"With All You've Got" (Deuteronomy 6:1-9)

 *******When Jesus was asked, “What is the most important commandment?” He quoted one of the verses we just heard: 

The most important command is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” [Matthew 22:37]

This is part of the Shema, which is the central affirmation of Judaism. 

The word shema is Hebrew; it means to hear. 

“Hear, O Israel,” is how the Shema begins.

And that hearing implies doing. It implies obeying. 

One who hears the command takes it to heart and lives it.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

*********

The next verses then instruct Jews to “Recite [these words] to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Many ancient Jews took these instructions literally. They had little tube-shaped cases, called a mezuzah, in which they would place pieces of parchment, with these words on them. 

And to the doorpost in their homes they would attach a mezuzah. And some would even carry a mezuzah on them, wherever they went.

And some Jews still practice this today.

Once, I had a group of youth make their own mezuzah. We wrote out important bible verses—perhaps even the Shema—and placed them inside little film containers… you know, those black containers with grey lids that camera film came in. (Or maybe you don’t know. You don’t see as many film containers anymore since most of the pictures we take these days are digital.)

Anyway, it was a great way to learn about this ancient Jewish practice, and to remind ourselves of the importance of scripture—especially scripture as important as this. 

*******

The verses also instruct believers to teach these words to their children, to talk about them when they are at home and when they are away from home. In this way, the teachings of God would be passed down from one generation to the next. 

I suspect that Jesus was taught these words at a very young age by Joseph and Mary. Perhaps Joseph, as he did his carpentry work, making doors and doorposts, would recite them, almost as a chant… and Jesus would hear. 

And these words became so ingrained in Jesus that he associated them with the woodworking his father did.

And when someone asked him what was the most important command, Jesus immediately pictured Joseph at work, making a door…

And Jesus said that the most important command is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength… and to also love your neighbor as yourself.

Because you can’t love God if you don’t love your neighbor…

*******It even says as much in 1 John 4, which is kind of a commentary on what Jesus said about this most important command: “Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.”

To follow this command, to hear and obey the Shema, you must not only love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; you must love your brother, your sister, your neighbor as well.

And then Jesus, still picturing the doors his father made, said: “On these two hang all the teachings of the law and of the prophets.”

******So: picture a door, (like the one Joseph is working on in this image), with all the commands of God written on it. There are hundreds of commands in the Bible. 

And at the top and the bottom of the door are the two hinges.

One hinge is “love the Lord your God.”

The other hinge is “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Everything hangs on these two hinges. Everything hangs on these two most-important commands.

*******

Now, the way some people get so hung up on certain lesser commands—commands that they’ve misinterpreted, or twisted, or that just really aren’t that important… 

It’s like they are looking at a spot on the door itself, maybe a spot where the wood is a little darker, maybe where the grain swirls around a certain way…

Did you ever look at old pieces of wood with swirly grain, and stare at it awhile, until you start to see really scary faces? Sinister faces, staring at you? It’s not just me, right?

Anyway, some people will look at these spots on the wood, and point to it, and say: it is the most important thing in the world…

But, meanwhile, their hinges are loose, and the door is about to fall off!

They have neglected love of God and love of neighbor. And they have misinterpreted these other commands because they have not interpreted them through the love of God and neighbor on which everything hangs. 

*******

But thank God there are many who do pass these two most important commands down to their children, just as Joseph passed them down to Jesus, just as parents ever since the time of Moses have done.

And one generation after another, we have learned the importance of loving God, and loving our neighbor as ourselves. These two commands guide how we interpret and understand all the other commands.

And we have many to thank for this, for teaching us about God’s love for us, and our duty to love God and love our neighbor.

Who was it that taught you this? Was it your own parents? Or maybe a grandparent? Or some other family member?

Or maybe it was someone in church. A Sunday School teacher, perhaps.

I still remember sitting in my kindergarten Sunday school class, 50 years ago, all of us in a circle, on little wooden chairs… and Mrs. Campbell, Evelyn Campbell, our Sunday School teacher, teaching us the words to “Jesus Loves Me.”

Certainly, besides my own parents, church folks like her played an important role in me learning about God’s love for me, and my duty to love God and love those around me.

Today we read the names of 20 saints; members of this congregation who have passed away in the past year. 

I bet a lot of you learned about God’s love from one or more of them.

