I brought in some Rwandan money to show you today.  I have a couple $5,000 Rwandan franc notes, a couple $2,000 Rwandan franc notes, and some coins.  $5,000 francs sounds like a lot of money, doesn’t it?  But it’s actually only about $4 US.  So not terribly valuable.  And frankly, these francs have no value to me at all here, because outside Rwanda, they are not accepted at stores.  They can buy me a few strange looks, but they won’t buy me any food or drink or clothing.  They are useless.

It amazes me that pieces of paper and metal can be powerful tools in my pocket one day—and absolutely powerless the next.  That’s why, at the airport in Brussels, they have a kiosk where you can donate your foreign currency to one of four charities.  Each charity had a placard with information, and a big clear bucket, so you could choose which charity to support with your leftover foreign currency.  It was fun looking at the various kinds of currency people had dropped in to support groups like Unicef and the Red Cross.  We stopped and put our leftover Rwandan money in the bins, because that way it will do some good.  If we take it home, it will do nothing.

It took about 19 hours to fly from Rwanda to Newark. The first flight from Kigali to Brussels was about 10 ½ hours, and then it was about 8 hours from Kigali to New Jersey.  Add to that the three hour layover in Brussels, and the two hours or so to drive home, plus all the time needed to go through security and passport control, it was a good 24 hours to get home.  24 hours of transition, and in a way it was a transition from one world to the next.  So much about Africa is different than here!  But, of course, so much is the same. I was talking with Sonya, the Rwandan social worker who oversees our Zoe Empowerment group.   She and her husband have two children, a boy and a girl, ages 7 and 9.  I remember when our kids were that age, and so I asked her, “Do your kids fight with each other a lot?”  She laughed and said, “More than I want them to!”  Isn’t that such a universal answer?  All moms everywhere want their kids to get along.  So much is the same.

But still, it was an adjustment, being there in Rwanda. And it was an adjustment coming home.  Some things—like loving family relationships—are valuable everywhere.  And other things—like Rwandan currency—are only valuable in their context.  And that got me to thinking about the big transition all of us are going to take some day in the future as we transition from this world to the next.  Some things—like loving family relationships—are valuable everywhere, on earth and in heaven.  But other things—like our money—are only valuable in their context.

Speaking of something that is valuable everywhere:  one of the most precious gifts we have ever received is the privilege of knowing God’s love for us.  Every once in a while I still get moved when I remember how amazing it is, that the God of the entire universe cares deeply for me.  Our first night in the hotel in Rwanda, Phil and I stood on the balcony and looked up at the stars.  None of the constellations looked familiar.  And yet, I felt so secure and loved by the God who knows not only all the stars, but also all of us!  There is so much to be awed by.

As we celebrate All Saints Day today, I am reminded of the great cloud of witnesses—another source of awe to me.  Some people say stars are simply holes in the sky where the light of our loved ones in heaven shines through for us.  While that isn’t scientifically accurate, there’s something to that spiritually for sure.  Every Christian who ever lived is bound together for a universal force that is not limited to the world we inhabit.  We are connected to people we can see, and those we cannot.  We are connected to our closest loved ones, and to people we have never met.  We are connected by the power of God’s love.  The great cloud of witnesses is at work, championing us in our faith, shining as examples of faithful, transmitting love and wisdom to us from above.  This is one of the most comforting thoughts in our Christian tradition!

We do not know who wrote the book of Hebrews, but whoever it was, this person gave us a true gift.  They have reminded us that we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses—people who have gone before us in the faith and have come to understand what really matters.  Loving relationships last forever and are valuable in this life and the next.

Money, on the other hand, only has value in certain situations.  As they say, you can’t take it with you!  That is why John Wesley encouraged Methodists to earn all we can, save all we can, and give all we can.  Money is one of the primary tools we have for blessing others.  One of the things Lima has taught me is how being generous and being prudent are not mutually exclusive.  Of course, we cannot give away what we don’t have.  But we are fools if we hang on to our wealth and neglect what really matters.  We are fools if we choose to be stingy and rigid—because that is not how God’s grace works.  If we want to be bathed in God’s grace, we must learn to be generous and cheerful givers.

One of the reasons our giving is important is because the world is so needy.  One of my mentors used to say, “If all your problems can be solved with money, they are not really problems.”  I have been thinking about that a lot this week.  No matter how much money you have, if you live in Gaza, you cannot get enough food or water for your family.  No matter how much money you have, if you live in the Middle East, no amount of money can replace your lost loved ones.  Money is one of the primary tools we have for blessing others.  But even money cannot solve every problem.  Some problems can only be solved by God, who as Paul wrote, “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power, that is at work within us.”  Again, another reason for awe.  Can you believe that God’s power is at work within even us?

But with this great power comes the great responsibility to do no harm, as well as to do good.  While we were in Rwanda, we went to a town to meet three new Zoe Empowers groups that were just forming.  Our travel partners from Western North Carolina had agreed to sponsor one of the three groups.  It was wonderful to see the people from North Carolina get to meet the members of their empowerment group so early in the process.  I like to think they were inspired by what they saw Lima Church doing.  The folks from North Carolina had been convinced by the second and third year Zoe participants that this is a program that leads to true transformation.

And transformation is the name of the game.  Are people measurably better off because they received help?  Or did they just get a temporary band aid and emerge more dependent than before?  This is the question the Rwandan government is focusing on and thinking critically about.

And I can see why.  Zoe does a great job of making videos and providing resources so we can get an accurate picture of what life is like for the members of our empowerment group.  But honestly, nothing prepared me for the poverty we saw.  Things we take for granted—like clean, running water—are luxuries there.  Even though we were staying in a nice hotel, there was not enough light in the room to read at night without a flashlight.  Even the hotel lobby was dimly lit.  Electricity is expensive!  And many people in rural areas have limited access to it.  The main roads are paved and well cared for, but the speed limit is never higher than 40 miles per hour because so many people walk along the side of the road.  Walking is the main form of transportation, followed by bikes, which are also used essentially as trucks.  We saw Zoe kids transporting a chicken coop on the back of a bike.  We even saw someone transporting a refrigerator on the back of a bike!  Life in Rwanda is very difficult, and hand-outs do not make a lasting difference.   But programs like Zoe lead to lasting change.  Zoe participants not only become self-sufficient, they become like stars in the sky, able to share their light with others.  They become generous givers themselves.  Having received God’s grace, they become able and willing to bless others.

Paul was in prison when he wrote his letter to the Ephesians, and even though that must have been a very difficult place to be, he seems to have been writing from a place of abundance, not scarcity.  I love his prayer for the early church:  I pray that out of his glorious riches, God may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have the power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

In other words, Paul prayed that we would be so filled with the invaluable grace of God, we would understand the value of everything else.  Just as Rwandan money has no value here, our money has no value in heaven.  But it can do a world of good here, if we will allow it to.  Thank you for your faithful giving to the work of the Lord through Lima United Methodist Church.  I hope you will return your pledge card to the church office this week, so your financial commitment can be prayed over and consecrated next Sunday.  Our finances are a tool to be used to build God’s kingdom.  Having received much, will you also share much?  Amen.

 

Benediction:

Brothers and sisters,

since we are surrounded

by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith,

let us rid our lives of every weight that slows us down,

especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.

And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us,

knowing that the grace of God,

the love of Jesus Christ,

and the presence of the Holy Spirit

go with us.