November 17, 2024
• Rev. Mindie Moore
A Generous Life Week 3: “Getting Out of Our Own Way” Matthew 6:19-21 It’s our final week in our Stewardship Series, “A Generous Life”. And over the last few weeks, we’ve been exploring the foundations of generosity, looking at why it matters. And it all leads up to THIS Sunday, which we call Commitment Sunday here at St. Luke’s. It’s a day to make a pledge for the ministry year ahead, to support what God is doing here at St. Luke’s through our giving. So you’ll have a chance to do that at the end of the service, to make a pledge, to come forward and drop it in the basket, and get your St. Luke’s mug. But before we get there, we want to explore just a little bit more of the “why.” (SLIDE) Why do we live a generous life and what kind of legacy do we leave behind when we do? A couple of weeks ago, you MAY be aware that Taylor Swift was in Indianapolis. I know, for some of you, you’re like, “too soon!” I’m sorry that Ticketmaster is the worst. But Taylor Swift is starting to wind down The Eras Tour, which has been going on for like 18 months and has had an exceptional impact on each city it has stopped in. In fact, it’s had such an impact that it has its own term: “Swiftonomics”. And this refers to the reality, whether you
love or don’t so much love Taylor Swift, that her tour made an impact that will outlast the concerts themselves. Analysts estimated that The Eras tour would generate between 5-10 Billion dollars for the US Economy and the California Center for Jobs & the Economy estimated the tour would result in a $320 million increase to the Los Angeles County GDP. The Center also expected the tour would increase area employment in the California city by 3,300, and local earnings by $160 million. Beyond the US, there were reports of The Eras Tour revitalizing whole tourism industries, like the stop in Singapore. The point of telling you all of this isn’t necessarily to glorify Taylor Swift or the Eras Tour, but it’s to make the point that sometimes (SLIDE) we have the ability to leave a legacy beyond what we can imagine. The way that we spend out time, the way that we give our resources, even the littlest, seemingly most insignificant actions we take...it all matters. And it all can add up to something that goes beyond the here and now and builds a future. That’s what Jesus invites us to consider in this Scripture we read from Matthew today. To really pay attention to how we’re orienting our lives and managing our resources,
and the opportunity to be part of something that is going to outlast us. To pay attention to what it is that we truly value. You know, when I hear this word that’s used in this Scripture, “Treasure” maybe because I’m a child of the 90s, but my mind automatically goes to that scene in Aladdin, where he falls into the Cave of Wonders and he’s surrounded by all this treasure. It’s gold and expensive stuff as far as the eye can see! I don’t know that most of us are going to have THAT kind of experience with treasure. BUT! We ALL have things that we place high value on. We all have things that we want to protect. We all have things that, maybe on our most anxious or challenging days, we would hold on to just a little bit tighter than is actually beneficial to us or to our world. We all have some kind of relationship to our stuff that can, at some point, get in the way and make it a little tricky for us to trust and follow where God might be taking us. And so Jesus wants to talk about this, and he really wants to talk about this with people who are actively following him and trying to live a life that maybe looks a little distinct; that maybe looks a little bit different than a lot of the cultural norms that exist. And what I think is so interesting
about this particular teaching is that even though Jesus is talking to people living in a completely different type of economic system than we live in today in 2024 America, even though the context of what he's saying here is completely different than our world today, it's still such a relevant message to us. There's still so much that we need to learn from this teaching about not storing up our treasures in some kind of temporary way that's going to let us down, or that's going to fade away over time, or that we can lose with any inconvenient unfortunate life circumstance. But instead, we need to put our focus and our greatest treasure in things that don't go away. In things that are eternal and things that do let us live out God's Spirit in the world where we find ourselves. Even though this is a different time, and a different place, and a different context...that truth, that challenge, that invitation...it still matters to us today. Because sometimes we can get caught up in the pursuit of building what we want. We can get really focused on the here and now and lose sight of the bigger picture God wants to draw for us. And I don’t think for even a minute that Jesus would say to us, “don’t be wise with your finances. Don’t save for
retirement. Don’t be smart with your money.” But I DO think that Jesus would say—don't let these material things become your everything. Because while those things matter a lot, there might be things that God is inviting you to that can matter even more. I think at the heart of what Jesus is talking about here is to (SLIDE) have a bigger imagination of what we can do with our resources. Now, our resources can look a lot of different ways. You know, some of us have a lot. Whether it’s money, time, creativity, relationships that we can help leverage and help others. Whatever we have, no matter how much or how little, we need to remember that there's no limit to what it looks like to have a big imagination around the things that God has given us. And some of the most beautiful moments of our faith happen when we let ourselves be part of that imagination. When we say, God, I'm here, I invite you to use me. And I may or may not see what the results of my investment here are going to be. I may not see what's going to come of this time or resource that I put into whatever it is. I may
not even get credit for what happens. But God...I know you’re going to be at work. And that’s enough. At the end of the sermon today, we’re going to watch our Year In Review video. And it’s literally just that—it's a journey through 2024 to see what God has been doing at St. Luke’s. You might see your face in it! But I wonder, if we can zoom in just a little bit for a minute, and we think about our own lives, I wonder what it would look like if each of us had a year in review video. What would be the highlights? How did you make an impact? Who have been the people who you’ve been in relationship with? How has God shown up? Because here’s what I want you to know—whether you see your face in this video or not, you’re part of what God is doing here at St. Luke’s. (SLIDE) Your story is shaping our story. And wherever you are in your life, wherever you are in your faith, it’s not too early or too late to think about the difference you can make. It’s always the right time to think about where your treasure is and where your heart is and what it looks like to be part of what God is up to.
