This month we are diving into stewardship, which I love and always have. Stewardship is about having explicit conversations about tangible ways we can more deeply follow Jesus.
Why do you give? Who do you give to? Just church? Just the food pantry? How do you determine what to give? What does it feel like to be someone who contributes your money, your leadership, your volunteer hours, your abilities?
I remember being confirmed in 8th grade and after we were confirmed we were given offering envelopes, which in all honesty is probably not the most useful way for the church to spend money…buying offering envelopes for 8th graders. However, the whole thing felt wildly empowering to me. It made me feel like an equal. It made me feel sort of powerful, like I had something to contribute.
I remember receiving a pledge card. Mind you, I was 14 and didn’t have a steady income but I did babysit. So I sat down and did the math. If I babysat for x amount of hours at x rate, then over the course of the year I might make $900ish dollars. Ten percent of 900 is 90 so my first ever pledge was for $90 at the age of 14 and boy did I feel proud to put that slip of paper in the offering plate that day.
I give because a long time ago, I was asked to give and it felt really good to do so and it still does. I give because the gospel changed and changes my life and I love that God makes room for me….ME…to be a collaborator in this work.
Which brings me to my next point…
Over the years we have had unsheltered and low income people come to us for worship; some who just come for a Sunday and some who become integral members of our community. It is so often the instinct of well-meaning church people to want to GIVE of ourselves to people in need.
What if the thing that we really have to offer these folks is a place where they can give of themselves and feel the kind of empowerment that I felt as an 8th grader giving my $90 a year to the church? What if, instead of meeting these people and treating them like they are in need, we (unlike just about every other place they go) treated them like they have something to give. One of these approaches teaches them that they are lacking. The other teaches them that they are valuable contributors to the community.
A few years ago we had a gentleman who was with us from the street and throughout the month he would need help. He needed to use the restroom, mostly. He slept on our sidewalk. He plugged his phone into our outlet. But boy howdy, you’d better believe that when his monthly check came in, the first thing he did was come and find me to give $60 to the preschool…because he loved kids and he was grateful for our kindness.
Did it feel kind of odd to take money from a man that I was likely going to feed later in the month? Yes. Did it also feel like the right thing to do? Yes.
There is a lot of messaging in the world that communicates to people, especially the poor, that we are disposable, useless, of little value, etc. But giving just might be one way that God gives us to counter these messages and to live into the truth of our baptisms; we are whole, we are holy, we are valued, we are contributors and co-creators with God in sharing his love.
I pray you will be blessed in your giving this coming year.
Peace,
Pastor Bekki