St Paul’s Canterbury , 11^th August  2013, Pentecost 12

Second Stewardship Sermon in Series of Three

The Rev'd Jonathan Chambers

Luke 12: 32-40

Watchful Slaves

It looks like we will meet our budget this year – first time for years. So if we are tracking alright  – you may well ask

“Why would you want to be bringing up the unseemly subject of giving and money?”

What I want to talk about this morning is not about fund raising or what the church needs to make ends meet. It’s about Spirituality and what it means to be a Christian.

I’ve been reading a book called “Radical Hospitality” – about Benedictine spirituality and our need to be hospitable to strangers. Written by an American Benedictine monk and a lay woman in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Centre, the book acknowledges the anxiety of being attacked again but clearly tackles the spiritual dangers of living in fear. 

“Fear is a thief. It will steal our peace of mind and that’s a lot to lose. But it also high jacked our relationships, keeping us sealed up in our plastic world with a fragile sense of security.

Being people who fear the stranger, we have drained the life juices out of hospitality….Benedictine hospitality is not about sipping tea and making bland talk with people who live next door or work with you. Hospitality is a lively, courageous, and convivial way of living that challenges our compulsion to either turn away or turn inward and disconnect from others” P.9

So what’s this got to do with Stewardship and giving to the Parish? ……Everything.

What stops us from reaching out and offering acceptance or hospitality to the unknown stranger?

What stops us giving sacrificially to our church and others???

FEAR . FEAR that we won’t have enough for ourselves. Fear that what we do have may be taken away.

The book goes on

“Hospitality is not optional for a well balanced and healthy life. It meets the most basic need of the human being to be known and to know others. It addresses the core loneliness that we avoid with the bustle and hast of our hectic lives. There is the big loneliness at the centre of every person. It is universal. There’s a reason for the loneliness. It’s meant to lead somewhere. Even if you are unconscious of it, the big lonely is driving you homeward”

The big loneliness is that empty feeling, which can persist; even when we are surrounded by a room full of people or a house full of all the gadgets and creature comforts imaginable.

Stewardship is most importantly about our spiritual journey and our need to give, in the same way as the “big lonely empty feeling can only be satiated by giving of ourselves in a relationship to God and our Neighbour.

You may or may not recall ….that at your baptism you or your Godparents promised on your behalf

 “..by God’s grace I will strive to live as a disciple of Christ, loving God with my whole heart, and my neighbour as myself, until my life’s end”

Stewardship is about living out that promise. It’s not about the church needing money, but about your need to give, if you are really serious about satiating that big empty feeling at your centre.

Three weeks ago the Men’s Spirituality Group had a weekend away at Toolangi.  Fr John Stewart led us on Saturday for a quiet Day and talked about God who loves us unconditionally  – who continually takes the initiative to enter our lives and transform us , if only  if we are open to listening and seeing.

He started off with Leunig cartoon and story about Daffodils and Transformation

(See Pew Sheet)

NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE - He had heard of near death experiences and their transforming power, but he had never had one. It seemed to him that much of humanity was near death - the way people watched so much television! The living dead, he thought. While he was out walking, it occurred to him that modern existence itself might be a constant, near death experience. A flower truck turned a corner and a load of daffodils spilled from the back and buried him. He lay bewildered for a moment under the glowing yellow heap, and then poked his head out into the sunshine. He saw his reflection in a shop window. He smelled the daffodils. How lovely! He thought. It was a near life experience, and already a transformation was in progress.                        Leunig

 

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So you might say what’s the  evidence of Transformation here at St Pauls??

Well that fact that the number of people pledging has increased from 63 to 84 in the last 3 years is great and to be celebrated. On the other hand the average weekly giving at St Paul’s is $25 per week.

Frankly this doesn’t seem to be much, and it suggests that there may be a lot of fear around.

Stewardship and giving is about our relationship with God and our neighbour. How much are you able to risk? Giving of ourselves in relationships as well as in our possessions can be  scary. But in today’s Gospel Jesus says

Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

The Kingdom of God is the place where God rules. Being part of the Kingdom and receiving the Kingdom is only achieved by following Jesus and taking the risk- that’s what “living by faith” is actually about. Like Abraham, taking God at his promise and setting out into the unknown. Its about putting your trust in Jesus and seeing what happens.

The passage goes on

“Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys”.

So what does this mean in today’s context? Do I have to give everything away? Is the Datsun up for gabs again this year? What about my family and responsibilities?

How much you give is between you and God to talk about. God doesn’t expect us to be stupid, but God does expect us to give sacrificially, regularly and as the first priority from our income – not just what’s left over.

If 100% of all that I have comes from God, how much am I willing to give back? The Bible talks of a tithe or 10%; which is  a fairly confronting starting point.

You may say “what about my family”- God wouldn’t expect them to miss out?

I’m sure God wouldn’t, Gods wants us to love and care for our families,  however for all of us there is a difference between what we need and what we want. What messages are we giving to our children about where true values lie, if we are consumed by consumerism?

