Hope Through A Lens

I’m a frequent listener of John Piper’s sermons through the Desiring God podcast, and this weekend I listened to one dated back to February 1, 2009 (yeah, I’m a little behind).  The title of the sermon is “What is the Recession For?”, which I was a little reluctant to start up; however, the sermon proved to be moving, spiritually enlightening, and encouraging.  Piper some reasons why God would “cause or permit” a recession in this prosperous country:

1. He intends for this recession to expose hidden sin and so bring us to repentance and cleansing.
2. He intends to wake us up to the constant and desperate condition of the developing world where there is always and only recession of the worst kind.
3. He intends to relocate the roots of our joy in his grace rather than in our goods, in his mercy rather than our money, in his worth rather than our wealth.
4. He intends to advance his saving mission in the world—the spread of the gospel and the growth of his church—precisely at a time when human resources are least able to support it. This is how he guards his glory.
5. He intends for the church to care for its hurting members and to grow in the gift of love.

The sermon was strangely and amazingly aligned to how CityTeam conducts itself as a NPO, especially in reasons two, four, five.  As I was listening to this sermon, I was encouraged that God has been guiding CityTeam and those involved in its ministry through this list.  The two points that stuck out to me were three and five.  Our faith must always be founded in God and the abundance of His, grace, mercy, and worth rather than the material and monetary blessings that He provides us.  I know that is overstated among the Christian community – and even non-Christian communities – yet we always get caught up in seeking comfort in how stable we are or must be financially!  When we give money to the church in tithes, when was the last time you put money in the basket despite the small paycheck?  When was the last time you gave to the church even in your own economic uncertainty?  And as you recall that last time you did give in that circumstance, did you give in pure joy in God?  It always bothers me when I budget myself for the next month, and I ask myself, “Will I still be okay this month if I still give a 10% tithe?”  What kind of question is that?  Where is my faith when I’m still questioning God in my giving?  There is no joy in that attitude, and I have to constanatly remind myself to give in my prosperity and give even more in my poverty.  Piper also made a deep and insightful point regarding the fifth reason – “You don’t have Christians in need while other Christians have plenty.”  Every member of the church must be cared for when they are in need, and the members who are not in need must step up in order to provide for those needs!  In light of the recession, Piper added, “God is going to test us: Are you a church, or are you a club?”

Yesterday, I visited a good friend of mine in Placerville, and she took me to the church she regularly attends up there.  It was an irregular service, however, because the youth group led the service and talked about their missions trip to Sacramento.  What is important to understand about this trip is that the original plan was to go to Mexico, but because of the recent news there, they decided to cancel that trip and made quick changes to set up visits to missions in Sacramento that helped poor single mothers and their children.  The testimonies from the children that were powerful to me were the ones that talked about how disappointed they were that they were not going to Mexico.  You could tell that their excitement to go to “just Sacramento” was next to none.  However, their attitudes quickly changed when they begane their ministry in this mission, playing with the kids and help cook and feed the women.  They began to establish relationships they probably could never have established in Mexico due to the language barrier, and they made a huge impact on these people’s lives because of their humble, joyous service.  God knew that they were needed in that place in Sacramento, and even though the youth did not want to go, they faithfully obeyed God’s directing and were heavily enriched with blessing because of it.  That really spoke to me, for you never know reason for God’s timing and plans until they come into fruition.

To end this, I would really encourage everyone to listen or watch to the sermon.  It’s 43 minutes long, and there is a segment in the latter half where he goes into the budget about a new expansion for the church.  If you can endure the length and the shameless plug (sarcasm emphasized), you will be deeply inspired and encouraged by God through these tough times in the U.S.