Let me tell you, you haven’t heard anything until you have heard "Mr. Swan," as he is known to the children of WECP, play the old upright in the second floor chapel of the Butzer Building…room full of little cherubs singing along.
One of my favorite songs goes like this, "love is something if you give it away. Love is like a magic penny, hold it tight and you won’t have many. Lend it, spend it and you’ll have so many they’ll roll all over the floor. Love is something if you give it away."
After the chapel service, classes are dismissed one at a time. And every time, it never fails, filled with the spirit of that song, one or two or three children break ranks from their single file exiting the chapel and rush over, arms open, to give Mr. Swan or Mrs. Dearing or Mrs. Spitler, or the story teller – me or Doug or Sandy – a hug and kiss. Can you imagine having a workplace like that! Love is something when you receive it from a child.
That is what we are talking about today, how love multiples when we give it away.
Let me recap our sermon series. We have been talking about our vision for a new millennium. Before you know where you are going, you have to know who you are. That was week one. Week two we said this process is called visioning because in order to see where you are going in the present you have to be able to see into the distant future.
One of my long-term goals this year is to learn to play the game of squash. Given my goal, the first thing I had to do was acquire a squash racket. Next, I acquired some new squash shoes. I did not absolutely have to have these squash shoes. But they looked pretty cool. They adhere to the court better than regular tennis shoes. At least, that is what I told the treasurer in our house. Finally, equipped, I had to learn the rules of this new game and develop my strokes and strategies.
That’s what a long-term goal does for you. It helps you identify what you have to do right now – the steps you need to take – to get where you want to be. What we’ll be talking about today and for the next couple of weeks are the steps we need to take now to get where we want to be in ten to fifteen years as a church.
Given the ten to fifteen year long-term vision we talked about last week, our church leaders said the three most important things we need to do now is to focus on stewardship, membership, and pastoral care and spiritual growth.
When we talk about ten to fifteen year goals such as doubling the size of the congregation, teaching thirty congregations how to adopt a block like we have done with Ferguson Ave., expanding our parish neighborhood to every member of Westminster, our church leaders said a vibrant, growing stewardship program was step number one. Like getting the squash racket.
So we’re talking today about multiplying our gifts, about stewardship. I am not asking you to make a financial commitment today. You’ve already done that. Magnificently.
Rather, I want us to reflect today about stewardship in two ways.
First, what is it? And second, how does it work in a congregation?
What is stewardship? There are more than 2,000 references to stewardship in the bible. More than to any other subject, heaven, hell, love, faith, healing, evangelism you name it. And of all those stewardship stories, the parable of the talents, best describes what it is. But the story is not easy. Recently, the fiancé of a daughter of Westminster was visiting his future in-laws here in Buffalo. He is a bright, young professional, raised in the church, yet since college and graduate school, not actively practicing his faith. Until this fall.
His impending marriage caused him to think about his faith, his relationship to the church, plans for a family. He started reading the bible, praying regularly.
He found a little meditation guide he read on the train in the morning on the way to work in Chicago. It started making sense. He began to see the presence of God in his life. Hear the call of discipleship in his daily living.
But then…then he read the parable of the talents in his daily guide. Suddenly, everything about his resurgence of faith turned sour. What kind of God is it we worship who rewards the two who play fast and loose with the resources entrusted to them and sends into outer darkness the one who plays it safe? Not exactly the kind of philosophy a soon to be husband and family man is likely to adopt.
I have to say I was impressed with this young man’s honesty, his dislike for this parable.
If all one has to do to earn eternal darkness is to be cautiously circumspect – like the servant in the story who buries the master’s talent – then most folks are unlikely to escape such a fate. First-time parents paying mortgages and saving for college for one example.
But let’s look more closely. The key to understanding the parable has less to do with how we manage money per se than it does with how we live our lives. You might say we have done a disservice to the concept of stewardship by using it as the name for our annual fund-raising drive. The best synonym I can think of for stewardship is discipleship.
Discipleship refers to how we live the whole of our lives as followers of Jesus. It is that relationship not the property we hold that drives, or should drive, our living and decision-making. Here, the Zen admonition to let go of our attachment to things makes good sense. We would do well to empty our hands of all the material stuff so we might wrap our arms around God who stands before us like a father with open arms for a prodigal child.
Consider the parable. When the master returns and says to the one who traded five talents and the one who traded two talents, "Well done good and trustworthy slave," the shoe drops. Jesus might have said, "well done good and lucky slave," or "well done good and foolish slave," but "well done good and trustworthy slave" is our clue.
