Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Amos 8:4-7
I Timothy 2:1-8
Luke 16:1-13

If you had been a fly on the wall during our vestry meetings over the summer, you would have seen us engaged in an animated discussion about money.  The question that was causing such animated discussion among us this summer was a suggestion made by one of our parishioners that we consider giving our outreach committee a portion of the money we receive from pledges to the church, that is, a portion of the money you pledge to the church every year during the annual appeal.  While some people felt very strongly that the biblical understanding of stewardship, what we do with the resources God has gifted us with, pushes us to give away a portion of what we receive, others felt that we should not even consider giving away money at this time because we are not able to cover the cost of running the church without the money we take from our endowment. 

What muddied the water even more is the fact that two years ago we decided to use a significant amount of money from the endowment to seed new ministries and programs.  We did that by hiring new staff and developing programs for music, children, youth and education to mention just a few.   At the time the vestry felt comfortable using some of the endowment as seed money but didn't feel comfortable using the endowment to support the cost of ministry at St. Peter's for a long period of time.  So we came up with a plan that would enable us by the year 2009 to reach a more acceptable level of draw-down from the endowment than was needed to jump start the new ministry initiatives.   We would incrementally reduce the amount taken from the endowment over the next 4 years by raising our income by 12% each year at the same time holding the budget to only a 3% increase each year.  As you can see, this is quite a daunting challenge and the vestry is only too aware of what we are facing.  Although we actually surpassed our goal of 12% last year, the thought of intentionally giving away money when we don't yet have what we need to run a fiscally responsible organization does not seem prudent to some among us.  Hence the animated discussion!

Now while I have my own opinion about what we should and should not do which I have shared with the vestry, in the end I believe that whatever we do will be fine in the end, because whatever happens, we are trying to responsibly make the most faithful response to God with the resources we have been given.  The most important thing is that we are having this discussion, and this is a discussion that should be taking place not only among the leaders of our community but in every single household that considers itself a part of St. Peter's.  How do we best use our resources not just for our own pleasure but to faithfully support the coming of God's kingdom here on earth?  What does it mean for us to give generously of all we have been given, our time and talent and treasure?

Scripture would suggest that learning to give generously is crucial to our relationship with God.  After all, God is by definition the great giver, the one who gives us our very existence, the one who created everything that is.  Over and over again throughout scripture we are encouraged to give generously as God has given generously to us - not because God needs our gifts, everything comes from God in the first place, but because the practice of giving generously will draw us into a deeper understanding of and love for God.  And that's the reason we're here in the first place, isn't it?  But there's a hitch here.  In order to qualify as generosity the gift we give must be something of value to us.  Hence the conversation in the vestry!  Do we give away some of our much needed, valuable financial assets, or do we prudently wait until we have reached our goal before deciding how much to give away?

I suggest that the conversation in which we are engaged is no different than the dilemma we face as families.  When it comes to deciding how to use our money each year, do we pledge a proportion of our income as an act of faith in God, or do we wait until we decide how much we have left over before deciding how much to give?  You see, if you're like our family there is never a time when we feel we have more than we need.  We started to give proportionally in spite of the fact that it was difficult, as a simple act of faith and trust that God out of his great love for us would take care of our needs, even though at the time it can feels scary and dangerous to give something precious away.  Can I tell you the ways in which God has cared for my family and me in extraordinary and wonderful ways?  Yes, over and over again.  Am I glad we have taken this path?  I can tell you that the mere fact of discussing year after year how much we will give back to God gives us an opportunity to take stock of our lives, to look at all that we are doing and make choices about what is important and what we can let go of.  It is all too easy to get caught up in a cycle of needing and wanting more and more, forgetting how much we already have in comparison to so many in this world. 

I realize that the topic of money is not a popular topic for church.  We don't much like talking about money in church because it seems somehow less than spiritual.  But it was a topic Jesus addressed over and over again.  The parable we read today is just one in a long line of stories Jesus tells about how to handle wealth.  It teaches us that we will be held accountable by God for the decisions we make in determining the use of our resources.  It also teaches us how important it is to be wise in the way we use our resources.  Faced with a dilemma the worker in our parable, pink slip in hand because of the way he has misused his master's trust quickly determines a course of action that will secure his future.  Wise use of God's resources must always include generous giving, because that's who God is, and that's who God wants us to be.  Every year we are offered the opportunity to take stock of the way we are living, and consider how we will use our resources.  Will we recognize that we are simply stewards of the gifts we have been given?  Will we be faithful to the trust God has placed with us?  Or will we fail in our responsibility to give freely and generously to God's mission in the world?

When the prophet Amos traveled from a village in south Judah to the northern kingdom of Israel he couldn't believe what he saw.  A shepherd from the desert, Amos came from a place where families struggled daily to eke out a living in the drought and heat.  He couldn't believe that here in this rich agricultural land, flowing with milk and honey there could be such dire poverty.  He was staggered to find out that although on the surface people were seemingly engaged in pious acts the same people had little sense of connection between their faith, their use of resources and their relationships with one another.  They appeared to play by God's rules but took freely from the powerless while secretly exploiting the poor.  Through Amos God condemns their duplicitous behavior.  They had failed to use wisely the gifts they had been given by God.  They had chosen to forget that they too were once strangers in a foreign land, completely dependent upon God's generosity.  The invitation to generous giving is not intended to make life harder than it already is.  It is a spiritual practice that will enable to maintain a healthy relationship to God and our neighbors all over the world.

 As a step towards making a faithful response to God in our use of finances the vestry has tentatively agreed to give away some percentage of the income we receive for works of compassion.  At the moment we are talking about giving .7% of our income this year.  Why .7%?  Because at the 2008 G8 summit the United Nations recommend that .7% of the total income received by each of the developed countries be given to achieve the eight Millenium Development Goals which would eventually eradicate extreme poverty in our world.  Giving from a place of gratitude for all we have been given is the beginning of a deeper, more fulfilling relationship with the God who created all things.  It is an important conversation for those of us who desire an ever deepening walk with Christ.

In the words of Melody Beattie:
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance,
Chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home,
A stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today,
And creates a vision for tomorrow."