Money and Your Heart

The Rev. Megan Collins

November 16, 2025

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We have to talk about money today.

This is so uncomfortable for me.

It's not because I can’t talk about money. I’m totally here for the conversations about investments or the budget or cash flow. This is not an “I don’t understand money, I’m just a girl” situation. I am the child of two computer programmers. I was raised on spreadsheets.

It’s not that I don’t like talking about real life things. I actually love talking about real life things. In fact, I’m actually truly horrible at small talk. I can talk about the weather (sure was cold this week) or food (have you tried the tamale stand at the farmer’s market? It’s great.) or sports . . . . .okay, I honestly don’t know anything about sports. 

But I would so much rather talk about real life stuff, life and death, your story, your struggle, the things that bring you joy, what it was like for you growing up. Small talk just isn’t as interesting. Some of you may have seen the Barbie movie? There is this scene where all the Barbies are dancing together, and it’s this great party, and the lead Barbie stops and says

“Do you guys ever think about dying?” The record scratches. The party comes to a complete stop.  Then she says “I don’t know why I just said that. I’m dying . . .  to dance!” That’s me, all the time.  I love talking about the real stuff, the hard stuff, the stuff that isn’t just light polite conversation. So you would think talking about money would be right in the pocket for me. 

But today isn’t just about money, it’s about asking you to give your money, to us. I’m terrible at asking people for money. 

This is why it’s a good thing we have such a talented group on the stewardship committee this year, because when it comes to asking you to give your money to the church, I’m the worst. My best stewardship pitch goes something like “Hey - if it’s not too much trouble, and if it’s a good time, and only if you have like extra money lying around, would you maybe like to give a little bit to the church? You know what? Nevermind. Clearly not a good time. In fact, let me give you some money. Here’s $5. Okay, bye!”

This is not our best pledge campaign approach, I know. Maybe I’m terrible at it because there have been times in my life where I haven’t had a lot of extra money. I’ve always had like enough, but not always extra. Things were tight when our kids were young. We would tell them that as a family we were “rich in love” because that was, frankly, all that we were rich in. We were fine, we had enough, but not a lot of extra cash in that season of our lives. 

I know that’s true for a lot of you right now. (Not for all of you. Some of you have more money than you know what to do with. And if you look in your pew, you’ll find a pledge card.) But it’s not easy for most of you. It’s expensive out there. Housing costs a fortune. Food prices are high. You have a list of monthly payments to make to insurance and for your car and your housing and to occasionally get a decent cup of coffee which is not, by the way, the reason young people can’t afford mortgages. Young adults could give up lattes forever and still not be able to make a downpayment. Maybe let them have that one little cup of coffee that gets them through the day?

It’s a lot. I get it. 

So it feels awful to get up and ask you to give money to the church when I know things are hard. But as much as I hate talking about giving money, Jesus wasn’t shy about it AT ALL.

And if Jesus talked about something, we do too. That’s kind of our whole deal, sharing what Jesus said. 

This then is my once a year, suck it up and talk about the things Jesus said about giving money sermon. (And if it’s your first Sunday here - hello, we’re glad you’re here, and apparently we’d like you to make a donation.)  But truly - we have to do this together today.

Not just because it’s consecration Sunday. But it is, so that’s fitting.  Consecration Sunday is the day once a year when we all commit what we will give to the church for the upcoming year. It’s important at a practical level of course, because it lets the church leaders make a budget. But it’s also this super important time in our walk of faith to commit our resources to God. We’ll talk more about consecration in a bit. But we also have to talk about it because Jesus talked about it, kind of a lot. And Jesus might be on to something with his teachings about giving. 

Even if it’s awkward to ask you to give some of the money you earn to the church, I know from these teachings that Jesus isn’t just after your hard earned dollars. Dave and I certainly aren’t either. We aren’t those pastors who are hoping for a private plane. (Unless you really want to give us a private plane). There is more to it than that.

Maybe, just maybe, giving is actually good for us.

Maybe, just maybe, Jesus knows what he is talking about here. 

If I’m honest, I know the difference giving makes in my life. Sometimes it feels hard. Somedays I’m extra grateful it’s an automatic check cut from the bank so I don’t have to think about it too much. But in the long haul, it’s good for us. I know there are quite a few of you out there this morning that give faithfully and know the difference giving makes in your life too. 

We’ll look at two different scriptures today, one from the gospel of Matthew and one from Luke. And as we read, we’ll look for how giving is really good for us, in a way that goes so far beyond making the church budget come together. Giving makes your life better. Really. 

Because Jesus knows this about us: Our heart follows our money. 

Jesus knew that long before Amazon was a thing. You want to know where your heart is? Check where your credit card statement says you’ve been. 

What’s on your credit card statement says a lot about your heart.

