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First Baptist Church, Ashland
800 Thompson Street
Ashland, VA 23005
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E-mail: fbcashland@verizon.com

Sermon for Sunday, November 11, 2007

“Paying God What You Owe”
Matthew 26:6-15a

As much as I like to get mail, what I don’t like are those envelopes that have a little clear window on the front. They come with regularity. Of course, I am talking about bills, bills, bills. I keep thinking if I live long enough, I will be able to pay everybody off! And yet it does not happen. Virginia Power wants money every month. Discover likes to be paid. Car insurance is a regular offering and then there is that dear uncle of yours and mine that I must pay at least four times a year to stay out of jail. So it is the same old song, “I owe, I owe, it’s off to work I go!”

I read one time that in the Methodist Church, the prospective minister is asked a number of questions by the bishop. The questions have been passed down through the years from the father of the Methodist Church, John Wesley. One of the questions is “Are you in debt so as to embarrass you in your work?” one bishop reports that he has never heard a single one of the young ministers reply ‘yes’ which has led him to conclude that some of them were not embarrassed easily.

But let me share some good news with you this morning. I titled this sermon, “Paying God What You Owe.” The fact is that God is the One to whom you owe nothing. Now if you have come looking for some good news this morning that surely should be good news to some of you. You owe God nothing.

In writing to the Romans, the Apostle says, “I am under obligation both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish.” Paul would not have made it in the Methodist Church! Can you imagine his answer to the bishop? “Are you in debt enough to embarrass yourself?” “You betcha!” he would answer. I owe everybody from the richest to the poorest, from the wise to the foolish, from the good to the bad. I could not be out of debt if I wanted to; not if I lived to be a 150 years old could I pay back what I owe!”

But lest you become quick to judge, what Paul is saying is true of all of us. All of us are born owing so much that we could never repay it all and it continues all of our lives. When I bought my first car, a 1969 Pontiac Tempest, my father said to me after I signed the papers, “You’ll never be out of debt again.” He was right but what Paul was saying has nothing to do with whether you have all the money in the world or none at all.

Think of the people you are indebted to, people you could never begin to repay: parents, teachers, neighbors, friends, doctors, government leaders, ancestors, children, maybe even a minister. It is really impossible to reach the point of being self sufficient. We are always in debt.

There was a man in one of my former churches who would brag about being a self-made man. He blew long and hard. All that did was to relieve God of an embarrassing responsibility. None of us ever goes anywhere in life on our own. When a football player makes a long run, someone blocked for him. If you have made it anywhere in life, someone, somewhere, prepared the way.

Many years ago a wealthy student at Williams College was accused of defacing college property and was sent to see the president. He came arrogantly in and took out his checkbook and asked how much for the damages. This was too much for President Mark Hopkins, who told the boy to sit down. “No man,” said the president, “Can pay for what he receives here. Can you pay for the sacrifice of Colonel Williams who founded this school? Can you pay for the half-paid professors who have remained here to teach when they could have gone elsewhere for higher salaries?”

We are all in debt. There are so many to whom we owe so much.

Therefore it is good to know that there is at least One to whom we owe nothing and that is God. Does that sound funny, even strange for me to say and for you to hear? After all, we sing, “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.” Don’t we really owe God everything? No, we don’t owe Him a thing.

When we talk about stewardship, when we talk about tithing, when talk about making commitments, we are talking about giving to one to whom we own nothing.

Elections were held this past Tuesday. Some won, some lost. You can be assured that the winners will owe something to some one who helped attain the victory.

We do that with God also. If I give $500 a year and feel blessed, how much more will He bless me if I give $5000? Maybe I can influence God to love me a little bit more, watch over me if I give a little bit more. Can God’s love be bought? Some people think that it can. That is why some folks agree to work in the church, trying to work their way into heaven.

Can God’s love be bought? Nope. We don’t owe God anything.

