Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Hebrews 4:14-16  Mark 10:13-22

Today is the sixth Sunday in our 40 Days of Community experience. We have been learning about how we are better together when we Reach, Grow, Connect and Serve together. Our focus today is on worship and how giving as part of worship helps us to focus our worship on God rather than on ourselves. But before we look at that, I would like to tell you a story about the Gauls.

There is a story about the Gauls who lived in the present day region of France and Belgium. After being conquered and becoming part of the Roman Empire, there were numerous uprisings because the Gallic people did not particularly like being a conquered people. After a while, Christian missionaries began to visit these territories and after a while they began baptizing people, many of whom were warriors. The story, or perhaps legend, goes that whenever the warriors were baptized in a river or a stream, they would hold one arm high outside of the water. In other words, their arms and hands would not be touched by the waters of baptism. The missionaries, thinking this was an odd custom, soon found out the reasoning behind this practice. The warriors held their arms up, so that they could proclaim, "This arm is not baptized" as they picked up their club or sword and went off to do the most un-Christian of things to their enemies.

Now I don't know whether or not this is a true story. The source* I got it from said it could be the equivalent of an ancient urban legend. But when I read it, the image had an immediate impact on me. OK...not immediately. The first thing I thought was, "Well that explains why Lutherans just have their heads sprinkled with water in baptism. We pride ourselves on being able to think about God in very profound ways." But then I reflected more on this image. I remembered one of my classes in seminary called clinical pastoral education where my teacher would always tell us to: "integrate." You must integrate your life with your work. You cannot live one way when you are at church and live life a different way when you are at home. You must integrate your life and let God have control over all of your life. Let the waters of baptism and your call to ministry drench you fully in every aspect of your life and in everything you do.

I think those are wise words for all Christians. Think of all the different ways we try to keep our lives separate. We think, "OK God, you can influence how I act in this part of my life, but not in this part." Or we catch ourselves cursing in church and excuse ourselves, but have no problem with it as soon as we step out onto the parking lot-as though God can't hear us there. We say on Sunday I am going to be a Christian and try to be a Jesus follower, but when we find ourselves driving behind that slow driver on our way to work, we often tend to put that aside. We believe that we are created to be stewards of God's creation, but our actions do not reflect this.

I wonder, "What do you hold outside of the waters of baptism? What do you hold up out of the water, to use for your own purposes rather than God's purposes?"  The separate lives we live come out most obviously when it comes to the financial parts of our lives. We sing, "Take my life and let it be consecrated lord to thee".....except for my money and my finances.

The gospel for today speaks so clearly about this desire to separate our financial lives from God's purposes. A man runs up to Jesus and asks him: "What must or what should I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus says, "You know the commandments." And happily the man responds, "Yes, and I follow those all the time." But when Jesus tells him to go sell all of his possessions, he walks away after his face has fallen, and he grieves because his finances are the one thing that he cannot bring with him to be bathed in the waters of baptism.

But wait a minute, you might say. What about Zacchaeus? In the gospel of Luke this story is told in the very next chapter. He was a wealthy man. He was a tax collector for crying out loud. And after having Jesus over to his house, Zacchaeus offers to give only half of what he owned to the poor. And in response to this, Jesus blesses him and is filled with joy. What is the difference? Why does Jesus respond so differently to Zacchaeus?

I think the difference is the attitude of the two wealthy men. Zacchaeus' offering is made out of gratitude and in response to his encounter with Jesus. Jesus has changed his life and he knows that giving will bring him joy. It's not about what Jesus has made him or told him he should do.

The man in our gospel text today, however, simply asks the wrong question of Jesus. He asks what must I do, what should I do.....This is not a question one asks out of gratitude. This is not a question that glorifies God. This is not a question asked out of love and joy. Imagine this scene: Someone who is recently engaged asks the question to their beloved, "OK now, what must I do or what should I do to make sure this wedding thing is really going to happen." I don't know about you, but that wouldn't be the response I would want if I just proposed to someone.

Nevertheless, I feel sad for the man in our gospel text today because I identify with him and I think a lot of us are like him. I like to think that Jesus ran after the grieving man and explained this to him or that he was in the crowd when Jesus had the encounter with Zacchaeus. I like to imagine that the man from our gospel text saw the joy of giving in others and was transformed and infected. I like to think that his eyes were opened to all of the blessings in his life. Maybe he finally got the concept of giving as showing love for what Jesus had done in his life. Or maybe he continued to hold himself back, his arm lifted high above the water.

I really think that the Ancient Israelites had it much easier than we do. I mean, they really got the whole concept of giving as an act of worship, love and devotion to God. Perhaps it sounds odd to us today, but they would bring their drink offerings and simply pour them on an altar. Or they would bring some grain and burn it. If they were really feeling blessed, they might bring a pigeon or some other animal and sacrifice it and then burn it right there on the altar.  They didn't even think about how it would be used afterwards.

Today, it is hard for us to imagine doing such a thing. It seems almost barbaric. And yet the mindset is crystal clear with this kind of giving. With the Ancient Israelites they knew that everything they had, owned, and were in charge of was a gift from God. After wandering in the wilderness, they finally began to trust in the abundance of God. There was no food until God provided it. So burning something that they might very well need for food and drink tomorrow was a life-and-death trusting sacrifice for them. This kind of offering was truly an act of worship and devotion to God because it put all of their lives in God's hands. The Israelites' wandering in the wilderness was serious bootcamp for learning how to trust and depend on God. This was one way God ensured that their whole lives were integrated, immersed and focused on worship of God.

In our lives today, it is much more difficult to learn and experience this kind of trust and dependence on God. It is much more difficult for us to worship and show our love for God when there are so many distractions. But there is this one thing: We live on this side of the resurrection. We live with the good news that Jesus forgives us, strengthens us and renews us each and every day. There is also this one part of our worship every week that can take us back to the trust of the Ancient Israelites and that is the time of offering.

This is the time in worship where we offer up that part of our life that we want to keep out of the waters of baptism. This is the time during worship when we offer up our selves, our time, our talents, and our possessions. This is a time for us to give back to God what God has loaned to us. We do this not worrying about what it will be used for. We offer it simply as a sign of our love and devotion to God. We give to God because of our love for God.

Today thirty young people will be receiving crosses from their parents over the baptismal font. Parents, youth and each one of us will remember the promises that God made to us in our baptisms. God made a promise to you to never let you go. In the waters of baptism, you were fully immersed into God's eternal care-yes, regardless of how much water was used. You can trust in that promise regardless of what your life looks like right now.  You can allow this assurance to drench and bathe you. You can unclench your fist, opening it in praise to God, being freed for God, and then being used by God. Amen.

*My "source" for the story and an excellent resource I used in writing this sermon was Mark Allan Powell's Giving to God: The Bible's Good News about Living a Generous Life, especially the Intro. and Chapter 2.