Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

 © 2020, Dr. Tamilio

If we played a game of word association, and I said dog, you would probably say: cat.

If I were to say chicken, you would say: egg.

If I were to say stewardship, you would say: oh, that’s when pastors tell their churches to give money.  As I’ve said before, you probably dislike hearing stewardship sermons as much as most pastors dislike delivering them.  It is difficult to not make them sound as if we are singing for our supper.  “Please give to the church — I need a paycheck.”

And it’s not just that.  So many people want our money — the mortgage company, the insurance company, the IRS.  Can’t the church be the one place that doesn’t demand that we open our wallets!

I looked up the word stewardship and found something interesting.  It’s made up of the words steward and ship.  The word steward has eight different definitions.  Here are the first two:

• a person who manages another’s property or financial affairs; one who administers anything as the agent of another or others.
• a person who has charge of the household of another, buying or obtaining food, directing the servants, etc.

What sticks out in this definition?  Two words: “another” and “others.”  Being a good steward does not mean that you are responsible when it comes to your money or possessions; it is about being responsible with other people’s money and possessions.  That changes everything.

If we are to be good stewards, that means that we are to be responsible with someone else’s money.  I think it’s pretty easy to figure out whose money and possessions we are talking about.

Everything we have is due to God’s grace in our lives.  I had a colleague in the UCC that used to balk at such claims.  His argument was that if we say that everything in our lives is a gift from God, then what are we saying about people who have nothing?  Did God not bless them?  Does God not love them?  Fair enough, but the basic idea holds: everything that we have belongs to the God, ultimately, because it came from God.  Therefore, when we talk about stewardship, we need to put things in their proper perspective.  The very word “steward” has to do with taking care of that which belongs to someone else.  Our gifts are God’s gifts: be they possessions, money, or abilities.

Thomas Gumbleton writes the following: “None of us earned our life.  None of us continues to earn our lives.  It’s all a gift from God.  All of creation is a gift of God.  None of us can earn that, and if we think we’ve earned it, you’ve made a mistake.  We underestimate what God has given us.  The world itself, and all the blessings that are on our earth: God gave that to us.  We never made it or earned it, and our individual lives are a gift.  Our abilities and everything we have is a gift from God.”[1]

If Gumbleton is correct, and I believe he is, then we need to think about all the ways we spend our money — not just what we give to the church.  How does our spending reflect what we believe?  We will get back to the church giving part of this in a minute, but stop and ask yourself for a moment: “How does the way I spend my money outside of church give glory to God?  After all, all that we have is his anyway?”  That’s a tough question to ask and answer.  Not every cent I spent gives glory to God, that’s for sure.  Then we need to ask ourselves how much we give directly give to God.  Does it reflect our faith?  Does it reflect the gratitude we feel for the blessings that God has poured into our lives, the salvation that we have been granted through the life and work of Jesus?

Now hold on a second.  I know this is the way that most stewardship sermons proceed.  Does the amount of your pledge reflect your faith in and love of God?  Either that, or preachers will use scare tactics: if you do not want our church to lay-off staff or, even worse, close our doors, then you need to increase your pledge.  That is not where I am going here.

Actually, I think we are a very generous congregation.  By and large, our members give what they can to fund our budget and outreach endeavors.  Many of you have risen to the occasion to help fund our Capital Campaign as well, which is nearing its end.  I thank you on behalf of the leadership of this church.  Our health is due to your generosity and commitment to our goals and objectives as a congregation.

Believe it or not, next Sunday is the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  (The year 2020 is quickly coming to an end.  Thank goodness for that!)  Thanksgiving Sunday is typically the day that we collect our pledges.  Leading up to that day, we have three members of the congregation stand-up on consecutive Sundays explaining what they love about this church.  We are not going to do that this year for a few reasons.  Instead, you’re going to do this.

Yes, all of you.

No, you do not need to come to the lectern and tell your story.  Instead, take the piece of paper that is in front of you in the pew.  (We have additional paper if you need any.)  While our maestro Richard Harvey is playing for a couple of minutes, I want you to jot down what you love about this church, or write a point or two about what this church means to you.  After the service, please deposit what you wrote in the basket by the exit door.  We would like to spread some good vibes (some good “juju”) as we share the testimony of our members and friends with other members and friends.  Put your name on this if you would.  That’s not required.  These aren’t going to be graded.

People write out what this church means to them…

Richard plays while they do so…

This is who we are.

This is what we are.

We are a people united in fellowship — united in the love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

[1] Thomas Gumbleton, “Everything We Have Is a Gift from God, And All Belongs to Him,” from The National Catholic Reporter (online), October 18, 2012.