Good Morning!

 

This is Consecration Sunday.

But it's also St. Luke's day, so let's start with Luke chapter 12, verse 34: Jesus said: Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

So what do we consider to be our treasure?

Where do we put our time and money?

Here in America, in our relative prosperity, we often put a good deal of our time and money into our leisure: golfing, boating, cruises are some of the things we treasure.

[Kathy says apparently her treasures are chocolate and video games.]

But we are here, at St. Marks, on a Sunday morning.

And that says something about what we treasure, about what we value.

 

We’re taught to work hard for our money and to manage it carefully

But Jesus never seemed worried about money.

 He knew we worried about it.

He talked about it alot. 

In fact, he talked about it more than anything else except the kingdom of God.

Out of 39 parables, 11 had to do with money.

So as with food and clothing, Jesus knew how important and necessary  it was in this world.

He also knew and talked of the trouble into which it could lead us.

Jesus is often misquoted as having said, "money is the root of all evil." What he actually said, of course, is "The love of money is the root of all evil." 

 

Important as money and worth is to us, is it as important to God?

 As the respected Christian writer, CS Lewis pointed out, “God, to be God, has no needs.”

 

But this congregation does.

Ministry takes money.

Staff requires money.

And this is the Sunday we address that requirement.

Of course, the church is far more than just this building. Nevertheless, we are charged by God with being good stewards of what he has given us.

I know from Kathy’s descriptions  what you get to enjoy every time you come here.

 The beauty of the nave.

The theology conveyed by the windows.

How bright and welcoming the chapel is.

How beautiful the landscaping is.

The very presence of this church at the gateway to the city of Williamsport makes a statement about the Christian community that can be found here.

The solid financial health of that church gives credibility to that statement.

We value God. We Love God.

We Honor God and the worship of Him.

Here. In this place.

 

Our parents generation did their part, planning and building this church building and congregation.

What will we do during our time?

What sort of organization will we hand off to the next generation?

If, in fact, we even do hand an organization off to the next generation.

 

We note that in recent years, St Paul's Lutheran Church on West Fourth st. closed.  

And Church of the Savior, Lutheran Church at Grier and Memorial Sts closed. 

Just recently First Baptist Church, which held worship services on West Fourth and Elmira for some 160 years, closed and sold their building to a different denomination. What will happen here?

 What do we want to happen here?

Do we run the same risk of closing?

Sure we do, if we let it happen.

But I don't think we are finished here at St. Marks. Not by a long shot.

I took part in the reconciliation committee meetings and I saw first-hand just how important this church is in the lives of its congregants.

Too many people would lose something irreplaceable if this church were to close.

 We must not let that happen!

But if you've been paying attention to our budgets in recent years, you know that  we've borrowed from investments for a portion of the budget.

Even after many cuts, our expenses are more than our current income, even including the parking lot rental income.

But we're getting by.

 

I worry that, too often, we are content just to get by.

I wish we would dare to have larger dreams, especially in matters of faith.

Giving might be a good place to start.

We don't talk about tithing much, perhaps because it frightens people.

"You mean I have to give 10 per cent of what I have to God?"

No, you don't have to give anything.

Giving is a voluntary response to what God has done in your life.

Tithing is what God required of his people under Mosaic law.

And when Jesus was asked about it, he simply said, "This you ought to have done.”

 These days, we shy away from it.

But here's something else Jesus said.

In Luke, chapter 6 verse 38. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. ... with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

If you care to take God up on that challenge, I salute you.

Hopefully, you've already been thinking and praying about it in the wake of the excellent temple talks we've heard here for the last 3 weeks.

It will take hard work and commitment on our part to keep this congregation alive and thriving.

But, thanks to our forebears, we have a solid foundation on which to continue building.

Later in the service, I'll have instructions for you on filling out your commitment cards.

Meanwhile, during the rest of the service, consider what God is worth to you and how you will respond to that worth-ship. Amen.