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God's Gifts Inspire Ours

             It’s that time of year again.  I’m not referring to autumn, although that began last Wednesday.  I’m not talking about the Brewers playing out the season having missed the playoffs again, although that is happening.  I’m not talking about the WISCO Vikings, the Badgers, and the Packers who capture the attention of weekend sports fans, although that is happening, too.  I’m talking about … the budget cycle here at Grace.  Each year at this time of year our administrative staff pulls together the numbers from the previous year, gathers as much information as possible for anticipated expenses in the next year, and turns that over to the budget committee.  That committee fills in the numbers for 2011, sends it on to the church council for adjustment and approval, who then present it at an open forum for information sharing, input, and congregational approval in December.  That might sound like a lot of cold hard facts and even colder calculations.  But the budget process here at Grace Church is not really about line items on an Excel spreadsheet.  Numbers do not drive the decisions.  Ministry does, and I mean that in the broadest sense.  Not “ministry” as in what the pastors do, but “ministry” as in the joint work we do for Jesus together as a congregation.  “What can we do to proclaim God’s saving love to more people more often?” is the question that drives our congregational budget planning.

             A neighbor told me that at his church they fund the entire budget through bazaars and an annual carnival.  He was surprised to hear we don’t.  Our entire ministry efforts and plans are funded by our gifts.  That’s possible only because, as we learn in the first lesson from Genesis fourteen, God’s Gifts Inspire Ours.

 His gifts are remarkable

             In reading the book of Genesis beginning at chapter twelve, it appears that the star of the show is Abram.  He followed God’s call, set up shop as a shepherd in a new land, deferred to his nephew’s choice of better grazing lands, and then did something rather heroic.  He had been blessed by God in ways that boggle the mind.  He had enough people taking care of his flocks and herds that when bad guys from lands afar swooped in like Attila the Hun, attacked several nearby cities, plundered them, and took the citizens captive, including Abram’s nephew; Abram was able to amass his own personal army of three hundred eighteen soldiers.  You’d probably like a chauffeur once in a while or a cleaning lady to come for one day every other week.  He had three hundred eighteen able bodied men ages twenty to fifty to say nothing of the older servants and shepherds, their wives, kids, and those who had a sore throat that day and couldn’t go on the rescue mission.  Off he went, chased the bad guys, beat them, recaptured the people and plunder, and brought them back home.

             On his way home something remarkable happened, something that makes this whole story remarkable.  Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine.  Most of the Bible characters we’ve met so far in reading the first thirteen chapters of this first Bible book have some kind of ancestry that can be traced.  No mention is made of Melchizedek’s parents or grandparents or ancestry.  He was real, but the way the Bible writer records this account, it’s sort of like when your mom put a piece of bread in the toaster and went downstairs to change laundry loads.  You walked in the kitchen about forty-five seconds later, scooted by the counter, and “Pop!” a piece of toast came flying out of the toaster.  Melchizedek just seems to pop on the scene.  Remarkable!

             But Melchizedek was remarkable on so many levels beyond suddenly showing up.  Consider his name.  Melchi means “king,” and zedek means “righteousness.”  Consider also his title, king of Salem.  Salem means “peace.”  While most kings of the ancient world ruled with an iron fist, he was a king who ruled in righteousness and peace.  He treated people rightly and gave them peace.  Remarkable!

              He is also called priest of God Most High.  He understood that God will not allow sinners to approach him unless they have sins paid for.  Priests in those ancient days reminded people that death is the payment for sin.  They did that by sacrificing animals as a temporary substitute until a Savior would come as a substitute for all sinners and pay for all sins with his death.  Remarkable!

             Melchizedek also brought out bread and wine, gifts that showed his concern for Abram’s physical well-being, even though Abram was apparently a stranger.  Remarkable!  But gifts from Melchizedek didn’t stop there.  What passed from his hands to Abram’s tummy wasn’t nearly as special as what flowed from his lips to Abram’s heart.  He blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High … and blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.”  He proclaimed a blessing from God.  He announced God’s message of goodness and kindness, at the heart of which is the off-the-charts truth that the defeat of enemies was God’s doing and God’s gift.  Remarkable!

