A Portal for God's Peace We warmly welcome single persons, people of all races and families of every kind.   Sunday Service: Holy Eucharist at 9:30 am Child care is available   Church of Our Saviour 191 Flanagan Way (Rt 153) Secaucus, NJ 07094 Map and Directions   Tel: 201-863-1449 Fax: 201-863-1474 Mark A. Lewis, Vicar MLewis@secaucus.org Dorothy Fowlkes Pastoral Associate   This page revised 9 Sep 01 http://www.secaucus.org/ oursaviour		The Church of Our Saviour in the Town of Secaucus, New Jersey Home | Welcome | News | Sunday | Bulletin | Sermons Bookshop | Stewardship | Justice | Community | Links ----------------Leave frames---------------------   Christian Giving: Transfiguring Human Life A Talk on Stewardship on the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, 9 September 2001 By The Rev. Mark A. Lewis, Vicar Deuteronomy 30:15-20 / Psalm 1 Philemon 1-20 7 / Luke 14:25-33   It is my job and my joy to teach about giving. Nothing is more important if we're going to get real about living, and about the mission of the church. And I'm talking about the kind of giving that is measured in dollars. Dollars are important because they measure what we value. Dollars represent time, a commodity we value because we find it hard to protect and because time in this life is, quite literally, irreplaceable. I had a feeling recently that reminded me of what haunted me when I first came into the ordained ministry. I wondered then whether I would run out of things to say, because it seemed to me that I knew so little of God. I wonder now sometimes whether I've said every thing useful I know about giving. We'll see. So many things about the world and the neighborhood have changed since 1924 when a little group of people here -- working with the Diocese of Newark -- bought a pre-fab building kit from Sears, on credit guaranteed by a single woman of vision and drive named Rebecca Temple. She signed the mortgage and assumed the risk herself when no one else was willing. They put up this building (albeit across the street) and so our history here began. A few people gave us our start here. And the challenge began and continues to this day: To keep open this portal for God's peace here in Secaucus. And to do it by making people want to come through these doors and then, once here, help them grasp the meaning of a giving life. In the Law of Moses, it was crystal clear that the Israelites would be distinguished from other peoples in the land by the practice of giving a tithe -- that is, one tenth -- of all that they produced. It was equally clear that the proceeds from the tithe would be used for two purposes: the centralizing of worship and the welfare of the people, including the resident aliens and others who needed help. That practice continued. It was central to ancient Israel's existence, and it was in force in the time of Jesus. He reaffirmed the centrality of giving to living. But as with other laws he affirmed, he radicalized this one. Jesus said, "This is no longer law, it's a free choice." This is the good news -- this is the best news I have for you. There is no law, no law of membership in this church -- no arm that is going to reach into your pocketbook and take anything from you. You have the joy of making a free choice to give. There have been times in this congregation when our finances were out of kilter. The economy has risen and fallen over the decades. And the way people here have understood giving has ebbed and flowed with good and bad results. More than once -- and I want to mention this from time to time as long as I am honored to stay here- - the Episcopal Churchwomen have kept the doors of this church from closing permanently. And -- you realize -- that doors once closed tend to stay closed and nothing we accomplish today or tomorrow would be a reality if we had gone under in the 1960s. Thank you ECW. But, miraculously, we have always been a giving church. In good years and bad -- the records bear out -- accompanied by all kinds of cutting corners, we kept the ancient law of giving to others. And outreach and service helped us keep our soul. Understanding that we are a giving church saved us from becoming just another center of anxiety in this world and laid a foundation for the life we enjoy here today. There is no way to ask you to be a giver unless this church as a whole is a giver. I don't know how many churches try doing it the other way saying, "We'll act poor so that you'll be generous." It doesn't work. Here's the simple part. I've tried to talk about how we are a giving church with giving people in it. But I can be clear and direct about how I try to make sure this giving church and this giving people has a giving vicar. When a person catches a vision of how things can look from God's point of view, well, the personal work one always needs to do on giving is greatly stimulated. Jesus affirmed the ancient law of his people, or at least the goal of it. But he said it was no longer a matter of law, but of the heart. The wisdom that one gives a proportion of what one has is the matter of the heart. It was a revelation to me some years back when I saw that what when we talk about stewardship -- particularly about giving toward the maintenance of the church's work -- that we're not talking about fundraising. We're talking about transfiguring human life. Since I remember how much work I had to do myself on this, I don't -- and won' t -- demand the tithe in the sense of the literal one-tenth. I don't think I would be a tither myself yet if I weren't more of a full-timer in church life than most people are. Given the way most of us have been raised, it's just too daunting a concept. But I do ask that you think of your giving in percentage terms. Pay attention to it. Grow it. You may be thinking "What about the Federal Government taking 40% of what I make?" Well, I don't care what figure you start with. But, if everybody here were giving even three or four per cent of net, even after taxes, even after you pay what you think are your other sacred expenses, we would be in better shape than we are now. Somebody figured out a few years ago that if all the Episcopalians nationally were on welfare -- but tithed -- the church's giving would go up seven-fold. So, think about it. There are no excuses. Everyone can pick a percentage to give. Everyone can grow that percentage. That gets you off the mark of tossing the church a little tip -- even a big tip -- and into the realm where you are an invested partner in our work here together. There is some evidence -- no, a lot of evidence -- that when you do, you'll be more responsible about your whole life. (Now hear me carefully, I didn't say, "Pledge and God will give you a new job and make you prosperous. I just said that you will be in better shape because you will be more honest about what you have, and more ordered about what you give and how you spend.) I believe I've earned the right -- as many of you have -- to say to others: do it. Take stock of your life and your time and your talents and (particularly now) of your treasures. Pick a percentage. Write it down on an estimate of giving card. Fulfill it. And do it again, next year, and watch it grow. And watch this church grow. And watch yourself grow. In an old joke: A man was approached by a missionary for a contribution. The man protested that he was in debt, and the missionary said: "Don't you know that you owe more to God than to anyone else?" The man pondered this for a moment and then said, "Yes, but God isn't pressing me." But it is God who presses us. It's not me, or anyone else, checking up. It's God alone pressing us to be open to the grace of our growth. It's something fundamental built into the DNA of the human race. We are made to give in order to live. Note: This sermon is written after reading an essay by William Tully. My indebtedness to his thinking and expression is gratefully acknowledged. -- Mark Lewis   Your comments or questions are welcome MLewis@secaucus.org. Links to additional "Reflections on Lessons" may be found at the bottom of the Sunday web page. © 2001 -Church of Our Saviour Home | Welcome | News | Sunday | Bulletin | Sermons Bookshop | Stewardship | Justice | Community | Links http://www.secaucus.org/oursaviour Webmaster - DRoberts@Secaucus.org