Sermons from the Moorpark Presbyterian Church

Open Under New Management

by Dave Wilkinson

Romans 12:1-2

October 25. 1998

A lady was going through the Philadelphia Zoo and saw the monkeys playing with dice. She went and told the keepers that somebody had thrown some dice into the monkey cage. The keepers didn’t believe her. She said, "It’s true; come and see. They went and saw and it was so. They said, "Yes Ma’am, you’re right." and started to walk away. She said, "Aren’t you going to do anything about it?" They said, "No, they’re just playing for peanuts."

What are we playing for here?

Last June we met in a large tent on our property for the tenth anniversary celebration of our organizing as a congregation. Following the service of worship we had a meeting where the congregation voted unanimously to go ahead on the construction of our Christian Education Center. Since that time the Building Committee has been formed and we have gotten well underway.

With that in mind, let me ask you a question. If five frogs are sitting on a log and four of the frogs decide to jump off, how many frogs are there on the log?

The correct answer is five -- because deciding to jump and actually jumping are two different things. We decided to jump last June. The pledge card that comes in the mail this week for the Operating Budget and the Building Fund is the opportunity to actually jump -- to put our money where are votes are.

How do we turn a decision into concrete action that has a powerful impact on the world around us? The Bible says that it comes as we make a head directed and heart felt response to all that God has done for us. Stewardship is much more than money. It is about ourselves and our Lord and our commitment to him. Paul writes in Romans 12:1-2: "I appeal to you, therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies to God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your rational service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may approve the will of the Lord, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

The first thing Paul says in our text is that we are to base our actions on what has gone before -- what God has already done in our lives. When he says "I appeal to you therefore brothers and sisters," the "therefore" refers to all that has gone before in the first eleven chapters of Romans -- God’s merciful acts of response to our human need -- God giving himself for us while we were still sinners and transforming us into His own sons and daughters.

The word that Paul uses to summarize all of chapters 1-11 is "mercies". And, in response, to God's mercies, we are called to present ourselves to God as "living sacrifices." But not just ourselves -- Paul says that we are to present our bodies as that sacrifice.

Paul is really getting personal here. It almost sounds primitive. But what this means is that God wants all of us and our bodies are the place where we tend to hold on to sin the longest. The presenting of our bodies is a symbol of the surrender of our total being.

As Fritz Ridenour points out in his study on Romans, How to Be a Christian Without Being Religious, it is not too hard to sit in church and promise God our souls and our spirits. After all, these are proper things for God to have -- they are His responsibility with heaven and all that coming up some day. But our bodies? That starts to get to close for comfort--it could cramp our style, get in the way and cause inhibitions. It could actually lead to being more than religious.

That is exactly the point. God didn't just save your soul. He saved you -- your total self, and this includes your body. When a Christian gets serious enough about Christ to commit his or her body-- what he or she does with hands, eyes, ears, and mouth -- to God, then he or she is ready to know and do God's will. A lot of Christians put the cart before the horse. They worry about what God wants them to do when they are spiritually unprepared to do it. Before God wants our service (or our money) He wants us -- and if He has us, the rest follows automatically.

Each year we get in the mail acres of material from different sources on how to run a successful stewardship campaign. These programs seek to instruct us on how to motivate people to give. For example, one from a few years ago, during an economic recession, reads in part:

"Dear Pastor: Never in my 15 years of stewardship development have I seen people as concerned over money as they are today. Translated, this means that whatever you do this year to get your people to support the Lord's work through your church, it had better be good. Ask yourself: Will our people cut back on their giving this next year as they tighten up on spending? Or will they give the same as last year? And will that be enough? The answer is, it won't. Your people must give this year as never before. But will they? Can you be certain? Do you have a tried and proven stewardship program you can be sure of? One you know will produce sufficient income for your church for the next 12 months? If not, you should study this catalog carefully. It pictures the new version of "how to reach your church's financial goals this year." Take time to read the messages of each of the four letters. I assure you they will touch the hearts of your people and cause them to respond."

