It is "that" time of year again. No, I'm not talking about spring. I'm not even talking about Lent. I'm talking about stewardship. This is the time when we intentionally focus on our attitudes and practices around the theme of giving in particular and responsibility for all which we have been given in general. It is a time which some people really don't like. "All the Church ever does is talk about money!" Others tolerate it as a necessary evil. And some of us actually sort of enjoy it -- because it provides an opportunity to take seriously how we can respond in concrete ways to the abundant gift of God's grace among us. So, whichever camp you come from, you have now been forewarned that the next few minutes will be unapologetically devoted to the subject of Christian stewardship.

I really appreciate the theme which we are using this year. Grace-full giving -- grace-full living. I would call your attention to a minor spelling variation which accomplishes a not so minor job of highlighting the deep meaning of a word which we often take for granted. Please note that grace-full is spelled with two "l"s. The theme points to both giving and living which are full of God's grace.

After deciding that I would preach two sermons in this particular stewardship series, it at first seemed natural to divide the theme in half and preach one sermon on "grace-full giving" and the other on "grace-full living." I then tried to decide which half of the theme should come first and which should come second. At that point I realized it didn't matter. Each half of the formula both leads into the other and is dependent on the other. Starting with either half leads eventually to the other half. When our giving becomes a response to God through which we experience an awareness of God's presence in our lives, then our living is transformed by that awareness into an ongoing celebration of love and grace. When our living is enriched by an ongoing awareness of the abundance with which God showers us, then giving becomes a natural response by which we can participate in the festival of grace which defines our relationship with God. It works either way, and either way leads eventually to the common central focus, which is God and God's grace which fills both our lives and our giving.

Two weeks ago, I preached on the theme of repentance, in which I made the point that it is as much about what we turn towards as about what we turn away from. It is when we turn towards God and open ourselves to the transforming presence of God in our lives that we begin to discover meaning and purpose for our living. I would now suggest that the same is true when applied to our attitudes about stewardship. If we seek to take on the task of becoming responsible stewards through sheer willpower and determination, out of some sense of obligation or duty, then our giving quickly becomes hollow, devoid of any real meaning or purpose, a burden, and not very much fun. But, if such stewardship emerges out of an awareness of and appreciation for the rich, abundant and free gift of God's grace in our lives, then we are building on a solid foundation and we can approach it with a sense of joy and excitement. The focus shifts from "I have to give" to "I want to give." When we take seriously our attitudes and priorities about how we deal with all of the material resources at our disposal -- from money, to property, to the environment -- stewardship is transformed from an obligation to be avoided into a desire to be sought. Recognizing the reality that God is indeed at the center of our lives allows us to place God at the center of our giving, and that will make all the difference in the world.

Last week I had the opportunity to spend some time down in Phoenix. I had never been to Arizona before and I had a great time experiencing that part of the country for the first time. One of the things which I learned relates to the scripture which we heard from Isaiah this morning. Isaiah, in speaking on God's behalf, says, "I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." (Isaiah 43:19) What I discovered through my own recent experience in the desert might be summed up in a simple formula -- desert + water = abundance. In what at first glance appears to be very desolate country, there is a rich and diverse potential for life, just waiting for water to set it free. And in this year of El Nino, there has been an abundant supply of water, which has released an abundant variety of life in the desert -- from a dazzling array of wildflowers to cactus which are fat with their own stored water supply.

And so it is with what can at times seem like the desert of our lives. What we need to set free our own vast potential is to open ourselves again to the rain of God's grace-full presence. "I will make rivers in the desert." Sometimes we can become so pre-occupied with the dryness of our lives -- whether that takes the form of physical pain, emotional trauma, sadness, loneliness, boredom, or any of the other countless ways in which we experience life as less than whole -- that we begin to lose hope that it can ever be any different. Where our experience differs from the image of rivers in the desert is that we must be open to receive the refreshing rain of God in our lives. The desert plants must simply be there. In our case, the life-giving presence and grace of God are always abundantly present, but we do not always turn away from our pre-occupations long enough to benefit from it. The first step towards experiencing grace-full living is recognizing that we already have it.

The next step is to practice trusting God enough to actually risk enjoying the grace-full living which we have been given. And that is where our giving, and the story from Luke's Gospel, begin to come into play. It is worth noting that the story which Jesus tells about the rich farmer is not anti-wealth. It is really about whom we trust. By building larger and larger barns, where more and more wealth could be stored away, the farmer was really saying, "I am self-reliant! I don't need anyone else!" He was a fool, not because he was wealthy, but because by his attitude he had cut himself off from the one true source of abundant living. Planning ahead is appropriate and helpful, when done in the context of all of life. But equally appropriate and helpful is remembering to risk trusting in the gracious abundance of God. One of the great benefits of practicing the discipline of giving is that it reminds us that we can trust God to continue showering us with abundant life. Every month when I write my check to the church, I am aware of a variety of other things which I could be doing with that money. But, in addition to the opportunity which it provides me to say thank you to God for what I have already received, it is also an opportunity to remember that I will continue to enjoy a rich and abundant life, not because of having a little extra money each month but because God can be trusted.

