CELC The Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost

The Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost – October 9, 2005

Luke 1:30

A couple of Sunday’s ago Buzz Huntley caught me before worship and asked me to preach a stewardship sermon today. It was a great joy to me to hear the request. It felt good to be asked.

Stewardship begins with God. As faithful Christians we recognize that God has blessed us abundantly. Our affluence is a blessing, not the simple result of our effort. God is good and gives to us generously and then calls us to be accountable managers.

I thought long and hard about how I might illustrate what it means to be accountable managers. I remembered the story of the small French village in the wine country of France that wanted to offer a special gift to their mayor as he retired. It was decided each family would pour a pitcher of their finest wine into a large vat and the mayor would receive this as a gift. The families of village poured pitchers full for several days. Then, after many festivities the honored recipient found himself alone at home. He decided to try his wine. When he did he could not believe what he tasted. It was so diluted with water that it was unrecognizable. You see many villagers had assumed everyone else would pour a good pitcher full, so they thought, “I will just add water. No one will notice.”

Well, it is a story about accountability. But, it seems to me to be a story only designed to create guilt. Guilt may be the gift that keeps on giving, but it is a poor motivator of good stewardship. So, I don’t want to use the wine story this morning.

There was a second illustration that came to mind. I had heard along the way that a pastor actually did this: he took a slice of bread like the one I am holding and he tore it in pieces…a chunk for the mortgage, a chunk for the car payment, some for groceries, some for a doctor’s bill, some for tickets to the “Rolling Stones” concert and if there is any left, just a crust, one might give that God.

The pastor then took a second slice of bread and tore off about a tenth of it and said, “Good stewardship is a proportional gift before the rest of the bread gets allocated to our own wants.” It seems to be a good illustration, but I don’t want to use it today because it seems to me to be too manipulative.

A third example came to mind, one about a step ladder. I read this one in a newsletter. A pastor confessed to poor money management and how he got his priorities straight by thinking of a step ladder. But, like the other two examples, I don’t want to use it today because it is too simplistic and would be an insult to you. It assumes you don’t know how to prioritize your spending.

There is, though, another reason I reject all these illustrations. If I were to use them I would not be doing what I am called to do as a pastor. I am called to a ministry of Word and Sacrament, not to be a commentator on economic matters.

So, let me do what I am called to do. Hear the words of the first chapter of the gospel according to St. Luke: “The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.’” (Luke 1:30) You may recognize this verse. It is the angel Gabriel speaking to Mary, the mother of our Lord. Gabriel has come to announce to her that she will bear the Son of God, Christ.

Now it may seem odd to use this particular verse for a stewardship sermon, but I really like it. I like it for two reasons: first, the words “Do not be afraid.” Second, I like it because when Mary sings her song in response to the announcement it is a song of grace.

Let’s return to “Do not be afraid.” It seems to me that fear keeps us from being generous stewards. We are afraid to give because we are afraid that the many blessings we have will dry up and God will not bless us any more.

How do we overcome such a fear? How do we move ahead in confidence and faith? As always we turn to the cross to seek an answer. We live in the shadow of the cross as believers. It is there that we look to God for strength to overcome our fears. It is in the cross we see again that God gives first. God gives all that can be given, even his life itself. We look to the cross and see that Christ is not afraid, even of such a terrible death. And it is through the cross that we are forgiven all our sin and made new people, disciples who are intentional about their stewardship and their giving.

One famous theologian (Paul Tillich) said “Religion is first, an open hand to receive a gift and second, an acting hand to distribute gifts.” Indeed, in the cross we receive mercy and grace. It is our privilege to thankfully return a portion of what we are given.

I reflected at length on how I might make clear that the center of stewardship is faith in Christ. Then it came to me. Look carefully at our altar. What do you see? Do you see the “Chi Rho” in the center? These are the first two letters in Greek of the name “Christ.” The Chi Rho is there to remind us, lest we forget, that at the center of everything is the Christ of the cross. Note that it is not a dollar sign. We are not a club that worries only about ‘making a budget.’ We are a church that trusts in God that through the cross we have all we need and we can with freedom and love give, distribute gifts, for the mission of God’s people.

So, do not be afraid. Gabriel’s witness is true. With a confident faith receive the gift you have been given, and confidently distribute gifts in thanksgiving to God. Amen.

Pastor Robert F. Holley