Now I do not doubt that people respond to having their hearts touched. We all know the impact of magazine advertisements in which starving children with large pleading eyes are shown to us. They should have an impact. Emotions are part of God's good creation. But an emotional response is not to be the sole basis of our giving. If it were I could read a few books on psychology and propaganda, press the right buttons -- a little guilt, a little greed, and raise the budget. But that is not worship. Rather we are to present ourselves to God as living sacrifices as a rational act -- an act of intelligent worship.

Paul writes: "therefore, I implore you by God's mercy to offer your very selves to him: a living sacrifice, dedicated and fit for acceptance, for such is the worship that you, as rational people should offer."

In the New American Standard Version the phrase is translated -- "your spiritual worship" rather than "your rational worship" but that translation is not good. The word that is used here is "logien" from which we get the word "logic." What is being stressed here is that the logical response to God giving himself for us is to give ourselves to him in return.

Ray Ortland, in his book Lord, Make My Life a Miracle, points up some facts about advertising.

"Years ago," he writes, "an automobile tire was advertised by describing the quality of the tire. Today it's sold, really, by showing a girl in a bikini standing by the tire! What's the relationship? There is none. It's just a sensuous ad. The ad-men hope that somehow by association, when you see that tire you'll subtly feel good, and you'll buy one.

"Years ago," he continues, "Folgers coffee used to be advertised by sound facts. It was grown in South America, it was roasted in a certain way, it was carefully packaged and that made it better than other coffees. Now how does Folger's advertise? Folger's .... aaahh!!"

Ad-men have a saying: "It's the sizzle that sells the steak." But our relationship with God and his church has to be based on much more than sizzle. It has to be based on a solid commitment based on solid understanding. That is why Paul spends the first eleven chapters of Romans talking about how the love of God is revealed in our lives, before he says a word about our response. Our response to God should be elicited by who God is--a response to truth. Our church budget is important and I believe that we are doing exciting and creative things as a congregation that deserve our generous support. But a Christian doesn't give to a budget. A Christian gives to God.

There is a very strong relationship between the giving of our money and the giving of ourselves. This is because money, in a sense, represents a significant part of our lives.

In Living the Adventure, Bruce Larson makes this observation about money: "The true drama of money is that I have traded a part of my life for it. I have given my time, my energy, my skill, my wisdom, my training, my gifts to people who have in turn purchased this part of me. In terms of my allotted time I am enfeebled, I am weakened, I am diminished in some sense every time I earn money. So my money is in a real way my very life.

"I am also free to assume that the money I have earned is now mine. I can hoard it or use it for illicit or unscrupulous purposes or lend it at exorbitant rates. But if I take that for which I have traded my life and share it with others, I am, in a tangible way, laying down my life for others as Jesus commanded."

What is the message of the world today in regard to money? The world says: "Look out for number one!" Nice guys finish last. "Charity begins at home!" Take care of yourself first--if you have enough left over then give it away and be regarded as a philanthropist- but make certain your bases are well covered first."

In response to this God says two things.

First, real Christian giving is giving what we need to live on, not what we have left over.

And second, in our text for this morning. "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

The world says "grab and hold on so you can keep what you have." God says, "if you try to hold on to what you have you will lose it." "But if you let it go, you will have it." Jesus said, "Every one who exalts himself shall be humbled and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted." Jesus said "the one who would be great among you must be the servant of all." That is not the way of the world but that is the way of God and we are called to prove what is the will of God--that which is good and acceptable and perfect. The question we need to honestly face is "do we believe God and His promises or do we believe the lies of this age." Often we talk as if trust God but live as if we are people locked into the world. But God says: "Do not be conformed--be transformed!"

As a man stood in front of the group of high-powered over achievers at a conference he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." He pulled out a one gallon, wide-mouthed clay jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"

Everyone in the class said, "Yes."

"Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing the pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied.

He then reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is the jar full?" "No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked,

"What is the point of this illustration?"

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it."

"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."

