First Presbyterian Church
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Akron, Ohio 44304-1684
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Food for Thought: The Price of Faith

For where you treasure is, there will your heart be also...Matthew 6:21

Dr. Mark Ruppert

Matthew 6:19-21  

I have something I’d like you to ponder- How much is your faith worth? That’s right, how much is your faith worth? If you could put a price tag on your faith, how much would you say it is worth: $20; $150; $1,000; $5,000 or maybe more; maybe everything that you own; your very life? I want you to think about this question during this coming week- how much is your faith worth?

The other day I was with a group of pastors and one of them mentioned that they really were not looking forward to this time of the year, and immediately my ears perked up. The pastor went on to explain that the reason why was because it is Stewardship Season. Now I know that there are a number of pastors who have a difficult time gearing up for the annual stewardship season but needless to say, I am not one of them.

Let me begin by setting the stage for Stewardship Campaign, namely that the stewardship season is not about raising funds. The goal of any church’s stewardship season is about raising faith. Did you catch that? Not about raising funds but about raising faith. For when faith is raised we are then empowered to see and believe that God owns it all. That’s right, God owns it all and we, on the contrary, own nothing. And so therefore, we cannot give, but what we can do is manage, manage what God has entrusted to us, for we are stewards for God.

Let’s spend a little time talking about this concept of being a steward. Every person who is a Christian is called to be a steward. Now a steward in the New Testament is a hired person, another word used would be servant and still another would be manager. And what happened back then is that the master of the house would have entrusted this person to run his household.

Now any ordinary servant would not have known what his master did, but a steward would have known about the master’s affairs. There would have to have been a sense of trust established between the steward and his or her master. But let’s jump to the theological understanding- Jesus would have us understand that our relationship to God is even closer than that of a steward and his or her master. For we are God’s children and not hired servants. We are sons and daughters of God and we are, in a real sense, in a partnership with God. And this partnership touches upon every aspect of our lives.

In her book The Price of Faith, Marie Cross writes, “Faith and money are two words that are seldom spoken or heard together. Money and all that it can buy, possessions and what they can mean for our social status and personal comfort, wealth and its power to create or control, may all seem irrelevant or disconnected from the piety and practice of Christian faith.

We may be reluctant to talk about financial matters in serious conversations that involve questions and matters of faith [The pastor that I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon was in this category.], but we as a culture are consumed with concerns about money, and our lives tend to revolve around getting, spending, and having enough of it. Whether or not we think of our ordinary, daily decisions about money as being evidence of our deepest faith convictions, they are. Intentional or not, what we are doing reflects what we believe. And what we are doing is not only telling others, but also teaching others. …Faith and money are both part of ordinary living. And if that is so, then faith and money must share integrity with the ways in which we choose to live. Faith and money belong together - in the same sentence.

The challenge for the church, as individuals and as a community, is to bring the conversations- the struggle, confession, embarrassment, guilt, ambiguity, and good intentions - into its life of worship, study, and service.” (p. 8-9)

What is your faith worth? Let me ask it another way. In the article Americans and Their Money (Worth, June ’94), Robert Sullivan writes, “Your money or your life? Not a simple question, since most people can’t seem to differentiate the two.”

Going back to her book, Marie Cross says in her book The Price of Faith, “Now is a significant time for the church. Financial stewardship must be given attention, not so much for the survival of the church’s institutions, its structures and hierarchies (which, in fact, are being threatened), but for a vital, viable interpretation of what it means to live faithfully in this time and place.” (p.12)

Jesus was no slouch - He knew that money would have a tremendous impact on us; He knew that money would be a big deal for us. That is precisely why He addresses it. Jesus makes it real simple for us in the Sermon on the Mount, of which our passage is just a part of that great discourse. It really is simple, Jesus says, either you can serve God or wealth-money. And yet it really isn’t about money per se, it’s about accumulating money and the values we attach to money, or the values we allow money to give people, places and things.” (Cross, p. 32)

Jesus is saying we have a choice. We cannot one and at the same time adopt God’s ways and the ways of the world. We cannot adopt, one and at the same time, Christian values and consumer values. We cannot serve both God and money. And yet we try and do both.

Dr. Douglas Oldenburg was once the president of one of our Presbyterian Seminaries, Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. One day he was asked to give his theological reflection to results of research on mainline Protestant churches. This is what he said, “The church has failed to be a counter-cultural community, creating a community where people have different values than the surrounding culture…. It is obvious to all of us that our culture places a premium value on consuming, buying more and more, immediate gratification, materialism, and believing that more is always better. Our economic system depends on people sharing those values, and the advertising industry feeds them by constantly bombarding us with such seductive messages. Our economic credo is that greater joy and security in life come from making more and more money and buying more and more things.

It’s a powerful force, almost irresistible, and all of us are seduced by it. To one degree or another w have all bought into it and so have the people in our congregations.”

Our faith is a matter of trust. As a matter of fact the Presbyterian Church has A Brief Statement of Faith where we repeat again and again our trust in God. It states, “We trust in Jesus Christ…, We trust in God…, We trust in God the Holy Spirit.” This trust is for the here and now as well as for the future. And if you continue on in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount he says in Matthew 6:25-33 words of promise and something about trust. Jesus says, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear…. Indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”

Over the past several weeks we have been highlighting during our Moments for Stewardship where some of your money goes in terms of Local, National and Foreign missions. And last week we literally put a face on Missions here at First Presbyterian Church as we showed you a power point presentation of all the mission endeavors we are involved in here at the church. We are not staying still waiting for people to come to us, the way it used to be in the heyday of the church, during the 50’s and 60’s. We are trying to be proactive and take the Good News into a hurting world, into a world that is desperately in need of the Savior.

This week you will receive materials …. We ask that you prayerfully consider your pledge for 2006. I encourage you to consider being a percentage giver. Look at your income and decide what % you want to return to God. I personally believe and practice tithing or the giving of 1/10 back to God. You might not be at that place but what I urge you to do is to give to the cause of Christ, His church. And do so joyfully and not grudgingly.

What you give is between you and God. All I know is that I am excited about the work we are doing and want to do and I want to support it financially. I ask you to make it a priority in your prayer life this week. Will you join me, and then next week, bring your 2006 pledge card to church with you to bring forward and place in baskets on the communion table at the designated time?

So let me ask again, “How much is your faith worth?” I hope that at some point in each of our lives we can say, “everything.” “Everything I have, everything I am, everything I will become.” Remember, the stewardship season is not about raising funds. The goal of any church’s stewardship season is about raising faith. Amen.

Key Points 

Introduction: How much is your faith worth?

The annual stewardship season

The stewardship season is not about raising _______  

The goal of any church’s stewardship season is about raising ______  

Every person who is a Christian is called to be a steward

The steward in the New Testament is a _____ person, a ________ , a _________

Intentional or not, what we are doing reflects what we ________  

“Your money or your life? Not a simple question, since most people can’t seem to differentiate the two.” Robert Sullivan

Matthew 6:19-21

Jesus is saying either you can serve ______ or ______ - money

Our faith is a matter of trust- trust in Jesus Christ, trust in God, trust in the Holy Spirit

Matthew 6:25-33-- words of promise and trust

This week…

Conclusion: How much is your faith worth?

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)