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What's in Your Wallet?: Unlimited Possibilities - Matthew 6:25-34

9/28/2021

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Several years ago I took up wood-turning; learning how to make bowls, candle sticks, pens, even simple Christmas ornaments. While I was learning how to use my lathe and shape the wood, if I made a mistake; like gouged the wood, caught an edge, or went too deep, the gentleman teaching me would always say, “that’s o.k., there are no mistakes, only design opportunities.”  That along with his comment, “don’t worry about it, this stuff grows on trees,” often kept things in perspective.  

When it comes to living out your faith, which are you?  Do you see life, work, other people, situations in our country, and experiences around the world as half-full or half-empty?  Do you see mistakes, mishaps, shortcomings, faults, and missteps as failure or as a design opportunity?  Knowing the answer to that question says a great deal, I think, about how you approach your walk with God and in turn how you understand or approach your giving and service to God.  

What you seek is what you find, and what you look for is what you see.  What is it you want or expect out of your life with God? What is it you seek in your relationship with God, and how does your giving or acts of service reflect your answer?  

In Matthew chapter six, after twenty-four verses of instruction, we read a big “therefore.”  Anytime you read “so that,” or “therefore” in the bible, it’s time to pay attention.  That is the signal that what follows is the crux of all that came before.  It’s the heart of what is being said.  The heart of this chapter is Jesus telling those early followers to seek God first and not worry about petty, frivolous, or shallow things.  

Every day we make choices and decisions about how we live our lives; how we interact with others, and engage with the world around us.  Every day there is another reason, cause, or problem with the potential to divide and fracture us more than we already are.  

Every day many of us spend minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day worrying.  Let’s be honest, we all worry.  We worry about what is, what was, and what is not.  We worry about what has happened, what will happen, or what won’t happen.  We worry about what ifs, what abouts, and if onlys.  We worry about what we know and what we don’t know.  We worry about being right or being wrong, being smart or being a fool.  Whether it is about the clothes on our backs, the money in our pockets, or what others are doing or thinking about us or anything else, we worry.   

It is in the midst of all that, that Jesus says, if you are earnestly seeking God and following my example, then stop worrying about such frivolous things!  Trust me.  Stop being pulled in every direction and worrying about things that really don’t matter.  “There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, or the clothes on your back.” In other words, there are way more important things you could spend your time, energy, resources, ideas, and talents on than the little things you allow yourself to get caught up in or bogged down by.  

Notice Jesus doesn’t say, “don’t worry about the homeless, those with no family, those with no food, the strangers, or your neighbor.”  He doesn’t say, “don’t worry about injustices against the marginalized and against one another, don’t worry about brokenness you can no longer bear, tragedy of the heart, or cruelty to those with no voice.”  Jesus didn’t say that. 

So it’s not that Jesus is telling us don’t worry about anything or don’t feel bad, beat yourself up, or think you have less faith if you do worry.  He is saying, don’t worry about such shallow, frivolous, insignificant things because there is far more to life.  God has far more for your life. 

The crux of it all, church, is to seek God first in all things. Seek God with your head; study God’s word, learn what the Bible says and what it means to be a disciple / follower of Jesus, ask questions, be curious about God.  Seek God with your heart - through meditation, journaling, music, emotional health and connections, nature, art, and sharing experiences with others. Seek to serve God with who you are - you don’t have to be anyone but who God made you.  Seek God with what you have, and where you are at any given moment.  Let God use who you are and what you have.  

When we do these things, church, we will discover that our wallets - what we give, has unlimited possibilities.  When we let go of fear, shame, doubt, and the worry that holds us back, keeps us stuck...we are freed up to see, do, give, experience, and receive so much more - far more than we know.  

Life is found in pursuit of the One who gives life, NOT in the pursuit of that which steals life.  So seek God who is life giving, not life stealing.  Seek God, who is life preserving, not life defeating.  Look for what is good, beautiful, and true and trust that God is in the midst of what is not.  

