Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said… Mark 10:21
Dear Friends in Christ,
In my sermon last Sunday, I took note of how we sometimes try to figure out how to give God the minimum to get by. More than one person asked me after the service “What’s the maximum?”
I laughed, but it’s an interesting question to ponder. The more we give to God, the more richly we enjoy God’s blessings. But can one give too much? On the one hand, there are rare cases where someone overdoses on church, taking an unhealthy obsession with their place in ministry and neglecting other aspects of the Christian life. We are wise not to worship the church instead of worshipping God. The opposite temptation, of course, is more common. So, what would that healthy maximum look like—the maximum in relationship with God?
We can think of this in practical terms of time, talent and treasure. The tithe is a practice of giving away 10% of our income to honor God. But ultimately, God wants 100% from us. When the rich young man asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus started his response with the commandments. When the young man said he had kept these all his life, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."” What might this mean for us? For you? Notice that this answer came from Jesus’ deep love for this young man. The man’s possessions stood in the way of a full relationship with God, and Jesus wanted to set him free from his possessions—free to follow Jesus.
Some are indeed called to a life of complete service to God. Men and Women enter religious orders, taking vows of Poverty, Celibacy and Obedience. They give their lives to focus on prayer and ministry, and live as simply as possible for what Paul calls “unhindered devotion to the Lord.” My older son made such a choice, and I believe that the church (and the world) is blessed by their service and their witness. Money, sex, and power are not the necessities of life that our culture makes them out to be, and we are wise to challenge the easy slide into worshipping them.
But we still need farmers and doctors, salespeople and teachers, people to design bridges and others who build them, mothers and fathers who have resources to care for their children and leaders who have the courage to order our efforts for the common good. So, most of us don’t enter religious orders. Nonetheless, we can still give 100% of our lives to God with similar vows, engaging ownership and intimacy and leadership responsibility through the virtues of Stewardship, Chastity and Humility. In this way, we tend these gifts God has given us as precious blessings entrusted to us by God, seeing our lives through God’s eyes, living for God’s priorities and finding the true treasure of the life God gives us (and sharing it too!).
What is the maximum? The maximum is still your whole life, given to God each day where you are, constantly renewing your devotion to God, constantly asking how you can live more deeply into a life with God, loving as Jesus loves, empowered by the Holy Spirit to learn and grow and respond to the opportunities God gives you. Each of us, then, is called to his or her own ‘rule of life,’ one that often develops and deepens as we grow closer to God, but one that always seeks to place God first, and to conform our lives to God’s dream for us.
Engaging with God in the Christian life is like a feast. Let’s not settle for a bite of fast food when God invites us to something more wonderful. One step at a time, we can offer more and more of our lives to God and receive more and more of his blessing. What is one part of your life that you can offer more fully to God this week?
Yours in Christ,
-Tom
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