Grace-full living -- Grace-full giving! It is the process of remembering to keep God at the center of both. In so doing we will discover both joy and fulfillment -- in both our living and our giving.

When I first realized that the end of our stewardship emphasis would correspond with Palm/Passion Sunday, I wondered where I would find the connecting point for these two themes. But the more I have reflected on it, the more I have come to realize that they do indeed have much in common. They both center around commitment, dedication and trust in God.

Last Sunday I talked about our theme, Grace-full Giving/Grace-full Living, as representing two sides of the same coin. It is about both giving and living which are full of God's grace. We experience such fullness when we remember to orient all of our living, including our giving, around the center point of God. We begin the process by recognizing that God is already an ever-present reality in both our lives and our world. Grace-full living is not a goal which we must strive for, it is a gift which we must accept. And then the process continues as we begin to risk trusting God and letting go of the tight grip of control which we try to maintain on our lives. Grace-full abundance comes more and more into focus when we stop trying to force it.

But, assuming that we actually do begin such a journey, and assuming we do start to experience a taste of the fullness of God's grace in our lives, and even assuming that we respond to such an experience with grace-full and joyful giving, the question still remains as to how we can sustain such efforts. We human beings are not always very good at follow through. We make New Year's resolutions which don't last out the month. We buy exercise equipment which sits unused in the garage or the attic. We start projects with the best of intentions and then quickly lose interest and motivation. How do we integrate an attitude of stewardship into the pattern of our living in such a way that it helps shape all of who we are and what we do? How do we transform such an attitude from a fad to a trend, from a whim to a habit? The answer, at least in part, is found in risking it all. We do not become faithful stewards just by talking about it. Stewardship does not become deeply ingrained into our being merely by remembering that God is in our lives. We must finally be willing to do something. Faith is a participatory activity. It only works when we get involved and the more involved we get, the better it works.

Look for a moment at the contrast between the crowds who gathered to greet Jesus on Palm Sunday and the one whom they were greeting. The crowd was very excited. They had heard that Jesus was coming to town and they were welcoming him with enthusiasm as local folk legend, conquering hero and possible messiah. It must have been an amazing experience. Please note that there is nothing in the story which indicates anything negative about the crowd, their actions or their motives. They were responding to the excitement of the moment in a very appropriate manner. Jesus even asserts that their actions were inevitable. "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out." (Luke 19:40) No, the problem was not in what they were doing, but rather in their lack of staying power. Where was that crowd, with all of their enthusiastic support, later in the week when Jesus was arrested, and tried, and executed? At the very least it appears that they were silent. And there are some scholars who think that some of the people who shouted "Hosanna" on Sunday were the same people who shouted "Crucify him!" on Friday. In either case, their enthusiastic welcome was short-lived and its impact in their lives seems to have been minimal.

Jesus, on the other hand, enters this same scene with a very different attitude. He brings with him a calm and steady approach. He can see the writing on the walls. He has a pretty good idea what he will be facing in the coming days. But he chooses to face it with the same confidence and faith with which he has faced the rest of his life. He doesn't falter when the way becomes hard and even dangerous, because he looks beyond the excitement of the moment to the grace-full living to which he knows God is both calling him and empowering him to live.

To be able to fully experience grace-full living and grace-full giving, we must be willing to go the distance. And that means being grounded in something beyond ourselves and beyond the enthusiasm of the moment. It requires trust and it requires risk. It means committing ourselves to a future of which we are not in control. It was easy for the folks on Palm Sunday to get caught up in the excitement. Stories and rumors were flying. There was a festive atmosphere which was contagious. The promise of a better tomorrow was intoxicating. But it was just as easy for them to fall away when the storm clouds began to form on the horizon, because they were neither committed nor invested in that particular path. There was no reason for them to risk facing the possibility of challenges, threats and danger, based solely on the excitement of a parade. For Jesus, he was able to keep going forward because he was not responding simply to a fleeting bit of excitement. He had a life time's worth of experience by which he knew that God could be trusted. His faith-informed vision of the future was strong enough that he believed in the path which he was following. And he had invested his whole life in following it. When everything you have is riding on the game, you don't walk away from the table.

So what does that say to us about stewardship? It says to me that if we base our efforts on the quick fix and the excitement of the moment, then we stand a good chance of finding those efforts in the back of a drawer or a corner of the attic. If you increase your giving because I made you feel guilty enough or convinced you that the budget was important enough or any of the countless other ways which might inspire you to write a bigger check, but it still wasn't rising up as passion out of your deepest center, then it may very well be fleeting. If everyone here accepted one of the many volunteer jobs in the church which are in need of being filled, but you did so reluctantly out of a sense of obligation or guilt, then what would really be the point? It is when we combine true and genuine excitement which springs from an experience of life being full of God's grace with a sense of commitment which rises out of real trust in God that stewardship begins to take on some staying power. Grace-full giving and grace-full living become lasting qualities when we risk being excited enough to look beyond the excitement of the moment. I challenge you to join me in stepping beyond obligation and guilt and instead becoming genuinely excited about following Christ into the abundance of grace-full giving and grace-full living. Are you willing to risk trusting God enough to become truly faithful stewards of all God's gifts?