Stewardship

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• Stewardship Sermon by Michael Hendricks
• Meditations on 2nd Corinthians by Michael Hendricks and Art Schoeller
• An Easier Way to Pledge
• Why I Pledge
• "Giving: What Have You Known and Learned?" By Andrea Cross, Stewardship Committee

Stewardship Sermon

October 9, 2011

This year’s giving campaign theme is one of those familiar Bible verses, Matthew 18:20. Jesus speaks about the kingdom of Heaven and about people learning to live together. And he says.

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

And what I can't help thinking about when I read those verses, are the numbers. Why two or three? And just as important, why not some other numbers?

In his science fiction novel The Gods Themselves, Isaac Asimov observes that there are really only three numbers: zero, one and infinity. What he means is that there are things that never happen. There are unique instances that happen once and never again. But that once something happens twice, there is no reason it can't happen again and again.

Let's talk about zero. We are so used to saying that God is everywhere. And let's be clear, Jesus does not say he won't be where no people or only one person is. But I believe the point here, at least regarding zero people, is that God is committed to people, to history, to us. Our God is the God who committed to people in creation, after the great flood, with Abraham, in the escape from Egypt, and over and over in the Bible and the world today. For some reason, God decided that the story of God's working in this world would involve us. Whether we like it or not, apparently we matter.

But if that takes care of zero, what about one? For so many of us, the times when we have felt God's presence, or at least our need for God, the most is when we've been alone. Many of us can recall a prayer offered up in school when we faced a particularly grueling test. And, more seriously, many of us sense God closest in the presence of death, disease, addiction, financial peril, divorce or other challenges that threaten us at our very core.

And, of course, I trust God is there for one person, too. But I don't think that that is what Jesus talks about here. What Jesus talks about here is the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of God made present here and now among us. And for that the minimum number Jesus seems to point to is two.

Why? Jesus doesn't say, but if you ask me, it's because two is the minimum number for love.

My friends, we gather together in God's name here today, again, as we gathered together last week and last month and last year and as we hope to gather together in the weeks and months and years to come. And in gathering together, in God's name, in love, Jesus tells us, God's Kingdom is made present.

Take a moment and look around. At the person next to you. Ahead of you and behind. Upstairs and down. These are the people God has chosen for us to gather with in love. Including the people we don't know that well. Including the people who maybe don't always see things the way we do. Including everyone who, just as much as we do, feels called to be here today.

Okay, maybe this sounds a little touchy-feely, but I don't think so. Because I don't think love is some invisible, syrupy emotion that is almost embarrassing to talk about.

I think love is at the core of why most of us have chosen Saugatuck as our church home and I think love is very visible. So what does love look like?

To me, it looks like a church school teacher stepping forward to teach for the first time. Or maybe a fifth year teacher. Or a tenth year teacher. Or fifteenth. Or more than 50th.

It looks like a new elevator that ensures that every child in our church school program and every person in this community who needs the support of the 12-step programs that take place in our rooms has access. For that matter, it looks like a welcome center and brand new classrooms and offices.

Love looks like our choir. Love looks like our Church Herald and web site both of which are instrumental in holding our congregation together and both of which exist primarily due to the dedication of very few individuals.

Love looks like a Pastoral Search Committee dedicated to bringing our congregation the best possible candidate. And a Capital Campaign Committee and Building Committee that have worked for years to bring about the building we enjoy today.

Love looks like Thanksgiving and Christmas Feasts. And a Christmas Fair. Dinners at the Gillespie Center. Gifts of fresh produce from the Farmers Market. A room filled with Angel Tree gifts or campership contributions. And donations to organizations in need all over Fairfield County and actually around the world.

Love looks like a Stephen Ministry Team. A By-laws Revision Committee. Members of this congregation who step forward to serve in offices, and as members or chairs on Boards and Committees. Then renew their tenures, simply because they are needed.

Love looks like Angel breakfasts. Pancake breakfasts. And play groups.

Love looks like a person we've never seen before standing alone at twilight on our front lawn in the middle of a Field of Flags. Love looks like receptions at Memorial Services. Like freshly baked Communion bread. Like Crafters and a Cemetery Committee.

Love looks like a new confirmation class filled with 11 confirmands. And young people who give up the beginnings of their summers every year to serve on mission trips and the adults who spend a week of their time to make sure these trips can happen.

Okay, it's a little hard for me to say this one, but I guess it looks like Story Tent to me, too. But that's so much because I get to see probably better than anyone else how many people give so much to make that happen.

It looks like a new Choir Director and a new Church School Director and Youth Program Leader. And also like the previous ones who served this church ably and with love and continue to make this congregation their spiritual home.

Love looks like an extremely generous bequest from Nikki Stone and others who have gone before us that have allowed us to move forward during a time of transition.

