Saint Luke's Lutheran Church

Some thirty years ago, two reporters from the Washington Post received inside information on the break-in of the Watergate office complex from an anonymous source they named, "Deep Throat." This information proved so damaging to President Nixon that he eventually had to resign from office. But as these reporters tried to put all of the peace and the players together, they had a hard time connecting all of the information they had been given. That is when "Deep Throat" gave them the critical clue. He said, "Follow the money!" "Follow the money" has become a familiar adage in political and economic analysis. If you want to understand why people do many of the things they do, this principle suggests, "follow the money." Who benefits from a particular policy or piece of legislation tells you a lot about who is behind it and why. In politics, like the rest of life, money often tells the story.

"Follow the money" has its corollary in something Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount, nearly 2,000 years ago. Jesus put it this way: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." These words of our Lord provide the theme for our stewardship emphasis this year: "Where Your Heart Is."

This stewardship emphasis invites us to think about stewardship in the context of worship. Stewardship is not just about giving money; it is about giving your heart to the Lord. That means that stewardship is about worship. But stewardship is also about giving money, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So giving money to the Lord is first and foremost an act of worship. Here at St. Luke's we use several different liturgies, but all of them involve four basic actions: they are gathering, hearing, celebrating, and sending. Every week we come to this place to do these four things - and to do them in the name of Jesus. First we gather together as the people of God; then we hear God's Word; next we celebrate God's presence; and finally we are sent back out into our communities to take the light of God's love into the dark corners of our world.

Today we focus on the first of these actions: Gathering. St. Luke's is not a neighborhood church. We live in different communities. We work in different places. We live different lives. But on Sunday, we come together from this wide range of places and paths to be one - a community of faith united by one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

We gather at the baptismal font. Baptism is what makes us a part of this community. Baptism makes us a child of God and a member of God's family. In Baptism our sins are forgiven, and we are prepared to stand in the very presence of the Almighty. When we gather together in the presence of God, God's love captures our heart.

A fellow pastor and friend of mine took a call to a congregation in Indiana several years ago. He had only been there about a month when the office received a check in the mail for several thousand dollars. In the envelope there was a note which read: "Our dues for the year." Don did not recognize the name or remember having met this couple, so he checked the worship attendance records and found that they were C and E Christians - they only attended on Christmas and Easter. Then Don stuck their check into an envelope and sent it back to them with a note which read: "God wants your heart, not your money."

It was a bold thing to do - but that's the kind of pastor Don was. And, if you pardon the pun, he was right on the money. God does not need our money. God is fully capable of doing what needs to be done whether we give one dollar or ten thousand dollars or whether we give nothing at all. God does not need our money, and God does not want our money if it doesn't come along with our heart. God doesn't need anything from us - neither love nor money, but God wants our love. And God wants our money as a sign of our love, for God knows that where our treasure is there will our heart be also.

The apostle John reminds us that God is love - love defines who God is and what God does. It was love that caused God to create the heavens and the earth. It was love that caused God to give us life. And it was love that caused God to send his Son to suffer and die on the cross so that we might know God's love and put our trust in him. That's a nice thought. We like to think of our God as a God of love. But there is another side to our God. The same Bible that tells us God is love also says that our God is a jealous God and a God of wrath. Some people think that love and wrath are incompatible with each other. They aren't. In fact, the two are intimately related.

Love always longs for a response. Love always wants to be loved in return. Unrequited love, a love that is not returned, is a source of pain and sorrow. To love another and to have one's love spurned leaves one hurt and jealous and angry. This is as true in religion as it is in romance. So when the Israelites spurned God's love, when they went whoring after other gods, the Lord became jealous and angry. This is what stirs God's wrath. It is not doing something wrong. Doing something wrong may disappoint God, but it does not make God angry. What really upsets God is when we do not love the Lord our God with all our heart. What makes God jealous and angry is unrequited love.

So today I challenge you to analyze your heart by looking at your checkbook and your credit card statements. Follow the money. What does how you spend your money say about where your heart is? If you are like me you spend the most on things you need to live - things like food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and healthcare. But if you are like me, you also spend a significant amount of money on things that you want but do not really need. Oh, I know that we often confuse the two. We talk like we need the things we want, but the truth is that I really don't need any more clothes in my closet. I really don't need that new power tool or that new electronic toy - any more than I need to eat out at a restaurant or take that vacation trip.

So the question is, "Where does God fit in to my spending?" If I manage to find the money for things that I really want or that my children want, but I only give God the crumbs, what does that say about where your heart is? If I spend the first fruits on myself and give God only the leftovers, what does that say about where your heart is?

Gathering for worship acts as a compass. Worship helps us keep our hearts oriented to the One who loves us, to the one who alone can satisfy our deepest needs. Worship gives us the spiritual bearings which can guide us when we are at work, when we are at home, when we are in school, and when we are in the marketplace. These spiritual bearings will not only guide us in our giving, but also in our spending. When we know that God loves us and that God will take care of us, we do not need to worry about what we shall eat or what we shall wear. That's real freedom. That's real financial peace. That is something to treasure.

November 23 is Commitment Sunday here at St. Luke's. On this Sunday we will invite you to come forward and place on the altar your financial commitment for the coming year. In preparation for Commitment Sunday, we are asking you to think about what God has done for you - how God has loved you and blessed you in both spiritual and material ways. We are asking you to think about your response to God's love and God's giving.

Now, there is no way that any of us can match God's love or God's gifts. Even if we gave everything we have, we would still not out-give our God. And God does not expect us to do that. But God does want us to give. So what is an appropriate response? In Old Testament times, the answer was direct and clear - everyone was expected to give a tithe, ten percent of their income. The New Testament also speaks about proportionate or percentage giving but it never tells us what proportion or what percentage. That is something each one must decide for himself or herself. Personally, I believe that 10 percent is still a good standard to follow.

Over the next couple of weeks, I encourage you to take a look at your spending and follow the money. Analyze your heart and let your giving reflect your love for God and your trust in the Lord. Amen.