The minister was preoccupied with thoughts of how she was going to ask the congregation to come up with more money than they were expecting for repairs to the church building. Therefore, she was annoyed to find that the regular organist was sick and a substitute had been brought in at the last minute. The substitute wanted to know that to play. A Here= s a copy of the service,@ she said impatiently. A But, you= ll have to think of something to play after I make the announcement about the finances.@ During the service, the minister paused and said, A Brothers and Sisters, we are in great difficulty; the roof repairs cost twice as much as we expected and we need $4,000 more. Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up.@

At that moment, the substitute organist played A The Star Spangled Banner.@

And that is how the substitute became the regular organist!

I face a similar quandary this morning. How can I inspire you to give serious consideration to increasing your Estimate of Giving to Christ Congregational Church for the coming fiscal year? I promise, no tricks with special songs!

No, instead I want to reflect briefly with you on the passage of scripture which was chosen as the theme for our Stewardship Season this year. I want to think with you about these ancient words of wisdom, share with you a true story, and invite you to a time of prayer.

These words from the Apostle Paul to a young pastor leading a church, Timothy, are explicit about how we are to live. And this passage specifically addresses those who are rich. Now I know we don= t like to think of ourselves as rich. But economist Robert Heilbroner offers this list to help us gain perspective on our wealth.

1. Take out all the furniture in your home except for one table a couple of chairs. Use a blanket and pads for beds.

2. Take away all of your clothing except for your oldest dress or suit, shirt or blouse. Leave only one pair of shoes.

3. Empty the pantry and refrigerator except for a small bag of flour, some sugar and salt, a few potatoes, some onions, and a dish of dried beans.

4. Take away the house itself and move the family into the tool shed, with no bathroom, running water, or electrical wiring, located in a shantytown.

5. Cancel all subscriptions to newspapers, magazines, and book clubs. This is no great loss because now none of you can read anyway.

6. Leave only one radio for the whole shantytown.

7. Move the nearest hospital or clinic ten miles away and put a midwife in charge instead of a doctor.

8. Throw away your bankbooks, stock certificates, pension plans, and insurance policies. Keep a cash hoard of ten dollars for the family.

9. Give the head of the family a few acres to cultivate on which he can grow a few hundred dollars of cash crops, of which one third will go to the landlord and one tenth to the money lenders.

10. Lop off twenty-five years of life-expectancy.

You are now part of more than a billion people in the world.

We are certainly rich, even taking into account our higher cost of living, along with our higher standard of living, compared to the majority of the world population.

This should not make us feel guilty. That is not the point.

Paul does not suggest it is wrong to be rich, or a sin, or that it makes us evil people. But, neither should it make us proud, or haughty, thinking we are better than other people. We are to remain humble, realizing our riches are a blessing.

We are also to remember not to trust our riches, but to always trust the source of all blessings, God, who provides us with everything we need.

That is why what we do with our money is a spiritual question.

The problem is that money can make us numb C numb to God, numb to our neighbor. Wealth can work against both of the two basic commandments, to love God and to love our neighbor.

It is not that the wealthy cannot love, but that the desire for wealth can take on a life of its own, crowding out A the life that is really life.@

When we let our desires and cravings loose, we enter a vicious circle, with the poor, the needy, and God standing outside the circle.

That is why giving is a spiritual discipline; it breaks money= s hold on our spirits by reminding us that God has provided for our needs, that God will always provide for our needs, and that we need no more than we actually need.

At heart, stewardship is about where we place our trust.

It is less about possessions than possessiveness.

Our capacity to love is hampered by our need to have.

That is why Paul teaches Timothy to counsel the rich to do good with their riches, to be generous, rich in good works, and ready to share.

By doing that they are taking hold of the life that really is life.

Thankfully, the very first person to reach the status of billionaire learned this truth before it was too late. He was a man who knew how to set goals and follow through. At the age of 23, he had become a millionaire, by the age of 50 a billionaire. Every decision, attitude, and relationship was tailored to create his personal power and wealth. But three years later at the age of 53 he became ill. His entire body became wracked with pain and he lost all the hair on his head. In complete agony, the world= s only billionaire could buy anything he wanted, but he could only digest milk and crackers. An associate wrote, A He could not sleep, would not smile and nothing in life meant anything to him.@ His personal, highly skilled physicians said he would die within a year.

That year passed agonizingly slowly. As he approached death, he awoke one morning with the vague remembrance of a dream. He could barely recall the dream but knew it had something to do with not being able to take any of his successes with him into the next world. The man who could control the business world suddenly realized he was not in control of his own life. He was left with a choice.

He called his attorneys, accountant, and managers and announced that he wanted to channel his assets to hospitals, research, and mission work. On that day John D. Rockefeller established his foundation. This new direction eventually led to the discovery of penicillin, cures for current strains of malaria, tuberculosis and diphtheria. The list of discoveries resulting from his choice is enormous.

But perhaps the most amazing part of Rockefeller= s story is that the moment he began to give back a portion of all that he had earned, his body= s chemistry was altered so significantly that he got better. It looked as if he would die at 53 but he lived to be 98.

Rockefeller learned how to take hold of the life that is really life. He made a choice to be generous with his money, to do good with it, to be rich in good works, and to share what he had received with others in need. In doing that he learned to trust the source of his life, the one who took care of all his needs, God.

As you think about your giving to God through this church and fill out your Estimate of Giving for 2006-2007 think about and pray over these things:

1. Who do you trust?

2. What is most important to you?

Then ask God in prayer to help you take hold of the life that is really life by being as generous as you possibly can be.