" Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. "
2 Timothy 4:2
2 Timothy 4:2
2 Kings 4:1-7
Psalm 40:1-11
Acts 3:1-10
Matthew 15:21-28
Sermon Jan 19th, 2020
With God Anything is Possible
We watch the news. We see the commercials of children living in places where poverty is rampant. With internet we have easier access to the statistics of those living in need. So, we know how big these numbers really are. In the last five years in Calgary we have seen more and more people accessing services like the Food Bank, Mustard Seed, Inn from the Cold. Local churches including our church have seen an increase in people reaching out for help.
Our compassionate side sees this need and wants to fix it. We want to help everyone so no one is in need. What we find is we often get discouraged, because we feel that we don’t have enough money or time to help everyone. We feel guilty that we can’t do more. We sometimes end up turning the channel or looking the other way when we walk by, or hope that someone with enough resources steps in and helps. It can be very difficult for us to believe that even with what we can contribute that somehow God will use our contributions to meet the needs of the people we intend to help. Or that God will give us enough to meet the needs of others. Or that God will take care of our needs when we choose to be a little more generous to help meet the needs of someone else.
In North American culture we often make financial and volunteer decisions based on a scarcity model. Do I have enough put away for retirement? Have I saved up enough for my children’s education? Do I have enough in my life savings account? Do I make enough to pay the bills? Will I have enough money left over if I give this much to help someone else in need? Do I have enough energy to help out? Do I have enough time left in the day to volunteer for this ministry? We are often bombarded with these types of questions that keep us making decisions from a place of thinking do we have enough? Instead of from a place of thinking God has given us more then enough.
A widow comes to Elisha for help. Her creditors are coming to take her children away. The widow needs to pay off her debt in order to keep her children. Elisha asks her how much olive oil she has. The widow only has a small jar left on her table. Now Elisha could say, “Oh that isn’t enough for me to do anything. Good luck!” Instead, Elisha invites her to have a little faith and go and collect as many empty jars as possible. She does, and then finds that she is able to fill all these jars with oil from this small jar. She then sells these to pay off her debts and to cover her future bills.
The widow could have easily been discouraged at her situation. Elisha could have thought he didn’t have the means to help her. But he did. Elisha believed that God would provide and God did for the widow. More then enough.
For Peter and John, they come across person after person who is in need of money, and yet, Peter and John have little money at that. They gave up their professions to follow Jesus. I’m sure at times they felt like they didn’t have enough to help. Now, when another lame beggar asks them for money, Peter responds in faith. Peter believes that Jesus has given him something to help this person. “I have no silver or gold, but what I do have I offer to you.” Peter offers healing. The beggar gets up and walks. People around are amazed.
In our gospel, a gentile woman is desperate. Her daughter is struggling profoundly, and so, reaches out to Jesus. At first, Jesus is less then receptive. In fact, he outright rejects her when he says his love is for the lost people of Israel. What comes next is a faith Jesus has rarely seen on his journey. After Jesus says it is not fair to give the people’s food to the dogs. She says, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table”. This woman believes that even with little Jesus can do great things in her life. In that moment her daughter is healed.
With the crumbs that fall from our tables, God can do amazing things. Our faith teaches us to believe that with God anything is possible. That whatever we bring to the table will be enough and more to help those in need. To think not out of scarcity, but out of hope in God’s promises.
In the church we are invited to offer both our financial gifts and our spiritual gifts for the ministries of the church. Every year we are invited to give a little more to help support these ministries. When we come together and each give another jar we see how these jars become filled with God’s love giving life to the people we minister to.
We are the body of Christ, invited to be Christ’s hands and feet in a needy world. In order for our ministries to do well we need financial and volunteer support. But, we also, need faith. We are invited to trust God that when we give generously God will meet the needs of others while still meeting our needs. We believe that by giving our money and our time to the ministries we support we will do amazing things in our world to reflect God’s gracious love even when it seems to us like we are not doing enough.
Let us pray, loving God, we give thanks for all that you give us. When we feel like we don’t have enough reassure us of your loving promise. Help us see all that you can do with what we have to meet our neighbors needs, and also, to meet our own needs. Amen.
