Malachi 3:10

¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

Matthew 6:25-34

Do Not Worry

²⁵"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
²⁸"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning!

I know that many of you have come here weary and heavy laden by so many things. Understandably so. I know that some of you have come here overwhelmed by grief and sorrow. I know that for some of you the situation in Iraq is heavy upon your heart. I know that some have come with burdens of health, and some have come with concern for loved ones.

And I want to begin today by simply blessing that, and by saying to you that God knows what you're going through, and He is honoring you, and He is blessing you, and He is anxious to help you. So let me begin by acknowledging all that you carry this day, and surround you with love and blessing and hope. I care. More importantly, God cares.

Now, having said that, my friends, I am going to issue you an invitation. I'm going to invite you to come away and rest awhile. Come away and relax. Does that make some of you nervous? If it does, simply say to the nervousness, I'll see you later. I'll pick you up later in the afternoon. I have an appointment with God.

And so, my friends, come away with me and look at the promises of God. I invite you to take deeply to heart the Scriptures that we're thinking about this morning. The Scripture from Malachi: "'Put me to the test,' says the Lord your God, 'and see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out upon you in abundance all kinds of good things.'" That's where the title of this morning's sermon comes from, the word of the Lord.

Oh, you who labor and are heavy laden, hear the word of the Lord: "My intention," says God, "is to pour in abundance upon you all kinds of good things." Jesus said, "You are worried. You are concerned. Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow." It's the word of the Lord. I invite you to join me and take that command of Jesus very seriously today. Come away with me, and consider the lilies of the field.

I'll tell you what I mean in a minute. First, one more Scripture to contemplate, my friends. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies -- whoever those enemies are. Thou anointest my head with the sweetest perfume. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Visions of abundance! Come away, my worried friends, and share the visions of abundance of the Lord.

The Lord has promised to shower us with all kinds of good things. But you know what? We'll never notice them, if we don't stop and pause and look at them. If there is in your mailbox a wonderful surprise of tremendous abundance, it doesn't do you any good unless you open the mailbox and take it out. That's what I'm inviting you to do this morning, to practice with me the art of abundance.

I'm basing the message this morning on a beautiful book that our wonderful secretary Jill gave to me at Christmas time. It's called The Art of Abundance by a lady by the name of Candy Paull. She shares some ideas in here about that. The premise is this: Abundance is not winning the lottery. Abundance is not necessarily a tremendous bonus or tripling of your investment. You know that. It's much more than that. Abundance is the sight and the sound and the fragrance of all the symbols that God gives us everyday of true abundance.

Now, before I go any further, does everybody have an index card and a pen? The index cards are yours to keep and hopefully to treasure. I ask your indulgence here; this isn't the usual kind of sermon.

Let me read a little from this book as the cards and pens are distributed. "The art of abundance is finding the blessing in what is right in front of you, seeing the hand of God already giving you what you need, moment by moment, sharing the abundant blessings God has given with others, and completing the circle of giving by praising the One who gave the gifts for us to enjoy.

"For example, abundance is not how much I own, but how much I appreciate. Abundance is a pink and lavender sunset sky. Earth is crammed with heaven and every common bush is afire with God, said Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

"Abundance is the look of wonder in a child's eyes. Abundance is wild flowers in a Mason jar. Abundance is stars on a clear night. Abundance is a beautiful Oriental rug. Abundance is a vase of flowers from the garden. Abundance is watching the seasons change outside your window. Abundance is having enough for today. Abundance is having a warm bed to fall into when you're tired."

Can I read you some of mine?

Abundance is my automatic garage light coming on when I pull safely into my driveway at night. Abundance is my caller ID which says I have a message from a loved one. Abundance is seeing Dylan's toys in my backyard. Abundance is having him point out the first daffodil of spring to me. Abundance is carrying bags of groceries into my house. Abundance is a thank you note. Abundance is a book that sparks ideas. Abundance is being able to read the book. Abundance is standing in my driveway and looking at the stars on a clear Montgomery night. Abundance is the touch and vibration of the keys of my piano underneath my fingers. Abundance is the sound of my godson singing outside my door as he runs into the house. Abundance is seeing a cross anywhere, and knowing I'm part of the mystery and the blessing it represents.

Friend, I invite you to think for a moment, to relax. Take your time, and think: what are the symbols of abundance for you? Oh, extraordinary Christian people, people of deeper insight than most because you know the Lord, what are the symbols of abundance in your life? The simple things, the things so easily overlooked - won't you take a moment and write them down?

At the top of your index card, won't you write the date? It may matter later on. "The thirtieth of March, 2003" - or whatever day you're reading this. Then write

"Abundance is:" And then, take a moment, won't you, to write the symbols that represent abundance for you. [VOH readers, I wish I could include here the beautiful piano music Pastor Tony played as background while the congregation pondered and wrote.-lls]

The card that you hold is your love letter from God. And now, my dear and flexible people, I'm going to ask another favor of you. I'm going to invite you to stand and go up to someone you may not know, form groups of two or three or four, and if you feel okay with it, share what's on your list with each other. If you want to remain silent and just listen, that's okay, too. It's good for us to share the blessings of God, the abundant love letters from the Lord that we have.

[Here, the congregational shared with each other as Pastor Tony played the piano.]

I can tell from the sounds in this room that this is a congregation that knows that it is blessed. I invite you to take these lists with you; hold them close to you. Add to them through the week, and be aware of them through the week. Be aware of visions of abundance all around you, because God wants to bless you now. Every time you see a daffodil or a crocus, be reminded, friends, of the lilies of the field that Jesus asked us to consider, because God loves you. I do, too. Have a wonderful week. Amen.