WHY IS JESUS HOMELESS?

In Malachi chapter 3, God told His people:

⁹     You are cursed with a curse,

     For you have robbed Me,

     Even this whole nation.

¹⁰     Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,

     That there may be food in My house,

     And try Me now in this,”

     Says the Lord of hosts,

     “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven

     And pour out for you such blessing

     That there will not be room enough to receive it.

Wait.  Wait. Before you rehearse the same clichéd and selfish response, read it again.  Only this time, listen to what God actually said. 

WHY did God say He wants the tithe?

That there may be food in My house

Food for whom?  For you? 

Dude, you ain’t hungry.

Food for whom?  For God?

God already said: 

Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?  Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High.  (Psalm 50: 13, 14)

So who’s the food in God’s house for? 

It’s for those people who don’t have food:  the needy.

This prosperity passage isn’t primarily about how to get money from God.  It’s about the church’s obligation to be a house of ministry and outreach to the least of these.  That’s the kind of house God wants.

Build the temple, build God a house, the Lord commanded in Haggai 1: 7-9.  But build Him a house in which He feels comfortable.     

Build God a house in which Jesus has what we all expect to find at home:  food, clothing, shelter, and company.

And how do we provide food, clothing, shelter, and company to God in His house?

Read Matthew chapter 25. 

^37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ^38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ^39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ^40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’  

The church is supposed to be a storehouse out of which God’s people help the needy and the lost.  The church--- a church is NOT supposed to be a showcase for our own aspirations to affluence.

We talk and sing about a Jesus who was not found with the rich and great in palaces or in the grandest temples.

But, we expend our energy and treasure building personal palaces and the grandest churches we can or cannot afford.

We lament how few people find Jesus when we preach and worship in those expensive places.

But we talk about and sing about how Jesus WAS FOUND with the poor and the sick, the lowly and the sinners, NOT among the rich and powerful and self-righteous.

So, maybe it would be easier to for them to find Jesus where we are if we built more homeless shelters instead of larger sanctuaries.

Maybe Jesus would be found in our fellowship halls if we used them to feed the hungry instead of ourselves.

Maybe the reason people can’t find Jesus in the churches we build is that we didn’t really erect them for God.  

We bought the places for us.

Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head because the houses we’ve built in His name are places where He doesn’t feel welcome.

The reason so many churches can’t cover their overhead is that we’ve built houses in Jesus' name but left Jesus outside and homeless, and God has gotten tired of paying for houses in which He doesn’t feel welcome.

And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Luke 9: 58)

So if we want God to

open for you the windows of heaven

And pour out for you such blessing

That there will not be room enough to receive it.

Then we should repurpose our buildings to make Jesus feel more comfortable in all of his homeless, hungry, needy, incarcerated, sick, and impoverished glory.

Then Jesus would come on in; and the lost would be able to find Him where we are.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church (5220 Myron Massey Boulevard) in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to  

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

I WANT IT BECAUSE I CAN’T AFFORD IT

NPR’s Market Place Money interviewed Darren Dahl, professor of Marketing and Behavioural Science at the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business.  Professor Dahl conducted a study of shopping behaviors that found something interesting. 

“Customers are more likely to buy luxury goods from rude, snooty, or aloof salespeople.”  

According to Professor Dahl, "Our research indicates they can end up having a similar effect to an 'in-group' in high school that others aspire to join."

The effect isn’t perfect.  It doesn’t work on non-luxury brands, and the effect diminishes with time and familiarity.  Still, the research offers an opportunity to examine ourselves and our this need to give our money to people who treat us like crap.

Of course, we could have been examining this question all ready if we’d been reading our Bibles.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote: They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them. (Galatians 4: 17, New King James Version)

In retail terms, that means: They aggressively advertise to you, but it’s an evil trick.  They plan to treat you like crap so you’ll spend more money.

They want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them.

Paul issued this warning to members of a church.

A church!

There is something in our human nature that, independent of times and place and nationalities, makes us susceptible to this, the oldest of tricks in the Book.

THEM: You’re ugly.  We don’t like you.

YOU: Wait.  I’ll starve myself and work out and cover my individuality in mass produced make-up and hair weave until I look like your clone.   Now, please let me be with you people who don’t even like me.

THEM: You’re not rich so you should die when you get sick and drink contaminate water if we feel like polluting. Ad though we get to collectively bargain as political action committees and industry lobbying organizations, you should not be able to combine into unions.

YOU: Of course.  You’re right.  That’s what America is all about.  Please, let me vote for you, and campaign for you, and contribute to your organization, even though your every action is against my own economic self-interest.”