If any of those people whose names we read taught you about God’s love, or showed you God’s love, or helped you understand or experience God’s love, would you raise your hand? If any of those 20 people helped you know God’s love, please raise your hand…

And then there are those whose names we read last year, and the year before, and the year before that…

Thanks to them, we have known and experienced and learned about God’s love…

And we have learned to love God in return…

And love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

They have recited these commands, and put them in practice, and passed them on to us.

*****

Now, that task falls to us. To share God’s love. To show God’s love. To teach people about God’s love. 

…To teach people that we are to love God in return.

…And that the best way to show our love to God is by showing love to our neighbors.

This is an important thing to remember, as we continue with our stewardship campaign. We know how important it is that this message, this good news, this gospel, be passed down…

And so we commit ourselves—everything we’ve got—our heart, soul, mind, and strength—to carrying out the ministry which God has entrusted to us.

The world needs to know God’s love now more than ever. It’s up to us, to make sure the world gets that message.

All this is important to remember, also, as we approach Election Day. When we vote, we have a choice between different candidates, some of whom show great love to God and to neighbors; some of whom show little love to God and to neighbors; and some of whom claim to love God, but show little love to neighbors and thus cannot be said to really love God all that much.

I’ll leave it to you to sort out one from the other.

But I do hope that when you vote—if you haven’t voted already—that you remember this command that, hopefully, is written on your heart: that you are called to love God, and to love your neighbor as yourself.

Which means you need to consider what’s best for your neighbor when you vote, and not just what’s best for you.

And who is your neighbor?

Well, someone once asked Jesus that very question, didn’t they? 

And Jesus told a story about a Samaritan…

Now, the Samaritans got blamed for everything. It was all their fault. Everything bad—they were blamed for. 

They were slandered, maligned, and vilified. They were ridiculed and mocked. The politicians and religious leaders spoke quite disparagingly of them, and often.

Think of what people today are slandered, maligned, vilified, ridiculed, mocked, and spoken of disparagingly by those in power—according to Jesus, they are the neighbors we are especially commanded to love.

Which means they are the ones we need to remember when we cast our vote.

Because the command to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength… and to love your neighbor as yourself… isn’t something we do only at certain times.

It’s a command we are to live, in every time, in every moment, of our lives.

When we vote.

When we consider the use of our resources.

When we ponder how much we should pledge to the ministry we share.

When we go in and go out, when we rise up in the morning and go to bed at night.

We are to recite these words, and think on them, as we work, as we play, as we interact with others, every moment, of every day of our lives.

Heavenly Treasure (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21)

 It was a spring evening in 2017, nine years ago. I had just parked my car about a half mile from Disneyland (because I was too cheap to pay to park in the parking lot), and was walking to the park for a special event that I somehow got tickets to.

My cellphone rang. It was my associate regional minister. I answered it.

He said: “Hey, we’re planning a summer trip for youth to go to Hawaii, learn about the culture, and take part in service projects. We’ve got some great young adults going as chaperones… but, we need someone (like you) with a little more experience to go and oversee things. Most of the planning has already been done, we just need you to go and be present, if you are willing.”

Heck ya!

A few months later, I was in Hawaii, a place I had only dreamed about. And along with the youth and young adults on that trip, I learned so many things about Hawaiian history and culture that I never knew before.

***** One of the places we visited was Iolani Palace, a place that made such an impression on me that I made sure to take my own family there when we visited a few years later.

King Kalākaua, also known as the “merrie monarch,” built Iolani Palace in 1882. It was the home of Hawaii's last reigning monarchs and served as the official royal residence and the center of the Kingdom’s political and social life until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893.

After that, it was taken over by occupying forces from the United States. Queen Liliʻuokalani—King Kalākaua’s sister and the last Hawaiian monarch—ended up imprisoned in one of the rooms of the palace for eight months.

In 1962, Iolani Palace was designated a National Historic Landmark. It was restored, and today is the only official royal residence in the United States.

***** What I didn’t know about Iolani Palace until just recently is the role Abigail Kawāna.nakoa played in preserving and maintaining the palace.

Because the palace contains many important artifacts, the air conditioning needs to run 24 hours a day, and costs about $15,000 a month. Abigail Kawānanakoa paid this bill, quietly and secretly for many years. 

Hawaiians call her the last princess. Her grandfather was Prince David Kawānanakoa. She also had a great-grandfather named James Campbell, whose sugar fortune was one of the largest estates in Hawaii. This meant that Abigail Kawānanakoa inherited the bloodline of a kingdom and the money of the plantation era that replaced it.