The values of the Kingdom are so contrary to all the messages I hear in the media - particularly advertising

 "You’ve got to have this Big TV, car, spa, pool, GPS, Home Theatre, Coffee Maker, Ipod, Ipad, Lounge suite…or to win Lotto to be happy"

It’s very difficult to resist isn’t it?

Yet I know that my regular giving to my church is the best proof that I have to myself that I’m not consumed by consumerism.

It also helps deal with the deluge of demands I receive from so many other worthy causes.

(Like the people who try to sell me ballpoint pens over the phone at tea time)

When I know that I have a regular commitment to my parish that is then used for local ministry and beyond, then I know that I’m doing my bit. I’m doing what God wants and I can say No to others without those languishing feelings of guilt.

By giving regularly and sacrificially I know that I’m engaging life. I’m doing something to overcome the excesses and inequalities of our society. As a Christian I’m not just a passive victim who feels overwhelmed by the enormity of the problems; I can say- to the extent of my ability  I’m contributing to the solution - and thank God I can. In this there is real freedom.

Stewardship and sacrificial giving isn’t however just for your own good in enabling you to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Importantly it’s also about doing justice and including others.

By giving, you enable ministry in the Canterbury area. We are the church charged with the awesome responsibility of giving voice to the unspeakable, of providing rituals which enable healing; of conducting the funerals and giving hope to the frightened. We are called to be light and salt- a people that bring hope and affirmation of all that is good.

Each year in UFTG we invited the CFA Volunteers with their trucks and the community to Church. We have a thanksgiving service, put on morning tea and provide a place for the Community to come and to say thanks for the selfless work of the CFA members. We bless the volunteers and their trucks recognising that they are contributing to the “commonwealth” of our community; that they too are part of the Kingdom of God

As the Anglican Church here we have a responsibility not to look after ourselves but primarily,  to provide for the spiritual care of this community. In a society obsessed with wealth creation and individualism, which leaves such an aching wound of loneliness, you are called to bless, affirm and celebrate all that is good. In a society which is primarily driven by “the market”, you are called to advocate for those who are marginalised by it.

This is a place of Transformation where people have ‘near life experiences’ and are regularly released from a life of ‘near death experiences”.

If I think of the new comers in the last 3 years who have visited St Pauls and who have made this their home,  and have been transformed. I think of Henrietta who has found a home and care here,  at a time when her other home has been in turmoil. I think of the trust and transformations that have been experienced  in the Men’s Spirituality Group as it meets fortnightly.  We had one member who said after the weekend away that… he’d..” been to church camps all his life and this was the first one that he wasn’t required  to bring his Bible; and yet it was as though Jesus was present with us,  in a way that I’ve never experienced at a camp before”.

Three years ago when we talked about stewardship Eric Jensen said, I’d love to give more, but I expect that like many others, I’m asset rich but income poor. He said “It struck me that we could encourage people to consider a bequest to St Pauls in their Will when property is sold”. And so we now have a brochure about Bequests and Eric has indicated  that he would be happy to talk to anybody else about Bequests and share his thoughts if you would like.

 These are stories about transformations – of growing to wholeness and seeing things in a new way … that enables us and those around us to live in Hope.

At a Diocesan level, contributing to the parish enables money to be spent in speaking the prophetic and countercultural voice like the  banner on the cathedral which instead of

vilification says, ”Lets welcome Refugees”

Stewardship and giving is not about fundraising so that the church can keep going. It’s about your spiritual survival and the spiritual survival of our community. May God bless us as part of this community in the activity of Transformations and wholeness.

“Do not be afraid… for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”.

A Sermon by The Reverend Susanne Chambers, 4th August, 2013

First Stewardship sermon for 2013

in a series of three.

By The Rev’d Susanne Chambers

4th August, 2013

Luke 12:13-21

Today I will speak in broad terms of our response to money, to each other and to God.

Next week, Jonathan will enlarge on our Mission here at St Paul’s and what finances are needed for us to be financially self-sufficient.

And then the following Sunday the 18^th August, Commitment Sunday we will have a guest speaker: Alison Preston who is the Middle East Program Manager for Anglican Overseas Aid.

I hope you will find each of these Sundays helpful in your reflections and prayers as we each consider our time, talent and our treasures all which come from God.

For those of you who have been fortunate to have lived or visited developing countries, you may like me, find it incredible that the people are so generous with the little they have.

When we first arrived in Malawi, the four of us women were given a single rose and then I, as the priest, was given a bunch of roses.   Roses are not seen very much in Malawi! This was indeed a generous gift to welcome us!

The meals that were provided on the two Sundays after church in our honour, were all the foods one could get in Malawi…at least in Zomba…vegetables, n-seema, chicken, meat and fish. 

Chicken, the meat and fish are becoming too expensive for most to be able to buy.  One night, one of the women was going home for her dinner which was a corn cob.

It wasn’t just the food that was so generously given. Each day, someone had to come and pick us up and drive us home at the end of the day.

This could take up to one hour depending on how busy the village markets were as we passed through.

When greeted, there would be big smiles, a hand ready to take yours in theirs and a genuine delight that we were with them.

To quote just a small portion of a letter from the Mothers’ Union of St Georges’ in Zomba.

