A chorus of your voices singing praises of thanksgiving for God’s generosity
Good morning. I am happy to be with you this morning with a message about stewardship as we approach Commitment Sunday, November 12.
A couple of years ago, I started a communications business, hoping to share my experience and skills with organizations and people whose work I respected and admired. About a year ago, with an assist from Dr. Baer, I was hired by the Presbyterian Foundation, the PCUSA’s organization which “gathers, stewards and distributes funds for mission.” My first assignment was to rethink and rewrite 2 publications – one focused on individual estate planning and the other focused on helping churches establish planned giving programs, like our 1820 Society. (I’ll be signing copies in the atrium after the 11:00 service...)
I share that to say this: I have been thinking A LOT these past 13 months or so about why people give to their churches – and, frankly, why and in what spirit I give.
Now, I know that sounds like I’m about to reveal some magic formula I’ve discovered, some combination of words that no one else has ever come up with that will unlock the secret to joyful giving, double our budget, and send us all home on Commitment Sunday singing and shouting in very un-Presbyterian ways. Hate to disappoint you, but I don’t have that.
Fortunately, it’s all been written for us. Psalm 24: The Earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it. Psalm 95: Let us come into the Lord’s presence with thanksgiving, let us make a joyful noise with songs of praise. Matthew 6:21: Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And Mark 8:36: For what will it profit them to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their life?
Some commentaries say that Jesus talked about money more than any other topic; others dispute that assertion. Here’s what I know: Jesus talked about money a whole lot. And I think I know why: He talked about money so much because he knows we don’t want to talk about it, especially in church. And, frankly, we as a church have not done a good job of talking about money as an act of worship and joy and praise, instead making it about obligation and duty and responsibility. A speaker at an online session I attended for the Foundation called this the “Law instead of Love” approach.
I’m not naïve. We need money to be the church we say we want to be. I’m on Session and we spend a good bit of time at our meetings reviewing the financial statements. But here’s what my year of thinking about stewardship has changed in me: I see those numbers as individual and collective statements of faith in God. They are lights shining through the darkness that seems to surround us at times. They are a chorus of your voices singing praises of thanksgiving for God’s generosity.
“The Earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.” You are a child of God, as am I. All that we have is a gift from God. Please be joyfully generous as you consider your commitment to our church.
Chuck Toney
Session Member, Class of 2024