In addition to paying the palace’s electric bill, she also funded scholarships, paid medical bills, and helped cover funeral costs. All in secret.

Eventually, though, the secret got out. After she died in 2022 at the age of 96, 

Abigail Kawānanakoa was carried into the Throne Room of Iolani Palace in a casket carved from a single 165 year-old koa tree. More than 1,600 people waited hours in line to walk past her. No royal had lain in state there in over a century. And her wife Veronica stood beside the casket for all six hours.

Abigail Kawānanakoa never got to rule anything, since the monarchy ended 33 years before she was born. Yet she spent 96 years taking care of its people. Quietly. Secretly. 

We have a lot of people in our church like Abigail Kawānanakoa. People who do so much, and who give so much, with no expectation of reward or acknowledgment. I sometimes feel that a big part of my job as pastor is (or should be) expressing gratitude to those who give so much to make our ministry happen. 

But that would be impossible. 

One, it would be impossible to express all the gratitude that is due, and two, I don’t even know who gives what, because most of what is given, at least in terms of monetary gifts, is given in secret.

**** And one reason that we give in secret is because of what our scripture today teaches.

“Whenever you give, do not sound a trumpet before you… but when you give, give in secret.”

…Giving was assumed. Jesus doesn’t say “IF you give.” He says “when you give.” A faithful person gives. 

I’m struck by the fact that Jesus said this, even though he had his own disagreements with the temple authorities. Heck, some of those who taught in the temple wanted Jesus arrested! 

But the temple is more than just those in charge. The temple is more than those who exercise their authority or power.

At First Christian Church, power and authority are shared. I’m thankful for that. I’m thankful that this church is more than those who lead it: its pastors (past and present), its elders and board members. 

Because none of us is God. None of us is infallible. And I know I’m not going to get things right every time. I try, but it’s just not going to happen.

So thank God that this church is bigger than any one person. 

And thank God that, no matter how good or bad the sermon is, we still get invited—every single one of us—to gather at the Lord’s table, to commune with God, through Jesus Christ—and receive again the love and the life that is pure goodness and grace.

That’s why we give to the church.

And when you give (Jesus says), give in secret.

That may be a challenge for some. We’re not used to being asked to give in secret.

At the very least, we expect a free tote bag in exchange for our pledge! Am I right?

And maybe get our name listed in the annual report, along with all the other donors… with those who gave the largest gifts listed first, in an easy-to-read size font, and those who gave smaller amounts still listed, but in smaller print…

But we don’t do that. No one knows how much you give, not even me; only our financial secretary knows, so that you can receive a statement that you can include when you file your taxes.

We do, however, know some general demographic data.

***** We know that, generally speaking, most of those who pledge to the church are older. The older you are, the more likely you are to pledge.

Currently, we have no pledges at all from anyone under the age of 40. That doesn’t mean people under 40 don’t give; but it does mean that they haven’t made a commitment to give that they plan to honor throughout the year.

Perhaps some of the blame for that can be placed upon me and the other leaders of the congregation.

We don’t like to talk about money. We don’t like to ask for money. And so we do very little in the way of educating people about money.

And yet, in one way or another, Jesus talks more about money than anything else except the kingdom of heaven.

The two are, in fact, related. Jesus often talks about money, and the kingdom of heaven, in one breath.

It’s NOT because you can buy your way into heaven. 

But what you spend your money on does speak to what you value in your heart. 

So if you say your heart is set on God and on the kingdom of heaven, yet you spend your money on things that are not aligned with God’s kingdom, then there’s a discrepancy there. Your actions aren’t matching what you say you value. Which means you lack integrity. Which means your life is split; broken; fragmented. 

And you’re left feeling less than whole.

***** If we had kept reading in the 6th chapter of Matthew, we would have come upon Jesus teaching his disciples to pray; and that prayer he taught them, which we pray every Sunday, talks about debts and debtors, and about the kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven… [6.9-12]

***** And further still in this chapter, we then come to Jesus’ instruction that we seek first the kingdom of God—and all these things (all the things we need on this earth to survive, to thrive, to prosper) will be given to us as well. [6:33]

***** And in the middle of it all, still in Matthew chapter 6, Jesus says: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” [6:19-21]

Let your life be in alignment with your heart.