That’s certainly true of our giving to God. If we don’t intentionally put it in our budget first, it will be squeezed out. Priorities have to be established up front and held on to. That’s true for the use of both time and money.

Remember to put these big rocks in first or you'll never get them in at all. As you consider who you are and who you want to be, ask yourself this question: What are the 'big rocks' in my life? What things are the most important to me? Then, put those in your jar first. There’ll still be plenty of room for the small stuff.

Often we approach our stewardship with a fist that is either tightly closed or just open enough to shake out a little bit--like putting salt in a piece of meat. God says that we are to come to him with our hands wide open -- as living sacrifices -- without reservation. The danger is that God may take all we have. The blessing is that when our hands are open God can fill them to overflowing. It's hard to put something into a fist. God says that he wants our lives. But he wants our lives in order to give us greater life. God's desire is not to take but to give and it is by our willingness to give that we make ourselves capable of receiving. God's economy is summed up in one verse, James 4:10: "Humble yourself before God and he will exalt you." We cannot out give God.

Between the operating budget and the building fund, my family is now giving a full tithe. And we have found this to be absolutely true. We cannot out give God Our needs are always met. I invite you to put God to the test in the same way. You’ll find Him to be faithful. If you cannot immediately give a full tithe of ten percent -- which is what the word tithe means -- then I encourage you to begin to move in that direction -- to ratchet your giving up year by year until you get where you want to be. That is why we have a spot on the pledge card to note: "We are increasing our total giving to the church by "x" percent of household income for this year." It gives you that opportunity to reflect on what you are doing and where you are going. The letter that most of you received this last week, outlined the situation we face. The people who need to give approval for us to be loaned money for construction consider us "right on the edge." They aren’t against us. They are on our side. They just want to make sure that we don’t bite off what we aren’t willing to chew. The people responsible for loan approval are now looking to see what June’s "yes" votes actually mean. The results of this year’s pledge campaign -- to the operating budget and the building fund -- will do much to determine if we can move ahead on what we so urgently need to do. Ideally they are looking at an overall increase in giving of about 23%. A 17% overall increase is the minimum. The "loan people" aren’t just looking to see if building fund pledges go up, they want to be sure that the overall giving can also support the growing, quality program and staff that we badly need.

Buildings alone aren’t enough. Stucco and wood can’t touch lives. That requires people.

Last year we added a part time staff position for ministry to younger children. You have probably noticed the great increase in quality in our Sunday School that has come as a result.

Now it’s time to take it up to the next level of excellence in our ministry to Junior Highs, Senior Highs, and College Age students. We have done remarkably well with a variety of part-time positions. But now it is time to move forward by having a full-time youth leader. We have an amazing opportunity in this community to establish a great ministry in the church buildings and also on the school campuses.

Many of you don’t yet have teenagers. But you will. And as the parent of teenagers let me tell you that good, biblical youth programs through the church are among the most important things in the world. Those of you who have children heading into the teenage years should be especially concerned that we continue and strengthen our youth programs through the church. It is an act of enlightened self- interest from you to make this new position happen by supporting the increased budget with your pledges. Your teenagers are going to be very influenced by their peers. You will do well to make sure that they are the right peers exerting the right kind of peer pressure and also that they have contact with the right adult models.

I believe that we stand at a crossroads. The decisions we make now will influence the direction of our shared ministry for years to come.

Several years ago when Jack Nicklaus was in his heyday as the world's leading golfer only 56 one hundredths of a stroke separated him from the man in the 24th place. Needless to say, their difference in income was thousands of dollars.

In baseball, the difference between a .250 hitter and a .350 slugger is just one more hit every 10 times at bat. That difference between winning and losing, between coming in first or second, between success and mediocrity is something the experts call "the slight edge."

With that in mind, let me ask you the question. If five frogs are sitting on a log and four of the frogs decide to jump off, how many frogs are there on the log?

You know the answer -- five.

Because deciding to jump and actually jumping are two very different things. The pledge card that comes in the mail this week for the Operating Budget and the Building Fund is the opportunity to actually jump -- to make the future happen.