Sermon 672+October 30, 2011

Twentieth Week after Pentecost
813th Week as Priest
639th Week at St Dunstan’s

A Life that is Worthy of God

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Thank you for enduring the past two Sunday conversations on stewardship. The first Sunday, I showed you the money we receive, and the responsible ways we spend that money—our income and expenses. Your Advisory Council, or Vestry, if you prefer, is doing an excellent job of managing our finances.

The second Sunday I shared with you a plan for managing your own income and expenses, including a way to begin making a financial commitment to St Dunstan’s—and to find peace with what you have and what you give, with both your blessings and your obligations. I don’t know how you, personally, are doing in managing your own money, but I have offered free consultation to anybody who wants or needs it. And, by the way, every couple who gets married at St Dunstan’s gets the personal finance conversation with me.

This is the third and last stewardship conversation, and I thought about teaching you all how to score a baseball game using the last game of the World Series as my example—Yea Cardinals!—but I decided not to. So our last Sunday, instead, has the theme, “A Life that is Worthy of God.” These are words from St Paul, and he spoke often on the theme …

I beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
–Ephesians 4:1

Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.
–Philippians 1:27

Lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
–Colossians 1:10

Lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
–1 Thessalonians 2:12

But what does it mean to live a life worthy of God? Well, first I believe that such a life begins with the recognition that we are a kingdom people, and that kingdom, as Jesus said, is not of this world. Our king is Jesus Christ himself, and no other, and we pledge our loyalty and our lives to him. We are Americans, and Sri Lankans, and Australians, but we are also a kingdom people.

We are a people of hope, because we believe in things not seen. Ours is a sure and certain hope, however, because our hope is in Christ—and it is only in Christ. St Paul said that suffering produces endurance. Endurance produces character. Character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us. We are a people of hope.

We are a people of the Way, and that’s Way with a capital “W.” The Way is what the followers of Jesus called their new life in Christ. We live in a particular way. Our Christian faith is not a Sunday morning appointment, or a gold star for special achievement, or a free ticket into heaven. No, our faith is a way of life; it is the Way of Life itself, and we are most certainly people of the Way.

We are a holy people. To be holy does not mean to be perfect, or even perfectly excellent—although many of you are perfectly excellent people, particularly Saneli, Emory, John Wells, Mary Grissom, Kate and Caroline, and all of those children we have baptized here at St Dunstan’s. To be holy means to be set apart, to be marked as Christ’s own, to be sealed by the Holy Spirit. Yes, we are a holy people.

We are the saints of God. Yes, each of you is one of the saints of God, whether you are a doctor, a queen, or a shepherdess on the green. Whether you are a soldier, a priest, or just a snack for a fierce wild beast. You are counted among the saints. We all are. We are the saints of God.

I have said this next part many times, and I will say it again: Your life is of infinite importance to God. If it were not so, do you think that Jesus would have made such a sacrifice of himself? Not that we have earned any such importance, nor have we any claim to sole responsibility for our own successes and achievements. No, we are made kingdom people, people of hope and the way, a holy people, saints of God, through Christ and with Christ and in Christ. All our hope on him is founded.

However, we have free will. We have choices to make, for good or ill, every single day of our lives. We can choose to bless or to curse. We can choose to give or to withhold from giving. It is your choice entirely.

But now I am urging, and encouraging, and pleading with you to help the church you love. Give cheerfully and freely for the spread of the kingdom. Give as an expression of your hope for the future. Give out of your love and concern for a hurting world. Give what you can. Please answer our Call to Stewardship tonight. Make a commitment now. Sign the card, seal it in the envelope, and place it in the offering.

Ascribe to the Lord the honor due his Name. Bring offerings, and come into his courts. Amen.

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