There are unlimited possibilities waiting for all of us in our relationship with God and one another...let’s not be afraid (or worried) to give of ourselves and what we have.  God will provide in ways you can’t even imagine.   Amen

​Pastor Jenothy Irvine
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What's in Your Wallet?: Unlimited Treasure - Matthew 6:19-21

9/21/2021

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You can tell a lot about a person by their wallet.  Or more specifically what’s in their wallet.  You undoubtedly have seen the Capital One ad campaign featuring celebrities asking the now-famous question, “what’s in your wallet?”  It is hard to believe that slogan has been around since the year 2000.  The company wanted to use the quote because it’s an interesting question; it grabs our attention.  It tells us the stuff in our wallet represents financial security, purchase power, and prosperity.  But what else does it represent?  It is a clever tagline indeed, but what is it really asking?  

It is a question that causes the consumer to ask, do I have the right stuff to get all the satisfaction I am looking for in life.  It prompts us to wonder if we are getting all that we think we deserve.  Is there more out there?  Are we missing something?  How am investing, spending, and making the money I need to be successful?  Of course all this with the goal of getting you to sign up for a capital one card or to use their banking services so that you will have the right stuff in your wallet. 

Throughout the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) Jesus used parables to illustrate a certain point or teaching.  It is a method that uses common objects of his day; things that the people would relate to and understand.  From the beginning, money has always been something humanity is interested in and can relate to.  After all, we like it, we use it, we want more of it, and it “makes the world go round.” It makes sense then that Jesus would use money to explain or as an example of our relationship with God and our understanding of the Kingdom of God.   If you think about it, our bank statement tells the truth about what’s really important to us - what our most valued treasure really is.  Jesus highlights this in what is called the sermon on the mount.

This illustration is part of a collection of instructions, all with the same point.  All with the same purpose and that is that our priorities drive our life.  What we come to value, hold most dear; what we treasure drives our life and relationships.  Jesus is addressing the crowds because the religious leaders of the day and those who were listening to them were more interested in looking the part of follower than being the part of follower.  They were caught up showing off their wealth, looking good in front of others, sounding like they had it all together and were good people because they followed the law.  They were trusting themselves and not God to prove to others they were good, righteous people.  

This passage is about priorities, and the central priority is God.  No question about the importance of putting God first.  The thing is, God is relational and loving and wants us to choose to love and serve God freely rather than to be forced into it.  Because of that we lose sight of what matters most and allow our lives to be taken over by all the other objects, causes, relations, items, activities, and people around us.  

It is always easier to see and judge the mistakes of those early followers and religious leaders because we stand on this side of the cross.  Yet, I wonder if we are doing the same thing even today.  I wonder if we have our priorities in line with God?  Do we prioritize our lives with God leading the way and with God at the center?  Or, are we being consumed by the very things, events, desires, and products that we consume.  Do we put our money and what it can do for us ahead of God and our relationship with God?  

This passage is all about learning to love and serve God for no other reason than God first loved us.  Not for fame, or to flaunt what you have, or to make a name for yourself; not to look good or check another box off the “things to do to prove I am a good Christian” list.  It is about putting God first in all things - every part of your life. 

This text is Jesus’ challenge to recognize that earthly - worldly treasure is limited, but what we have with God is unlimited treasure and that is where our energy, passion, and priority needs to be.  What you treasure will drive your life, whether you realize it or not. 

“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or - worse - stolen by burglars.  Stockpile treasure in heaven where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars.  It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” 

​Amen

Pastor Jenothy Irvine
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This is a Test - Exodus 16:1-5

9/14/2021

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How many of you feel like the past year and a half has been one big test? How many of you like taking tests?  How many of you thrive and feel energized by taking tests?  I think most of us can agree that the last year and a half has tested us in many ways; some expected, some not.  It tested our patience, our creativity, and our capacity to work and live in isolation.  It tested our loyalties, our belief and trust in medicine, each other, and our government and national leaders.  It tested our sense of humor, our parenting skills, and our sense of community.  For some, it tested our faith.  

But, what if the pandemic wasn’t the test?  What if it was the lesson - what if it was the opportunity to learn various lessons about God, self, and others.  And only now are we beginning to get a glimpse of the test - which is taking what we learned and applying it to life after COVID, or in our case, after a year and a half of COVID.  

