October 6, 2019 - Proper 22C

Lectionary Readings

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.

November 4, 2018 - Proper 26B

Lectionary Readings

In the name of God – who was, and is, and is to come. Amen.

            “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” What a world this would be if our actions were more aligned with those words. The reason why I preach about love so much is that the Beatles were right, “love is all you need.” Being rooted in the knowledge that God loves us, if we respond to that love with our whole being then we’d see more what we pray for each week – thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. But because of Sin, we aren’t the best at remembering that we are loved or showing love to others. And so love must remain at the center of the Church’s preaching. Once we get love right, then I’m happy to entertain a discussion about what the next priority ought to be. But until then, love remains at the center.

July 22, 2018 - Proper 11B

Lectionary Readings

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ☩ one God and mother of us all. Amen.

            You’ve probably heard the cliché “Good fences make good neighbors.” Maybe that’s true for some neighbors, but it simply doesn’t work when it comes to our faith. Good fences make terrible Christians. In the letter to the Ephesians, we heard this morning that “For Jesus is our peace; in his flesh he has made both Israel and Gentiles into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.” The Greek actually says that Jesus “destroys the dividing portion of the fence.” You might know that the saying about good fences comes from a Robert Frost poem called “Mending Wall,” in which he makes the point that good fences do not actually make good neighbors. Frost writes “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” As we read in Ephesians, that something that doesn’t love a wall is called the Gospel.

October 23, 2016 - Feast of St. Luke

Scripture Readings: Genesis 1:1-2, 26-28, 31; Psalm 23; 2 Timothy 4:5-13; Luke 18:9-14

Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

            Today is a full day. We began with a wonderful opening anthem by our Novice Choir, we begin our stewardship efforts today, it is the feast of our patron saint, and this afternoon we’ll come together as a parish to Stop Hunger Now. I don’t know about you all, but I actually really enjoy the work of stewardship. A few weeks ago, we had clergy conference for the Diocese of North Carolina and there was an optional workshop on stewardship. I attended, and we were all asked to share why we decided to come to the session. I said, “Because stewardship is a passion of mine and I really enjoy it.” Several priests mentioned how odd that is.

            How did you feel when you opened your mail earlier this week and found the pledge card waiting for you? How about when you opened your bulletin this morning and saw a pledge card in there? Anxious? Guilty? Did you roll your eyes? Were you excited about the opportunity to join in supporting the ministry of this parish?

            The reason why I enjoy stewardship so much isn’t because I like asking people for money; I don’t. The reason why I am passionate about doing stewardship is because I believe it is central to the salvation given to us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When Jesus begins his public ministry in Luke, he says “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Central to what Jesus’ Good News is all about is liberation: freedom from the forces that seek to enslave us, whether it be a tyrannical government such as Rome, our own self-doubt, our economic systems which do harm to the poor, or our religious systems which can often limit the boundaries of God’s grace. But another really important part of our liberation is from enslavement to money.

            What is your relationship with money? Is your first emotion that of fear, that there might not be enough? Or is your first emotion gratitude, that you have enough, even if you don’t have as much as you might like? Is money something that you are enslaved to, or is it something that you use to express your values? A really good barometer that you can use to measure your relationship with money is to sit down and calculate how much money you are giving to the church and charities that you support.

            The issue at hand is that money is a very powerful tool in our society. Money is how we value time and effort. Money is how we are compensated for the time that we spend away from our family and our children. Money is how we value things like art, healthcare, and education. While you certainly can’t buy happiness, money can certainly cause disagreements and sleepless nights. And so the question of stewardship is this: do you control your money or does your money control you? If you want to know, try to give your money away. If you can’t, then I’d suggest that your money has more control over you than you might want to admit. Generosity is an indicator of spiritual health.

            Now, of course, life happens and things can get in the way of our giving. With two children in daycare, I get it. Unexpectedly, plumbing breaks, transmissions fail, stocks crash, and prescriptions need to be filled, and so sometimes we’re not able to be as generous as we might want to be. But the question remains, are you able to give anything away or not? If you are not able to part with any of your money, then you haven’t found the salvation and liberation of stewardship which Jesus offers us. This isn’t about fundraising for St. Luke’s. If you don’t believe that this place is worthy of your generosity, then don’t give here. But for the sake of your soul, give your money away and exercise your power over money so that it doesn’t exercise power over you. Stewardship is a part of our salvation because it helps us to be in a right relationship with money.

            And this generous posture is exactly the one we were created to have. As our reading from Genesis tells us, humanity is created in the image of God. And the very first image that we get of God in the Bible is a generative and generous one. As you can hear, the words “generate” and “generous” are related. God creates all that is as a supreme act of generation. All things have come into being through God’s generative actions. And God’s creation is an act of generosity. God didn’t need to create the world or humanity. But God chose to freely give so that the love and grace of God might be more widely known and spread. What Genesis tells us is that God generates all of Creation through an act of generosity.

            This is the image that we are created in. Just as God is generative, so are we. We are gifted with the ability to procreate, to build societies, and construct ideas. And we are also gifted with the ability to be generous. Generosity is a part of our divine DNA. We are created by and fashioned into the image of a generous God.

