| Stewardship Sermon - 10/28/07 |
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Good Morning, My name is Dave Lacouture and I'm here today, on behalf of the Vestry and the Stewardship Committee to announce the beginning of St. James' Stewardship Season. Each year at this time we are asked to reflect and pray on the gifts we can personally offer St James' to help it thrive, grow, serve others, and meet the spiritual and practical needs of our faith community. As many of you know by hearing the Stewardship message before, these gifts can take many forms. They tend to conveniently fall into the three categories of time, talent and treasure. What I think is so terrific about thinking about Stewardship within this framework (often called the three T's) is that it helps us to understand that there is wide range of Stewardship opportunities available to us. Cathy spoke to us recently about the opportunities and benefits of getting involved and devoting our time talent in the service to God and our church. There are many of you who do just that and do it a lot, and there are of course plenty of opportunities for everyone to express their Stewardship in this way. These opportunities can be found everywhere..in the weekly announcements, in the newsletter, on the bulletin boards in the chapel and of course on-line at the St. James' website. But before I go any further though, I have to say that after doing the Stewardship talk last year, I had convinced myself that I was going to tell Cathy and Janice Cipriani at our Stewardship Committee meeting two weeks ago, that I would be unable to talk to the congregation this year. I had all my reasons and excuses prepared..obligations related to Drew, Katie and Kathy, coaching soccer, scouts, my job. I had barely begun to explain my "list of why I'm not the one to give this talk this year" when Cathy said in her matter of fact way and looking me straight in the eye. "Well, you do know it's the tradition that the Stewardship sermon is a two-year commitment". ..Really? No one told me! When I later expressed guilt about not doing as much for the church as I planned lately, except for replacing the Mitcham house kitchen faucet and cutting down a big tree limb, Cathy was at the ready, quick to express her gratitude but telling me, "No problem David, talking about stewardship is what you CAN do". I had walked right into it.and in the end, with Cathy's support and encouragement,.. I was glad to do it. Umm, has Cathy every have this effect on you? Back to Stewardship. Yes, time and talent are two significant ways for us participate in stewardship. Without time and talent there is no Sunday school, no newsletters, no lay ministries, no clean-up days and no successfully tricky tray fundraisers. St. James' thrives on the time and talent of its members through this type of stewardship. It is critical to fulfill our mission. We simply can not function as a church without it. These two T's are always needed. The other T of course is Treasure. In goes without saying that a church, any church, needs the consistent financial support of its members. This form of stewardship provides the funds to pay bills, make repairs to buildings, purchase supplies, support new project, pays salaries and well..stay vital and to grow. Making a financial pledge as part of a commitment to Stewardship goes beyond giving a few dollars in the basket during the offertory. It is planned and conscience commitment to support the church in a deeper, more challenging and faith-based way. But whether it is Time, Talent or Treasure, Stewardship is ultimately a higher calling..It's a promise..a solemn commitment to God and to others. At it's core it is a pure promise whose foundation is faith and to that end, it expects nothing self in return. Today's readings are full of references to promises, commitment and faith to God and asking nothing in return. The readings show how this is can have great meaning and is how it quite related to Stewardship. The Old Testament Reading from Deuteronomy is an example of such unselfish promise and commitment. For all that Mosses did for his people and for God, including years of hardship, he ultimately did not enter the land of Judah with his people. God held him back and only showed it to him from afar. Yet, despite his health, vigor and capability before his death there is no evidence that Mosses was disappointed or bothered by God's instructions. His commitment to God was clear, pure and unselfish. The Second Reading from Hebrews also describes selflessness, patience, commitment and faith in God among Abraham and generations of his descendants. Abraham lived in a tent in unknown land, became a father in old age and both he an his descendents held on to a their unyielding faith throughout the ages never quite knowing exactly what God had planned for them. The parable in the Gospel according to Luke is more intriguing and suggests that Jesus is asking us to make our relationship to God a personal one. It challenges us to bring the our promises and commitment to God to a different level and continues the unselfish theme. Whereas the Pharisee believed he was doing everything in his power to ensure God's favor by fasting, tithing, etc.., he did so while holding all others in contempt who did not follow his particular path. Despite his grand claims before God, he was really was really keeping a scorecard for himself. (i.e...I'm doing this for you God, therefore what are you going to do for me?) The tax collector, on the other hand whom the Pharisee thought to be inferior, (and I learned that tax collectors in Jesus' time were considered quite lowly) is not proud of his deeds. He admits his sins and humbly seeks God's forgiveness. He says "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" He keeps no scorecard. His promise to God is himself! Jesus says by humbling himself before God, the tax collector