A test that asks, “what did you learn and how will you live your life differently because of those lessons?”  “How will you do and be church differently?”  “What did those lessons teach you about yourself, God, your work work, family, neighbors, your place, and your purpose as individuals and as a people?”  

What if, church, the pandemic wasn’t / isn’t the test, but rather the lesson?  That is the question Founding Pastor Albert Tate, of Fellowship Church, asked during this year’s Global Leadership Summit, and many of us in attendance were fascinated by his comments. 

To help us unpack the question, we turn to one of the greatest examples of learning, testing, and trusting ever recorded - found in the book of Exodus, chapter 16.   Here a group of people had recently experienced horrendous living conditions, a brutal work environment, and existed on the bottom rung of society found themselves struggling to figure out what was going on, what was happening around them, what was next, how were they to respond, and where was God in the midst.  Questions, I think many of us asked over the last year and a half.  
Moses receives a burning message from God (literally) telling him to return to Egypt and free his people.  He convinced his brother Aaron to go with him and together they faced Pharaoh who of course was reluctant to release the Hebrews.  It took famine, disease, and plagues of frogs, locusts, lice, hail, darkness, and finally the death of his own son for Pharaoh to release the Hebrew people to Moses and Aaron.  

It is said that 600,000 Jewish males, with their wives and children and elders, left Egypt and the hand of Pharaoh.  There is some debate about that number but even half that would be an incredible number.  Not a move that could happen quickly.  It truly was an exodus.  They cross the Red Sea and leave Egypt behind them...but did they?  Did they learn the lessons God had for them?  Did they trust those lessons to carry them through and trust God was with them? Did they recognize God’s hand throughout the process? 

In Exodus 16:1-16 we read that a month and a half after being free from Egypt and the rule of Pharaoh, the people of Israel complain and wish they were back in Egypt.  They were in the wilderness, free from the brutality and rule of the Egyptians, and they were grumbling within a month and a half.   “At least in Egypt, we had food to eat.”  They were experiencing freedom and acting as if they were in bondage. They were looking back to their bondage and thinking that was freedom.  They thought the hardship and escape from Egypt was the test but what if that was the lesson and here in chapter 16, God was showing them the wilderness - their life in freedom was the test - their chance to show what they learned from the hardship of Egypt and the escape from Pharaoh.  Their chance to apply the lessons they learned.  God tells Moses and Aaron “this is what I am going to do…I will lay it all out there and make it clear. All they have to do is show me, the one who delivered them out of the hand of Pharaoh and so much more, I am their God and they are my people. 

This story is about seeing how God equips us in and through hard times and challenging situations building in us a trust, dependence, and recognition of God that we carry throughout times of transition, change, transformation, and rest. 

We are just stepping into the wilderness church.  In fact I am not convinced we are all the way through the lessons of Covid yet.  What we have learned thus far has better prepared us for what is ahead.  We will be on the other side of this one day, we are already moving in that direction.  The test is how we will live once there.  We could ask the same of how do we live this side of 9/11, this side of The War on Terrorism, this side of resettling Afghan families, this side of ______ (fill in the blank with your own situation).

How will we apply the lessons of creativity, of slowing down, of reprioritizing, of reaching out, staying connected, of practicing the presence of God?  

All throughout the Bible, we see this pattern over and over again.  The pattern of when people or individuals went through something substantial, intense, terrifying, or life changing.  The classic bible stories: Noah and the flood, Daniel and the lions den, David facing Goliath, Ruth staying beside Naomi, the judge Deboraha leading an army when no one else would, the woman at the well, the healing of Jairus’ daughter, Saul’s experience on the road to Damascus, the man who was lowered through the roof of the house where Jesus was, the blind man healed, the crippled woman healed, and on and on…most of us read or learned those stories thinking those moments were times of testing for the person involved.  

How is God asking you - asking us to live out the lessons we have learned and what will it look like?  May we have the courage to find out.

Amen

​Pastor Jenothy Irvine
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Grace United Methodist Church
1300 E Adams Dr,
Franklin, IN 46131

Phone: 317-736-7962
grace@franklingrace.org

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