If I've forgotten anything, I ask your forgiveness. But more than that, I ask you to thank God because love really is so present in this congregation that it's hard to keep track of everywhere you see it.

In short, you wonder what love looks like at Saugatuck. My friends, look around you. Grab a mirror. It looks like you.

And sometimes, and very, very importantly, love also needs to look like this.

To bring in a new pastor, to keep our commitment to saving lives through our 12-step groups, to keep beautiful music in worship, to provide Christmas gifts to those who would otherwise not receive them, to keep our doors open to all who rely on Saugatuck for the only community they find on Thanksgiving and Christmas, to send inner-city children to camps they could otherwise not attend, to reach into the communities around us to give hope to those living on the edge … if that isn't the Kingdom of Heaven, what is? And for us to do all that, it's just a fact that love does need to look like a pledge.

Your pledging … my pledging … our pledging … our love … enables this church to do so much of the work that makes each of us grateful to be a member here.

As you approach your time to pledge, the Stewardship Committee asks that you think about the love that you have received as part of this congregation. And the love that you are able to express, to give through this congregation.

And that is why it's so important — so incredibly important — that every member — every single member — of this congregation pledges. Whatever they can. But that they pledge. Because pledging is an expression of love. Pledging is a concrete personal affirmation of all that is good about this congregation. An affirmation that you want this community to continue to be able to bring God's love to each other and to the community at large. An affirmation that you want to be part of God's plan to use this congregation to bring love to the world.

Listen to that list of love. God is in the midst of us when we truly gather together. Pledging is all about committing ourselves to making sure that we and those who follow will still be able to gather here tomorrow and in years to come.

We have been so blessed. May we be a blessing. Amen.

Michael Hendricks

Click here if you need a copy of the 2012 Pledge Card.

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Meditations on 2nd Corinthians

October 31, 2010

Michael Hendricks

I am going to begin with a confession. I am not much of a historian. With regard to today's scripture from Paul's letters to the Corinthians, I don't really know all that much about what it was like to be a Corinthian. I was able to look up a few things. Corinth was a very favorably situated seaport that became a center of trade, and, at least compared to the church in Jerusalem, the people in Corinth were pretty well off.

But in terms of how they saw themselves, there is so much I don't know. I don't know how they saw their economy. Were they nervous? Did they feel secure that the job they had that provided for them and their families today would still be there tomorrow or was there reason not to be so sure? Did they feel comfortable with the savings they had put away for themselves, or were changing times making them feel it was better now to be just a little more conservative? How were there home values holding up? And, of course, every time you thought you'd put away enough to send the kids off to the Socrates academy, the tuition probably just kept going up.

But, while I don't know the history, I feel a little more comfortable in the area of human nature. And what I'm guessing is that, if Paul thought it necessary to tell these Corinthians that they should be cheerful givers, it's because the one look he rarely saw on their faces when he began talking about giving, was probably a smile.

And I understand that, because if I'm going to be honest, there's probably more than a bit of a Corinthian in me.

It can feel scary out there these days. And it’s so easy to focus more on the threats to our well-being than on the many blessings we have received. But as real as those threats may be, as threatening as they might seem, we must never forget to open our eyes to the wonder of the communities in which we are blessed to live.

Do you still notice how beautiful our building is when you drive in on Sunday mornings? Do you still see the incredible green lawn as you approach? Do you take advantage of Summer Sundays at the Beach Services and see the waters of Long Island Sound meet the morning sky and hear the lap of waves as you join with so many of your Saugatuck friends to hear God’s word? I’m going to guess that for the vast majority of UCC churches in this country, let alone the world, these are not blessings that they would easily take for granted.

And yet like the Corinthians, when it’s time to say thank you, when it’s time to think about what I am able to give, for some reason, I still sometimes need to be reminded to smile.

And while our material blessings as a community are incredible, they really don’t compare to other gifts we readily share with each other. Howie and I speak all the time about a culture of volunteering. And while we can always do better, it’s hard not to be moved by the steadfast love shown by our Women’s Fellowship that provides receptions year in and year out for memorial services in our building. By the year in, year out dedication of our church school teachers. By the personal presence of those who every year serve at the Christmas and Thanksgiving feasts. By the countless hours spent in bringing powerful events like the Field of Flags to this community. By the years spent by Capital Campaign and Building Committees bringing us a completely renovated Church School wing. And, by the dozens and dozens of Saugatuck members, who so recently gave so much of their time with such open love so that this entire community could memorialize one whose loss was felt so very deeply.

When Art asked me to speak this morning, he said it was important for the leadership of the church to be visible in this campaign. From where I stand, I can truly say that you can look around yourself and almost every one on whom your gaze lands would qualify as a leader of this church.

