Grace, mercy, and peace
to you in the name of the Triune God ☩
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
St. Luke’s is truly an amazing place. I’ve been in a lot
of churches, as I’m sure you have, and St. Luke’s is right up there in terms of
architectural beauty: the wood, the organ, the stained glass are all stunningly
beautiful. Our Prayer Book tradition gives
us intentional worship that roots us both in the historic faith and opens us to
the movements of the Holy Spirit in our modern world. As the spiritual writer
Henry Nouwen notes, a church’s greatest asset is always community, and we are
blessed to have an amazing community full of wonderful people. Truly, it is an
honor and privilege to serve a congregation that is so healthy, dedicated, vibrant,
and full of great people. St. Luke’s is also home to vibrant ministries – we have
strong programs for children and youth, an outstanding music program, we offer
Morning and Evening Prayer throughout the week, we have a group for seniors and
for young families. We are active in Meals on Wheels, at Rowan Helping
Ministries, and we are leading Salisbury in conversations about the racial
divide in this city through our work around Becoming the Beloved Community.
Indeed, St. Luke’s is a place to come and see the difference that Christ makes.
And to top it all off – we’re growing. I was recently
talking with some people who attend other churches in our community and they
were lamenting that their attendance is slipping. But that’s not the case here,
as we focus on abundant grace, beloved community, and intentional worship,
people are noticing. We’re adding new members. Current members are attending
more frequently. And we’re growing not only in number, but also in spiritual depth.
Every day, I pray for the growth of this parish, not at all for selfish
reasons, but because the Holy Spirit is moving through this congregation and I
want more and more people to come and see and experience the life-changing and
world-transforming love of God.
Indeed, we have received such a gift. The most important
gift is, as St. Paul puts it in 2 Timothy, that “God saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own
purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages
began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ
Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel.” We have been lovingly created, redeemed, and invited to
participate in this grace of God. This faith has come to us on down the line through
faithful generations past and we are stewards of this faith.
As St. Paul writes to Timothy, he mentions that the faith
first lived in Timothy’s grandmother, Lois, and mother, Eunice. One of the
things that I love about historic churches, such as ours, are the plaques that
are everywhere. Those names remind us that it was the faithful work of previous
generations that brought us to this moment. It reminds us that faith is always
received. Someone had to teach us the faith. Often, it is a mother or
grandmother, but sometimes it’s a father or an aunt, a campus minister or a
priest, a coworker or an author. Who is your Lois or Eunice? Who taught you the
faith? Say a prayer of thanksgiving for that person.
And while we have
received a great legacy of faith from these brothers and sisters in Christ who
lived in ages past, this legacy is also one that we will join. There will be a
day when St. Luke’s is filled with people that none of us have never seen, who
are yet to be born. And so while we look back into history with gratitude for
what has been received from God through those faithful generations past, we
also look to the future that the Holy Spirit is leading the Church into. We are
stewards not only of the past, but also of the future. These blessings that we
have received are not to be used up, but rather passed along.
As St. Paul counsels Timothy, he tells him “God did not
give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of
self-discipline.” When it comes to stewardship, that is really good
advice. When it comes to money, most of us are afraid. Do I have enough? Will I
have enough to retire when I want to? Once I’ve retired, will I have enough to
travel, enough to last my whole life, enough to pass down to my family? Will I ever
have enough to pay off these student loans or credit card debt? Will I have
enough to go to college? And if I give any of my money away, will that really
put me in danger of not having enough?
When it comes to money, there is no such thing as “enough.”
We all know that expenses always rise to meet income. And so our relationship
to money is often one of fear. As St. Paul put in another of his letters, “For
freedom Christ has set us free!” We think that we are in control of our money,
that’s why we invest it, we manage it, we budget it. But more often than not,
our money is actually in control of us because our relationship to money is one
of fear and scarcity. Christ did not die for us to be slaves to anything, money
included. If you want to know whether or not you control your money or your
money controls you, give it away. And not just a little bit. When that offering
plate goes by, it’s not like the tip jar at a coffee bar. It’s not for putting
in a token amount. It’s for putting enough in to make it clear that you don’t
need that money and that money isn’t going to control you. Now that takes practice
and it takes prayer, but generosity is a spiritual discipline, and the more we
practice it, the more our relationship with money will be transformed from one
of fear to one of gratitude.
