October 31, 2004
The Well Church:  Where you can make a difference.
Riley E. Jensen

As I mentioned last week, a strong case can be made for the health and well-being of Westminster Church if only on the basis of our strong record of giving year-in-and-year-out.  It is a tribute to the health of this church that the strength of your giving has not diminished despite the difficult economic times that we have faced in our area over the last four years.

My colleague, Al Weenink (who tracks these things), hands me a report every year that puts Westminster in the top five churches in the state for per capita giving and mission giving.  For me that statistic is all the more remarkable because we are not a wealthy church but we are clearly a generous church, and that is less a mark of our history than it is our character.

Now some might be saying, “If what you are saying is true, Riley, why do we even need to hear another stewardship sermon?”  And I would respond, “We are who we are because we have never lost sight of this aspect of our identity.”  I would further contend that there is nothing closer to the heart of our identity as Christians than how we think about and how we act upon what we know about giving and receiving.

Therefore, we need to keep this aspect of our identity before us both because of who we are and because there is so much misinformation out there.  I think of the investment counselor of one of my former parishioners who strongly advised her against charitable giving.  He considered it wasted money because there was no return.

That kind of mentality could not be more wrong.  And I want to challenge it this morning by building on Paul’s advice to the Corinthians when he tells them that when he asks them to give, he is asking them to do what is in their own interest.  And it is in their own interest because in making a difference for others they are making a difference for themselves.  I want to build on that this morning by challenging you to make a difference by giving -- to the right cause, for the right reason, and by giving of yourself.

I.                 You Can Make a Difference by Giving to the Right Cause

I had a phone call the other night which came to me right in the middle of the dinner hour, so you know I was not as receptive as I might have been.  There was a sweet, yet persistent voice at the other end obviously reading from a script as she made her pitch for me to give to the worthy cause that she represented.

In fact, in a weak moment we had given to that cause last year never intending to become regular yearly contributors who would increase our giving every year.  However, that was clearly the expectation as I tried to beg off in every way I could.  Finally, after saying “no” a half dozen times I had to hang up on this nice person in mid-sentence because she seemed unable to take “no” for an answer.

She was just doing her job and doing it well.  And I felt I was doing my job.  It was not that I did not want to give.  It was not that I did not consider her cause worthy.  It was just that for me, it was not the right cause given the limited resources which I had to contribute.

I suspect that is where many of us come out.  We want to be generous people who want to make the most of our resources by giving to that which we really believe in.  If we were a Rotary Club, I would be fined for taking advantage of a relatively captive audience by presenting my pet cause -- one in which I obviously have considerable vested interest.  However, I can get away with it here, because my cause is your cause too.

I should not have to use all of the manipulative techniques available in order to get you to give.  I don’t approach my job like the person who referred to the passage in the book of Revelation that talks about the book that no one can open telling his audience that many believe that refers to the checkbook.

Frankly, my role this morning is a fundraiser’s delight.  I am speaking to committed people who want to support their church because they believe in it and believe in what it is doing.  And yet, it is still appropriate to remind even the most committed among us why we believe this is the right cause; why your church continues to be a proper and wise choice for your stewardship giving.

We have captured in our scripture lesson a side of the Apostle Paul that we often do not see.  Here he has his hand out taking up a collection.  This is all the more unusual because Paul took great personal pride in being a self-supporting itinerant preacher.  Remember he supported himself as a tent-maker so that he would not have to be financially dependant upon anyone.  That gave him the freedom to urge the greatest kind of generosity upon his brothers and sisters in Christ at Corinth.

Here the Apostle is urging the practical application of a concept which he had developed in a previous letter to the Church at Corinth.  He talked to them at that time about the nature of the body of Christ.  He taught them that though we are different parts, we are all one body with different gifts and different functions -- all necessary if the body is to function as it was originally intended.  He taught them that when one part of the body is in pain, the whole body hurts.

And now he is coming to them with a very practical application of that teaching, urging them to generously support a relief effort for needy Christians in Jerusalem.  We can tell from the tone of the letter that this request was met with some initial skepticism.  Some Corinthians were concerned about whether this was truly a worthy cause which merited their support.

In fairness they were trying to make the judgment that we all have to make when we ask the question, “Is this the right cause?”  I submit that we answered that question when we first decided to become Christians and follow Jesus Christ.  And yet a consumer culture doesn’t understand that the church is more like an organism than an organization.  We don’t support Christian education, or mission, or music separately but rather all feed each other as we work and grow to the glory of God.

II.             You Can Make a Difference by Giving for the Right Reason

Secondly, let me suggest that you can make a difference by giving for the right reason.  I had a dear Aunt who was more like a grandmother to me.   My Aunt Flo lived a full and colorful life.  With her husband she spent her working life in the tavern business, and she charmed more than one drunk out the door and on his way before he could cause trouble.

Formal religion had not played much of a role in her life, but I do remember one occasion when she took a stab at it.  I was living near her and doing a seminary internship at the time.  I would often sneak over at lunch time for a quick coke and ham sandwich and we would visit.  She told me (the young aspiring minister) with some pride that she had begun to attend a little church nearby and seemed to find great comfort in its services.