So let’s talk about where WE are, as St. Luke’s and St. Luke’s Midtown specifically. When I think about our campus, one of the things I am always struck by is the fact that because we are a multisite church, we are part of something bigger than just what we could do on our own. We get to share in perspectives and resources and a story that goes back decades, of being an inclusive church in our city. We get to take the foundation of what St. Luke’s has done on the North Side of the city AND what Broad Ripple UMC did in this space before us, and continue to build something new together on that. We’re getting to write new stories together, not only as a church community but even within the families who attend here. One of the most unique things about our community, and something that brings me a lot of joy, is the number of multigenerational families who worship together here. It is absolutely amazing to me, to see Grandparents, adult children, and little kids all from the same family worshiping together in this place. I also see families being created out of friend groups. I think about the band and the ways that the people who serve in this ministry, they don’t just lead worship, but they love and care about each other. They spend time together,
they pray for each other. They are creating a community that is about more than the music they create, but it’s about a space of belonging and care. I see community being created out of the ways that we give and invest in this campus. This will be our third year pledging as a Midtown Campus. In 2023, we pledged $178,166. I was blown away by that generosity, in our very first year together. This year, in 2024, our pledges grew to $266,793. By nearly $100,000! I look at that growth, and what it tells me is that we’re not just a community that receives something by being here, but we’re a community that is creating something. We’re giving. We see our unique role in building this church together. I’m so inspired by what I see when I look around here at Midtown and at St. Luke’s as a whole. So inspired, so full of gratitude. And as I pray about where we’re going in 2025, I’m praying for a few simple things. That: We are known by our neighbors We are creating more spaces for people to worship We are empowering people to use their gifts for ministry, big or small
So, I just want to encourage you today, to find where you fit in this place and this future that we are co-creating with God. Find your one thing and do that thing. Start small, start simply. But start somewhere. Stay a few minutes after the service and visit the Ministry Fair and just see what you discover. Be part of this story that we’re telling; a story that is bigger than us. I want to tell you one more story that inspired me, before we take a look at all that God has done at St. Luke’s this past year in our Year in Review Video. It was a conversation that I got to be part of several months ago, at Starting Point. If you don’t know, Starting Point is a short info session we do each month for folks who are new to St. Luke’s. At this particular session, Jenny and Brayden Lucas were there along with their two kids. And we were talking about St. Luke’s and all the different ways we can connect and grow together, pretty much your standard Starting Point conversation. And then Jenny shared something that I have held on to ever since. She said, “one of the things we love about this church is that we can see our kids and the relationships they are building, and we can imagine our kids growing up here, together with their friends.”
Here’s why that made such an impact on me—as the person who was trusted to START this new campus of St. Luke’s, so much of my vision and focus up until that point was to start the new thing. There was hustle and growth and invitation, and in my head, there were all these questions about how you nurture something brand new. And that’s all important...but it was missing something. It was missing the bigger picture. It was missing the long game. It was missing the vision of that where we are right now is only the START of what God can do through this faith community. And Jenny’s words reminded me that what we’re creating here, the hope, the vision, is that what we do here will outlast us. And that’s exciting. That inspires me. The stories we are creating right now are paving the way for future relationships and future impact that we don’t even know. You get to help build what we’re doing here. You get to partner with the work of the Holy Spirit to create a faith community that is safe and welcoming and nurtures the faith of tiny little babies all the way up to seniors. We are doing that. We’re doing it together. And we’re doing it alongside our God.
So let’s continue to celebrate what God is doing and take a look at our Year in Review together now. Play Video (3:30) Pledge Moment