Giving is an Act of Faith

Scripture reading: Luke 17:5-10
Please note: This sermon is the first in a series of sermons on stewardship entitled "An Attitude of Gratitude." 

Sometimes the things Jesus says… kind of annoy me. I mean is he really telling us that we shouldn’t expect to be thanked when we do our jobs? Apparently.

I remember one time when I was working at Disney and a situation arose where I had to deal with an individual in a manner that was far outside the bounds of what my job description entailed. In fact, other people had been shuffling him around until it finally landed on my desk and rather than passing him on yet again, I opted to deal with it. So I dealt with the situation, and upon returning to my work area, the assistant to the President of Feature Animation pulled me aside and asked how I handled that situation. So I told her and she expressed her gratitude to me for dealing with this individual.

About that time, the President of Feature Animation walked by, and his assistant called out to him and re-told the story of how I handled this particular situation, ending with, “Isn’t she amazing?”

The President of Feature Animation paused, gave me a very tired look and went, “Does she get a paycheck from us? Then what’s the big deal?” And walked away.

Probably one of my more humbling moments.



Because let’s face it – we like to be told we’re doing a good job. We like to be told that when we go above and beyond, someone is taking note. We like it when our sacrifices are appreciated.

This is how our world operates. You do something, you expect something in return.

Yet, as annoyed as I may have been at that moment to hear the President tell me that – at the same time I realized – he was right. I worked for this company, therefore, no matter what my job description may or may not have been, anything I did that was in the best interests of the company so that I might continue working there and receiving that check – well, I was simply doing what I was supposed to be doing. I had – in essence – already received the reward and compensation for my work that I was supposed to. Wanting something extra – was unwarranted.

This is Jesus’ point as well. And while I’m not really happy to compare and contrast Jesus with my former employer, I get what he’s saying. When you’re part of something – no matter what your role – doing what is necessary – whether it’s in your job description or not – is simply what you do.

A friend of mine spent a week in the hospital one time as a kid. He wasn’t really a church-goer even though he grew up in the Bible-Belt. But during his stay, he received two visits. One was a visit from his aunt and uncle’s pastor. The other was from a youth group at his aunt and uncle’s church.

A few years later that person embraced his faith – and it was in part due to those visits. Because part of what he realized was, “that’s just what Christians do.”

They weren’t looking for a thanks, they weren’t looking for accolades for their act of kindness – it was simply what they do as part of their commitment to being servants of Christ.

That’s sometimes a hard thing for us to remember, however. We expect, for the most part, to be rewarded for our labors. For someone to say thank you – to show some gratitude for what we’re doing.

Public radio has figured this out – when they do their fund-raising drives, they give out gifts as an incentive for people to give them money – mugs, tote bags – whatever the marketing tool for the moment is. Yet – is not keeping public radio on the air the point of the giving in the first place? Not so that I might receive some little trinket of thanks?

This spills over into our understanding of giving as well. When we do something for someone, we expect something in return many times.

When it comes to being a Christian and giving – we are radically different from the rest of the world. We don’t give because we expect to receive a hearty “thanks” from the world in return.

Primarily this is because – we have already received our gift. Our gift goes far beyond any material item this world could give to us. We have been given forgiveness. We have been given eternal life. We have been given Christ hanging on a cross for our sake.

So we are not looking for thanks – but rather the ones giving thanks. Responding to something that was given to us freely – and not something that was expected or required from God.

Yet – we sometimes act like our giving is about receiving in return rather than an act of faith and gratitude. There are those who would say that the more money you give to God, the more blessed you will become. Unfortunately – most people’s understanding of being blessed means you receive something material in return.

That God will now bless you with a good job, a great family, nice home – that nothing bad will now befall you because you’ve given so much to God.

Yet as we discovered in the beatitudes that we read last week as our gospel reading – being blessed in God’s sight has nothing to do with material gain. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted…

God’s view of blessing isn’t quite the same as ours. Likewise, God’s view of giving is not quite the same as ours either.