© copyright, 2020, Wallace Bornhuse. All rights reserved.
Psalm 40:1-11
Acts 3:1-10
Matthew 15:21-28
Sermon Jan 19th, 2020
With God Anything is Possible
We watch the news. We see the commercials of children living in places where poverty is rampant. With internet we have easier access to the statistics of those living in need. So, we know how big these numbers really are. In the last five years in Calgary we have seen more and more people accessing services like the Food Bank, Mustard Seed, Inn from the Cold. Local churches including our church have seen an increase in people reaching out for help.
Our compassionate side sees this need and wants to fix it. We want to help everyone so no one is in need. What we find is we often get discouraged, because we feel that we don’t have enough money or time to help everyone. We feel guilty that we can’t do more. We sometimes end up turning the channel or looking the other way when we walk by, or hope that someone with enough resources steps in and helps. It can be very difficult for us to believe that even with what we can contribute that somehow God will use our contributions to meet the needs of the people we intend to help. Or that God will give us enough to meet the needs of others. Or that God will take care of our needs when we choose to be a little more generous to help meet the needs of someone else.
In North American culture we often make financial and volunteer decisions based on a scarcity model. Do I have enough put away for retirement? Have I saved up enough for my children’s education? Do I have enough in my life savings account? Do I make enough to pay the bills? Will I have enough money left over if I give this much to help someone else in need? Do I have enough energy to help out? Do I have enough time left in the day to volunteer for this ministry? We are often bombarded with these types of questions that keep us making decisions from a place of thinking do we have enough? Instead of from a place of thinking God has given us more then enough.
A widow comes to Elisha for help. Her creditors are coming to take her children away. The widow needs to pay off her debt in order to keep her children. Elisha asks her how much olive oil she has. The widow only has a small jar left on her table. Now Elisha could say, “Oh that isn’t enough for me to do anything. Good luck!” Instead, Elisha invites her to have a little faith and go and collect as many empty jars as possible. She does, and then finds that she is able to fill all these jars with oil from this small jar. She then sells these to pay off her debts and to cover her future bills.
The widow could have easily been discouraged at her situation. Elisha could have thought he didn’t have the means to help her. But he did. Elisha believed that God would provide and God did for the widow. More then enough.
For Peter and John, they come across person after person who is in need of money, and yet, Peter and John have little money at that. They gave up their professions to follow Jesus. I’m sure at times they felt like they didn’t have enough to help. Now, when another lame beggar asks them for money, Peter responds in faith. Peter believes that Jesus has given him something to help this person. “I have no silver or gold, but what I do have I offer to you.” Peter offers healing. The beggar gets up and walks. People around are amazed.
In our gospel, a gentile woman is desperate. Her daughter is struggling profoundly, and so, reaches out to Jesus. At first, Jesus is less then receptive. In fact, he outright rejects her when he says his love is for the lost people of Israel. What comes next is a faith Jesus has rarely seen on his journey. After Jesus says it is not fair to give the people’s food to the dogs. She says, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table”. This woman believes that even with little Jesus can do great things in her life. In that moment her daughter is healed.
With the crumbs that fall from our tables, God can do amazing things. Our faith teaches us to believe that with God anything is possible. That whatever we bring to the table will be enough and more to help those in need. To think not out of scarcity, but out of hope in God’s promises.
In the church we are invited to offer both our financial gifts and our spiritual gifts for the ministries of the church. Every year we are invited to give a little more to help support these ministries. When we come together and each give another jar we see how these jars become filled with God’s love giving life to the people we minister to.
We are the body of Christ, invited to be Christ’s hands and feet in a needy world. In order for our ministries to do well we need financial and volunteer support. But, we also, need faith. We are invited to trust God that when we give generously God will meet the needs of others while still meeting our needs. We believe that by giving our money and our time to the ministries we support we will do amazing things in our world to reflect God’s gracious love even when it seems to us like we are not doing enough.
Let us pray, loving God, we give thanks for all that you give us. When we feel like we don’t have enough reassure us of your loving promise. Help us see all that you can do with what we have to meet our neighbors needs, and also, to meet our own needs. Amen.
© copyright, 2020, Wallace Bornhuse. All rights reserved.