             So, Melchizedek had a unique heritage, a unique name and title, and a unique three-fold job as king, priest, and prophet.  No wonder later Bible writers picked up on his uniqueness and made the connection, “Our Savior is just like that!”  Jesus had a unique heritage.  His mother was human, but his Father is God.  He has a unique name and title, King of righteousness and peace, which tells us that he gives us his righteousness so that we can live with God in peace.  And he had and has a unique job.  Not only is he our king who has divine power to fill our cupboards, freezer, and garage with all that we need.  He also fills our soul with peace.  He is our priest who sacrificed himself as our Substitute to pay for our sin.  He is our prophet who announces the good news that he has defeated the old evil foe so that we are freed from captivity under Satan and are returned home to God.  Jesus is our king, priest, and prophet.  He is God’s greatest gift to us.  Remarkable!

 Our gifts are reflective and reflecting

              None of Melchizedek’s being and bearing escaped Abram’s notice.  None of the imagery blew over Abram’s head.  He got it.  He understood.  He was the one to whom God had said, “Through you a nation will come and eventually from that nation will come the world’s Savior.”  But it’s not as though Abram earned that position.  After the rescue effort, you might think Abram deserved a ticker tape parade.  But he deserved nothing.  In the next chapters there are stories that show his trust in God, and others that show his lack of trust.  There are some that show his persistence in following God and others his impatience.  In other words, Abram was just like you and just like me, a sinner.  The gifts poured out to him from God through Melchizedek were undeserved and for that reason all the more remarkable.

             But those remarkable gifts had an effect on Abram.  Abram gave him a tenth of everything.  Why ten percent?  Why not five percent?  Why not eight percent?  Why not twelve percent?  We aren’t told.  But it does indicate that Abram’s gift to Melchizedek was reflective.  I know that’s a big word.  It means that Abram put some thought into it.  He bounced ideas around in his head, reflected on them, like ping-pong balls.  It didn’t take long.  It wasn’t a rally going back and forth, back and forth in his mind.  God’s gift through Melchizedek was the ping.  Abram’s gift was the pong.  His gift reflected some reflection on his part, at least some thinking, some planning.  And what was Abram thinking about?  Not so much “how much” should I give this guy, but “Wow!  How remarkable that I have been given a blessing from God, not just any God, but God Most High, the only God there is, the God who is so high that he alone can see the true misery of my sin and come up with the only solution for it.  Look at the remarkable gift Melchizedek gave me!  It’s a gift of undying love to a dying sinner like me.  I’m so grateful.  I just can’t help offering a gift in return.”

             In that way Abram’s gift was not just reflective, thoughtful, but reflecting, reflecting to Melchizedek what God through Melchizedek had given him.  Not like the King of Sodom.  He was part of the bunch that Abram rescued.  Obviously, he was grateful for what Abram had done.  But it’s interesting that he wanted to pay Abram.  “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.” You might think, “That’s a nice gesture!”  But Abram could sense this man’s motive.  He was out for something in return and wanted to set up a not-so-secret IOU.  So Abram told him, “I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ ”  Abram wanted no part of gifts that were not freely given.  Abram looked at what the King of Sodom wanted to give him and said, “No!”  He looked at what God had given him through Melchizedek and said, “Yes!”

             What do our gifts look like to God?  What thoughts are bouncing between our ears when we write out a check for the offering envelope or click-and-send directly from our bank account an electronic fund transfer to church?  Are our thoughts like an old stock-ticker strip, pealing out of our ears before the eyes of God and reading, “I’ll give you something, Lord, but I expect you to make my life go well.”  “I’ll give you something, Lord, but this month it has to be leftovers because I have to pay down the credit card for the toys I bought which are more important.”  Shame on us if our gifts look like what the King of Sodom tried to pawn off as a gift to Abram.  Thanks be to God that we can give gifts that reflect God’s gifts to us.  A few weeks ago, I spoke about God holding a mirror to reflect to us what we look like to him.  Sinners!  But I say to you now, as I did then and will say again and again, because of Jesus God looks at you and me in the same way he looked at Abram – we are blessed and covered by God’s remarkable gift of love.  Now we are holding a mirror and get to reflect his generosity on to others.  Your gifts allow Grace kids to attend Lutheran schools.  Your gifts pay the mortgage on the Grace Center so we can hold community events and invite neighbors to meet Grace members and meet Jesus.  Your gifts support the training of future generations of called workers, help start new churches in America, and help send Christ-centered literature to Pakistan, Nepal, Portugal, and dozens of other places around the globe.

             Lots of ministry plans will once again unfold during the budget process.  But it’s all possible because of you.  Well, because God has been working and will continue to work through you because God’s gifts inspire ours.    Amen.

 Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on September 26, 2010

Services

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Mondays 6:30 pm

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church | 1209 North Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202 | (414) 271-3006

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