God has no needs. He is the Fullness of all there is. His only desire is to add to our lives and the gifts that He gives to us come with no strings attached. That is how real love works--no strings attached. God loves and about the last thing on His mind is what He might receive in return. The Bible tells us that God gives and gives, and loves and loves. What He does He does freely and so it is true, we own Him nothing in return. In fact, it would lessen the act of love if we acted as if we owed Him something. That would take away the joy of the gift.

When you begin to realize that such is the way of God’s love, you start realizing how much you really want to give.

There is an old story by John Redhead about a boy named Bradley. Bradley was a bright, energetic, enterprising young boy who thought of a way to earn money. He came down to breakfast one morning and put on his mother’s plate a piece of paper neatly folded.

It said, “Mother owes Bradley – for running errands, 25 cents (it’s an old story), for being good, ten cents, for taking music lessons, 15 cents, for extras, five cents, total 55 cents.

Bradley’s mother smiled but did not say anything. When lunch time came, he found a bill on his plate, complete with fifty five cents. His eyes sparkled when he saw the money and he thought his business smarts had paid off. But along with the bill was another note that read: ‘Bradley owes Mom; for being good, 0; for nursing him through his flu, 0, for all his meals and a clean room, 0.

Bradley got the idea. He took the fifty five cents and placed it in his mother’s hand, “Take the money back, Mom and let me love you and do things for nothing.”

God says, “Here is My Son, My only Son, that I know will have to face the worst imaginable for all people…you owe Me nothing.

Here is forgiveness even when you seem to be laughing in My face. You owe Me ….nothing.

Here is acceptance, run away from Me as far as you can and I will still be waiting and willing to receive you home and will throw a party when you return. You owe Me….nothing.

Here is love, reject Me, stay angry with Me and the love is still unconditional…you owe Me….nothing.

In the passage from Matthew, we see two contrasting actions taking place. We see one who can’t seem to give enough. The ointment was an extravagant gift. In the accounts from Mark and John, the disciples point out that this perfume could have been sold for 300 denarii, which meant a whole year’s wages for a working person. Just to put it in perspective, when Jesus and his disciples were discussing how to feed the multitude, Philip’s answer was that 200 denarii would scarcely be enough to feed them. That perfume, therefore, cost as much as it would take to feed a crowd of 5000. It was a precious gift.

She took this precious, expensive gift and poured it on the head of Jesus. I wonder, do you think she did it because she thought she owed it to Jesus? Was there some law that required her to give that much? No, of course not. It was her way of saying “I love you” and perhaps it became to Jesus a time when he knew he was in the presence of one who loved Him.

That’s the kind of spirit we need when it comes to making commitments of life and gifts. When you receive a stewardship card in the mail and begin to think about your gift and what you “have” to do this year. Let it be more than a gift of obligation or a way that you think you can satisfy the Father, but rather let it be a gift of love. Take your card and say, “Thank you. I love you and for all that you have given, I want to give this back.”

There is another person in the scripture this morning. He becomes a tragic figure in faith history. He doesn’t lose himself in love; instead he calculates and chooses for himself instead of Christ.

Can you imagine, spending all that time with Jesus and all Judas can ask is, “What will you give me if I deliver him to you?” the church has always had two kind of folks--those who ask, ‘how much can I give and those who ask, “how much can I keep?”

You don’t owe God anything this week. You don’t ever God anything. The worst kind of giving is a gift that is done out of a sense of obligation or duty.

Don’t give a thing--keep it all. God will keep on loving you like there’s no one else in the world. But I don’t know about you – having known that, realizing He does love me that much, knowing that all my yesterdays and all my tomorrows are nothing without Him, I’m glad there is a way I can say, ‘Thank you, I love you.” even though I may not give a dime, that love is always there…all the way to the cross.

Prayer

Thank you for loving us without reservation, without apology without any concern for what you will get in return. Thank you for letting us off the hook and letting us know that we can keep it all and even then the kingdom of God is still within our reach. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and pocketbooks. To thine be the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

-- Robert Thompson
Pastor
First Baptist Church, Ashland

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