is actually exalted. Promises today permeate our lives in many forms. Some are contractual and tangible. What is a mortgage but a promise to pay-back money loaned to us. What is a construction contract but promise to complete the work specified. Other promises, are more complex like a marriage which is a promise between a couple to love and support each other forever. Then there is of course our Baptismal promise, so solemn, serious and challenging that we respond by saying "I will, with God's help". A promise requires a trusting relationship between ourselves and to whom we give the promise, This promise/trust equation leads to commitment. The same hold true for Stewardship. We make a faithful promise from our hearts of what we can offer the church. The church and the church community in turn, trusts that this promise will be full filled. We have an excellent example right behind us of what happens when promises, trust and commitment are brought together with faith. Simple said.good things happen! Since I spoke you last Stewardship season, the old parish hall has been removed and the new parish hall has gone from a seemingly unattainable goal and source of endless hours of meetings, to an actual visible structure and an awesome site to behold . Like you, I have been in awe. I can't really decipher blue prints very well. I usually have to wait for the real thing to be built. So it is so exciting to see an actual structure unfold before my eyes. As a watched the progress of the early phases, I was particularly fascinated by the amount of time, effort, skill and care it took to prepare the ground, and lay the initial courses of the foundation and walls. I was immensely curious about how exacting this process appeared and all the care needed to make everything strong and level. I found myself studying the rebar, the cement and blocks. I thought about the strength and integrity this system would provide the rest of the structure and considered how important these initial steps were to the later stages still to come. This physical strength and requirement that everything be absolutely level is symbolic I think of the strength and soundness of the promises and commitment we made to each other when we started this project. The solid foundation is not only necessary for the building but it also symbolizes the faith and commitment we have here at St. James. With our ongoing Stewardship, we will only build on this foundation and create all kinds of possibilities for the new building and all other project we decide to pursue. Recently, in the midst of process of thinking about these concepts, stewardship, promises, trust, commitment, and the symbolism of new building, I received that handy-dandy personalized letter from Janice that reports on the status of our financial pledge. I was surprised. Hey, I had been attending church quite frequently lately. I was bringing my pledge envelopes each time. I was giving a weekly amount and giving it steadily enough to keep pace with my promise...so I thought. Well I was wrong, I was running more behind than I ever had and to tell you the truth,..I should have known better! How did this happen!! I quickly sat at the kitchen table with a calendar and calculator to develop a plan. Meanwhile I thought about "stuff" I wanted to buy soon. A voice in my head said "Hey, what about the that new computer. what about that high definition TV? As I sat there, it was not the calendar or the calculator that was the most helpful in resolving this conflict, it was remembering the promise I had made last year to St. James and the trust St. James had in me to keep that promise. This is what the Stewardship is all about. Making and keeping a Stewardship promise.challenging ourselves to a reach a place that gives of ourselves without expectations. In the next few weeks we all will be hearing more about Stewardship and challenged in our personal roles in Stewardship at St James'. Soon, likely this week, you will receive a mailing from the Stewardship Committee, which will include a letter and pledge information giving you the opportunity to make your particular promise to St James of time, talent and treasure. It includes two cards. One for Treasure and another for Time and Talent. It includes a chart to calculate your pledge as a percentage of income and a challenge to increase your pledge by 1% from last year.. if you can. The time an talent card gives you many way to express your stewardship in this way. The treasure card gives you the opportunity to pledge to the General Fund and the Capital Improvement fund. The Capital Improvement fund makes possible major repairs or improvement to our buildings. Recent examples of these improvements or repairs include the new front steps and railings and repairs to the leaks in the bell tower among others. Your pledge toward the general fund will help the Finance Committee develop an annual budget to support the church and its many activities in the upcoming year. This is particularly important process and is why you'll notice a deadline for your response. What ever you decide, consider pledging something no matter the amount for it is the "promise" itself that has so much significance. Please consider your promise carefully. Know that the vestry has received their Stewardship material already and have b een asked to make their pledge/promise ahead of the rest of the congregation. As you plan and pray about the promises of time, talent and treasure you would like to make to St. James, please consider not just the amount or value your pledge but also your ability to fulfill your promise completely. Be generous but.. Be realistic... give of yourself openly and take joy in the confidence that God will help you fulfill your promise. Amen. |
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Updated:
July 21, 2008
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Created: 10/28/07 |