What we receive from God is not something that is always tangible in the here and now. So it’s hard to give thanks for something we don’t see or hear.

Of course, our very existence in and of itself is a gift – but that’s a little too mundane for most of us. We want to know what God has done for us lately. Christ on the cross, eternal life… those things are all well and good, but since I don’t actually SEE those things right now – what good are they to me right now?

In fact –we, too, are like the disciples who cry out, “Increase our faith!” Maybe it isn’t material things we think we need – but more faith. More faith is obviously what is needed in our lives. If I just had more faith – things would work out. If I just had more faith – then things wouldn’t be so hard in life.

If I had more faith – my marriage wouldn’t be on the rocks. If I had more faith – I wouldn’t continue to struggle with the things in my life that I struggle with. If I had more faith, I’d be able to give to more charities and organizations and worry less about my personal finances.

The disciple’s cry is our cry – increase our faith, God. Increase our faith – and we might be able to do all those things you say we should do. Increase our faith so that we don’t stumble. Increase our faith so we might be better at giving – so we might not allow materialism to have the hold on us that it does.

Jesus’ disciples cried this because they had just been told that if they ever caused someone to stumble in their faith – woe to that person, that a millstone be put around his neck and drowned.

Fearful for the mistakes they might make, they cried out – “Increase our faith!” Increase our faith so that we don’t screw up. Don’t go down wrong paths. Give us more – so that we will always be 100% sure of everything that we do in life.

Jesus’ response – you have the faith you need. God has given you a mustard seed’s worth of faith, and that mustard seed’s worth of faith can uproot trees. In Matthew’s gospel, it can even move mountains.

Jesus therefore wants to know why the disciples ask for more of something that has already been given? Is not everything we do as Christians simply what we’re supposed to do as servants of Christ? As a response of thanksgiving for the amazing gift God has given us – a gift he was not required to give us? Is not the faith we have – faith enough to simply do what Christians are called to do?

It is not a matter of us needing “more” faith – but rather – needing more commitment to the faith we have. We have competing loyalties in this world. The demands of everyday life get in the way of our commitments to God and His mission in the world.

Giving isn’t so much, then, about showing the quantity of faith we have – but rather – the quality of faith we have. How much stock do we put in our faith? How committed are we to God?

Because the point of giving is not that God’s not looking for us to give back so we can show God how faithful we are – to prove to God that we have more faith than the next guy.

We give because it’s part of what we do as Christians who are committed to our faith in God’s mission in this world. We give so that others might receive the mustard seed of faith. We give so that God’s work in the world gets done. We give so that others might receive what we already have.

And it is a temptation sometimes – when we don’t feel as though our work is being appreciated. When we don’t feel as though we’re receiving back enough of what is surely due to us… it’s human nature – it’s the way the world works.

Yet Christians have always operated in ways that are contrary to how the world works. We give as an expression of faith – that we believe what we give does some good somewhere, even if we don’t necessarily see where.

We give in part as a sign of gratitude to God and what he has done for us on the cross. And while we give back to God because we ARE thankful, we have to remember that when we give out of gratitude it is never solely God who benefits from our giving - but those God loves who benefit as well.

Since we are Christians, we know that giving of ourselves, our time, our gifts, and yes, our money, to others in this world is an act of faith. Whether we are giving to the church, to our neighbor, to children overseas that we’ve never met… it’s what we do.

We do it because we know it’s what we do as servants of the one who says “love the Lord your God with all your heart mind and soul – and love your neighbor as yourself.”

We give as a result of that little mustard seed of faith we have within us. Faith in God’s promises that have been delivered to us, yet remain unseen.

When we give we declare our freedom from the hold materialism has over our lives. We declare our commitment to something greater, something more important and more significant than the "almighty" dollar.

By giving away without restriction, we declare our faith and confidence in God almighty, creator of all that is. Faith and confidence in what He has done for our sake.

When we give, we are declaring that the faith God has given us in his promises is enough. That the faith we have is enough for us to jump in head first into doing His work in the world – to give as we have already received.