October 2008
Dear people of God,
I wanted to share some thoughts with you today on the ministry of stewardship. My thoughts today are not exhaustive by any means, or final thoughts on the subject, but some that I believe to be important for the start of our conversations on this subject in the days, weeks and times ahead for the Chapel of St. John the Divine.
How and why to try to have a God-centered relationship to money.
One of my colleagues said this to his congregation: “Beloved brothers and sisters, as you know, clergy have no physical needs. At ordination, all our normal condition is lifted from us, and we become like the angels. The only reason we need a salary is for our families, who remain like other people. – - – I hope by now you know I am kidding!”
Nothing could be further from the truth. Clergy struggle with the use of money, just like everyone. We go back and forth from being impulsive in our consumption of things, to feeling guilty about having so much, and occasionally we go around the bend and envy what someone else has. The worst fear of many clergy is that resources will run out and the church will end up in the dire straits of need (which really translates to: A) Asking more from the parishioners or B) The worst-case scenario, asking the Diocese to bail us out.
I also know that this same fear of not enough is a universal one. It explains most of the sins described in the Bible. It has been the justification for most of the world’s wars. Whether the fear is of not having enough money, respect, love, time, strength, whatever; it is the kind of fear that makes us live as though the world was dangerous and hostile. How opposite to the blessing word of God, who said that the world was created as good, and who promised to have provided abundantly for all our needs.
No wonder Jesus preached half of his sermons on money. That is a learning to take home with us today. Half of what Jesus said dealt directly with money. His parables often dealt with how people made or spent their money and his illustrations of discipleship often turned on how people make their decision to trust God rather than to trust money.
From the teachings of the Bible, I have learned how to have a healthier relationship to money, one in which I feel less often guilty, less often anxious, more trusting of God, and more open to live abundantly. I would like to share four principals I have learned from the Bible that have been helpful.
The first is that the Bible has taught me to make the most of what I have, not to plan what I could do if I had something different.
This is helpful in my relationship with money, but it is also helpful throughout my life. Many of us find ourselves saying something like, “If I won the lottery…” or “If I was younger (or older)…” or “if I had more time.” Learning from Jesus’ teaching to deal with what is important now has set me free from a lot of those wishful thoughts (and excuses) to live as fully as I can every moment of my life. I do not always succeed, but I try. One way I try is to pray, “Thank you, God, for giving me all the time, energy, money, and love I need for this day.”
The second principle I have learned from the Bible is to tithe.
To tithe means literally to give the first tenth of everything received back to God. I was taught about tithing when I was in Sunday school, as part of youth group on Sunday evenings. Back in the day when youth group was named Young People’s Fellowship, “Y.P.F.” We were asked to give the tithe from babysitting money or any part time jobs we had. I tried adopting the tithe back then giving from the job I had at the local nursing home as an aid. It was much easier back then to give $15 from the $150 I was paid. (It is easier to give away five dollars here or twenty dollars there than it is to look at your budget and suddenly start giving $3000 or $10,000.) A good way to make a commitment to work toward a tithe if the “all at once” method is too much for you to handle initially, is to add anywhere from 1 – 2% of your income to your giving each year. In 5-10 years, you will be tithing. It took me about 4 years to reach the tithe.
For years, I lived with the tithe as though it was a law. When I gave, I thought it may make me a better person, and when I did not tithe, I felt guilty. Being a tither tended to make me wonder what others were giving.
Over the years, I have come to see that the spirit of the tithe is not about being a good person, but it is a way to learn to love God more and to be free from worrying about money. We give our money as though giving it to God, so it is an offering that gives us real pleasure. I try to imagine putting it directly in God’s hands. The act of setting the first part of our money aside for God is a way to remember that God has blessed us with so much. We give God our best as an act of thankfulness.
Learning the tithe as spirit, helps us to give with joyful gladness, it also helps me feel like I am in charge of my money instead of money being in charge of me.
The third Principle I have learned is that the tithe is only a small slice of our total stewardship.
God oversees 100% of our money, not just the part we give back. So, setting aside money for our children’s college education is part of our stewardship. Using money to create family bonds, like vacations or occasional outings, is part of our stewardship. Keeping our debt to a minimum to avoid paying too much of what we have on interest is part of our stewardship. Having a will that provides for our children and for other people and things we love is part of our stewardship. In other words, putting our money toward important things is part of our stewardship. Avoiding the use of our money in wasteful, foolish, or prideful ways is also a part of the 100% attentiveness God asks us to have as stewards of our money.
The fourth principle I have learned from the Bible is that God is truly the provider of all things.
It has been amazing to me to see how decisions to trust God have opened the abundance of God’s care for our lives. There have been times when I have really wondered about whether we would be able to make it or not financially as a family. My decision to go to seminary and Tim’s to retire from the Army are good examples, but only two of many in our lives. In spite of moments of anxiety about how we would cope, we still believed that God had called us to do the things we were doing, to become a priest and an educator. Ultimately we came to see how we are so blessed by God, and it is still a source of wonder in our lives.
I give you these four principals as liberating, not restrictive ways of thinking about stewardship. They are offered as a way to lift and remove fears about money rather than to make money fears increase. I hope they open our eyes to the many and small miracles of God that surround us every day.
Unless we act as though we can trust God, starting with our money, biblical promises like blessings and grace and the peace of Christ will probably seem like they were meant for someone else. It is a bold act to suddenly shift our financial priorities from accumulation or self-protection to giving. A tithe will almost certainly end up within the top three of your spending priorities, but all things can be judged by the fruit they bear. If you have never tried these things, you will never taste the fruit that they will bring.
Thanks to all that have offered their time, talent and treasure to further the ministry of St. John’s Chapel this year. We will be saying thank you to God and to each other at a festive harvest dinner on Saturday, November 1, beginning at 6:00 pm. It will be a time for good food and fun. Bring the kids and celebrate the ingathering of our pledge harvest of abundance!
Peace be with you,
Rev. Mary