THEM: You.  You don’t have a private jet like I do.  You don’t have Armani preaching robes or a Bentley with personalized plates or a fat diamond on ever other finger.  So, God doesn’t love you as much as He loves me and you can’t be a member of my church.
YOU: Oh, preacher-prophet-bishop-apostle-doctor-televangelist-cult leader, wait.  Let me swipe a credit card.  Let me take out a loan for your appreciation gift.  Here’s my W-2 and the password to my online checking account.  Just please, oh please let me sit in the members auditorium.

They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them.

An old, old trick.  But it still works.

But now that you know, you don’t have to fall for it anymore.

The Bible’s advice for avoiding the exclusion trick is very simple.  The next verse of Paul’s letter to the Galatians says be always zealous in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.  

 Zealous in a good thing

Basically that means: Instead of drooling over the stuff that disrespectful, demeaning, snobbish, hateful people offer; choose instead to want good things.

Not shiny things.

Not expensive things.

Not the things you’d never heard of until you heard that song.

Not the stuff marketed through exclusion.

Good things.

Things that allow you to do good----and it’s not good to compromise your integrity or your dignity just so you can have LESS money. (Cause you do realize that every luxury purchase is a net loss to your income?)

Want, really want good things---- things that allow you to do good.

Investing in your children’s college education is good.

Eliminating your family’s debt is good.

Having a good job and positioning yourself for a better career is good.

Don’t let THEM define your desires.  Define your own desires in terms of what is actually GOOD for you.

If you let evil people (who don’t even like you) continue to tell you what you’re supposed to want, then they will have you spending your money to impress people who treat you like crap.

And that’s NOT good.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for

education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

To listen to sermons and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can help support this ministry by clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to

Hall Memorial CME Church

541 Seibles Road

Montgomery, AL 36116

How Black Churches Go Bankrupt

From what I see, the average age of a Black church trustee is around 50 years old.  Average, not every. 

So, consider this:
When a board of trustees (with approval of the church and quarterly conference) take out a loan to buy/ build a new building, they typically get a 30 year mortgage.

The trustees sign for that loan and hold it "in trust" for their church.  But, the trustees are 50, and the loan is for 30 years.
Fifteen to twenty years into the loan, those trustees are retiring. They no longer tithe (assuming they do tithe) from their salaries.  Now they tithe from their retirement. 

At 15-20 years on, a church building begins to need new roof, new a/c units, and other major maintenance items.  Utility costs rise constantly and even basic maintenance becomes progressively more expensive.

So, at the very moment when building expenses are peaking, the people primarily responsible for the building are physically and fiscally least able to take care of it.

Now, they (the 65-70 year old trustees) need younger adults to take on the responsibility of the church.  But if those younger adults were not genuinely involved in the decision to buy the new space, and/ or if they have not been consistently validated and appreciated as leaders over the last 15-20 years then the younger adults may feel like "That's THEIR building." 


We have people make a 30 year purchase so they can have a this year building.  We bet our fiscal house that people are going to be dropping more money in the offering at 80 year olds than they were at 50.

We hand the next generation a debt they had no hand in creating, and we expect them to take it gladly, gratefully "cause it's for their church."  Fifteen-twenty years ago "their church" was a Sunday school classroom, and a few minutes at Easter and Christmas.  Other than that, they needed to know their place and let the 50 year olds decide what to do.

It was "our church" when it was new.  Now that it's old and expensive, and we're broke, suddenly it becomes "their church, too."

But the children from 15-20 years old aren't children anymore.  They don't want to sign their names onto a 10-15 year mortgage.  They don't want to be responsible for ya'll's church note.  They didn't vote to move to this new building.  As a matter of fact, nobody ever even asked for their opinion.

So the 65 year olds and 70 year olds who have been trustees for 15+ and 20+ years have to figure out how to get young money to cover old debt.

And that, in a nutshell, is how Black churches go bankrupt when "They used to have such a pretty and nice church."

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can read more on Pastor Graves's personal blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com  .

If this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry. Send a donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116

 

DON'T SETTLE

Sometimes the reason we don’t experience the best of God’s blessings is because we accept less.  The reason is----- well listen and you’ll understand.

The message is called Don’t Settle.

Listen well.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

---Anderson T. Graves

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is the pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church

Call/ fax: 334-288-0577
Email us at hallmemorialcme1@aol.com  
Friend Pastor Graves at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves
If you want to be a blessing to this ministry, contributions may be made by check or money order.

Mail all contributions to:

Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116