One of my favorite tv shows is The Big Bang Theory. It is a comedy with the basic premise of four incredibly intelligent, scientist guys (nerds if you will), and their interactions with Penny, a beautiful young lady who moves in across the hall. Sheldon is one of the characters in the show, and although he is a genius when it comes to theoretical physics, when it comes to basic social interactions he is basically lost. He approaches everything very scientifically, so with the help of the people around him, he has formed a basic set of understandings for social expectations and social norms, which he follows to the letter – all very scientific.
One day, a bit before Christmas, Penny stops by with a few Christmas presents for her neighbors, including Sheldon. This sends Sheldon into a frenzied panic, and he’s pretty upset. He’s upset because it is his understanding that if he gets a present from Penny, he must reciprocate and find a present of equal value for her as well. Penny assures him that he doesn’t have to get her anything, and when Sheldon disagrees in a very strong manner, Penny says she’s just take the present back. Sheldon, of course, claims it’s far to late for that – it’s already out there!
So off he heads to the mall – he and his friends are in a Bath and Body type store and Sheldon is having a really tough time trying to figure out which gift basket to get Penny, because he has no idea of the value of the gift he is receiving. So he creates a plan. He buys about a dozen of the different sized gift baskets. Then when he opens Penny’s present, he will fake that he is a bit sick, go back to his room, look up the gift online to find out it’s value, and then give Penny the appropriate gift basket. He is incredibly proud of this plan and is sure it will work.
So the day of present opening comes. Sheldon opens his gift from Penny and sees a napkin from the restaurant where she works as a waitress. He looks at her, quite bewildered – “it’s a napkin.” “Turn it over”, Penny insists. Sheldon flips over the napkin, and is so amazed he must sit down – it is an autograph from Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock on Star Trek and just happens to be one of Sheldon’s greatest heroes. When she apologizes that the napkin is dirty because Leonard Nimoy used, Sheldon goes berserk, he’s incredibly excited because he now possesses the DNA of Leonard Nimoy and the scientific possibilities are endless. This is a gift beyond what he could expect, with a value he could never have anticipated. All of the sudden, he says “I’ll be right back” – runs back to his room and brings out every single one of those gift baskets, and basically throws them at Penny. Penny exclaims “Sheldon, what did you do!” And he says, “I know, I’m sorry, I know it’s not enough!”
While this is a fictional and exaggerated story of a social norm – the basic is true. Most of us, when we exchange Christmas presents, do our best to get things for our family and friends that will be comparable to the value (monetary or sentimental) that they give to us. Now, think for a moment about the greatest gifts that God has given you….relationships in your life, health, happiness. As Christians, we believe that everything we have comes from God, is a gift from God. If we tried to return the gift – to respond with equal value – we would end up like Sheldon: “I know, I’m sorry, it’s not enough.” How could we possibly respond to God in way that fits with our social norm of equality in gifting. We are fortunate that God actions are not bound by any social norms. More often than not, Jesus teaches and preaches on things that are counter-cultural, forcing his audience at the time and his audience of us now to discern whether our social norms are in line with the will of God.
Today we heard from the Old Testament prophet Micah. Like the Israelites, we too wonder how we can respond to the amazing gifts that God has given us. We have been given creation, love, grace, mercy, compassion – this is a God who is benevolent and want to be in relationship with us. And so they, and we, ask – “With what shall we come before the Lord?” Everything we have comes from God, so how do we respond? The Israelites thought that maybe God would want more sacrifices and offerings. Sometimes we wonder if there is something we can give or offer or do in order to earn all that God has given us, or at the very least – to be more deserving of what God has given us. We get wrapped up in the notions of earning and possessing everything we have that it’s hard to imagine that these things that God has given us are free gifts.
Our response to God is not about equaling the value of God’s gifts, or looking better in the eyes of God, our response to God is how we care for the things we have been given. All we have comes from God – all that is created is God’s – not ours. And what does God want of us – but to be good stewards of these things – to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Our response to God is stewardship. Being a steward is being someone who cares for things that belong to another. Everything we do on this earth is an act of stewardship – and act of caring for the things that God created, that God sent to us, and that God loves dearly.
Do Justice. Love Kindness. Walk Humbly with God.
We do justice. Making justice a reality on this earth is tough business. There are plenty of injustices in this world – enough to be overwhelming. But there are small and large issues we can tackle. For example - as a congregation, it is just that the staff are paid a fair wage, that bills are paid on time, and that we maintain the property we have. That takes money, no doubt about it. So part of our stewardship is what we give to the church. But it takes other things as well – property can be maintained by volunteers who have the skills and the time to do so. Programs can be run by lay volunteers who have the skill and the time to do so. We do justice by sharing our time, by sharing our skills and gifts, and yes – by sharing our money. But it’s about much more than our individual stewardship choices. Stewardship and dowing justice is something we do as a community. We as a congregation give benevolence money to organizations in need and larger church bodies that provide us with vital support and resources. We as a congregation give our time, skill, and resources to people in the community by helping with Bread and Roses, the Food Pantry, opening our doors to AA meetings.
We also love kindness. Doing justice is a call of God – but so is the call to do these things for the right reasons. Our motivation comes from thankfulness for what God has given to us. Therefore, as we give our time, talent, and treasure – as we put in the work of being good stewards, we are joyful in our giving. Being able to participate in bringing justice to the world is a joyful thing, especially when it is done out of love for God and love for neighbors. The first steps may be difficult and it might not seem like a joyful thing at the outset. Re-arranging a budget it tough stuff, visiting a nursing home may make us uncomfortable at first, even learning about unjust things in the world can be saddening. Yet as we actively engage in these activities, we find that they bring us greater joy than we could have imagined. I think about a sink full of dishes after dinner. In my own house I would probably ignore them for a while, and then begrudgingly take care of it – definitely not my favorite thing to do. Yet, if I was at someone else’s house, I would probably do them right away, willingly, with a joyful spirit. I think many of us find more joy in doing possibly unpleasant tasks if they are for the sake of others. Comparably, if we remember that what we have all comes from God, how much more joy could we find in doing possibly difficult and challenging tasks of justice for the sake of God’s world.
And finally, we walk humbly with God. We don’t simply stand with God, we walk – we move forward. With God by our side, we can continue to challenge ourselves – to ask important questions – is there more that I can do, more that I can give, more that I can learn – how can I be a steward of all the things I have been given. And our communites can ask the same questions – What can WE – our family, our congregation, our co-workers, our town, our fellow Christians – what can WE do? Being a steward IS a challenge. It isn’t always simple. If all it took to do justice were to throw money at the world’s problems, it would be simple. But it takes money, it takes TIME, it takes Skilled people helping, it takes awareness. Being a steward – doing justice, loving kindness, and walking with God takes practice, takes refinement, and can always be pushed further.
Our response to God’s gifts is not like Sheldon’s desperate attempt to equal the value of Penny’s gift. We in no way could equal the gifts of God. Our response to God is simply to care for what God has created – to be good stewards of the earth, good stewards of our relationships, good stewards of what we have been given to be joyful givers and caregivers of the blessings showered upon us. Our response isn’t “I’m sorry, it’s not enough” – our response to God is a joyful offering for what has been entrusted to us. Our response is an offering of thanks and praise to a God who consistently delivers boundless compassion and infinite grace.
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