there was too much month for our paycheck. tithing is a matter of faith.

For some of you, this may be the first time you've ever heard about tithing and how much God expects us to give to the work of God. You may be sitting there scared to death or angry or even trying to figure out how you can tithe when you hadn't ever thought about how much you should give to the Church.

We understand and God understands. So, let me suggest something to you. It's called "Proportional Giving". If you find the tithe, ten percent, too staggering a place to start, then find that percentage with which you can start. If it's five percent, then pledge and start giving 5%. But don't leave it there. If during the year, you find that things are going great, bump it up a percent or two. Keep trusting in God, and keep slowly challenging yourself to bump it up at least every year until you have moved yourself up to the Biblical standard, the tithe.

CONCLUSION:

Let me close with a story a friend shared with me this week. It seems that during the time when long distance phone calls weren't very practical and quite expensive, a woman went on a long trip to New York. She was an antique lover and spent some time looking at the various antique stores. During her visit to one store, she saw a chair that she fell in love with. It was beautiful until she looked at the price tag. It was horrible. She talked to the owner and he wouldn't come down at all. So, she decided not to buy it; her husband just wouldn't spend that much money. So she went on looking at all the other shops. But she couldn't get that chair out of her mind. Nothing compared to that chair.

So, she sent her husband a telegraph explaining about the chair and the price. A little while later she received his reply, "No price too high." and was absolutely ecstatic. She knew he loved her but had no idea that it was this deeply. She hurried to the shop, purchased the chair and headed home.

When she got home, she rushed into the house and started thanking him profusely. But he was startled and confused and then when she explained, he got angry that she bought the chair. When he finally calmed down, she unfolded the telegram and said, "I only did what I thought you wanted me to do. The telegram said, 'No price too high.'"

And then he said, "But that's not what I sent. I told them to send, 'NO! Price too high.'" (3)

It's amazing what a little punctuation can do isn't it. Isaiah reminds us that God is doing a new thing in the world and we are part of that new thing. Through our ministries, we are agents of change. And not the kind that comes out of the vending machine.

We can look at the ministry dream sheet of our proposed budget and this stewardship campaign as an opportunity to say, "NO! Price too high!" and protect our wallets. Or we can step out on faith as God's agents of change and say "No price too high!" to the work and ministry of this Church. We know what God wants. And that's the challenge. Because the choice is ours.

This is the Word of the Lord for this day.

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Bibliography

1. Just Joking Software Version 1.0, (WordStar International Incorporated, Novato, California) 1992

2. Abundant Living, Essential Giving (Mark 12:41-44)

3. As told to me by Rev. John Aymond

Other References Consulted