            And so that’s why it feels so good to be generous, because it is natural. It’s why, even when finances are tight, sometimes the most liberating thing is to give away some money. Even if it doesn’t make financial sense, it makes sense to your soul. There is a video you can find online called “The Generosity Experiment,” and in it the speaker tells the story of living in New York and being constantly barraged with requests for money from charities, street musicians, and beggars. He often said “no,” and realized it was making him closed to other people. So for one month, he resolved to say “yes” to absolutely every single request that he got. And for him, it was saving. It changed his outlook. It changed his relationship to people. It made him more generous.

            In a sense, that’s what the parable that Jesus offers us this morning is pointing to as well. There is the Pharisee who is inwardly focused. He prays about the ways that God has blessed him with privilege, status, and wealth. But his prayer isn’t about the other. It’s absolutely wonderful that he gives a tenth of his income, but that doesn’t make him generous.  At least in this snippet, he doesn’t appear to be concerned with how his giving impacts others; it’s more about duty than generosity.

Meanwhile, the tax collector seems to be outwardly focused, realizing that he needs mercy because he is a sinner. Perhaps you’re familiar with the prayer “Dear Lord, so far I’ve done all right. I haven’t gossiped, haven’t lost my temper, haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I’m really glad about that. But in a few minutes, God, I’m going to get out of bed, and I’m going to need a lot more help.” The thing is, while not impossible, it’s a lot harder to be a sinner when you’re not around people. The tax collector is aware of the ways in which he’s fallen short in his relationships, the ways in which he hasn’t been as generous in spirit or charitable in action as he could have been, and so he comes and asks for mercy. Generosity is about being open to God and others.

As today’s Psalm proclaims “You have anointed my head with oil, and my cup is running over. Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” These verses will be our refrain for this stewardship campaign. What will your response be to the ways in which God makes your cup overflow with goodness and mercy? Will we keep these blessings for ourselves? Or will we be true to our created nature, to be generous and share these blessings with others?

As we celebrate the Feast of St. Luke today, I think about this parish, and I encourage you to do the same as you fill out your pledge card. I think about the fellowship and bonds of affection of this place. I think of way that the church was overflowing with people at Seth Tinsley’s funeral earlier this year. I think of the couples that have been married here this year. I think of the babies, including my own daughter, that have been Baptized into the Body of Christ here. I think of the backpacks that we collected for Communities in Schools, I think of the Sundays that we presented produce from our Community Garden and the Little Red Wagon at Communion, I think of the relief supplies that we are currently collecting for the victims of Hurricane Matthew, and I think of the 15,000 meals that we will pack later today for Stop Hunger Now. I think of the fun of Purely Socials, the grace of the Eucharist, a spiritually-deep Holy Week. I think of a gorgeous church with beautiful music and liturgy. I think of the great staff and wonderful people of St. Luke’s whom I am truly thankful for and privileged to serve. And lest you think that I have a selective memory, I also think of the healthy ways in which we’ve dealt with conflict, the ways in which we strive for reconciliation in times of disagreement. For all these things, I thank God.

When I think of all those things, I realize how important it is for St. Luke’s to not only survive, but to thrive. I want there to be a place where Christian community can exist in the Anglican tradition. I want there to be a place for babies to be Baptized, loved ones to be buried, and couples to be married. I need there to be a place where the Sacraments are celebrated. Sometimes I just need the doors of this church to be open so I can come in and sit and be still and know that God is God.

And so I look forward to filling out our pledge card. I look forward to being able to be generous, as God has made me to be. I look forward to supporting the ministries of St. Luke’s because I am so grateful for this place, and I want others to come to know it. I give God thanks for the opportunity to be generous and to find the liberation and salvation of the Gospel in practices of stewardship.

This Sunday and for the following two Sundays, you are invited and encouraged to think about St. Luke’s, to be generous, and to fill out a pledge card so that we can plan to be the best St. Luke’s that we can be. As you approach the altar to receive the generosity of God’s grace in the Eucharist, you can put your completed pledge card in the designated alms plate as a show of your gratitude for God’s blessings and of your generous pledge. And as you make that pledge, know that your generosity is also generative because it will continue to build up this wonderful community of faith, hope, and love. Amen.

September 18, 2016 - Proper 20C

Lectionary Readings

Almighty God, may you guide us to seek the Truth: come whence it may, cost what it will, lead where it might. Amen.

            To say that was a challenging parable is an understatement. Lest you think that you just need to reread it a few times and it will make more sense, I’ve been doing that all week and it’s still an enigma. When I read commentaries on the passage this week, I noticed that they all seemed to spend more pages on this parable than other Biblical passages, sort of the way when you don’t have an answer you just stammer on, hoping that something might eventually make sense. One scholar even called this the “problem child of parables.” For one, the explanation that is offered by Jesus after the parable doesn’t seem to line up properly with the parable itself.

September 21, 2012 - Proper 20A

Lectionary Readings

*This was preached as a children's sermon.

Do you ever complain that things aren’t fair? In the story that Jesus told, some people start working at 6:00 in the morning, and they get paid for a full day’s work. That seems fair, right? Then the boss goes and hires more people at 9:00 and pays them for them for a full day’s work. And then he does the same thing at noon, and 3:00 in the afternoon, and again at 5:00. They all worked until 6 and then, Jesus says, the boss pays everyone. And the people who worked all day long got really excited when they saw the people that only worked for an hour got a full day’s pay, maybe something like $100. So they thought since that they were there all day that maybe they’d get $500 or so. But they got the same $100 as everyone else. And they got mad and screamed, “this isn’t fair!” What do you think? Was the boss fair?