Today, we are celebrating Stewardship Sunday. I know some of you are probably thinking: Oh, here we go! This is the Sunday where the pastor talks about giving money to the church.
Well, yes, money is a part of Stewardship, but Stewardship is about so much more than money. Stewardship is actually a very powerful spiritual principle, which we hear about throughout the Bible.
In today’s gospel reading, for example, we hear the story of a poor widow, who puts just two pennies into the collection plate. Jesus tells the disciples that this woman gave more than everyone else put together, because they gave out of their surplus, but she gave all that she had.
That’s what “Stewardship” is all about. It took me a long time to learn that lesson. I grew up in a household of lack. My parents were children of the Great Depression, so growing up, I heard things like “Money doesn’t grow on tree,” “Save your pennies for a rainy day,” and “Charity begins at home.”
I wasn’t until I was in my thirties, that I started learning about Stewardship. I was attending a Unity Church. One day, I went into the church office to pick up a Church Directory, and the church secretary said to me, “Sal, I’m so glad you’ve been coming to church and getting involved in the church, but I’ve noticed that you haven’t yet pledged to the church.”
And, I explained to her that I simply couldn’t. I didn’t have a steady job. I was a freelance writer, making 50 cents per word, while I was trying to finish writing my first novel. I had student loans to pay off and had to buy my own health insurance.
So, I told her: “I don’t have any money to give right now.”
And, I’m so grateful that she didn’t just say, “Okay,” and let me go on my merry way. No, she challenged me to change my thinking, and in doing so, she changed my life. That is no exaggeration.
She said to me, “Sal, the Bible says, ‘We reap what we sow,’ and Jesus said, ‘It is done to you as you believe.’ She said, “Sal, you believe you don’t have any money to give, so that is what shall be done to you…for it is done to you as you believe.”
And she said, “And you’re sowing seeds of lack, so that is what you will reap.”
Before I left the office, she gave me a book called “The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity” by Edweine Gaines.
I learned that one of the stewardship principles is “what we appreciate appreciates.” It grows! So, I started appreciating things more. Instead of focusing on what I didn’t have, I gave thanks for what I did have. Even when I found a nickel on the ground, I’d say, “Thank you, God!”
I learned that another of the principles is “give where you are spiritually fed,” so I decided that I would pledge $1,000 to the church in the coming year. A pledge is a promise.
When I made the promise, I wasn’t sure how I was going to fulfill it, but I believed I would. A few months later, there was an ad in the newspaper seeking background actors for a movie — a courtroom drama — that was going to be filmed in our town.
So, I went to the casting call, and I was hired to play a part: that of the court clerk. It was five weeks of work, and I made $5,000. Not only was I able to pledge to the church, but I had money left over, too.
The next year, I increased my pledge to the church, and a few months later, my manuscript sold to a publishing company in New York, and my first novel was published to good reviews and great success.
And, ever since then, I’ve continued to pledge to every church of which I was a member. Though I am the pastor of this church now, I am also a member of this church, and so, yes, I pledge to this church and I give to special things like the roof fund and the food drives.
I tell you all this this morning not to make it about ME, but to share my first-hand knowledge of putting the “spiritual law of giving” into practice. I know first-hand that it works!
Stewardship is a spiritual principle, a spiritual law. It is no different than the other laws that govern the Universe. You don’t question the Law of Gravity, do you? What goes up must come down, right?
Well, it’s the same with the Law of Giving: What we put out, we get back. What we sow, we reap. When we give we receive.
In Luke 6:38, Jesus says, “GIVE and it will be given to you. A good measure running over will be poured into your lap. For the measure you give will be measured back to you.”
Jesus demonstrated this principle over-and-over again in his teaching.
You may remember that Jesus’s very first miracle was at the Wedding Feast in Cana. The disciples came to him panicked. They said, “Jesus, we don’t have enough wine! What are we going to do?”
They saw lack, but Jesus didn’t see lack. He saw abundance, so he was able to turn water into wine.
And, then there was the story of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. Again, the disciples come to Jesus panicked. They only have 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed the crowd of thousands. They said, “Jesus we don’t have enough food to feed all of these people? What are we going to do?”
They looked at the 5 loaves and 2 fish and saw lack, but Jesus looked at it and gave thanks for it. He didn’t see lack. He saw abundance, so he was about to multiply the loaves and the fish. Not only were they able to feed the thousands of people…there were leftovers, too!
During my years as a church pastor, I have experienced some churchgoers who were like the apostles: Whenever there was a pledge drive or a major fundraiser, they’d say fearfully, “I don’t know what we’re going to do. We’re never going to be able to raise that much money.”
Or when it came to Sunday attendance: Instead of focusing on all the people who actually were sitting in the pews and being grateful for them, they’d be focusing on all the people who weren’t coming to church.
That’s why Stewardship, my friends, is a MIND-SET. It’s way of thinking, a way of believing. A way of affirming each and every day that: “I live in an abundant Universe. God is the Source of my supply. I always have enough to share and to spare.”
That is the Truth.
Scripture tells us that “God loves a cheerful giver,” so we can give cheerfully, for we know, “There’s plenty more where that came from.”
As Anne Frank once said, “No one has ever become poor by giving.”
So, here we are today, getting ready for our Stewardship Drive for 2025. We have put together a proposed budget of how much it will cost us to operate the church next year, which we’re going to review at the end of today’s service.
Now, we are a non-profit, so we’re not looking to make a profit; just enough to cover our expenses. And, unlike some other denominations, we do not receive any money from the United Church of Christ. In fact, we give them money every year.
All of our expenses (our utility bills, our salaries, our insurance, etc.): EVERYTHING is covered by YOU…so we can’t do any of this without you.
That’s why your pledge is so important. Your pledge is your commitment (your PROMISE) to support our church in 2025, so please know how very grateful we are to all of you for your continued financial support.
On this Stewardship Sunday, we give thanks for you, for this church, for the good stewards who came before us, and for God’s abundant supply, which never runs out.