And that is so important and impossible to overvalue. But, in spite of that, for some reason, it’s still hard not to need Paul’s reminder to smile when the issue of financial giving arises.

It really is up to each one of us. When I don’t show up, the work will either not get done, or more will fall on the shoulders of those who do. When I hold back, for whatever reason, then either we cannot do what we feel called to do, or others will have to give that much more to make up the difference.

If we choose, we can help make amazing things happen. The Spanish mystic St. Teresa of Avila put it very simply in a poem to which I take the liberty of adding just a few words of my own:

• Christ has no body but yours, (and mine)
• No hands, no feet on earth but yours, (and mine)
• Yours (and mine) are the eyes with which he looks
• Compassion on this world,
• Yours (and mine) are the feet with which he walks to do good,
• Yours (and mine) are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
• Yours (and mine) are the hands, yours (and mine) are the feet,
• Yours (and mine) are the eyes, you (and I) are his body.

The theme of this year’s Stewardship campaign is: Faithfully give, graciously receive. Paul reminds us that giving is a part of our faithfulness, an intrinsic part, as much a part as showing up when called.

We have received much from this church. This is our time to give.

With a smile.

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Art Schoeller

Thank you, Michael — and yes let’s keep smiling! So while Michael avoided the history lesson on Corinth, I chose to delve a bit deeper into it to help provide a deeper context for Paul’s words in this scripture reading from today. This was truly a challenging environment for Paul to land a church. Corinth was a very vibrant, diverse city and well positioned geographically to benefit from trade and commerce. It was located on a four mile wide isthmus between Northern and Southern Greece so it was key to the flow of goods to and from all four points of the compass. For this reason it was one of the richest trading and commercial centers in the Roman Empire. As a testament to its unique geographic advantage the population of Corinth grew to 700,000 in the space of only 100 years from the time Julius decided to rebuild it in 46 BC to the time Paul started to build the church there in 50 AD. The reason it had to be rebuilt was that the Romans destroyed the city earlier when they conquered Greece and left it desolate for a period of 100 years.

But with all this going for it — it came at a price. Corinth became synonymous with immorality. To live like a Corinthian meant to have extremely low moral standards and loose conduct. In Greek plays when they wanted to depict a drunk they often used a Corinthian to do that. Many other vices plagued the city, including prostitution, where the temple to Aphrodite provided a home and indeed a place to worship that oldest of professions. It is a credit to Paul’s tenacity as a missionary that he was able to establish a church in the city and keep it there. Time and time again he had to return, either via letter or in person to admonish them to live their lives according to faith. There was even a period of time that leaders emerged that challenged Paul’s credentials and authority, pushing adherence to Jewish Law as a key requirement to be a Christian.

It is in this context that Paul’s letters to the Corinthians dealt with the struggles of keeping their faith in the midst of all this turmoil. In some of my research 2nd Corinthians is depicted as being the most personal letter written by Paul, showing the raw emotions of his struggles being a missionary, but at the same time an incredible testament to the strength and power of his faith.

So why spend time on this history lesson? Not that I am trying to draw parallels between the Corinth of antiquity and Westport! Certainly we have issues, but I am not trying to paint our town and church community as the one Paul is speaking to. No, my purpose here is to paint the backdrop where Paul has chosen to explain one the greatest gifts God has given us, and that is the Gift of Giving. As stated in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son”. Through the gift of his son God modeled the gift of giving by sharing his unconditional love for us. Here in 2nd Corinthians Paul joins John in teaching us about the Gift of Giving and how we can experience the same joys.

First Paul tells us about sowing seeds, and that by sowing bountifully we will also reap bountifully. For any of us with experience planting you know it is somewhat of a ‘leap of faith’ that we engage in. Will all the seeds take? Will anything happen at all? Will there be enough rain, etc., etc.,.etc. So giving here is tied directly to an act of faith. We may not know where, when , how the gift may be used, but we trust in faith that the fruits of our gifts will bring joy in some way.

Second Paul addresses our state of mind as we give. Are we willing? Or are we feeling reluctant about giving? Do we feel pressured by a telemarketer on the phone, or for that matter the Chair of the Stewardship Committee. He very clearly assures us that God with his infinite love for us loves a cheerful giver, one that is doing it for the sheer joy of the act itself. It is not the amount, it is not where it is directed, it is not the purpose of the gift, but it is the inherent act of giving itself that should be the focus of our decision to give.

Next Paul addresses what I call the Return on Investment of giving. From my point of view I see these passages as ones where many preachers teach people to give and then EXPECT some THING in return. This statement that “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything you may share abundantly”. To view this passage as one where you are promised by God the next PowerBall jackpot so you can then share it with others is to me just not the right idea. Here I believe Paul is re-emphasizing simply the joy of giving, in much the same way my Grandma Gowan loved the look on our faces when she gave us our quarters. The abundance he speaks about is an abundance of God’s grace and the joy of giving.

