Sunday, November 9, 2008 
Scripture reading: Matthew 6:1-6
6‘Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.*
5 ‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.*
Sermon Title: "PRACTICING PIETY?" Sunday, November 9, 2008
PASTOR HUDSON: Today I want us to think about money because it
is very powerful in our lives. It represents
something we need to deal with on a spiritual level to
be able to have the fullest, richest, and the
most fulfilling life in our relationship with the
Lord. Our scripture reading today is saying
be aware of how you practice your piety. Do not sound
a trumpet and tell someone how much you gave or how
much you prayed.
Let's reflect for a moment in terms of the way that
we think about giving to the church. I believe in any
church there is a cross-section of us that understands
tithing in the same way we understand paying dues into
an organization or entity. How many of you really get
spiritually blessed paying your electric bill? Do you
find yourself wanting to do one of those kind of
charismatic two-steps when you make a payment to OG&E?
I was talking to somebody the other day who said
their average monthly bill was $257 a month. I felt
spiritual just hearing them talk about it. Praise
God, we're helping OG&E with a tremendous love
offering.
Sometimes that bill paying mindset creeps into the way we think about
giving to the church. The downside is it robs us of a
tremendous blessing because we think about it the same
as paying dues. We never really think of it from the
perspective that we're actually making an offering to
God.
Further, when faced with a bad economy or whatever,
we cut out certain luxury items. These luxuries may include
activities we otherwise enjoy. For me, this includes memberships in certain
clubs or groups. If times get hard, I will just
not renew my membership in one of those societies,
I'll stop paying my dues. So also with the church.
But that's never the way
Jesus understood giving. Christ modeled a different way of
looking at God. Giving to God was not a dispensable option, but the heart of
life. Think of tithing along the lines of
something we do out of love and out of vision. I
think what Jesus is trying to say is when we open our
heart, when we understand giving in that sense, doing
it out of love for God, it takes our offerings to a
whole different level.
So here's the challenge over these next two or
three weeks. First, I would like us to think about
where we are in our relationship with the Lord as to
how we understand our dimension of giving. I know
there may be still in our world a little bit of that
temptation to be like those ancient religious
followers and blow the trumpet as we give, but I think
most of us probably would not fall prey to that.
I don't care if somebody puts my name on a
building, that kind of thing, not a big attraction,
but it could be that we might fall prey to the
tendency to think that our giving is either a due for
a club membership or simply paying of the bills.
Jesus said when those individuals give in that manner,
whatever it might be, do not let them imagine that
they will receive a reward. In fact, they are in a
present condition of already having received anything
they're going to get.
When we release ourselves in Christ in every act
of service, every act of giving, when our piety
becomes a conscious offering to Christ, then the
rewards accrue, both now and in the world to come.
Let me challenge you over the next few weeks
between now and Consecration Sunday to do a private
inventory and say, Lord, where am I in that equation?
Do I think about this dimension of my life in ways
that really honor You, or is it something else? If it
is something else, show me what that is and how it
could be different and could be better. Let the Holy
Spirit do a work in every one of our hearts. In the
name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.