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One of the primary
tasks of a clergy person is to model for church members how to be a faithful
church member. All of us who are clergy, or pastoral leaders, or elders and
deacons should be modeling for you how church members should be
stewards of what God has entrusted to each of us, in terms of time, talents,
and money. By what you observe us doing you can be judge of how faithful, or
unfaithful, we are in being role models for you. How’s that for setting
myself up?
Of all the tasks
we clergy-types undertake in service of our Lord that of modeling
stewardship to the congregation is perhaps the most daunting. Our
trepidation doesn’t necessarily stem from a reluctance to assume the mantle
of steward and role model. Rather, the discomfort finds its genesis in the
belief that in our churches the metaphor of steward has been relegated to a
strictly functional and instrumental status.
For the majority
of churchgoers stewardship signifies a way of acquiring and responsibly
utilizing money and property so that the real work of the church may
move forward. In essence, stewardship is a means to achieving the
spiritual end toward which the church aspires, the proclamation of Jesus
Christ to the world. Certainly, there is a dimension of the stewardship
metaphor that has as its purpose this end. I am persuaded, though, that the
image of steward has something much more powerful to say to us. I believe
that stewardship can be an end which not only proclaims Jesus Christ,
but also represents the sum total meaning of the Christian life. As a
Minister of Word and Sacrament, it is my duty to assume the mantle of
steward and thus communicate what it means to be a steward to you,
the folks whom God has called me to serve.
Ultimately, all
stewardship is rooted in the person of Jesus Christ. Paul told the
Corinthians, “For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty
you might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9 NRSV). Christ’s example is the standard
by which the stewardship of all Christians is measured. As a pastor,
particularly, my faithfulness in emulating Christ’s example is not only an
expression of my service, but is further indicative of how much I have grown
in my love of God and you, my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. The
point involves more than tithing and encouraging others to do the same.
Being a disciple
of Jesus Christ, being a steward after the fashion of Jesus Christ, involves
teaching folks to be transformed by God’s grace through their
giving. Paul said of the Macedonian churches, “...they voluntarily
gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging
us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the
saints - and this, not merely as we expected, they gave themselves
first to the Lord” (2 Cor. 8:3-5 NRSV). The key to effectively teaching true
stewardship is to help folks understand that being a steward of God’s grace,
and the gifts God has freely bestowed upon all of us, is a privilege.
Before I can talk
to you about being stewards, I have to first ask myself five questions to
determine whether I am practicing the lifestyle stewardship that I
want you to practice, so that the privilege of giving to God becomes more
than the annual wallet search.
The first question
I have to ask myself is, “What does it mean to ME to be a member of the
church?” Why did I become a Christian in the first place? What does my
membership in the Presbyterian Church (USA) currently mean to me and what do
I want my membership to mean in the future?
The second
question closely follows the first: “What do the Scriptures say to ME
about my responsibilities as a follower of Jesus Christ?” What are my
priorities? Are these priorities consistent with what God in Jesus Christ
has called me to be and to do in God’s service? What needs to change about
my priorities?
In the third
question I ask myself, “Do I really know what our church does?” Do I
really know what our church does in service of our Lord? To what extent am
I a part of that ministry?
Notice that none
of these first three questions say anything about money. What the questions
do is challenge me to reflect upon my church membership and my place in the
church’s ministry.
The fourth and
fifth questions do address the issue of money because all church
members are called by God to make financial commitments which are not only
sacrificial but which take the risk of trusting in God’s grace. Malachi 3:10
reads, “‘Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food
in my house, and thus put me to the test,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘See if I
will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an
overflowing blessing” (NRSV). These questions about giving money challenge
me to consider prayerfully where the church is located in my own list of
priorities.
The fourth
question has two parts: “What are my most important concerns?” and
“Are my important concerns reflected in my personal budget and my
expenditures?” I express the meaning and purpose of my life by serving
God and humankind. My service is accomplished in part by my giving. Is my
giving an expression of service offered in love and gratitude to God?
The fifth question
simply asks, “What is my commitment to Jesus Christ and to his church?”
The challenge I must undertake is to return to God a financial gift
proportionate to my commitment.
The Rev. Dr.
Albert Curry Winn, former pastor of North Decatur Presbyterian Church,
former president of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and a past
moderator of the former PCUS (southern church) General Assembly, once
delivered a sermon titled “Tithing Is More Than The Number Ten.” In the
sermon Dr. Winn identified four principles of giving that he argued not only
should be a framework for financial giving but which undergird our lives of
faith. I have embraced these principles and try to follow them faithfully.
The first
principle is the principle of regularity. Dr. Winn says that to tithe
is to “give regularly....This takes giving out of the realm of mood.” He
goes on to say that we have to be honest about the pain of giving, affirming
that money is a part of our lives, representing hours of effort, and to part
with it is a grief process. “But,” Dr. Winn says, “a decision to give
regularly takes a lot of that pain away.” Giving regularly saves us from
self-deception. He continues, “If we give nothing for a time, and then for a
heartstring appeal we give a hundred dollars, we deceive ourselves that we
are very generous. But if that hundred dollars is divided into two dollars a
week, not many of us can claim great generosity.” Knowing how susceptible I
am to self-deception, in practicing this principle of regularity my family
makes a financial gift to God through the church every time I am paid (most
of the time), which is twice a month.
The second
principle is the principle of proportionality. When we give in
proportion to what we have received, Dr. Winn says, our giving ceases to be
a transaction between the financial secretary and our bank; it becomes a
transaction between God and us. He asks, “What proportion can I return for
God’s work in order to confess before everyone that all that I am and all
that I have comes from God?” For my family and me, that proportion is a
minimum of ten percent of our income.
The principle
of priority is third. Dr. Winn states unequivocally that giving to God
entails reorganizing my life to the point that God’s share comes first. When
God is placed first in my spending, in my giving, the old
maxim “God is first, others are second, and I’m third” becomes real for the
first time. When we get paid, the first check written at our house (most of
the time) is the check to one of the several ministries we support, because
we have found that if we give to God first, we always have enough money for
everything else. When we don’t give to God first, there is never enough
money for everything else.
The final
principle is the principle of risk. To live a life that reflects the
adventurous dimensions of faith, we have to live in trust. Dr. Winn says
that any gift that does not force me to reorganize my life and make me step
out in faith is hardly a gift at all.
The essence of
stewardship is that I must be involved in the mission of Jesus Christ
through the church. Money often supplies the tools for that mission. But
what necessarily precedes the utilization of the tools is the need for me to
first give myself to God in proportion to God’s blessing to me.
As a clergy
person, my task is to proclaim God’s Word to you through the example of
my life so that you can give yourself to Jesus Christ. Am I being the
example I need to be? Sometimes “yes,” sometimes “no.” But it is only as I
commit myself to the above principles that I am able to ask God’s
forgiveness for the times that I fail, and to find the strength to be
faithful in the future.
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