Since it isn’t a spirit of cowardice that we have been
given, St. Paul says that it’s one of power, love, and self-disciple – all things
to bear in mind as we’re talking about stewardship and are preparing to make
our financial pledges for 2020. Power is about potentiality. In physics, power
is about the ability to act or influence movement. This is what stewardship
does – by giving generously and significantly, we can enable the further growth
of this parish. I can only imagine what amazing things God is going to continue
doing through this parish and I pray that when given those opportunities that
we will be able to respond.
Next in the list is the spirit of love. Love, at its
core, is always oriented towards the other. Love is never selfish, it is
self-giving. When you make a pledge to the church, it’s an act of love because,
just like God’s action towards us in Christ, it is about giving. And while all
contributions are valued, pledges really are encouraged. First and foremost, a
pledge is helpful in the spiritual disciple of generosity because it’s about
planning and intentionality. Pledges also help us to plan for growth. If the
Spirit moves you to increase your giving over last year but we don’t know about
that increase, we can’t plan to grow with it. A pledge isn’t a contract, you
can always change how much you plan to give based on what happens in life.
There’s absolutely no shame in that. If you’ve never filled out a pledge card,
please, prayerfully consider doing it this year so that we can be faithful
stewards of your giving.
And then in St. Paul’s list, he says that we are given a
spirit of self-discipline. When it comes to stewardship, it really does take
self-discipline. Part of the reason why I tend to be so passionate about stewardship
is because it’s not fundraising, it’s a part of the salvation of God. I’ve
talked to some clergy who really don’t like preaching about stewardship because
they feel like they’re begging for their salary. Let’s put that to rest – this isn’t
about my paycheck, and to be honest, it isn’t even really about the church’s
budget, as important as that is to the mission of this congregation. At its
core, stewardship is about your salvation. As I’ve already said, when you give
money away, you are liberated from the control it has over you. But the
self-discipline that is required to give away 10%, or even 5%, of your income
guides our priorities. It reminds us that materialism is not the be-all
end-all. It reminds us that we find love, fulfillment, joy, and purpose not in
things, but in relationships. When we invest in relationships through pledging,
we are not only supporting this church, but we are also being transformed to
live a more holy life.
As this section of the letter draws to a close, St. Paul
exhorts us to “Guard the good treasure entrusted to you.” The theme for our
stewardship campaign this fall is a familiar line: The Gifts of God for the
People of God. We hear that each week as we gather as a beloved community for
intentional worship to receive abundant grace. When we hear that, we usually think
about the bread and wine of the Eucharist, of the Body of Christ of which we
are made members and the Blood of Christ which shows God’s redeeming love for
us. Those are good things to think about. But the gifts of God are numerous and
unlimited. God’s gifts include the mission of this church, the community that
gathers here each week, and the ways that we are growing as a parish. And these
gifts are intended not only for us, but for all the people of God. We receive
these gifts in order to share them. We receive and give, and we give and
receive. This is the holy rhythm of generosity.
Each of you is a gift of God. The life, Death, and
Resurrection of Jesus is a gift of God. The Holy Spirit that dwells within us
and blows through this church is a gift of God. The legacy of St. Luke’s is a
gift of God. And these gifts are for the people of God. As stewards of these
gifts, we give thanks for what has brought us to this moment and we respond in
power, love, and self-discipline to share these gifts with generations yet to
come. The gift of a growing church has been given to us, I pray that the Holy
Spirit will make us faithful stewards of this gift for all people. As you
consider your pledge for 2020, bear in mind St. Paul’s words not as a command
to donate money, but rather as the invitation that they are to enter into the
grace, mercy, and peace of Christ Jesus: Guard the good treasure entrusted to
you.
