Our Stewardship Mission: Part 3
Sermon 3 for Stewardship Mission
Sunday 27th February 2011,
Romans 8.18-25; Matthew 6.25-34
This is the third in a series of sermons as we make final preparations for our Stewardship Mission, to be launched next Sunday. In the first I used our new Parish Theology to set the background for what we are doing by asking the all important questions:
What is God like?
What sort of a God is this Stewardship Mission inviting me to renew my commitment to?
And alongside this: What sort of a church do I belong to?
What sort of a church do I want to see developing, and becoming stronger in the next few years?
What makes St Paul’s and St Matthew’s distinctive?
What makes us different?
What marks us out as exciting and worthy of support?
God is the one, who, at the beginning of time set in motion the processes that led to what we call Creation. God, whose nature is pure goodness, made possible everything that we know and love and enjoy. For example: in a very real way, my monthly salary and yours, was made possible as a gift by God at the beginning of time.
Everything you and I possess is God’s gift to us. It is entrusted to us while we are alive on earth; and then we have to leave it behind.
Last week I gave a personal testimony of how I became committed to Regular Giving.
I explained the important distinction between the, principle, of giving as part of Christian commitment, and the, need, of any particular church at any particular time.
What developed in the days of the Old Testament, and continued into the New Testament period, is the principle of “Giving Back” to God the first fruits they had received from him.
From this, what is known as “tithing”, came into being.
This is a notoriously complex and sensitive area to expound. The sort of ground, you might say; on which even angels fear to tread. But it’s really helpful in getting an understanding of the Principle of Christian Giving.
The Church of England teaches us to aim to give away a tenth of our income. Half to the local church, and half to other charities of our choice.
Sometimes people ask me: “Peter, how much should I give to the church”.
I feel I need to respond to this question and I want to offer you an answer. It’s an answer that I have found myself able to be committed to.
HEALTH WARNING
At this point: Please may I stress in huge, bold, capital, underlined, letters: this is what I personally have become committed to, within my circumstances. It is for each of us to work out what is right for us; privately and prayerfully.
Each of us has a unique set of circumstances
Having in mind, the principle, of giving 5% of my income to the local church as advised by the Church of England.
10% of my take home pay was more I can manage. But what I can afford; and want to give; and am committed to giving; is half that amount. In other words 2.5% of my take home pay.
So there it is. I offer it to you, as both an aspirational guide; and as a target to aim for.
Today’s bible readings are vibrant with relevance as we prepare for our Stewardship Mission.
Jesus said: “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”
After church last Sunday in response to my sermon someone told me of a really hard time they had a few years ago. They had to leave their home of many years, with nothing more than a toothbrush. This person then added: “this experience taught me that what is most important, is not what we have, not what we own; but our closest relationships and being part of a community.”
A few weeks ago I was chatting with someone in a pub who described church as giving him three things: the first was a sense of identity; the second was a sense of community, and the third a sense of perspective.
When I asked for input to this series of sermons: someone sent this e.mail: “When I committed myself to this parish, I was unable to give much in the way of money, as, although I lived very comfortably indeed, it was largely because of my husband's income. He was happy for me to spend his money but not to give it away.”
Commitment is a sign of faith, and is expressed in many ways; small and great. In my tribute to Pam Wright at the Thanksgiving service on Thursday I listed some of the things she had been involved with in the 40 years she was part of this church.
“In this parish; Pam was a member of the pastoral care group, the healing group and a house group; she helped at Sunday School, edited and collated the parish magazine, was a member of Churches Together in Winchester, organised the local Christian Aid collections, was a leader of the Mother’s Union, helped at GAMP;.... and much more besides.”
Harry, our much beloved friend, drew the beautiful poppy emerging through the paving slabs. With the title: “Flowers between the paving slabs”
We used this for our Vision Day. It appears on the March Magazine Cover and in the Stewardship booklet. Pam and Harry together offer us the most powerful example of humble committed service to the local church. I sense them encouraging us. They’re saying something like: “think hard, and pray fervently about your renewed commitment to Jesus Christ over these next few weeks.”
Words from today’s epistle speak deeply into our human condition, particularly as we hold in our prayers the people of the Middle East.
“I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God”
We are those children in this place, and our true nature is constantly being revealed. That revealing, of who we are, and what we are like, often emerges through the paving slabs of pain and suffering.
We live as those who are hugely richly blessed. In World terms we are the wealthy in nearly every way. And yet the daily working out of our identity, and of where we belong; of who loves us and who we love, is often the stuff of deep agony.
When our inner lives are nourished and our hearts are touched by the amazing love of God, extraordinary things really do happen.
Inner spiritual nourishment really does energise the way we live.