Stweardship: Grace and Joy

Stewardship: Grace & Joy
(Deuteronomy 14:22-27; 2 Corinthians 8:1-7)
10:30 am,  Sunday, July 14, 2013, Windsor UBC, J G White

Jupiter the bringer of jollity - Holst’s The Planets. 
Russell the joybringer on K Rock, 89.3.
Our God is a happy God; the Lord takes pleasure in His people, and is the bringer of joy. 
Listening to our Covenant today: Stewardship, of time, talent, treasure.  Is such giving on our part gracious, and joyful? 

Giving brings joy... to those who receive!
2 Corinthians 8  
Giving - of the Macedonain Christians to Jerusalem Church
    amid poverty and affliction... beyond means
    joyful
    generous
    voluntary
    privilege / grace
    sharing in ministry
    give first to the Lord, by will of God
    to urge/encourage others (Titus)
In 2 Corinthians 8&9, charis, grace, is used ten times in regard to the offering to help the church people of Jerusalem.
             NRSV                        NIV
8:1         grace                        grace
8:4        privilege                    privilege
8:6        generous undertaking        act of grace
8:7        generous undertaking        grace of giving
8:9        generous act                grace
8:16        thanks                        thank
8:19        generous undertaking        offering
9:8        blessing                    grace
9:15        thanks                        thanks

Charis means grace, among other things. It is from this Greek word we get charismatic and charisma.  The gifts of the Spirit are the charismata.  Here, in 2 Corinthians, the grace, the gift, the charis, is the thank-offering taken up to help needy believers elsewhere.
Stewardship corner in today’s bulletin... points out the classic Christian concept of tithing: 10% of what you have is God’s - first, off the top.  So don’t rob from God. 

Statistics from Mosaic, Spring ‘09.
Buck the Trend. 
There is a lower percentage of giving to churches now than in 1933 during the depth of the Great Depression. 
The average Christian in North America gives...
2.5% of their income to God’s work...
...and pays almost 10% to debt interest.
Over one third of regular church attendees give nothing. 0%
To give is to buck the trend!

Deuteronomy 14 - an annual tithe.  For what?  For a feast, a celebration!  The Kingdom of God is a Party!  Tony Campolo.
Think of Jesus’ banquet parables, and the marriage feast of the Lamb.  His first “sign”, miracle, in John: water into wine.
Celebration.  “It is the completion of worship, for it dwells on the greatness of God as shown in his goodness to us.  We engage in celebration when we enjoy ourselves, our life, our world, in conjunction with our faith and confidence in God’s greatness, beauty, and goodness.”  Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines, p. 179.

Oh how deeply we need joy in our lives, and to offer gifts that bring joy to others.  Serious road accidents take young lives, an infant dies in hospital, a young teen drowns in an unwise boat trip.  The trials and tribulations of peoples lives go on all around us... 

“Holy delight and joy is the great antidote to despair and is a wellspring of genuine gratitude - the kind that starts at our toes and blasts off from our loins and our diaphragm through the top of our head, flinging our arms and our eyes and our voice upward toward our good God.”  Dallas Willard, p. 179
This week I’ve been reading Introverts in the Church: finding our place in an extroverted culture, Adam S. McHugh.  Remember that joy and generosity are expressed in many ways by many people. 

The joys of life are worth tithing to, according to Deuteronomy.  Celebrating together is at the heart of building community.  Loving, including, providing, sharing...
Ecclesiastes 3:1-4, 12-13
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: ...a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance...
I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.
God is the Joybringer and creator of pleasures.
Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis
We’ve won many a soul through pleasure.  “All the same, it is His invention, not ours.  He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one.” 

The witness and evangelism of worship: joyful and celebratory and genuine.  Reggie McNeal.  “They need to understand the contagious nature of worship and the critical role it plays in missional renewal of the church.  There is hardly anything more evangelistically powerful than a group of worshipping believers.”  The Present Future, pp. 80-81.

All offerings can graciously bring joy.
Many sacrificial offerings give joy to others.
Fellow built a cabin for Camp Pagweak.  He enjoyed building; but was not so good at including others in the building project. Yet, the cabin has been part of a joy-filled ministry ever since: Church camp!
Sacrificial offering: giving blood...
Sacrificial offering: giving time and energy and giftedness to a Camp ministry, a Vacation Bible School, a Mission Tour...
Sacrificial offering: give time and energy to the community conversations about fire service, about the causeway and local environment, about economic development...

As good stewards of our lives, we can invest in, we share grace in:  Helping those in need
    Bringing Joy to others
    Celebrating
    Vision for ministry and for justice
    Hospitality

Shall we Christians be joy-bringers? 
We have a happy God, a generous God.
Shall we be like our Lord?  We be giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest?  (Joyful, Joyful, Henry Van Dyke)
We shall be generous and gracious to our world.
And the Lord will take pleasure in His people!