October 23, 2022 Stewardship 3 St. Andrew Church Rev. Anne McAnelly
First Lesson: Psalm 84:1-7
1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! 2 My soul longs, indeed it faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. 3 Even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. 4 Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise. 5 Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. 6 As they go through the valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion.
Second Lesson: Romans 12:4-13
4 For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. 9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.
In our second reading Paul is encouraging the Christians in Rome to present themselves as a living sacrifice to God. A giving of one’s whole self to our Creator and Lord. The essence of our relationship with God, and of our giving, is love. Listen now for God’s word as it comes from Romans 12:1, 4-13.
Before covid when passing the plate was a regular thing, an interesting thing happened. As the plate worked its way down the aisle, a little girl set it down on the floor and stood in the plate. When asked what she was doing, she replied, “I am giving myself to God.” A sweet and beautiful image that reminds us of what Paul is talking about. We are asked to give our entire selves to God, give of our time, talents, and money. To share the work of our hands and the joy of our soul with our community of faith and with our Lord. In doing so we offer God our worship.
Today is the culmination of our stewardship season. The time we ask ourselves how we plan to give of ourselves to God in the coming year. We do this by making a pledge after prayerfully considering our blessings and our situation. There are pledge cards in the pew if you happen to leave yours on the kitchen counter. Please place your card in the donation box. Or you can also simply email the church office with the amount and frequency of our gift, and we will count that as your pledge. Thank you, thank you, thank you, to those who have already responded, and I look forward to hearing from the rest soon.
As we ponder giving ourselves to God, climbing into the offering plate so to speak, our motivation is love. Paul focuses on love, reminding us to let our love be genuine, to love one another with mutual affection. I want to consider this in three ways: the love of stranger, the love of giving and the love of community.
Love of Stranger
This week in our Bible study on Sabbath I learned something very cool. The word for hospitality in Greek is philoxenia. As you know, philo means love of what you might not know is that xenia means stranger. So hospitality literally means love of strangers. Paul amplifies the point by saying we should extend hospitality to strangers. As we pondered what Sabbath means, Carol Betchel writes, “Sabbath is an extravagant act of hospitality.” Our sacred time with God, our time of rest and renewal finds its place in hospitality. Or as Joan Chittister writes, “Hospitality is simply love on the loose.” (Celebrating Sabbath, Carol Bechtel). When we give of ourselves to God, we can provide hospitality to the men and women who need showers, to the children in El Salvador who are seeking an education, to the veterans who deserve dignity and a home. One commentator writes of Paul’s call to love, “The images are powerful: let your love be heartfelt; be eager to show each other honor; be set on fire by the Spirit; be devoted to prayer; contribute to — literally “participate in” — the needs of the saints and pursue hospitality. To “participate in” others’ needs is to give of yourself and your own resources for their material needs, like food, clothing, and shelter. True love is fervent, relentless, and practical” (Working Preacher, Elizabeth Shively). That is why we focused on our expressions of love through compassionate mission. We are showing love of strangers in concrete ways.
Love of Giving
Paul speaks of the compassionate sharing in cheerfulness, meaning as we share of ourselves with other and with God and we do so with a cheerful heart. This aligns with “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7). The best way I know how to get to that cheerful place is to start with love. God’s abundant and perfect love for you and then the love you have for God. Then giving can truly be a joy, and an expressing of faith rather than a duty or chore. To “the giver” Paul points to generosity which is truly seen in God’s generous nature with us. Our giving and generosity reflect who we are.
Love is the essence of our faith. It is to be unconditional, sacrificial and never ending. But, let’s be honest, there are times when loving others is not easy. Shoot, with some folks it’s hard to get to “liking,” much less loving!
Take the story of the Berlin Wall when it had just been erected. In the early days of the famous Wall, hostilities flared when truckloads of stinking garbage were dumped from East Berlin into West Berlin. Many residents wrote to the mayor demanding revenge for this offense, but he responded in a unique way. He asked the people to gather all the flowers in West Berlin and bring them to a certain place at the wall. Then as a great avalanche of beautiful and fragrant flowers was poured over the wall, a large banner was raised. Written on the banner were the words: “We each give what we have” (Sermons.com, Keith Wagner). We each give what we have, our time, our talents, our resources.
As we think about giving through the love of stranger and the love of giving, let us now turn to the love of community.
St. Andrew is wonderful loving community. We invest in one another and care for each other.
Paul speaks of the varied ways we each contribute to the community of faith, to the body of Christ. We are members one of another. The actions of unity, humility and love are examples of what it looks like to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. And we each give according to what we have been given. Teachers teach, leaders offer diligence. The body of Christ only thrives when we each lovingly give to the community to create the unified whole. We worship by practicing the kind of embodied gifts, gifts unique to you, then sharing them with our beloved community.
There was an interesting article in National Geographic about the Mbuti men of central Africa. They have a unique way of making music and reinforcing social bonds. The men whittle musical pipes out of soft wood. But each pipe is only able to play a single note. One man may whittle a pipe that can play an A flat; another may whittle a pipe that plays a D, another plays an F sharp. Because each man can only play one note, all the men must work together to create music. If one man is missing from the group, the music is noticeably different, lacking in harmony and richness that results when all the men are playing together. (Sermons.com, King Duncan) We see this right here with our bell choir and people working together with different notes to play beautiful music. What is the note you will pledge to share? What amazing music is God directing our community to make? As we answer those questions the love of community is coming together.
Henri Nouwen writes of a man of considerable means who wanted to support Nouwen’s book writing and spiritual insight. In classic Nouwen style, he was more interested in the person than in the money. So, over time he got to know the man and they became friends. Yes, the banker gave him money, but over the years it was the relationship that mattered. When the banker dies his family wanted to continue the giving. Nouwen writes, “What was impressive was that we all wanted to work for the kingdom, to build a community of love, to let something happen that was greater than we were individually (Spirituality of Fundraising, p. 40). That is what we do when we share our gifts with God and our faith community. We can do far more together as part of the body of Christ. We get to share our unique gifts with our community of faith, our community of love. Praise be to God, Amen!