The last point I want to cover from this scripture is utilizing the Gift of Giving amongst our community of faith. When Paul speaks here of the “needs of the saints’ he specifically means the church in Jerusalem. At that time the ‘home church’ was suffering not only from famine, but also poverty. He says that “they long for you and pray for you”. So the idea here is that as a community in Christ, we both give to and receive from each other the care, support, and prayers that God gives to us.

Our theme for this year’s Stewardship campaign is “Faithfully Give: Graciously Receive”. To me what better scripture passage to understand the underpinnings of faith that Giving provides, how it truly is a gift from God, and that we all can prepare to graciously receive the joys of giving.

In conclusion I want to share one final tidbit with you. In one of the readings I came across it stated that the better translation of the word cheerful was the word hilarious. While I tend to think God intended us to be joyful and laugh a lot — I just don’t think of us all filling out our pledge cards while rolling on the floor laughing. But that said I DO think about my Grandma Gown and how joyful she was, and indeed her smile of joy ended up having a lot of laughter and hilarity built into it.

For Michael and I we hope that the words we shared will help you all prayerfully consider how to Faithfully Give: and Graciously Receive.

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Why I Pledge

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Giving: What Have You Known and Learned?

Serving on the Stewardship Committee provides an opportunity, not only for connecting with the congregation, but also for personal reflection about giving. As a co-administrator of our Capital Campaign, giving has been at the forefront of my thinking for the past few years. I was inspired, during the active phase of that campaign, to witness individual acts of extraordinary generosity. In the joyful tallying of pledges, a picture emerges of a community of faith that is committed to the work of our church and optimistic about Living our Vision in the years to come. In asking you to consider your annual pledge to Saugatuck, it is with tremendous respect and gratitude for the financial commitments you may have already made. 

Giving is learned behavior, and my first experience with making a charitable contribution was at my church. Just like we do with our church school kids, I was given a box of small white envelopes and encouraged to make a weekly contribution. I well remember riding in the car on Sunday morning, sliding a big quarter from one corner of my envelope to another. I also recall how proud I was to drop my envelope into the offering basket; knowing that each of my gifts, as well as those of my church school classmates, would add up to a significant sum. My parents set an expectation that my sister and I should regularly give a portion of our allowance to church, but they didn't share with us any details of their own commitment-making, how they decided on a pledge amount, or the mechanics of their giving.

It took me awhile to grasp that my parents were monthly contributors. Before I figured this out, I was both confused and embarrassed as I frequently saw my parents wave away the collection plate. It was with great relief, but not until my teenage years, that I made the connection between my mother's reminders; "It's the first Sunday of the month, Hans" and my father's hurried retrieval of the checkbook before we left for church.

Not surprisingly, in most ways I parent my children as my parents parented me. David and I let our kids know early on that giving was a family value and expectation. We advocated the guideline of a third to savings, a third for spending and a third for charity. But we have not shared with our children our philosophies or our personal considerations and challenges as we make our annual pledge. It is likely that my children, if they join churches in adulthood will feel as clueless about annual giving as David and I did when we joined Saugatuck.

At the time we received our first pledge card; we looked blankly at each other and shrugged our shoulders. We listened to the words from the pulpit and from the kind and thoughtful members of the Stewardship committee. We looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders again. Words like "being a cheerful giver" or "give 'til it feels good" weren't providing specific direction. We wanted to give what was right, to pay our fair share as active members of this church community, and while I knew that the quarter in the envelope each week, or even $10 or $20 weekly wouldn't suffice, I also knew that tithing was beyond our reach. So I called my father, and his counsel provided a clear guideline. He suggested that I look at the church's annual budget, and divide it by the number of pledging units. This average pledge would be a good place to start our prayerful consideration of what commitment would be right for us. [In 2008 and 2009 the average pledge was ca. $3,150.00.]

How simple, why hadn't that occurred to us before? David and I considered this average figure, and we prayed on how to respond. We counted our blessings: our health, our growing family, our optimism that we would be gainfully employed for many years to come. We thought about the benefits that we derived from our church membership: the spiritual challenge and nourishment we received at each weekly service, the care that Robert received in the crib room, the value of being a part of a church community that would support us if we were ever in need. The responsible response for us was to stretch our pledge beyond the average, even while accepting the financial burdens of being young homeowners and needing to save for our children's futures. Each year, even in those where our financial compensation has not matched our optimism, we continue to approach our pledge with this same spirit of thanksgiving.

May the God of Peace be with you,

Andrea Cross
Stewardship Committee

Originally published in the October 2008 issue of The Herald

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