Why is it so hard?

     If there is one complaint that many have about the church, it is that they are always asking for money.  500 years ago at the time of the reformation, the church wasn't only asking for money, but demanding it in exchange for the promise of blessings and eternal salvation.  We've all heard stories of church leaders who go at the last hour and extract a generous gift of a wealthy person on their death bed.  We've heard stories of pastors who go to visit a friend or relative only to tell them they're not giving enough money to the church.  There are many congregations who stand up every Sunday and remind people that if they don't start giving more the doors will close.  After all this history, it is no wonder people in the church are kind of funny about money.
     That said, Jesus did talk about money more than any other subject, and in Sunday's reading from 2 Corinthians, Paul is celebrating the generous giving of the churches in Macedonia.  Now, one of the primary reasons that the church asks for money is that the church operates on donations.  Not only that, but the mission of the church takes resources, money being one of many.  It takes money to provide food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, clothes for the naked; to advocate for the poor and provide much needed education on a variety of topics; to teach people in formal settings like Sunday School and confirmation; to pay church staff - pastors, office administrators, musicians.  Now you add to this the fact that the church is not the only organization doing good work in the world.
     The American Cancer Society has Relay for Life to raise funds for research.  Food pantries, animal shelters, malaria campaigns, health kits, and not to mention the boy/girl scouts, schools, and 4-H fundraisers, all vie for a piece of our financial pie.  In fact, I will be going to 'jail' on July 24 to help raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and Camp Courageous in Monticello.  (My bail has been set at $1,500 if you would like to help get me out!)  The church has become a competitor in the world as one of many places for people to give their hard-earned money and other resources like time and talents.  The church, however, is for the most part in denial of this fact.  Pastors and church leaders believe that their members should give because it is the right thing to do, and don't take into consideration that the perception of many is that other organizations can actually do mission better than the church.  And so rather than give to an organization that doesn't always know what to do with its money, people give to those organizations they can see are making a difference.
     Now, that said, let us turn to 2 Corinthians.  Paul is using the churches in Macedonia as an example for the church in Corinth.  And while it's not included in the readings for Sunday, I believe it is helpful to read the first 6 verses of chapter 8, so we know where our reading picks up.  It is a little unclear why Paul even mentions this to the Corinthians, but one can easily surmise that the Corinthians have decreased their financial giving and Paul is trying to encourage them to give more.  In so doing, he gets to the heart of why we give in the first place:
"For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich."
We give because Christ first gave to us.  In his mercy and love, taking on humanity that we might take on divinity, we have been given the ultimate gift.  And so.  And so we give out of joy and thanksgiving.  Out of gratefulness and praise.  And sometimes, yes, out of guilt that we have so much and others have so little.  And sometimes, yes, we give a little grudgingly, complaining that the church is asking for money again.
     Now we at St. John are abundantly blessed, much like the church in Corinth, and I am happy to say that we, unlike the church in Corinth, are giving generously, faithfully, and abundantly for the work of mission together.  Generous because it is not just the amount that one gives, but the amount in proportion.  Someone who makes over 50K per year giving $50 per week is different than the person who makes 25K per year and gives $50 per week.  And we are a congregation FULL of generous givers.  Faithful because we are a community of believers who give regularly, who give a little extra if they missed, and who give out of the strong faith that God will actually use our gifts to do good work in the world.  Abundant because our capacity for ministry has so increased we are giving more away, doing more ministry, and making a bigger difference in our own community as a result.
     All of this, however, still points me to a great mystery.  We know why we give.  We believe that giving makes a difference.  We have faith that God uses our gifts to further God's mission in the world.  And yet, it is sometimes terribly difficult to part with that cash.  Or to part with that check.  So why, knowing what we do, having the faith we have, is it so hard?

To what do we point?