***** So yes, we are asking you to make a pledge for 2027. 

And we are inviting you to give in secret. To pledge in secret. That way, it is a decision of your heart, motivated not by any thought of earthly reward, but by the things you value most.

That way, your soul can feel the integrity of your life, and you can experience wholeness in your being. 

The fragmentation and brokenness we feel when our heart values one thing but our lifestyles don’t match… will be overcome.

Do you value love? Joy? Peace? Kindness? Goodness? These fruits of the Spirit are what we hope the Spirit will work in us and through us, for our sake and the sake of our neighbors near and far.

Do you value justice? Hope? Freedom and liberation? Do you value the right of every person to know that God loves and affirms them, just as God created them? 

Do you value the good news of Jesus, the news that brings life to those who have only had life sucked out of them by this often cruel world?

These are the things this church stands for. And if these are the things you value in your heart… then please make a pledge… because where your heart is, there your treasure will be as well.

And if you’ve never made a pledge to the church, then I especially encourage you to do so. 

Now, maybe you can’t afford to give much, and that’s why you’ve never pledged. Maybe you have a hard time affording necessities, like food, or gas.

But I bet you can pledge something. Five dollars a week? One dollar a week?

If ten people who have never pledged before give one dollar a week, that’s 52 dollars a year from each of them, or 520 dollars total from all ten of them. And yeah, that’s not much when compared to our church budget…

But being able to say that we have ten new pledges… among other things, it will let those who can afford to give more, and who do give more, know that they aren’t in this alone, that you join with them in supporting the ministry of this church, despite your limited finances. Even if you can’t give much, making a pledge is a sign that this is where your heart is.

We’re inviting you to give from the heart. Make a pledge that your heart will be proud of. Make a pledge that reflects the things you value in this world.

Make a pledge, so that the values you hold deep in your heart are reflected by how you live, and what you spend your money on.

Make a pledge not in order to receive the grace and goodness of God, but because you have already received the grace and goodness of God, and you want others to know that God’s grace and goodness is for them as well.

There are so many ways that we share God’s love, that we let people know that they are loved, that they are not alone, that no matter how difficult things are right now, that someone is there with them, beside them, walking with them on that journey.

We do that when we pray for one another, and when we stock our Helping Shelf, and when we run our youth program, and when we partner with other local organizations to bring wholeness in so many ways to our community and beyond.

Isn’t that something your heart wants to be a part of? 

Listen to your heart. Listen to what God is saying to you in this Stewardship season. And let your life reflect the things you hold most dear

From Rubble to Splendor (Haggai 2: 1-9)

 Today is a day of celebration. Can we take a day to celebrate what God is doing among us and through us? Would that be OK?

Because for the past several weeks, we’ve been talking about stewardship. We’ve been inviting everyone to make a pledge to support our ministry in the coming year; to do what you can, so that this ministry—which does so much good for so many people—can grow and spread Christ’s message of love to more and more people.

Many of you have already submitted your pledges—online, perhaps—and if not, you can still do so today. 

And no matter how big your pledge is—no matter how big or small your pledge is—we celebrate your participation in this ministry, in helping us be the church God is calling us to be. 

So we celebrate and give thanks for all the pledges, tithes, and offerings that make this ministry possible. 

You all are incredibly generous people. You give not only your money, as each of you are able, but also your time, your energy, your labor. 

And you spend time in prayer, lifting up our ministry to God. You lift up the different ways we reach out to our community. 

You pray for our neighbors, those we are called to love and to serve. And you lift up the leaders among us. 

I know many of you pray for me and my family, something I am deeply grateful for. 

Together, we are building a new church.

We are always building a new church. 

The church is like a stream. The water is always flowing. 

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said that you can’t step into the same river twice, because the river is always changing; the water flowing in the river today won’t be the same water flowing in the river tomorrow. 

In addition, you—the one stepping into the river is also always changing. You are not the same person today that you were yesterday; and you certainly aren’t the same person today that you were a year ago, or ten years ago.

Each of us is always learning, always growing, always becoming something new.

So the church is never the same. 

Quite a few generations have come and gone since this congregation was first founded in 1837. Every year, we say goodbye to some folks, and every year, we welcome others for the first time.

And I don’t think we’ve ever had two Sunday morning worship services with the exact same people present. 

We are always becoming a new church. We are always building a new church.

Building a new church isn’t always easy… as we heard in today’s scripture.