Or, in the words of Jesus, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Let’s read from Matthew 6:

“19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Jesus is warning us. if we’re not intentional, our heart will get dragged around by whatever we’re spending our money on. Money is neutral, but how we spend it, is not. How we spend tugs at us. It shapes us. It reveals what we’re afraid of and what we’re hoping for. Sometimes that’s okay, because it’s good and necessary spending. But often, our hearts can easily lose their way. 

Giving pulls us back. It keeps us honest. It reminds us that there are an awful lot of things we could chase that will never really satisfy what our heart is actually longing for. It’s this one thing we can do every week that pulls our heart back to God, even if we fight it along the way. That’s actually one unique thing about giving as a spiritual discipline. Some things we need to get our hearts right first and then do the spiritual work. Don’t serve in children’s ministry if you are having a day you don’t like children right now. But giving? You can give with a scowl. It’s not our best, but it can be done. God can still use it. We can be changed through the act of giving - we don’t have to change and then give. Jesus goes on to say:

24 “No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

This one really cuts right to it, doesn’t it? This would be another one that would stop a party. "Hey guys, did you know you can’t serve both God and wealth?” You are not getting invited to the next dinner with that one. But we know that’s true too, don’t we? It’s not that Jesus is anti-money entirely. He ate food. He wore clothes. The issue isn’t the money. This issue is our relationship to the money. 

Money isn’t the problem.

We are.

We realize pretty young that money can buy things that make us feel happy. That feeling of happiness, it feels great . . .  for a little while. Then a newer phone gets released, a more elite neighborhood opens up, our friend gets something new and we want to keep up. So we chase it. Again, you can have a phone, and a house, and a car, and friends. It’s the chase that’s the problem. 

Where your treasure is your heart will be also.

And when your heart is chasing the money, for the money’s sake, it becomes the master. Money is a fantastic tool, but it is a terrible master. Money as a master will whisper constantly to you thinks like:

“You don’t have enough”

“Your worth is based on your income”

“You aren’t safe unless you have more of this”

“You have to keep up” 

It will make you forget what actually matters most. The chase pulls your life inwards. It makes you smaller. You’ll get more anxious, more protective.  It’s isolating. But giving keeps us tethered to the one who can show you what really matters. Deep down, we know this. We know the money isn’t the point, that people are what matters.  But it is so easy to forget:

Look at Luke 12:

15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

The man spends his whole life chasing money, and he looks up at the end, and he is surrounded by barns full of it. But it turns out, that’s a lonely place to be. Giving anchors us to what matters, to who matters.  It resets our priorities, every time we write the check or click a give button. This reset impacts our relationships with the people we love, and the way we spend our time, and how we engage with the world, and yes, it impacts our faith.  Giving pulls us back, week after week, to God, to our families, to our neighbors, to the things that make this life worth it. 

Jesus makes a pretty compelling argument for giving. 

But why give to the church? There is a Biblical basis for that too, certainly.

But why this church? 

That one I’ll answer (and you know how much I hate asking for money. So you can trust that if I am saying this, you know I must really believe it). When you give to this church, you get to be a part of what is happening here, and there is something really important, happening here, right now. 

You, as a church, have decided to do some really bold and big things, and it matters. 

This is a place where people feel safe to be who they really are and love who they really love.  

Where everyone is treated as a child of God

Where youth known by name with a youth leader who goes to their sports games and band concerts. (You guys, she went to my kids’ middle school band concerts).

Where people are being invited in to come learn english. 

A place where generations can come together. 

Where older adults have a community and a place to serve, where their wisdom and experience is valued. 

Where we love Jesus so much and we are not giving up trying to make the world better.

We get to be a part of that, all of that, together, when we give. Some funds here at the church go to things that are exciting to talk about, like our giving to nonprofit partners to literally feed the hungry. Some funds go to things that feel less shiny, like paying our ridiculous electric bill. 

But it’s all a part of the mission. Keeping the lights on in a place we come together and know it’s not just you that sees how broken the world is, that you belong somewhere?

All of it matters.

When you give, everything that happens here, you are a part of it. 

You become a part of every baptism, every youth group event, every funeral that brings comfort, every child playing on that playground, every mission project. 

You can’t physically be in all of those places at once, but your donations are. 

And, frankly, we need them. 

I know to look around this building, it seems we have more than we need. But it’s tight.  The increases in costs you feel at home, we feel those here too.  Every dollar makes a difference right now. We are cutting every expense that we can. We know God will do what needs to be done, no matter what. God can do anything. But ministry sure comes together faster when we can focus on the mission instead of scrambling over the small things and literally duct taping things together to get through. 

So today is Consecration Sunday. In a minute, when we call for the offering, we are going to invite you to pledge. I would invite you to consider it, not just for the church’s sake, but for yours. 

Giving grounds you to what matters.

To God.

To people.

To real life stuff. 

It makes you a part of the big work God is doing.

So today, as we consecrate our pledges, we’re saying together:

God, we’re in.

We’re yours.

We get it.

Use us.