     This Sunday we celebrate John the Baptist Sunday, remembering the man who from his conception to death pointed to Christ.  In our gospels we mostly hear about a wild man of sorts, who wore leather, camel fur, and ate locusts.  He lived in the wilderness where people came to be baptized by him in the river.  His words were always pointing to "the one who comes after" him, Jesus.  It is from John we get the words for the "Lamb of God", the song sung during Holy Communion.  It is from John's life that many artists were inspired to paint, compose, and sculpt works of art, many of which have been compiled into John the Baptist (Renaissance Art) which you can view.  It is from John we have the example of how to humbly point to Christ while engaging in meaningful and important ministry.  Which is why we take a Sunday to celebrate his life and ministry.  As we come to the brightest day of the year, we remember Christ, the light of the world, born into our darkness, and how we, like John, are called to relentlessly point to him.
     Even on this Sunday to remember John the Baptist our gospel reading points 100% toward Christ.  It is the naming and song of praise from Zachariah, John's father, from Luke 1.  The reading isn't about John at all, but rather about the goodness of the Lord God.  A song sung by a father who has been mute for the duration of his wife's pregnancy because he didn't believe and who has suddenly been given the gift of speech does not give thanks for his son, for his voice, but gives thanks for the salvation God has given all people.  There is but one verse dedicated to John in his father's prophecy:
"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
   for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
   by the forgiveness of their sins."
It is a beautiful canticle, and we will hear on Sunday a song inspired by Zachariah's words.  In reading the words about John, however, I wonder how people hear them?  How do people hear that knowledge of salvation comes by the forgiveness of sins?  What does forgiveness of sins even mean?  Our world view has so drastically changed from the time of Zachariah and John.  In their world view, sin was the cause of everything.  If you were ill it was because you sinned.  If you lost your job it was because you sinned.  If someone you loved died it was either because they or you sinned.  If you prospered it was because you lived without sin.  If you got a raise it was because you lived as you were supposed to. 
     Our worldview has changed a bit since then.  We don't talk about sin and righteousness as the cause of everything that happens.  We have left much to science and rational thought so that talk about forgiveness of sins has come to mean less and less in our world today.  My question is, how then do we talk about salvation?  What language can we use to describe the wonderful gifts God has given us?  Forgiveness of sins is not something the average US citizen thinks they need.  What then?
     As we look to and remember John the Baptist, I think we are also called to rethink how the church continues to point to the light of Christ in an ever darkening world.  The church is becoming irrelevant to many and my suspicions are that is because we have failed to change our language, thinking, and way of being so that people care.  This is the ever important mystery for us as a church: how can we continue to point to Christ in ways that are relevant, timely, and true to our faith?

Is my confidence showing?

         This Sunday's reading from 2 Corinthians 5 is most widely known for the last verse, where we are reminded that if anyone is in Christ they are a new creation, the old has passed away and everything is new.  This is wonderful news for all of us who claim Christ in baptism - our own failings, brokenness, and shortcomings are made new in the waters of Christ's death and resurrection.  However, the thing that is most striking to me in this passage is not the end, but the beginning:
    
So we are always confident.

The thing that struck me as odd about this is that
a) it seems like a weird place to begin
b) what are we confident in? or about? or of?  There seems to be an important piece of the sentence missing. 
c) Always.  Always?  As in never not?  Ever so?  Always? 

Yet it is clear, simple, and concise as ever.  We are always confident.

     To understand this verse, I think it would be helpful to read backwards a bit first.  Our reading yesterday ended with 2 Corinthians 5.1, not included this week, but a good place to pick back up.  If we start there, we would have, "For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens...So we are always confident."
     Our confidence comes in the knowledge, or faith really, that God has a home for us, eternal in the heavens.  No matter what happens here, in our temporary tents, as Paul calls them, our eternal home is secure in Christ Jesus, in whom we are made new. That is the key, I think, to be so sure, so faith-filled, as to say "we are always confident."  We are a society of second-guessers.  Sports commentators make a career of it.  We question our every move - did we say that correctly?  Should we have reacted differently?  Did they understand what I meant?  Am I under-dressed?  Overdressed?  Should I have ordered the chicken instead of the pork?  Vegetarian? 
    If there is one thing I am always doing, it is second-guessing.  Except our reading for Sunday sheds the light of truth on the lies that Satan uses to cloud our judgment.  We are always confident.  In Christ there is no second guessing.  Clothed in his mercy and grace, we are who we are.  And that is enough.  It is sufficient.  It is good, even. 
    Indeed, if any is in Christ they are a new creation.  In Christ we are free from our own second guessing, given the Spirit so that we too may be faith-filled and say that we, too, are always confident.  The question then becomes, not, "am I good enough" but, "I am good enough so how do I persuade others?"  Think about the conversations you've had recently.  My bet is that in them you've reassured someone that their shirt is nice, their hair is in place, they said/did the right thing, or that they made the right decision.
     But we have been given a confidence that no matter what happens in this temporary tent, all is well.  We have been given the spirit of confidence, not to fall back to fear, but to stand strong in Christ.  Can others see this difference in us, children of God?  Heirs with Christ, joined to his death and resurrection, is our life a witness to our renewal?  It leaves me wondering,
Is my confidence showing?