“Dear Rev’d Susanne,

We greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We write on behalf of all the Christians and more specifically on behalf of the mother’s union guild at St George’s Anglican Church to thank you most sincerely for the visit that you and the other charming ladies, Jennifer, Rose and Lizzie accorded our church.  The Christians at St George looked at the visit as a spiritual revival and wish they did not end here…”

And from the first letter when we arrived “we are therefore very grateful and we will never take this support for granted and please receive our ZIKOMO KWAMBIRI from the sweet and warm hearts of St George’s mothers.”

It is moments like these in life, that being part of a parish community and a worldwide church community show the reason why we are here. We are here not just for ourselves, but for one another and to give thanks to God that this is so.

In today’s gospel what caught my attention was the response Jesus gave to the person in the crowd who wanted Jesus to fix a problem about money.  In broad terms Jesus answered his question. ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

In the parable that Jesus then tells them and in life as well, he basically says: ‘it’s not all about money’.

He warns against greed, about the insatiable feeling of never having enough.  And the parable he tells illustrates this.  The farmer’s problem isn’t that he’s had a great harvest, or that he’s rich, or that he wants to plan for the future. The farmer’s problem is that his good fortune has curved his vision so that everything he sees starts and ends with himself.

Listen again to the conversation he has with, not a spouse or friend or parent or neighbour, but only with himself. “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones and these I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years: relax, eat, drink, be merry.”

Do you see what I mean? It is an absolutely egocentric conversation, even including a conversation with himself inside the conversation he is already having with himself!  This is why he is a fool. 

The rich man’s land has produced abundantly, yet he expresses no sense of gratitude to God or to the workers who have helped him plant and harvest this bumper crop.  He has more grain and goods in storage than he could ever hope to use, yet seems to have no thought of sharing it with others, and no thought of what God might require of him.  He is blind to the fact that his life is not his own to secure, that his life belongs to God.

The rich man learns the hard way what the writer of Ecclesiastes realized- quite simply, that you can’t take it with you.  All that we work so hard for in life will end up in someone else’s hands, and as Ecclesiastes puts it, ‘who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet, they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun.  This also is vanity.” (2:19)

Like the rich farmer, we are tempted to think that having large amounts of money and possessions stored up will make us secure.  Sooner or later, however, we learn that no amount of wealth or property can secure our lives.  No amount of wealth can protect us from cancer, or from a genetically inherited disease, or from a tragic accident.

No amount of wealth can keep our relationships healthy and our families from falling apart. In fact, wealth and property can easily drive a wedge between family members, as in the case of the brothers fighting over their inheritance at the beginning of this text.

Most importantly, no amount of wealth, can secure our lives with God.  In fact, Jesus repeatedly warns that wealth can get in the way of our relationship with God. 

It is not that God doesn’t want us to save for retirement or future needs.  It is not that God doesn’t want us to eat, drink and be merry and enjoy what God has given us.  We know from the Gospels that Jesus spent time eating and drinking with people and enjoying life.  But he was also clear about where his true security lay.

It is all about priorities.  It is about who is truly God in our lives.  It is about how we invest our lives and the gifts that God has given us.  It is about how our lives are fundamentally aligned: toward ourselves and our passing desires, or toward God and our neighbour, towards God’s mission to bless and redeem the world.

Our lives and possessions are not our own.  They belong to God.  We are merely stewards of them for the time God has given us on this earth.  We rebel against this truth because we want to be in charge of our lives and our stuff.

Archbishop Philip said in last month’s TMA  “we know the importance of money and how we use it as a consumer. The trouble with all of this is that it puts us in a place where it is easy to act as if it is our money, not God’s money that we are dealing with. We are so used to being in the middle of the decision that we naturally ask questions about benefit and most easily answer them from our own perspective.

This fact distorts many of the discussions that Christians have about money.”  Archbishop Philip also said “what we are dealing with (when looking at parish finances) is foremost a gift of God’s generous provisions for us to apply to the work we continue to Jesus’ name.”  TMA July 2013

I wonder if we sometimes forget that all this belongs to God here at St Paul’s. We are merely stewards to care for the spiritual nurture of people through worship and groups that meet here, through the continual maintenance of the buildings, in looking beyond ourselves to other people in our community and the wider community, to continue God’s mission to bless and redeem the world. We are stewards of all of this.

This truth that all belongs to God is good news. Because all that we are and all that we have belong to God, our future is secure beyond all measure. So Jesus tells us, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (12:32)

Money isn’t the problem; St Augustine once said that God gave us people to love and things to use, and sin, in short, is the confusion of these two things.

St Paul’s community of faith is a place where we enjoy worshipping God together, we enjoy each other’s company, and we contribute to the needs of the wider community at home and abroad.

This is a great place to be! A place to grow spiritually, to be confronted personally when reflecting on how other’s live in God’s world(like in Malawi) and the challenge also for each of us to radiate the compassion and love of God in all we do and say. None of this is done in isolation…we need community…we need each other.

I give thanks that we all belong to God!      [i]

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Commentary on Luke 12:13-21 by Elizabeth Johnson

And notes from David Lose ‘working preacher’