He’s talking about discipleship. The secret of being a trustworthy disciple is not passive waiting, circumspection, strict obedience to rules, or a life of hoarding and protecting.
Rather it is taking initiative and risk. Using all that we have to expand ministry, spread the gospel, share the message of life. We’re not talking about survival mentality.
I will never forget a United Way executive, of all people – a modern day Amos – in Pennsylvania preaching to me that churches, congregations in communities, had more potential, more resources – volunteers, buildings, respect and credibility – to transform our communities and cities for the better than any other agencies or organizations.
"You know the problem," he said, "they are afraid of dying. Afraid of not being able to pay the bills. Their concern is survival. Not service. Keeping not giving. Protecting not using."
"They’ve forgotten the gospel," he said with appropriate righteous indignation. "They live in fear not trust." They’ve buried their talents.
So, point number one: what is stewardship? It is not a fund-raising plan, or an investment strategy or even the distribution of resources.
The parable of the talents tells us it is a way of life. It is living in response to the One who gives us life. It is a spirit of joie de vivre, kindness, generosity, trust.
It is a willingness to go for it, for God’s sake.
Question number two: how does stewardship work in a congregation? There is a very powerful line of thought that says there is not enough to go around. You might call it the logic of scarcity. We are vulnerable to this notion here in Buffalo – where the local economy is sluggish and resources are less plentiful than they used to be.
But, would you believe it, according to the Wall St. Journal Silicon Valley is virtually paralyzed by the scarcity logic. Yes, there have been some big headlines recently about a few internet tycoons who made large gifts to their alma maters.
But the Silicon Valley as a whole is infamous for being miserly. Half the households earning over $100,000 give less than 2% a year to charity. Many households give nothing at all. And of those who do many make gifts not in cash but in clothes and other goods used as tax write-offs. Corporate Silicon does not fare much better. Typical gifts are mostly outdated computer equipment.
How does stewardship work in a congregation? Remember we are not talking about stewardship as management but as relationship. Stewardship as a way of living and deciding. Hoarding, miserliness, cautious circumspection are symptoms of fearful living. Initiative, risk, going for it are the marks of trust and confidence in the gift of life and our relationship to the Giver of Life.
I remember friends of ours in Pennsylvania. They were debating several years ago whether to have a third child. They are organized people.
Even with two small children dust did not gather in their house, shoes did not lie around, silver got polished. We marveled – and loved to go to their house for dinner parties. I remember one of these friends said to us, "Two parents and two children is manageable. The symmetry works. Everyone has someone. No one is left out. We like even. Odd seems awkward."
You could almost hear the logic of scarcity on one shoulder whispering into their ear: "adding a third child will mean less for the other two. You’ll take away from the two you have and love. Everything will be divided by three not two. Portions will be smaller. Toys fewer. The quality of things will decrease. The mess around the house will increase."
You know what happened? They never won that argument. But something deep down told them it was bogus. Something deep down inside them affirmed the love in their marriage and family life and gave them the confidence to have a third child.
They could not put it into words – at least not as mathematically accurately and convincingly as the logic of scarcity – but what they knew in their heart of hearts was that there would be enough love to go around. That is what matters most when you’re talking about raising children. Yes, the winter coats might have to be less expensive. The trips to New York fewer. The summer vacations closer to home. But what they knew in the core of their being was there would be enough love to go around.
You should see Margaret – their third child. Fifth grader. Free spirit, Strong person. The life of the party. A personality that won’t quit.
And Bill, her father? He had to leave his old job. He is the president today of the North American subsidiary of a large German chemical company. I am not saying you should plan your next career move by having a third child. I am saying that love is something if you give it away. The marvelous, mysterious truth of it is you really do end up having more.
I share that story because it illustrates how stewardship works in a family. Stewardship, remember, as a way of life, a way of making decisions, a way of shaping life trusting in the Creator of Life.
Translate that into a congregation. Our officers and leaders were right. For us to get where we want to be in ten years the first thing we need to do is focus on stewardship. We will struggle with the logic of scarcity whispering on our shoulders as we anticipate, figuratively, the equivalent of adding a third child to our family. Scarcity will tell us if we cautiously maintain what we have, there will be less mess, more order, fewer mission projects dividing up the pot.
But would that way of life do justice to and honor our relationship to God?
I think not. The short-term goal found in your bulletin is not fancy or eloquent but it does describe what I believe is God’s hope for Westminster. "An increased emphasis on stewardship will result in a more active congregation, supporting a more expansive ministry, reaching out to more people."