When stewardship time came (even though she wasn’t a member) she made a pledge in good faith and with great generosity.  But then something very sad happened.  The minister of that church would not accept her pledge.  He considered it to be tainted money, earned as it was by selling spirits.  That was the last time my Aunt Flo ever darkened the door of a church.

Upon learning this I was obviously troubled because this person whom I had known as a loving person and an unselfish person had been hurt by the very church I was preparing to give my life to.  I went to the minister under whom I was doing my internship and asked his advice.  He said to me, “Just tell your Aunt to send her money over here, because the minute it enters these doors it is immediately sanctified.”

Though I do not agree with the minister who rejected my Aunt’s generosity, neither do I agree with my supervising minister who treated money as absolutely neutral and was willing to launder it with no questions asked.  What both failed to understand was that she was giving for the right reason.

In Verse 8 of our scripture lesson, Paul is asking the Corinthians to offer their gifts not out of duty, or obligation, or unquestioning obedience, but he asks them to offer it as a token of the sincerity of their love.  You see, from a Biblical perspective money is not neutral.  It is an extension of who we are.  It is an extension of the commitments we make and the values we believe in.  The Scripture is right when it says, “Where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”  It cannot be any other way and we deceive ourselves if we think otherwise.

I have been around the church long enough to know that there can be a certain cynicism abroad around this time of year.  It is almost a dare: “Nobody is going to make me give more than I want to give.”  That is absolutely true and I would not debate it for a moment.  But neither is it the point.  The point in the words of the Apostle Paul has to do with “putting your love to the test”.

You see, money is not neutral.  It is an extension of your values and your commitments.  It is an extension of your love for Christ.  As a Christian, what you do with it is always measured against how it can best show forth the love of Christ -- and that is the right reason for giving.

III.         You Can Make a Difference by Giving of Yourself

As much as we say that this matter of stewardship is a personal decision, it is certainly not an isolated decision.  For we are often motivated by the example of others.  When I first met Tom, he was a young man not yet 30.  He was just beginning what was to become a very successful career in New York’s financial community.  It came to my attention that he was very generous in his support of the church, and so one day when I had the opportunity I engaged him in conversation about his philosophy of stewardship.  He responded easily with no hint of awkwardness, “Oh, what I give to the church is the easiest financial decision I have to make,” he said.  “I had a grandfather who taught me that before you do anything, you give ten percent to the church off the top.”

I tell you that you are lucky if you are fortunate enough to have that kind of example in life.  In this way Paul is holding before the Corinthians the example of the Macedonian Christians.  He says a very interesting thing about them and it is a point which we too often gloss over in our talk of stewardship.

We tend to be very results-oriented.  We head right for the bottom line without passing “Go”.  Paul was concerned with the bottom line too.  There were needy Christians in Jerusalem who needed financial support.  Prayers alone would not do it.  However, in making his case to the Corinthians he urges them that they can make a difference not only by giving to the right cause for the right reason but also by giving of themselves.  He describes in Verse 5 what qualified the Macedonians as such outstanding givers, “They first gave of themselves to the Lord.”

Do you remember those lines from James Russell Lowell’s poem, “The Vision of Sir Launful,” -- “Who gives himself with his alms feeds three -- himself, his hungry neighbor, and me!”

Some years ago the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania overflowed its banks and flooded a number of homes in the Harrisburg area.  Not unlike our recent experience in Florida and the Gulf Coast the area had to be evacuated.  One family upon returning found their house to be a mess of mud and slime.  While they were dejectedly surveying the damage, a truck pulled up and five men appeared with shovels and wheelbarrows.  “May we help?” they asked.

They were Mennonites from the nearby Pennsylvania Dutch county.  For three days they worked -- cleaning, mopping, pulling up carpets, and repairing.  Then as they prepared to leave the family offered them money for their services.  “Not at all”, they said.  “You honored us by letting us work.”  You see, theirs was a ministry in which they had first given of themselves.  And once having given of themselves, they could do nothing but let their gifts of time, and energy, and resources flow naturally from that initial commitment.

That’s my picture of stewardship; no one had to promote or persuade.  Commitment was yoked with compassion and the response could not be held back.  Otherwise it would have found an outlet somewhere else.

Every year at this time the question is raised by someone -- give me a number; tell me what you expect!   What is the estimated percentage of growth in the budget and I will give my fair share.  Those numbers are certainly available to you, and you have had them before you during the course of this year’s stewardship campaign.  But I have to tell you that if I had my ideal world, they would not be available at all.

From my point of view this has less to do with full disclosure and everything to do with spiritual growth.  The truth is that we limit our spiritual growth through giving to the extent that we focus on budgets, and fair shares, and putting a cap on giving.  The Christian does not measure her or his giving according to someone else’s giving.  Christians are called to give first of themselves, and then your treasure will follow your heart.

The joy of stewardship is that we have a journey to celebrate where we have come to know the love of God.  The promise of stewardship is:  You can make a difference because no matter how much you give in dollars, you can give of yourself.  And when that kind of commitment is operating among the people of God -- when the promise of stewardship combines with the excitement of commitment, there is no question that God will meet our every need.

Amen.