**** After 70 years in captivity, the Jewish people returned to their homeland, and found the temple in Jerusalem in ruins. 

They needed to build a new place of worship.

But the task was daunting. And for 18 years, nothing happened.

They were stuck. They had this dream of a newly-built temple… but they had no plan to make it happen.

Just like those ancient Jews, we, too, have a dream of what this church, this congregation, might yet become. It is a dream that we work to align with God’s dream for this world.

Do we have a plan to make this dream happen? Well, that’s something the board has been talking about, and something you’ll be hearing more about very soon.

For the ancient Jews, there was no plan, and no work was being done on the temple. 

Until God sent the prophet Haggai to the leaders of the people, to say to them: 

What’s going on? Look at the temple… what do you see? You see nothing! Because no work has been done! It’s been 18 years, and you haven’t even broken ground!

Now, it seemed that some of the oldtimers, who perhaps remembered what the former temple looked like, couldn’t get past their despair. They kept thinking back to the glory days, the good ol’ days, wishing that they could just go back in time.

And maybe some who were younger, who had heard stories of the former temple’s wonder, just didn’t think they had it in them to do the hard work of rebuilding and restoring the temple to its former glory.

So God basically says to the people: 

Look; 

(angels say “Behold!” Psalmists say “Ho!”) 

Look. Stop dwelling on the way things used to be. Stop dwelling on the glory of the past. It’s time to move on. It’s time to look to the future. And it’s time to rebuild this temple!

So eventually, they do break ground. And they start building the new temple.

But their resources are limited. They can only build what they can afford. They are limited by the amount of money they have. 

And it quickly becomes apparent that this new temple is not going to be as grand and glorious as the temple of the past.

And some of them are discouraged. 

And for many today who grew up in the church; many of us who perhaps remember what church was like 20 or 40 or 60 years ago… we may be feeling that same discouragement. That same disappointment. 

The church of today is not the same as the church of the past. 

Congregations are shrinking, and religion as a whole is less influential than it was a generation or two ago.

Yet - the prophet says - it is enough! What you have is enough. So take courage… take courage… take. courage… 

(Haggai says “take courage” three times;    did you notice that?)

Take courage and get to work! Put your blood, your sweat, your tears, and your sacrifices into the work at hand!

After all, God is with you here. 

Now. 

In the building of this temple. 

What could be more important than that?

After all, it’s not the stones, it’s not the bricks, it’s not the decorations, that make the temple. It is the presence of God. It is the presence of the divine.

“I am with you,” says the Lord of hosts. “My spirit abides among you. And my splendor and my glory will dwell in this temple, and it shall be even greater than the temple of the past.”

God is with us.

**** The other day, I asked Debbie in the church office for a listing of all the organizations and ministries we support financially. I knew the list was long, and I knew most of those organizations that we support, but the list was even longer than I expected.

I never claim to know all the various ways that ministry takes place through and because of all of you, but I do try. 

And maybe you saw my facebook post this week, listing some of those organizations that we partner with and support:

• West Bloomington Revitalization Project

• Regional Alternative School -

• INtegRIty Counseling

• YWCA McLean County

• Home Sweet Home Ministries

• Habitat for Humanity of McLean County 

• Not In Our Town: Bloomington-Normal

• Illinois Prairie Community Foundation

• The Salvation Army

• Bent and Sheridan schools

• OSF Peace Meal Kitchen

• City of Refuge Ministries

• Lifelong Access (they’re the ones working to renovate the building across the street)

• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

• The Wounded Warrior Project

• The Global Foundation for Peroxisomal [pair-ox-i-SOMal] Disorders

• The Great Plains Life Foundation

• NAACP scholarships

• The Baby Fold

In one way or another, we have supported or partnered with each of these organizations in this past year, working together for wholeness in our community and in our world.

In fact, one could say that there is a lot of rubble in our world, a lot of fragmentation in our world, a lot that isn’t right in our world…

Yet, we are part of a much larger movement, involving so many partners, so many connections, all working together for restoration and wholeness. We are taking all the rubble of this world, and building something glorious and full of splendor.

All that is only possible because of you…

And because of God’s presence, working among us.

So that is why I say today is a day of celebration. 

Because today is the day that we receive the pledges of support that will enable us to continue doing what we do for another year, and to perhaps even grow our ministry, spreading God’s love and joy and affirmation and hope, sharing these blessings with the world, and being blessed ourselves as we do so.